This is Season 1, Episode 6 of FocusED, and it features guest, Dr. Pedro Noguera. It was originally recorded live for a studio audience in Delaware, provided as a professional development experience for Delaware teachers and leaders. Don’t miss what Dr. Noguera says about equity in schools and so much more. This is a must listen for all educators. 
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Dr. Noguera Brings Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Dr. Pedro A. Noguera is the Distinguished Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and Faculty Director for the Center for the Transformation of Schools at UCLA. He is a sociologist whose scholarship and research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions as well as by demographic trends in local, regional and global contexts. He serves on the boards of numerous national and local organizations and appears as a regular commentator on educational issues on CNN, MSNBC, National Public Radio and other national news outlets. 

Prior to joining the faculty at UCLA, he served as the Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education at New York University and the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools (2003 – 2015), the Judith K. Dimon Professor of Communities and Schools at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (2000 – 2003), and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley where he was also the Director of the Institute for the Study of Social Change (1990 – 2000). 

Dr. Noguera has published over 200 research articles on topics such as urban school reform, conditions that promote student achievement, the role of education in community development, youth violence, and race and ethnic relations in American society.  His work has appeared in multiple major research journals.  Dr. Noguera is the author of several books including: City Schools and the American Dream, Unfinished Business: Closing the Achievement Gap in Our Nation’s Schools, The Trouble With Black Boys, and Creating the Opportunity to Learn. His most recent books are Excellence Through Equity with Alan Blankstein and Race, Equity and Education with Jill Pierce and Roey Ahram.

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Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com. 

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular focus for teachers and school leaders so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district with more knowledge, better understanding, and clear direction on what to do next. 

This episode was brought to you by GhostBed, a family-owned business of sleep experts with 20+ years of experience. With 30K+ 5-star reviews, you can’t go wrong with GhostBed. Their mattresses are handcrafted, and they come with a 101-night-at-home-sleep trial. For a limited time, you can get 30% by using our code — SH302 — at checkout. And, even if you tell someone about GhostBed, you can earn a $100 referral reward. Go to Ghostbed.com today and use SH302 at checkout.

Dr. Pedro Noguera Discusses Excellence Through Equity in this Episode of FocusED

This is Season 1, Episode 7 of FocusED, and it features guest, Jimmy Casas. It was originally recorded live for a studio audience in Delaware, provided as a professional development experience for Delaware teachers and leaders. Don’t miss what Jimmy says about culture in schools and so much more. This is a must listen for all educators. 

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Jimmy Brings Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Jimmy is the author of four books, including What Connected Educators do Differently, Start. Right. Now. – Teach and Lead for Excellence, the best-selling book, Culturize – Every Student. Every Day. Whatever It Takes, and his latest release, Handle with Care.

Jimmy currently serves on the Professional Development Faculty for NASSP and also serves as Principal Advisor for Future Ready Schools, a project of the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Jimmy served fourteen years as an award-winning Principal at Bettendorf High School in Iowa. His passion for teaching and learning coupled with a vision for developing a community of leaders procured a culture of excellence and high standards for learning amid a positive school culture for students and staff. He continues to give back to his profession by speaking and presenting for state and national organizations and school districts across the country.

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Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com. 

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular focus for teachers and school leaders so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district with more knowledge, better understanding, and clear direction on what to do next. 

This episode was brought to you by GhostBed, a family-owned business of sleep experts with 20+ years of experience. With 30K+ 5-star reviews, you can’t go wrong with GhostBed. Their mattresses are handcrafted, and they come with a 101-night-at-home-sleep trial. For a limited time, you can get 30% by using our code — SH302 — at checkout. And, even if you tell someone about GhostBed, you can earn a $100 referral reward. Go to Ghostbed.com today and use SH302 at checkout. 

Lastly, join us in the Principals’ Club, designed to take your PLN to a PLC so that we can support one another in our growth as leaders. We hope to see you there.

The Power of School Culture w/ Guest Jimmy Casas

This is Season 2, Episode 2 of FocusED, and it features guest, Matthew Joseph. It was originally recorded live for a studio audience in Delaware, provided as a professional development experience for Delaware teachers and leaders. Don’t miss what Matthew says about mentoring programs, leading in schools, and much more.  
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Matthew Joseph Brings Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Dr. Matthew X. Joseph is currently the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment in Leicester Public Schools. He has been a school and district leader in many capacities in public education over his 27 years in the field. Experiences such as the Director of Digital Learning and Innovation, elementary school principal, classroom teacher, and district professional development specialist have provided Matt incredible insights on how to best support teaching and learning and led to nationally published articles and opportunities to speak at multiple state and national events. 

His master's degree is in special education and his Ed.D. is in Educational Leadership from Boston College. He is the author of Power of Us: Creating Collaborative Schools and co-author of Modern Mentoring: Reimagining Mentorship in Education. Follow him on Twitter @matthewxjoseph, visit his website at mxjspeaker.com or visit his blog: techinnovation.live. And, don’t miss his weekly Sunday series, called Mentor Round Table. 

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Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com where we publish free leadership content. Go to the site, subscribe, and you’ll get all of our content sent directly to your email. 

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular focus for teachers and school leaders so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district with more knowledge, better understanding, and clear direction on what to do next. 

This episode was brought to you by GhostBed, a family-owned business of sleep experts with 20+ years of experience. With 30K+ 5-star reviews, you can’t go wrong with GhostBed. Their mattresses are handcrafted, and they come with a 101-night-at-home-sleep trial. For a limited time, you can get 30% by using our code — SH302 — at checkout. And, even if you tell someone about GhostBed, you can earn a $100 referral reward. Go to Ghostbed.com today and use SH302 at checkout.

Reimagining Mentorship in Education with FocusED Guest Matthew Joseph

This is Season 2, Episode 3 of FocusED, and it features guest Todd Nesloney. It was originally recorded live for a studio audience in Delaware, provided as a professional development experience for Delaware teachers and leaders. Don’t miss what Todd says about his experience in schools, teaching kids to shake hands, what it means to have a “kids deserve it culture,” and much more.  

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Todd Nesloney Brings Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Todd Nesloney is the Director of Culture and Strategic Leadership for the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association (TEPSA). He has also served as an award-winning principal of a PreK-5th Grade campus of over 775 students in a rural town in Texas. He has been recognized by the White House, John C Maxwell, the Center for Digital Education, National School Board Association, the BAMMYS, and more for his work in education and with children. Todd has written four books, including Kids Deserve It, Stories From Webb, Sparks in the Dark, and his brand new book When Kids Lead. He also recently released his first children's book Spruce And Lucy. He hosts the podcast "Tell Your Story" and is very active on social media under the moniker Tech Ninja Todd. He is passionate about doing whatever it takes for our students and helping others tell their story. 

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Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com where we publish free leadership content. Go to the site, subscribe, and you’ll get all of our content sent directly to your email. 

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular focus for teachers and school leaders so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district with more knowledge, better understanding, and clear direction on what to do next.

This episode was brought to you by GhostBed, a family-owned business of sleep experts with 20+ years of experience. With 30K+ 5-star reviews, you can’t go wrong with GhostBed. Their mattresses are handcrafted, and they come with a 101-night-at-home-sleep trial. For a limited time, you can get 30% by using our code — SH302 — at checkout. And, even if you tell someone about GhostBed, you can earn a $100 referral reward. Go to Ghostbed.com today and use SH302 at checkout.

A Kids Deserve It Culture in Schools with FocusED Guest Todd Nesloney

This is Season 2, Episode 4 of FocusED, and it features guest Evan Robb. It was originally recorded live for a studio audience in Delaware, provided as a professional development experience for Delaware teachers and leaders. Don’t miss what Evan says about his 6 Pillars of Leadership, self-reflection, figuring out what you believe in, taking control of how you use time in your day, and much much more.  

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Evan Robb Brings Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Evan Robb is the Principal of Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville, Virginia. He has over twenty years of experience serving as a building level principal. Prior to being a school principal, he was an English teacher, department chair, and Assistant Principal. Evan is a recipient of the Horace Mann Educator of the Year Award. In addition, the NCTE Commission on Reading selected him to serve on its national board.

A TEDx Speaker, Evan offers inspirational keynotes, workshops, webinars, and on-going professional learning opportunities on leadership, mindset, culture, impactful change, and how to improve literacy in schools. Evan has shared his ideas with thousands of educators at dozens of workshops across the United States and in other countries.

His first book titled, The Principal’s Leadership Sourcebook: Practices, Tools, and Strategies for Building a Thriving School Community was published in 2007. He then wrote The Ten-Minute Principal released in 2019. Evan and Laura Robb collaborated with Dave Burgess Publishing to write, Team Makers, which was published in August of 2019. His latest book, again with Laura Robb, is called A School Full of Readers.

Please explore The Robb Review Blog and Scholastic EDU for more of his thoughts on teaching, learning, and leadership as well as his podcast, The Robb Review Podcast. 
Finally, Evan has been named one of the top educational leaders to follow on Twitter @ERobbPrincipal. Let’s Tweet to him today #FocusED.

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Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com where we publish free leadership content. Go to the site, subscribe, and you’ll get all of our content sent directly to your email. 

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular focus for teachers and school leaders so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district with more knowledge, better understanding, and clear direction on what to do next. 

This episode was brought to you by GhostBed, a family-owned business of sleep experts with 20+ years of experience. With 30K+ 5-star reviews, you can’t go wrong with GhostBed. Their mattresses are handcrafted, and they come with a 101-night-at-home-sleep trial. For a limited time, you can get 30% by using our code — SH302 — at checkout. And, even if you tell someone about GhostBed, you can earn a $100 referral reward. Go to Ghostbed.com today and use SH302 at checkout.

The Ten-Minute Principal with FocusED Guest Evan Robb

This is Season 3, Episode 1 of FocusED, and it features our guest, Basil Marin. It was originally recorded live for a studio audience in Delaware, provided as a professional development experience for Delaware teachers and leaders. Don’t miss what Basil has to say about treating all students with high expectations and some of what we get wrong when we schedule students into lower level courses.
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Dr. Basil Marin Brings Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners
Dr. Basil Marin hails from the Central Virginia area. He is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He later earned a Master of Teaching in Special Education from Liberty University. After moving to the Virginia Beach area in 2014, he pursued an Educational Specialist in Administration & Supervision from Old Dominion University. Dr. Marin recently earned an Executive Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Old Dominion University in 2020.

Dr. Marin is one of the proud assistant principals of Chamblee Charter High School, a diverse high school located in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Marin brings an authentic and refreshing perspective to the field of education. As an administrator, he works hard to foster equitable opportunities and inclusive learning environments where ALL students and teachers are valued and respected. 

Dr. Marin works daily to build meaningful relationships with students and desires to be the administrator he needed when he was growing up yet did not have access to. As a former struggling student himself, Dr. Marin is humbled to be able to give back to students who historically have fallen through the cracks of education and have not been given a second chance.

Dr. Marin has been afforded some incredible opportunities through the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) organization such as being selected as a 2017 Emerging Leader and being appointed as a “featured speaker” at the 2019 Empower Conference in Chicago. In addition, he met with U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy Devos and her executive team to speak on behalf of marginalized and underserved students and he explained how the lack of funding has impacted their educational experiences. Currently, Dr. Marin is the President for the Emerging Leaders ASCD National Affiliate. Dr. Marin is a contributing author in several books including Personal, Authentic, & Unconventional Leadership, Modern Mentor, Forces of Influence, and It’s Me. And today we’re talking about 100 No-Nonsense Things That All Teachers Should Stop Doing. 
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Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com where we publish free leadership content. Go to the site, subscribe, and you’ll get all of our content sent directly to your email. 

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular focus for teachers and school leaders so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district with more knowledge, better understanding, and clear direction on what to do next.

This episode was brought to you by GhostBed, a family-owned business of sleep experts with 20+ years of experience. With 30K+ 5-star reviews, you can’t go wrong with GhostBed. Their mattresses are handcrafted, and they come with a 101-night-at-home-sleep trial. For a limited time, you can get 30% by using our code — SH302 — at checkout. And, even if you tell someone about GhostBed, you can earn a $100 referral reward. Go to Ghostbed.com today and use SH302 at checkout.

High Expectations for All Students, What Educators Should Stop Doing, & More with Guest Basil Marin

This is Season 3, Episode 13 of FocusED, and it features our guest, John Almarode. It was originally recorded live for a studio audience in Delaware, provided as a professional development experience for Delaware teachers and leaders. Don’t miss what Dr. Almarode says about the importance of clarity for learning, evidence of learning, the science of teaching…and so much more. 
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John Almarode Brings Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

John is an Associate Professor of Education in the College of Education at James Madison University and works with preservice teachers and graduate students across multiple teacher preparation programs.
 
John is a bestselling author (of 11 books) and has worked with schools, classrooms, and teachers all over the world on the translation and application of the science of learning to the classroom, school, and home environments, and what works best in teaching and learning.
 
Today, we discuss John’s book, Clarity for Learning and what that means for teachers and students as well as school leaders who are looking for instructional excellence in the classroom. 
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FocusED Show Notes with John Almarode 

Don’t miss what John says about clarity of learning for teachers but also students. 
	What do we want our students to learn? 
	How do we want them to learn? 
	How will they know if we’ve learned? 

Relaying feedback to learners is important but it’s also important for learners to relay feedback to us. 

Having learning intentions and success criteria is one thing, but they can’t just be practices on the board. 

Teachers need to pay attention to the verbs in the standards: “compare and contrast” versus “explain” and other behaviors that we want students to communicate and display. 

Don’t miss the secret that John tells us about what separate teachers who have the highest degrees of learning and growth. 

The science learning has been around since 1885. Once you learn something, if you don’t practice retrieving it, you’ll forget it. Unfortunately, we don’t always use the science. 

Our work now: how do we support teachers with the science of learning to apply it in the context of the classroom so that we can learn more about the science of teaching. 

John talked about his other book, How Learning Works, as a place to go to support teachers now in terms of where we might start with the science of learning. 

It is very difficult to learn in an environment where you don’t feel like you belong. ~ John Almarode 

Listen to John describe what happens in a threatening environment; students will simply not care about what the teacher planned for them to learn. 

John ends the episode with a message about focusing on what really matters most versus what we don’t have any control over. 
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Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com where we publish free leadership content. Go to the site, subscribe, and you’ll get all of our content sent directly to your email.

John Almarode: How School Leaders and Classroom Teachers Can Focus on Clarity for Learning

Dr. Todd Kashdan Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Dr. Todd B. Kashdan Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at George Mason University, a leading authority on well-being, psychological flexibility, curiosity, courage, and resilience. 

He has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles, and his work has been cited over 45,000 times. He received the Distinguished Faculty Member of the Year Award from George Mason University and Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contributions from the American Psychological Association. 

He is the author of Curious? and The Upside of Your Dark Side, and his latest book is The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively. 

His writing has appeared in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, National Geographic, Fast Company, among other publications, and his research is featured regularly in media outlets such as The Atlantic, The New York Times, NPR and Time Magazine. 
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FocusED Show Notes with Dr. Todd Kashdan

The reason that Todd wrote the book is because of the negative connotation that comes with speaking up at work. 

The reason that we want dissension is to make superior decisions. It might be slower and more uncomfortable, but it makes for a better outcome. 

As we open up to dissension, we’re asking people to challenge the status quo. 

Don’t miss what Todd says about conformist thinking and what happens when we don’t provide a platform for diverse thinking. 

Todd brings up the mixed research on diversity and the fact that diverse thinking works better for decision-making but most organizations don’t have a good way to ensure diversity. 

Listen to what he says about creating meeting and classroom norms to encourage independent thinking. “It takes a modification of the group norms.” 

We were reminded of Liz City’s advice when he talks about collecting information before meetings as a new norm. 


You want to hear what he says about how we have to treat “minorities of one” to make sure that they feel comfortable sharing. “I brought you into this organization because of your unique background.” 

Make sure people know that you respect their views even though you might disagree on everything. 

We want disagreement about topics and issues, not relationships. 

Todd talks about learning to be clear with ourselves and transforming our thinking. What he says about “conviction bias” is fascinating. 

Todd opened up with his background and how all of our backgrounds lend to our biases. “To what degree do you represent the subculture in which you live?” 

The more ways that we can view diversity, the more likely we can bring divergent thinking into the decision-making without thinking of people as “representative” of their group. 

Todd reminds us as educators that one of the ways to deal with misconduct from students is to bring them into the forefront as leaders. The same is true for adults and co-facilitation. 

We have to tell people why we’re amplifying ideas that deserve consideration, especially when they’re divergent. 

Todd wants to improve the student experience in schools by improving their sense of belonging. Don’t miss what he says about distinctiveness. 

Subscribe to Todd’s newsletter. At the end of his newsletter, he posts resources, books, people to follow, and more. 

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Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com where we publish free leadership content. Go to the site, subscribe, and you’ll get all of our content sent directly to your email. 

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular focus for teachers and school leaders so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district. Let us know who you would like to hear from next.

Using the Art of Insubordination as a School Leader with Guest Todd Kashdan

This is Season 5, Episode 5 of FocusED, and it features our guest, Sam Crome. It was originally recorded in front of a live audience in Delaware, provided as a professional development experience in collaboration with the Delaware Department of Education, Wilmington University, and The School House 302. Don’t miss what Don Parker says about being the driving force in your school, and so much more.
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Don Parker Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Dr. Don Parker is a transformational keynote speaker and professional development provider. He specializes in SEL, supporting teachers to build trusting relationships with students, restorative practices, trauma-informed practices, and improving the culture and climate of schools to enhance students’ and teachers’ feeling of belonging.

Dr. Parker is a former principal and served at Posen School in Posen, IL where he improved the school climate, staff collaboration, parent engagement, and student achievement. 
Before that he was the principal of Lincoln Avenue School, a K-8 school in Dolton, IL, where he improved the culture, implemented a resilience program, managed the implementation of restorative justice, and increased attendance and student achievement. 

Dr. Parker is the author of the book Building Bridges: Engaging Students At-Risk Through the Power of Relationships and Be the Driving Force: Leading Your School on the Road to Equity. Follow Dr. Don Parker on Twitter: @DrDonParker1.
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FocusED Show Notes with Don Parker 
Don starts with the fact that equity issues aren’t new. The achievement gap has been static for too long. Don says that leaders are driving this work or pumping the brakes. 

Don says that equity work starts at the top. 

Don talks about the fact that people will follow a person before they follow a cause.  

Don’t miss what he says about sharing data to create a sense of urgency. We need to take an honest look at our practices and start the conversation with empathy. 

Don talked about the fact that 72% of students feel that they need social and emotional support but don’t get it. 

We need to take an inventory of our academic supports to ensure that we’re reaching all students. 

Don says that we often make assumptions about the community and what they need, but the better strategy is to ask them. Are our family engagement and education strategies targeting what the community needs? 

Dr. Parker says that we need to use surveys more often to gather information about what our families want from the school, maybe there’s something they think we should be providing that we’re (even though we can). 

His story about a family who had a food-deficit is inspirational. 

If Don could improve every school, he would make sure every student felt valued in the school environment. His water bottle analogy is incredible. 

Don talks about strategies to create belonging and says that it’s not rocket science. 

“99% of education is encouragement.” ~ Don Parker

Don tells our audience to listen to podcasts, go to conferences, and read books. He names Anthony Muhammad’s book, Transforming School Culture.  

Joe asked if anyone outside of education inspired Don, and he pointed to a touching story about his uncle. 

Don mentions the leadership of Barack Obama and overcoming seemingly impossible challenges. Find out what Don believes are the skills that Obama used to be successful. 

He wants to see more on the topic of educator empathy…how to be more empathetic for the sake of our students. We came up with this title for a future book, The Empathetic Educator. 

As final words, Don talked about the professional development that he’s doing around the country and how he helps educators to work better with students who have trauma in their lives.

Be The Driving Force in Your School with Don Parker

This is Season 5, Episode 6 of FocusED, and it features our guest, Lee Roland. It was originally recorded in front of a live audience in Delaware, provided as a professional development experience in collaboration with the Delaware Department of Education, Wilmington University, and The School House 302. Don’t miss what Lee Roland says about his journey as a school leader and radical change in schools.
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Lee Roland Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners
Lee Roland has been a leader in education and the community for more than 35 years. He has served as a teacher, administrator, Board member, principal, Executive Director, and pastor. 

Lee is a passionate speaker, practical trainer and dedicated advocate for a better future for all. His book, Fantastic Voyage, chronicles his journey of leadership and radical change at Tulakes Elementary. 

Voyage Consulting was born out of a desire to inspire, equip, and empower others to believe, pursue, and achieve equity and success for all individuals, especially children, in our community.
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FocusED Show Notes with Lee Roland 

Lee wants readers to take his content and make it their own. “Take what he says, personalize it, put your name on it,” he says. We have to borrow from one another. 

Joe asks a direct question about imposter syndrome and Lee’s thoughts about writing and publishing a book. 

Lee talked about his early years and that failure was never an option. People always have looked to him for inspiration, and he has embraced the charge. 

He talks about how the staff and community are looking to school leaders for hope. 

Lee isn’t shy to point out that there’s often an elephant in the room…race and poverty are two that we have to face. 

Wearing uniforms made a difference in a school where many of the students didn’t have regular outfits. This created a team feel.

Lee addressed the thoughts and motivation that comes from fear…the fear of change. He encourages school leaders to work with “designated leaders” as well as “undesignated leaders.” 

Don’t miss what he says about building relationships. “We’ve heard it said, but we have to make deposits with people.” ~ Lee Roland 

One sentiment that we take away from his message is that we have to lead with our hearts. People can feel it, and it’s contagious. 

Joe underscores that fear presents itself but it’s often not real. 

Lee encourages the concept of “collaborative leadership.” What he says reminds of the “shirtless dancing guy video.” 

You’ll want to hear what he says about the fact that educators often return to schools to work in a scene of a “non-crime” but the community is often returning to school as a “scene of a crime” that they remember when they were in school.    

Listen to what Lee says about being intentional with every single event that the school hosts. 

Lee says that we make things too complicated. Just think about a student who doesn’t come to school regularly and what can happen if we get them to come to school 5 more days this year than last. 

Students at Lee’s school received an effort grade every day. This was born out of a desperate love for them and making sure that everyone worked toward excellence. 

Lee wants to see a whole-child approach to learning (some call it social and emotional learning), but Lee says that we need to address trauma. Plus, he wants the energy in a school to be about the students. Every Student: “I am the agenda.” 

He points to Ron Edmonds’ work.  

As a final point, he tells listeners to “lead with love.” No one can follow if you don’t lead first. 

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Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com where we publish free leadership content. Go to the site, subscribe, and you’ll get all of our content sent directly to your email.

Failure is Not an Option with Lee Roland

Luke Roberts Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Dr. Luke Roberts has worked in education in the UK for over 20 years to address issues of conflict, bullying, and educational opportunities. He worked on the national evaluation of restorative justice in schools before becoming a practitioner and trainer. 

He became increasingly concerned that the whole school approach was not working and did an MBA, M.Ed., before completing his Ph.D. exploring schools as complex adaptive systems. This reframing of schools is central to his book and seeks to address the challenge of why innovation does not last in educational settings. 

He has also worked in communities and prison settings to promote conflict resolution. He joined Highfive in the USA to promote sustainable solutions to educational challenges as Chief Innovation Officer. 

He also advises government departments on system approaches and is a visiting lecturer at Cambridge University and the Royal College of Arts. His recent book is called Leading Schools and Sustaining Innovation. You can follow Dr. Luke Roberts on X: @LukeshRoberts.
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FocusED Show Notes with Luke Roberts 

Following his PhD, Luke wrote this book to make sure leaders can understand complexity without being too challenged by academic literature. 

Luke wants leaders to have a usable framework for sustaining innovation. 

Luke says schools are much more like beehives than machines. In machines, you can take parts out, but beehives are much more interconnected. 

He talked about the hub and spoke model of school leadership whereby all of the spokes are centered on the leader. Then, when the leader leaves, the innovations die. Dr. Roberts tells a real story about this happening. 

One problem that we discuss is that humans like power and actually like the fact that the system revolves around them. 

Listen to what he says about being in a production-mind versus being a gardener. This requires an identity shift for the school leader. 

The conversation about the network effect in schools is fascinating, especially since it deviates from the traditional hub and spoke model.

Joe asked about the next steps that leaders can make to work toward the networked model. 

No one perspective is going to solve the problem. 

Don’t miss what he says about zooming out and validating history before moving forward. 

Systems thinking is much different than change theory, which Luke says is part of the problem. Change theory is often linear and “beehives” are not linear organizations.    

Luke calls for a greater focus on young peoples’ futures and schools that spend time on students’ sense of identity and how they will interface with society in the future. 

Joe underscores the fact school is often something that is done to students rather than for them. 

Dr. Roberts talks about injecting creativity into the system so that more educators are working in a safe space where they can be creative in the way they think about changing their school. 

We need the ability to play with boundaries, including time and the way the day unfolds. The structures of the day can limit the ability for people to think creatively and change the future of the environment. 

Luke says that once you start to see systems, it’s so hard to unsee them. He references Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a systems thinker. 

Luke asks the audience to ponder how we think about change, not reduce but increase what we should do.

Systems Thinking for School Leadership and Educational Reform with Luke Roberts

Dr. Erica Buchanan-Rivera Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Dr. Erica Buchanan-Rivera has served as a teacher, principal of an international magnet school, director of curriculum, and director of equity and inclusion in her 17 years as an educator. 

She is currently a DEI project specialist and adjunct professor in the College of Education at Butler University and consults through her business, EBR Educational Consulting, LLC. 

Dr. Buchanan-Rivera’s research centers identity-affirming environments. She completed a doctoral degree from Indiana State University in 2017 where she developed an instrument to measure inclusivity in classroom environments. She has written award-winning publications, and her work has been featured in Education Week, Edutopia, Educational Leadership Magazine (ASCD), K-12 Dive, educational journals, and national podcasts. 

In April 2020, she was recognized as the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Education at Butler University due to her contributions to the field on a local and national level. Her first book, Identity Affirming Classrooms: Spaces that Center Humanity, has spread her reach and consulting work internationally. In 2023, she won the Arnold Mickens Black Excellence in Leadership Award, and we invite you to follow her on X @ericabrivera.
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FocusED Show Notes with Erica Buchanan-Rivera

Erica started the conversation about her own experiences in school where the educators had good intentions, but those intentions didn’t result in an inclusive environment. In fact, none of her teachers or school leaders were people of color. 

She aims to amplify student voice, which she does throughout her text. Students don’t just talk about their trauma, but they identify opportunities to support all students in schools. In many cases, all we need to do is to listen to the students. 

Dr. Buchanan-Rivera breaks down what it means to talk about “culture” in schools. We’re talking about “the ways of being” in schools, which includes the roles of power and inequities that exist within schools. 

She says that there’s no real right or wrong way to amplify student voices but that the key is to ask students about their experiences in schools and the ways that we can improve the environment. Listen to what she says about her own listening tours. 

Once we listen to our students, we should build what they say into our strategic plans for school improvement. ~ Erica Buchanan-Rivera 

Joe asks about general threads in what Erica finds when she talks to students about their experiences in school. One common thread is that students want to know how they’re doing in school--they are curious to receive more feedback. 

Just like adults, kids want to know about their strengths and areas for improvement, and they often don’t get that from school. ~ Erica Buchanan-Rivera 

Erica tells us that we can drive change to a more joyous environment by unpacking our own belief systems. Do we truly embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion in action? Do we believe that all students can learn? Are we treating students like humans? 

She calls for equity audits as a fresh set of eyes on what teaching and learning really feels like in our schools--tools that assess systems. 

As administrators, we often learn to manage dysfunction rather than learning to clean-house. ~ Erica Buchanan-Rivera 

Don’t miss what she says about outcomes that indicate that our effort in this space is working. 

Erica says we need more support for administrators on leading change, having critical conversations, and growing as equity warriors. A needed book title: Navigating the DEI Space for School Leaders. 

Accountability should be seen as an act of love. ~ Erica Buchanan-Rivera  

Erica ended by talking about the areas in which she would like to grow as a school leader--helping principals navigate DEI successfully.

Creating a Culture of Equity in Schools with Dr. Erica Buchanan-Rivera

This is Season 5, Episode 11 of FocusED, and it features our guest, Mitch Weathers. Mitch defines executive functioning skills, why they are so important to teach students in school, and how to do it in every classroom…and much more.
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Mitch Weathers Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners
Mitch Weathers became a gifted teacher because he was a mediocre student. Despite taking seven years to graduate college, he navigated the classroom with discomfort. 

This unique perspective fueled Mitch's teaching approach. Recognizing the importance of laying a foundation for learning, he created Organized Binder. This research-backed strategy empowers teachers to impart executive functioning skills efficiently, preserving valuable instructional time. 

By establishing a predictable routine, Organized Binder fosters safer learning spaces, shaping Mitch's journey from a struggling student to an innovative educator.

Mitch’s book helps educators understand and implement executive functioning skills in the classroom. It’s called Executive Functions for Every Classroom, Grades 3-12: Creating Safe and Predictable Learning Environments. You can find Mitch on X @organizedbinder. 
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FocusED Show Notes with Mitch Weathers

Mitch talks about writing the book because not all teachers can access his company’s resources, Organized Binder, but they can design lessons that help students gain executive functioning skills. The book helps with that. 

Mitch says that we can’t hope that students will pick up executive functions (EF) skills by chance. 

Joe reminds listeners that we interviewed Curtiss Murphy and we must assume confusion. With that in mind, Joe asks Mitch to define EF. 

Mitch said that one of the schools he works with calls EF skills “studentness.” The reason for this is that not all kids know how to “do school.” EF teaches how to do school well, and they translate to life skills. 

Don’t miss the 6 skills that Mitch says matter for all other skills to fall in place. 

We discuss predictable learning spaces and the need for the environment to be safe for risk-taking and other factors required for learning to take place. 

Mitch calls for more routines so that kids aren’t spending their cognitive load on processing the demands of the classroom and the teacher so that they can place that demand on the learning intentions. 

Don’t miss what he says about “shared routines” in schools and collective teacher efficacy. When we build shared routines, we’re also collectively rallying around something that we all care to deliver for kids. 

EF skills are not necessarily something that should just be taught in isolation, but rather they should be used in the context of all learning scenarios. 

Joe asks about the trouble with collective efficacy and why we don’t share practices for predictable learning environments. Mitch has a simple answer: too much isolation. 

The rhythm and routine of the day shouldn’t change. ~ Mitch Weathers 

Several times, Mitch mentions Visible Learning MetaX. All instructional leaders should know about this and how some strategies have higher effect sizes than others. 

You want to listen to how Mitch describes the need for continuity in schools. 

Mitch says that when you pick a routine to implement, you should explore why. The rationale is as important as the strategy itself. 

Resources that Mitch mentions: Organized Binder and Teach Better’s Grid Method. 

Mitch talks about CTE being the future of secondary education. 

He tells us that too much of school is focused on content and teaching and not enough on the environment.

Teaching Executive Functioning Skills to All Students with Mitch Weathers

Be the Flame with Shane Saeed

This is Season 5, Episode 14 of FocusED, and it features our guest, Shane Saeed. In our wide ranging conversation, we discuss community building, setting norms, the science of learning, coaching teachers…and much more.
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Shane Saeed Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners
Shane Saeed is a district instructional coach in Colorado working with educators K-12. Prior to coaching, Shane was an elementary teacher. Shane has earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in literacy, a second master’s degree in School Leadership and is currently a doctoral candidate working on her degree in Executive Leadership with a focus on Educational Equity and will defend her research this spring. 

Shane’s passion is sharing instructional practices with educators near and far. She is a keynote speaker and facilitates professional development nationally on topics such as the science of learning, the science of reading, and on relationship building using content from her book, Be the Flame, which outlines high-yield tangible strategies to cultivate strong positive relationships with all stakeholders. 

Shane was named one of 20 Emerging Leaders for ASCD in 2022. Shane continues to work in public education in her Colorado school district and collaborates with teachers across the globe via social media. Follow Shane on X: @saeed_shane.
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FocusED Show Notes with Shane Saeed

It takes a community to create a safe space for students to air their grievances. Only then can teachers change behaviors, working toward an even stronger community. ~ Shane Saeed
Shane talked about connecting with acclaimed author Jimmy Casas, our friend and author of Culturize. Jimmy encouraged Shane to write her book, and Be the Flame was born.

Shane says that we often think of community building as a beginning of the year activity, but the truth is that community building should be ongoing.

Dr. Saeed talked about modeling activity for team building at a staff meeting so that teachers know how to use that same strategy with students. The difference is that the staff should also discuss the benefits and outcomes of the strategy so that they understand the WHY.

Don’t miss what she says about team building and “first drafts” that can reinforce learning foundations and mindsets for both students and staff.

Shane emphasizes the use of community meetings. Here’s a stem to try with students: “This week I did well at…and next week I would like to do a better job with…”

Shane talked about setting norms (for classrooms and adult meetings); she referenced Learning By Doing by the DuFours.
We asked Shane to talk about the structure of her book, which is focused on takeaways. The book includes stories, reflection questions, and things to use for immediate implementation.

As always, we geeked about a bit on the science of learning, including Shane’s description of prior knowledge.

Joe asks Shane to talk about how she organizes her learning. Don’t miss what she says about going deep into multiple authors and works. She calls these “suites” for her learning intentions.
Shane calls for more belonging in schools; one way to do this is to ensure a knowledgeable teacher versus one who can implement a program. This reminded us of a Delaware professional learning experience called DTI. Check it out.

Dr. Saeed uses cognitive coaching as an instructional coach. The thinking has to be the responsibility of the educator, not just a coach or administrator dictating what to do in every case.
She talks about how exhausted teachers are, and the fact that they make more decisions than a brain surgeon, which means we need to streamline and structure.

Be the Flame with Shane Saeed

This is Season 5, Episode 15 of FocusED, and it features our guest, Patrice Bain; we discuss powerful teaching techniques, brain science, action research, classroom instruction, school leadership…and much more.
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Patrice Bain Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Patrice M. Bain, Ed.S., is a veteran K–12 and university educator, speaker and author. As a finalist for Illinois Teacher of the Year and a Fulbright Scholar in Europe, she has been featured in national and international podcasts, webinars, presentations and popular press, including NOVA and Scientific American. 

In addition to Powerful Teaching, she also co-authored an essential practice guide for educators: Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning, in collaboration with the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). 

Bain’s latest book A Parent’s Guide to Powerful Teaching reinforces the “Teaching Triangle'' of student, parent, and teacher collaboration. Patrice was one of two U.S. teachers on the working task group: Neuromyths vs. Neurotruths, sponsored by (IES) and the National Commission of Educational Research (NCER). In addition, she was a contributor to the United Nations UNESCO ISEE (International Science and Evidence-based Education) Assessment, outlining the vision for world education by 2030.

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FocusED Show Notes with Patrice Bain

Patrice started with the fact that it’s an exciting time in education because we know more now than ever before the science of teaching, including the best ways for students to learn.

The four practices that Patrice brings forward from the research are as follows: retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and feedback-driven meta-cognition.

Don’t miss what she says about cognitive load—we can only absorb 4 to 7 pieces of information at a time.

She talks about high-stakes tests, the forgetting curve, and what we should do now that we’re armed with the science of teaching and learning.

Retrieval practice should be low-stakes or no-stakes, asking students to simply remember what they learned yesterday, for example.

Patrice says that we learn in three steps: encoding, storage, and retrieval. We miss the third step. Too often we focus on getting information to our students versus pulling information from them. 

Don’t miss what she says about action research.

Powerful Teaching Techniques with Patrice Bain

This is Season 5, Episode 17 of FocusED, and it features our guest, Peter Rios; in this episode, we're focused on what it takes to unlock your greatest potential as a leader…and so much more.
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Peter Rios Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners
Peter has consulted at institutions such as Harvard University, the Lilly Endowment, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

He has been a lecturer at Penn State, Colorado State, and the Pacific School of Religion at Berkeley. His passion for leadership and personal development, and organizational change stems from his own transformational experience after overcoming trauma at an early age and embarking on an unprecedented journey of healing, self-discovery, and professional development. 

Peter is on a mission along with his spouse, Dr. Ruby Gonzalez-Rios, to build and develop people so they can maximize their potential and live healthy, fulfilled lives. 
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FocusED Show Notes with Guest Peter Rios

Peter talks about how his book, Maximize, was written based on his past, growing up in the projects and ending up with two PhDs. 

For aspiring writers, don’t miss what he says about “writing everywhere.” 

Nothing grows in a comfort zone. ~ Dr. Peter Rios

The book helps people to take intention steps in a way that helps with personal and professional growth. 

Joe asks about specific steps that leaders can make to get from where they are to where they want to go. How do we move forward when we’re overwhelmed with fear? 

Dr. Rios encourages leaders to take the first step of a self-assessment. 

He talks about the difference between dreams and goals. Dreams don’t come with benchmarks; goals require targets. 

Don’t miss what he says about accountability partners. 

Peter unpacks the sacrifice of a goal, breaking down your dreams into building blocks. 

Peter talks about using data from 360 reviews and other tools to draw an honest picture of your strengths and weaknesses. 

Peter mentions the use of a life wheel. Here’s a free example. 

Something important for all leaders to take away is that maximizing your potential is simple work, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy. 

Peter tells us that his own story of failure is what separates his books from others. 

The book has a chapter on the power of creativity and curiosity. He reminds us of some of our own work around having a beginner’s mind. 

Peter follows Ed Mullet on YouTube. 

Peter is intentional about exposing himself to people who are not like him. 

Peter reads and writes every single day. He also prays and meditates each day. 

Dr. Rios spends some time at the end of the show talking about learning to lead in the context of your situation. There are certainly aspects of leadership that everyone can adopt, but there’s also an aspect of leadership that requires adaptation. 

Plausible preferred future. Find out what that means. 

Peter ends with the need for everyone to be kind to themselves and each other. 

Go to PeterRiosConsulting.com for free chapters.

Unlock Your Greatest Potential with Peter Rios

This is Season 5, Episode 18 of FocusED, and it features our guest, MInette Norman; in this episode, we're focused on what it means to be an inclusive leader and how leaders can learn to create psychological safety for the people they seek to serve.

Minette Norman Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners
Minette Norman is an award-winning author, speaker, leadership consultant, and former Silicon Valley software executive who spent decades leading global teams.

Minette knows that when groups embrace diversity in all its forms, breakthroughs emerge, and innovation accelerates. Her most recent position before starting her consultancy was as Vice President of Engineering Practice at Autodesk. Responsible for influencing more than 3,500 engineers around the globe, she focused on state-of-the-art engineering practices while nurturing a collaborative and inclusive culture.

As the author of The Boldly Inclusive Leader and the co-author of The Psychological Safety Playbook, Minette is committed to helping leaders unleash the full potential of the people in their organizations.

Named in 2017 as one of the “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business” by the San Francisco Business Times and as “Business Role Model of the Year” in the 2018 Women in IT/Silicon Valley Awards, Minette is a recognized leader with a unique perspective.
Minette holds degrees in Drama and French from Tufts University and studied at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris.

FocusED Show Notes with Guest Minette Norman

Minette starts by defining psychological safety. One key aspect is the ability to ask poignant questions and make critical comments without fear.  

She mentioned the work of Amy Edmonson. When people feel psychological safety the perform better at work. 

Minette tells us that people do their best work when they feel that their voice is heard. 

She tells us that leaders have to start with their own behaviors. 

No matter how high up you are in the organization, a question that anyone can ask is “what am I missing?” We can’t assume that people will tell us what’s wrong or what we don’t see. 

When people start telling us their perspective, we have to deliberately listen to understand versus listening to respond. 

We’re cautioned to not be defensive as leaders because it diminishes psychological safety and therefore an open culture. 

Minette tells us about a research study that reveals that employees want leaders who are empathetic. 

We talked about empathy as a skill and the need to connect with people who aren’t like us. 

Minette says that “the only way to grow as a leader is to become uncomfortable.” We have to be learners first. She tells us about times where she worked in cultures where she didn’t really understand the environment…yet.  

Minette tells us a great story about leading engineers, all men, and not having been trained as an engineer. 

We talked about daily habits, and Minette talked about doing something physical every day, even when she’s busy. She also describes the power in not getting backlogged and overwhelmed. 

Minette ended with the power of self-awareness. Even if you’re not a leader, you still have an impact on the people around you. 

Books/Resources We Recommend Based on this Podcast with Minette Norman

The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmondson 
The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday 
Tell Me More About That by Rob Volpe
Radical Collaboration by James Tamm and Ronald Luyet 
Lean In Report on Women in the Workplace 
Related Content from TheSchoolHouse302
Our FocusED Interview with Todd Kashdan

Becoming an Inclusive Leader with Minette Norman

FocusED Show Notes with Guest Amy Anderson

Amy starts the conversation with the fact that we need outside partners to do the best work we can on the inside. Don’t miss what she says about the time that students spend beyond the school walls and the need to engage the community to support all learners. 

Dr. Anderson’s work is primarily with students who are typically marginalized by the system. 

Joe asks Amy to go into more detail about building the ecosystem of partnerships versus the competitiveness that can ensue when resources are scarce. 

She talks about a funding source called “LearningDollars,” which is an innovative approach for families to access money for learning providers that exist outside of the school system. 

We love the concept of “MoonShot” that she mentions--curating ideas to support learners in new and different ways. 

Amy believes that there are amazing educators who have the capacity to codesign new projects to do better for all students. She mentions a learning lab that’s doing some of that work now. 

All we need is to give our educators the time and space to innovate and they will. ~ Amy Anderson 

We talked a lot about how the education systems are not currently designed to support all learners so the need to go outside of the traditional spaces is critical. 

Joe mentions a project in his own district where students are working to rebuild their own community through the use of their trade knowledge and credentials that they earned in school. 

Amy explains some of her background during the onset of the charter school movement, which started with her involvement with housing efforts for refugee students. 

We don’t have to accept the system the way it is. ~ Amy Anderson 

Amy talks about what she reads and the people she follows to continue her own development. One book in particular is Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux. 

She follows Clay Christensen’s work regarding disruptive leadership. 

She mentions the work of Big Picture Learning. Check it out. 

Amy ends the conversation with work that’s needed at the policy level in states around the country. She talked about getting a nugget of an idea on a ballot but that this type of thing is a learning experience and that power can come from a small group of people. 

Call to Action: Look to adjacent organizations to be able to take the load off of schools and expand opportunities for all students.

Disrupting the Status Quo of School Leadership with Amy Anderson

Dr. Emily Alicia Affolter is the director of and faculty for Prescott College's Sustainability Education Ph.D. Program. 

Prior to serving in this role, she worked as a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Washington’s Center for Evaluation & Research for STEM Equity (CERSE). 

Emily earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Multicultural Education from the University of Washington working alongside Dr. Geneva Gay, founder of culturally responsive teaching. 

Emily's current scholarship, dissemination, and facilitation revolve around culturally responsive pedagogy for teachers and leaders in K-12 settings and STEM higher education, and harnessing equity literacy in teaching methods, content, policy, and leadership.

FocusED Show Notes with Guest Emily Affolter

Was I silent during a time when I had the currency to speak up and disrupt something? ~ Dr. Emily Affolter 

Emily starts with a quote from a book called Belonging Through a Culture of Dignity. 

We quickly dig into some of the indicators associated with inclusivity, including problems that stem from exclusivity. 

Don’t miss what she says about the need for transparent communication as well as formal feedback mechanisms. Feedback can be anonymous, but leaders need to hear as many voices as possible. 

Huge Question: Are leaders in the organization committed to humility in the way that they engage with systems of power? 

Emily starts from a point of curiosity regarding the content that is being taught in the classroom. She hopes to see at least 50% of the people being portrayed in the curriculum as being BIPOC and coming from the LGBTQ+ community. 

You want to hear what she says about “grit” as a core value. 

You don’t have to be the school leader who knows things, but you do have to be curious and ask questions. ~ Dr. Emily Affolter 

Emily teaches us to ask this about our schools: What are our unquestioned assumptions about our organizational culture? 

There’s a really metacognitive-style reflective practice that she describes for teachers and leaders regarding being critical about our own understanding of power (what we have inherently and what we’ve accrued in our lifetime). 

We gravitated toward what she says about teachers’ use of asset versus deficit thinking when it comes to what students know and don’t know. 

Joe asks about how our profession can catch newer teachers up to speed faster regarding some of the things that master teachers have learned over time within their careers. 

There’s no single teacher or classroom that is truly culturally responsive, period. Instead, we’re always learning and evolving. Any increment matters. 

Find out about her 7 aspects of culturally responsive teaching. 

Don’t miss what she says about “teacher transformative self-study.” 

Check out: Social Justice Training Institute (SJTI)

Emily talks about the concept of “reflexivity” as a personal growth strategy. 

Emily and her colleagues are working on a book about regeneration from trauma in education. In other words, we’ve all experienced trauma in education or as learners and how can we come

Check out: A Decolonial Framework for Pedagogy & Practice

Equity and School Culture with Emily Affolter

Jason Kennedy Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Jason Kennedy is a 24 year educator, author, school administrator, district curriculum and professional learning director, instructional coach, and presenter.

He has tons of experience at all levels of education, elementary through college. 

He has been a part of Cognia review teams, statewide professional learning, and local curriculum design teams, making the intentional designing of instruction for learning his main goal.

FocusED Show Notes with Jason Kennedy

Jason tells us that the original book title was “let’s quit teaching,” which the publisher was a bit squeamish about and so they changed it to “let’s ‘stop’ teaching.” The point is that the focus should be on learning, not just teaching. 

He explains that shifting from teaching to learning is a bigger mindset move than one may realize because many of us, as educators, have been trained to teach…include content delivery. 

Jason says that we’re always chasing programs versus creating better designs. He explains the difference between planning and designing. 

Kennedy reminds school leaders that Tier I should be based on standards and curriculum resources, not a program. Don’t miss what he says about combining the what, the who, and how to make the best designs possible. 

School leaders will gravitate toward what he says about making a daily commitment as educators. 

We were thrilled to discuss effect sizes and highly impactful teaching strategies, including success criteria. 

Kids who don’t like their teachers, and, worse yet, kids who don’t feel like their teacher likes them, will struggle to learn. ~ Jason Kennedy 

He covers the concept of a learning design framework, which is what teachers and students should be doing throughout the instructional period. All teachers should work within a framework to incorporate high impact strategies with flexibility to make decisions. 

Don’t miss what he says about using AI to build lesson plans. 

Jason talks about what gets him excited, including working with teachers and collaborative teams. 

We loved the team names that his teachers use when the collaborate, ELA teachers calling themselves “get lit.” 

He tells us to go to Corwin for other authors, and mentions John Hattie and VisibleLearning.  

We loved what he said about “intentional design choices” and what happens when kids come to school and already know the material.

Jason ends with “learning is the job.” “The second that the adults stop learning, the kids stop as well. 

Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com where we publish free leadership content. Go to the site, subscribe, and you’ll get all of our content sent directly to your email. 

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular focus for teachers and school leaders so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district. Let us know who you would like to hear from next.

Let’s Stop Teaching with Jason Kennedy

Lauren tells that she was inspired to write the book, The Leader Inside, because of her journey and the people who mentored her along the way, including her parents who were teachers and a special teacher who she names on the show. 

She told us a story about how George Couros challenged her to blog and then eventually write a book. She writes to reflect on her learning, and the pieces about coaching and mentoring resonated most, which led her to the content and the title of her book. 

She hopes that the book will help people to recognize their gifts and amplify them for themselves and others.

She tells us a story about her own growth and the realization that it's special to be able to collaborate with people and learn through interactions with others. 

Lauren calls out the importance and nobility in having a career in education. Don’t miss what she says about intentionally identifying your personal core values and then connecting them to the vision and mission of your school or district. 

Joe asked about the power of mentorship. Lauren dives into her former role as a mentor coordinator and the need for a great mentor match, especially in early-career educators. 

She reminds us about mentoring standards and professional learning networks that can both guide and support our work. 

In the mentor-mentee relationship, the mentee has a ton of value and the framing should be that both people are learning with and from one another. 

She talks about her reading habits, reading more than one book at a time, and what she calls “slow reading.” 

Lauren says that it’s the leader’s job to create structure and processes for others to lead.

The Leader Inside with Lauren Kaufman

This is Season 6, Episode  of FocusED, and it features our guest, Nathan Tanner; we discuss what it means to be an unconquerable leader…and so much more.

Nathan Tanner Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Nathan Tanner is an executive coach who helps CEOs, founders, and high impact leaders scale themselves and their companies. He has coached leaders at high growth startups and bellwether companies including DoorDash, Google, Autodesk, Electronic Arts, LinkedIn, Procter & Gamble, and Lyft.

Prior to becoming a full-time coach, Nathan was the vice president of people at Neighbor. Prior to Neighbor, Nathan spent half a decade at DoorDash where he was hired as the head of HR and scaled the company from 250 to more than 5,000 employees. There he built the company’s first leadership development program and coached more than half of the executive team. 
Prior to DoorDash, Nathan held several roles on the HR team at LinkedIn. He started his career on Wall Street at Lehman Brothers where he had a front-row seat to the largest bankruptcy in history.

Nathan is the author of two books, Not Your Parents' Workplace and his new book, The Unconquerable Leader. Nathan has been an advisor at Y Combinator and has written for Forbes, Inc., Fast Company and other publications. He's an IRONMAN triathlete, holds an MBA from BYU, and was trained as an executive coach at the Co-Active Training Institute. Nathan lives with his wife and their four children in southern Utah.

FocusED Show Notes with Guest Nathan Tanner

Run an experiment; it may not work, but you’ll learn something from it. ~ Nathan Tanner

Nathan starts by telling us that too much of our leadership training is focused on the “external” work, such as technical skills for hiring, training, and supporting others, versus the “internal” work, including mental and emotional resilience. 

Nathan tells us a story about being stretched thin at work and how he responded. Too often, we don’t even check ourselves when the warning signs are clear. 

Nathan says that the leadership burnout can happen to anyone, especially people with the best of intentions. 

Nathan dives into the strategies for managing our emotions. He mentions four. The first is the “unsent angry letter.” 

He tells us about the “power of walking,” including the science behind it. 

Nathan does an exercise of deep breathing with all of his clients. This slows our heart rate and helps with a number of physiological benefits.

You’ll want to hear what he says about practicing gratitude. 
Character creation: 1. Identify 2-3 characters who you play in your life (husband, father, leader, brother, etc.), 2. Define how you need to show up in each of these characters, 3. Pick the times that you need to be any of these characters. 

One major challenge to the character creation strategy is shifting between them. We have to pause and intentionally make the change. 

Joe asks Nathan about how new leaders can avoid mistakes. Nathan responds by saying that consistency is the most important strategy. 

He told the story of the 49ers and how staying the course is critical, especially when you have clear principles.

Nathan tells us about how he continues to learn and grow, including his reading strategy, which is 30 books a year for the last 10 years. 

He has a “daily practice,” and he knows that when he does these practices consistently, he shows up at his best. 

In life the challenge is not to figure how best to play the game but rather to figure out what game you’re playing. ~ Nathan Tanner

The Unconquerable Leader with Nathan Tanner

Ben starts off by telling us about a committee that he has going to help unpack “emerging technology,” and things are literally changing overnight. 

For us to lead in a tech-driven environment, Ben says that we have to be willing to say “I don’t know what that means, yet.” 

He tells us about the human-centered design process that they use at his schools--building something for empathy for the end-user of whatever we’re building. 

Joe asks Ben to talk about anything traditional that they’re abandoning in the curriculum to be able to spend the time they do on future-driven learning. 

Don’t miss what he says about grading. They figured out how to create a competency-based system that spits out a letter grade at the end. 

Ben talks about the influences of his background: Beijing, Montessori, Thacher, Bowdoin, and more. All of this feeds his ideas about schools teaching more of an entrepreneur thought process. 

He shares about the competitive nature of the marketplace for schools in Beijing. Students literally need to have an international passport. This means that the schools are all working to differentiate themselves from others like them. 

We discuss what it looks like to prepare students to do jobs that don’t exist yet. Ben talks about the fact that one important thing we can do, even though we don’t know what the jobs are, is to help students learn how to navigate competition within a start-up environment. 

It's awesome to hear how he elevates student voice by asking them to tell him what the future of schooling, including the use of AI, should look like. 

Joe reminds listeners of our podcast with Don Wettrick. 

Ben recognizes that many parents are still a bit leery about system changes, and he comes back to what students are going to need for the rest of their lives, including the moral responsibility to use these new tools ethically. 
Philosophically, he wants his students to explore their passions in the evening versus doing more school work. 

All 9th graders at NEIH take Foundations of Entrepreneurship. 

Ben invites our listeners to reach out to him at NEIH. He calls it the gift of time to just sit and talk. 

Ben tells us about an experience he had in Rwanda that showed him that if they could overcome what they needed to overcome, we can do anything.

Educating for Our Students’ Futures with Ben Farrell

This is Season 6, Episode 5 of FocusED, and it features our guest, Kate Koch; we discuss women in leadership positions, mentorship, balance at work…and so much more.

Kate Koch Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Dr. Kate Koch is the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources for Lemont-Bromberek SD113a.

She has served as an elementary principal, an assistant principal, and a middle school history teacher.

She is also the co-host of the Unsupervised Leadership Podcast and the author of Unsupervised Leadership: Celebrating and Elevating Fun, Fab, and Fierce Females. 



FocusED Show Notes with Guest Kate Koch

“Unsupervised leadership” is about being in a space where you can lead authentically. In these cases, the leader can be themselves without fear of making mistakes. 

Kate talks about women in leadership, specifically in education where the balance is off between the number of women in the profession versus the number of administrators who are men.

Kate has been getting feedback from listeners that her message about women in leadership is giving them the confidence to apply for jobs and ask for the highest salary possible. 

Dr. Koch tells us a few stories about her experience with leadership roles and what she faced in interviews and other spaces as a female. 

Kate talks about the differences between the way women lead and the way that men lead and the need for both perspectives. TJ brings up the Jane Goodall episode with Tim Ferriss where Goodall says that women should not try to lead like men because we need female leaders, not just more males. 

She tells us about what “balance” means for her. Two strategies: turn it off and have an accountability partner. 

Kate shares a story about how much time she was putting into her work and the feeling that she might need to walk away; we need to create conditions where people have balance or we will continue to lose educators. 

Joe asks Kate who inspires her and she told us about her mentor, Kate Chambers, and her podcast co-host, Courtney Orzel. She calls out several other peers and mentors who guide and support her work. 

Kate talked about listening to books, and her current favorite read is Anxious Generation. 

Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com where we publish free leadership content. Go to the site, subscribe, and you’ll get all of our content sent directly to your email. 

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular focus for teachers and school leaders so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district. Let us know who you would like to hear from next.

Unsupervised Leadership with Kate Koch

This is Season 6, Episode 6 of FocusED, and it features our guest, Peter Cookson; we discuss community leadership, supporting students in poverty, school culture…and so much more.

Peter Cookson Brings a Tons of Experience to FocusED Listeners

Peter Cookson serves as a senior researcher with the Learning Policy Institute, a founding principal investigator for the American Voices Project based at Stanford University, and an educational policy teacher at the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University. 

He has written extensively on the causes and consequences of American poverty and advocates for a new vision for public education. He began his career in education as a fifth-grade teacher in rural Massachusetts.

He received his doctorate from New York University and most recently completed a Master of Arts in religion from the Yale Divinity School where he held the Katsuso Miho Scholarship in Peacemaking. 

He founded the Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation at Teachers College and The Equity Project at the American Institutes for Research and before that, he was the executive director of Ed Sector in Washington D.C.

Peter is the author of School Communities of Strength: Strategies for Educating Children Living in Deep Poverty.

FocusED Show Notes with Guest Peter Cookson

All kids learn in environments where threats to their self-esteem are diminished. ~ Peter Cookson

Peter starts by defining “communities of strength.” Included in his definition is that the whole community believes that every student can learn and that learning is joyful. 

Peter says that he learned more doing the project for this book than any other project he has done. 

He tells us that 5 million kids in the US live in “deep poverty,” that’s 50% or more lower than the national threshold. 

Peter tells us about the resilience of students in poverty is inspirational. 

Peter’s passion for this work comes from his time as a 5th grade teacher in a school where many of the students lived in deep poverty. This motivated him to go back to school to become a sociologist to study the intersection between poverty and learning. 

He unfolds a story about his time as a teacher where he was able to experiment. He was doing project-based learning before it was a thing. 

Peter’s vision for the book when he started was to make it a practical guide versus just a sad story about the current scenarios in schools that serve students in poverty. 

The book includes the science of learning because we know more now about how to teach and how people learn than ever before. 

One key, says Peter, is that the staff has to bring a “second to known” mentality to their approach to teaching the whole child.  

He tells us that the primary responsibility of the school leader is to create an environment for teachers and students. 

Peter tells a story about a superintendent who fired any principal who didn’t fully believe that all students can learn. Don’t miss what he says about the commitment factor.

Peter mentions Linda Darling-Hammond as an expert on the science of learning, among other things. 

He says that each of the principles in the book comes with implementation guidance.

Communities of Strength with Peter Cookson

Shawn tells us that “future-ready” is about students recognizing their purpose; he reminds us about the goal of education and the gaps that exist right now with what we provide and what students actually need. 

Dr. Dilly talked about the need for leaders to stay true to who they are, that relationships matter, and that we should celebrate our differences. 

Shawn elevates competencies that students need, including what he calls “human skills.” 

He talks about a “tsunami of change” that is coming our way along with the advent of AI and other disruptive technologies. 

Shawn tells us that part of the systemic barriers that perpetuate the problems with the curriculum, instruction, assessments, and resources is that we’re too highly regulated and legislated to change fast enough. 

He describes a problem for schools in that 65% of our students in school now will be working in jobs that aren’t currently available yet. 

Joe asks Dr. Dilly to help leaders to advocate for change that isn’t just based on policy requirements. 

Shawn calls to action that leaders align themselves to people who are thinking about problems in a way that we can work together to drive change. He also says that it’s important for school leaders to get involved in their state agencies at the highest levels. 

Shawn encourages leaders to ask the question: are our students ready? And, if the answer is no, what’s missing? That will drive what we need to do next. 

One change that he emphasized is the need for more student collaboration in schools--a life skill that everyone will need. 

He talked about the need for students to exercise imagination and curiosity as well as oral and written communication. 

Shawn names our biggest challenge as keeping up with AI in schools and classrooms. 

Dr. Dilly tells us that students will need to learn global dexterity and branding. They’ll need to work globally with people who are vastly different from them and yet maintain their identity. And, they need to be able to compete in a global world by selling themselves by integrating the proper credentials with an attractive reputation. 

Shawn mentions McKinsey and the World Economic Forum. Joe asks about other resources that he frequents. Check out the book list below.

Schools for this Century and Beyond with Shawn Dilly

FocusED Show Notes with Guest Christina Hidek

Christina starts out with some suggestions about how school leaders can get on the same page with the PTO/PTA President by meeting on a regular basis. The key is to meet ahead of the actual PTA meetings and separate from them. 

School leaders should explain their vision for the school and the school year to the parent groups, starting with the PTA President. 

School leaders and PTA Presidents should have a clear understanding of how they want to communicate. 

Christina describes the strongest relationships that she had with principals and the trust and openingness that it takes. 

School leaders should attend their PTA meetings and the measure of success is a lack of turnover in the group. 

Every parent group should have at least one teacher liaison; the main point of the role is to bring the parent group information back to the teachers so that it doesn't fall on the principals. 

Christina reminds us that parents are volunteers, and they may need training. As soon as a group is formed, they need to be empowered and equipped with the right tools and information to go in the right direction. 

There’s no PTA school. ~ Christina Hidek. 

Christina consistently brings the conversation back to professional learning for parents. They can’t be a resource if they don’t know how. 

She talks about her parent group raising $26K and what that means to the school community. 

She hates the movie Bad Moms. 

A tip for school leaders is to celebrate and highlight the work of their parent groups. 

Christina tells us that there aren’t enough resources for PTOs/PTAs and school leaders who want to engage parents in the best way. 

PTOAnswers/principals.com has resources for principals who want to better engage parent groups. 

Check out FamilyEngagementTools.com. 


Successfully Managing Parent and Community Groups with Christina Hidek

This is Season 6, Episode 9 of FocusED, and it features our guest, Nason Lollar; Joe and TJ interview Nason about educator professional conduct, human resources, managing and sustaining a positive culture, school leadership…and so much more.

Promoting Educator Professionalism with Nason Lollar

FocusED Show Notes with Guest Vicky Essebag

Vicky starts by defining “relationspaces” as the way that we bring ourselves to the spaces where we develop relationships. 

Vicky tells us that we have preconceived notions about how we’re communicating and sometimes it’s effective and other times it’s not. 

Vicky gives us an example of where our communication as teachers to students might be landing wrong in a way that only supports more misbehavior. 

It’s better to minimize our noticing of the behaviors that are not desirable and maximize our noticing of the desired behaviors. 

Solution-Focused is a strength-based approach. And, the future aspect of it asks the question, what does the person want? 

Vicky says that success happens in small increments. Change happens gradually. Her advice is to take a few steps back when things aren’t going the way we want them to and then to become more inclusive. 

She tells us that relationships have to be the foundation of everything we do and have to be prioritized as important in the minds of every leader. 

Vicky explains that Solution-Focused has a premise that “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it; if it’s working, don’t change it; and if something is wrong, do something about it.”

Don’t miss what she says about future-oriented types of questions. 

Vicky talked about a scenario and exercise that she did with students who were refusing to come to school, and they built hypothetical machines to help bring them back to school. 

She talks about her own growth and a program she’s in right now to gain a certification that she wants for more international credibility. 

Vicky says that the most important part about commuting with others is our presence. 

We asked Vicky to give us some techniques for asking questions. She says that the best questions are open-ended and up to the person being asked to provide their answer versus searching for the right ones. 

If we can inspire people with hope, why not. ~ Vicky Essebag


Developing Stronger Relationship with Vicky Essebag

This is Season 1, Episode 4 of FocusED, and it features guest, Brad Weinstein. It was originally recorded live for a studio audience in Delaware, provided as a professional development experience for Delaware teachers and leaders. Don’t miss what Brad says about doing discipline differently in schools and changing school culture from punitive to restorative. If you listen to the very end, you’ll catch our quick conversation about trying to get Brene Brown to be a guest on our One Thing Series podcast. Enjoy. 

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Brad is the Director of Innovation at BehaviorFlip (www.behaviorflip.com), the world's first restorative software and app. He helps keep BehaviorFlip on the cutting edge of behavior management through merging research-based best practices with advanced technology. He is a co-author of Hacking School Discipline: 9 Ways to Create a Culture of Empathy and Responsibility Using Restorative Justice. Brad is the creator of @teachergoals, one of the most popular educational accounts in the world on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Brad worked as a Director of Curriculum and Instruction in downtown Indianapolis. He also served as principal for two years on the eastside of Indianapolis. Brad is an award-winning teacher who taught for 11 years, including roles as a coach and STEM department chair. He holds a B.A. in Education from Purdue University, an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Indiana Wesleyan University, and completed a Principal Licensure Program from Indiana Wesleyan University.

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Thanks for listening to FocusED, an educational leadership podcast brought to you by TheSchoolHouse302 @ theschoolhouse302.com. 

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular focus for teachers and school leaders so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district with more knowledge, better understanding, and clear direction on what to do next.

Hacking School Discipline with Guest Brad Weinstein on the FocusED Show

FocusED is your educational leadership podcast where our mission is to dissect a particular problem of practice and/or pinpoint a place of progress so that you can learn to lead better and grow faster in your school or district with more knowledge, better understanding, and clear direction on what to do next.

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