About us
We help schools see great teaching — and make it repeatable.
Our mission is to ensure academic success in every K-12 school by developing highly effective teachers through personalized professional learning and educational videography.
Our story
Built by practitioners, for practitioners.
We believe that investing in teacher growth is the single most important factor in student success. Founded by seasoned educator and leader Justin Pigeon, Ideal Instruction was born during the pandemic — when we partnered with a large district to build a comprehensive online-instruction guide with over 200 training videos. Today we partner with leading organizations to deliver impactful professional development to thousands of educators. More than consultants, we're experienced educators who understand the challenges you face.
- Founded by seasoned educator Justin Pigeon
- Born during the pandemic — 200+ training videos for a partner district
- Now serving thousands of educators nationwide
- Official Leverage Leadership 3.0 training partner
200+
exemplar clips & growing
K–12
every grade band
LL 3.0
official training partner
The team
People who've done the work.
A team of experienced educators, coaches, and videographers — more of us coming soon.
Justin Pigeon
Founder & CEO
Former Uncommon Schools principal and instructional coach; founded Ideal Instruction to make great teaching visible.
Mallory McDaniel
Chief Operating Officer
Leads operations and district partnerships, keeping engagements aligned to each school's goals.
Our Coaches
Instructional Coaches
Practicing coaches and former school leaders who run See It · Name It · Do It cycles in the field.
Our Videographers
Classroom Videography
A team that films and edits real lessons into short, coaching-ready exemplar clips.
What we believe
How we work.
Show, don't tell
Vision before feedback. We start every conversation from a concrete exemplar, not an abstract rubric.
ValueBuild capacity
We coach your people to run the loop themselves — leaving strength behind, not a dependency.
ValueStay honest
We're clear about what's ours and what isn't — the framework is Bambrick-Santoyo's; the execution is our craft.
Work with a team that's been in the classroom.
Start with the free Playbook, or talk to us about your school.