The Authority Podcast — Expert Insights and Fresh Ideas for Education Leaders

Jeffrey Benson, author of the ASCD best-seller Improve Every Lesson Plan with SEL, is the guest for this episode.

Jeffrey and Ross discuss:

• Jeffrey’s extensive work with students who suffered the trauma of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
• “Are you willing to bet that your lesson plan will work – and work for every student?”
• How “home-field advantage” can inform perspectives on the classroom
• Jeffrey’s personal definition of SEL
• The process of co-creating social-emotional learning goals with students
• “Differentiated autonomy” in the classroom
• How an emphasis on SEL leads to improved formative assessment
• The critical importance of an intentional closure routine for lessons
• Reconnecting teachers with their “best moments of teaching [that] have always been informed by the social and emotional learning of [their] students”
• And more!

This is a wide-ranging conversation you won’t want to miss.

Improve Every Lesson Plan with SEL is published by ASCD. Buy it  HERE.

Subscribe to The Authority to get more deep-dive interviews with education authors. Visit https://bepodcast.network to learn more about the Be Podcast Network for educators.

About the guest

Jeffrey Benson has more than 40 years of experience as a teacher, mentor, and school administrator, with a focus on supporting schools that can work for all students. His books include Improve Every Lesson Plan with SEL, Hanging In: Strategies for Working with the Students Who Challenge Us Most, and 10 Steps for Managing Change in Schools: How do we take initiatives from goals to actions? His website is JeffreyBenson.org. Connect on Twitter @jeffreybenson61

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies LLC. He is a leadership development and performance coach for professionals in a range of industries and consults with organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry to help communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Twitter @RossBRomano and LinkedIn

Learn more about today's sponsor, Playworks:

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. 

Award-winning writer, teacher, and sought-after speaker Elizabeth Jorgensen is this episode’s guest. She joins the show to discuss Hacking Student Learning Habits, her book on process-based assessment published by Times 10 Publications. 

Ross and Elizabeth discuss:

• How to introduce small, measurable, progress-driven goals while de-emphasizing grades as the outcome
• A relevant story from James Clear’s Atomic Habits that illustrates key concepts about student learning
• The standards of evaluation for process-based assessment
• Helping students build daily habits that encourage progress, not perfection
• Why it would be counterproductive to accept late student work
• Transferring control to the student
• “Trust the process.”

Hacking Student Learning Habits: 9 Ways to Foster Resilient Learners and Assess the Process, Not the Outcome is available from Times 10 Publications. Get it HERE.

Visit Elizabeth’s website: https://lizjorgensen.weebly.com/

Subscribe to The Authority to get more deep-dive interviews with education authors. Visit https://bepodcast.network to learn more about the Be Podcast Network for educators.

About today’s guest

Elizabeth Jorgensen is an award-winning writer and teacher. In 2021, she was named one of 20 of America’s Most Inspiring Educators (The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation Teacher Innovator Awards). She was also named a PBS Innovative Educator, among several other awards. Her memoir was released in 2019. Narrated in alternating voices, Go, Gwen, Go: A Family’s Journey to Olympic Gold (Meyer & Meyer Sport), is an inspiring story about Olympian Gwen Jorgensen and her family. Follow her on Twitter @LyzaJo

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Twitter @RossBRomano

Learn more about today's sponsor, Playworks:

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. 

Veteran educator and consultant Mike Anderson joins the podcast this week to discuss his ninth book, Tackling the Motivation Crisis: How to Activate Student Learning Without Behavior Charts, Pizza Parties, and Other Hard-to-Quit Incentive Systems.

Mike and Ross discuss:

• Evidence of the motivation crisis in schools — but why it also may not be as bad as it seems
• What’s wrong with incentives?
• Why incentive systems are so hard to quit
• The six key intrinsic motivators and how educators can use them to get students engaged
• “We need to make sure students’ academic work is compelling and interesting enough that they will want to do it.”
• The times when extrinsic motivation might work

Tackling the Motivation Crisis is published by ASCD. Find it HERE.

Additional Resources:

• Access Mike’s LiveBinder with many more resources on tackling the motivation crisis: LiveBinder Link
• Learn about Mike’s eCourse on Tackling the Motivation Crisis.

Subscribe to The Authority to get more deep-dive interviews with education authors. It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit https://bepodcast.network to learn more about the Be Podcast Network for educators.

About today’s guest

Mike Anderson has been an educator for more than 25 years. A public school teacher for 15 years, he has also taught preschool, coached swim teams, and taught university graduate level classes. He now works as a consultant, providing professional learning for teachers throughout the United States and beyond. In 2020, he was awarded the Outstanding Educational Leader Award by NHASCD for his work as a consultant. Learn more at https://leadinggreatlearning.com or connect on Twitter @balancedteacher

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Twitter @RossBRomano

Learn more about today's sponsor, Playworks:

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. 

In this episode, we talk with Michael Horn, Author of the book, “From Reopen to Reinvent”.

In this episode we talk about the following: - Thinking a lot about why people make changes in their daily lives. - 4 core sets of reasons that cause people to make a switch. - Help them make better switches. - Systematically said all these things are of lower priority. - What motivates people to make changes - the push of the current situation - The pull of the new - Anxiety of starting a new school. - Habits of the present - Parents and perceptions of schooling. - Finding more success in alternative models. - Educational entrepreneurs are continuing to innovate - How to help teachers: 1 size fits all mindset get rid of it. - Come at it from a question that sparks their interest. - 2nd. Seeing a lot more coteaching

Learn more about today's sponsor, Playworks:

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. 

In this episode, school librarian Ryan Bani Tahmaseb discusses his book The 21st Century School Library: A model for innovative teaching & learning.

Some areas of conversation include:

• How administrators and teachers can lean on the library to support teaching, learning, and innovation
• The modern role of a school librarian – and what is still misunderstood
• How librarians can be a valuable resource to new teachers
• The benefits of engaging students in hands-on learning
• How to “revitalize research” so students can develop original work that shows their learning
• Balancing free exploration with important lessons on information literacy and digital literacy
• The librarian’s role in supporting inclusivity

The 21st Century School Library is available from John Catt Educational. Find it here.  

Subscribe to The Authority to get more deep-dive interviews with education authors. It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit https://bepodcast.network to learn more about the Be Podcast Network for educators.

About today’s guest

Ryan Tahmaseb is the Director of Library Services at the Meadowbrook School in Weston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing about education in publications such as Edutopia and Education Week, he also writes short fiction and poetry, with work appearing in journals such as the Carolina Quarterly. Connect on Twitter @RyanTahmaseb

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K–12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Twitter @RossBRomano

Learn more about today's sponsor, Playworks:

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. 

On today’s episode we’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Peter DeWitt to discuss his latest book, De-Implementation: Creating the Space to Focus on What Works.

Peter and Ross discuss: 

- The concept of de-implementation and how Peter began to study it 
- How to understand what’s working and what’s not 
- The benefits of focusing on “fewer things, greater depth” 
- What surveys show educators are interested in de-implementing 
- How de-implementation or “strategic abandonment” can create more time for effective instruction to take place 
- “In fact, it is not possible to create tomorrow unless one first sloughs off yesterday” - Peter Drucker

De-Implementation is published by Corwin. Find it  HERE.

Subscribe to The Authority to get more deep-dive interviews with education authors. It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit https://bepodcast.network to learn more about the Be Podcast Network for educators.

About today’s guest

Peter M. DeWitt, EdD is a former K–5 teacher (eleven years) and princi­pal (eight years). He is a school leader­ship coach who runs competency-based workshops and provides keynotes nationally and internationally, focus­ing on school leadership (collaborative cultures and instructional leadership), as well as fostering inclusive school climates. Peter writes the “Finding Common Ground” column for Education Week and co-created _Education Week_’s “A Seat at the Table” series, where he moderates con­versations with experts around the topics of race, gender, sexual orienta­tion, research, trauma, and many other educational topics. Learn more at https://petermdewitt.com or connect on Twitter @PeterMDeWitt 

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K–12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Twitter @RossBRomano

Learn more about today's sponsor, Playworks:

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. 

Dr. Carey Borkoski, Associate Professor and Research Fellow in the School of Education at Loyola University - Maryland, is our guest on this episode. We chat about her book Dancing with Discomfort: A framework for noticing, naming, and navigating our in-between moments.

Carey and Ross discuss:

• What inspired Carey to write the book
• The importance of transitions in creating an interesting, fulfilling life
• How to navigate unanticipated personal or professional transitions
• Navigating the transition into an administrator role
• Addressing the discomfort of giving or receiving feedback
• Getting over imposter syndrome

Dancing with Discomfort is published by John Catt Educational. Find it  HERE.

Subscribe to The Authority to get more deep-dive interviews with education authors. It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit https://bepodcast.network to learn more about the Be Podcast Network for educators.

About today’s guest

Dr. Carey Borkoski is an Associate Professor and Research Fellow in the School of Education at Loyola University - Maryland, and a Lead Coach in the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. Her research focuses on the role of building community and cultivating belonging in student and faculty successes. She also writes and speaks on strategies and technology tools that contribute to building a sense of community in our learning spaces. 

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K–12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. 

Learn more about today's sponsor, Playworks:

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. 

Today we welcome elementary school principal and author Matt Renwick to discuss his two most recent books: Leading Like a C.O.A.C.H., published by Corwin, and Resist the Script, a self-published e-book. 

Some specific areas of conversation include:

• The “north star” of helping teachers to become better leaders and learners
• The importance of affirming positive practices before rushing into change
• Re-envisioned role of the principal as supportive guide, active listener, learner-teacher, and opportunity creator
• Improving the quality of feedback to and from teachers
• “Would students know what they are learning and why it is important?”
• Bringing a sense of joy through the curriculum

Leading Like a C.O.A.C.H. is published by Corwin. Find it at https://us.corwin.com or at this direct link. 

Resist the Script: Five Critical Questions for Teachers to Adapt, Adopt, or Develop a Literacy Curriculum That Works for All Readers and Writers is available on Amazon. 

Subscribe to The Authority to get more deep-dive interviews with education authors. It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit https://bepodcast.network to learn more about the Be Podcast Network for educators.

About today’s guest

Matt Renwick has served in public education for over 20 years. He started as a 5th and 6th-grade teacher in a country school outside of Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Matt now serves as an elementary principal for the Mineral Point Unified School District. See more of his work at https://mattrenwick.com. Connect on Twitter @ReadByExample

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K–12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Twitter @RossBRomano

Learn more about today's sponsor, Playworks:

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. 

In this episode of The Authority Podcast, our host Ross Romano welcomes guest Sean Slade to discuss his book Questioning Education: Moving from What and How to Why and Who.

Some specific areas of conversation include:

• Some of the false assumptions we make about schools
• What “off the radar” topics education leaders should be thinking about
• Sean’s new “Educational Solar System” and how it proposes a shift in the way we consider the focal point of education
• Sir Ken Robinson and Simon Sinek’s influence on the book
• Why education must “start with why”
• Making the teaching profession more attractive to a new generation
• Where educators of all roles can begin using their influence

Questioning Education is published by Routledge Eye on Education. Find it at www.routledge.com  or at this direct link. 

Subscribe to The Authority to get more deep-dive interviews with education authors. It’s available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit https://bepodcast.network to learn more about the Be Podcast Network for educators.

About today’s guest

Sean Slade is a global education leader with more than 25 years of experience in education globally, in a career spanning four continents and five countries. Currently residing in the Washington DC area, he has driven policy change, implemented initiatives, and developed educational leaders to enhance the social impact of education. Connect on Twitter @SeanTSlade

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies LLC, a consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K–12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Twitter @RossBRomano

Learn more about today's sponsor, Playworks:

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. 

Brig Leane, former principal of Fruita Middle School in Colorado, has over 20 years of experience in education. He has been an assistant principal and has taught at the middle and high school levels in inner-city, suburban, and rural schools. He has also been an adjunct professor at Colorado Christian University. As a teacher, Brig learned the power of the PLC process firsthand, as his math team grew students more than any other team, in any grade, in any tested subject in his 22,000-student school district. Education is Brig’s second career, following his successful service as an officer in the US Coast Guard, having attained the rank of lieutenant commander. He graduated with honors from the United States Coast Guard Academy with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and served as an officer for many years on humanitarian missions around the nation. He was selected as a Troops-to-Teachers recipient and has a master’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Colorado Mesa University.

• How do I get my singletons to want to collaborate?
• What is a singleton? Someone who doesn’t have a natural collaborative partner.
• The three on-ramps for singletons; course-alike, content alike, and critical friend
• The power of common formative assessment - student achievement and improved teacher performance
• When a teacher team gets focused on the four critical questions -
• Collaboration vs. the focus on the four critical questions
• There’s only so much time to meet together, so we must set aside the time for teachers to find support in answering the 4 critical questions of learning.
• Understand the why of collaboration instead of isolation.
• Can’t ignore the how.
• They don’t have the time and support
• Support is not just about permission, but also about accountability.
• Preparation is essential.
• Isolation is the enemy of improvement
• REAL Criteria:
• Readiness: Does the learning develop student readiness for the next level of learning? Is it essential for success in the next unit, course, or grade level?
• Endurance: Does the learning have endurance? Do teachers expect students to retain the knowledge and skills over time as opposed to merely learning it for a test?
• Assessed: Do teachers assess the learning? Will teachers cover the learning on state testing or college entrance, military, or trade school tests?
• Leverage: Does the learning have leverage? Will proficiency in this standard help students in other areas of the curriculum and academic disciplines?

Learn more about today's sponsor, Playworks:

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.