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

Jan 7, 2023 • 35min
Michael Lehan: Athletics, Scholarship, and the IMG Academy - 531
Michael Lehan: Athletics, Scholarship, and the IMG Academy. This is episode 531 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Michael Lehan is the current Head of School at IMG Academy. He competed for six years in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns before getting tapped to become a dean of students and assistant principal for the Osseo Area Schools, and then principal of Osseo Senior High School, which he guided to its first ranking as one of “The Best High Schools” in the nation by US News and World Report, an honor the school held for three straight years. During his tenure as principal, he was named 2019 “Hennepin Division Principal of Year” and 2020 “Principal of the Year” by the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals.
In February 2022, he was named IMG Academy’s head of school, where he oversees, organizes and grows the world-renowned school’s academic programs while assisting with various aspects of its athletic program. Prior to joining IMG academy, Lehan was promoted to the role of Assistant Superintendent for Equity and Achievement for Osseo Area Schools in July 2020 and was honored in 2021 as a Distinguished Alumni by the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.
Thanks for listening!
Before you go...
Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be Awesome. Thanks!
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? That would so awesome!
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Thanks for listening!
Connect & Learn More:
Michael Lehan
Senior Vice President, Head of School
IMG Academy
p: 941-827-5515
m: 941-900-8636
imgacademy.com
For anyone interested in learning more about IMG Academy+, please visit the IMG Academy+ website at https://www.imgacademy.com/plus or download the IMG Academy+ app in the app store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/img-academy/id1581607815.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaellehan/
Length - 35:04

Jan 2, 2023 • 37min
Dr. Amoneeta talks about his book Teaching Mindfulness: A Guidebook for Teachers, Parents, Counselors, and Caregivers - 530
Dr. Amoneeta talks with me about his book Teaching Mindfulness: A Guidebook for Teachers, Parents, Counselors, and Caregivers. This is episode 530 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Dr. Amoneeta is currently a psychology professor at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, and adjunct faculty and clinical supervisor in the counseling psychology program at Assumption University in Thailand.
Jana York, MS, a children’s mindfulness educator, is the author of U is for
Understanding: Claire’s Journey Toward Mindfulness. She is a resident of Utah.
Today, we are focused on their book - Teaching Mindfulness: A guidebook for Teachers, Parents, Counselors, and Caregivers.
Thanks for listening!
Before you go...
Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be Awesome. Thanks!
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? That would so awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for listening!
Connect & Learn More:
https://bookpubco.com/
Amoneeta@asu.edu
janayork.mindful@gmail.com
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amoneeta-Beckstein
https://www.fortlewis.edu/academics/schools-departments/departments/psychology-department/psychology-home
https://www.amoneeta.com/
Length - 36:40

Dec 22, 2022 • 25min
Sarah Wirth: Talks about the Ecsell Institute, her book The Coaching Effect, and the Impact of Coaching on Leadership - 529
Sarah Wirth: Talks about the Ecsell Institute, her book The Coaching Effect, and the Impact of Coaching on Leadership. This is episode 529 of Teaching Learning Leading K12.
Sarah Wirth is the President of EcSell Institute, the world’s first and only organization to measure and quantify leadership effectiveness. She is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities in metric-based performance coaching and growth. Her book, The Coaching Effect, coauthored by EcSell Institute CEO Bill Eckstrom, helps leaders at all levels understand the necessity of challenging people out of their comfort zone to create high-growth organizations.
So much to learn!
Some extra information before you go...
The new intro and outro music was written and performed by Brian K. Buffington.
Connect with Brian at briankbuffington@gmail.com or go to his website at
https://briankbuffington.com/
He is an awesome musician, comedic power, teacher, trainer, technology guru, and overall creator of all that is cool.
Thanks, Brian!
Oh, yeah...
Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be Awesome. Thanks!
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? That would so awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for listening!
Connect & Learn More:
ceckstrom@ecsellinstitute.com
www.ecsellinstitute.com
402.770.6100
in/ecsell-institute
in/sarahkwirth
@EcSellInstitute Twitter
@sarahkwirth Twitter
swirth_34
Length - 24:58

Dec 19, 2022 • 45min
Dr. Judith Peck Talks About Art, the World of Art, and Her Novel: Naked Under the Lights - 528
Dr. Judith Peck talks about art, the world of art, and her novel: Naked Under the Lights. This is episode 528 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Dr. Judith Peck is Professor Emerita of Art, Ramapo College of New Jersey. She is author of several fiction and non-fiction works and a sculptor with work in eighty collections, including the Yale Gallery of Art, the Ghetto Fighters Museum in Israel, libraries, universities, and cultural and religious institutions here and abroad.
Dr. Peck holds a doctoral degree from New York University and two master's degrees from Columbia University. She is recipient of the 2020 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and has completed the first draft of a 4th novel about an art therapist who helps solve a school shooting.
Judith grew up in Baltimore Maryland. She has four grown children and twelve grandchildren and resides in Mahwah, New Jersey.
Images and videos of her sculpture can be viewed at www.jpecksculpture.com. Descriptions of her books can be seen at www.iapbooks.com
Our focus today is on her novel … Naked Under the Lights
The story is set in and around the iconic Art Students League in New York City where 20th Century stars of the art world studied and taught. Here, Bert Kossoff teaches painting when he is not cloistered in his studio. His wife Ruth defends her husband’s distance and tolerates his infidelities for the sake of their daughter. Sonata at age 18, lacking purpose of her own, is drawn to the mystique of her father in his world of artists and models. In the struggle to find her way, Sonata encounters family secrets long concealed and later, one that tears open their lives, exposing the lies that have misled them, even as they sustained them.
As each member of this shattered family finds a path to move forward, art itself—the urgency to create—is revealed as a force of its own. The terrain is confounding, where people searching for truth have learned to practice the art of illusion.
Amazing conversation!
So much to learn!
Some extra information before you go...
The new intro and outro music was written and performed by Brian K. Buffington.
Connect with Brian at briankbuffington@gmail.com or go to his website at
https://briankbuffington.com/
He is an awesome musician, comedic power, teacher, trainer, technology guru, and overall creator of all that is cool.
Thanks, Brian!
Oh, yeah...
Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be Awesome. Thanks!
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? That would so awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for listening!
Connect & Learn More:
https://jpecksculpture.com/
https://iapbooks.com/
Length - 44:40

Dec 15, 2022 • 35min
Francisco Cervantes: Director of Creative Learning of the Scratch Foundation -527
Francisco Cervantes: Director of Creative Learning of the Scratch Foundation. This is episode 527 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Francisco has extensive experience researching, designing, and implementing educational resources in K–12 computer science. Before joining the Scratch Foundation, Francisco served as the Director of HS/MS Computer Science Academics for NYC Department of Education’s CSforAll Team and earlier as a researcher with EDC's Center for Children and Technology.
Francisco worked closely with ScratchEd’s Creative Computing Curriculum Guide while in these roles where he investigated how teachers designed learning experiences in computing education. He later worked with rural and tribal schools in Minnesota to build K-12 CS programs that support underrepresented students in computing.
Francisco is a California native and holds an M.A. in Educational Leadership, Politics, and Advocacy from New York University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research interests include the development of computational fluency in young learners and the use of formal assessments in design-based learning environments. In his spare time, Francisco enjoys skateboarding and playing soccer.
A note about Scratch…
Scratch has become the world’s largest coding community for kids. In the past year alone, more than 200 million children interacted with Scratch.
So much to learn!
Awesome talk!
Some extra information before you go...
The new intro and outro music was written and performed by Brian K. Buffington.
Connect with Brian at briankbuffington@gmail.com or go to his website at
https://briankbuffington.com/
He is an awesome musician, comedic power, teacher, trainer, technology guru, and overall creator of all that is cool.
Thanks, Brian!
Oh, yeah...
Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be Awesome. Thanks!
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? That would so awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for listening!
Connect & Learn More:
https://www.scratchfoundation.org/
https://www.instagram.com/scratchteam/
https://twitter.com/scratch
https://www.facebook.com/scratchteam/
Length - 34:56

Dec 12, 2022 • 46min
Dr. Quintin Shepherd: The Secret to Transformational Leadership - 526
Dr. Quintin Shepherd: The Secret to Transformational Leadership. This is episode 526 of Teaching Learning Leading K12.
Dr. Quintin Shepherd, a true visionary for the future of education, is the Superintendent at Victoria Independent School District in Victoria, Texas.
Sarah Williamson of SWPR Group works with leaders in education to create thoughtful public relations programs that promote growth, build momentum, and enhance learners’ academic success and overall well-being.
Today, we are focused on their book - The Secret to Transformational Leadership
Even with the deluge of leadership books on the market, a superintendent of a large school district and his colleague, the head of a prominent PR firm, still struggled to find a book that spoke to them about what they needed to become really successful leaders. So they wrote one themselves.
Dr. Quintin Shepherd and co-writer Sarah Williamson use their combined decades of experience in the education and corporate spheres to create a unique model for leadership that is anchored by compassion and a powerful new language.
The Secret to Transformational Leadership presents the personal journeys of such professionals as a pediatric cancer specialist, a president of an innovative nonprofit, and a former investment banker who became an online entrepreneur. The authors use their experiences to illustrate how we are at a precipice for real change in the way we perceive and enact leadership.
This book offers practical advice about how to make a transition into compassionate leadership through adopting a new language of leadership—one that Quintin shows can teach us how to lead from the middle. And if the way we approach leadership can help others think differently, ultimately we can create a ripple effect of empathy, compassion, kindness, and a sense of purpose for our life’s work.
So much to learn!
Some extra information before you go...
The new intro and outro music was written and performed by Brian K. Buffington.
Connect with Brian at briankbuffington@gmail.com or go to his website at
https://briankbuffington.com/
He is an awesome musician, comedic power, teacher, trainer, technology guru, and overall creator of all that is cool.
Thanks, Brian!
Oh, yeah...
Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be Awesome. Thanks!
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? That would so awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for listening!
Connect & Learn More:
https://www.transformationalleadershipsecret.com/
https://twitter.com/QShepherd
https://www.linkedin.com/in/quintin-shepherd-45602715/
Length -45:58

Dec 8, 2022 • 35min
Jeff Ikler & Steven Miletto Discuss Knowing Your Purpose and Doing One More - 525
Jeff Ikler & Steven Miletto Discuss Knowing Your Purpose and Doing One More. This is episode 525 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Jeff Ikler is Director of Quetico Career and Leadership Coaching, a firm dedicated to helping individuals overcome career issues, and leaders develop sustained changes in their leadership practices and organizations. He received his certificate in coaching from the Coach Training Institute, a firm recognized as one of the leading coach-training organizations in the world. His approach blends data-driven coaching, and consulting informed by working for more than 35 years in the corporate world.
Jeff holds a Master’s in the Teaching of History along with a Bachelor’s in History from the University of Illinois. He taught high school history in Maywood and Batavia, Illinois, for seven years. He is a certified innovation facilitator using the SIT (Systematic Inventive Thinking) process. Additionally, Jeff is a former Executive Vice President at Pearson Learning where he directed the development of text- and technology-based products for all disciplines. He finished his career at Pearson by leading the development of its multi-dimensional Leadership Development program for school administrators, working closely with authors Lyle Kirtman and Michael Fullan. He currently works with Lyle Kirtman to support change in school districts and nonprofit organizations. Jeff is the host of the podcast Getting Unstuck - Cultivating Curiosity. He is the author of the book Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change.
Today we are talking about Finding, Knowing, and Keeping our Purpose as well as doing One More.
So much to learn!
Thanks for listening!
Some extra information before you go...
The new intro and outro music was written and performed by Brian K. Buffington.
Connect with Brian at briankbuffington@gmail.com or go to his website at
https://briankbuffington.com/
He is an awesome musician, comedic power, teacher, trainer, technology guru, and overall creator of all that is cool.
Thanks, Brian!
Oh, yeah...
Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be Awesome. Thanks!
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? That would so awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for listening!
To connect with Jeff go to:
Jeff Ikler
Executive Coach - Personal Leadership
Podcaster – Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity
Author - Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change
Instagram - @jeff.ikler
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffikler/
Calendar - Let's schedule some time together
Length - 34:35

Dec 5, 2022 • 1h 30min
Laurel Schmidt talks about her book Gardening in the Minefield: A Survival Guide for School Administrators -524
Laurel Schmidt talks about her book Gardening in the Minefield: A Survival Guide for School Administrators. This is episode 524 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Laurel Schmidt is a lifelong educator (teacher, principal, district director), art lover, and writer. She's the author of a critically-acclaimed novel, How to Be Dead – A Love Story, and four non-fiction books on art, learning, and brain development. Today we will be focused on her book for school administrators - Gardening in the Minefield: A Survival Guide for School Administrators.
She's a nationally recognized expert who has helped thousands of docents and museum educators master the art of leading dynamic inquiry-based conversations that have museum visitors and students longing for more.
Laurel also works with the education departments of numerous museums in Los Angeles and New York. She is a consultant to The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), and co-author of Contemporary Art Start: A Curriculum Guide to Contemporary Art and Culture, published by MOCA in 1985. It is the centerpiece of an inquiry-based art education program. She is a consultant to the Guggenheim Museum, The Met and MoMA in New York City and presents at their annual Teacher Institute on The Arts.
She was a member of the Education Advisory Board of the Natural History Museum and served for eight years on the Landmarks Commission in the City of Santa Monica, California. She has published numerous articles in national journals for parents, teachers and school leaders.
However, writing is her lifelong passion. She is the author of Seven Times Smarter: 50 Activities, Games and Projects to Develop the Multiple Intelligences in Your Child (Three Rivers Press, 2001), Gardening in the Minefield: A Survival Guide for School Administrators (Heinemann, 2002), and Classroom Confidential: 50 Things Great Teachers Do Behind Closed Doors, and Putting the Social Back in Social Studies (Heinemann, 2007). Laurel is also a consultant, university lecturer and professional development specialist.
Laurel received a BA in Art from Mt. Saint Mary’s College and a Masters Degree in Art History from California State University in Northridge. Her thesis was on contemporary photorealism. She also studied art history at Oxford University.
When not writing, she enjoys painting, reading, watching good films and happy hour with friends. She lives with her writer husband, Durnford King, in Santa Monica, California. Next life---Paris. For more information, please consult: www.laurelschmidt.com
Some extra information before you go...
The new intro and outro music was written and performed by Brian K. Buffington.
Connect with Brian at briankbuffington@gmail.com or go to his website at
https://briankbuffington.com/
He is an awesome musician, comedic power, teacher, trainer, technology guru, and overall creator of all that is cool.
Thanks, Brian!
Oh, yeah...
Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be Awesome. Thanks!
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? That would so awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for listening!
Connect & Learn More:
https://laurelschmidt.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Laurel-J.-Schmidt/e/B001IU0D08%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_shar
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09CG4L3WT/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
thanelaurel@aol.com
Episode 496 - How to be Dead
Length - 01:29:58

Dec 1, 2022 • 38min
Carol Anderheggen talks about her books - Writing Down Cancer and Born-Child - 523
Carol Anderheggen talks about her books - Writing Down Cancer & Born-Child. This is episode 523 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Carol Anderheggen has been a published poet and writer since the 1980s and is an active disaster relief volunteer with the American Red Cross. She has confronted many challenges in her life. Taken out of her home early in her life, removed from a mom with mental health issues, she floundered in foster care and then was adopted by a Navy couple. Her second mother became an alcoholic. Later in life she became a survivor of breast cancer. Both her childhood of trauma and her adult health scare are the subject of her books.
Her first chapter book, Writing Down Cancer, was published by Finishing Line Press. She followed that up with the publishing of Born-Child. She has been published in regional journals such as Anemone, The Great Swamp Gazette, Newport Life, and Northeast Journal and served on the staff of The Frost Festival of Poetry, Franconia, NH for seven years.
She served as docent for the museum hours at Robert Frost’s home in Franconia, NH, assisted the director with book sales and edited the annual attendee anthology of readings. Carol also worked as a school librarian media specialist for nearly three decades. Carol is active in the Ocean State Poets of Rhode Island, both as their web designer and as a practitioner of poetry outreach. As secretary and web-master of the organization, Ocean State Poets, in Rhode Island, Carol created and maintains the website, www.oceanstatepoets.org for the organization. As an OSP member, Carol has participated in area readings and nurtured a public library writing group with another poet, Heather Sullivan.
Carol and Heather have worked together for seven years in a Salve Regina University community service class which pairs developmentally handicapped adults with Salve students. The class has produced two anthologies of poetry, a DVD of stage presentations highlighting community students abilities, and several group poems presented orally each school year.
She earned a BA in English and an MLS from University of Rhode Island.
Carol has two children and two grandchildren. She resides in Rhode Island. For more information, please consult: www.carolmaeray.com
Some extra information before you go...
The new intro and outro music was written and performed by Brian K. Buffington.
Connect with Brian at briankbuffington@gmail.com or go to his website at
https://briankbuffington.com/
He is an awesome musician, comedic power, teacher, trainer, technology guru, and overall creator of all that is cool.
Thanks, Brian!
Oh, yeah...
Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be Awesome. Thanks!
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? That would so awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for listening!
Connect and Learn More:
https://www.carolmaeray.com/
carolmaeray@cox.net
Length - 37:52

Nov 28, 2022 • 1h 3min
Meg Flanagan - Helping Parents - Military & Civilian - Navigate Public School Requirements like 504 Plans, IEPs, and More - 522
Meg Flanagan - Helping Parents - Military & Civilian - Navigate Public School Requirements like 504 Plans, IEPs, and More. This is episode 522 of Teaching Learning Leading K12, an audio podcast.
Meg Flanagan is an educator who is passionate about helping families find peaceful, practical solutions to school problems.
After serving as a tutor, she noticed that many families were unsure about who to ask or what to do when it came to getting their child the best help at school. This is a concern that is universal!
As a Mom, she knows just how hard it is to remain clear-headed in the face of a crisis that could impact her kids.
She loves serving as a voice of reason and a moderator when parents are overwhelmed and struggling to figure out the best things to help their child learn and grow.
She is ready to use her decade of experience as a teacher and mom to help your family find sanity and solutions to stressful school problems!
Lots to learn!
Some extra information before you go...
The new intro and outro music was written and performed by Brian K. Buffington.
Connect with Brian at briankbuffington@gmail.com or go to his website at
https://briankbuffington.com/
He is an awesome musician, comedic power, teacher, trainer, technology guru, and overall creator of all that is cool.
Thanks, Brian!
Oh, yeah...
Could you do me a favor? Please go to my website at https://www.stevenmiletto.com/reviews/ or open the podcast app that you are listening to me on and would you rate and review the podcast? That would be Awesome. Thanks!
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? That would so awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for listening!
Connect & Learn More:
https://megflanagan.com/
https://www.instagram.com/megflanaganeducation/
https://twitter.com/megflanaganed
https://www.facebook.com/megflanaganeducation/
milkidsed@gmail.com
Length - 01:03:24