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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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The Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast with Daniel Bauer
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Now displaying: July, 2019
Jul 31, 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.

In this episode, Danny is going to do two things.   One, he’s going to share a handful of quotes that have really pushed his thinking in the past few months. This is a gift to you as it will push your thinking as well.  Two, Danny shares where BLBS is going over the next quarter and then talks briefly about goals and systems. 

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

 

Key Talking Points 

  • Do you have clearly established goals and a system to get you there, how would you rate yourself?
  • Danny unpacks his goals and you’ll learn some goal setting advice and the system that turns vision into reality.
  • Powerful quotes that will help you level up your leadership.
  • The concept that originated in 16th century Japan. It’s called ichi-go, ichi-ee.
  • OKRS and what they are.

 

Key Quotes

1.)  “Am I going to find my place in the world or make my place in the world?”

This quote comes from a great book called Niche Down by Christopher Lochhead. Christopher was a guest on BLBS Episode 168: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/be-legendary-by-being-different/id1036167679?i=1000422486207

 

2.)  The next quote comes from a book called Reboot by Jerry Colonna. Jerry has his own podcast. He is a former financial guy and now coaches tech startup executives. 

Jerry says, “The toughest part of being a leader -- is meeting the world as it is and not as we wish it to be.”

 

3.)  One of Danny’s favorite books is The Art of Possibility. He often talks about Rule #6 (which is a mastermind core value) and the practice of giving everyone an A.

“Here’s the quote: “It’s all invented anyway, so we might as well invent a story or framework of meaning that enhances our quality of life and the life of those around us.”

 

Key Resources 

Niche Down by Christopher Lochhead

Reboot by Jerry Colonna

The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander  

This is Marketing by Seth Godin

Measure what matters by John Doerr 

Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap by Daniel Bauer

Don’t forget to catch more episodes and resources at the Better Leaders Better Schools website.

 

How You Can Help

Link Mastermind: https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/mastermind

Link to Go! Community: https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/go

 

Tip of the Week

Reflection: Take time to reflect on the previous school year and include the pros and cons in your current thought process as you are starting your new year.  Reflection is vital to every leaders growth. There are many ways to reflect. Try writing it down in a journal, audio tape your reflection each week, consider blogging and vlogging.  You will be glad you did.

 

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/

 

Teach FX

  • Empowers teachers with feedback on student engagement
  • A fitbit for teachers that measures student engagement
  • Research shows that the more students speak in class, the more they learn, and the better they perform on standardized tests.
  • Use your phone or laptop to analyze your class, and the app’s artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm tracks your talk ratio automatically, with no extra work from you or an instructional coach. 
  • The idea is to give teachers a useful barometer of student engagement you can check every day!

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

 

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

Jul 24, 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.

A lot of school leaders feel frustrated with the red tape and bureaucracy while doing their jobs as educators.

In this episode, we talk with a man who might be able to offer a solution...without leaving your “this is stressing me out” job.

Dr. Spodek, a TED speaker and holder of 5 Ivy League degrees, offers advice on how to take initiative in the workplace so you can feel better and make a stronger impact as an educator.

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

 

Key Talking Points 

  • Rafael’s story of finding meaning as a burnt-out educator
  • The small mental pivot that increases collaboration and support in the workplace
  • The huge barriers that keep most people from taking initiative
  • Why everyone has the power to create more meaning in the workplace
  • The importance of “speaking their language” when talking with management
  • The difference between judgement and advice
  • Joana’s story of achieving something amazing by following a simple script

 

Key Milestones of the Episodes

[5:40] Feeling stuck and story of Rafael

[7:50] Helping Rafael through the gridlock

[11:38] Why it’s more important to have the right skills than “know the right people”

[16:52] How does Dr. Spodek’s ideas about initiative apply to school leaders

[20:21] Creating change you believe in with management

[25:00] One practical exercise listeners can make to be a stronger leader

[29:00] The story of Joanne

 

Key Quotes

It’s a real big deal to jump ship.”

“There’s opportunities all over the place.”

“Taking initiative doesn’t have to mean ‘entrepreneurship’.”

“What gets media attention tends to be the more high-tech stuff.”

“Having a perfect idea keeps some people from starting but motivates other people to go…”...

“...something like 5 or 10% of people are naturally going to come up through their natural life to have an idea, what about the other 90-95%”

“It’s easier to succeed at something you don’t like when people are paying you for it...but it doesn’t necessarily create meaning.”

“Most people are working below their potential, not in terms of output..but in terms of alignment.”

“...when the teacher gives you an assignment to read a book that you always wanted to read anyway, it doesn’t feel like work”

 

Key Resources 

Initiative: A Proven Method to Bring Your Passions to Life (and Work)

Leadership Step by Step: Become the Person Others Follow

Don’t forget to catch more episodes and resources at the Better Leaders Better Schools website.

 

Other resources

The Power of Project Learning: Why new schools are choosing an old model to bring students into the 21st century.

Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap

 

About Our Guest

Dr. Joshua Spodek is a leadership consultant, blogger podcaster, TEDx speaker, professor at NYU, and author of the books “Initiative: A Proven Method to Bring Your Passions to Life (and Work)” and “ Leadership Step by Step: Become the Person Others Follow”.

Dr. Josh Spodek Contact Info

Twitter

Website

 

Tip of the Week

Joining a Mastermind: Just like networking, sometimes you need to invest financially in your own development.  We do this through continued education and now it is common to do this with masterminds. By meeting regularly with equally driven leaders, individuals can accelerate their leadership development and crush their personal and professional goals.  By the way, we organize education masterminds, but seats are limited.

 

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/

 

Teach FX

  • Empowers teachers with feedback on student engagement
  • A fitbit for teachers that measures student engagement
  • Research shows that the more students speak in class, the more they learn, and the better they perform on standardized tests.
  • Use your phone or laptop to analyze your class, and the app’s artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm tracks your talk ratio automatically, with no extra work from you or an instructional coach. 
  • The idea is to give teachers a useful barometer of student engagement you can check every day!

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

 

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

Jul 17, 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.

How do you create a school-wide change that impacts the students, teachers, staff and community….without fundraising?  Be proactive like Adam Drummond.

Adam Drummond created an innovative school-wide “economy” where students applied for jobs, were paid a “salary” and couly buy items and experiences.

In this episode of Better Leaders Better Schools, Dr. Drummond shares the mindset behind this innovative economy and his lessons on transforming the entire culture of school for the positive.

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

 

Key Talking Points 

  • Creating your own school-wide economy
  • Practical leadership lessons from“The Instructional Change Agent”you can do in less than 5 minutes
  • What is student-centered decision-making?
  • What does “perspective on impact” mean?

 

Key Milestones of the Episodes

[5:00] The school-wide economy experiment

[7:50] What unexpected good things happened during your experiment?

[9:00] Partnerships with the community and local businesses-How did you get buy-in from the community for your experiment?

[17:30] What is student-centered decision-making and what does it look like?

[20:21] Creating change you believe in with management

[25:00] One practical exercise listeners can make to be a stronger leader

[29:00] The story of Joanne

 

Key Quotes

We wanted kids to do the right thing because it was the right thing to do. Others needed some of that extrinsic motivation.”

“It really starts with building out relationships.”

“It’s [The education industry] really become this competitive landscape.”

“I think the power of success happens within the opportunities we create for kids.”

 

Key Resources 

The Instructional Change Agent: 48 Ways to Be the Leader Your School Needs

Don’t forget to catch more episodes and resources at the Better Leaders Better Schools website.

Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap

 

Other resources

Find you local Chamber of Commerce

Meetup

Toastmasters International

 

About Our Guest

Adam Drummond, EdD is the director of Professional Learning for the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE), a keynote speaker, and author with leadership experience at levels of education.

Twitter

LinkedIn

Blog

 

Tip of the Week

Holding Office Hours: Hold office hours one day a week for an hour before school starts. This gives the staff uninterrupted time to meet with you and discuss important issues without having to worry about a class starting or getting home to feed the kids.

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/

 

Teach FX

  • Empowers teachers with feedback on student engagement
  • A fitbit for teachers that measures student engagement
  • Research shows that the more students speak in class, the more they learn, and the better they perform on standardized tests.
  • Use your phone or laptop to analyze your class, and the app’s artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm tracks your talk ratio automatically, with no extra work from you or an instructional coach. 
  • The idea is to give teachers a useful barometer of student engagement you can check every day!

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

 

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

Jul 10, 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.

In this episode, Danny speaks with repeat guest, Mike Roberts who offers some words of wisdom about persistence, pursuing excellence, and leveraging success as a school leader. Mike shares his experiences running marathons, teaching 8th grade English, and presenting leadership lessons to other teachers.

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

 

Key Talking Points 

  • How Mike went from a weekend warrior to a marathon runner...starting with his failed first race
  • Why chasing micro-goals is a strategy for success
  • Why you don’t need to be great at everything, just 1% better to achieve more success in your life
  • Understanding the foundations in the student/teacher and teacher/principal relationship
  • Battling competition envy and reframing success to help you get 1% better
  • Ways to make your life as a teacher 1% better
  • Why we shouldn’t run away from failure…
  • The power of moving toward 1% better as a school and as an industry

 

Key Milestones of the Episodes

[4:28] Mike’s transformation from a man who couldn’t run one mile into an ultra marathoner

[9:41] Why Mike didn’t quit

[12:37] Getting 1% better

[18:15] Dealing with Comparison Envy

[26:47] You learn the most from difficult things

 

Key Quotes

Giving up is the easiest thing to do.”

I want you to look at me as a person who teaches and I’m going to look at you as a person who is a student ``

“As educators, the more consistent we can be with who we are...the better off it is for our school community.”

“I don’t think next year is going to be easier than next year. I expect it to be tougher...but you build up those skills...along the way from the challenges.”

 

Key Resources 

Chasing Greatness: 26.2 Ways Teaching is Like Running a Marathon

Don’t forget to catch more episodes and resources at the Better Leaders Better Schools website.

 

Other resources

Strava

Billionaire CEO Sara Blakely Says These 7 Words Are the Best Career Advice She Ever Got

 

Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap

 

Tip of the Week

Eat Well & Exercise: If you want to optimize your performance mentally and physically you will prioritize eating well and you’ll start or continue exercising.  Exercise is a great stress relief and some of your best ideas will be generated while outside of the office or while lifting or running. Make Eating well and exercising a part of your daily schedule.

 

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/

 

Teach FX

  • Empowers teachers with feedback on student engagement
  • A fitbit for teachers that measures student engagement
  • Research shows that the more students speak in class, the more they learn, and the better they perform on standardized tests.
  • Use your phone or laptop to analyze your class, and the app’s artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm tracks your talk ratio automatically, with no extra work from you or an instructional coach. 
  • The idea is to give teachers a useful barometer of student engagement you can check every day!

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

 

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

Jul 8, 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.

In this episode, Danny talks with his colleague, expert coach and new Better Leaders Better School Mastermind cohort leader Dr. Kelly Crane. Dr. Crane shares her experience moving up the career ladder from assistant principal to district administrator while raising children, going through a divorce and working on her specialist and doctorate degrees. Along the way, Dr. Crane shares the insights she learned about school leadership, decision making, and networking.

 

Key Talking Points  

  •     Climbing the school corporate ladder
  •     Balancing school leadership and family life
  •     Networking Tips
  •     Creating your “vivid vision”
  •     Networking within the Better Leaders Better Schools mastermind

 

Key Milestones

[3:20] The unexpected way that Dr. Crane became a principal

[5:26] How did Dr. Crane balance her really busy life as a school administrator, Mom, Volleyball coach, District sub coordinator, and being a student herself

[7:34] Climbing the corporate ladder

[8:20] Networking Tips

[13:40] Creating your “vivid vision”

[15:29] Joining the Better Leaders Better Schools mastermind

[20:48] Leadership Guilt

 

Key Quotes

I have a choice every day and that was to get up and make it the best day or not. I choose to make it the best!”

 

“Always believe that something awesome is about to happen”

 

Key Resources

Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be

Girl, Stop Apologizing

 

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

 

Contact Information for Dr. Crane

LinkedIn

Email

Twitter

 

Other resources

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/

 

Teach FX

  • Empowers teachers with feedback on student engagement
  • A fitbit for teachers that measures student engagement
  • Research shows that the more students speak in class, the more they learn, and the better they perform on standardized tests.
  • Use your phone or laptop to analyze your class, and the app’s artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm tracks your talk ratio automatically, with no extra work from you or an instructional coach. 
  • The idea is to give teachers a useful barometer of student engagement you can check every day!

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

 

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

Jul 3, 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.

In this episode, Danny speaks with Chanie Wilschanski, early childhood strategist and school leadership coach (a return guest!) about owning and leveraging the ripple effect as a school leader. Chanie shares how everything a leader does, from the way they answer emails to the way they deal with interruptions, sets the tone for the entire school. She provides practical tips and strategies designed to help you make the most of your impact as a high-performing leader.

 

Key Talking Points  

  •     The key to making successful change as a school leader
  •     Why shifting responsibility to yourself as a leader will change your school
  •     Understanding how a higher-performing mindset works and how to develop one yourself
  •     Prepping your mindset for the challenging environment you are facing
  •     Picking the right routines to create the right environment
  •     Handling interruptions and emergencies
  •     Finding time and energy to focus on the most important task of the moment

 

Key Milestones of the Episodes

[6:48] Understanding the “School of Excellence” concept

[9:00] The importance of environments in shifting your perspective

[10:54] Getting into a high-performance mindset

[18:22] Habits and routines of a high-performing leader

[28:14] Dealing with the constant interruptions

[38:00] Favorite book

 

Key Quotes

The answer to that question is ‘What do I need to do so that this happens?”

“The school culture and whatever you want to have in your school is an effect of the leader’s daily behaviors, routines, and habits.”

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” (Jim Rohn)

“Everytime you walk into a school building, it is a performance.”

“What adjective do you want to show up as?”

“As a school leader, we have to look at the game film.”

“The average director (in a study of early childhood educators) spends four hours a day fielding interruptions.”

“A teacher’s emergency is not yours.”

“The school leader who is always available isn’t listening.”

 

Key Resources

Atomic Habits

 

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

 

Other resources

Read the Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap

 

Tip of the Week

Dr. Kelly Crane, expert coach at BLBS shares a tip about an app called Scanner Pro.  Scanner Pro is the best app for quickly scanning and saving a digital version of a paper document. Scan any papers, ranging from a receipt to multi-page documents. Scanner Pro will automatically detect borders, correcting distortion and geometry. Share, email, fax and upload your perfect scans. Use OCR to convert any scan into a text.  It is a free app-go to your app store or https://readdle.com/scannerpro.

 

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/

 

Teach FX

  • Empowers teachers with feedback on student engagement
  • A fitbit for teachers that measures student engagement
  • Research shows that the more students speak in class, the more they learn, and the better they perform on standardized tests.
  • Use your phone or laptop to analyze your class, and the app’s artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm tracks your talk ratio automatically, with no extra work from you or an instructional coach. 
  • The idea is to give teachers a useful barometer of student engagement you can check every day!

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

 

Copyright © 2019 Better Leaders Better Schools

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