Educator Forever

Dr. Shelby Kretz is the creator of Little Justice Leaders, an organization that provides social justice education resources for families, educators, and schools. Shelby earned her Ph.D. in Education from UCLA, and her research explores social justice education at the elementary school level. Over the past decade, Shelby has worked with thousands of parents, teachers, and school leaders to bring social justice education to elementary aged kids.In this episode, we discuss the importance of addressing biases at an early age and some tips for running a small education business.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode96.

Dr. Meghan Waldron is an educator, advisor, learner, writer, thinker and doer. When she is not advising or teaching in the university setting, Meghan is working with students on their personal writing via Smart Solutions Tutoring. Meghan is passionate about helping students find their voices, and she works tirelessly to provide opportunities for them while building their confidence. She is equally passionate about equal access to education, and she works closely with other educators on current issues in our schools and communities. In this episode we discuss how and why she started her tutoring business, how she balances it with her teaching job and what she's learned from the two.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode95.

Mimosa Jones Tunney, founder & president of the American Emergent Curriculum (AEC) and The School House, is a former political speech and Hollywood television writer who wrote scripts for Oprah and HBO. It was a collaboration with Aaron Sorkin that eventually led her down the path of researching American education, which made her realize she needed to improve our system.Drawing from her background in policy, Jones Tunney set out to fix the education system by starting the American Emergent Curriculum (AEC), which is curriculum that leverages the science of human learning through proven pedagogical research. The curriculum has been implemented through a NY-based brick-and-mortar school called The School House and an online program called, TSH Anywhere, which has shown to successfully resolve all the current education system’s issues.In this episode, Jones Tunney tells how one goes from Hollywood script-writing to starting her own school, and we get deep into how to modernize education. Again, why are we still using textbooks?For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode94.

Olivia Odileke is the dynamic CEO of Kampus Insights and a passionate advocate for innovative education. As the author of "Beginner's Guide to Nearpod" and "Spark Curiosity: A Guide to Quick Inquiry Tasks," Olivia has established herself as a leading voice in educational technology and student engagement strategies. With a track record of training over 15,000 teachers, Olivia is on a mission to revolutionize the student learning experience. Olivia and her team at Kampus Insights live by the mantra: "Sparking curiosity is the holy grail of teaching." In this episode she expands on her mantra, and we go on to discuss strategies for engaging students in the classroom, emphasizing the importance of personalized, teacher-centered approaches, and sparking curiosity in teachers and students.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode93.

When you want to meet a goal, sometimes you want to do it now. You might be thinking about leaving the classroom and you want to find a new flexible job right now. But the process is where the magic happens. We learn and grow throughout the process. So while it’s understandable to want to skip right to the end, it’s better if you stick through the long haul.In this episode I talk about embracing the process to reach your goals, highlighting three aspects of going on such a journey. Now these aren’t tips to make your journey easier, but they will help you support yourself while putting in the hard work.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode92.

David K. Richards is an intuitive and visionary leader who helps change makers usher in new paradigms for learning and leadership. He is the current Founder & CEO of Changemaker Schools, a network of microschools, and Pathfinder, a program to help others open schools. David is also a speaker and leadership coach and leads a mastermind program, the Wise Warrior and a podcast, Changemaker ED “U”. He has worked in education reform for over 25 years as a teacher, principal, and founder of several innovative charter schools with nationally recognized Summit Public Schools and the school he started, Growth Public School. David has dedicated his life to helping people of all ages connect with the powerful intuitive leader within themselves. In this episode, David and I discussed his education journey from teacher to banker to educator again, what he’s learned about himself and why he dove into the world of micro schools.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode91.

In this episode, I speak to Dr. Taryn Gauvin. Taryn is in her 23rd year as an educator and has served 19 years in the Pre-K through 12 setting as a teacher, assistant principal and turnaround principal. Currently, she is the founder and CEO of Divergent Educational Consulting, LLC, and contractor operations manager at Better Lesson. We talked about her journey, her new book “Centering Our Voices: The Brilliance, Persistence, and Significance of Black Women Educators,” and what she’s learned over the years as an educator who broke off on her own. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode90.

In this short episode, I share five takeaways that I've learned from helping thousands of educators who find work beyond the classroom. This episode is for everyone, such as the teacher who wants to stay a teacher and expand their impact beyond the classroom, or transition out of the classroom. Having helped thousands of teachers, I found that all teachers are unique and different in their own ways. We all have different experiences and areas of expertise and dreams. But there are some similarities. So in my five takeaways, I want you to think about what resonates with you. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode89.

As teachers, we are education experts. But sometimes it can be really hard to realize this. And I can't tell you how many times I get to talking with teachers who have recently retired, and they have taught for 20-30 years, sometimes even more. And despite those teachers doing it for so long, they still feel like they don't have enough experience. And that is absolutely not true. If you have been teaching for even a couple years, you have way more education experience than most people. If you have been teaching for your entire career, I guarantee you, you are an education expert. And honestly, all teachers are education experts, we have studied education, we have spent time with children, we know so much about what it's like to teach students. So let's own that expertise. In this episode, I provide a few tips on how to leverage your education expertise to achieve your goals.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode88.

Lisa Hutchinson is a former preschool center director with over 30 years of experience in the early education field. She has also been a prekindergarten teacher, kindergarten teacher, preschool assistant director, education and training specialist, and a program specialist. She directed a preschool center for over 20 years.Over the past two years, Lisa has started a virtual preschool called Smart Steps Virtual School for children ages 2-5 to help parents prepare their children for kindergarten. She now works full time from home running Smart Steps and writing curriculum. In this episode, we talk about how she came to start a virtual preschool, how she continues to expand her business by developing curriculum, and overcoming her imposter syndrome. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode87.

Kathleen Brigham has been in the educational field for over 30 years. With a Bachelor's degree from Middlebury College and a Master's in Educational Administration from Columbia Teachers College, she started Brigham Learning, an education consulting and tutoring company. Her primary goal is to help students discover self-awareness and confidence through academic success. With three children and four stepchildren, she combines her personal experience with her educational background to work with children of all ages and learning abilities.In this episode, Kathleen dives into her journey from educator to business owner, giving lots of great advice along the way. She also details how she scaled her business, giving such helpful tips you’ll want to take notes. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode86.

Jasmine Rollins is a mom of four, a passionate K through 12 educator, a forever learner and storyteller. She creates learning opportunities and resources that empower teachers to celebrate their students' identities and foster a sense of belonging in the classroom. As a teacher, she's always used storytelling as a way to build connections and trust, through sharing her own stories and empowering students to do the same.In this episode, we discuss Rollins’s journey as an educator and how she moved beyond the classroom. We also get into how she came to focus on fostering a culture of belonging within and outside of school.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode85.

Deveren Fogle is a former lawyer, tech entrepreneur (2012 ‘Trep of the Month in Entrepreneur Magazine for the MyGeniusTrainer iPhone app), teacher, executive function coach, and now a tech entrepreneur again. He is launching Uluru, the first executive function platform to empower students and families to navigate the difficulties neurodiverse learners may face in their academic journeys.Fogle tells why he left teaching and explains how his days teaching led to him finding success in the world of tutoring executive function. We also share a lot of thoughts about how teachers are so under-appreciated! It’s a good long talk and I laughed through a lot of it. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode84.

I've been thinking a lot about how writing has furthered my career beyond the classroom. It really was something that I didn't get super clear on as being such a key factor until recently. I think part of that has come through working with so many teachers and seeing them go beyond the classroom, and some people really being successful, and other people having it take a little bit more time. Some of that working online boils down to writing. If you're able to write a compelling cover letter, you're more likely to land jobs. If you're starting an education business, and you can write really exciting and inviting copy, then you're more likely to get customers. So much of what's done online is done through writing. And so as teachers transitioning to a flexible workplace working online, this requires really taking our writing skills to the next level.For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode83.

Today I'm so excited that we have our amazing director of learning and development April Brown here with me to talk about the various stages that educators may go through when moving beyond the classroom. April that I have been working together for five years and maybe even more at this point, and together we have worked with 1000s of teachers, expanding their impact beyond the classroom, whether they're staying as classroom teachers or moving completely beyond.Though everybody's journey is unique, we found that people go through some similar phases along the way. So in the last few months, April, and I have really been doing a lot of thinking about what these phases are, and what are some things that we see people experiencing again, and again and again. So today we want to talk you through these stages, and really have you think about where you might fit where you're at right now where you might want to go, knowing that not everybody's gonna go through exactly these common stages. But hopefully, this gives you some sense of what we've seen other people experience. For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode82.