Educators Among Us

Students learn far more from educators than what appears in a lesson plan. They notice how adults respond to pressure, handle conflict, adapt to change, keep commitments, and treat the people around them. Long after specific lessons are forgotten, the example set by an educator can continue shaping a student's choices and expectations. In this episode of the Educators Among Us podcast, host Scott Barron, Chief Reinvention Officer with School Growth, explains why credentials and experience alone don't separate the highest contributors from everyone else. Attitude and the habits that shape it, often make the difference, every time. Students are constantly watching how the people around them set goals, take risks, persevere through difficulty, and respond when circumstances change. Excellent schools are built by talented, energized, engaged educators who consistently show up and faithfully deliver, all of the time, not just some of the time. Attitude is a choice.     Takeaways — Attitude is one of the greatest distinguishing factors among educators. Experience and credentials matter, but attitude often determines how someone contributes to the mission and culture of a school. — Every educator is a leader, regardless of title. Every adult in a school has influence through the choices they make and the example they set. — Students are learning from how adults handle real life. Conflict, change, frustration, risk, and perseverance all become opportunities to model something worth following. — The habits of an educator eventually become part of the culture of a school. Consistency, follow-through, growth, and perseverance influence more than individual performance. — Great schools are built by people who consistently show up well. Excellence grows from educators who are engaged, energized, professional, and dependable. — Educators have more influence than they may ever fully see. Students remember the people who believed in them, challenged them, and demonstrated a better way forward.   Chapters 00:41 Introduction 02:42 Patterns of Distinction 03:58 Influential Educators Among Us 05:09 Modeling Attitude 08:04 Never-Ending Influence 10:15 Weekly Encouragement 10:54 A Coaching Question    —-----------------------------   Educators Fellowship is a non-profit organization that encourages educators in their calling and in their faith.  www.educatorsamonguspodcast.com www.educatorsamongus.com https://www.edfellowship.org/   Sign up for weekly encouragement messages here:     Buy the book, Love'em and Lead'em, here:     https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottebarron/ https://www.facebook.com/SchoolGrowth/ https://twitter.com/schoolgrowth https://www.linkedin.com/company/school-growth  

Grief has a way of changing our perspective. In the middle of busy schedules, responsibilities, relationships, and the daily demands of education, it can be easy to lose sight of how limited our time really is. Loss interrupts that pace. It reminds us that the people around us matter, the words we leave unsaid matter, and how we choose to spend our days matters. In this episode of the Educators Among Us podcast, host Scott Barron, Chief Reinvention Officer with School Growth, reflects on the difficult season of grief being experienced by several educators and school communities. Drawing from his own experiences with loss and the experiences of leaders he knows, Scott explores the unique responsibility educators carry when tragedy touches a school.  Education is about far more than curriculum. Schools are communities where people celebrate together, struggle together, mourn together, and ultimately learn how to navigate life together.  Ultimately, numbering our days is about gaining the wisdom to live intentionally now. That means recognizing the danger of unresolved conflict, expressing appreciation while there is still time to say it, investing in relationships, and remembering what deserves our limited attention.     Takeaways — Trust is oxygen. Strong school communities depend on relationships built through both joyful and painful seasons. — Grief brings perspective. Loss confronts us with the limits of time and changes how we see the life in front of us. — The dash holds a lifetime. The years between birth and death contain relationships, influence, struggles, adventures, and legacy. — Busyness can distort priorities. A frantic pace can make important things feel ordinary and distractions feel important. — Wisdom recognizes limits. Numbering our days means understanding that time is finite and treating it accordingly. — Relationships cannot wait forever. Unresolved conflict and unspoken appreciation take on different meaning when we remember that opportunities are limited. — Brokenhearted is not broken. Grief and resilience can exist together as people mourn, love, lead, and continue forward. Chapters 00:42 Introduction 02:10 Difficult Seasons 06:47 Our own Mortality 09:09 Embrace the Moment 12:44 Weekly Encouragement 13:28 A Coaching Question —-----------------------------   Educators Fellowship is a non-profit organization that encourages educators in their calling and in their faith.  www.educatorsamonguspodcast.com www.educatorsamongus.com https://www.edfellowship.org/   Sign up for weekly encouragement messages here:     Buy the book, Love'em and Lead'em, here:    https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottebarron/ https://www.facebook.com/SchoolGrowth/ https://twitter.com/schoolgrowth https://www.linkedin.com/company/school-growth  

Schools spend a lot of time thinking about better instruction, stronger programs, new strategies, and improved student outcomes. But even the right strategy can fall short when the culture isn't strong enough to support it. Sustainable excellence depends on the people doing the work together, the trust they build, and the habits that shape how they respond when things don't go according to plan. In this special episode of the Educators Among Us podcast, host Scott Barron, Chief Reinvention Officer with School Growth, welcomes Todd Driver, at Livingstone Adventist Academy to the program.  They explore what it takes to intentionally build a culture capable of supporting excellence in schools. Excellence grows through consistent habits, honest relationships, a willingness to learn from mistakes, and leaders who recognize they don't have to figure everything out alone. Ultimately, developing a stronger team creates a better experience for the students and families educators are called to serve.     Takeaways — Culture Enables Strategy: Strong instructional approaches need a healthy culture capable of supporting them. — The Team Drives the Outcomes: Developing excellent educators creates the conditions for stronger student experiences and results. — Trust Strengthens Leadership: Intentional relationships and professional vulnerability help create cohesive teams. — Excellence Is Built Through Habits: Consistent leadership disciplines have more lasting influence than ambitious goals alone. — Mentorship Shortens the Learning Curve: Experienced coaches and mentors allow leaders to benefit from lessons others have already learned. — Failure Fuels Improvement: Mistakes become valuable when teams use them as opportunities to learn and improve. — Vision Creates Direction: A shared picture of excellence gives individual effort and continuous improvement a common purpose. Chapters 00:44 Introduction 02:08 Meet Todd Driver 03:24 An Impactful Educator 04:39 Pathway into Education 11:58 Prioritizing Culture in Schools 15:30 Building a Culture to Implement Instruction 18:38 Advice for Leaders  21:53 Sharing Vision and Measuring Results 27:58 Learning from Mistakes 29:55 Final Thoughts   —-----------------------------   Educators Fellowship is a non-profit organization that encourages educators in their calling and in their faith.  www.educatorsamonguspodcast.com www.educatorsamongus.com https://www.edfellowship.org/   Sign up for weekly encouragement messages here:     Buy the book, Love'em and Lead'em, here:     https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottebarron/ https://www.facebook.com/SchoolGrowth/ https://twitter.com/schoolgrowth https://www.linkedin.com/company/school-growth  

Educators wear a lot of hats. Teacher. Leader. Colleague. Mentor. Board member. Parent. Friend. The challenge is handling all those responsibilities, while knowing which hat belongs in which situation, what that role requires of you, and when it's time to take a hat off altogether. In this episode of the Educators Among Us podcast, host Scott Barron, Chief Reinvention Officer with School Growth, explores the importance of role clarity in education and why constantly switching between responsibilities can create confusion, frustration, and eventually burnout.  Great educators are capable of doing many things, but expecting talented people to continually juggle unclear or overlapping responsibilities can undermine the very excellence schools are trying to achieve.  Ultimately, wearing multiple hats requires discipline, boundaries, wisdom, and an understanding of the commitments that come with each role.    Takeaways — Role clarity matters. People perform better when responsibilities, authority, and accountability are clearly understood. — Too many hats create friction. Even talented educators struggle when expectations become unreasonable or roles continually overlap. — Vagueness damages culture. Unclear expectations invite frustration, confusion, and unnecessary tension. — Multitasking has a cost. Constantly shifting responsibilities makes it harder to focus, think deeply, and work strategically. — Boundaries protect relationships. Different roles carry different responsibilities, and knowing where one ends and another begins matters. — Trust depends on clarity. Confusion around authority and accountability can quickly weaken organizational trust. — Rest requires taking the hat off. Sustainable leadership includes knowing when to disconnect, recuperate, and leave work responsibilities behind. Chapters 00:39 Introduction 02:36 Switching Hats 03:29 The Hazards of Hatmaking 05:50 Too Many Hats 10:30 Mediocrity Amongst the Talented 12:50 Weekly Encouragement 14:24 A Coaching Question         —-----------------------------   Educators Fellowship is a non-profit organization that encourages educators in their calling and in their faith.  www.educatorsamonguspodcast.com www.educatorsamongus.com https://www.edfellowship.org/   Sign up for weekly encouragement messages here:     Buy the book, Love'em and Lead'em, here:     https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottebarron/ https://www.facebook.com/SchoolGrowth/ https://twitter.com/schoolgrowth https://www.linkedin.com/company/school-growth  

Mistakes happen. Plans fall apart. Someone misses the mark, says the wrong thing or simply doesn't deliver what we expected. In those moments, the mistake itself matters less than what happens next. The way we respond can turn an uncomfortable interruption into something beautiful, a moment someone remembers for the rest of their life. In this episode of the Educators Among Us podcast, host Scott Barron, Chief Reinvention Officer with School Growth, reflects on the story of jazz legends Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, and a performance when Hancock played the wrong chord during a Miles Davis solo. Instead of reacting to the mistake, Davis adjusted what he played and made the unexpected chord work. As Hancock later described it, Davis found a way to "turn poison into medicine." That same opportunity exists in schools every day. A student makes a mistake. A colleague drops the ball. Communication breaks down. Leaders can embarrass someone, assign blame or make the situation worse.  Or they can adapt to what actually happened and help create a path forward.      Takeaways — Mistakes are inevitable. Leadership is revealed by what we choose to do after something goes wrong. — Adapt to what is. Fighting for what should have happened can keep us from seeing what can happen next. — Protect the person. Correcting a mistake doesn't require embarrassing the person who made it. — Keep your composure. Staying grounded gives you the ability to respond thoughtfully instead of making the situation worse. — Turn poison into medicine. An unexpected problem can become an opportunity to create something better. — Choose mercy. Grace shown in a difficult moment can strengthen relationships long after the mistake is forgotten. — Help each other recover. Strong communities are built by people willing to pick one another up when they fall.   Chapters 00:41 Introduction  02:23 Making Mistakes 05:10 Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock 08:04 Adapting 10:23 Choosing Life As It Is 13:35 Weekly Encouragement 14:38 A Coaching Question.   —-----------------------------   Educators Fellowship is a non-profit organization that encourages educators in their calling and in their faith.  www.educatorsamonguspodcast.com www.educatorsamongus.com https://www.edfellowship.org/   Sign up for weekly encouragement messages here:     Buy the book, Love'em and Lead'em, here:     https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottebarron/ https://www.facebook.com/SchoolGrowth/ https://twitter.com/schoolgrowth https://www.linkedin.com/company/school-growth