Change Starts Here

Heath’s journey began with studies in engineering, then a Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University. Today he teaches organizational behavior at the Stanford School of Business and co-authored four bestselling books with his brother Dan.

“I’d been teaching a course at Stanford on the marketplace of ideas,” Heath said. “I had done a talk with a Silicon Valley group, and the theme was what we can learn from urban legends about messaging. And my editor saw an account of that talk and said, ‘I think this could be a book.’

Heath liked the idea and pitched it to his brother. In 2010 their first book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, became a New York Times bestseller.

Heath’s latest book, Making Numbers Count, works on solving the problem of making sense of large numbers for people. “How do you get across meaning in those numbers given that our brains are not prepared for doing that,” Heath said. “If you talk about millions versus billions, those are numbers we hear all the time. Well, if you’re counting off a million seconds, it would take you twelve days to count off a million seconds. Do you want to know how long it would take to count off a billion seconds? Well, it would take you thirty-two years.” These types of comparisons make people see the relationship of numbers differently.

High school students Jenaya Wilder, Jorge Sanchez and Mary Katherine Archer joined host of Change Starts Here, Dustin Odham, to discuss how to overcome the issues facing today’s schools.

A common theme the three students mentioned as a struggle for the modern-day high schooler was the tendency for cliques to form, which discourages individualism and increases groupthink, and time management, like how to juggle social expectations with schoolwork and extra-curricular activities.

How does a student combat these issues? Archer thoughtfully noted to not let labels confine one’s dreams and goals. “Just because I like something, doesn’t mean that’s my identity,” she explained. “I think students need to understand that ‘it’s high school,’ and you can do or be anything – that’s life.”

However, many schools are experiencing an apathy issue, where students aren’t quite as excited to be a part of the school community.

The group discussed many ways to solve this problem, and it ultimately boils down to a positive school culture. This solution would consist of increasing school pride; participating in extracurricular activities; highlighting the school’s history, alumni and successes; and allowing students to take more ownership in decisions.

Sanchez posed the great question that administrators are likely asking themselves: “How am I going to give 3,000 students a voice?” One route seen at many schools already is implementing representative groups or clubs that would represent the student body’s interest. This could look like anything from student councils to town halls.

The episode ended with reflecting on some of their favorite resources to learn from, like TikTok, YouTube, Ted-Ed, and books, as well as some overall life tips:

• Waking up early in the morning to extend your day.

• Taking a nap and catching up on sleep is extremely underrated.

• Staying organized through structure and deadlines.

• Investing time into your personal wellbeing.

“For me, education was something my mother always told me, ‘Once you have it, they can never take it away from you and that could be your golden ticket,’” he explained.

Jackson found out the hard way how a lack of funds can impact a student’s ability to pursue their career of choice. While studying to be an astronaut, he was forced to make the hard decision of finding a different major, which is when the military presented him with an option to still become a pilot — just in the marine core. While the military wasn’t his greatest passion, he did accomplish his dream of learning to fly, and it also helped him discover his calling as a people’s person while on Capitol Hill.

After a successful career in the marine core rising ranks and even creating his own job overseeing all legislative affairs for bases west of the Mississippi, Jackson transitioned out of the military to focus on those people skills, specifically education. While in California, he worked with government and education leaders to help traditionally at-risk youth succeed, like improving early childhood education measures.

One such initiative he is most proud of is founding the Black Men for Education Equity group to prevent the disproportionate suspension and expulsion of African American boys between the ages of 0-5.

A few resources that Jackson believes everyone should read or listen to are:

• The leadership philosophy book, Call Sign Chaos, by former U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis
• The civil rights literature and Nautilus Award Winner book, Nobody, by Marc Lamont Hill
• Recordings of the nation’s greatest leaders via the Master Class platform

Jackson leaves viewers with a story of his biggest moment of failure, which ultimately helped formulate his favorite piece of advice: “In those moments where you’re preparing to make a decision, specifically when you’re anxious … take a step back and pause.”

Portell wasn’t initially on the educator path. “I was into forestry, but people kept saying kids gravitate toward you. I didn’t receive my educational degree until 29.” Now, his days are filled with impacting the lives of children and unapologetically disrupting the education field.

Portell’s days as a principal weren’t trauma-informed. It was a lecture he attended on ACES (adverse childhood experiences) that changed everything. “It happened fast that I changed from what we were doing to kids was not what we should be doing for them,” Portell recalled.

Portell quickly began training on ACES and trauma. “Trauma-informed is an operating system. It’s moving from the idea of what’s wrong with kids to what is happening to them,” Portell explained.

Co-regulation became the forefront, which Portell described as “putting our oxygen masks on before we help others and remaining calm amidst the storm.” He continued, “The science is clear that it’s imperative to stand calm and help through dysregulation.”

Portell has created numerous programs that help students and educators, but he knows there’s a long way to go. “Our culture is so grounded in punishment and feel that’s the answer to teaching kids skills. Historically, if someone doesn’t know how to behave, we punish. What we need to do is build capacity for kids and reinforce by teaching.”

Now let's all take some time to hit pause and reflect on this previous year. See you in 2022!

Safety and trust are developed in a child at just 18 months old, which is derived from the somatic nervous system (or the sensory nerves that relay sensation from the body to the central nervous system). Traumatized children usually have a faulty neuroception system – or they perceive danger when there is none.

Author of “Brain Changing Strategies to Trauma-Proof Our Schools,” Maggie Kline is a former teacher and school counselor and current therapist and psychologist, and she is on a mission to help children resolve this trauma. Left unresolved, children often feel depressed, angry, defiant and likely exhibit school behavioral issues.

“Without safety, children — no matter how much they try, no matter how much they want to be good — they don’t take the information in; their memory is impaired,” Kline explained.

Throughout the episode, Kline gave numerous real-life examples and broke down how the body’s physical response to high-stress situations often come with negative mental consequences. Ultimately, these experiences lead to how safe, or secure, one feels as an adult later in life.

Kline also revealed her personal secret to remaining grounded and present in the moment, noting the importance of gratitude, meditation and disconnecting from technology.

Looking for some additional resources? Here are Kline’s favorite:

• “Altered Traits” by Daniel Goleman & Richard Davidson
• “Trauma-Proofing Your Kids” by Peter Levine & Maggie Kline
• “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens” by Sean Covey
• The Somatic Experiencing International nonprofit working to transform lives through healing trauma

Kline ends the podcast advising listeners to pursue joy, kindness and love, and to regulate the self first, and then focus on healing the children.

In describing who he is and what he does, Marshall said, “I love helping people in new ways and inspiring the uninspired. EdTech is a great vehicle to do this, and education has always been a passion of mine.”

Marshall considered becoming an educator but instead used his business degree to impact education, joining one of the first online learning programs, Study Island. The company grew and took off, which offered Marshall new opportunities as a consultant. “I’ve been able to help impact millions of students working with companies with great products, people, and missions that have hearts for serving.”

Marshall and Odham discussed the future of education, focusing on various drivers. “Pre-K to gray is an emerging term that correlates to creating lifelong learners. Adult learners are the fastest-growing segment of EdTech, accelerated by the pandemic. We need to prepare K-12 students how to learn rather than making them test-ready.

”In looking at technology’s role in the classroom, Marshall said, “It’s a must-have and can enhance the teacher and student experience. Many were afraid of technology before being forced to adopt. However, one of the challenges is that districts can be oversaturated with it and not leveraging. Do an honest audit of what you have and pare back to make intentional and strategic decisions.”

“I love seeing growth and change in humans and organizations by an extension of that,” said Thompson. “There is a confidence that is kind of palpable when someone is making progress.”

Thompson came to the rapidly growing FranklinCovey Education division after a varied career, starting in the field of clinical psychology, focused on child abuse prevention. She then transitioned into organization development, starting on the corporate side. 21 years ago, she joined FranklinCovey in the company’s enterprising sector. Working largely with pharmaceuticals, she developed her four disciplines of execution.

She was asked 11 years ago to join the education side of the company, and she first said “no.” “It was the first time in my career I decided to just do something in my career that wasn’t part of my plan,” she explained. “It has been one of the best decisions ever.” She ultimately decided that she wanted to have a greater impact on helping students.

Thompson works with teams to find the right answer to grow. “I think my role is to… source the best ideas out of the team.” She explained that the people with those answers are typically the ones who are closest to the customer, or whatever the customer equivalent is in an organization, a lesson she learned when she was on the corporate side of the company.

It all comes down to students for her job today. “We can get to the point that every student understands not only their personal goal but how their personal goal fits into the entire ecosystem of what trying to do in the school and the district.”

Thompson released a version of her “Four Disciplines” book that concentrates on education.

She also talked about how various curves are always occurring within a company or organization and their strategy. “I think every leader needs to just be emersed in understanding that the world we’re in… this is constant, and there are multiple curves layering on top of each other,” said Thompson. “We’re in a very organic environment.”

“The most tried and true advice that is… it just all comes down to communication,” said Thompson in a final word of advice, saying no matter how many times as a leader feels they have said a message, you cannot do it enough.

In her role, Dr. Miller breaks down research to deliver practical ways to apply it to the classroom. Her journey with gratitude was no different. “I looked at the science of gratitude, and it opened my mind. For one, gratitude, unlike other emotions, you can self-induce. You also don’t need something good to happen to feel grateful.”

Dr. Miller shared multiple studies on the topic with gratitude interventions. “A study of people receiving counseling services for depression and anxiety wrote letters to someone they were grateful for, and it had a profound impact on their well-being.”

Another study on nurses revealed that when they spent a few minutes post-shift to write down things they were grateful for, they had improvements in work-life balance, depression and happiness.

The impact of gratitude can rewire the brain, and that’s not all. “It starts with heartbeats. Those feeling gratitude have the same beats per minute as relaxation. It’s also steady. That signals to the brain that you’re safe. Gratitude doesn’t get rid of the negative, but it brings balance,” Dr. Miller shared.

Dr. Miller offered some tips for helping students practice gratitude: “Giving options for them to record gratitude so that it’s not forced and modeling. An educator showing gratitude helps them and students. Gratitude is contagious.”

7 years ago, Dr. Desautels left Marion University after feeling as though she had lost touch with teaching. “It was not enough for me to go in to observe first and second-year teachers,” Dr. Desautels explained. She left there knowing that if she was really going to continue this work she needed to go back into the classroom.

“I am a learner, that is who I am. I love to learn and this work has evolved over the past 10-12 years into what I knew in my gut and what I felt instinctively to what is absolutely required today,” Dr. Desautels said.

She currently works at Butler University, where she has been for the past 8 years. “What I love about what I do is that I’m back in the classroom.” Since COVID restrictions were lifted, Dr. Desautels also spends her time traveling and meeting with other educators.

Tune in to learn more about how Dr. Desautels's work is changing the education field.