De Facto Leaders

If you’re an SLP who’s wondering how you can effectively address complex skills relating to both language and executive functioning in the school systems… 

The primary challenge is that BOTH language and executive functioning are incredibly complicated. Even just focusing on one or the other can be overwhelming. 

Layer on the challenges with the way related service providers are expected to provide interventions in the schools, and it seems impossible. 

Unfortunately, that challenge has resulted in debates on whether executive functioning is more important than language and vice versa, which isn’t useful. 

You don’t have to decide which is more important. They both are. 

We need to find a way to address them both. I help clinicians do that with a concept I call “cycling”. 

What I do is teach clinicians a set of core treatment techniques that fit within a set of foundational areas that support language and executive functioning.

That’s why in this episode, I share how to target both language and executive functioning in direct intervention with enough depth that you get results. 

In this episode, I reveal:

✅ When it’s appropriate to think of language intervention in terms of working up a hierarchy of skills, and when it doesn’t.

✅ Why using treatment cycles is more effective than trying to pin down a “scope and sequence” for language and cognitive intervention.

✅ How to use intervention cycles to build a language therapy system, and eventually move on to layering in more robust executive functioning support. 

✅ Why layering other service delivery models outside of direct intervention is essential for generalization, and how to make sure support is happening outside your sessions. 

Additional resources mentioned in this episode:

Free Training: Three Shifts to Turning Your Clinical Expertise Into a Scalable Language Therapy System Link here: https://drkarenspeech.com/language

Why language therapy works better in cycles than in a linear sequence Link here: https://drkarenspeech.com/why-language-therapy-works-better-in-cycles-than-in-a-linear-sequence/

You think you need a language therapy hierarchy. That’s why your system never feels stable. Link here: https://drkarenspeech.com/you-think-you-need-a-language-therapy-hierarchy-thats-why-your-system-never-feels-stable/

How to target both language and executive functioning in therapy with enough depth to get results
Link here: https://drkarenspeech.com/how-to-target-both-language-and-executive-functioning-in-therapy-with-enough-depth-to-get-results/

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a scalable framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

I also mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In this conversation, I sat down with Kim Jenkins from Empowering Speech Services (https://www.empoweringspeechservices.com/meet-kim)  to talk about how she’s used the frameworks from Language Therapy Advance Foundations (https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy/)  along with the gestalt language processing stages, for reluctant readers, and AAC users. 

We also talk about how important it is for clinicians to think flexibly with how they apply frameworks in therapy so they can pull from multiple sources to come up with their own personal protocols that work for their caseload. 

We also chat about other topics such as what “alter ego” we want to emulate when we’re going through a challenge, social media strategies and mindset, our dogs, and how to draw parallels between language therapy, clinical practice, fitness, tips for learning how to do pull-ups, and other areas of life. 

Kim Jenkins is a neurodiversity-affirming speech therapist who is passionate about helping neurodivergent children and their families flourish.  Empowering Speech Services was built on the idea that authentic and meaningful communication can be achieved by focusing on a child's strengths, meeting their sensory needs, following their lead, and empowering family members in the process. Serving the Milton and Alpharetta areas of Georgia, she takes the time to truly get to know her clients, their joys, interests, unique strengths, and individual challenges. 

In this conversation, we discuss:

✅ How Kim uses semantic features and syntactic study with AAC users

✅ Using the “Essential 5” framework from Language Therapy Advance Foundations with students who use a lot of scripting and gestalts

✅ Engaging a reluctant reader literacy and vocabulary work

✅ Parallels between life, language therapy, fitness, and social media marketing

Learn more about Kim’s private practice on her website here: https://www.empoweringspeechservices.com/

Visit her on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@empoweringspeechservices@UCSeGnUyaf6NBHJFBuoUFUTA 

Visit her on Instagram @empoweringspeechservices

Connect with her on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-jenkins-a0288796/

Check out her TeachersPayTeachers store here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/empowering-speech-services

I mentioned the following previous De Facto Leaders Podcast interviews:

EP 205: Using the Essential 5 to Build Vocabulary and Syntax in Secondary School (with Amy Baugh) here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-205-using-the-essential-5-to-build-vocabulary-and-syntax-in-secondary-school-with-amy-baugh/

EP 140: Creating an Intentional Career and Life with Alter Egos (with Meg Niman) here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-140-creating-an-intentional-career-and-life-with-alter-egos-with-meg-niman/

EP 154: Therapy Session Structure, Narrative Language, and Commentary on Gestalt Language Processing here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-154-therapy-session-structure-narrative-language-and-commentary-on-gestalt-language-processing/

Also mentioned in this episode:

”Stories that Stick” by Kindra Hall here: https://www.storiesthatstick.com/
Sarah Brashears from Social Mogules: @socialmoguls

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a scalable framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Clinicians who are confidently delivering language and literacy interventions haven't found the perfect "therapy curriculum". 

They've learned how to build their own using three practices.

In this episode, I share what those practices are, plus additional information on a free training I released that explains these concepts further. 

I cover:

✅ The concept of "clinical containers", and how you can use them to design your language therapy system, informed by my doctoral research and experience working in the schools for 10+ years.

✅ How to fill those linguistic containers over time using "asset stacking", so you're strategically adding layers of complexity one at a time.

✅ How to structure your planning so it fits into a realistic schedule, so each block of "plan" time you get moves you towards building your complete language therapy system. 

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a scalable framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

I also mentioned my free training called “Three Practices to Turn Your Clinical Expertise Into a Scalable Language Therapy System”. You can register for the training here: https://drkarenspeech.com/language

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Recess is often thought of as an “extra” activity in the school day. Sometimes it’s even taken away from students as a punishment. 

But some schools think about recess as an integral part of the school day, where students get the opportunity to connect, practice important social and problem-solving skills they’ll need for life.

Others are taking it a step further and using it as a tool to help students feel more connected to their school experience, and to decrease chronic absenteeism and establish a school culture where kids feel like they belong at school. 

That’s why I was so excited to connect with Elizabeth Cushing from Playworks.

Elizabeth Cushing is CEO of Playworks, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to using the power of play to bring out the best in every child. Elizabeth joined Playworks in 2004 and was named President and COO in 2011 and CEO in 2020. She leads Playworks' Executive Team and is responsible for the organization's strategy, operations and fiscal health. During her tenure Elizabeth has played a lead role in designing Playworks’ national scaling strategy including engaging national investors. Alongside founder, Jill Vialet, Elizabeth led the organization through a sustained period of growth from a San Francisco Bay Area-focus to a national organization with 14 teams across the country. As a result of strategic expansion, Playworks shares its unique brand of play and physical activity with 1,000 elementary schools reaching more than 1M children annually. For more than 30 years Elizabeth has served in leadership roles in nonprofit organizations focused on youth development, children's advocacy and women's issues. Elizabeth is a product of Oregon public schools, Stanford University and the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs.

In this conversation, we discuss:

✅ Simple ways educators can set expectations and rules to create structure and a sense of safety around recess

✅ How to use play as a reset and a preventative measure, instead of something that’s taken away from kids as a punishment

✅ How training kids as peer coaches can help decrease disruptive behaviors and help kids discover their own leadership potential

You can learn more about Playworks on their website at: https://www.playworks.org/

Resources mentioned in this interview include:

Comprehensive Game Guide that Outlines Games Across Grade Levels: https://www.playworks.org/indiana/game-guide/

The sister website for Playworks with tools for assessing the health of your school’s recess: https://www.recesslab.org/

In this conversation, I mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Most schools say they “collaborate.” They hold team meetings. They talk about students. They review data.

But without clear infrastructure, those meetings become updates instead of decision-making engines, and multi-tiered systems of support become an extra burden for educators. 

In this episode, I interview Kurtis Hewson from Jigsaw Learning to break down their Collaborative Response Team meeting format and explain why effective collaboration requires structure and not just good intentions. From who is in the room to how documents are used before, during, and after the meeting, they share the operational backbone that makes collaboration actually move student outcomes.

Kurtis Hewson is an award-winning former administrator and teacher, as well as post-secondary teaching faculty. He is the co-founder of Jigsaw Learning and co-author of Collaborative Response: Three Foundational Components That Transform How We Respond to the Needs of Learners (Corwin, 2022). Kurtis works with districts and schools nationally and internationally to establish Collaborative Response frameworks and interacts with thousands of educators each year.
If you care about MTSS, intervention systems, or building-level leadership, this episode will shift how you think about team meetings and collaboration. 

In this interview, we discuss: 

✅ Why the Collaborative Team Meeting framework helps educators move from between “talking about students” to making strategic, forward progress that changes school-wide practice

✅ How structured documents before, during, and after meetings create clarity and accountability and psychological safety

✅ How to capture action items in real time and encourage innovative thinking

✅ Why the Collaborative Team Meeting requires specific roles, and how these roles  determine whether a meeting moves forward or feels like busywork

If you’re leading multi-tiered supports in K–12 education or trying to strengthen how your teams collaborate, this episode offers practical insight into building the infrastructure that makes collaboration sustainable, focused, and impactful.

You can learn more about the Collaborative Response Framework free resources here: https://www.jigsawlearning.ca/free

Read about the Overview of Collaborative Response here: https://bit.ly/CR-overview 
Read the Introductory Chapter of the text Collaborative Response – https://bit.ly/CR-intro

Get the Collaborative Team Meeting Starter Kit here: https://www.jigsawlearningonline.com/ctm-starter-kit-podcast

Learn about the Layers of Collaborative Teams Here: https://www.jigsawlearning.ca/publications/blog-posts/scaffolding-our-collaborative-response-purposeful-layering-t

Learn the Five Considerations to Transform Your Team Meetings here:  https://www.jigsawlearningonline.com/five-planning-considerations-to-transform-your-team-meetings

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a scalable framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

I also mentioned the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design an executive functioning implementation plan for their school teams. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

When schools talk about improving engagement, student wellness, or school climate, it often turns into assemblies, themed weeks, or standalone initiatives. 

When schools talk about community engagement, student wellness, or school climate, they often turn into assemblies, themed weeks, or standalone initiatives. 

In this episode, I invited Lauren Porosoff from The Teacher Nerd to unpack why a focus on engagement and wellness must be woven into the daily fabric of the school experience to have lasting impact.

Lauren is an educational consultant who helps schools design learning environments where community values like equity, empathy, and creativity emerge from the instruction itself. She was a teacher for 18 years, most recently at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York. She’s taught the 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 7th grades, mostly in English and history, and has also served as a diversity coordinator, a grade dean, and a leader of curricular initiatives. Lauren develops tools and protocols that transform the psychological experience of school for teachers and students. She’s developed applications in instructional design, social-emotional learning, professional development, and anti-bias action.

In this conversation, we discuss:

✅ What “compensatory programs” mean in the context of wellness, belonging, and community engagement.

✅ Why one-off events and initiatives aren’t sufficient for supporting student mental health and well-being. 

✅ How to embed protective factors like connection into instruction and routines.

✅ The impact of technology on engagement and agency (plus a writing example)

If you’re a school leader, instructional coach, or support professional who wants to strengthen student engagement and well-being in a sustainable way, this episode will help you shift from programming for students to designing systems with them across the entire day.

You can learn more about Lauren’s products and services on her website at: https://www.theteachernerd.com/

You can read her article on the trouble with compensatory programming here: 
https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/the-trouble-with-compensatory-programs

Get her book, Teaching for Authentic Engagement here: https://www.ascd.org/books/teach-for-authentic-engagement

Connect with her on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-porosoff-2b728b75/

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a scalable framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

I also mentioned the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design an executive functioning implementation plan for their school teams. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In episode 255 of De Facto Leaders, I elaborate on the concept of using vocabulary as a large “container”, so you can design sessions efficiently without sacrificing quality.

I talk about why more experienced clinicians often struggle to make their interventions scalable, and why this gets in the way of carryover.

I also share the five “containers” I use in my Language Therapy Advance Foundations program that can support skills like reading, writing, spelling, and language processing in ways that can be reinforced outside sessions. 

If you have a ton of knowledge relating to language and executive functioning, but don’t know how to organize it into a cohesive system…

If you’re getting results in sessions, but it takes a ton of effort on your part and consumes all your capacity…

If you’re able to scaffold and model “on-the-fly”, but struggle to explain your techniques to others so they can replicate them…

Then you’ll find this concept of “containers” really useful.

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. 

You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

You can view this episode on the blog to see the screenshare here: https://drkarenspeech.com/five-clinical-containers-to-design-your-language-therapy-system/

The handout referenced in this episode is the session handout for my “Three Shifts to Creating a Scalable Language Therapy System” session. You can sign up for this free online session here: https://drkarenspeech.com/language

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Many experienced SLPs think they just need to plan better.

Tweak the activity. 

Adjust the visuals.

Try a new printable or protocol.

But what if none of that is the real problem?

What if your sessions are already so skillful that no one else can reinforce what you're doing?

🧠 What if the very clinical decision-making that gets you results is the thing preventing generalization?

In episode 254 of De Facto leaders, I share the top three pieces of unconventional advice I give SLPs when they’re designing their language therapy system. 

It’s not just about what you should do, but about what you SHOULDN’T do.

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

“Education isn’t a business” is a thing people say when they’re upset about how the school systems are being run.

But education actually IS a business. Saying otherwise isn't going to change reality.

If you’re frustrated about how the school systems work, you can continue to wish this wasn’t the case…

Or you can accept how things actually are and learn what to do about it. 

In this podcast episode, I share how that looks for school clinicians supporting language and cognition. 

In the episode, I share:

Why people who have no classroom experience get hired into educational leadership positions.

Why good teachers or clinicians struggle when they get into school leadership, even if they were amazing at working with students. 

The “business” skill you can learn that will boost generalization beyond your language therapy sessions

If you’re getting good results with students inside sessions but seeing little carryover, being good at “business” and leadership isn’t a “nice to have”. It’s a must have. 

~Dr. Karen

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

While virtual learning has become more prevalent since 2020, the founders of Banyan Global Learning have been offering digital learning experiences for over 20 years.

Some people are excited about the possibilities technology offers. Others are backpedaling or worrying that tech does more harm than good. 

Like most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. 

The outcomes depend on how experiences (both virtual and in-person) are designed and how learners are asked to engage. 

Passive consumption rarely leads to meaningful learning, but well-structured virtual experiences can support problem solving, perspective-taking, and authentic connection across contexts. 

Not as a replacement to in-person experiences, but as an additional option to provide opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. 

That’s why I invited Seth Fleischauer to De Facto Leaders to talk about how to use virtual field trips to connect with peers and learn about cultures and experiences worldwide.

Seth Fleischauer is the President of Banyan Global Learning, which he founded in 2008 after teaching elementary school with NYC Teaching Fellows. Banyan pioneered daily international EFL distance learning and has since expanded to train teachers and educate K-12 students across three continents. His programs focus on teaching digital and cultural competencies through a global lens and have delivered over 40,000 live teaching sessions. Seth has also hosted over 100 podcast episodes, including Make It Mindful and Why Distance Learning?

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy

You can learn more about Seth’s company, Banyan Global Learning at: https://banyangloballearning.com/

Listen to my previous interview with Seth on De Facto Leaders here: Ep 193: Using Distance Learning to Increase Access and Opportunity (with Seth Fleischauer) here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-193-using-distance-learning-to-increase-access-and-opportunity-with-seth-fleischauer/

Banyan Global Learning’s Global Learning Live kicks off in spring 2026.  Global Learning Live is led by Banyan teachers and blends live virtual field trips, collaboration, and reflection into an experiential journey for global competence. Students connect with real people and explore real places while building confidence through authentic global connection. Learn more about the Global Learning Live Spring ‘26 Pilot here: https://banyangloballearning.com/global-learning-live/

Learn more about Banyan Global’s live virtual field trips here: https://banyangloballearning.com/live-virtual-field-trips-2/

Listen to the Make it Mindful Podcast at: https://feeds.transistor.fm/make-it-mindful-an-education-podcast

Listen to Make it Mindful Podcast Interview about Executive Functioning here: https://makeitmindful.transistor.fm/episodes/rewind-50-executive-functioning-with-dr-karen-dudek-brannan

Listen to the Why Distance Learning Podcast at: https://whydistancelearning.transistor.fm/

Learn more about the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration here: https://www.cilc.org/

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.