Last week’s conversation on Anchored in Education talked about taking on leadership responsibilities in different parts of our world in a moment of crisis. Today, I want to explore what leadership in education looks like in different parts of our world, leaving out the crisis part. The Dwight School is a private independent for-profit college preparatory school located on Manhattan's Upper West Side in New York City. They offer an International Baccalaureate curriculum and in addition to the New...
Aug 21, 2023•33 min•Ep. 119
I have long said that some of the best leadership lessons I have learned have come from outside of education. I frequently mention the leadership of retired Navy Submarine Captain L. David Marquet. His intent-based leadership that he highlighted in his best-selling book Turn the Ship Around is something that I frequently mention when asked about my leadership style. I have been fortunate to come across another book that has provided me with similar perspectives of finding leadership where you do...
Aug 07, 2023•36 min•Ep. 118
I am fortunate to be in a position in which I receive many books sent to me a month. One such book I received earlier in the year was Made for Learning: How the Conditions of Learning Guide Teaching Decisions . The authors are Debra Crouch and Brian Cambourne. The way this dynamic author duo came to be is a great story by itself, one that we will actually hear a little about in just a few minutes. But more than that, Debra and Brian have put together a book that will allow us as educators to bet...
Jul 31, 2023•44 min•Ep. 117
There are only a few foods I do not like. I don’t do olives of any sort. I don’t do pickled beets. And I despise Doritos of any flavor. That last one I am super serious about. I don’t even allow Doritos to be eaten in my car. So I am not a picky eater. I know a few picky eaters. Jennifer is one. My former secretary is another. But really, I would use the term picky for anyone who doesn’t eat like I eat. And now I’ve come to realize that for some, choosing what they do or don’t eat is not always ...
Jul 17, 2023•27 min•Ep. 116
Recently, I have had several guests on Anchored in Education who have written fictional literature. Even though most of the works of fiction have been geared towards children and young adults, I have not hesitated to feature these guests. I have several reasons for this, with one of those reasons being that sometimes we need to escape from our adult literature and be reminded that lessons come in many varieties. The second is that we often don’t realize the various things students are going thro...
Jul 10, 2023•32 min•Ep. 115
Just a few days from today will mark the seventh anniversary of the fatal shooting of Philando Castile in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan area. A couple of months ago marked the three year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, also in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan area. Located just miles from both of these tragic incidents was our guest today, David Mura. David is a third generation Japanese American. Both his grandparents and parents spent time in Japanese internment camps d...
Jul 03, 2023•53 min•Ep. 114
I came across a new book, recommended to me by my friends at Books Forward. It’s called Welcome to Monsterville, and it’s illustrations of various monsters with an accompanying poem. If I stopped here, you might be left wondering how I am tying this in to anchored in education. Great question. Now let me tell you the back story. This book came about when the late illustrator Michael Rothenburg began using art therapy to help him through various challenges. He would then send them to his friend a...
Jun 26, 2023•33 min•Ep. 113
I sometimes wonder if the 1991 hit song by Genesis “I Can’t Dance” was written for me. I mean, I was only eight, so maybe it would be cruel that they would direct such harsh words to a young and impressionable child. Okay, maybe it was written with me in mind. But it is nearly accurate in all ways. I can neither dance nor sing. And a recent stroll through downtown Chicago on my way from the orange line to Union Station proved I struggle with walking as a lack of awareness led me to step off the ...
Jun 19, 2023•31 min•Ep. 112
If you are a regular listener of Anchored in Education, then you’ve heard my guest today on four previous episodes. And each time Charley Cass joins us he enlightens us with thought-provoking conversations. The other thing you would notice about my previous episodes with Charley is that they cover a wide variety of topics. We’ve tackled such topics like awards and accolades given to students for academics, we’ve talked about the crucial role support personnel play, we’ve talked about family enga...
Jun 12, 2023•34 min•Ep. 111
One day Jennifer emailed me. She then said told me, hey, I just emailed you. Yes, she emailed me while in the same room. But what she emailed was a link to the book Drama Mama: Lessons Learned in the Imaginary Elsewhere by award-winning theater teacher Kristie Farr. The first lines of the description asked: Are you losing your passion for teaching? Have you forgotten why you even became a teacher? I saw that this book was a piece of reflection, a glimpse at Kristie’s story and journey through 30...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 110
I truly cherish and value every guest. So when I have the opportunity to have a guest return, I am beyond thrilled. You might remember Peg from our earlier conversation when we talked about productive struggle and the power of saying not yet. Peg joins Anchored in Education again today to talk about how we can clear the path for developing learners while promoting essential literacy skills. In fact, that’s the name of her new book that was published just this month. Clearing the Path for Develop...
May 29, 2023•34 min•Ep. 109
One day an email landed in my inbox recommending today’s guest. The email featured the book Moral Code , written by today’s guest Lois Melbourne and her husband Ross. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect as it is a sci-fi thriller that features the powerful implications of AI. Which, AI seems to dominating our headlines in such a way that soon we won’t be using the word sci-fi in front of the word thriller. But as I always do, in my research of Lois, I found out that she stays quite busy w...
May 22, 2023•35 min•Ep. 108
I think of a lot of books I enjoyed reading as a child. The Boxcar Children. Fudge. The Goosebump Series. I could get lost in these books because I felt so connected to the characters. Dare I say, I identified with them? Yes, I could definitely say that because I often did. Which is why I never considered that many grow up not getting to say the same thing. My guest today is one of them. Shetal Shah has been in and around education for many years. One thing she noticed was the lack of books in t...
May 15, 2023•34 min•Ep. 107
Last week, Tracy Badua joined us to talk about her book This is Not A Personal Statement. That conversation highlighted the pressures that students often feel in life, especially academic, and the extremes they will sometimes go to. It was a relevant conversation for us to remember not just in support of students, but for us as adults as well. When we finished the conversation, Tracy mentioned she had another book coming out on May 9. It’s called The Takeout. She sent me a preview copy and while...
May 08, 2023•21 min•Ep. 106
Have you ever had a setback in life? I’m sure we all have. How did you handle it? Grin and bear it; trying hard next time? Or forging your way through using lies and deception so no one would know of your shortcomings? As crazy as it may seem, many resort the latter when faced with such a dilemma. Our guest today is Tracy Badua, author of This is Not A Personal Statement, a work of fiction that was inspired by actual events. Tracy’s book actually highlights a common problem when it comes to stud...
May 01, 2023•20 min•Ep. 105
Have you ever wondered how to start a podcast where you know you’re going to say something that some will find offensive? No? Just me. Alright. Let me start by saying I’m a fan of baseball. While I don’t follow the major leagues closely any more, I can often be found at minor league games throughout the United States each summer. But what I really can’t stand is when someone says, “So and So broke an unwritten rule.” An unwritten rule in baseball is not a rule. It is more of a behavioral constra...
Apr 24, 2023•38 min•Ep. 104
My guest today spoke to the Illinois Association for School Administrators conference in the Fall of 2022. I wasn’t in attendance, but I knew his keynote was powerful when my Twitter feed began going crazy with overwhelmingly positive feedback. It just so happened that I had an interview scheduled the next day with frequent Anchored in Education guest, Charley Cass. Charley joined the recording from his hotel room where he gave an outstanding review of the talk and said he’d make a good guest. I...
Apr 17, 2023•17 min•Ep. 103
A few months back I was given a list of potential guests that consisted of about a half dozen names. It was up to me to research each name and determine how they fit in the Anchored in Education platform. One of the names was Melinda Wenner Moyer. I put the name into a search and discovered that she was a journalist with a particular interest in parenting, science, and medicine. The next line I read said she was the author of the book How to Raise Kids who Aren’t Assholes: Science-based Strategi...
Apr 10, 2023•48 min•Ep. 102
Back in the fall of 2022 I received a message from Efraín Martínez asking if I would like to be a guest on his podcast, Wisdom and Productivity. I agreed under the condition that he would one day join me on Anchored in Education. And while today is that day, I wanted to give you a little background on why I was so excited to host Efraín. He has an incredible story. One that is riddled with ups and downs, wins and losses, happiness and tears. In my research before putting together an episode, I f...
Apr 03, 2023•51 min•Ep. 101
I am fortunate to be able to devote time to producing a quality podcast that is informative, engaging, and entertaining. To celebrate the 100th episodes, I've asked former guest, and friend, Chris Briggs-Hale to take over as the host. Listen as we explore what makes Anchored in Education what it is. We dive deep into the why behind this podcast. After you listen to today's episode, go to www.escottengland.com and click on the Podcast tab at the top to find today's episode page and read more abou...
Mar 27, 2023•53 min•Ep. 100
Nothing can make or break a good lesson than student behavior. I can think of many times early on in my career where I gave too much attention to one area while neglecting the area of student engagement. This, at times, led to unfavorable consequences for my lessons as I had to navigate between disruptions and other disturbances to the classroom environment. Classroom management is something that has been discussed for decades. It is a critical component to finding success in the classroom that ...
Mar 20, 2023•38 min•Ep. 99
I can remember back to eighth grade. It was the spring semester. Only two quarters to go before I could say to heck with junior high; I’m a high schooler now. But before all that could happen, I had a new class on my schedule. Not just me, every eighth grader had it. If my memory serves me correctly, my section of the class was right before lunch once a week. The class even taught by a high school teacher. The title of the course. Study skills. Some might be thinking, what on earth is study skil...
Mar 13, 2023•37 min•Ep. 98
Raise your hand if you’ve heard the narrative before on how we are all so fortunate to be called to a profession to make such a tremendous impact on the lives of children. My hand is up. Heck, I’ve probably even mistakenly said similar things myself as an administrator. Here is the deal though, teaching is a profession. Can we be called to it? Yes. Do we have to be? No. Can we come to our classroom or our school each day, not loving what we do while at the same time, being amazing at how we do o...
Mar 06, 2023•35 min•Ep. 97
Making connections and fostering positive relationships has always been a cornerstone in education. Sometimes though we become near complacent in this area as we take advantage of routines and practices that have always just been there and worked. The pandemic brought the importance of prioritizing connections to the front and center. Even after we've entered this sort of psuedo post-pandemic era, prioritizing connections remains more critical than ever. Thankfully, my guest today Dr. Michelle H...
Feb 27, 2023•41 min•Ep. 96
We’ve all received bad news at some point in our lives. Or, what about this, have you ever been impacted by a physical ailment? Did you think it was the end of the world? I know it sounds dramatic but I can remember times when things happened to me that had me asking questions like why me. Now, for a second, I want you to imagine that you’re an accomplished piano player. You’ve taken lessons since you were five or six. It was an integral part of your life growing up, so much so you majored in it...
Feb 20, 2023•30 min•Ep. 95
The title speaks for itself. Jodie Eckleberry-Hunt is back again to talk about her latest book set to release on 2/14/23. Listen to this can't miss episode of Anchored in Education as Jodie reminds us of what we should be doing when faced with adversity. After you listen to today's episode, go to www.escottengland.com and click on the Podcast tab at the top to find today's episode page and read more about Jodie.
Feb 13, 2023•31 min•Ep. 94
To be honest, this is a long overdue episode of Anchored in Education . Inclusion is something that is extremely important to me. My start in education came as a 1:1 special education aide which also included working three summers at a summer Autism camp. As a principal, I transitioned an entire pre-k program in a full inclusion model. Not only did the transition happen, it was a successful one as evidenced by a state monitoring visit in which our program received it's highest marks. But must of...
Feb 06, 2023•41 min•Ep. 93
What do you do when you majored in drama and you have a Spring musical to reveal to your class? Well, you definitely don't just announce the musical, you find a way to go all out, leaving students full of suspense and completely engaged. That is exactly what my guest today did for his class. And then, the unexpected happened. Myles Finn shared his reveal in three separate videos uploaded to Tik Tok. Shortly after part three was shared, Myles had over 80 million combined views. Today he joins Anc...
Jan 30, 2023•27 min•Ep. 92
This profession has always required a certain amount of resilience. For decades, dare I say centuries, educators have been challenged on best practices, content, and more. Educators have had to face criticism despite doing the best they can. And then two things happened: First was social media. All of a sudden anyone with a keyboard could hide behind a veil and lob insults and damaging criticism at schools and educators. Second, the pandemic hit. Faced with many lose-lose scenarios, educators fr...
Jan 23, 2023•35 min•Ep. 91
I have always been a fan of turning the word fail into acronym, First Attempt In Learning. I think many would agree with me that we can learn valuable lessons from failure. Yet, failuring is not often accepted in our professional practice. We often operate under the assumption that we must not, cannot, fail. By having this mindset, we put an inordinate amount of pressure on ourselves. My guest today, Zak Cohen, wants to help normalize professional failure. In a somewhat humorous, unintentional m...
Jan 16, 2023•52 min•Ep. 90
