The CharacterStrong Podcast

Today, host John Norlin shares a strategy called the Kid in the Middle, a simple, low-burden approach to recognizing the students who rarely get attention in either direction. By calling home to compliment a family member on a positive trait their child brings to the classroom, educators can make an impact that lasts far longer than they might expect.

He also explains why this matters most for the students who never cause problems and never stand out. For many of their families, a positive call from school may be the first one they have ever received across an entire K-12 experience.

In this conversation, John offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• The students most likely to be overlooked are not the ones causing problems or earning top grades. They are the ones quietly in the middle, and they deserve intentional recognition too.
• A phone call home that compliments a student's character costs less than five minutes and can stay with a family for years.
• Families of middle-of-the-road students often go an entire school career without receiving a single positive call from school. That is worth changing.

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Today, host John Norlin shares an evidence-based reflection strategy called EMR, developed by Dr. Clayton Cook. Using a simple roster exercise, educators categorize each student or staff member into one of three relationship phases: Establish, Maintain, or Restore, and then focus their energy where it is needed most.

He also explains why this kind of intentional reflection matters. You cannot be all things to all people at once, but taking a few minutes to identify where each relationship stands gives educators a clear, actionable starting point for being more purposeful in the work they do every day.

In this conversation, John offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Relationships with students and staff are not all in the same place at the same time. Some need to be established, some maintained, and some restored, and knowing which is which changes how you show up.
• You cannot prioritize everything at once. The EMR exercise helps educators zero in on the relationships that need the most intentional attention right now.
• Restoring a relationship takes real, deliberate action. Naming it honestly is the first step toward doing something about it.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

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Today, host John Norlin shares a practical classroom check-in strategy called the Temperature Check. Using three simple questions at the start of class, educators can get a quick read on how students are actually doing before instruction begins, and act on what they learn.

He also explains why that information matters beyond academic readiness. Knowing where students are emotionally on any given day gives educators the opportunity to respond, connect, and support students in ways that going straight into content never allows.

In this conversation, John offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Three questions at the start of class, a name, a one-to-five rating, and an optional reason, take almost no time and give educators information they would not otherwise have.
• A student who checks in low on a day they are normally high is information worth acting on, even without knowing the reason why.
• How many days did we not know what a student was carrying because we never asked? That question is worth sitting with.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

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Today, host John Norlin shares a simple weekly strategy for helping students get to know the adults in their school: True Story Friday. By taking two to five minutes at the end of Friday to share a personal story, educators give students something they often want but rarely get, a real look at who their teacher actually is.

He also explains how a little preparation goes a long way, having stories ready in advance, offering students a choice of topics, and even letting a story carry over to the following week to build anticipation and connection over time.

In this conversation, John offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Students want to know their teachers as people, not just as instructors, and giving them that access builds the kind of relationship that makes everything else in the classroom work better.
• True Story Friday takes two to five minutes and requires no curriculum changes. It fits inside what educators are already doing each week.
• A small amount of preparation, having a few stories ready before Friday arrives, makes this strategy easy to sustain and genuinely enjoyable to deliver.
• Letting students choose the topic and leaving a story unfinished until next week turns a simple routine into something students actually look forward to.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
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Today, host John Norlin shares a leadership concept called The Law of the Lid, drawn from Dr. John Maxwell's work. The core idea is straightforward: as a leader, you cannot expect the people around you to bring more energy, effort, or authenticity to the room than you are willing to bring yourself.

He also explains how this principle applies at every level of a school, from the classroom teacher setting the tone with students to the building administrator setting the tone with staff, and why the controllables like mood, preparation, and vulnerability are where leaders should focus first.

In this conversation, John offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• The energy level in your room is a reflection of what you as the leader are willing to bring. If you want more from others, start by examining what you are modeling.
• Students and staff crave leaders who set the tone consistently, not just on good days.
• If you want students to share more openly, they need to see you sharing. If you want them to work through difficulty, they need to hear how you have done it.
• This concept is simple to understand but not easy to live out. That is exactly what makes it worth returning to.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
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• Visit the CharacterStrong Website

Today, host John Norlin shares a simple strategy for connecting with students, even thought who may have been hard to reach: The Student Becomes the Teacher. By asking students what they could teach you, educators can gain personal insight that opens the door to genuine connection, often in less than three minutes.

He also explains how a small investment of time outside the classroom, looking up something a student cares about, can change the entire dynamic of a relationship, and why that kind of intentional move is not one more thing on the plate, it is the plate.

In this conversation, John offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Asking students what they could teach you is a low-burden, high-impact way to learn something personal about even the hardest-to-reach kids.
• A few minutes of follow-through, like looking something up and referencing it at the door the next day, signals to a student that you see them as a person, not just a learner.
• Students notice when an adult makes an intentional move to connect with them, and that moment can shift a relationship that nothing else has been able to crack.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
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• Visit the CharacterStrong Website

Today our guest is Brandon Bakke, assistant principal at Gig Harbor High School and author of Lessons from the Bench. Brandon shares the core ideas behind his new book, a nine-lesson framework for bench players and role players in any organization who want to understand how to contribute meaningfully to a team's success.

He also explains why broadening the definition of success to include relationships, not just outcomes, gives role players a powerful and often overlooked way to contribute, and why leaders have a responsibility to explicitly connect every person's role to the larger goal the team is chasing.

In this conversation, Brandon offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Most people will spend time on the bench at some point in sport, in work, in life, and how you operate in that role matters more than most people realize.
• When people don't know why their role is important or how it connects to the bigger goal, effort declines and disengagement follows, that is a leadership problem to solve.
• Athletics and other team environments are some of the only places where people can fail, struggle, and grow. Removing that adversity robs people of their greatest potential growth.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
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• Visit the CharacterStrong Website

About Brandon Bakke: A former high school and college basketball coach and player, Brandon played at Fresno State University from 1991–1996. He is a former high school head coach, and brings 29 years of experience in education—primarily as a high school administrator. He currently serves as an administrator at Gig Harbor High School in Washington State and previously worked as the Director of Secondary Education for CharacterStrong. Brandon has spoken to thousands of educators and students across the country on building school culture, leadership, student mental health and well-being, and is an author and speaker who champions leadership, teamwork, and character development—both on and off the court. He is also the author of The Ordinary Extraordinary Soldier: The Letters and Journey of WWII Mechanic SSG George Henderson, 80th Infantry Division. Brandon earned his BA in History from Fresno State University. He earned his MA in Educational Leadership from City University of Seattle.

Today our guest is Derrick Lawson, co-executive director of CATLL and CASCD and a former principal at all three school levels. Derrick shares practical strategies for building relational capacity with staff and students at the start of the school year, and why the first days of school should be spent on connection, not content.

He also explains how school leaders can build staff capacity for relationship-building by modeling connection activities, creating shared resources, and embedding brief connection routines into every staff meeting throughout the year.

In this conversation, Derrick offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• Students will not learn at their best until they feel seen, heard, and valued, and that environment has to be built intentionally before content can stick.
• Teachers who say relationship-building "isn't their thing" often just lack a structure or script. Giving them ready-made activities and modeling them first removes that barrier.
• When leaders model connection activities with staff, teachers replicate them in their classrooms. What you put in front of people is what you are most likely to see spread.
• Ten years from now, students and staff will not remember individual lessons, they will remember how you made them feel.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Learn more about Intellispark
• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
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• Visit the CharacterStrong Website

About Derrick Lawson:

Derrick Lawson retired in June of 2025 after 9 years as Principal of his Alma Mater – Indio High School in Desert Sands USD and 31 years as a K-12 principal at all three levels. Aside from being a K-12 student in the district, he returned his third year of teaching to the district and after teaching, served as a Facilitator in State and Federal Programs and a principal at all 3 levels and opened 2 new campuses. He has spent the majority of his career working in high poverty schools as well as with large populations of long term English Learners and special needs students. During his 9 years in the classroom, he taught all levels K-12 as well as in the University credentialing program as an adjunct professor. He was selected as ACSA Region XIX's Principal of the Year in 2010 and then selected as the ACSA State Middle Grades Principal of the Year and NASSP 2012 Principal of the Year for California and 2025 ACSA State Secondary Principal of the Year. He has served in several leadership roles for ACSA over the years. In addition to serving his Charter, he was the Region 19 President and Treasurer as well as the NASSP State Coordinator for California and has been involved in State and National lobbying efforts for education from 2012 to the present. He served as the NASSP Region 7 Coordinator, leading the 9 western states and facilitating their advocacy and professional development efforts and a 3 year term on the Board of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. He has been directing one of the ACSA Principals Academies for the past 10 years.

His newest role is the Co-Executive Director for the California Association for Teaching, Leading, and Learning (CATLL) after serving on the board for 4 years. He lives in Bermuda Dunes and loves to travel, play piano, scrapbook, and all things Disney. He is married with two adult children and an unexpected 4 (as his wife says) grand-dogs and a cat.

Today, John Norlin, Houston Kraft, and Lindsay Norlin mark a milestone: the 500th episode of the CharacterStrong Podcast. More than a celebration of numbers, this episode is a reflection on what 500 voices from educators across the country have taught the CharacterStrong team. and where the work is headed next.

They also share an honest look at where education stands right now, why relationships remain the constant no matter what else is changing, and what it might look like for schools to move from data overload to real-time, actionable support for students and staff.

In this conversation, John, Houston, and Lindsay offer important reminders for educators and leaders:

• The same resource can transform one school and feel like one more burden in another, what makes the difference, almost every time, is leadership and vision.
• Behavior challenges and attendance issues are still real, but what's making a difference in schools hasn't changed: educators who build genuine relationships with students.
• When all we do is react to relentless demands, the work becomes unsustainable, being proactive is not just more effective, it's what keeps educators in the work.
• Every interaction with a student carries weight you may not see in the moment. The work is serious, it is love in action, and it matters every single day.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Learn more about Intellispark
• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
• Request a Quote Today!
• Learn more about CharacterStrong Implementation Support
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website

Today our guest is Steve Smith, CEO and co-founder of IntelliSpark. Steve shares how IntelliSpark helps educators get to know students as people — not just learners — by making it easier to capture, share, and act on student information across an entire school team in real time.

He also explains how the platform addresses two persistent gaps in schools: the friction of sharing critical student information between educators, and the lack of just-in-time support for teachers who encounter a student need but aren't sure what to do next.

In this conversation, Steve offers important reminders for educators and leaders:

• When educators know something personal about a student, even a brief conversation about it can shift the entire relationship and improve academic outcomes.
• Critical information about a student — a loss, a struggle, a win — too often stays with one adult instead of reaching the whole team, and that gap has real consequences.
• Most professional development is episodic, but the moments that require it are daily. Educators need tools and strategies available to them in real time, not just at the start of the year.
• Every interaction with a student can be a pivotal one, even when neither the educator nor the student knows it at the time.

Learn More About CharacterStrong:

• Learn more about Intellispark
• Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples
• Request a Quote Today!
• Learn more about CharacterStrong Implementation Support
• Visit the CharacterStrong Website