Anchored in Education

It is no secret that I am often critical of elected officials and the meddling they do in education. They often pitch their work as helpful to all, but it is more often than not just a small group in their region or district they are trying to appease. What happens is punishment for all.

Or let's talk education funding. Of course I'm bias, but I believe education is the most important line item on any state budget. What do we most often see? Cuts. Cuts. And more cuts.

But I was on Twitter when today's guest, Dr. Jennifer McCormick caught my attention. She holds the elected position of State of Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. What got my attention is that she was giving a hard time to legislators from both sides of the aisle as she stood up for what she knows is right for education.

Though I haven't had much luck getting an elected official to join me on Anchored in Education, Jennifer immediately agreed. After listening, head over to www.escottengland.com to find the show resources and read more about Jennifer.

Have you ever stopped and considered the language we use everyday? Most of what we say or do becomes such second nature that we never give it a second thought. But maybe we should.

That's what retired submarine Captain L. David Marquet proposes we do in his new book Leadership is Language. He points out that the language we use comes from the Industrial Revolution era. In a time in which work was separated between those who think and those who do.

In his new book, Leadership is Language, Marquet proposes a new playbook and six new plays that completely changes how we approach what we do and how we do it.

After listening, head over to www.escottengland.com to find the show resources and read more about David. I'll also include a link to his book, Leadership is Language.

We've talked about time management in a recent episode. One thing we established is that we have only a finite amount of time. Regardless of how efficient or effective we may be, nothing changes the fact that we are all given the same 24 hours in a day.

Our guest today is Allison Rodman. You may remember her from an earlier episode of Anchored in Education when she was a guest talking about her amazing book Personalized Professional Learning. But Allison can also be found giving keynotes and workshops on how we can bend time and space in order to make room for teachers to be learners.

After listening, head over to www.escottengland.com to find the show resources and read more about Allison. I'll also include a link to her book, Personalized Professional Learning.

I remember my first year of teaching all too well. It was an amazing year, but one that was regularly filled with questions, fear, and second guesses. And, to be completely truthful, there were times when I thought maybe I'd made a career mistake. Times when I doubted my effectiveness as an educator because a lesson didn't go as planned or the overall behavior in my class was less than pleasing.

Turns out, I was an effective educator. Also, I'm not the only one that feels those same first year thoughts. Educators entering the profession now have another resource to through in their toolkit. It is a book titled Your First Year: How to Survive and Thrive as a New Teacher. It was co-authored by Todd Whitaker, Madeline Good, and Katherine Whitaker.

Today on Anchored in Education, Katherine Whitaker has graciously agree to join us to talk more about this amazing book. Don't think that since you are past your first year that this can't help you out. I've read Your First Year multiple times throughout my career and never during my actual first year—it wasn't available then.

After listening, head over to www.escottengland.com to find the show resources and read more about Katherine and find a link to her book, Your First Year.

Julie Adams is back this week on Anchored in Education for part 2 of #FullyCharged. Last week we spent time talking about meeting even the most basic of our students. We also went a step further and talked about meeting the needs of parents and staff as well. In essence, you can say we tended to our Maslow last week in order to prepare to Bloom this week.

Julie is back to talk about how we can Bloom our students, parents, and staff. But we're not just giving you off the cuff ideas, #FullyCharged is full of research-backed strategies. Most importantly, Julie shares with us how we can inspire a culture where everyone understands, applies, analyzes, evaluates, and creates.

After listening, head over to www.escottengland.com to find the show resources and read more about Julie and find a link to her website as well as a link to #FullyCharged.

Have you ever said, "I'm running on empty?" Did you ever stop and think that maybe this was literal when you were using it in a figurative way? Science has shown that we have a finite amount of cognitive capacity each day. In other words, we essentially have a battery that keeps us going.

Thankfully, it's rechargeable. But it is up to us to make sure that we are starting each day with a fully charged battery. And as educators, our role goes beyond making sure our battery is charged. We must make sure that our students and parents are working with a fully charged battery as well.

That's the foundation to the best-selling book #FullyCharged. In the book, co-authors Julie Adams, PJ Caposey, and Rosa Isiah offer over 140 Battery Charging Maslow & Bloom Strategies for Students, Parents, and Staff.

The book is divided into two sections: Maslow and Bloom, so it only makes sense to offer this episode in two parts. Today Julie Adams joins Anchored in Education to talk more about how we can better meet the Maslow needs of students, parents, and staff.

After listening, head over to www.escottengland.com to find the show resources and read more about Julie and find a link to her website as well as a link to #FullyCharged.

I don't think I would be alone in saying that at some point managing time has been a struggle. Too often though we just say that time management is our issue. But have we ever thought about what exactly time management issues truly are? What if time management didn't really exist; and instead it was just the symptom of a larger issue?

That is exactly what Dr. PJ Caposey proposed in his amazing book Manage Your Time or Time Will Manage You. PJ gives us eight potential root causes that could result in what we often refer to as just time management.

The perfect way to say goodbye to 2019 and hello to a brand new year is to have PJ join Anchored in Education to help us better understand how we can fully utilize our time.

After listening, head over to www.escottengland.com to find the show resources and read more about PJ and find a link to his book.

Being comfortable in our position is not a bad thing. I remember how different year two felt teaching first grade compared to year one. By year four though, I was beginning to feel the need for something different.

Changing grades or subject levels can sometimes feel like starting over, but it also gives us the opportunity to hone our craft at multiple levels making us versatile, well-rounded educator. And my guest today is an amazing example of how changing the area or content of your teaching can keep you on top of your game.

Amie Reed has been teaching for 15 years, and in that time, she has made several moves. In fact, this year Amie is teaching a subject she has never taught before and a grade level she has never taught. Amie is going to share with us today why changing is not such a bad thing as well as give us tips to having a successful transition.

After listening, head over to www.escottengland.com to find the show resources and read more about Amie.

What do you truly love to do? That single question put educator Trevor MacKenzie and a struggling student on an unintended and life-changing journey of inquiry, discovery, and meaningful learning. It was a journey that completely reshaped the way Trevor leads his classroom.

With the belief that all students deserve a chance to dig into their passions and curiosities, Trevor has created a scaffolded approach to personalized learning by identifying the Types of Student Inquiry: Structured, Controlled, Guided, and Free Inquiry. Each type requires students take progressively more control over their own learning, this inquiry-based learning model equips students to become lifelong learners.

And we're lucky because Trevor joins us on Anchored in Education today to talk more about inquiry-based learning and his book, Dive Into Inquiry.

After listening, head over to www.escottengland.com to find the show notes, read more about Trevor, and find links to his books and other resources.

Week after week on Anchored in Education we sit down for a conversation with educators who are doing something unique or have something unique to contribute to the profession. Every now and then though we like to introduce you to a teacher you may not have heard of yet but is making a huge impact in our profession.

This week we introduce you to Brandon Thornton. Brandon is a teacher at Bloomington High School in Bloomington, Illinois. Brandon was featured in a sidebar column in Illinois State University's alumni journal. In this column he stated his views on the profession, what he'd like to see more of in education, and emotionally overloaded children.

After listening, head over to www.escottengland.com to find the show notes and to read more about Brandon.