The Ed Essentials Podcast

PJ Caposey is the Illinois Superintendent of the Year and is a best-selling author having written nine books for various publishers. His work and commentary has been featured on sites such as TED, The Washington Post, NPR, CBS This Morning, ASCD, Edutopia, The Huffington Post (HuffPost), and has been featured in think pieces alongside General Petraeus and General McChrystal. PJ is a sought after presenter and consultant who recently keynoted several national conferences with expertise in time management, the tyranny of the status quo, school culture, continuous improvement, and teacher evaluation. Dr. Bryan Wills is a chiropractor, entrepreneur, executive coach, and a dynamic speaker. Bryan opened his first chiropractic office right after he graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in a rural community in northern Illinois. He has gone on to open two more highly successful practices in Rockford, Illinois, built with the same small-town values of Family, Integrity, and Authenticity, as the original. From the experience Bryan gained in starting multiple businesses from scratch, he decided to help others by becoming an executive coach in 2015. Since then, Bryan has been able to help hundreds of people chase after their dreams of becoming entrepreneurs and business owners.

Eva Mireles is a K-12 Reading specialist, K-5 Reading Coach, Staff Developer and TPT Creator who help teachers find a realistic approach to teaching reading so that they can ditch overwhelm and focus on creating meaningful and engaging experiences for students.

Connect with Eva

Amber Harper is a classroom teacher, speaker, and teacher burnout coach located in Indiana.

Connect with Amber:

Nicole Benson is a full-time high school instructional coach. In this episode, Nicole provides us with mindsets, strategies, and tips to succeed as a current or aspiring instructional coach.

.

Connect with Nicole:

nicole.benson@johnston.k12.ia.us

.

Connect with Hunter:

Anthony Muhammad, PhD, is a much sought-after educational speaker and presenter. A practitioner for nearly 20 years, he has served as a middle school teacher, assistant principal, and principal, and also as a high school principal.

.

Connect with Anthony:

Jennifer Abrams is an international educational and communications consultant for public and independent schools, universities and non-profits. Jennifer trains and coaches teachers, administrators and others on new teacher/employee support, having hard conversations, collaboration skills and being your best adult self at work.

We live in time where we have the most technology available to us than ever before. So how do we use it? It goes BEYOND just the tools. It requires a systems level understanding and having the right mindset in order to keep up with the pace of technology. Alfonso Mendoza, an educator, technology specialist, and host of the"My EdTech Life" podcast is here to help.

.

CONNECT WITH US:

 Ever wonder what it would be like if you took charge of your school building, what would that be like? How would you know you're making the right decisions? What would your leadership style look like? And would your organization benefit from your leadership today? We answer those questions and more with first year principal, Matt Lakis.

.

Connect with us:

The 2022-2023 school year is HERE, and I have a few words of wisdom as we dive headfirst into this upcoming year.

.

Check out The Ed Essentials Group Chat, a FREE Facebook Group full of supportive educators!

Looking for leadership advice that will help you have a greater impact this upcoming school year? Harvard graduate and current High School Social Studies teacher, Tristan Bernhard, and I reflect on 5 ed leadership insights from our first year in ed leadership programs.

.

Welcome to The Ed Essentials Podcast! This is Hunter Flesch and if you are an educator looking for teaching and leadership strategies, then The Ed Essentials Podcast is the show for you. My mission is to equip you with the necessary skills and insights to help you have a greater impact on the world of education.

.

Ever been a part of a leadership team or committee that goes nowhere? Does your school continue to beat around the bush and not address root problems? Let me tell you that you are not alone. So many schools go through these problems, but they are fixable! In this episode, former administrator and current educational consultant and coach Erinn Cottman is going to show us how.

.

To connect with Erinn:

Dr. Doug Stilwell is a professor of Educational Leadership at Drake University where he specifically focuses on the use of systems thinking as a tool for continuous school improvement. Additionally, he was an award-winning superintendent and has years of experience in both administrative and classroom roles.

.

Connect with us:

Dr. John Hattie is a world-renowned researcher and author of Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-analyses Relating to Achievement.

.

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to The Ed Essentials Podcast

.

Dr. Brandon Beck is a Nationally Board Certified teacher with over 18 years of experience and is the author of Unlocking Unlimited Potential.

Connect with us:

David Langford is the founder and CEO of Langford International, Inc. He is an international consultant, author and educator whose focus is to create sustained systemic improvement in student learning, school leadership and organizational processes. The concepts of Quality Learning, Quality Learning Performance, Just-In-Time Learning, the Self-Managed Classroom and Exponential Learning emerged out of these efforts.

For over 20 years, he has trained colleagues in public and private K–12 school systems, universities, colleges, preschools, chambers of commerce and business divisions ranging from Boeing and General Motors to government agencies such as the Department of Defense. He has worked with organizations throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America.

.

Connect with us:

Dr. Maisha Otway is a turnaround principal in Georgia. We discuss handling principal responsibilities, turnaround leadership, building school partnerships, and her experience bringing rapper 2Chainz to her school through the "Reading with a Rapper" program.

.

Connect with us:

Adam Welcome is a keynote speaker, author of Kids Deserve It, and is also a former teacher, principal, and director of innovation and technology.

.

Connect with us:  

One of the most amazing qualities of teachers is that we go 100 mph in order to meet the needs of our students.  Because we are working so hard through incredibly difficult situations and circumstances, we often end up feeling burnt out and in need of some positivity. This episode is dedicated to reminding educators why we chose our profession and why its the best in the world.

In order to do that, I brought on one of my best friends and Ed Essentials regulars, Tristan Bernhard, on to do a fantasy draft of the top reasons to go into education. I hope you enjoy this episode! Be sure to follow me on IG and Twitter @edessentials_ and subscribe to the show.

-

To connect with Tristan: IG: @tjberns

CJ Reynolds is a high school literature teacher in West Philadelphia, speaker, podcast host, and author of Teach your Class Off: A Real Rap Guide to Teaching.

.

Lauren Kaufman is currently an Assistant Principal and has formerly served as a classroom teacher and K-12 Mentor Program Coordinator. She is a contributing author of Because of a Teacher and her writings have been featured by Edutopia and the Teach Better Team.

.

Samantha Nolte is a 5-12 Emergent Bilingual teacher whom I have worked with my entire career thus far. She provides readily available strategies and supports for students in need of english language acquisition, as well as a unique insight into her role where she transitions new EB families and students into the district.

.

Rick Wormeli is a National Board Certified Teacher, is an author of highly regarded books such as Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom (Second Edition) and Differentiation: From Planning to Practice, and has 39 years of experience teaching math, science, English, physical education, health, and history.

.

Dr. Dani Trimble is the current superintendent of the Alburnett Community School District.

.

Connect with Dr. Trimble: dtrimble@alburnettcsd.org

.

Bryan Holyfield is a history teacher and health consultant. Bryan helps busy teachers take control of their health with easy-to-follow nutrition and strength programs. 

.

Ken Williams is a nationally recognized speaker, consultant, author, former principal, and founder of Unfold the Soul.

.

How do we CAPITALIZE on the relationships we build with students? What are effective and ineffective ways to spend that relationship capital? These are TOUGH questions to answer, so I bring on my dear friend, Tristan, to talk about our experiences and thoughts on teacher capital!

.

For more episodes and Ed Essentials content, click this link:

Dr. John Hattie is a world-renowned researcher and author of Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-analyses Relating to Achievement.

.

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to The Ed Essentials Podcast

.

Hunter discusses 3 thoughts as we all approach the end of the school year!

.

THANK YOU for listening to The Ed Essentials Podcast. Be sure to rate, review, and subscribe!

.

Dr. Chad Dumas is a presenter, researcher, former principal, and author of Let's Put the C in PLC: A Practical Guide for School Leaders. 

.

 Discussed in this episode: 

- Fixing teacher isolation through collaboration in and out of school. 

- Effective approaches to Professional Learning Communities. 

- Refocusing our collaboration to be around student learning. 

- What leaders must consider when attempting to change systems. 

. 

Connect with us! 

Dr. Samantha Fecich is a professor of education at Grove City College.

-

Connect with us:

On this episode, I am honored to host the legendary Dave Schmittou. Dave is the Director of Leadership & Development for the Teach Better Team. He’s the author of several education-based books, one of which we discuss in his interview. He is a former elementary school principal, former middle school principal, assistant principal, coach, and teacher. I brought Dave on the show because of his powerful message surrounding feedback, how we can get outside of the cookie-cutter method of providing it, and how to truly use it to change schools. Dave also has a massive focus on empowering educators to take risks, and he talks about practices leaders can utilize to build a positive culture around risk-taking. But most of all, I brought Dave on because he is so brutally honest and vulnerable. He doesn’t hide his flaws, and he uses them in such a reflective manner that is such a great example for all educators to emulate. 

 . 

. Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to The Ed Essentials Podcast! 

. 

Connect with us: 

Amanda and Caleb Bonjour join The Ed Essentials Podcast to talk about life as married principals, how they learn from each other, ways to empower staff, and other advice for those seeking leadership roles. 

.

Connect with Amanda and Caleb:

Hunter brings on longtime friend and substitute teacher, Dustin Eubanks, to talk about the life of a substitute, what subs really need, what potential substitutes need to know, and how school staff can learn to embrace "the sub" as one of their own.

Remember to rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast!

Dr. Todd Whitaker, author of What Great Principals Do Differently, What Great Teachers Do Differently, Shift the Monkey, and dozens of other education books, joins the podcast to provide one simple message: it comes down to good leadership and your effectiveness. We talk about a wide variety of topics in this episode:

-What great leadership looks like and how to make decisions based off your best people.

-Finding the next difference-maker for your school and how to set them up for success.

-Treating teachers and students as if they were good in order to build their capacity for growth.

.

To connect with Todd:

Lisa Toebben, Special Education teacher, joins the podcast to discuss:

-Dealing with people who try to dull your positivity

-Habits to improve our physical/mental states

-"Taking Messy Action" and its importance in our lives

.

Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe!

.

To connect with us:

Jason Lampe, assistant principal and my colleague, comes on the podcast to catch up about ALL KINDS of things. Mainly, we discuss the following:

-How to maintain positivity and build relationships

-Practicing clarity and risk-taking in the classroom

-A small reality check and some goals for 2021

.

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe! It helps other educators connect with this show!

.

To connect with us:

Gretchen Bridgers, founder of "Always A Lesson" and full-time teacher coach/consultant, joins Schools of Thought to discuss tools for more effectively coaching teachers. We cover:

-Helping teachers problem-solve

-Leading by listening, then empowering

-Encouraging meaningful risk-taking

AND MORE!

.

.

Please be sure to Rate, Review, and Subscribe to Schools of Thought.

.

.

Connect with us:

5th grade science teacher Evan Sanchez joins "Schools of Thought" to discuss:

-How to make content accessible to students

-Ways to stay creative and motivated in the classroom

-What teachers should do MORE of and LESS of

AND MORE!

.

Be sure to RATE, REVIEW, AND SUBSCRIBE TO SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT!

.

Connect with us:

Christy and Karen of @themodernprincipal shed a little light on the principal lifestyle. We dive into leadership, how to overcome challenges and conflict, advice for aspiring leaders, and SO much more!

-

-

Please remember to Rate, Review, and Subscribe to Schools of Thought!

-

-

Connect with Christy and Karen:

Rae Hughart (Author, Dir. of Training & Development for the Teach Better Team, MS Math Teacher) comes on the podcast to discuss:

-The Teach Further model she created to make student learning apply to the real world

-The value of a professional network and "teacher family" like the Teach Better Team

-Habits and practices that help Rae stay on top of her game

-How teachers can use social media for growth and empowerment

.

.

Please remember to Rate, Review, and Subscribe to Schools of Thought!

.

.

Connect with Rae:

In this episode, Tristan and Hunter talk about the potential education priorities for President Biden and his staff:

• Universal Pre-K and the likelihood of funds/action taken to implement this nationally
• Re-focusing on Public Education from the top levels of government
• Student loan and debt relief
• Increasing access to higher education

Remember to Rate, Review, and Subscribe to Schools of Thought!

-

Follow us here:

Kim Tierney (Elementary Principal and 2014 Iowa Elementary Principal of the Year) joins the podcast to talk about

• Becoming a principal after only 4 years of teaching.
• Leading using shared leadership as her foundation.
• Empowering her staff.
• Changing culture to support positive student outcomes.
• Advice for teachers looking to transition to administration.

-

Remember to Rate, Review, and Subscribe to Schools of Thought!

-

Follow us here:

April (@academicallyapril on Instagram) comes on the show to talk about her student teaching experience this semester, how to embrace  challenges, adapt to new situations, and ways to get the absolute most from your student teaching experience!

Remember to Rate, Review, and Subscribe!

-

Follow us here:

Trevor Ragan is the founder of The Learner Lab, critically renowned speaker, and workshop creator. Hunter tag teams with his friend, Taylor, to talk with Trevor about a variety of topics under the umbrella of how humans learn: Helping students/teachers embrace struggle, the power of emotional intelligence, a unique lens on growth mindset and its connection to skill acquisition, and MORE!

Follow Trevor at: