Leading Out The Woods

🎙️ Anchor Chat #35 – Your Calendar Tells the Truth

If someone looked at your calendar over the last two weeks, what would it tell them about your leadership priorities? 📅As educational leaders, we often talk about the importance of instructional leadership, building relationships, supporting teachers, and improving student outcomes. But here's the question: Does how we spend our time actually reflect those priorities? In this episode of Anchor Chats, I reflect on how our calendars can reveal more about our leadership than we sometimes realize.

We explore:
✔️ The difference between stated priorities and demonstrated priorities
✔️ Why being busy doesn't necessarily mean being effective
✔️ How reactive leadership can consume our time and attention
✔️ Practical strategies for protecting time for classroom visits, staff engagement, and strategic planning
✔️ The importance of periodically auditing our calendars to ensure we're investing time where it matters mostLet's be clear.

Unexpected challenges, meetings, and operational responsibilities will always be part of leadership. The goal isn't to have a perfect calendar. It's to be intentional about how we use the time we have.Your calendar is often a reflection of what you're prioritizing, whether you realize it or not.

Here's my challenge to you this week: Take a look at your calendar from the last two weeks. What patterns do you notice? What might need to change?Don't just tell people what matters.

Let your calendar demonstrate it.

🎙️ #ThrowbackThursday – Episode #48: The Science of Happiness & Wellbeing for Educators

What if prioritizing your own happiness and wellbeing could make you an even more effective educator and leader?

This week, we're revisiting an inspiring conversation with Kim Strobel, education consultant, speaker, and happiness coach, as we explore the science behind happiness and why prioritizing our personal wellbeing matters in education.In a profession where we're constantly giving our time, energy, and attention to others, it's easy to overlook the importance of investing in ourselves.

In this episode, Kim shares valuable insights into:
✅ Why the science of happiness and wellbeing is so important to her personally and professionally.
✅ Practical strategies educators can use to increase their happiness and overall wellbeing.
✅ The importance of being intentional about our own happiness while navigating the daily demands of education.

This conversation serves as a reminder that taking care of ourselves isn't separate from the work we do for students and colleagues—it's an important part of sustaining that work. We spend so much time helping others thrive. Are we making time to do the same for ourselves? Take a moment to revisit this conversation and reflect on how you're prioritizing your own happiness and wellbeing.

Throwback Thursday! Teacher Internships

How can we better prepare aspiring teachers for the realities of today's classrooms? This week, we're revisiting an important conversation with Jeff Davis, Director of Clinical Practice & Partnerships at the University of Virginia School of Education, as we explore the role of teacher internships and clinical experiences in preparing the next generation of educators. In this episode, Jeff shares valuable insights into the current teacher preparation landscape and how schools and universities can work together to strengthen the experiences of aspiring teachers.

Key Takeaways:
✅ Jeff discusses the current teacher preparation environment and the opportunities to better support future educators.
✅ Strategies for enriching clinical experiences and ensuring aspiring teachers gain meaningful, hands-on learning opportunities.
✅ The importance of strengthening partnerships between school divisions and educator preparation programs.As we continue conversations around teacher recruitment and retention, we must also consider how we're preparing educators before they enter the profession.

🌲 Preparing great teachers doesn't begin on their first day in the classroom. It begins with the experiences and support we provide along the way.

🎙️ Episode #138 – Leading with Identity When the Path Isn't Clear

What keeps you grounded as a leader when the path forward isn't always clear? I'm excited to welcome Dr. Amanda Austin, Director (Principal) of Iberville Math, Science, and Arts Academy East, to Leading Out The Woods for an insightful conversation about leading with purpose, staying true to your values, and navigating the challenges that come with school leadership. As educational leaders, we're constantly navigating competing priorities, difficult decisions, and external pressures. But how do we ensure that the decisions we make remain aligned with who we are and what we want our schools to become?

In this episode, we explore:
✔️ Why establishing a clear school identity matters for culture, instruction, and decision-making
✔️ The difference between a school that simply looks successful and one that has a strong, purposeful culture
✔️ How leaders can remain grounded during staffing challenges, policy changes, and community pressures
✔️ Practical strategies for embedding a school's identity into everyday practices, from hiring to professional learning
✔️ The importance of staying true to your values when outside influences threaten to pull you off course

This conversation serves as a reminder that effective leadership isn't always about having all the answers. Sometimes, it's about having a clear understanding of your purpose and allowing that to guide your next steps When the path isn't clear, your purpose and identity become your compass.

Throwback Thursday – Episode #17: Teacher Efficacy: Reaching All Learners

This week, we're revisiting an insightful conversation with Dr. Katie Novak, internationally renowned education consultant, as we explore the importance of teacher efficacy, inclusive practices, and creating learning environments that meet the diverse needs of students.

In this episode, Dr. Novak shares her experiences and practical insights on how educators can strengthen their instructional practices while building a collective commitment to student success.

Key Takeaways:
✅ The importance of implementing inclusive instructional practices that support all learners.
✅ Strategies for building collective teacher efficacy and strengthening collaboration among educators.
✅ How creating supportive, inclusive learning environments can help educators better respond to students' individual needs.

This conversation reminds us that reaching all learners isn't simply about individual teaching strategies. It's about building a shared belief that, together, we can make a meaningful difference in student learning.

🌲 When educators believe in their collective ability to make an impact, powerful things can happen for students.

Anchor Chat #34: Who Owns the Problem?

In this episode of Anchor Chats, Dr. Woods reflects on Who Owns the Problem? and the tendency for leaders to take on every challenge brought their way. He explores the difference between supporting someone through a problem and assuming responsibility for solving it. Dr. Woods challenges leaders to pause, clarify ownership, ask the right questions, and empower others to develop solutions—because effective leadership isn’t about carrying every problem; it’s about building the capacity of others to solve them.

Throwback Thursday! Building Bridges: School Boards, Communities, and Administrators Unite

Originally Released On: 11-15-24

This week, we’re revisiting one of our timeless episodes from Leading Out The Woods! In this episode, Special Guest Ja'Quez D. Taylor, Former School Board Chair and active School Board Member in NC, joins Dr. Woods to discuss how effective collaboration among these key stakeholders can drive student success and strengthen school communities.

Throwback Thursday! Started from the Bottom, Now I'm Here

Originally Released On: 6-18-21

This week, we’re revisiting one of our timeless episodes from Leading Out The Woods! In this episode:

✅ Darrion discusses how he motivates and inspires his students and school community.
✅ Darrion shares advice with other educators trying to make a positive impact with students at-risk.

Whether you’re hearing it for the first time or revisiting a classic, this conversation is packed with insights that still resonate today. 🎧

🎙️ Episode #137 – Roaches in My Cereal: And the Moral Imperative to Reimagine School

What if some of the things we've accepted as "just the way school works" are the very things we need to rethink? I'm excited to welcome Dr. Melvin J. Brown, Superintendent in Residence at Defined, LLC, longtime educational leader, and author of Roaches in My Cereal: And the Moral Imperative to Reimagine School, to Leading Out The Woods.In this episode, we challenge ourselves to think differently about the systems and structures we've inherited in education—and what it will take to create schools that better prepare EVERY student for lifelong success. Our conversation explores:

✔️ Why there is a moral imperative to reimagine school
✔️ Challenging long-standing assumptions about education
✔️ Moving beyond practices simply because "we've always done it that way"
✔️ Creating systems that better respond to the needs of today's students
✔️ The role educational leaders play in turning bold ideas into meaningful change

Reimagining school isn't simply about introducing the next program or initiative. It's about having the courage to examine what we're doing, ask whether it's still serving students, and be willing to build something better. Sometimes transformation begins with the willingness to question what we've learned to accept.

Throwback Thursday! Is Financial Literacy Working?
Originally Released On: 7-15-2022

This week, we’re revisiting one of our timeless episodes from Leading Out The Woods! In this episode:

✅ Dr. Thomas shares how we should conceptualize financial literacy.
✅ Dr. Thomas discusses barriers students and families routinely encounter when learning about financial literacy.

Whether you’re hearing it for the first time or revisiting a classic, this conversation is packed with insights that still resonate today.