Rethinking Learning Podcast

Jimmy Casas served twenty-two years as a school leader. He is a best-selling author, speaker, leadership coach, and currently serves as an adjunct professor at Drake University teaching a graduate course on Educational Leadership. Jimmy is the CEO and President of J Casas and Associates aimed at serving teachers, principals and superintendents in school districts across the country by providing high quality, practical and meaningful coaching support.

         

I’ve been following Jimmy on social media, have read his books and refer to his book, “Culturize” especially when helping schools develop positive cultures. I had so much fun talking with Jimmy and even learned something that I think he never told anyone before. Enjoy!

 

You and your family

I was born and raised in Iowa and continue to live in Iowa. I also have a home in Chicago since it is the hub and easy to get in and out of. A good reason for moving there was my oldest son, AJ, recently got transferred to Kalamazoo, Michigan and works for Stryker Corporation. He’s done really well and we’re very proud of him and all of our three children. My oldest daughter, Miraya, graduated from college, lives at our home in Bettendorf, and is a full-time nurse in labor and delivery. My youngest daughter, Marisa, who is 18, is a freshman at the University of Iowa. We’re all proud to be hawks and feel very very blessed that we have three beautiful children who are very kind young people. As parents, that’s all we can ask for is that our children are good people who have good hearts.

What Connected Educators Do with Jimmy Casas – YouTube

Experiences in and out of school that impacted you

I struggled in school, but I did have teachers in elementary school who really cared about me, supported me and tolerated me. Somewhere along the way when I got to middle school, I lost my way. That was due to a loss of confidence and struggling in terms of reading. Literacy was always an issue for me. I was good at math in elementary school, but when I got to middle school, I lost confidence in math also. By the time I got to high school, academics was very difficult for me.

“All of these experiences lead us on a journey to who we are and what we do with that. What do we do with the experiences to make a change in a positive way in our personal lives and hopefully in the lives of others?”

When I left school I didn’t intend to become an educator. I actually had other ideas of what I wanted to do. Life comes at you and I wasn’t ready for the rigors of college. I was not only a dropout of college once, twice, but three times. At one point, i gave up and thought college was not for me so I left and went to work in a sales job for a year whi...

Heather Wolpert-Gawron is a middle school ELA teacher, 21st Century Learning Instructional Coach, curriculum design geek, and PBL coach. She has written many books including her latest, Just Ask Us: Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement. Heather blogs on her site, TweenTeacher and is a staff blogger on Edutopia, a Fellow of the National Writing Project, and a National Faculty member of the Buck Institute.

         

I was fortunate to spend some time with Heather at the CUE conference where we geeked out. I just knew I had to learn more about her. It was a hoot having a conversation with Heather so I hope you get a chance to listen to her podcast and read the post we put together. Enjoy!

 

About you and your family

I am the wife to Royce, whom I met in 2nd grade, after karate-chopping him at recess. Additionally, I am a mom to two boys, both of whom always have leaves in their hair from some adventure or other. She lives with all of her boys and their boxer/corgi mix, their laughter, and chaos, in Los Angeles, CA where they play Dungeons & Dragons every week, building their cross-over stories and adventures together.

You know how you never can find a picture of the whole family because someone’s always the one taking the picture? Well, here’s the most recent of us four. I was away presenting at the AMLE conference in Florida this year, and I end each night when I’m away either reading to the boys via Facebook or listening to them and their day. This was a typical day’s end moment of Royce trying to hold down the fort before signing off for the night.

 

What education was like when you were young

I was a real disengaged student. I went to some great schools but I found ways to do the minimum. I got easy Bs if I like you and tried harder and got some As, but I also got Cs and even a couple Ds in my time. I understand those kids who skirt through school never really being triggered by something exciting. So it was kind of a surprise for me when I realized I wanted to be a teacher which I found kind of late in life.

 

Your journey as an educator

I went back to school for my credential again was another eye-opening experience because I sat there listening to how to collaborate and do hands-on learning by reading about it in a book. I realized that this lack of engagement was a theme not just in K-12 but beyond. That became a huge focus for me and fueled my interest in project-based learning. It also propelled me to write my latest book and to this passion for engagement. This quote from Kerry Gallagher stuck with me: “Engagement first, then content, then rigor in that order.” You can’t have it any other way. That’s why I am trying to bring engagement standards to the same level of importance as content standards.

Dave Burgess is the New York Times Best-Selling author of Teach Like a PIRATE, co-author of P is for PIRATE, and the president of Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc. which delivers powerful, inspirational, and innovative books, keynotes, and professional development.

         

I have had conversations with many of Dave and Shelley’s authors and now see that it is all about passion. I was honored and very excited to have a conversation with Dave and learn his story. Listen and enjoy.

 

You and your family

I was born and raised in San Diego, CA, and live there with my wife, Shelley, who is an educator and runs our consulting business with me. We have two children. My son, Hayden, is a senior in high school, and my daughter, Ashlyn, is a sophomore. We are just getting into the college applications with our son right now. His top possibilities are University of Miami and UC Santa Barbara. He’s a big-time scuba diver and into marine science so he wants to be on a coast somewhere.

The only time I did not live in San Diego was the five years I went to school at UC Davis as a psychology major which is a great major for educators or even in business. Understanding the mind and how people think is a critical thing.

 

Your journey as a student and an educator

I was a good student and did very well in school, but I was not highly engaged in or on fire about school. I was good at playing the game of school. I knew what I needed to do and I did that. I had some good and bad teachers. I was good at jumping all the hurdles and going through all the hoops I needed to do. My gateway into teaching was as a basketball coach.

The first job I ever held was for three summers with the John Wootten’s Basketball Camps in Thousand Oaks, CA. I came out of college doing various things and different entrepreneurial ventures and then took a job as the boy’s junior varsity basketball coach at high school.

I enjoyed working with the kids so much and coaching that I went back at night to get my teaching credential. Then I became a History teacher in the social studies department at the school where I was coaching and became the girl’s varsity basketball coach. It all started with basketball. I also met my wife, Shelley, in the night classes where we were both getting our teaching credentials.

Empty Kids Into the Gift Shop: Homework thoughts from Dave Burgess https://youtu.be/3CocrqSNGNM

 

Being on Fire

I do miss the day-to-day banter with students along with the kind of relationships you can build when you see someone every day for 180 days. But I am really on fire about what I do now and going around speaking and publishing.

Julia Torres is a Librarian and Language Arts teacher at a public high school in Denver, Colorado and writes and publishes on Medium.com for her students and the wider audience. As an advocate for all students and public education, Julia facilitates workshops and professional conversations about equity, anti-bias/anti-racist education, culturally sustaining pedagogies, and literacy in the digital age.

         

I met Julia at the 5Sigma Conference at the Anastasis Academy in Colorado. As soon as we started talking, it seemed like we had always known each other. I sat in her session about teaching tolerance and knew that I had to connect with her. We kept in touch, saw each other at SXSW, and just had to follow up with a podcast. Enjoy the podcast and what Julia wrote and shared below.

 

Let’s talk about you and your family.

I am originally from Southern California, but when I was a teenager, I lived in Brazil and this changed my life.  My father died when I was young, and my mother raised me. She is bilingual (Spanish and English), so she taught me Spanish from birth. In Brazil, where I lived for one year and have been traveling on an almost-yearly basis for the last 23 years, I learned Portuguese, which I consider to be the language of my heart.  As such, multiculturalism and multilingualism is a big part of who I am. I currently live and teach in Denver, Colorado where I am lucky to work in the largest (and only urban) school district in the state. I have taught Language Arts since 2005, and am currently what is termed a teacher-librarian. My main job is to help students re-ignite their passion for reading by finding new and creative ways to introduce them to books, authors, and the written and spoken word.

 

What was it like when you were young and in school?

When I was young, I remember liking school because I was a very curious person.  I was also always in a book. I have always been a passionate reader and a secret writer.  I remember school being easy because I was one of those kids who just knew how to do school.  Language arts was always really easy for me, but math was where I struggled. My math classes traumatized me. Friends who are math teachers now chastise me all the time for labeling myself as “not a math person”, but I still think it’s true!  I cried a lot because of my math grades. I was that person with all As and a D bordering on an F–in math class. I remember school being about impressing the teacher with how well-behaved, obedient I could be, and how well I could do what they wanted.  I definitely suffered from “pretty brown-girl syndrome” in which we are taught to be quiet, obedient, and twice as skilled as anyone else…I internalized the lesson many Bla...

Hans Appel has been a Counselor at Enterprise Middle School in the Richland School District in WA for the past 17+ years. Recently, Hans launched his own blog about School Culture and this fall rolled out a student-led leadership podcast called Award Winning Culture: Hosted by Wildcat Nation.

         

Hans is absolutely driven to help students and educators find purpose and joy in life. Just listening to his passion when he talks about school culture and Character Strong made me want to learn more about him, his life, the kids, and his school. Below are excerpts from our conversation.   

 

About you and where you live

I was born in Westfield, New Jersey, and an only child. My family moved to Corpus Christie, Texas when I was a little kid. My dad was a chemical engineer and my mom was an art teacher and interior designer. When I was in second grade, we moved to Richland, Washington so he could work at the Hanford Nuclear site. I spent most of my life here and went to Hanford High School where I met my wife, Jennifer and been married for 19 of the 24 years we’ve been together. Jennifer is a passionate educator and teaches at the same school as me, Enterprise Middle School, as a Language Arts teacher and teaches leadership. We are fortunate to work together and talk the same language.

We don’t have children of our own. Our kids are the kids at our school where we spend our energy. We have two dogs that are Shelties who are babies who we love and spoil. We live in the city of Kennewick which is in the Southeast corner of Washington and is much drier than Seattle. It is more like the climate of Napa, CA so it is conducive to growing wine.

Your journey in school

A school was good up through elementary school. Middle school was where school got really hard for me. My parents were fighting a lot in kind of an abusive home and not the greatest situation for me at that age. Learning in school really became secondary. I didn’t get good grades in middle school and didn’t find my own until high school where I got into sports. I’m 6’4” so I was a basketball player. The more I got into basketball, the more I realized that grades mattered. I had to keep my grades up to stay eligible, but that is also where I started getting excited about my education. I went to Central Washington University which was 2 hours away. I took business and psychology classes. The more psychology classes I took, the more I realized I was more into human behavior and how to help others.

While I was in college, my parents went through a divorce, and I became their mediator. This was a weird role to play as a 19 or 20-year-old kid, but I kind of helped both of them through that experience. So while all of that was going on, Jennifer was in the education program.

Evan Robb is Principal of Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville, Virginia, is a recipient of the Horace Mann Educator of the Year Award and served on the N.C.T.E. National Commission for Reading. He is an author of the Principal’s Leadership Sourcebook and a new book The Ten Minute Principal. He has his own podcast, The Robb Review Podcast, and a blog, The Robb Review Blog, with his mother, Laura Robb. In addition, Evan shares conversations with educators on DisruptED TV.

         

I have been following Evan on Twitter and have been listening to his podcast for some time. Then I found out that Evan has been named one of the top 25 educational leaders to follow on Twitter and that he was one of the hosts on DisruptEd TV.  I decided it was way past time to have a conversation with him on my podcast so we did. I loved our conversation and hope you enjoy it also. Below are excerpts from the podcast along with some resources and links.

 

About you and who inspired you

When anyone finds any success in their life, it usually means they have really great people behind them to help them get to that place. I did not start on a path to be an educator. In fact, I tried to avoid that when I was younger since both my parents were educators. But through fate and interesting interventions, I ended up choosing a path in education and have been thrilled about that choice. I’m in my 28th year now as an educator and hope to do many more. One of the reasons that I ultimately decided on the pathway of education was my mother, Laura Robb, who remains a career educator and who has been a consistent source of inspiration for me.

This inspiration is in terms of leadership, my commitment to children, and teaching and learning. Laura has written over 30 books and does a lot more speaking than I do, but I am fortunate that my mother lives around the corner from me. We do podcasts together at my house on a Sunday afternoon where we love to share our thoughts about education.

 

About you as a student

My years as a student were not always positive, but they ultimately shaped the person who I am today. One of the experiences I talk about in our podcast is when I was in middle school, I never read a book. I didn’t have to because it was a very traditional school and our teachers would read out loud to us. I wasn’t required to do independent reading, and, now as I look back, it is not what I recommend for anyone to follow. 

The other thing that I’ll share is that I was a champion of extra credit when I was in middle school. I would take some tissues or paper towels from our house and bring them to class to make some extra points.

Todd Nesloney was a classroom teacher for seven years before taking the leap straight from classroom teacher to campus principal at John C. Webb Elementary in Navasota, Texas. Todd took over a struggling campus and brought in a brand new staff. He used his creative ideas to transform the campus and has been recognized with many awards even by the White House.

         

Todd has written several books including “Kids Deserve It” with Adam Welcome, Stories from Webb, and now Sparks in the Dark with Travis Crowder. We did this podcast a few months ago so we put together this excerpt from the conversation and added some new resources and links to share with you.

 

About you and your family

I was born and live in Texas my whole life. I taught for seven years and now in my fifth year as campus principal. I love teaching and working with the underserved families and kids.  I have found a passion in reading and writing over the last couple years which led to the creation of Kids Deserve It, Stories from Webb, and now Sparks in the Dark with my best friend, Travis Crowder. He is a secondary teacher in North Carolina and we just published our book about reading and writing instruction.  I love what I do which means getting to work with kids and adults and, yes, I do a little traveling and speaking too. I do balance my life though and make sure I spend time with my wife, Lisette, in the evenings, read a book, watch a movie, or sit and talk with my family. 

Lisette and I celebrated our 6th anniversary last April. We have two dogs named Paris and Jet. We live in Brenham, Texas that is the home of Blue Bell ice cream. We are the only city that has every flavor ice cream but I love their vanilla. I work in Navasota school district that is 30 minutes up the road right outside of Houston. I’ve lived in Brenham for over 24 years and have never regretted working in education.

 

What it was like for you as a student

Growing up, I always loved working with kids. For 13 years, I worked every summer for a week at a children’s summer camp with my church. I hold the record for going the most amount of years to be a helper there. When I was in high school in my junior year, my school signed up to be a pilot school for a class called “Ready, Set, Teach.”  I took this class to see if being a teacher is what I really wanted to do.

There were 12 of us in the class. In my senior year I was ready for “Ready, Set, Teach 2” with only one other student. It was pretty much an internship where several days a week instead of going to class, I was assigned to a teacher at the local elementary school. I was more like a student teacher getting experience in the classroom, and that’s when I knew that teaching is what I wanted to d...

Kerry Gallagher is the St. John’s Prep Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning, ConnectSafely Director of Education, an EdSurge Columnist, ASCD Emerging Leader, a TEDx and Keynote Speaker, and an attorney.

         

I was fortunate to do an Ignite at ISTE in 2016 at the same time as Kerry. She was so amazing that they asked her to come back and do her presentation again before the keynote in front of 6,000 people. She was amazing! Below are excerpts from the podcast that was recorded several months ago.

 

About you and your family

I’m a mom of two girls; Shannon is 9 and loves to write and create. Morgan is 6 years old and is wild and adventurous. I’m married 13 years and am lucky enough to be close to my parents, my siblings, and their spouses. We go skiing together in New Hampshire every weekend in the winter. Being a mom and an educator, I feel like I won the lottery. It’s a great combination of things I love to do with the people I love to be with.

 

 

What was it like for you as a learner

I think of learning in two different ways; learning because you want to versus learning because you have to. I was a competitive dancer and skier. That learning was physical and kinesthetic and I was passionate about it. There was also some competition that made it fun to work together with my teammates. I love that kind of challenge in learning. I was learning because I wanted to. The other way is what I learned in school; learning because I had to. I was really good at playing the game of school. Give me homework. I can do it well and get my grade. You tell me I have a test coming and I know how to study and prepare for it, take it, and get my grade. When I think about the way I am planning learning for teachers or students in the classroom, I really want them to feel the way I felt about dancing and skiing. I want them to feel that passion and that energy and drive. I want schools to build passion in our learners so they want to do better and improve themselves.

There are two reasons to become a teacher. 1: Because you love the subject matter like chemistry, or early American history, or math. 2: Because you are passionate about working with children. No matter which was your reason for becoming a teacher, if you can challenge yourself to be both passionate about what you are teaching and who you are teaching, then that’s where the magic happens. If your learners know that you desperately care for them and you have this deep fire in your belly for what you teach, then you’ll hook them just because they see your passion. They will want to feel that way too. Connecting to their everyday lives is a really easy way to do this. Just modeling that enthusiasm is a great way to start.

 

Your background in teaching

Bethany Hill serves as Lead Learner, Chief Energy Officer, and Chief Storyteller at Central Elementary in Cabot, Arkansas. She has been in education for 19 years in the roles of kindergarten, first, second, and third-grade classroom teacher, curriculum coach, assistant principal, and principal. Bethany is one of the originators of #EduAR and founder of #JoyfulLeaders.

         

I have been following Bethany on Twitter for some time and am constantly inspired by her, especially as Chief Energy Officer. I also really wanted to talk about what it means to be joyful. Below are excerpts from the podcast:

 

You and your family

I live right outside of Little Rock, Arkansas about 30 minutes from the capital in the community of Cabot. I went away for college and came back to live here. All of my family lives here. I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 24 years. We have two boys. Tyler went to the University of Arkansas as a secondary education planning on teaching math at the middle or high school level and coach. Garrett just finished 9th grade at the Cabot Freshman Academy in the same district I serve as a principal.

 

Your background in education

When I was a little girl, I grew up with the best parents ever. We did not have a lot of money, grew our own food, and my mother made our clothes. That was my world, but I never wanted for anything because I was very loved and cared for. From the time I was very little, I just wanted to teach. I pretended to teach my stuffed animals, created a teacher name for myself, and it was always what I did. No one in my family went to college so that was a big dream for me and I did in spite of not having the financial backing for it. We found ways to make it happen. I’m the first one to graduate from college in my family and then to go on and get a masters. I’m very proud that my son will be the second one to graduate from college from my side of the family.

Transitioning to Principal of Central Elementary

We have about 500 kids in pre-K to 4th grade. We have quite a few young children, around 100 of the kids four-year-olds. We have 70 certified and classified staff and we’re in Cabot School district with about 12,000 which for Arkansas which is quite big. When I first became principal there, we were around 400 kids but we’ve had a growth in our community in the last couple of years. I added a new Pre-K classroom a couple of years ago and last year an additional Kindergarten classroom, so we’re full now with no extra room.

Amanda Picard • Assistant Principal, Bethany Hill • Principal

 

An Energy Bus Model Campus

I was assistant principal at a different school down the street and had to step into a new role with a new staff.

Dr. Katie Martin is the Head of Partnerships-West at AltSchool. Over the last 5 years, she has worked in diverse contexts to learn, research, and support deeper learning for all students. She has served as a middle school English language teacher, literacy coach, new teacher mentor, university instructor, and coordinator of district programs. Katie is the author of Learner-Centered Innovation.

         

I’ve known Katie for over five years and about her passion to create experiences that empower all learners to develop knowledge, skills, and mindsets to thrive in a changing world. I read a draft of her book, read the published version, and couldn’t wait to talk to her about it. Below are some excerpts from the podcast along with resources and links.

 

You and your family

We currently live in San Diego, California and grew up here most of my life. I met my husband, Mac, in Hawaii. After I graduated from college, I moved to Hawaii to teach and luckily he did also. We met teaching 3 doors down from each other. He was the 7th-grade science teacher and I was the 7th grade English Language Arts teachers. Our new teacher mentor introduced us. We started dating and kept it from our students for the first year. They loved it when they found out. We ended up staying there, married and had two kids, Abby and Zac, who were born in Hawaii. After we were there for 10 years, our kids were ready to start school. Mac got a job teaching at High Tech High that allowed us to move back to San Diego and be closer to my family. My kids were in 2nd and 3rd grade at the time of this podcast. It’s fun to see them grow up and see the school through their eyes.

 

What it was like for you as a learner

I was not the typical child who played being a teacher presenting to all my stuffed animals. My mom is an amazing first-grade teacher so I spent a lot of time in her class. She was doing makerspaces and projects over 20+ years ago so I learned a lot from her. But I wasn’t experiencing the same kind of learning in my own classrooms when I was a student. Very early on in 3rd grade, I remember thinking “how much longer do I have to be in school? This is horrible.” The reason I say that because I remember my teacher telling me I had to read the “Mouse and the Motorcycle.” It was the first time a teacher said to me that I had to read this book and a specific chapter. I was not inspired by that at all. I had a strong aversion to reading and just did what I had to do to get by. I always got As and Bs but I was not motivated nor passionate about filling in worksheets. It just didn’t do it for me. This made me not want to be a teacher.

 

TedTalk: Teachers Create What they Experience