In this episode, we sit down with Erich Bolz, Vice President of Research and District Engagement for The Center of Educational Effectiveness.

Looking for ways to bolster:

+   Attendance

+   Progress for English learners

+  English-language arts performance

+   Mathematics performance

+   Readiness for high school

+ High school course rigor (obtaining college credits)

+ Graduation rates

The CEE identified schools that have successfully removed barriers and created the conditions that amplified the existing strengths of Black, Latino/a, American Indian/Alaska Native, and students experiencing poverty.

Let's learn how ...

AI is here to stay. Educators have the opportunity to either embrace this new frontier or to be fearful of it. In this episode, Dr. Sarah Levy discusses how to have conversations around AI in schools as well as how its use can help to create a culture of inquiry and experimentation.

Contact Sarah here - SarahRubinsonCC.com

Here are a couple of blogs for follow up reading:

Assessment in the World of AI

Getting Started with AI in Your Organization

Putting the AI into Your Educational Philosophy

Dr. Sarah Rubinson Levy has been involved in education since 2001 – working, teaching, consulting, and writing in the areas of supplemental, day school, adult, and experiential education. She holds an undergraduate degree in business and sociology and holds a Master of Jewish Education degree from Hebrew College, a doctorate in education from Northeastern University, and certificates in Advanced Jewish Studies, Day School Education, and Jewish Educational Leadership. Her areas of focus include progressive/student-centered education, integration of artificial intelligence into education, and teacher professional development and support. She considers herself a scholar-practitioner, drawing from research and data to create effective and joyful learning environments. Most recently, she was a founding head of school for Einstein Academy, a progressive private school in Denver, CO. She currently empowers excellence in education through her work with Sarah Rubinson Consulting and Contracting with an approach that integrates empathy and curiosity, working with each organization in a way that is both realistic and aspirational. She is a proud Colorado native and currently lives in Denver, CO with her four kids, dog, beta fish, and leopard gecko.

In this episode, we learn about the importance of teaching executive functions and learning to address the varied needs of students who often get identified as lazy, unmotivated, or defiant, when in reality, they simply don't know how to do what we expect them to do.

Candace Heiken, M.Ed. combined her background in education and psychology with her passion for empowering students and founded Lively Minds Institute, an organization with a mission to cultivate independent, lifelong learners through the development of executive function skills.  Lively Minds developed Cerebrate, an executive function solution that provides educators with a simple way to identify deficiencies based on observable classroom behaviors and then access lessons to teach the strategies needed. Candace leads a team of talented educators who utilize Cerebrate to advance their mission with school administrators, teachers, parents, and students across the country.  With over 25 years in education, Candace is driven to affect lasting and impactful change by helping students see what they can achieve when they have the executive function skills necessary for learning success.

Candace can be reached via email at  [email protected]

Visit Cerebrate and The Lively Minds Institute online at www.cerebrate.education and www.livelymindsinstitute.com. 

This week, we sit down with Mrs. Brianne Hudak, M. Ed., a sixteen-year veteran of education serving in public, private, and charter schools. She is a passionate advocate for the gifted, a certified gifted and talented educator, and supports gifted education through her professional memberships in the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC), the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC), the North Carolina Association of the Gifted and Talented (NCAGT), and the Social-Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG) serving as a state liaison.

In this episode, Brianne will walk us through how to define the term gifted and talented and how to accurately identify these learners. Then, she will go deeper and discuss how to unlock their genius by identifying twice-exceptional students and combating underachievement. Finally, she will guide us in using appropriate skills, tools, and resources to help gifted individuals reach their full potential.

Resources:

Websites:

Gifted Research:Easy-Read Book:

Professional Development:

Mrs. Brianne Hudak, M. Ed.- Certified Educational Consultant and passionate advocate for the gifted and talented; www.helpmehudak.com

In this episode, Brian Miller, principal, writer, speaker, and podcaster, talks about renewing our educational vows in order to do great things. As educators, there are times that we all need to remember why we chose this profession, what is truly important, and how to be and additive to the education experience of our students and the work environment of our collegues.

Your can learn more about Brian Miller by visiting his website here: http://millerbrian.com

In this episode, we talk to Gerrett Spears, high school principal of Burlington High School in Northwest Oklahoma. As a former D1 basketball coach, Gerrett understands the importance of mental health programming for players to be at their best. Gerrett walks listeners through how to implement mental health programming for the overall wellness of the school to ensure mentally healthy students and staff members.  

Gerrett Spears was raised in small town Oklahoma. He graduated high school in 2005.  Gerrett went to a junior college and played basketball.  Soon after he went to the University of Oklahoma continuing his education degree and working with the men's basketball team.  The next year he was given an opportunity to coach a junior college, during that time he finished his education degree at Pittsburg State University.   He then went on to be a graduate assistant at Wichita State University where he obtained his masters degree in sport administration.  Later he decided to move closer to home to teach and coach at the high school level.  After four years he went back to school and got his masters in Education at Northwestern Oklahoma State University to become certified as a principal.  Two years later, he took his first principal's job at Burlington Public School, where he is now.  He is married to Rachael, has two kids, Benaiah (age 5) and Asher (age 1).  His focus as a principal is to provide a well rounded education to all students, no matter the background or where they are now.  It is his belief to meet the students where they are and help them to become the best they can be!

Lynn Hardin is a Certified Life Coach who works with Educators who want to unwind anxiety and lead or teach with confidence and purpose.

She a retired principal who coached new administrators and lead three award winning elementary schools including America's Best Urban School 2019. She was honored with the  National Principal Certificate for Equity and Excellence from NCUST.

Lynn's top three skills for supporting teachers:   

1.  SHOW-UP- how to be visible, present, conspicuous, meet them where they are   

2.  SHARE YOUR HEART - how to listen to learn, connect, create safety   

3.  SUGGEST SOLUTIONS - solve the problems, be helpful, coach when asked    

Lynn Hardin is also the host of "The Principal Purpose Podcast.”

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Bunnie Claxton, Director of Applied Doctoral Research at Liberty University. Students are bombarded with ideas and arguments that they neglect to stop and analyze because the information is disguised and oftentimes deceitful. The result is that students believe false ideas they find on social media which may be hurtful to themselves and others. Dr. Claxton takes us through the five Rs of critical thinking: Receive, Research, Restructure Thinking, Respond, and Reflect. The use of these 5 Rs will help students learn to think critically to discern truth for themselves.

Dr. Bunnie L. Claxton, is the Director of Applied Doctoral Research at Liberty University and an associate professor at Colorado Christian University and Liberty University. She has 30 years of experience in the field of education, including public, private, homeschool, and higher education. She has developed multiple graduate-level courses, Chaired dissertations, served as a Research Methodologist, Subject Matter Expert, and Instructional Mentor to professors. Dr. Claxton served as the Superintendent of Liberty University Online Academy; an online K-12 school with over 18,000 students. She is the author of 12 textbooks including those from the Step-By-Step series.

Check out Dr. Claxton's published books here: 

https://he.kendallhunt.com/search?search_api_views_fulltext=claxton

Learn more about Dr. Bunnie Claxton on her website. 

Reach Dr. Claxton directly through her email. 

Books by Dr. Claxton: 

A Step-By-Step Guide to Conducting Applied Research inEducation guides candidates through the doctoral process as candidates work to solve a specific problem or improve a practice in a real educational setting. Applied research incorporates a multi method design that includes both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis strategies.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Literature Review for Doctoral Research. This edition is designed to teach doctoral candidates how to write a literature review for doctoral research including the theoretical framework and the narrative review. Readers are taught how to synthesize current scholarly literature.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting Communication Research. This book is designed to guide the novice researcher through the process of conducting communication research. The result is a communication research dissertation that contains the details of a specific topic in communication and implications based on the research.

Mind Over Matter: Critical Thinking Skills is curriculum written to teach students the skills they need to collect data, analyze data, search for facts, and think for themselves. Students are bombarded with information, much of which is inaccurate, misleading, and even hurtful. This curriculum is designed to teach students to think critically and make wise decisions based on evidence.

Game Changer: Christ-Centered Critical Thinking Skills is curriculum written to teach students the skills they need to approach their thought processes from a biblical and Christ-centered approach. Students will learn to collect data, analyze data, search for the truth, and think for themselves with the Bible as their guide.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing an IEP. This book is designed to teach the reader how to complete an IEP form in a step-by-step process. Every section of the IEP is thoroughly explained, and a completed example is provided for every section of the IEP.

This week, we had the opportunity to sit down with Monte' Demars. At the age of 17 years old, Monte’ discovered his passion for purpose as an educator and worked his way from a substitute teacher, school bus driver, paraprofessional, teacher, mentor teacher, assistant principal, and principal. His inspirational story of walking through the ranks and “becoming” is rare. Demars understands the struggle of persistently reaching for a goal and never stopping until the dream becomes a reality, regardless of setbacks.

You can learn more about his journey on his website: monteldemars.org, as well as on his YouTube channel. 

Check out his new book, "Just Be", available now at monteldemars.org

In this episode, we welcome Jon Konen, high school principal and freelance writer in Columbia Falls, Montana. He has been a superintendent and has taught most all grade levels K-6, and has been an instructional coach. In addition, he has been an elementary and middle principal. As a 5th grade teacher, in 2010 Jon won the Presidential Award for Elementary Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST). As a principal, his school won the 2012 Blue Ribbon Award. In 2018, he won the National Distinguished Principal Award (NDP). In 2019 he won the National No Kid Hungry Breakfast Hero Award. Jon is the author of three guides published on teacher.org: An Educator's Guide to Combat Bullying & Bully Prevention; Teacher Evaluation: A Transition Guide to Exemplary Performance; and You are the Wild Card: Infusing Fun Back into Curriculum. He has authored a children's picture book that was released January 2019 titled Benjamin’s Visit to Principal Reads Office…again! (available at www.archwaypublishing.com).

Jon will take listeners through 5 tier one strategies that work:

1) The Barometer Check

2) Tracking Positives w/ Calls

3) “F”, “D”, and <10% Tracker (MTSS): Creating early warning systems

4) Podcasting Positives

5) Building Toolboxes for Teachers 

Check out Jon's Wildcat Principal Podcast here: https://anchor.fm/jon-konen

Columbia Falls High School Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/cfhighschool.org