
Teaching Learning Leading K-12
Providing ideas and resources for K-12 teachers and school-based administrators.
Latest episodes

Mar 24, 2025 • 48min
Ran D. Anbar, MD - The Life Guide for Teens: Harnessing Your Inner Power to be Healthy, Happy, and Confident - 752
Ran D. Anbar, MD - The Life Guide for Teens: Harnessing Your Inner Power to be Healthy, Happy, and Confident. This is episode 752 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Ran D. Anbar, MD, FAAP, is board certified in both pediatric pulmonology and general pediatrics. He offers counseling and hypnosis services at Center Point Medicine in La Jolla, California, and in Syracuse, New York. Dr. Anbar is the author of the acclaimed Changing Children’s Lives with Hypnosis: A Journey to the Center (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021), as well as a regular columnist for Psychology Today Online. Dr. Anbar is the founder of Center Point Medicine, serving the mission of making mental health care more accessible for children. He lives in La Jolla, California.
Our focus today is Dr. Anbar’s book -The Life Guide for Teens: Harnessing Your Inner Power to be Healthy, Happy, and Confident.
So much to learn.
Awesome conversation.
Please share.
Thanks for listening!
Before you go...
You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee.
This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.
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Connect & Learn More:
The Life Guide for Teens | Ran Anbar
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Guide-Teens-Harnessing-Confident/dp/1538191415
CPM Radio Show | Ran Anbar
Blog | Ran Anbar
Length - 48:03

Mar 20, 2025 • 37min
Rev. Kathi Lockwood - Bridging Tough Conversations About Adoption and Addiction - 751
Rev. Kathi Lockwood - Bridging Tough Conversations About Adoption and Addiction. This is episode 751 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Rev. Kathi Lockwood, M.Ed., is an Interfaith Minister, Reiki Master, spiritual optimist, and a children’s book author.
She is the founder and CEO of the Heart Self Speaks Collective, a virtual home for those on spiritual journeys.
In addition to The King and the Monster, she is the author of An Adoption Made in Heaven: Amy Angel Goes Home, a paradigm-shifting story informing children that their journey to their parents was divinely guided. A Christmas Eve Adventure: Finding the Light of the World, is an interfaith narrative illustrating that we all carry the light.
She has her master's in art education from Penn State University and is also an ordained Interfaith Minister from One Spirit Learning Alliance in New York City.
She was the recipient of the Bob Dorough Award for the Arts, serves on the board of her local YMCA, and has served on the Stroudsburg Borough Council.
You can find her in the Pocono Mountains writing, meditating or sipping coffee with her poodle, Monet, at her side. Rev. Lockwood is available for speaking engagements, podcasts, and book clubs, and can be contacted at www.booksbykathi.com.
Our focus today is “Bridging Tough Conversations About Adoption and Addiction.”
So much to learn!
Please share.
Thanks for listening!
Before you go...
You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee.
This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.
Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you!
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Connect & Learn More:
http://www.booksbykathi.com
https://www.instagram.com/booksbykathi/v
https://www.facebook.com/booksbykathi/
Length - 37:04

Mar 16, 2025 • 42min
David Adams - CEO of The Urban Assembly - Improving the Craft of Teaching with AI - 750
David Adams - CEO of The Urban Assembly - Improving the Craft of Teaching with AI. This is episode 750 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
David is the Chief Executive Officer of The Urban Assembly. He started with the UA in 2014 as the Director of Social-Emotional Learning, where he created the Resilient Scholars Program (RSP), a unique approach to integrating SEL into curriculum and classroom practices across the UA network. RSP has grown into a national program, serving schools and districts in Los Angeles, Houston, Syracuse, and other cities. As the Senior Director of Strategy, David led the expansion of the organization into a model provider of school support, with an emphasis on innovation and equity in public education. In 2022, David was named one of Crain’s 40 Under 40 honorees and in 2021 he received the Champion of Equity Award from the American Consortium for Equity in Education. David sits on the board of CASEL and is an author of The Educator’s Practical Guide to Emotional Intelligence, and a co-author of the textbook Challenges to Integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs in Organizations. He is a Civil Affairs Officer in the Army Reserve and holds an M.Ed. in Educational Psychology from Fordham University.
Our focus today is “How is AI being used to improve the craft of teaching itself and How can AI help teachers become better teachers?”
So much to learn!
Please share.
Thanks for listening!
Before you go...
You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee.
This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.
Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you!
You are AWESOME!
Connect & Learn More:
https://www.urbanassembly.org/
Length - 42:04

Mar 7, 2025 • 59min
Frank Lad - Just Plain Wrong: The Dalliance of Quantum Theory with the Defiance of Bell's Inequality - 749
Frank Lad is a mathematician, author, and an educator. Perhaps he was destined to have a full career in mathematics and science. His parents met as postdocs at the University of Chicago while working on The Manhattan Project, his mother collaborating with James Franck there. His specialty in mathematical probability took him to France and Italy, where he has worked with followers of Bruno de Finetti’s ideas. Personal travels in India, Africa, Europe, Brazil, and some far East, have allowed him to deeply explore culture, history, and philosophy.
For the past 26 years and currently, Lad has served as a research associate in mathematics and statistics at University of Canterbury in New Zealand, having lectured there previously for ten years. He had started his career teaching economics at the University of Utah, and spent a year in the Special Studies section of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Washington, D.C. He has been a visiting scholar at the State University of New York (Albany) in Mathematics and Economics, and at the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Bologna in Statistics. He had been a research assistant at the Center for Studies in Population Planning, University of Michigan School of Public Health during graduate studies.
He is the author of two published books, JUST PLAIN WRONG: The dalliance of quantum theory with the defiance of Bell’s inequality (Austin Macauley, 2024) and Operational Subjective Statistical Methods: a mathematical, philosophical, and historical introduction (John Wiley, 1996).
Lad speaks four languages: English, French, Italian, and Hindustani. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio into a large family of nine children, he is a dual citizen of the United States and New Zealand. He currently resides in NZ, tending his garden and tutoring neighborhood children in arithmetic.
Our focus today is Frank’s book - Just Plain Wrong: The Dalliance of Quantum Theory with the Defiance of Bell's Inequality.
Great information!
So much to learn!
Please share.
Before you go...
You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee.
This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.
Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you!
You are AWESOME!
Connect & Learn More:
Just Plain Wrong - Amazon
Length - 59:10

Mar 3, 2025 • 35min
Toby J. Karten - The ADMIRE Framework for Inclusion: Positive Strategies that Pave the Way for Students of All Abilities - 748
Toby J. Karten - The ADMIRE Framework for Inclusion: Positive Strategies that Pave the Way for Students of All Abilities. This is episode 748 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Toby J. Karten is an experienced educator who has worked in the field of special education since 1976. As an accomplished author and researcher, she has presented successful staff development to local, national, and international audiences. Toby is an adjunct professor and graduate instructor at Monmouth University and the Regional Training Center, which is affiliated with The College of New Jersey, and LaSalle University. She has been a resource teacher, staff developer, adult educator, and inclusion consultant in New York, New Jersey, and Texas schools and in many other districts nationally and globally for students and educators in grades PreK–12 and beyond.
Toby has authored several books and resources about inclusion practices, which are currently used for instruction on many college and university campuses and in schools throughout the world.
She earned an undergraduate degree in special education from Brooklyn College, a Master of Science in special education from the College of Staten Island, a supervisory degree from Georgian Court University, and an honorary doctorate from Gratz College.
Our focus today is Toby’s book - The ADMIRE Framework for Inclusion: Positive Strategies that Pave the Way for Students of All Abilities.
Awesome conversation!
So much to learn!
Please share.
Before you go...
You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee.
This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.
Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you!
You are AWESOME!
Connect & Learn More:
toby@inclusionworkshops.com
https://www.solutiontree.com/admire-framework-for-inclusion.html
https://inclusionworkshops.com/
http://pinterest.com/tkarten/inclusive-education
https://www.amazon.com/Toby-J.-Karten/e/B001JS3KEA
https://www.facebook.com/people/Inclusion-Education-Services/100063640386653/#
https://x.com/TJK2INCLUDE
https://www.linkedin.com/in/toby-karten-2022a621/
https://inclusionworkshops.com/kic-podcasts-by-toby-j-karten/
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2183580
https://childmind.org/
https://thearc.org/
https://www.parentcenterhub.org/
https://www.cast.org/
https://exceptionalchildren.org/
https://www.understood.org/
https://www.nami.org/
https://www.autismspeaks.org/
https://ncld.org/
Length - 35:23

Feb 27, 2025 • 46min
Barbara R. Blackburn - Rigor Is Not a Four-Letter Word: Strategies for Success, 4th Ed. - 747
Barbara R. Blackburn - Rigor Is Not a Four-Letter Word: Strategies for Success, 4th Ed. This is episode 747 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Ranked in the Top 20 Global Gurus in Education, Barbara has dedicated her life to raising the level of rigor and motivation for professional educators and students alike. What differentiates Barbara’s over 30 books are her easily executable concrete examples based on decades of experience as a teacher, professor, and consultant. Barbara’s dedication to education was inspired in her early years by her parents, Bob and Rose. Her father’s doctorate and lifetime career as a professor taught her the importance of professional training. Her mother’s career as school secretary shaped Barbara’s appreciation of the effort all staff play in the education of every child.
Barbara has taught early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school students and has served as an educational consultant for three publishing companies. She holds a master’s degree in school administration and was certified as both a teacher and a school principal in North Carolina. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Teaching from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 2006, she received the award for Outstanding Junior Professor at Winthrop University. She left her position at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to write and speak full-time.
In addition to speaking at state, national, and international conferences, she also regularly presents virtual and on-site workshops for teachers and administrators in elementary, middle, and high schools. Her workshops are lively and engaging and filled with practical information. Here are a few of her most popular topics:
Rigorous Schools and Classrooms: Leading the Way
Rigorous Assessments
Rigor and Differentiation in the Classroom
Rigor for Students with Special Needs
Motivation + Engagement + Rigor = Student Success
Research-Based Engaging Instruction Leads to Higher Achievement
High Expectations and Increased Support Lead to Success
Scaffolding for Success: Helping Learners Meet Rigorous Expectations Across the Curriculum
Our focus today is her most recent book - Rigor Is Not a Four-letter Word: Strategies for Success, 4th Edition.
Awesome tools for you to use!
Great discussion as always with Barbara!
So much to learn!
Please share.
Before you go...
You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee.
This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.
Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you!
You are AWESOME!
Connect & Learn More:
https://www.barbarablackburnonline.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbarablackburnonline/
https://www.facebook.com/Barbarablackburneducation/
https://www.instagram.com/barbararblackburn/
https://twitter.com/BarbBlackburn
https://www.routledge.com/Rigor-Is-NOT-a-Four-Letter-Word-Strategies-for-Success/Blackburn/p/book/9781032857534
Length - 45:37

Feb 24, 2025 • 38min
Jasmine K. Kullar - Training Teacher Leaders in a PLC at Work: A Guide to Cultivating Shared Leadership - 746
Jasmine K. Kullar - Training Teacher Leaders in a PLC at Work: A Guide to Cultivating Shared Leadership. This is episode 746 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Jasmine K. Kullar, EdD, is a chief school leadership officer overseeing over 100 schools in a large metropolitan school district in Georgia. She is also a faculty member in the College of Professional Studies Educational Leadership Department at a postsecondary institution outside of Atlanta, where she has been involved with the national University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI) in redesigning university educational leadership programs.
Prior to these roles, Dr. Kullar was an assistant superintendent, and a middle school principal. With over fifteen years of school leadership experience, Dr. Kullar has worked at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in both Canada and the United States.
Her journey with professional learning communities (PLCs) began in her first year of teaching, when she attended a PLC workshop and heard Dr. Richard DuFour and Dr. Robert Eaker. Since then, she has been implementing PLC tenets. When she became a school administrator, she led her school to become the first school in the state of Georgia to receive Model PLC at Work® status and garnered statewide attention for professional learning communities.
She is the author of several books …Connecting Through Leadership: The Promise of Precise and Effective Communication in Schools; coauthor of Building Your Building: How to Hire and Keep Great Teachers; and others…
Our focus today is Jasmine’s book - Training Teacher Leaders in a PLC at Work: A Guide to Cultivating Shared Leadership.
Awesome conversation!
So much to learn!
Please share.
Before you go...
You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee.
This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.
Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you!
You are AWESOME!
Connect & Learn More:
https://www.solutiontree.com/training-teacher-leaders-in-a-plc-at-work.html
https://www.solutiontree.com/jasmine-k-kullar.html
www.allthingsplc.info
pd@SolutionTree.com
Length - 37:46

Feb 21, 2025 • 59min
Jonathan G. Vander Els & Joshua Ray - The Foundation for Change: Focusing on the Four Pillars of a PLC at Work - 745
Jonathan G. Vander Els specializes in supporting teachers and administrators in schools and districts across the country in developing, sustaining, and enhancing structures to support all learners. As a practitioner, Jonathan is able to blend his experience and expertise to meet educators where they are and assist them in developing practical next steps to ensure high levels of learning for students in their school.
Formerly, Jonathan was principal of Memorial Elementary School in Sanborn Regional School District in New Hampshire. Under his leadership, Memorial School became a nationally recognized model PLC and competency-based learning elementary environment.
Jonathan has an education specialist degree from the University of New Hampshire in educational administration and supervision and is certified as a superintendent, principal, and teacher.
Joshua Ray, EdD, is an educational speaker and author who has led the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at Work® process at the elementary, secondary, and district level. He is passionate about building healthy school cultures, the work of collaborative teams, systems of support, and educator well-being.
As assistant superintendent, Dr. Ray helped schools collaboratively build district common assessments, unite around common expectations, and improve teaching and learning. He worked alongside principals and instructional coaches to make the PLC at Work process practical and meaningful.
Joshua holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Arkansas. He is a National Board-Certified Teacher and an Arkansas Master Principal graduate.
Our focus today is Jon and Josh’s book - The Foundation for Change: Focusing on the Four Pillars of a PLC at Work.
Powerful talk!
Inspiring! Great information!
Please share.
Before you go...
You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee.
This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.
Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you!
You are AWESOME!
Connect & Learn More:
https://www.solutiontree.com/foundation-for-change.html
https://www.solutiontree.com/presenters/joshua-ray.html
https://www.solutiontree.com/presenters/jonathan-g-vander-els.html
pd@SolutionTree.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-vanderels/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-ray-259426161/
Jonvanderels@gmail.com
Jray711@gmail.com
www.AllthingsPLC.info
@jvanderels - X @JoshRay711 - X
Length - 58:59

Feb 17, 2025 • 52min
Barbara J. Smith - Urgent Care for Educators: Situating Responsibility as a Way to Transform School Cultures - 744
Barbara J. Smith - Urgent Care for Educators: Situating Responsibility as a Way to Transform School Cultures. This is episode 744 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Barbara Smith is a passionate educator who challenges the boundaries of "sameness" in schools. Smith's background includes over forty years in public, charter, independent and international schools.
Barbara has started three schools and has been a teacher, principal, consultant, trustee, and teacher educator at OISE, McGill and the University of Saskatchewan teaching faculties and graduate schools.
She has published books about school values and economies, teacher retention, assessment tools for learning, her charter school principal story and most recently with Hope Blecher, a book about engaging students as writers. Her next book is called: Students in Responsible Roles: A Powerful Way to Learn and Transform School Culture.
Barbara supports schools committed to improving engaging and purpose-based teaching and learning for all.
Our focus today is the book - Urgent Care for Educators: Situating Responsibility as a Way to Transform School Cultures.
Awesome discussion!
Excellent ideas from so many educators!
Please share.
Before you go...
You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee.
This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.
Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you!
You are AWESOME!
Connect & Learn More:
Urgent Care for Schools - Amazon
https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-smith-ab042b3b/
https://www.zpdschoolsandcurriculumdesign.com/free-curriculum
Barbaraj.smithzpd@gmail.com
Length - 51:31

Feb 14, 2025 • 31min
NL Holmes - Flowers of Evil: Hani's Daughter Mystery Series Book 1 - 743
NL Holmes - Flowers of Evil: Hani's Daughter Mystery Series Book 1. This is episode 743 of Teaching Learning Leading K12.
N.L. Holmes is an award-winning novelist embarking on another significant career phase. Prior to taking up the power of writing and using this pen name, she was an accomplished archaeologist and teacher for 25 years. Early in her career, she served as a nun for two decades. In between, she was an artist and antiques dealer. Yes, she has lived an interesting life and the sum of her experiences informs and inspires her writings today.
Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, she attended The University of Texas in the honors program but dropped out midway to enter into the antiques business. Two years later, she entered the Discalced Carmelite convent in Texas. She left the convent 20 years later and returned to school to get her B.A. in Classical Studies.
Holmes, who earned her doctorate in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College despite an offer to attend Princeton, has excavated in Greece and Israel, and also did archaeological artwork for excavations from Lebanon. She taught ancient history and humanities at Stockton University in New Jersey and the University of South Florida for many years.
Her ten published novels embrace two series of historical fiction: the Lord Hani Mysteries, set in the Egypt of Akhenaten, and the Empire at Twilight series, featuring life in the Hittite Empire in the 13th century BCE. The inspiration for her Bronze Age novels came with an assignment she gave to her students one day: Here are the only documents we have telling us about royal divorce in Ugarit in the 13th century. How much can we say about what happened? She notes: “It quickly became apparent that almost anything we might come up with was as much fiction as historiography!”
Holmes resides with her husband and three cats. She splits her time between Tampa, Florida, and northern France, where she gardens, weaves and plays the violin. She also has an adult son.
A little about Flowers of Evil
When two young women in ancient Egypt open a medical dispensary, they don’t expect their first patient to be a dying florist of Amen whose last words are totally mysterious. It’s Neferet and Bener-ib’s nature to want to appease the ba of the murder victim by finding his killer, and their teenaged apprentice is a born detective. But between the skepticism of their own families and the malice of a rival healer, they find out the simple desire to do the right thing gets them into more trouble than they could have imagined!
Our focus is on her book Flowers of Evil: Hani’s Daughter Mystery Series Book 1 and a peek at Book 2 - Web of Evil, Book 3 - Wheel of Evil and Book 4 - The Melody of Evil.
Exciting stories!
Excellent conversation!
Please share.
Before you go...
You could help support this podcast by Buying Me A Coffee. Not really buying me something to drink but clicking on the link on my home page at https://stevenmiletto.com for Buy Me a Coffee or by going to this link Buy Me a Coffee.
This would allow you to donate to help the show address the costs associated with producing the podcast from upgrading gear to the fees associated with producing the show. That would be cool. Thanks for thinking about it.
Hey, I've got another favor...could you share the podcast with one of your friends, colleagues, and family members? Hmmm? What do you think? Thank you!
You are AWESOME!
Connect & Learn More:
https://www.nlholmes.com/
nlholmesbooks@gmail.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/n-l-holmes/
https://twitter.com/nlholmesbooks
https://www.facebook.com/nlholmesbooks
Length - 31:23