In this episode, I reflect on how quickly life moves and why milestones give us an important opportunity to pause. This summer, Kristine and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary while our daughter Mya traveled to Washington, D.C., to present a children’s book project at a national conference.

I share how moments like anniversaries, competitions, birthdays, graduations, and family trips help us recognize how far we have come. They remind us that the years move faster than we expect and that our children grow up before we are ready.

I also reflect on how meaningful memories are often created through ordinary experiences. Road trips, family dinners, conversations, photographs, and shared adventures may not feel significant in the moment, but they often become the stories we treasure later.

As I look back on this summer, I keep returning to one message: make the memory. Celebrate the milestone, take the trip, attend the event, make the call, and spend time with the people who matter. Someday often arrives much sooner than we expect.

• Celebrating 20 years of marriage
• Mya’s national conference experience
• How quickly children grow
• Why milestones help us pause
• Ordinary moments that become lasting memories
• Making time for the people who matter

• Life moves faster than we often realize.
• Milestones give us a reason to pause and reflect.
• Meaningful memories are often created in ordinary moments.
• Relationships matter more than possessions.
• Don’t wait for someday to make the memory.

In this episode, I begin a new series of weekly summer check-ins by reflecting on a family canoe trip through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. With nine family members carrying everything we needed, paddling across lakes, and navigating difficult conditions, the experience reminded me that meaningful memories are not always built through comfort.

I share how the trip required everyone to contribute, work together, and depend on one another. The physical challenges, changing weather, portages, and simple routines of wilderness life helped strengthen our connection and showed me once again that shared challenges often bring people closer together.

I also reflect on what the experience taught me about young people, resilience, gratitude, and growth. My children were capable of more than I sometimes realized, and the trip reinforced that resilience develops when people are given opportunities to face challenges and work through them.

As I look back, I am grateful we took the trip—not because it was easy or convenient, but because it was meaningful. My hope is that this episode encourages families and educators to create experiences that stretch people, build connection, and become part of the stories they carry for years.

• Beginning weekly summer check-ins
• A family trip to the Boundary Waters
• Shared challenges and stronger relationships
• Helping children build resilience
• Gratitude for simple things
• Creating meaningful family memories

• Difficult experiences often become meaningful memories.
• Shared challenges can strengthen relationships.
• Young people are capable of more than we realize.
• Resilience develops through real experience.
• Growth often happens beyond comfort.

In this episode, I pause to reflect on how far Be a Funky Teacher has come and where this journey is headed next. What began a little over a year ago on my way to the National Teacher Leadership Conference has grown into nearly 300 episodes centered on teaching, leadership, relationships, humanity, student voice, and hope.

I share why I’ve decided to slow the podcast down for a few weeks and move from daily episodes to weekly summer check-ins. I’m not stopping or disappearing. I’m simply giving myself space to rest, spend time with my family, reflect, and prepare for the next season of this work.

I also share updates about my upcoming books. I’m now working toward releasing the first Be a Funky Teacher book in late October, followed by Teaching in an Age of AI in the spring. These projects are another way for me to encourage educators and remind them that their humanity and influence still matter.

As I look ahead, my mission remains the same. I want to help educators feel encouraged, supported, and hopeful while continuing to make a difference in my classroom, my school, and the larger education community. The conversation isn’t ending. It’s continuing in a new way.

• Reflecting on nearly 300 podcast episodes
• Moving to weekly summer check-ins
• Choosing rest without abandoning the mission
• Updates on two upcoming books
• Continuing to encourage educators
• Looking ahead to the next season

• Slowing down can support long-term growth.
• Rest is not the same as giving up.
• The mission of serving educators remains unchanged.
• Teachers still need encouragement, hope, and community.
• The next chapter can look different without ending the journey.

In this episode, I reflect on what happened when I took one of the biggest leaps of faith in my teaching career. After spending 22 years in South Sioux City, I stepped away from a place filled with relationships, memories, credibility, and comfort to begin again at Winnebago Public Schools.

I share the uncertainty that came with starting over and the lessons I learned along the way. I discovered that experience travels with you, relationships still matter most, trust must be earned again, and some of life's greatest opportunities are waiting on the other side of uncertainty.

I also reflect on two deeply meaningful gifts—a seed bead necklace from a student and his mother and a Mr. Funky Teacher beaded medallion created by my students with help from Ms. Shipman. Those gifts represented far more than objects. They represented connection, trust, belonging, and acceptance.

As I look back on the year, I'm grateful I was willing to take the leap. My building changed, my community changed, and my routines changed, but my purpose came with me. This experience reminded me that when we genuinely care, serve others, and believe in young people, we can make a difference wherever we are.

• Leaving South Sioux City after 22 years
• Beginning again at Winnebago
• Experience and purpose travel with you
• Earning trust in a new community
• Meaningful gifts of belonging
• Growth on the other side of uncertainty

• Leaving something good can still be the right decision.
• Experience travels with you when you begin again.
• Trust must be earned through consistent relationships.
• Meaningful gifts can represent belonging and acceptance.
• Some of life's greatest blessings wait beyond uncertainty.

In this episode, I reflect on one of the most meaningful projects of my teaching career—the BAGO Mic Student Podcast. What began as an experiment to help students develop communication and leadership skills quickly became something much bigger. It transformed the way I think about student voice and reminded me just how capable young people really are.

I share how giving students a microphone, a platform, and authentic leadership opportunities allowed them to interview guests, tell their stories, celebrate their community, and grow in confidence. Along the way, I discovered that students don't just need opportunities to answer questions—they need opportunities to ask them, listen deeply, and share experiences that matter.

I also reflect on the incredible growth I witnessed throughout the year. Students became stronger communicators, more confident leaders, and thoughtful interviewers. Most importantly, they learned that their voices matter, and I learned that trusting students with meaningful work often leads to outcomes that exceed our expectations.

As I look ahead, I'm excited that the BAGO Mic has become more than a classroom project. It's now a student leadership legacy that future fifth graders will continue building. My hope is that this reminds all of us to create more opportunities for students to lead, share, and discover the power of their own voices.

• The story behind the BAGO Mic
• Student voice and authentic leadership
• Building communication skills through podcasting
• Confidence, curiosity, and storytelling
• Creating a lasting student legacy
• Lessons I'll carry into the future

• Student voice deserves to be heard.
• Leadership grows through authentic experiences.
• Students often exceed our expectations.
• Confidence develops through meaningful opportunities.
• Lasting legacies begin with one courageous idea.

In this episode, I reflect on my first year at Winnebago Public Schools after spending 22 years in South Sioux City. Starting over wasn't easy, but looking back, I realize this year changed me in ways I never expected. It challenged me, stretched me, and reminded me why I became a teacher in the first place.

I share the biggest lessons I learned throughout the year, including the importance of earning trust, building authentic relationships, listening before leading, and embracing a new community with humility. I also reflect on the incredible students, families, colleagues, and team members who made this transition such a meaningful experience.

One of the greatest gifts of this year was gaining a deeper appreciation for Native culture, student voice, and the power of collaboration. Whether through our fifth-grade team or the BAGO Mic student podcast, I was reminded that education is at its best when people work together and every voice is valued.

As I close this chapter and prepare for another school year, I'm filled with gratitude. This experience reminded me that where we teach may change, but our purpose remains the same—to serve students, build relationships, continue learning, and make a positive difference wherever we're planted.

• Reflecting on my first year at Winnebago
• Starting over after 22 years
• Building trust and relationships
• Student voice and the BAGO Mic
• Learning from Native culture and community
• Lessons I'll carry forward

• Starting over creates opportunities for growth.
• Trust is earned through consistency.
• Relationships remain at the heart of teaching.
• Every student's potential is greater than their circumstances.
• Great educators continue learning alongside their students.

In this episode, I take a step back after the PLC at Work Institute in Las Vegas to reflect on what I'm actually bringing home with me. Attending a conference is one thing, but I believe the real value comes when the notes become action and the inspiration becomes implementation.

As I look back, I realize there wasn't one speaker or one session that stood above the rest. Instead, I noticed common themes that surfaced throughout the conference—culture, relationships, collaboration, wellness, collective efficacy, reflection, and hope. Those are the ideas I want to carry into my classroom, my team, and my school community.

I also reflect on how these themes connect to my own experiences as an educator. Whether it's helping students believe in themselves, working alongside an incredible fifth-grade team, or remembering that relationships are at the heart of everything we do, this conference reminded me why I love teaching and why our work truly matters.

As I head into another school year, I'm challenged to move beyond simply collecting ideas and instead focus on putting them into practice. My hope is that these reflections encourage you to think about what you're taking back from your own learning experiences and how those lessons can make a difference for your students.

• Reflections from the PLC at Work Institute
• Culture vs. climate
• Relationships and collaboration
• Collective efficacy and student growth
• Wellness and educator reflection
• Turning conference learning into action

• Culture is built intentionally every day.
• Relationships remain at the heart of education.
• Collaboration produces stronger outcomes.
• Reflection helps make growth visible.
• Learning matters most when it leads to action.

In this episode, I look at Joseph's story through the lens of faithfulness instead of focusing on injustice or forgiveness. I'm reminded that no matter where Joseph found himself—in a pit, in slavery, in prison, or eventually in the palace—he continued to serve God faithfully and grow where he was planted.

I reflect on how easy it is to wish away difficult seasons, especially in education. Whether it's a challenging class, a difficult school year, or an unexpected transition, Joseph's life reminds me that I may not control where I'm planted, but I do control how I choose to grow.

I also explore the truth that character is often developed long before opportunity arrives. Joseph didn't become faithful when he was promoted. He was already faithful in the hardest places, and those seasons prepared him for the responsibilities that would come later.

As I prepare for another week of teaching, I'm challenged to bloom where God has planted me today. I pray that I'll remain faithful in every season, trusting that God is using both the easy and the difficult moments to shape the teacher—and the person—He is calling me to become.

• Joseph's journey from Genesis 37–50
• Bloom where you're planted
• Character before opportunity
• Faithfulness during difficult seasons
• Classroom application for educators
• Closing prayer for teachers

• Faithfulness is built before success.
• Character grows during difficult seasons.
• We can't always choose where we're planted.
• Students learn from how we live each day.
• God can use every season for His purpose.

In this Saturday Stories episode, I introduce a brand-new Leadership Kit value: Imagination. Leadership isn't always about having the quickest answer or solving the biggest problem. Sometimes leadership begins when someone is willing to imagine a possibility that nobody else has thought about yet.

I share The Unusual Idea, where a group of students is challenged to help new students feel welcome at school. While everyone offers familiar suggestions, one student quietly develops a completely different idea that changes how the group thinks about the challenge.

As I reflect on the story, I encourage students to recognize that creativity often requires courage. Different ideas can feel risky to share, but they also have the power to solve problems in ways that ordinary thinking cannot. Sometimes the idea we're most hesitant to share becomes the one that makes the biggest impact.

I close by encouraging teachers to create classrooms where creativity is celebrated, original thinking is noticed, and students understand they don't have to think exactly like everyone else. Leadership often begins with someone who is willing to ask, "What if?"

• Leadership Kit Value: Imagination
• Story: The Unusual Idea
• Think Differently and Be Creative
• Classroom discussion questions
• Leadership challenge for the week
• Free printable classroom resources

• Leadership begins with imagination.
• Creative ideas deserve to be shared.
• Different thinking can solve problems.
• Courage is often required to share new ideas.
• One creative idea can help many people.

In this episode, I reflect on Eric Twadell’s presentation about moving beyond “PLC Lite” from a national education conference in Las Vegas. His message challenged educators to recognize the difference between talking about improvement and truly committing to the work required for improvement.

Eric pushed schools to examine whether their collaborative teams are meaningfully focused on student learning or simply holding meetings, completing paperwork, and checking boxes. Authentic PLC work requires teams to examine evidence, respond to student needs, hold one another accountable, and take collective responsibility for every student’s success.

I explore several major takeaways from the session, including the importance of the four critical PLC questions, meaningful collaboration, evidence-based decision-making, continuous improvement, accountability, and the shift from individual responsibility to collective responsibility.

The episode also includes reflections on the fifth-grade collaborative team at Winnebago Public Schools. Our team was not perfect, but we created common assessments, examined student evidence, adjusted instruction, and worked together to meet student needs. Real PLC work is not about perfection. It is about commitment.

• Eric Twadell’s challenge to move beyond PLC Lite
• The difference between meetings and meaningful PLC work
• Keeping student learning at the center
• Meaningful collaboration and shared action
• Using evidence to guide instructional decisions
• The four critical questions of a PLC
• Continuous improvement and professional humility
• Accountability as shared responsibility
• Moving from individual to collective responsibility
• Reflections from the fifth-grade collaborative team at Winnebago

• PLC Lite creates meetings without meaningful action.
• The purpose of a PLC is to improve student learning, not complete paperwork.
• Meaningful collaboration requires examining evidence and responding to student needs.
• Data and evidence help teams move beyond assumptions and opinions.
• The four critical questions remain central to effective PLC work.
• Continuous improvement requires persistence, humility, and commitment.
• Healthy accountability strengthens consistency and follow-through.
• Student success and student struggles belong to the entire team.
• Authentic PLC work can be messy and imperfect.
• Real PLC work is not perfection. It is commitment.