EdLeader

EdLeader Podcast host Dr. Rob Jackson might just be a closet bibliophile, someone who has a great love of books. Occasionally he enjoys returning to touchstone texts or timeless tomes, those books that shaped him early in his career and life and bringing them forward, spending time again with the words, thoughts, and reflections that moved him then and move him still.This latest episode is just that, a return to a treasured book. The book, Tuesdays with Morrie, became a runaway bestseller 26 ...

Military-connected students and families transition on average 6-9 times in a military child's academic career. Schools should thoughtfully consider how to provide every flexibility possible to ensure that military-connected students have a smooth transition when they arrive and that their unique needs are met while they are with us.Dr. Angie Mullenix is the Director of Innovative Practices and Programs and the State Military Liaison for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. A ...

The Science of Reading is undergirded by theories of how students learn to read and comprehend text. The theory most often cited is Scarborough's Reading Rope as conceived by Dr. Hollis S. Scarborough. Dr. Scarborough believed that the elements of Word Recognition and the elements of Language Comprehension all weave together into the rope of Reading Comprehension. Just like a true rope, the more strands present and the stronger each strand is, the stronger the rope is. It is surmised that if ...

When students graduate from our schools and school systems, where do they go? We hope that they are enrolled, enlisted, or employed. We hope that we have helped them accomplish their dreams and reach their goals. Today’s guest on the EdLeader podcast is focused on meeting students where they are and taking them as far as they want to go.Dr. Jeff Cox became the 11th President of the North Carolina Community College System on June 1, 2023. Dr. Cox previously served as president of Wilkes Commun...

Leaders tend to dive into the work and forget about themselves. Later, they find themselves feeling drained, frustrated, and tired. You have heard the clarion calls to prioritize your own self-care. We have also heard that self-care is not selfish. Though important aspects, self-care is more than just exercise and eating well. It is also prioritizing your own growth, continuous learning, building a support network, achieving a work-life balance, and choosing personal joy.EdLeader host D...

In a world that tips towards negativity and defeatism, EdLeaders have the opportunity to brighten life and sew positivity through Bringing Joy into the schoolhouse and into the lives of students and staff every day. Donna L. Bledsoe, principal of Cedar Ridge Elementary School in Surry County, NC was selected as the 2023 North Carolina State Principal of the Year. She encourages every EdLeader to "Bring the Joy" every day.Since becoming the leader of the small, rural school in 2016, Ms. ...

Stephen M. R. Covey is the author of Wall Street Journal #1 Bestseller, Trust and Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash Greatness in Others. Joining Dr. Jackson for a truly inspirational conversation, Covey believes that even though our world has changed drastically, our leadership style has not.Most organizations, teams, schools, and families today still operate from a model of “Command and Control,” focusing on hierarchies and compliance from people. But because of the changing nat...

Previous episodes in the Science of Reading series have focused on the strands of fluency, background knowledge, sight word recognition, verbal reasoning, literacy knowledge, decoding, and language structures. With this episode, we continue deconstructing the reading rope.Today, Dr. Jackson pulls out the strand of phonological awareness. His guest host for this episode is ChatGPT. ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI. Although OpenAI does not claim personal authorship or intell...

In education, I am surrounded by incredibly caring people who want to make a difference. For years, as an ice breaker in a meeting, an introduction in a presentation, or in an interview question, I have asked the question, ‘Why do you want to be a teacher, a counselor, a principal, a superintendent, or an educator?’For years, the universal answer has been and is, “I want to make a difference!”As I think about it, with few exceptions, I can say that my colleagues have each made or are making a...

Welcome to the 2023 - 2024 school year! It is hard for me to believe that this school year marks the EdLeader podcast’s fifth school year seeking to add value to the work and professional and personal lives of EdLeaders.Recently I was humbled when the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction selected the EdLeader podcast as a Promising Practice in the state and added it to their collection on the Promising Practices webpage.The EdLeader podcast community continues to grow worldwide bec...