In episode 2 of the "Getting the Most Out of PD" series, the VIBE Edu crew tackles district and state-level professional learning. They break down why PD is your personal responsibility (not just your employer's), how to find free virtual/live sessions, and why going beyond school-site PD gives you early access to trends like AI literacy and licensure hours.From building a culture of learning to grabbing colleagues for webinars (like Mitch's free May 20th session), this episode shows you how to expand your growth without spending a dime. Think bigger, step outside your building, and take ownership of your professional development.***Connect with our hosts:Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/

What makes professional learning actually worth your time? In this episode, the VIBE Edu crew kicks off a brand-new series focused on getting the most out of PD at the school, district, state, and national levels. They unpack the mindset educators need to bring into any learning experience, why the real value comes from doing something with what you learn, and how leaders can design PD that leads to real implementation instead of one more sit-and-get.

The conversation also gets practical with real examples of walkthroughs, follow-up accountability, and strategies for making PD more intentional, engaging, and useful for teachers. From the importance of presence and participation to the power of “one thing I can try Monday,” this episode is full of ideas for educators, coaches, and leaders who want professional learning to actually move practice forward.

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Connect with our hosts:

Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/

Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/

TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/

Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/

In this VIBE Edu Mailbag episode, the crew tackles two big questions from educators: how to make peer-to-peer classroom visits a regular part of school culture, and how to better engage families in meaningful ways. The conversation focuses on building systems that make teacher observation feel collaborative instead of evaluative, while also creating time, structures, and intentionality so educators can actually learn from one another.The second half of the episode shifts to family communication and parent involvement, with ideas for making outreach shorter, clearer, more consistent, and easier for busy families to access. From quick video messages to text-friendly communication, class-wide celebrations, and student-led sharing tools, the crew makes the case that strong relationships start with clarity, empathy, and practical systems that meet people where they are.#vibeedu #EducationalSystem #FutureOfEducation #TeacherLeadership #EdReform***Connect with our hosts:Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/

In this final episode of the executive functioning series, the crew shifts the conversation from school success to life success. TJ Vari breaks down why organization, planning, goal setting, self-regulation, and flexibility are not just “school skills,” but durable skills that matter in college, career, and beyond. The discussion explores why schools should start building these habits early, how executive functioning connects to future-ready learning, and why postsecondary readiness should be part of the vision from kindergarten through graduation.

The conversation also gets practical, with examples of work-based learning, career exposure, and portrait of a graduate planning as ways to make executive functioning visible and meaningful for students. Kim Gameroz, Josh Stamper, and Mitch Weathers connect the dots between classroom scaffolding, student independence, and the danger of using fear as motivation, making the case that students thrive when we teach the skills explicitly instead of assuming they already have them.

• Mitch Weather's New Book: https://amzn.to/4bAnVjw
• VIBE EDU Event: https://www.teachinginsideout.com/vibe-edu

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Connect with our hosts:

• Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/
• Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/
• TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/
• Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/

Why do some students seem perfectly capable but still fall apart on long-term projects, multi-step assignments, and choice boards? In this third episode of VIBE Edu's executive functioning series, Mitch Weathers walks the crew through higher order executive functions — the skills of reasoning, planning, and problem solving that begin to emerge around grades 3–5 — and what it looks like when teachers unknowingly assume students already have them.The conversation gets practical fast, with Kim Gameroz sharing real classroom stories of fourth grade teachers who redesigned assignments around what they were actually assessing, and Mitch connecting it all to the concept of making the implicit explicit — breaking down choice boards, long-term projects, and note-taking strategies into the visible steps students need before they can work independently. Josh Stamper opens up about his own experience as a student who looked like a procrastinator but was really just a kid with no roadmap, and the crew tackles the "they won't have these supports later" pushback head-on with a simple but powerful argument: if you know dehydration is coming, you don't stop drinking water today.Mitch Weather's New Book: https://amzn.to/4bAnVjw***Connect with our hosts:Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/

What if the student who keeps eloping, zoning out, or shutting down is not being defiant but is simply running out of cognitive bandwidth? In this second episode of VIBE Edu's executive functioning series, Mitch Weathers breaks down the three core executive functions: working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility. And the crew unpacks what it actually looks like when these processes are underdeveloped in real K–3 classrooms.

Kim Gameroz shares a powerful real-world story of a student who stopped eloping after just two days once consistent routines, emotion-identification tools, and shared language were put in place across both the counselor's room and the general education classroom. Mitch connects these wins to two core principles from his new book, Executive Functions for Every K–3 Classroom: reduce interference and increase automaticity, and walks through how teachers can look at their environment, instruction, and routines through an "EF glasses" lens without adding anything new to their plate. TJ Vari and Josh Stamper round out the conversation by connecting underdeveloped executive functions to opportunity gaps, tier one instruction, and why what looks like defiance in the classroom is often a lagging skill waiting to be taught.

Mitch's New Book: https://amzn.to/4bAnVjw#vibeedu or https://organizedbinder.com/books/

Kim's Texas Book Event: https://bit.ly/4sHnGKT

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Connect with our hosts:

Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/

Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/

TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/

Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/

Do your students seem to know what to do but just cannot seem to do it? In this first episode of VIBE Edu's new series on executive functioning, Joshua Stamper, Kim Gameroz, TJ Vari, and Mitch Weathers lay the foundation for one of the most important and undertaught topics in education. For example, the cognitive processes that drive a student's ability to learn, self-regulate, stay focused, and navigate a school day.Mitch Weathers, creator of Organized Binder and his brand new book on core executive functions for grades K–3, walks the crew through the difference between executive functions and executive functioning skills, introduces the three core EFs (working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility), and explains why executive dysfunction is never just about the kid — it is always about the kid and their environment. From Kim's relatable "just trying to make coffee" scenario to Josh's driving-on-autopilot metaphor, the episode makes these brain-based concepts tangible and immediately useful for teachers at every grade level. If you have ever watched a student stare blankly after directions and thought "what is going on in there," this episode is your starting point.Mitch's New Book: https://amzn.to/4bAnVjw***Connect with our hosts:Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/

What do you do when you are hungry to lead but there are zero formal leadership roles on your campus and your “leadership team” meeting is just a place to pass along information?

In this VIBE Edu mailbag episode, Joshua Stamper, Kim Gameroz, TJ Vari, and Mitch Weathers field listener questions about creating real leadership opportunities, even when no positions exist and the structures around you feel stagnant.

They share concrete ways teachers can lead from the classroom by solving visible problems, proposing solutions with data and logistics, showing up in common spaces, and even building their own grassroots PD and book studies that quietly shift culture over time. The crew also tackles how to rethink leadership team meetings so they are not just “regurgitation,” including using clear agendas, time chunks, decision vs information codes, and dedicating a third of each meeting to genuine leadership development instead of more compliance tasks.#vibeedu

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Connect with our hosts:

Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/

Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/

TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/

Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/

Why do principals and superintendents need coaches just like their teachers do?In the final episode of VIBE Edu’s mentorship and coaching series, Joshua Stamper, Kim Gameroz, TJ Vari, and Mitch Weathers bring it home to school leaders at every level principals, APs, superintendents, and district directors and explain why the “law of the lid” means your capacity as a leader sets the ceiling for your entire organization. They kick off with Kim’s new book launch celebration, then dive into why admin coaching is not a luxury but the highest leverage investment, tackling the top struggles like urgent versus important work, time blocking, and reverse time blocking to reclaim hours lost to one minute interruptions.The crew shares real stories of communication telephone games that villainize district offices, how principals get stuck doing AP work instead of vision work, and concrete tools like the 3x5 card question (“Does this need to happen now? Do I need to be the one doing it?”) and structured sessions to communicate vision, evaluate people and programs, and innovate. They emphasize cascading impact coaching leaders so they can coach teacher leaders who coach teachers and normalize executive functioning for adults as the key to sustainable leadership, not 12 hour days.#vibeedu #EducationalSystem #FutureOfEducation #TeacherLeadership #EdReform***Connect with our hosts:Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/

What happens when teachers start to think, “I love the classroom, but I do not want to die in this room”? In this VIBE Edu episode, Joshua Stamper, Kim Gameroz, TJ Vari, and Mitch Weathers wrap up their mentorship and coaching series by focusing on the next layer of impact developing teacher leaders and future coaches inside your school.The crew shares stories from Kim’s in person California meetup, where community, vulnerability, and joy made it clear how powerful a true “herd” of educators can be, and then shifts into the practical realities of spotting emerging leaders, giving them low risk leadership reps, and surrounding them with like minded peers so they do not feel alone as they step beyond their classrooms. They also unpack why teacher leadership remains one of the biggest missing structures in education, how to coach coaches (not just send strong teachers to more pedagogy trainings), and how leaders can create intentional pathways, feedback, and real experiences not just slide decks to grow the next generation of mentors, facilitators, and school level change makers.***Connect with our hosts:Kim Gameroz- https://www.selebrategoodtimes.com/Joshua Stamper- https://joshstamper.com/TJ Vari- https://theschoolhouse302.com/Mitch Weathers- https://organizedbinder.com/

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VIBE EDU Event: https://www.teachinginsideout.com/vibe-edu

Becoming the BISON Book: https://amzn.to/4rHZ2ce