Dr. Karen Dudek Brannan spent 14 years as a school speech-language pathologist (SLP) while working on her doctorate in special education and Director of Special Education credential. In 2015, she launched a business focused on helping IEP teams design services that support language, literacy, and executive functioning, as well as helping all team members be better leaders. She brings a valuable perspective from both the service-provider and leadership ends of special education. Dr. Karen is also the host of De Facto Leaders on the Be Podcast Network. The show is designed for teachers, aspiring school leaders, and pediatric therapists who want to gain new strategies for success in their sessions and classrooms, and become more effective leaders. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or visit Karen's website to find the link to your preferred podcast app.  Summary: In today’s episode we dive into the world of executive functioning.  Dr. Dudek-Brannan explains what effective work should look like beyond the traditional model of students working on skill deficiencies in isolation with a counselor or therapist.  She describes how a team can focus on building these skills in students and what practice in the classroom includes. Best way for listeners to reach out to Karen: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/   Sponsors Transformative Principal Mastermind Lead a school everyone can be proud of. Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do. I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

How Eric Taught a student to write a better email. Write better emails How to prioritize problems. Keeping a focus What’s keeping you from focusing on your 1 thing in your school? 1 thing: getting into classrooms. Master schedule - Is this even in the top ten list? Got into his 1 thing within a month every year. Priorities - getting prepared for state testing, getting prepared for next year’s scheduling, graduation, staffing for next year. Are your priorities your todo list? Big idea behind state testing reflect the efforts of our kids What makes or breaks a great school. Why isn’t your past experiences translating to the current situation. Graduation rate was 85%, wasn’t meeting our goals. Goal of learning 1 thing each day. I’ve learned something new every day. What is the 1 thing that if you What was most valuable? Reframing how I prioritize Sponsors Transformative Principal Mastermind Lead a school everyone can be proud of. Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do. I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Tina Curry, Ed.D is currently Lead Coach at Fernwood Elementary School in Chicago Public Schools and an adjunct professor at DePaul University and National-Louis University. She was one of the contributors to the book Teaching for Racial Equity, which was recently named an Excellence in Equity Award Winner. She is an expert in equity in education and has trained educators in culturally responsive teaching and equity practices. She is a sought- after equity consultant. As a critically acclaimed public speaker and advocate for equity and justice in education, Dr. Curry has delivered keynote addresses locally and nationally. During her 23- year tenure in Chicago Public Schools she has served as a middle school and high school teacher, an equity coach, a literacy coach and went on to become a literacy specialist for three years in the Office of Literacy. Dr. Curry was named National Louis University’s Graduate Faculty of Year in 2019 and received the Most Influential Teacher Award from Sarah Goode STEM Academy that same year. She is a presenter at Illinois Association for Teacher of English (IATE), National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE), Illinois Reading Council (IRC), American Education Research Association (AERA), Illinois Writing Project (IWP), and Literacy Research Association (LRA). Her research interests include culturally responsive teaching, equity, literacy coaching, and school leadership. Summary for show notes: In today’s episode we talk with Dr. Tina Curry about her equity journey. She describes some of the many obstacles she faced when confronting racial equity in public school, including her work with other teachers. Tina points to relationships between teachers and students as the most meaningful way to repair and prevent the harm that has been done. Best way for listeners to reach out to Tina: Twitter @DrTina Curry Email tscurry@cps.edu Sponsors Transformative Principal Mastermind Lead a school everyone can be proud of. Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do. I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Johnathan Cranford is an in-school suspension teacher in Houston, TX and author of The Art of In-School Suspension: A Discipline Program that Benefits Staff and Students.  On today’s episode we dive into Johnathan’s passion project, making ISS effective.  He emphasizes the importance of having an educator in the room, focusing on a system of doing your work, and building in SEL instruction.  The bar for ISS is often low in schools and he believes some investment will pay big returns for students, teachers, and administrators.  Johnathan can be reached through his website www.theartofiss.com   Sponsors   Transformative Principal Mastermind   Lead a school everyone can be proud of.   Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do.   I help you stop putting out fires and start leading.   Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.com   Just Right Reader   Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your students learn how to read, with research-based strategies that are proven to be effective. Each grade level has over 100 books. Send books home in packs of ten, with video lessons accessible via QR codes on each book, with lessons in Spanish and English. Learn more at https://justrightreader.com    We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Chad Lang is an assistant superintendent of HR and school improvement in Glenwood Iowa.  He is passionate about grading, curriculum, and professional development.  On today’s episode we discuss the importance of curriculum and grading when preparing students for the “real world”.  He clarifies the difference between curriculum and resources, and explains why textbooks and companies should never be the curriculum for our students.  Chad also describes the importance of starting with a common definition of grades, with his definition aligning tightly to what we expect students to know and be able to do in reference to specific standards.   Chad can be reached on Twitter @chad_mLang or through his personal email chadmichaellang@gmail.comSponsorsTransformative Principal MastermindLead a school everyone can be proud of. Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do. I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.com     We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Last time we talked about evaluation. What has changed? Put into practice - new frame of reference and mindset. Talking about blindspots that a teacher has is what makes the evaluation meeting meaningful. What are some things you want my perspective on in the classroom? In this episode we discuss: - How to help the evaluation process be successful. - What if they don’t want feedback? - Ask what they want to get out of the evaluation process. - What if they ask for just a pat on the back? - Self-evaluation - use that to look for blindspots Sponsors Transformative Principal Mastermind Lead a school everyone can be proud of. Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do. I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.com Just Right Reader Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your students learn how to read, with research-based strategies that are proven to be effective. Each grade level has over 100 books. Send books home in packs of ten, with video lessons accessible via QR codes on each book, with lessons in Spanish and English. Learn more at https://justrightreader.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Darrin Peppard is a school district superintendent, speaker, author, publisher and consultant focused on what matters most in leadership. Darrin’s an expert in school culture and climate as well as coaching and growing emerging leaders. He is known for his keen insight, culture-first leadership style, and dynamic personality. In 2016, Darrin was named Wyoming Secondary School Principal of the Year by WASSP/NASSP and was the 2015 Jostens Renaissance Educator of the Year. In 2017, Darrin earned his Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Wyoming. This past summer, Darrin was inducted into the Jostens Renaissance Hall of Fame. On today’s episode we discuss school culture and the road to awesome. Darrin describes the moment he knew his school had a culture problem and how he started down the road less traveled instead of the “gotcha” road. He started by changing what he controlled, himself, and then focused on empowering the students and staff to join him and take ownership in their school’s journey. www.roadtoawesome.net 307-371-89447 Sponsors Transformative Principal Mastermind Lead a school everyone can be proud of. Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do. I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.com Just Right Reader Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your students learn how to read, with research-based strategies that are proven to be effective. Each grade level has over 100 books. Send books home in packs of ten, with video lessons accessible via QR codes on each book, with lessons in Spanish and English. Learn more at https://justrightreader.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

PLCs in a Small School with Jeff Makelky Transformative Principal 516 Jeff Makelky has spent 41 years in public education and is currently the principal of Big Piney High School in Wyoming. He graduated from Dickinson State and Montana State, was recognized as the Wyoming Secondary Principal of the Year in 2020, and has published articles in Principal Leadership. His email address is jmakelky@sublette9.org In today’s episode Jeff discusses his proudest accomplishments as a building leader, why he thinks more teachers should consider a career in educational leadership, and how his staff has been working toward implementing PLC practices to fit a small school setting. Sponsors Transformative Principal Mastermind Lead a school everyone can be proud of. Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do. I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.com Just Right Reader Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your students learn how to read, with research-based strategies that are proven to be effective. Each grade level has over 100 books. Send books home in packs of ten, with video lessons accessible via QR codes on each book, with lessons in Spanish and English. Learn more at https://justrightreader.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Opie Blackwell is the current principal of Ridgeview Charter Middle School in Atlanta, GA.  Ridgeview Charter Middle School is an inaugural recipient of the Association of Middle Level Education's (AMLE) prestigious Schools to Watch designation, a nationally recognized 2022-2025 elite "Lighthouse School to Watch" from the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, is a southeast recognized "Showcase School" for AVID, and is an International Baccalaureate program school.  His email address is blackwello@fultonschools.org.   On today’s episode Opie describes the hard work surrounding interdisciplinary teaching and learning that his team has been prioritizing.  He lays out the entire journey and emphasizes why a focus of including student voice is so valuable to the success they’ve achieved at Ridgeview Charter Middle School.  Sponsors Pikmykid Improve your school dismissal and safety response with Pikmykid, the Schools Safety and Dismissal Platform. Help move your dismissal from chaos to calm, get kids to their families faster and safer.  Visit pikmykid.com/be to learn more Transformative Principal Mastermind Lead a school everyone can be proud of. Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do. I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In this episode, Jethro and Damon Hargraves talk about ChatGPT. This is from a Twitter Spaces that they did in early January. And this has led to some pretty interesting conversations. Jethro has been contracting with a startup to do user research interviews about how we could use AI in schools. If you are intersected in this and would like to chat with us, please schedule a time here. We’ve done about 70 interviews since this Twitter space happened, and we are looking for more, so don’t be shy! We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.