Radical self-inquiry and creating LGTBQ safe environments

Kevin Schaefer is currently the Director of Program Support for the Supporting Inclusive Practices (SIP) project at the El Dorado County/Charter SELPAs. In this role, Mr. Schaefer works diligently to improve educational outcomes for students with disabilities by providing high-quality leadership and support to the California Department of Education and Districts throughout the state that focuses on creating enabling least restrictive environments that honor the diversity of learners across gener...

Humanizing the Education Machine

Rex Miller is a futurist by training. He began his career as a project manager in the architecture and construction department for Southwestern Bell now AT&T, in 1978. He has spent decades helping organizations leverage their environments as a catalyst to healthy cultures and clear missions. Rex turns hopelessly stuck situations into transformation and growth.He is among a rare group of proven practitioners that also have a deep academic foundation. He is an award winning author and trained in I...

Reimagining Schools to Serve Disconnected Students

Dr. Jeremiah Newell is the founder and CEO of MAEF Public Charter Schools, which has opened the first public charter school in the state of Alabama. He has previously taught middle and high school, led innovative secondary school models for disconnected youth, directed secondary school turnaround efforts, and served as a Harvard Fellow for the Rhode Island Department of Education. He believes transforming public education is one of the most important issues of our time. He is committed to being ...

Equity in school: The moral imperative to provide for your students

My experience in education includes 16 years teaching high school social studies, 6 years as a high school Assistant Principal, and I am now in my 5th year as Principal at Harbor High School in Santa Cruz, California. I have always been drawn to public education and see it as part of the larger project that includes protecting our democracy and breaking down economic and social barriers that are embedded in our society and the educational system. Show Highlights A public school truly free from f...

Crushing low expectations and Helping others do the same

Manuel Colon is the Chief Academic Officer in the Anaheim Union HIgh School District. He has been instrumental in the implementation of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), which has been highlighted as a model in California. In addition, his work with building partnerships has created one of the most comprehensive promise initiatives in the state. Moreover, Mr. Colon has presented at local, state, and national conferences. He received his bachelor’s degree from U.C.Santa Cruz in La...

Your Past Is Your Competitive Advantage

Jaime Casap is the Chief Education Evangelist at Google. Jaime evangelizes the potential of digitalization as an enabling capability in pursuit of promoting inquiry-based learning models. Jaime collaborates with school systems, educational organizations, and leaders focused on building innovation into our education policies and practices. In addition to his role at Google, Jaime serves as an advisor to dozens of organizations focused on learning, skill development, and the future of work. He is ...

The Distance Learning Playbook

Nancy Frey is a professor at San Diego State University in Educational Leadership where she focuses on policies and practices in literacy and school leadership. Nancy is also a teacher leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College, an award-winning open-enrollment public school in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego that she co-founded in 2007. For nearly 3 decades, Nancy has dedicated her work to the knowledge and skills teachers and school leaders need to help students attain their go...

Deep and Joyful Learning

Dr. Lori McEwen helps educators create classrooms and communities of deep and joyful learning. Lori has served educators, students and families as a leader in urban, suburban and charter environments and as a teacher, researcher, consultant, and professor. Some of her proudest achievements include providing leadership, vision and strategic direction for meaningful change--including the creation of personalized, mastery-focused high schools. Lori is skilled at helping partners explore what’s poss...

A Heart Shift Regarding Family Engagement

Clayton Reedie is the current Director for the Campbelltown Principal’s Network in Sydney, the equivalent of a District Superintendent in the United States. He began as a teacher in 1991 and from there earned early promotion to Executive Teacher, Assistant Principal and then Deputy Principal. Clayton’s first Principalship was at Mount Hunter, a small country school of 58 students. Further principal positions followed at Chipping Norton, Hinchinbrook and finally at Dalmeny Public School. In 2019,...

A First Year Principal Takes on Sexual Harassment

Erika began her career as a special education teacher in the West-Linn Wilsonville School district. When her family relocated to Southern Oregon, she was fortunate to work in Medford as a special education TOSA, supporting the work of the Special Education Department for the district. She worked at Ashland High School for seven years, three as assistant principal, and the last four as principal. She look forward working alongside the staff and community at Griffin Creek in supporting every stude...

Do the Right thing for Kids

Lori Villanueva has been in education for 25 years, starting as a high school Biology, Music and AVID Teacher, and now serves as Superintendent in a rural district of 4500 in sunny central California. She keeps kids at the center of her decisions, and loves working with educators to provide kids what they need to grow and thrive. Show Highlights The importance of getting early wins as a leader. Especially facing reopening. How a Ruckus Maker builds an under radar network of resources for her sch...

Can a Principal pull back control?

Fran McGreevy has over 45 years of experience in education. He has served as a high school teacher and building administrator for 30 years and as a middle school principal for 13 years. He is currently President of “Root-Ed – Leadership and Learning”. Fran has led numerous staff development classes at the building, district and college levels. He has received several awards/recognitions for his service as delineated in the attached Curriculum Vitae. He is passionate about the value of the person...

Following in the Footsteps of an Amazing Leader

Nick Hoover is a school leader in Delaware who has a real passion for leadership and learning. He wants to change the world one person at a time. One student, one teacher, one leader at a time. This passion has led Nick, along with his brother, to start a leadership development company called We CLIMB You CLIMB. His greatest passion though is being a father. He has seen his knack for helping others, leading others and self-improvement get passed on to his daughter. And he can think of nothing mo...

Taking Massive Action up Front

David Hardy is a systems-level transformation leader specializing in improving some of the most inequitable school systems across the country. David’s life-long mission is to help create equitable school systems for kids across the United States. For the past 17 years, David has had the opportunity to guide children in the toughest circumstances to reach high levels of achievement, lead teams who create a culture of achievement, and drive systems change at some of the most underperforming distri...

Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change

Kirsten Richert is an innovation expert who works with leaders on transformational efforts. Kirsten teaches design thinking, communication, and innovation at a number of colleges in the greater NYC area. Her teaching draws upon her experience in three core disciplines: business management, ideation methodology, and facilitation. She received her undergraduate degree in social science from Hampshire college, her master’s degree in social studies education from Teachers College at Columbia Univers...

Creative Thinking about School Leadership

Anthony Kim is a Corwin Press bestselling author, with publications including The New Team Habits, The New School Rules, and The Personalized Learning Playbook. His writing ranges the topics of the future of work, leadership and team motivation, improving the way we work, and innovation in systems-based approaches to organizations and school design. Anthony believes that how we work is the key determinant to the success of any organization. In addition to his writing, Anthony is the founder and ...

How to Best Prepare new Teachers

Jeanne is a former middle school teacher, department chair, and school leader and the founder of the New Teacher Masterminds - a transformational virtual PLC network that connects and empowers new teachers across the country. Her mission is to provide new teachers the support they need to thrive during their first years of teaching. Show Highlights New teachers thrive with these 5 steps Create future Ruckus Makers with the Teacher Mastermind New teachers are failing and need a seat at this table...

Black Lives Matter: Creating inclusive Spaces in School

BLBS will be producing a series of special Black Lives Matter episodes focused on what leaders can do to fight racism in education. Thank you Afrika Afeni-Mills for collaborating on this project. You can follow Afrika here on Twitter. If you are ready to really roll up your sleeves and learn how to fight racism in education, apply to the mastermind . SHARING IS CARING ❤️ Help us serve more school leaders by sharing this episode on social media and don't forget to hit SUBSCRIBE . Copyright © 2020...

You can only Be the Leader You Are

Martha Dunagin Saunders is the sixth President of the University of West Florida. In her 30-plus years in higher education, she has served in academic and leadership roles at universities in Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin and Mississippi. Her area of academic expertise is in public relations and crisis communication for which she has won numerous awards, including two Public Relations Society of America’s coveted Silver Anvils. Saunders led the University of West Florida to its status as a top-perf...

Black Lives Matter Special Episode

BLBS will be producing a series of special Black Lives Matter episodes focused on what leaders can do to fight racism in education. Thank you Dr. Sheldon Eakins for collaborating on this project. Sheldon has a podcast Leading Equity you should also subscribe to. If you are ready to really roll up your sleeves and learn how to fight racism in education, apply to the mastermind . SHARING IS CARING ❤️ Help us serve more school leaders by sharing this episode on social media and don't forget to hit ...

How to Identify, Navigate, and Challenge Oppression

Scott Seider is an applied developmental psychologist whose research focuses on the role of schools in supporting adolescents’ civic development. He has reported on this work in more than 70 academic publications including Schooling for Critical Consciousness: Engaging Black and Latinx Youth in Analyzing, Navigating, and Challenging Racial Injustice (Harvard Education Press, 2020). Findings from this five-year study of youth critical consciousness development have also been published in academic...

Looking Inward to Lead

Angela Kelly Robeck is a best-selling author and certified life coach for school leaders. She helps site and district leaders navigate the mental and emotional demands of the job. A former teacher, coach, principal and district administrator, Angela deeply understands the toll of school leadership and it is her mission to empower leaders through the use of effective mindset tools. Show Highlights STEAR your personal and professional lives into one human Live the work you want to lead to eliminat...

Will you choose School or your Family?

Rick earned a bachelor’s degree in adolescent education/social studies from Fredonia State University in New York. He has a master’s degree in adolescent education from Oneonta State College, also in New York. He earned a certificate of advanced studies in educational leadership from Binghamton University in New York. He was a middle and high school teacher in upstate New York for eight years before coming to Charlotte. He completed his principal residency at Albemarle Road Elementary through Ne...

Leading on the Edge and Finding your Purpose

Robyn Jackson is a former high school teacher and middle school administrator. She is the founder and president of Mindsteps Inc., a professional development firm for teachers and administrators that provides workshops and materials designed to help any teacher reach every student. Jackson is the author of Never Work Harder Than Your Students and Other Principles of Great Teaching, The Differentiation Workbook, and The Instructional Leader’s Guide to Strategic Conversations with Teachers, as wel...

Exploring Race Racism and Unconscious Bias in Schools

Dr. Tracey A. Benson is an assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a former public school teacher, middle school assistant principal, and high school principal. Show Highlights Journey on a racial awakening with Tracey Addressing the color of punishment in the continuum of learning How to have a color rich school with concrete solutions Investigate your own behavior and coded language to shape racially literate young people How leaders ...

Help Teachers Level up with Reflective Questions

Passion for Learning

Jazz Rose is the founder of J and C Education & Academy. He started in 2004 teaching PE in primary schools. Following demand, Jazz has grown a team of specialist PE, Music, French, Spanish, Art and Drama teachers committed to embedding a passion for learning, empowering learners to develop confidence, creativity and critical thinking, developing the whole child; improving schools and enriching communities. Show Highlights Justified risks 3 column scenario checklist. J and C Education energizes y...

Bonus: How TrustCircle can help during COVID-19

Sachin Chaudhry is an Ashoka Fellow - The ChangeMaker and the Founder/CEO of TrustCircle . Sachin also serves as a Global Advisor for the 'Movement for Global Mental Health.’ Sachin has started a global wellbeing movement via TrustCircle with a focus on Social Emotional Learning, Prevention & Early Intervention. Sachin envisions a world where Social-Emotional Learning is a core to our education system . Show Highlights Sachin’s transformational pilgrimage of pain Find opportunity in every crisis...

Climbing Big Hills and Navigating past critics

Amy Platt is delighted to be the Head of School at the Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School. Amy is passionate about excellent instruction and working with teachers to be the talented professionals they are destined to be. Amy holds a PhD and an MA from the University of Toronto. When Amy is not at work she can be found on long-distance bike rides, pondering the larger issues facing education. 3 Big Ideas Education is better with ice cream Challenge will make you better Everybody needs a mantra...

Communication Tips for Principals

Chris has been an educator in Massachusetts for 19 years and just finished his 11th year as a building administrator. He is currently the Principal of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in Whitman, Massachusetts. He’s passionate about continuous improvement and the idea that success is not a destination, but a process. A teacher centered Principal whose believes the importance of a positive work environment, continuous growth, and a healthy family work life integration can be seen in the multip...