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The Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast with Daniel Bauer

The BETTER LEADERS BETTER SCHOOLS podcast is in the TOP 0.5% most downloaded shows of over 2 million podcasts across the world. The BLBS show was created for RUCKUS MAKERS in education -- those out-of-the-box school leaders making change happen. Launched in 2015, this category-defining podcast in educational leadership has helped over 1 MILLION leaders LEVEL UP. Each week host DANIEL BAUER has a conversation with a leadership expert and invites you to listen in. Turn your commute, chores, or workout into professional development and then GO MAKE A RUCKUS! BLBS is the #1 downloaded podcast for school leaders.
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Now displaying: May, 2019
May 29, 2019

Welcome to the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast.  This is a weekly show is for ruckus makers -- What is a ruckus maker?  A leader who has found freedom from the status quo. A leader looking to escape the old routine. A leader who never, ever gives up.

Up next you can hear Daniel Bauer’s interview with Elisabeth Bosnick.  They discuss how to break free from the status quo by creating a culture that is comfortable with “taking the leap”.

We hope you enjoy the podcast. All the highlights, resources, and next steps can be found below. Listen to the full episode here and learn more at betterleadersbetterschools.com

 

Getting to know Elisabeth Bostwick

Elisabeth Bostwick is a multi-award-winning educator who is passionate about creating the conditions to spark curiosity and unleash creativity to empower learning. Driven to elevate education, Elisabeth speaks at both local and national conferences to support educators in their journey to foster cultures of innovation and authentic learning experiences for their students. In addition to being a classroom practitioner, Elisabeth has served as an instructional coach and grade-level chairperson. In these roles, she has worked alongside colleagues to support the integration of technology to deepen learning and has leveraged highly effective strategies to engage and empower all learners to maximize growth. Dedicated to making a long-lasting, positive impact on education, Elisabeth participates as a continuous learner to identify how we can support systemic change and develop essential success skills to ensure learners thrive to be future ready.

Elisabeth is also a co-author of Education Write Now, Volume II: Top Strategies for Improving Relationships and Culture. Recognized by PBS as a Digital Innovator All-Star and lead Digital Innovator for New York, Elisabeth regularly engages with other educators to bring professional learning experiences and contributes to individual and collaborative blogs in the PBS Teachers Lounge. She's also been named the NextGen Young Professional Leader in Education and had the honor of being the recipient of the governor’s Empire State Excellence in Teaching award. Above all, Elisabeth strives to serve as a model for her children. She hopes to inspire them to be dedicated to developing their strengths and interests—leading them to their passions and fulfillment in life.

Her new book, Take the L. E. A. P.: Ignite a Culture of Innovation will help readers reimagine learning by sparking curiosity, inspiring creativity, and promoting student agency.

 

Questions in Learning Environments

Elisabeth talks about how her kids along with many others, were not asking as many quality questions as they could. This can lead to a feeling of unfulfillment and kids come home from school feeling as if they did not learn as much. She says that authentic learning and our traditional education do not always go hand in hand. Combined with the heavy emphasis on standardized testing, Elisabeth felt the need to create change in the way we look at learning.

“I felt driven to create a book to help educators break out of the mold of traditional education, and look at how we can infuse authentic learning with the interests and the strengths of the students we work alongside.” - Elisabetth Bostwick



Making an Impact in the Classroom

Elisabeth encourages more teachers to bring bigger concepts into the classrooms in which they teach. She says we can inspire authentic learning by figuring out what our students wonder about. If we can find the things that interest them and relate them to the subjects in the classroom, students would be much more interested and interactive inside the classroom.

“There are so many overlapping elements that you can pick and choose, and scaffold it within your own classroom so that it works for you.” -Elisabeth Bostwick

 

In the Students’ Best Interest

Elisabeth talks about ways to find the students’ interests. She says if you ask most students what their interests are, they will be unrelated to school. Kids will say their interests are sports, video games, and toys. Elisabeth says we have to find out why the kids like these things. We need to expose these kids to a variety of subjects and concepts to find their interests in the classroom.

It’s not just about a students’ interests, but how we can help kids identify what those interests are.” -Elisabeth Bostwick

 

Elisabeth Bostwick’s Resources:

Links to Resources

Take the L. E. A. P.: Ignite a Culture of Innovation by Elisabeth Bostwick

Education Write Now, Volume II (Eye on Education) by Jeffrey Zoul

The Innovator's Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity by George Couros

 

Elisabeth Bostwick’s Contact Info:

http://elisabethbostwick.com/

https://twitter.com/ElisaBostwick

 

Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap

 

Show Some Love

 

LEVEL UP 🚀

Website :: Twitter :: LinkedIn

 

SHOW SPONSORS:

ORGANIZED BINDER

  • Organized Binder is an evidence-based RTI2 Tier 1 universal level solution
  • Focuses on improving executive functioning and noncognitive skills
  • Is in direct alignment with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework
  • Is an integral component for ensuring Least Restrictive Environments (LRE)

 

You can learn more and improve your student’s success at https://organizedbinder.com/

 

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

May 22, 2019

Welcome to the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast.  This is a weekly show for ruckus makers -- What is a ruckus maker?  A leader who has found freedom from the status quo. A leader looking to escape the old routine. A leader who never, ever gives up.

Up next you can hear Daniel Bauer’s interview with Robert Palazzo. They discuss his role as a principal and building a new playground.

We hope you enjoy the podcast. All the highlights, resources, and next steps can be found below. Listen to the full episode here and learn more at betterleadersbetterschools.com

 

Getting to know Robert Palazzo

Robert grew up in Long Island, New York. He started his career as a school psychologist and became involved in developing a school-wide positive behavior program. Robert then decided to pursue his Master’s in Educational Administration and served as a k-3 principal. He then concentrated on trauma-informed practice and restorative discipline. In 2013, he opened a new playground at the school that did not have one for 10 years.

Outside of school, Robert enjoys time with his wife and 2-year-old and as a wedding DJ on the weekend.

 

Perfect Day of Work

Robert talks about how being with the kids is meaningful and checking in with all the departments are the highlights of his day. He likes meeting with the students at any time during the day and really building a relationship with them. Robert talks about meeting the students where they are at and making sure to be there at all times, such as lunch and recess.

“Early on as a school psychologist, I knew I wanted to be around them and know who they are. This is what’s helped me in my career and relationship building with the students.” - Robert Palazzo

 

Playground Story

Robert tells us that people before him wanted a playground, but it is a tough task to get done. He explains how the teachers did a great job of trying to fill time for the students and donating items so that the students could be happy. Robert was fortunate enough to hear that a grandparent was delighted to help to get the project done. He says that he got a lot of his drive from this and knew that it could be done.

“We raised 32,000 dollars from beginning of the 2017 school year to August 2018 which helped us pick who we really wanted to work with.” - Robert Palazzo

 

Robert talks about how they were able to do this from projects that the students could work on like a coin drive. He talks about how the community really got behind this project and worked hard to gain money. Having this support helped get the project done and was refreshing to see the community support it.

 

Trauma-Informed Instruction

Robert tells us that meeting students where they are is essential and can only help the child be successful. He encourages his staff to listen to the students and really hear why something is going on.

“Actually listening to your students can help them grow and shows that you really do care for them.” - Robert Palazzo

Robert says that sometimes the staff has to call him in to talk with students and he is okay with this. He just asks that his staff reinforces their rules at school.

 

Why did you come to the mastermind?

Robert says he comes from a small district and how leaders can be in isolation. He sometimes says that you need a soundboard to hear some discussions that helped him sustain himself in the work he does.

Robert also says that he has really enjoyed this service and how it’s kept him positive and excellent connections. He describes this as having a group of people that are there to champion you and support you on the not so good days.

 

Message to Schools

“Listen to a child when they have something to say, those 5 minutes may change that whole child’s life.” - Robert Palazzo

Robert says that children have a lot to say, but they can always have something to share that has meaning to them.

 

How would you build your dream school?

I would continue to fill the school with people that love kids and care for them. Robert would then want to slow down the school process and allow teachers to dive deep into topics.

3 priorities

  1.  Enthusiastic educators
  2.  Deeper knowledge on topics
  3.  Have fun

 

Robert Palazzo Resources:

Power Of Moments by Chip Heath

Kids Deserve It by Todd Nesloney & Adam Welcome

 

Good News Call of the Day:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7izWQPRbLNuZndIejQ2MThNblBkWjVFV0pvNDFRQnh3bWpr/view?usp=sharing

 

Cool Cat of the Day:  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7izWQPRbLNuNUlBZmxlOEtVRU9WdVNKMTNHT1hVMHRYN1dJ/view?usp=sharing

 

Robert Palazzo Contact Info:

Twitter: @Palazzopves

 

Download resource: https://www.betterleadersbetterschools.com/

 

Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap

Show Some Love

 

LEVEL UP 🚀

Website :: Twitter :: LinkedIn

 

SHOW SPONSORS:

ORGANIZED BINDER

  • Organized Binder is an evidence-based RTI2 Tier 1 universal level solution
  • Focuses on improving executive functioning and noncognitive skills
  • Is in direct alignment with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework
  • Is an integral component for ensuring Least Restrictive Environments (LRE)

You can learn more and improve your student’s success at https://organizedbinder.com/

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

May 15, 2019

Welcome to the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast.  This is a weekly show is for ruckus makers -- What is a ruckus maker?  A leader who has found freedom from the status quo. A leader looking to escape the old routine. A leader who never, ever gives up.

Up next you can hear Daniel Bauer’s interview with David Domena. They discuss creating memorable learning experiences.

We hope you enjoy the podcast. All the highlights, resources, and next steps can be found below. Listen to the full episode here and learn more at betterleadersbetterschools.com

 

Getting to know David

David is a fourth-grade elementary teacher in southern California but is transitioning to third-grade. David came to education as a second year as he managed retail warehouses for 12 years, this gives him a different perspective on education. David is passionate about teaching the whole student, establishing meaningful relationships with the students, and creating memorable experiences for the students.

David is known for his honesty, enthusiasm, and strategically speaking his mind. David loves being present with his family and doing random acts of kindness.

 

Creating Memorable Experiences

David talks about how on the first day of class he took his students out to the volleyball court and did a cookie challenge. He told the students that this is all about trying something new and being open-minded. To get into the classroom, students just had to try this but did not have to be successful. David said this helped set the tone that everything is earned throughout the year.

Breaking things down into small steps can create clarity and help create a connection with the community that you are working within.

This is all about trying things and not being worried about what others are thinking about you. David Domena

 

Anonymous Acts of Kindness

David says this is much more powerful when people do not know where it is coming from. The reward comes from people acknowledging the gift of kindness but not knowing who it actually comes from.

David’s most significant act of kindness is setting up a Kindness Club at school and seeing the students giving help. This help goes out to all the staff around the building.

Daniel reminds us that meeting with everyone in your community helps the overall goals of education. Everyone can have a great idea and hearing input from others can help create unity and a better learning environment.  

 

What is your why?

David shares that his why is getting rewards beyond a paycheck such as seeing students grasping a new concept or installing academic confidence. An example was when a student improved his score by 8 points and having the student realize that this was a great accomplishment and allowing them to take that small gain.

Turning around someone’s day or witnessing a student’s growth shows that I’m doing the right thing.” – David

 

Biggest Leadership Mistakes

Was when David was back in the warehouse and the company was starting to plan his exit. David says that he was clueless about this and regretted not being able to prepare them for this. He wasn’t able to help them set up an exit plan, and he carried this with him for a while.

Some people do not want to take ownership of their mistakes which creates problems with not learning from their mistakes.

“I do call and responses for my students and have them move around a lot to get them to be comfortable with their mistakes. The students can acknowledge this and be okay with it.” David

 

Routines and Rituals

David starts his day off early and gets a mild workout in before his wife and kids are up. David then sets his intention for the day.

Daniel reminds us to think where we need to be perfect and where can we give 70-80% effort. People get to leadership roles and want to give their best to certain projects and really diving into them to make them perfect.

 

How would you build your dream school?

Market it as a leadership academy and focus on foundational skills, leadership, kindness, and service. Academics would emerge from teacher passion and not force into what they need to teach.

 

3 priorities

  1.   Enthusiastic educators
  2.   Flexible curriculum
  3.   Huge massive budget

 

David Domena Resources:

Whole Brain Teaching

The Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap by Daniel Bauer

 

David Domena Contact Info:

  • Instagram: @mrdelementary
  • Gmail: mrdelementary@gmail.com

 

Three leadership questions I ask everyday

Download resource: https://www.betterleadersbetterschools.com/

Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap

 

Show Some Love

 

LEVEL UP 🚀

Website :: Twitter :: LinkedIn

 

SHOW SPONSORS:

ORGANIZED BINDER

  • Organized Binder is an evidence-based RTI2 Tier 1 universal level solution
  • Focuses on improving executive functioning and noncognitive skills
  • Is in direct alignment with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework
  • Is an integral component for ensuring Least Restrictive Environments (LRE)

 

You can learn more and improve your student’s success at https://organizedbinder.com/

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

May 8, 2019

Welcome to the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast.  This is a weekly show is for ruckus makers -- What is a ruckus maker?  A leader who has found freedom from the status quo. A leader looking to escape the old routine. A leader who never, ever gives up.

Up next you can hear Daniel Bauer’s interview with Joël McClean.  They discuss servant leadership and the imposter syndrome.

We hope you enjoy the podcast. All the highlights, resources, and next steps can be found below. Listen to the full episode here and learn more at betterleadersbetterschools.com

 

Getting to know Joel

Joël McClean began his career in education in 1997. He has worked as a science and chemistry teacher at the intermediate and secondary level and has been a school principal since 2006.

From 2014 to 2018, Joël was on detachment from his school board as a Pedagogical Leader at CFORP, serving the 12 French school boards of the province of Ontario in Canada, as well as various educational partners. As a leadership coach, he worked with school principals to help develop their leadership skills, as well as board-level pedagogical teams regarding leading, teaching and learning in the digital age.

Joël is presently an elementary school principal, as well as a Provincial Leadership Coach for his professional association. He is the founder of Inspire Life & Leadership Coaching, as well as founder and host of Inspire Leadership Podcast.

 

Having a Deep Impact

Joël believed his impact would come from being a classroom teacher and then a principal.  He wanted to develop himself and needed a different challenge. He began coaching principals and worked the processes with them to have a deep impact.  He was able to ask questions and let them come up with the solutions.

Be an even better version of yourself today than you were yesterday. - Joël McClean

 

Imposter Syndrome

Joël talks about a time after receiving a new job when he was sitting without a school to get ready, no staff to talk with, no kids coming in.  Joël began to wonder what he had gotten himself into. He was having some anxiety as they were building it from the ground up.

It probably ended up being the best decision I could have ever made in terms of my career. ” -Joël McClean

 

Deeper Impact On Larger Scale

Joël started with posting video tips, blogging, building a website and podcasting (in French) to reach as many leaders as he could on a broader scale.

Everyone was like-minded that were creative and motivated people just pushing and pushing themselves and each other.” - Joël McClean

 

Joël McClean Resources:

Stratosphere by Michael Fullan

Digital Leadership:  Changing Paradigms with Changing Times by Eric Sheninger

Innovator’s Mindset by George Couros

The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier

Leadership Step by Step: Become the Person Others Follow Hardcover by Joshua Spodek

The Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap by Daniel Bauer

 

Joël McClean Contact Info:

 

 

Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap

 

Show Some Love

 

LEVEL UP 🚀

 

Website :: Twitter :: LinkedIn

 

SHOW SPONSORS:

ORGANIZED BINDER

  • Organized Binder is an evidence-based RTI2 Tier 1 universal level solution
  • Focuses on improving executive functioning and noncognitive skills
  • Is in direct alignment with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework
  • Is an integral component for ensuring Least Restrictive Environments (LRE)

 

You can learn more and improve your student’s success at https://organizedbinder.com/

 

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

May 1, 2019

Welcome to the Better Leaders Better Schools  podcast. This is a weekly show is for ruckus makers -- What is a ruckus maker?  A leader who has found freedom from the status quo. A leader looking to escape the old routine. A leader who never, ever gives up.

Up next you can hear Daniel Bauer’s interview with Afika Afeni Mills they explore 3 skills all leaders need, going deep with equity and eradicating blind spots.

We hope you enjoy the podcast. All the highlights, resources, and next steps can be found below. Listen to the full episode here and learn more at betterleadersbetterschools.com

 

Getting to know Afrika

Afrika Afeni Mills is the Manager of Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning and an Instructional Coach with BetterLesson. She works with teachers, coaches and administrators to transform instructional practices and empower all students to thrive. A former teacher, administrator and prominent thought leader, she has been featured on podcasts discussing the school-to-prison pipeline and white fragility and co-presented Required Reading Reconsidered and Interrogating the Curriculum at conferences across the U.S.

Afrika holds a master’s degree in elementary teaching from Boston College’s Lynch School of Education, where she graduated first in her class. Afrika believes that all teachers can be motivated, engaged, dynamic educators and leaders when provided with the support needed to create student-centered, culturally responsive learning environments that inspire wonder and creativity and nurture diversity, equity and inclusion.

 

Three Skills Leaders Need

Afrika credits Paul Gorski of the Equity Literacy Institute for these three skills after a conference she attended.  These really resonated with her.

  1. Having Good Will
  2. A depth of knowledge and curiosity
  3. The will to change

 

“When it comes to some of the inequitable practices and policies that exist in schools and even thinking about curriculum being inclusive and things like that, we also need to have a depth of knowledge about that history and the curiosity about that and what students most need and then the will to change those things to make sure we're always serving students the best. So I think those three, those three qualities are really important for a leader.” - Afrika Afeni Mills

 

Going Deep with Equity

Afrika talks about the conference she recently attended and how just serving others makes them more comfortable but really doesn’t solve or end the issue at hand.  She talks about this experience being eye opening.

Paul Gorski said that those things absent of really thinking about why the inequities exist in the first place, it's not going to end anything.  So we really have to have that will to dismantle inequitable practices in our schools. And that just really was like, wow.  And I didn't really think about it that way.” - Afrika Afeni Mills

 

Eradicating Blind Spots

Afrika talks about the idea that if we are not experiencing some of the inequitable practices personally, then we have blind spots.  She says it’s not because we are terrible people, it just doesn’t occur to us to think about it.

“When I became a teacher, I'm just like, I grew up in Brooklyn, you know, I grew up in Flatbush, I know what it's like to have some challenges.  So when I became a teacher, I made the wrong assumption that I'm already culturally responsible because I'm a black woman who grew up in an urban setting. Right.  And then I started teaching and I'm like, oh man, was I wrong!” - Afrika Afeni Mills

 

AFRIKA AFENI MILLS Resources:

 

AFRIKA AFENI MILLS Contact Info:

Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap

 

Show Some Love

 

LEVEL UP 🚀

Website :: Facebook :: Insta :: Twitter :: LinkedIn

 

SHOW SPONSORS:

ORGANIZED BINDER

  • Organized Binder is an evidence-based RTI2 Tier 1 universal level solution
  • Focuses on improving executive functioning and noncognitive skills
  • Is in direct alignment with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework
  • Is an integral component for ensuring Least Restrictive Environments (LRE)

 

You can learn more and improve your student’s success at https://organizedbinder.com/

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

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