Topaz Adizes is an Emmy-award winning creator who helps build the space between two people through deep and meaningful conversations. We have one of those for you today. Jethro and Topaz share how to listen better, ask better questions, and have intention in the conversations we have. 

• {The AND} and 12 Questions for Love
• Illuminating the space between
• What 12 questions would be the questions that spark a deep relationship
• Trial and error - what questions work, and in what sequence?
• WHy are these questions and others working or not working? 
• {The AND} is a format
• It’s about holding the space for people. 
• There are as many stories of relationships as there are sands of the sea. 
• It is what is.
• The Skin Deep is an experience design studio. 
• The media suggests that the speaker is important. 
• Questions fall into some sort of societal programming
• Ask questions that go deeper than the simple questions we usually ask
• Intention and well-constructed questions
• They’re asking themselves “How do we ensure that our students rank high?” 
• Asking another question will lead to different behaviors and different questions? 
• How do we make sure that each student feels that this school would not be the same if they were not here? 
• What Learning Looks like
• Coworkers - What values do we not share with our parents? 
• Reframing
• Learning is always individual
• How do I apply that in new formats
• The path to the heart is really listening. 
• Listening with the body, being present to the space. 
• If we’re not listening to the response, we’re not on the path to connection. 
• What kind of conversation are we having? 
• 4 meetings: checkin, brainstorm, social, decision-making.
• Education is high stakes, what is this conversation about?
• Common definitions of what we are talking about. 
• We are all on a journey
• Where do we learn to really communicate?

Please add your bio here: 

Topaz Adizes is an Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and experience design architect. He is an Edmund Hillary fellow and Sundance/Skoll stories of change fellow. His works have been selected to Cannes, Sundance, IDFA, and SXSW; featured in New Yorker magazine, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times; and have garnered an Emmy for new approaches to documentary and Two World Press photo awards for immersive storytelling and interactive documentary. He is currently the founder and executive director of the experience design studio The Skin Deep. Topaz studied philosophy at UC Berkeley and Oxford University. He speaks four languages, and currently lives in Mexico with his wife and two children. For more about The Skin Deep, visit TheSkinDeep.com. To learn more about Topaz Adizes and his work, visit TopazAdizes.com.

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.