The Counter Narrative: Changing the Way We Talk (and think) About Education

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Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations. I’m your host, Charles Williams. An urban educator for more than 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, an educational consultant, an equity advocate, and the co-host of Inside The Principal’s Office. -- In this episode, I chat with Debbie Tannenbaum, an educator with over twenty years of experience, who works each and every day to “transform” learning using technology. During her time in education, she has served  both as a classroom teacher in various grades and as an elementary technology coach. Outside of the classroom, Debbie promotes using technology tools to amplify student learning in her work as an educational technology consultant, author, blogger and speaker. You can connect with Debbie at TannenbaumTech.com. During our conversation, I asked the question that I am sure most tech experts hate, “what tech tool would you recommend for…”. As Debbie pointed out, this is not the ideal way to approach integrating technology into your classroom. Instead we should focus on the objective and the needs of our students and find a tool that matches. We also explored the various ways that technology can be used to propel students forward. If you simply replace your traditional approaches with updated tech, you’re not necessarily going to see the gains that you anticipated. Debbie encourages teachers to instead think outside the box and embrace the opportunities that were not previously available as opposed to simple upgrades. Want to hear more from this tech guru? Let’s go. -- I want to thank you for listening to The Counter Narrative Podcast. If you like what you are hearing, please be sure to like, subscribe, and of course share it with friends and family. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the show so please leave a comment or two as well. I’m not sure what platform you’re using but the show can be found on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and plenty of other platforms. If the show isn’t on your preferred site, let me know and I’ll be sure to get it up and running. This podcast is also featured on SchoolRubric.com, where you can find educational articles, videos, and interviews with educators from around the globe. Be sure to connect with me and other listeners by following the show on Twitter at @theCNpodcast and joining the show’s Facebook Group. Take care.

Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations. I’m your host, Charles Williams. An urban educator for more than 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, an educational consultant, an equity advocate, and the co-host of Inside The Principal’s Office. -- This episode is a pause to ponder segment. These biweekly sessions will allow me to share with you my personal thoughts and reflections on a wide spectrum of topics as they relate to education. It is my hope that you will be able to take something from these segments and apply it in a meaningful way as you continue to do amazing work. Remember, while we all have different roles, we all have a single job, educating our students. -- What is one thing that you made smile in this past week? Was it work related? Was it personal? Was it both? So often we get caught up in doing school that we forget about the most important aspect of education - building relationships. We focus on compliance, on academic growth, on data. And because of this school can easily become a place where nobody wants to be. Its draining because it demands and expects but does little to give back ... to fulfill.  This episode is designed to make you think about moments that bring joy even in the midst of chaos and frustration. I share how my students, along with some help from my staff, finally staged an April Fool's joke that worked. Instead of being upset, instead of reprimanding them, I laughed along with them.  -- I want to thank you for listening to The Counter Narrative Podcast. If you like what you are hearing, please be sure to like, subscribe, and of course share it with friends and family. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the show so please leave a comment or two as well. I’m not sure what platform you’re using but the show can be found on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and plenty of other platforms. If the show isn’t on your preferred site, let me know and I’ll be sure to get it up and running. This podcast is also featured on SchoolRubric.com, where you can find educational articles, videos, and interviews with educators from around the globe. Be sure to connect with me and other listeners by following the show on Twitter at @theCNpodcast and joining the show’s Facebook Group.

Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations. I’m your host, Charles Williams. An urban educator for more than 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, an educational consultant, an equity advocate, and the co-host of Inside The Principal’s Office. -- In this episode, I chat with Lee Hole, a secondary school leader for the international school of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. After starting his career as a PE educator in his previous high school and serving in various roles for nearly a decade, he and his wife moved from the UK and entered the world of International Education by serving as the head of a school in Dubai. Lee has had the honor of leading professional development projects with the British Council in Bahrain and in the US, serving as school reviewer for evaluations,  and mentoring new leaders as they enter new roles. During our conversation, we talked about the benefits of working in diverse settings and experiencing various cultures that may be drastically different from your own. Lee also pointed out his experiences with stereotypes and prejudices though these were not necessarily prevalent in his own homogenous town as he was growing up. We connected this with the concept of color blindness as a “justifiable” approach to interacting with others. Lee suggests that instead of sitting within our comfort zone that we take the time to ask questions and truly listen so that we get to know those around us. -- I want to thank you for listening to The Counter Narrative Podcast. If you like what you are hearing, please be sure to like, subscribe, and of course share it with friends and family. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the show so please leave a comment or two as well. I’m not sure what platform you’re using but the show can be found on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and plenty of other platforms. If the show isn’t on your preferred site, let me know and I’ll be sure to get it up and running. This podcast is also featured on SchoolRubric.com, where you can find educational articles, videos, and interviews with educators from around the globe. Be sure to connect with me and other listeners by following the show on Twitter at @theCNpodcast and joining the show’s Facebook Group.

Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations. I’m your host, Charles Williams. An urban educator for more than 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, an educational consultant, an equity advocate, and the co-host of Inside The Principal’s Office. -- This episode is a pause to ponder segment. These biweekly sessions will allow me to share with you my personal thoughts and reflections on a wide spectrum of topics as they relate to education. It is my hope that you will be able to take something from these segments and apply it in a meaningful way as you continue to do amazing work. Remember, while we all have different roles, we all have a single job, educating our students. -- I was recently confronted with an ugly truth - that one of my middle school students did not know how to read. Instead of, as is normally done, placing blame on my staff, the curriculum, the students, or even the students' family, I opted to reflect on my role in this outcome. As the leader of my school, I know that I am responsible for the happenings within my building. If a student was able to make it this far without knowing how to read, then that meant I needed to consider my role in allowing that to happen.  This reflection led me to revisit the concepts of Discourse I & II, two different types of language that can be used to discuss the issues within schools. The first focuses on externalization, or blame, and seeks to operate more effectively within the current system. In short, it is designed to maintain the status quo. The second, however, forces us to have uncomfortable conversations as we explore how we contribute to these issues and requires us to think deeply about what steps we must take if we want to see true change.  Join me in this episode as I reflect on this journey. -- I want to thank you for listening to The Counter Narrative Podcast. If you like what you are hearing, please be sure to like, subscribe, and of course share it with friends and family. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the show so please leave a comment or two as well. I’m not sure what platform you’re using but the show can be found on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and plenty of other platforms. If the show isn’t on your preferred site, let me know and I’ll be sure to get it up and running. This podcast is also featured on SchoolRubric.com, where you can find educational articles, videos, and interviews with educators from around the globe. Be sure to connect with me and other listeners by following the show on Twitter at @theCNpodcast and joining the show’s Facebook Group.

Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations. I’m your host, Charles Williams. An urban educator for more than 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, an educational consultant, an equity advocate, and the co-host of Inside The Principal’s Office. -- In this episode, I chat with Lissette Jacobson, an educator with more than 10 years experience in the field. She has worked with culturally and linguistically diverse students in grades K through 8 and is currently an elementary school principal in a suburb of Chicago. Lissette's passion for education stems from her own experience as a first generation Mexican-American in the public school system. It is important for her to affirm the identities of her students and to elevate the status of the Spanish language. She is the founder of Leading Latina, a blog and podcast that focuses on linking latinas in leadership and co-founder of Black, Brown, and Bilingue, a podcast whose mission is to unite the Black and Brown communities through education, storytelling, and community engagement. During our conversation, we talked about so-called ghetto schools and the impact this has one staff, students, and the community. What happens when staff and students begin to think they are less worthy because they are in a school that doesn't receive as many resources? Or when struggling students are congregated in that space? What happens when parents and the community embrace those stereotypes and respond negatively? Lissette also shared how it's important to listen to your stakeholders and not make assumptions. Often, this leads to us not only ignoring the cultural capital within our buildings but missing our families’ realities entirely. We discussed the role of SEL and cautioned about becoming so engrossed in this initiative that we fail to provide our students with the academic foundations that they need so that they can actually be successful in the classroom. Lissette and I closed out with a brief discussion around repackaged reforms and their role in perpetuating the very issues we are attempting to address but we figured we would save that for another conversation. Listos? Are you ready? Vamos. Connect with Lissette Facebook Twitter - @leadinglatina2 / @blkbrwnbilingue Instagram - @leadinglatina2 / @blackbrownandbilingue YouTube -- I want to thank you for listening to The Counter Narrative Podcast. If you like what you are hearing, please be sure to like, subscribe, and of course share it with friends and family. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the show so please leave a comment or two as well. I’m not sure what platform you’re using but the show can be found on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and plenty of other platforms. If the show isn’t on your preferred site, let me know and I’ll be sure to get it up and running. This podcast is also featured on SchoolRubric.com, where you can find educational articles, videos, and interviews with educators from around the globe. Be sure to connect with me and other listeners by following the show on Twitter at @theCNpodcast and joining the show’s Facebook Group.

Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations. I’m your host, Charles Williams. An urban educator for more than 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, an educational consultant, an equity advocate, and the co-host of Inside The Principal’s Office. Let’s get started. -- This episode is a pause to ponder segment. These biweekly sessions will allow me to share with you my personal thoughts and reflections on a wide spectrum of topics as they relate to education. It is my hope that you will be able to take something from these segments and apply it in a meaningful way as you continue to do amazing work. Remember, while we all have different roles, we all have a single job, educating our students. -- We all know that stress can wreak havoc on our bodies and thus we often do as much as we can to avoid and/or treat it. But what happens when those stressors are not immediately known to us? What happens when they are lurking within our subconscious and yet still negatively impacting our physiological and mental systems?  This was a thought that came to me while considering the misunderstood physical ailments of my wife and reflecting on the current events. Something clicked. What if all the chaos happening around us, combined with the notion that we must operate normally, is causing us to suppress our reactions to these various external stimuli? After doing some research, I realized that this is a documented yet not well-researched issue.  Maybe, just maybe, much of the stress and burnout that we are experiencing doesn't all stem from the source we originally imagined. It is very possible that our subconscious is filtering those experiences through stress thus impacting our perceptions.  Listen as I share my thoughts on this, how its impacting me, and my suggestions for moving forward.  -- I want to thank you for listening to The Counter Narrative Podcast. If you like what you are hearing, please be sure to like, subscribe, and of course share it with friends and family. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the show so please leave a comment or two as well. I’m not sure what platform you’re using but the show can be found on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and plenty of other platforms. If the show isn’t on your preferred site, let me know and I’ll be sure to get it up and running. This podcast is also featured on SchoolRubric.com, where you can find educational articles, videos, and interviews with educators from around the globe. Be sure to connect with me and other listeners by following the show on Twitter at @theCNpodcast and joining the show’s Facebook Group. Take care.

Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations. I’m your host, Charles Williams. An urban educator for more than 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, an educational consultant, an equity advocate, and the co-host of Inside The Principal’s Office. -- In this episode, I chat with Alycia Worthy, a Career and Technical Education and Health Science Educator.  She enjoys giving high school students the foundation for being able to work and interact with the healthcare industry. She also loves training, teaching, and uplifting people.  Prior to entering the education profession, Alycia worked for several years for pharmaceutical companies. It was during her time in the pharmaceutical industry that she recognized that many people were not aware of the vast opportunities available in the industry.  She formed a passion for wanting to inform people about the opportunities and resources available in the pharmaceutical industry and STEM fields.  Alycia transitioned her passion into the education arena where she now works to expose students to a variety of careers and people in the medical and health care fields. She also works to empower students and to help them to pursue their goals and dreams. Alycia currently serves as the Coordinator of the Queen Cobras program, which is a space created for 9th grade girls of color that focuses on healthy identity development, social justice and civic engagement, and cultural affirmation.  She hopes that those young women will love themselves, feel supported during the crucial transition to high school, and understand the benefit of serving the community. Alycia obtained her undergraduate degrees in Biology and in Chemistry from Emory University and her graduate degree in Public Health from New York University.  She is the proud mother of one daughter, Lisa. During our conversation we focused on Alycia’s passion - STEM - and discussed why more young people, especially black and brown students, are not entering science and math related fields. It seems that this issue is multifaceted. From students not interacting with educators who reflect their backgrounds to not having access to engaging and interesting courses to not being exposed to the wide array of career opportunities that exist outside of traditional jobs. Alycia recognizes that there exists numerous incentives to increase participation in STEM but stresses that it is our job, as educators, to address all of these areas if we truly want to address this issue. Students need to see authentically passionate educators who are not only excited about sharing their knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and math but who also know how to curate these experiences so they are relevant to our students. Yes, there is much to be done but Alycia helps us to better understand the issue and how to address it. -- I want to thank you for listening to The Counter Narrative Podcast. If you like what you are hearing, please be sure to like, subscribe, and of course share it with friends and family. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the show so please leave a comment or two as well. I’m not sure what platform you’re using but the show can be found on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and plenty of other platforms. If the show isn’t on your preferred site, let me know and I’ll be sure to get it up and running. This podcast is also featured on SchoolRubric.com, where you can find educational articles, videos, and interviews with educators from around the globe. Be sure to connect with me and other listeners by following the show on Twitter at @theCNpodcast and joining the show’s Facebook Group.

Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations. I’m your host, Charles Williams. An urban educator for more than 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, an educational consultant, an equity advocate, and the co-host of Inside The Principal’s Office. Let’s get started. -- This episode is a pause to ponder segment. These biweekly sessions will allow me to share with you my personal thoughts and reflections on a wide spectrum of topics as they relate to education. It is my hope that you will be able to take something from these segments and apply it in a meaningful way as you continue to do amazing work. Remember, while we all have different roles, we all have a single job, educating our students. -- I want to thank you for listening to The Counter Narrative Podcast. If you like what you are hearing, please be sure to like, subscribe, and of course share it with friends and family. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the show so please leave a comment or two as well. I’m not sure what platform you’re using but the show can be found on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and plenty of other platforms. If the show isn’t on your preferred site, let me know and I’ll be sure to get it up and running. This podcast is also featured on SchoolRubric.com, where you can find educational articles, videos, and interviews with educators from around the globe. Be sure to connect with me and other listeners by following the show on Twitter at @theCNpodcast and joining the show’s Facebook Group.

Welcome to the Counter Narrative Podcast, a show designed to change the way we talk, and think, about education. By sharing stories of successes and triumphs, we aim to challenge the dominant narrative that often negatively portrays our disenfranchised populations. I’m your host, Charles Williams. An urban educator for more than 15 years, a current school principal in Chicago, an educational consultant, an equity advocate, and the co-host of Inside The Principal’s Office. -- In this episode, I chat with Lindsay Titus, an educator of 16 years who started as a K-2 Special Education Teacher for 5 years and then worked for 7 years as a behavior consultant in different capacities. During this time she worked at a residential school, for a non-for-profit, and for a private insurance based therapy company. Lindsay then returned to the public school system as a behavior specialist. She went on to complete her administrative coursework and was hired as an assistant principal in October of 2021. During our conversation, we talked about … well .. behavior and the misconceptions that often surround this challenging topic. While Lindsay drops a ton of gems that could easily be used for motivational posters or Twitter taglines, she doesn’t dwell on the typical response of building relationships. While that is necessary, she also points out that we need to acknowledge the role that we play in the behaviors that we are witnessing (even if we are not directly responsible) and that it is okay to give space and grace. Lindsay suggests that we, as adults, need to get better at recognizing and managing our own emotions so that we can do the same for our students and even provides some ideas on how we can do so through small, simple, and strategic steps. Connect with Lindsay Website - Define YOUniversity Twitter - https://twitter.com/ltitus828  -- I want to thank you for listening to The Counter Narrative Podcast. If you like what you are hearing, please be sure to like, subscribe, and of course share it with friends and family. I’d also love to hear your thoughts about the show so please leave a comment or two as well. I’m not sure what platform you’re using but the show can be found on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and plenty of other platforms. If the show isn’t on your preferred site, let me know and I’ll be sure to get it up and running. This podcast is also featured on SchoolRubric.com, where you can find educational articles, videos, and interviews with educators from around the globe. Be sure to connect with me and other listeners by following the show on Twitter at @theCNpodcast and joining the show’s Facebook Group.