unMASKing with Male Educators: Creating Emotionally Safe Classrooms & Schools for Male Students

What do Andrew Tate’s return, Netflix’s “Adolescence”, the film “Manodrome”, and the Department of Education shutdown all have in common? I break it down here - why it’s harder than ever to combat bullying in our school communities - and I provide a fundamental approach that I take. Hopefully all educators can apply this at their school site once they listen to this.

This episode was inspired by my conversation with Trevor Slater. Check it out here: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/episodes/18--The-Solution-to-the-Manosphere-Male-Educators---with-Trevor-Slater--Alternative-Education-Teacher-e2vn32p

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(0:00) Class in session

(1:25) Andrew Tate returns to the US, and what that teaches our young boys

(5:55) A middle school Andrew Tate fan, and what I learned

(11:30) Netflix’s Adolescence and the movie Manodrome

(13:10) Eliminating the Department of Education will make the “manosphere” stronger and more prevalent in schools

(16:00) My prediction was worse than correct - Department of Education layoffs and some stats about that

(20:45) Parker Palmer’s tragic gap

(25:00) “I didn’t know what they were watching.”

(27:00) Information about our Dance-a-thon

Contribute to our Dance-a-thon fundraiser: https://charity.pledgeit.org/EFC-DanceAThon

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It still breaks my heart to think about him, which is why I’ve never talked about him on this channel. But it’s time for you to learn about Arturo. He represents everything about why I became a teacher and the lengths we have to go to be a great educator.

This episode was inspired by Carlos Moreno and his Leadership Journeys. Check out my conversation with Carlos Moreno, episode 17.

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(1:20) A beautiful leadership story prompts me to look back on my teaching career

(5:20) A supernatural experience while mourning the loss of one of my students

(13:45) What it’s like starting a community for boys in high school, while still being a full-time teacher

(17:45) Healing father wounds and abandonment issues with teenage boys

(22:10) Convincing school administration to do a major community service event

(26:25) Find your leadership soul, and other updates

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Episode 17 with Carlos Moreno: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/episodes/17--Why-We-Need-More-Black-Male-Educators---with-Carlos-Moreno--Educator--Co-Executive-Director--Big-Picture-Learning-e2vck3p 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

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Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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Staff at the Department of Education were told this: “Don’t come in tomorrow.” There’s a lot of rumors that Donald Trump is make major cuts to the Department of Education in his next round of Executive Orders. Most people don’t know what the Department of Education does, so what’s the big deal? Listen and learn about all the things the department does - that you’ve been taking for granted.

I talked about this two months ago with Jason Biehl.

(0:00) The Department of Education is not allowing employees to come into the office on March 12, 2025

(4:10) 4 ways that students’ and educators’ lives will be affected if the Department of Education is dissolved

(9:30) What DOGE and the conservative movement is not telling you, and how they are not listening to teachers

(12:30) Is anyone really fighting for what’s right for our children and their learning?

(13:25) Censuring Representative Al Green, and how evil does not take breaks

(17:50) Schools are falling apart and sometimes you need to break the rules to get things done, like Al Green

(22:55) Final thoughts on what the Department of Education provides - and why it makes no sense to take it away

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The NEA Article I am reading from: https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/how-dismantling-department-education-would-harm-students 

The letter sent out to Department of Education staff: https://x.com/saraecook/status/1899527022088515913?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet 

Episode 11 with Jason Biehl: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/episodes/11--Project-2025--Donald-Trumps-next-term--and-how-it-will-affect-your-life-as-an-educator---w-Jason-Biehl-e2tgk6g 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/

Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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Donald Trump, Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson. Truth be told, these are the men that are winning the eyes and ears of young men right now. So what’s it’ like being a male teacher in this atmosphere, and what are some things you can do to combat these antisocial forces? Trevor Slater, a master teacher of 17 years, has some answers to this question. And when Trevor speaks, he’s always taken the time before hand to consider the issues with incredible depth.

“If you look out at America and how young men are doing right now, and you want to make a difference in that, become a teacher. Get in front of young men.” 

We cover:

1. Single-gender education, and removing the performative pressure on boys and young men

2. When and where is the right place for experimental and progressive education

3. Teaching young men during the Trump phenomenon

4. The cultural effects of boys being educated directly by YouTube and TikTok

(0:00) Class in session

(2:35) Trevor introduces himself

(6:00) Trevor and Ashanti share their teacher personas

(17:35) The benefits of single gender education

(25:15) What is “progressive” or “experimental” education? How is it changing?

(30:45) Teaching during the Trump Administration, when boys have the wrong leaders to look up to, such as Andrew Tate

(44:45) Trevor’s message for male educators

(52:25) How to reach out to Trevor

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Connect with Trevor Slater:

Email: [email protected]

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Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 

Email us questions and comments at [email protected] 

Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/ 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/

Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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Connect with Ever Forward Club:

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The most important thing about being a teacher is... Something ethereal... Something you can't quite put your finger on. “What is it?” you may ask… Carlos calls it leadership soul. Leadership soul is all about “the important functions love, care and vulnerability play in education leadership and how our society tends to shun these characteristics in leaders.”So how do we tap into this in an artful way that authentically reaches your students? And what does this have to do with Black male educators? Tune in to find out…

We cover:

1. Is it even possible to separate work and life as an educator?

2. The importance of diversity in schools - specifically Black male educators

3. What it means to replace the idea of a “classroom” with the idea of a “community of learning”

4. How leaders need to model behaviors and attitudes for their staff

(0:00) Class in session

(2:20) Carlos introduces himself.

(8:45) Carlos and Ashanti share their masks

(23:00) Maintaining wellness as educators so that we can help others

(30:55) Why we need more Black male teachers

(36:15) Creating a community of learning - a culture of openness and empathy in your classroom

(40:30) Modeling from school leaders, and Carlos’s Leadership Journeys

(45:35) How to connect with Carlos

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Connect with Carlos Moreno:

Instagram: @ColossalEducator

LinkedIn: Carlos R. Moreno

X: @Carlos_Moreno06

Website: https://www.bigpicture.org/ 

Book: https://www.leadershipsoul.org/ 

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Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 

Email us questions and comments at [email protected] 

Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/ 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/

Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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If you’re looking for teaching practices you can implement in your classroom TOMORROW, this is your episode. In fact, just read this passage from our guest’s bio, and see if this sounds familiar:

“Early in his career, Roni struggled with the high stresses and demands of teaching, even losing touch with why he wanted to be a teacher in the first place. It was so painful that he finally discovered the power of integrating mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and positive psychology in his own life as well as in his classroom. He feels called to share this new approach with the world.”

I know I experienced that same struggle, and you might've too. So sit back, relax, and enjoy learning about Roni’s “new approach” to teaching that changed his life and career.

We cover:

1. How to show your students your humanity

2. Why professional development should actually be personal development

3. How to break through a student’s walls with TRUE curiosity

4. How to normalize mistakes and failures in your classroom and school

5. Roni’s techniques for creating joy in a classroom

(0:00) Class in session

(2:20) Remembering Roni’s brother, David

(14:40) Showing students your humanity

(16:00) Roni’s daily classroom routine that increases instructional minutes and builds community

(19:20) Professional development (boring) vs. personal development (joyful, inspiring)

(23:10) The Department of Education is under attack/destroying itself?; what can educators do in these times?

(28:40) A story of a student stuck in his narrative (continues at 33:00)

(31:15) Showing students TRUE curiosity; teaching media literacy

(34:20) Normalizing mistakes in your classroom culture; using improv games to do so

(37:20) Creating more joyful classrooms

(43:20) Speed kills empathy in the classroom

(45:20) Ashanti and Roni share their teacher personas

(51:40) Being a male in education

(55:35) How to find Roni

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Connect with Roni Habib:

Roni’s Book: https://eqschools.com/ (link to Amazon on homepage)

Website: https://eqschools.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronihabib

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Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 

Email us questions and comments at [email protected] 

Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/ 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/

Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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“Idealistic.” “Pie in the sky.” “Unrealistic.” “Chaotic.” Project-based learning can actually be done pragmatically and effectively. Listen to these stories and guidance from my 20-year career in education, so that you don’t make the same mistakes I did.

Check out the conversation that sparked these reflections,episode 12 with Justin Wells.

(0:00) Class in session

(1:00) Overview of project-based learning

(6:00) Project-based learning in India

(12:00) Introducing word problems to a math class in India

(16:00) And why it didn’t work/broke the norm too abruptly (SCAFFOLDING!)

(17:50) Mark Day School and a project about cell phone plans

(20:00) Overachieving students and project-based learning

(26:00) Our project-based learning curriculum: Masks, Emotions, and Math

(33:00) A call to action for our schools to evolve

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PBL Resources:https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl/gold-standard-project-design

PBL Resources:https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl/gold-standard-teaching-practices 

Michael Gurian:https://www.michaelgurian.com/ 

Join our Skool Community:https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 

Email us questions and comments at [email protected]

Create your own mask anonymously athttps://millionmask.org/ 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter:https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/

Website:https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club:https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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Educators, do you ever notice how a volunteer or a community leader can completely change how students behave in your classroom? What if these community volunteers could be an entire ecosystem of support for your young people? That’s what Jordan Bowman and his organization, Journeymen, represent when he and a group of male volunteers enter the school space. Please enjoy Jordan’s insights in this week’s episode. 

Getting involved with people like Jordan Bowman means it all doesn’t have to rest on your shoulders - and we know teachers are already dealing with far too much.

We cover:

(0:00) Class in session

(2:00) Jordan introduces himself

(12:00) How can mentors, community leaders/volunteers, and afterschool program leaders better support teachers?

(14:00) Forging independence, resiliency, and emotional maturity

(16:00) The red tape of mentoring

(18:00) Asking, “Where else can we show up? Where else can we support?”

(19:00) What happens when a bunch of male volunteers show up at a school?

(22:30) Rites of passage - or rituals of maturity - can make young people rise to the occassion

(27:50) Youth are stuck in a state of dependence

(30:00) Rites of passage success stories

(34:00) Bio, psycho, social, spiritual

(40:00) More unstructured play and Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation”

(42:00) Educators need to practice their own presence

(46:00) How to connect with Jordan

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Connect with Jordan Bownman:

Website: journeymentriangle.org

Website: https://www.jbowman.org/

Social: @Jordan7Bowman; @Journeymen_NC

Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 

Email us questions and comments at [email protected] 

Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/ 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/

Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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Connect with Ever Forward Club:

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I recently read an article and the numbers are appalling. The quotes are heartbreaking. And I can’t get them out of my head. The article is “Why Teachers Quit + What You Can Do Instead” by Devlin Peck. So for today’s episode, I’m going to read some of my favorite excerpts from the article and share my thoughts.

Behavior challenges, staffing, the COVID pandemic, discipline, parent relationships, achievement gaps, class sizes, specialized supports, differentiation, school safety, salaries, school shootings… It’s all in there.

Here are the sections I cover:

(0:00) General premise and welcome

(3:35) Burnout

(10:20) Heavy workloads and staff shortages

(17:40) School safety

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Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 

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Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/ 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/

Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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Connect with Ever Forward Club:

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What if learning was just about creating beautiful things? This is the essence of project-based learning. It’s not easy, but we believe that this ethos is essential in order to reach the 21st-century learner. So, what does it take to run a PBL classroom? How do you get students to buy into PBL projects? It’s not easy, and it requires you to view the teaching profession as an art form and expression of creativity in and of itself. Listen to our guest, Justin Wells, and you’ll be convinced.

We cover:

How APB learning gets students to buy-in and prepares them for society

How girls are outperforming boys in all school-based metrics

Why we need to stop using the term “toxic masculinity”

How teachers can be the coach on the side rather than the judge

(0:00) Class in session

(2:00) Justin introduces himself and how he became a teacher

(10:00) Teaching personas, or teacher masks, and code-switching

(20:50) Portfolio defense for high school students, and creating real-world learning experiences

(27:00) The default school design is failing young male students

(29:40) The data on males vs. females in school

(31:00) Stop using the phrase “toxic masculinity”

(40:20) Examples of project-based learning and how it can lead to student buy-in

(44:30) How to reach out to Justin

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Connect with Justin Wells:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jusowells/ 

Website: envisionschools.org

Website: envisionlearning.org

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Join our Skool Community: https://www.skool.com/efc-young-mens-advocates-2345 

Email us questions and comments at [email protected] 

Create your own mask anonymously at https://millionmask.org/ 

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Connect with Ashanti Branch:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/branchspeaks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BranchSpeaks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BranchSpeaks

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashantibranch/

Website: https://www.branchspeaks.com/

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Support the podcast and the work of the Ever Forward Club: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/branch-speaks/support 

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Connect with Ever Forward Club:

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