Upgrade My Classroom

In today's ever-changing world, it's becoming increasingly important for us to understand how to help our students cope and manage anxiety. Anxiety is a real and very common issue among teens, and the fact is, we need to be better prepared to see early signs and offer coping mechanisms. In today's episode Brittany Richmond, a Youth Speaker and Anxiety Expert, shared her insights on teenage anxiety and how we can better help our students navigate through it.

Brittany explained that a significant issue teens are facing today is people-pleasing. She noted that, often times, teens feel like they have to please everyone, whether it's their peers, their teachers, their parents, or even their online followers. This leads to unrealistic expectations and an overwhelming sense of pressure, which can be overwhelming and exhausting.

Brittany also shared that teens communicate differently than previous generations. She explained that understanding their own "language" is essential if we want to be able to help them effectively. As education professionals, it's important that we understand how our students express themselves and the mediums they communicate through.

She also noted the stigma that still exists around mental health. Mental health is still a taboo topic for many, and this makes it difficult for teens to speak up about their feelings. Brittany suggested we work at creating a safe and secure environment in order for students to feel comfortable expressing their issues.

On top of fostering an open environment for discussion, Brittany noted that it's also important to teach strategies to help students cope with teenage anxiety. She suggested relaxation techniques such as mindfulness and deep breathing. It's also important to help teens recognize their own triggers and to provide them with the skills to manage them, as well as their reactions to the triggers.

Finally, Brittany suggested teaching teens the importance of self-care. She noted that teens often struggle with feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, and it's important to help them understand the importance of taking time for themselves and doing things that make them happy and relaxed.

Overall, Brittany offered a lot of great advice on how we can better help our students manage their anxiety. If you'd like to learn more about Brittany and how she can help your students, you can find her at brittanyrichmond.com, or follow her on Instagram @thebrittanyrichmond

Transitioning students from high school to college is tough.

In this episode, I interview a colleague and great friend Mr. Dan Wendelken, an elementary band director from Long Island, New York. We have a wide ranging conversation surrounding his career now having taught elementary through college students. We start by discussing the differences between the emotional displays of elementary students and those of high schoolers. Dan explains that while elementary students are more likely to show their emotions, high schoolers are much better at hiding them.

We then discuss a few ways to intervene in order to keep things as positive as possible for students who might be falling behind and feeling left out. We then get into the issues surrounding high schoolers who are transitioning to college. We consider whether it's better for students to take more advanced courses, more career specific prep courses or more individual mentoring such as private lessons and leaving more time to hone their craft (in this case, their abilities on the instrument).

Our conversation today offers teachers important thoughts to ponder so they can help guide high school students into college based on the specific needs of each teen. You can see Dan perform with the Brooklyn Wind Symphony here!

00:00 Intro

02:58 Dan Wendelken

07:56 Emotional differences between different aged students

16:56 Decisions to make after high school

22:48 Kevin's college acceptance story

29:38 Difficulties choosing how to prepare for college

42:57 Final thoughts

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

If you'd be so kind as to leave a rating and review, that would help tremendously!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Book Kevin to speak at your school or event!

Learn more about Kevin's speaking programs here!

Download the 3 part video series to learn all about Kevin's decision making framework for students.

Follow Kevin on social!

Facebook

Instagram

Linked In

Tiktok

Twitter

The choices we have, dictate the decisions we make which builds the patterns of our lives. In this episode I break down the CDP framework; an easy and digestible process for high school students to begin to see that responsible decision making is something completely achievable.

When making choices, it is important to understand the difference between a choice and a decision. Choices are something that is presented to us and decisions are something that has already been done. Furthermore, there are three types of choices: obvious choices, hidden choices, and fabricated choices. Decision making is based on two factors: the physical and emotional state, as well as the meaning associated with the decision. Additionally, patterns can be divided into three levels: patterns, habits, and addictions.

It's crucial to help students become aware of their choices, the decisions they make, and the patterns they are creating. By doing this, teens can become that much more aware of how they effect others and how they can lead their life in a more positive direction. Check out today's episode and leverage the CDP Framework in your classroom!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

If you'd be so kind as to leave a rating and review, that would help tremendously!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Book Kevin to speak at your school or event!

Learn more about Kevin's speaking programs here!

Download the 3 part video series to learn all about Kevin's decision making framework for students.

Follow Kevin on social!

Facebook

Instagram

Linked In

Tiktok

Twitter

Today on the show I got to sit down with my college euphonium teacher, Professor Michael Salzman. As a recently retired music coordinator of the Syosset School District, Professor Salzman was responsible for overseeing and coordinating the work of other music teachers. He shed some light on how to facilitate your staff in order to support and nurture vs. correct and reprimand. We also discussed the nuances of going from a colleague to a boss.

We then spoke about some of the challenges he's faced working with college music education and performance majors. Salzman values the importance of being a great performer because whether it's on stage as a tuba player or in front of a classroom with students, "you'll be performing everyday"! This can be tricky because often times there is so much turmoil in college students life such as homesickness, depression or anxiety.

Professor Salzman went on to talk about the influence of his past teachers and credits them with shaping his own career and teaching style. He made some great analogies! So much so that I had to ask him if making great analogies was something he picked up from his past teachers.

Michael Salzman has served on the music faculty of Hofstra University since 1993. At Hofstra he teaches tuba and euphonium, directs the Brass Ensemble and Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble, and teaches in the Music Education Program. For 33 years he has taught music at every grade level from Pre-K through college and has recently retired as the Coordinator of Performing Arts for Syosset Schools.

Passionate about the benefits of music education in the lives of children, Salzman has been active in professional associations throughout his career. He is a Past President of NYSSMA, the New York State School Music Association, having served as President of this association of more than 5000 members in 2018-2019. The theme of his presidency was "Making the Magic of Music Education Accessible to All" and during his term he advocated throughout the state of New York for the right of every child to have access to a high quality Music Education.

Salzman earned Music Performance degrees at Indiana University and the Mannes College of Music. His principal teachers were Harvey Phillips, Sam Pilafian, Warren Deck and Bill Barber. He is well known and regarded in the New York City area as a tuba player. He is a former Principal Tuba player of the Long Island Philharmonic and a founding member of the Cosmopolitan Brass Quintet. He is the Regional Coordinator of the TubaChristmas concerts held every year at Rockefeller Center. His first solo album, Salztuba was released in 2020 to critical acclaim. For more information, visit www.salztuba.com.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

If you'd be so kind as to leave a rating and review, that would help tremendously!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Book Kevin to speak at your school or event!

Learn more about Kevin's speaking programs here!

Download the 3 part video series to learn all about Kevin's decision making framework for students.

Follow Kevin on social!

Facebook

Instagram

Linked In

Tiktok

Twitter

Teachers often have a lot on their plates, let alone being great teachers and guides to our students. Sometimes we get stuck in the trap of "I'll just do it myself" or "If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself".

But did you know that we can take some inspiration and lessons from other fields, like entrepreneurship, to help us manage our time and resources better and be more effective in the classroom?

There are three major things that business owners have to do in order to run a business successfully and believe it or not, these things are all super important for us teachers too. By delegating tasks to others, setting up systems and processes in our classrooms and reverse engineering, we can make our lives as teachers a little easier and have a bigger impact on our students.

Take a listen to todays episode to learn a bit more about the business world and see what you can leverage in your classroom!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

If you'd be so kind as to leave a rating and review, that would help tremendously!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Book Kevin to speak at your school or event!

Learn more about Kevin's speaking programs here!

Download the 3 part video series to learn all about Kevin's decision making framework for students.

Follow Kevin on social!

Facebook

Instagram

Linked In

Tiktok

Twitter

Today I discuss how to make a change in life...and a podcast!

So what is actually changing with the podcast....The title is now officially "Upgrade My Classroom". The context of the podcast is going to be all the things we had talked about previously but through the lens of a teacher. I'm going to be interviewing education experts, teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, youth leadership experts, and youth speakers to get their insights on what they're dealing with and the problems they're seeing with students and high school teenagers.

Moving forward I'm going to be focusing more on my youth speaking and coaching business, where I would be working more closely with high school students. I made the decision to keep the same podcast and rebrand simply because I believe you'll still be receiving a great amount of value and we'll still be discussing the same personal development strategies we've always discussed in the past!

A few pieces of advice when it comes to making a change in life:

1. Don't overthink it

2. Put a timeframe on your decision-making process

3. Don't be scared.

You got this! I hope to see you here next week and if you are considering leaving the podcast, please share this with an education professional who you think will get value from it!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

If you'd be so kind as to leave a rating and review, that would help tremendously!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Book Kevin to speak at your school or event!

Learn more about Kevin's speaking programs here!

Download the 3 part video series to learn all about Kevin's decision making framework for students.

Follow Kevin on social!

Facebook

Instagram

Linked In

Tiktok

Twitter

Designing the worst day possible can sound strange but can be a great experiment.

Imagine this...you accidentally sleep in, spill coffee on your suit, burn your breakfast and get stuck in traffic...and that's all before 9:00 AM! The day continues to get worse after you realize you didn't get the promotion, your kid comes home sick, and on and on and on. It literally is the day from hell.

So how can this possibly be a good thing?! Well it would be pretty rough if this was a real day but as a hypothetical, it can do so much for us.

Take a look at today's episode to learn how we can reshape our mindset and our schedule by imagining the worst day ever!

00:00 Intro

00:45 The idea of creating the worst possible day

01:12 Some examples

02:03 Disrupting the morning routine

02:58 Being proactive and tactical conversations

04:02 Use this worst day as a gratitude practice

05:07 Looking at this from a 30,000 foot view

05:52 Wrap up

Sign up today to attend one of my workshops!

Head over to Amazon today to pick up your copy of the Ritual Design Planner!

Learn more about Ritual Design here!

Subscribe to the Youtube channel

Follow on Instagram

Share on Facebook

Find me on TikTok

Connect on Linked In

How do we best mitigate overwhelm and dropping the ball when we take on new projects? Many of us struggle with creating effective time management skills that often lead to an overflowing cup. We take on too many projects but we're still bound to the same 24 hours in a day.

Recently I revamped my youth speaking side of the business. I started this back in 2018 but on a much smaller scale. Going all in required a website, business cards, a crm, and more. Wanting to get this up and running quickly I knew I had to put a pause on the podcast =(

Take a listen today to what I learned from this and what I would have done differently.

00:00 Exploring the meaning of the saying "people often overestimate what they can do in a year, and underestimate what they can do in ten years".

01:04 Despite properly estimating the time required to start an entrepreneurial project, what issues arose as a result?

01:38 My background of his entrepreneurial journey.

02:04 What I have learned about the process of "starting".

02:42 How this lesson can be applied to lives of anyone listening + examples of exercises people can use.

03:02 Describing "collateral damage" that might occur when pursuing a new task.

03:16 Time management on a large vs. small scale.

03:56 Various exercises to practice efficient time management.

05:29 Explaining a helpful tool for time management called "Timeular" • Learn more about Timeular here: https://timeular.com/

06:25 Making better estimates by doubling the time that you might believe a task takes.

07:25 Planning out activities for more effective time management.

08:56 What happens when we take on more tasks than we can handle?

11:06 When juggling too many projects, how can we purposefully drop a "ball" and prioritize other projects that may be more important to improve our time management?

Sign up today to attend one of my workshops!

Head over to Amazon today to pick up your copy of the Ritual Design Planner!

Learn more about Ritual Design here!

Subscribe to the Youtube channel

Follow on Instagram

Share on Facebook

Find me on TikTok

Connect on Linked In

Are you trying to combine your passion and purpose? Would you love to get up in the morning knowing you get to do what you love and it's what you were put on this earth to be doing?!

Of course you would! Let's be real...that sounds like a pipe dream.

And the reality is that it may be. It may not be possible to have your line of work be the one thing that you're both passionate about and it be your purpose.

The point of today's episode is to firstly give you some examples in my life of passions of mine that I know I couldn't and SHOULDN'T be doing for work!

There are also numerous things I inherently know I was put here to do but I may not be super thrilled to be doing it. So what do we do?! Check out today's episode to learn more!

00:00 Intro

00:45 Trying to figure it out

01:39 Flow State

03:48 Passions

06:24 Purpose

09:21 My re-evaluation

11:40 Wrap up

Sign up today to attend one of my workshops!

Head over to Amazon today to pick up your copy of the Ritual Design Planner!

Learn more about Ritual Design here!

Subscribe to the Youtube channel

Follow on Instagram

Share on Facebook

Find me on TikTok

Connect on Linked In

Sticking to your daily schedule can be tricky.

There can be many things out of your control and sometimes one of your daily routines may take a hit. Maybe one of your family members really need you or maybe your work schedule changed last minute. Or maybe it's a simple issue with will power?!

That's ok! It's not about perfection, it's about progress.

Moving forward the only thing we can do is simply identify patterns and try our best to be proactive.

Take a listen to today's episode in order to learn about the ways I try my hardest to stick to my daily schedule.

00:00 Intro

02:42 Your routines are too packed

04:53 Your routines are too sparse

06:16 Not important enough

Sign up today to attend one of my workshops!

Head over to Amazon today to pick up your copy of the Ritual Design Planner!

Learn more about Ritual Design here!

Subscribe to the Youtube channel

Follow on Instagram

Share on Facebook

Find me on TikTok

Connect on Linked In