De Facto Leaders

If the schools are devoting time and money to improving reading instruction, how should the rest of the day look for kids as it pertains to literacy? Should parents be working with kids at home? If so, how much? What about reading? Can we use apps to help build language skills? How about audiobooks? A common recommendation is that we should read 20 minutes a day, several times a week. I had a hard time nailing down a specific study that “proved” that this is an ideal amount, so where did this recommendation come from?I discuss answers to questions like this in episode 149 of De Facto Leaders.  In this episode, I share:✅Is listening to an audiobook the same as reading it in print, and will it make you a better reader? ✅If we can’t agree on whether or not homework is beneficial, how can we figure out what kids should be doing outside the school day?✅Why do teachers often recommend reading 20 minutes a day, and why did this become the magic number? ✅Will encouraging a struggling reader to sit down with a book make them hate reading even more? In this episode, I mention Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that teaches language and literacy professionals a framework for language therapy that builds the skills kids need to benefit from core reading instruction. I also mentioned the following episodes of De Facto Leaders for discussions on project-based learning and improving the connection between home and school:Do school leaders need coaching (with Dan Kelley): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-114-do-school-leaders-need-coaching-with-dan-kelley/Cell phones, 1:1 device initiatives, and homework policies in K-12 Education (with Dr. John Burkey): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-139-cell-phones-11-device-initiatives-and-homework-policies-in-k-12-education-with-dr-john-burkey/Becoming a school founder and empowering students through project-based learning (with Tanya Sheckley): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-144-becoming-a-school-founder-and-empowering-students-through-project-based-learning-with-tanya-sheckley/ 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.

When I first learned about the field of occupational therapy, I had a very superficial understanding of what it entailed. In the school systems, it seemed like referrals often focused on fine-motor skills related to school, like pencil grip. When I learned about sensory processing, I discovered that it’s so much more than that; and I realized how important it is for other members of both school and clinical teams to understand how each discipline can support each other. That’s why I was so excited to talk with Maude Le Roux in episode 148 of the De Facto Leaders podcast.Maude Le Roux, OTR/L, SIPT, RCTC, DIR® Expert Trainer, is an international trainer on a wide variety of topics and also the director of her own online academy. She opened A Total Approach with her husband in September 2001. Maude is SIPT certified and specializes in Sensory Integration as it applies to functional activities of daily living, including improving the ability of any child to partake in their learning environment. Maude has presented workshops in multiple international locations, as well as in the US nationwide. She has developed the Developmental Pathways Model (DPM) in reaching clients with different profiles with a wide array of diagnoses. She is well known for her work in Sensory Processing, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Reading and Learning Disorders, as well as Attachment Disorders. She serves on the board for ATTACh, an international organization involved in attachment and trauma informed care. She is currently mobilizing an international group of Occupational Therapists to organize the influence of trauma informed care in the occupational therapy field. Maude has published two books; “The Listening Journey for Children”, and “Our Greatest Allies” is available through www.amazon.com. In this conversation, we discuss:✅How can we bridge the gap between what’s “educationally relevant” and a child’s developmental level?✅Collaboration between private therapists and school teams: Why do relationships turn adversarial, and what’s possible when we form partnerships?✅Tips for helping parents understand the boundaries between “school recommendations” and “home recommendations.”✅Sensory integration, discrimination, and modulation: How our nervous system supports motor, cognitive, and language development✅Differential diagnosis: Is it a sensory issue, a behavior issue, or an attention issue? ✅Praxis, posture, and motor planning: How do these factors impact our ability to engage in goal-directed behavior during sitting, reading, writing, or other daily tasks? You can email Maude at maude@maudeleroux.com.You can learn more about Maude’s clinic, “A Total Approach”, at: https://atotalapproach.com/Learn more about her professional training for clinicians at: https://www.maudeleroux.com/You can purchase her books here:Our Greatest Allies: https://www.amazon.com/Our-Greatest-Allies-Relationship-Intervention/dp/0988328836The Listening Journey for Children: https://www.amazon.com/Listening-Journey-Children-Francoise-Nicoloff/dp/0987053604 In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program for related service providers that helps them put programming in place that supports executive functioning. You can learn how to become a member here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership 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.

Language therapy often focuses on early intervention; but what happens if students continue to struggle with language in the high school years? Many SLPs are pressured to drop students from their caseloads or move to a consult-only model when students transition to secondary school.Yet that often means many students enter adulthood lacking skills that have a significant impact on their ability to access advanced education or job opportunities.  If students don’t have a solid grasp on complex syntax, they’ll continue to struggle:…Getting the “gist” of things and explaining/recalling past events.…Writing extended responses or forming cohesive narratives for academic reports, job applications, and work-related communication.…Understanding temporal or causal vocabulary that supports time-perception and future thinking.…Engaging in inner dialogue for strategic planning and self-regulation.Building sentence structure is NOT just a skill for students in late elementary school doing Language Arts assignments. It’s a LIFE skill, and students who don’t have a solid foundation will continue to struggle in adulthood. That’s why I invited Tiffany Shahoumian-Ruiz to the De Facto Leaders podcast to share success stories from her experiences with language therapy at the high school level. Tiffany is a bilingual high school SLP from Southern California who has primarily worked in the school systems. She’s also a member of Language Therapy Advance Foundations, and many of the strategies we discuss in this conversation are things I cover in that program. In this conversation, we discuss:✅What if everyone else is working on high-level comprehension, but our students still need work at the word and sentence level?✅Does therapy have to mimic classroom activities to be aligned with the curriculum? ✅Can we make a dent in language for high school students, or is it “too little, too late’?✅Will students be bored and disengaged if they’re still going to speech in high school? ✅How complex syntax can impact daily functioning and future career opportunities. You can connect with Tiffany by searching her name on Facebook.We also discussed the Expanding Expression Tool by Sara Smith, and you can learn more about that resource here: https://www.expandingexpression.com/In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that helps SLPs create a system for language therapy that supports syntax and vocabulary students need to thrive in school and beyond. Learn more about how to become a member here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy/ 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 conversation, Ben Hockema and I discuss how to create a solid financial plan in your career so you can focus your time and energy on the impact you can make. We discuss all kinds of possibilities; whether you want to stay in your current position as a therapist and/or teacher, whether you want to add an additional income stream, or whether you know for certain you want to start a business full time. We even talk about ways to explore opportunities if you have lots of ideas in your head and aren’t sure which direction is best for you. Ben is a Certified Financial Planner and the founder and advisor of Illuminate Wealth Management. He works with individuals, families and small business owners on their full financial picture; everything from cash flow and paying for education to saving and investing for big goals such as retirement, to individual and small business tax planning so that his clients can gain clarity and develop a path that is unique to their own goals, hopes and dreams. In this conversation, we discuss:✅How much should be in your emergency fund? ✅How much should you save before quitting your job and focusing on your business full-time? ✅Understanding the difference between debt, investments, and ongoing expenses in business and life. ✅Resources for creatives who love helping people, but are uncomfortable navigating financial planning. ✅Stability, freedom, and impact: How we can find the balance between all three. You can learn more about Ben’s resources for talking to kids about money here: https://www.dollarsandkids.com/, and his financial planning services here: https://www.illuminatewm.com/. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benhockemailluminate/, or learn more about the National Association of Financial Advisors College Affordability Project here: https://www.napfa.org/napfa-foundation-college-affordability-project. You can learn more about the Profit First framework here: https://mikemichalowicz.com/profit-first/. In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design services that support executive functioning in K-12 settings. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership Be sure to check out the BE podcast network for educators and aspiring leaders. If you’re looking for shows to inspire you to level up in your career or more effectively serve students, we’ve got you covered. Learn more about the BE podcast network at http://bepodcastnetwork.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.

Executive functioning and financial literacy go hand-in-hand; which is why money management should be a part of any K-12 curriculum. Much of this has to do with self-evaluation, the ability to think into the future, and the understanding of quantitative and temporal concepts.There are endless digital tools designed to help people manage their finances, but these tools won’t be useful for people who don’t have a solid sense of the quantity or the value of money. That’s why I invited Ben Hockema to episode 145 of the De Facto Leaders podcast to discuss how we can talk to kids about money and help them develop financial literacy.Ben is a Certified Financial Planner and the founder and advisor of Illuminate Wealth Management. He works with individuals, families, and small business owners on their full financial picture; everything from cash flow and paying for education to saving and investing for big goals such as retirement, to individual and small business tax planning so that his clients can gain clarity and develop a path that is unique to their own goals, hopes and dreams. In this conversation, we discuss:✅How to overcome shame so you can teach kids about money, even if you’re not a financial expert (or don’t think you’re good at money management)✅How to have intentional conversations that help kids understand the value of money.✅Making money tangible: How to help kids learn the value behind the numbers✅What skills and abilities should someone have before they get a credit card? ✅How can families set up boundaries and expectations in their homes when it comes to responsibilities, chores, and earning money. ✅Helping kids navigate earning opportunities such as getting money for chores, getting a job, or starting a side hustle.You can learn more about Ben’s resources for talking to kids about money here: https://www.dollarsandkids.com/, and his financial planning services here: https://www.illuminatewm.com/. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benhockemailluminate/, or learn more about the National Association of Financial Advisors College Affordability Project here: https://www.napfa.org/napfa-foundation-college-affordability-project In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design services that support executive functioning in K-12 settings. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership 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.

Many people working in K-12 education have ambitions to start their own company where they have the ability to redesign the way student learning happens.The motivation often comes from wanting to create a scenario where they feel less constrained, more innovative, and more impactful.When I ventured into self-employment, I found that many of the “how to start your business” programs focused on simple business models that allowed people without a business background to become profitable quickly, without loans or funding. This often included things like coaching and consulting, or things that could be built up “on the side”, like selling online training or products. These can be great options, but the process is often like peeling back the layers of an onion. You start one project thinking, “Once this is built, I’ll have solved all the problems I set out to solve.”But in the process, you realize you’ve uncovered a list of additional puzzles, challenges, and questions in the process. Anyone who cares about education reform understands this feeling of wanting to do more, something I grapple with on a daily basis. Solving problems in education requires a unique skill set, and I’ve found it difficult to find people who understand both business AND education, who can support educators creating their own program from scratch.Private practice is an option many consider, but not as many people think about founding their own school. That’s why I invited Tanya Sheckley to the De Facto Leaders podcast. Tanya is the Founder and Head of School at UP Academy. UP Academy is reinventing education by customizing learning for each student, integrating project-based learning throughout its curriculum, and supporting students with disabilities to attend alongside able-bodied students in mixed-age classrooms. Inspired by the will, drive, and desire of her daughter, Eliza, who was born in 2009 with cerebral palsy, UP Academy is proving that it’s possible to celebrate differences, change what’s broken in the American school system, and provide all children with a rigorous, well-rounded education.Tanya also hosts the Rebel Educator podcast, speaks across the country on the future of education, and leads professional development programs for school administrators and educators.She is a certified yoga teacher, and enjoys rock climbing, snowboarding, camping, and going to the local farmers market. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband Chris, two kids, black labrador Bean, and canine ambassador Harold.In this conversation, we discuss:✅Become a school founder: Blending the right mindset with the right strategies✅How much vulnerability can you show to your team? Where can you go for support when your team needs you to show up confident as a leader? ✅What is project-based learning, and how does it fit in with traditional curriculum?✅How to use experiential learning to build deep conceptual knowledge that’s engaging for students and teaches real-life application✅The homework debate: How do we distinguish between unproductive busywork vs. when it’s helpful to do work outside of school? To connect with Tanya, you can reach out to her on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheckley/You can learn more about her podcast, Rebel Educator at: https://www.rebeleducator.com/Learn more about UP Academy at: https://www.upacademysf.com/To learn more about Tanya’s availability for professional development program offerings, check out her website at: https://tanyasheckley.com/In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design services that support executive functioning in K-12 settings. You can learn more about the program at drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership. 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.

Many clinicians are trained to focus on checklists and evaluations so we can walk in to work confident; knowing exactly what our protocols are. And while systems and processes are extremely important, we have to know how to use them flexibly. When we think about this in relation to cultural competency; we often think of eliminating biases in our evaluations and materials; but it goes so much deeper than that. We also need to think about how we interact with coworkers, how policies are impacting our students, or what’s going on in the community we’re working in. When we’re too rigid in the way we do things or the way we think about our work, we may unintentionally make students, clients, families, or even our coworkers feel unwelcome.That’s why I invited Melanie Evans to the De Facto Leaders podcast to talk about the concept of “cultural competemility”, and how it can help teachers, leaders, and therapists think about cultural responsiveness.Melanie Y. Evans, M.S. CCC-SLP is an ASHA-certified bilingual pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist licensed to practice in Texas and Oklahoma. She is also the founder of Pediatric Speech Sister, whose mission is to assist other speech-language pathologists on their cultural competency journeys and bring more inclusion in the field. Melanie dedicates her career to serving Black and Latinx populations and closing the academic achievement gap.In this conversation, Melanie shares:✅How professionals can better support black and brown children✅What is the school to prison pipeline, and what are some reasons it’s persisting?✅Why being culturally responsive is a journey and not a set of rules✅How we can “read the room” and ask better questions when working with both clients and coworkers✅What is cultural competemility and how can teachers and therapists apply it to practice?In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design services that support executive functioning in K-12 settings. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadershipYou can connect with Melanie on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanieyvonneevans/ follow her on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@PediatricSpeechSisterNetwork and follow her on Instagram @pediatricspeechsister (https://www.instagram.com/pediatricspeechsister/)You can read her post on “5 Ways to Support Black and Brown Children in Clinical Settings” here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBWI-YNBOmZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==Other experts mentioned in this episode relating to the School to Prison Pipeline:Dr. Valencia Perry: https://www.speakwritethink.com/Dr. Shameka Stanford: https://www.instagram.com/drjuvenile_forensicslp/ 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.

People working in the schools are often expected to make everything a priority all the time, without consideration of how they might be able to manage the backlog of projects. They have to say “No” to people who need help in the interest of saying “Yes” to others. They have to see the faces of the people their decisions are impacting. While there is an understanding that prioritization is part of the methodology in other industries and agencies, it's viewed with much more skepticism when it’s done in education. When teachers, school therapists, and school administrators have to say “No” they’re accused of focusing too much on test scores, being obsessed with funding, making it all about the grades and the standards, or not being inclusive and individualized enough for students. These concerns come with good intentions because they’re focused on STUDENTS. But how often do we ask, “What is the best scope and sequence for supporting the adults?”There are endless debates about what is and isn’t evidence-based, what is developmentally appropriate and reasonable to expect from students, and how we should design programs and services.Yet sometimes the research and developmental models don’t give us clear answers. Sometimes the “best” intervention plan on paper isn’t feasible (which means it really wasn’t the best after all). Making good decisions for students and clients isn’t JUST about what the research says. It’s about what’s going to help the adults get from point A to point B without burning out. That’s why I’m proposing an unconventional way to answer the question of, “What should I prioritize in instruction/therapy”? in episode 142 of the De Facto Leaders podcastI discuss answers to questions like:✅What are “child-focused” questions, and when should we settle for “good enough” answers?✅Core/content area knowledge versus problem-solving and application: Which is higher priority for teachers?✅Language therapy vs. executive functioning therapy: Can school clinicians address both? ✅Can schools borrow methods from business and tech companies to better serve students? ✅Scaffolded adult learning: What information and support do adults working in the schools need to do their jobs well?In this episode, I mentioned my Language Therapy Advance Foundations program that teaches SLPs how to create a language therapy system. Learn how to become a member here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy/ I also mentioned the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers put executive functioning support in place on their school team. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadershipI also mentioned the following De Facto Leaders episodes:EP 113: Making literacy accessible and equitable (with Cassandra Williams) Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-113-making-literacy-accessible-and-equitable-with-cassandra-williams/EP 122: Executive functioning for college students: Beyond checklists and planners (with Jill Fahy) Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-122-executive-functioning-for-college-students-beyond-checklists-and-planners-with-jill-fahy/EP 123: Creating equitable systems for K-12 math (with Jonathan Regino) Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-123-creating-equitable-systems-for-k-12-math-jonathan-regino/EP 129: Professional learning communities and curriculum reform in public and private education (with Tom Conroy) Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-129-professional-learning-communities-and-curriculum-reform-in-public-and-private-education-with-tom-conroy/EP 131: What are tech and curriculum companies doing for K-12 education? (with Meg Hearn) Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-131-what-are-tech-and-curriculum-companies-doing-for-k-12-education-with-meg-hearn/EP 138: Increasing access to instructional programs in rural districts (with Chris Dodge) Link here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-138-increasing-access-to-instructional-programs-in-rural-districts-with-chris-dodge/EP 148: Unclicking success through sensory processing and team collaboration with Maude Le Roux): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-148-unlocking-success-through-sensory-processing-and-team-collaboration-with-maude-le-roux/ 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.

Skeptics of the Science of Reading claim that the current push for evidence-based reading instruction is just another pendulum swing. Yet if you look at the research, we haven’t so much been “swinging” as much as we’ve been building, evolving, and expanding on what we know about how we learn to read.Even though the Science of Reading is “trending” as I write this, there are still many kids without access to quality instruction. Part of that has to do with teacher preparation programs and professional development available to teachers. Those responsible for teaching reading need to know how effective instruction looks.They ALSO need to be able to spot ineffective practices that actually encourage students to read poorly. That’s why I invited Melanie Brethour to episode 141 of the De Facto Leaders podcast to talk about her personal and professional transformation as a special education teacher and literacy advocate. Melanie Brethour, is a full-time resource teacher from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is an advocate for dyslexia awareness and the Science of Reading. Her deep commitment to this cause was sparked by her son Benjamin's dyslexia diagnosis at the age of 9, which ignited a personal mission to understand dyslexia and support her and her students.Motivated by her son's journey, Melanie embarked on extensive research and training, achieving Orton Gillingham associate-level certification, CERI structured literacy classroom teacher, and won Nessy Dyslexia Aware teacher of the year in 2023. She gives presentations to colleagues, teachers and parents on dyslexia and the Science of Reading.Driven to help others facing similar challenges, Melanie established Decoding Dyslexia Quebec, a grassroots movement dedicated to raising awareness and providing support. In addition, she launched Soar With Dyslexia on social media, offering resources and information to teachers and parents navigating the complexities of dyslexia and the science of reading. Melanie also volunteers for Dyslexia Canada, lending her support to parents on this difficult journey and is a board member of Teacher’s For Reading Canada, which offers free Orton-Gillinghan training to Canadian teachers.In this conversation, we discuss:✅Ineffective reading strategies that are taught in teacher education programs, and why they encourage kids to be poor readers.✅Can you assume someone has expertise in reading curriculum just because they have an advanced degree? Why do educated people promote methods that don’t work? ✅The answer to common objections like, “But why do SOME of my students seem to learn reading “naturally”?✅How teachers and clinicians can make change from the “bottom-up” when “top-down” changes aren’t happening fast enough. You can connect with Melanie on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-brethour-a8155b200/ and follow her on Instagram @soarwithdyslexia (https://www.instagram.com/soarwithdyslexia/). You can learn more about Decoding Dyslexia here:https://www.decodingdyslexia.net/  and find out about Decoding Dyslexia-Quebec here: https://www.facebook.com/decodingdyslexiaquebec In this episode, I talked about Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program for SLPs and literacy interventionists who want to support the language strand of the reading rope. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy/ 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.

Many leadership initiatives in education need to come from the top…But change can happen when direct service providers emerge as leaders on their teams without waiting for permission from someone else. School administrators and other people making decisions at the district and policy level are constantly pulled in different directions. The further up the chain you go and the more people you’re managing, the longer it takes to make things happen.Good leaders WANT their teachers and therapists to come to them with ideas and show initiative. In fact, they often need their team members to show this leadership. But this can be scary to do if you don’t see yourself as a leader. When I first considered adding the school administration credential to my doctoral program, my initial gut response was “I’m not cut out for that” Seeing myself in that position seemed really difficult, and I don’t think this experience is unique to me. When people don’t pursue career transitions or leadership roles, it’s often NOT because they aren’t interested in the work. It’s often because they don't think they’ll be successful or they aren’t sure what their options are. It’s both a confidence issue and a clarity issue. That’s why I wanted to invite Meg Niman to the “De Facto Leaders” podcast to talk about working in education and the tech world, as well as the concept of an alter ego. Meg Niman (she/they) is the facilitator and founder of The Alter Ego Project. Her session, "Design Your Alter Ego: Who do you need to be?," was one of the most popular workshops at SXSW 2023. She works with companies as well as individuals to bring play, creativity, and curiosity to professional and personal development.Meg was a user experience designer for 17 years in San Francisco, Seattle, and Philadelphia. She worked for Microsoft, Fitbit, LeapFrog and many startups. Prior to tech, Meg taught elementary school with Teach For America.The Alter Ego Project blends Meg’s expertise in design thinking, personas, and creativity with her passion for helping people pursue a more authentic life.In this conversation Meg shares:✅What it was like working with Teach for America and why teaching is the hardest job she’s ever done.✅How she transitioned from education to tech, and how to leverage transferable skills and experiences. ✅Why many K-12 education problems are really just “human problems” that also exist in other agencies and fields.✅How team members can separate work-related disagreements from their personal relationships outside of team meetings.✅The Alter Ego Project: How to use alter egos to decrease burnout, level up in your career, and live a more intentional life.You can connect with Meg on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/megniman/ and at www.alterego-project.com.In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design services that support executive functioning in K-12 settings. You can learn more about the program at drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership 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.