Anchored in Education

The title speaks for itself. Jodie Eckleberry-Hunt is back again to talk about her latest book set to release on 2/14/23.  Listen to this can't miss episode of  Anchored in Education as Jodie reminds us of what we should be doing when faced with adversity. After you listen to today's episode, go to  www.escottengland.com and click on the Podcast tab at the top to find today's episode page and read...

To be honest, this is a long overdue episode of  Anchored in Education . Inclusion is something that is extremely important to me. My start in education came as a 1:1 special education aide which also included working three summers at a summer Autism camp. As a principal, I transitioned an entire pre-k program in a full inclusion model. Not only did the transition happen, it was a successful one a...

What do you do when you majored in drama and you have a Spring musical to reveal to your class? Well, you definitely don't just announce the musical, you find a way to go all out, leaving students full of suspense and completely engaged. That is exactly what my guest today did for his class. And then, the unexpected happened. Myles Finn shared his reveal in three separate videos uploaded to Tik To...

This profession has always required a certain amount of resilience. For decades, dare I say centuries, educators have been challenged on best practices, content, and more. Educators have had to face criticism despite doing the best they can. And then two things happened: First was social media. All of a sudden anyone with a keyboard could hide behind a veil and lob insults and damaging criticism a...

I have always been a fan of turning the word fail into acronym, First Attempt In Learning. I think many would agree with me that we can learn valuable lessons from failure. Yet, failuring is not often accepted in our professional practice. We often operate under the assumption that we must not, cannot, fail. By having this mindset, we put an inordinate amount of pressure on ourselves. My guest tod...

Have you ever been teaching a lesson or a unit and about halfway through you realize that your best laid plans derailed somewhere along the way? Don't worry, we've all been there. At least I know I have been there as a teacher, as a principal, as a superintendent, and as a college professor.  Thankfully, we never set our plans in concrete, opting instead to allow flexibility to make midcourse corr...

There is a saying that says all good things are worth working for. That is what is supposed to keep us going when we encounter roadblocks and challenges along our way. But what if I told you that struggling is a good thing? As long as the struggle is productive. Productive struggle is something that we should all encounter, but moreover, productive struggle is something that we should all embrace....

Writing is something we have to do all the time regardless of what we do in life. I mean, writing a grocery list is technically writing. Writing a thoughtful message in a greeting card is writing. Yet, so many of us will be quick to say that we are not a writer. Why is that? Maybe something from our school experience has put a bad taste in our mouth? Quite possibly we have never learned the true p...

I have always stood by my phrase that everyone and everything are anchored in education at the end of the day. Which is exactly how I get my hands on a book called  Getting to Good Riddance: A No-Bullsh*t Breakup Survival Guide and immediately see how I can relate what I'm reading to breaking up with a bad boss, a bad organization, or a bad habit. I know, because I've been there. Author Jodie Eckl...

If you would have told me 10 years ago that two people would come along and completely re-write some longstanding rules of baseball I would have said...nothing. I wouldn't have been able to get words out because I would have been laughing. Which is probably a good thing because I would have had to eat those words. Emily Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas, along with her husband Jesse, have in jus...

We've all hear it before: students saying they aren't good at something. We might especially hear them say they're not good at writing or reading. Of course this is a problem, but it becomes more of your problem when you're their teacher. You know you will never move the needle if you don't get them out of the mindset that they can't do something. Of course, identifying the problem is often easier...

If you've never been a part of a school action plan that lacked substance, then this episode is probably not for you. However, if you've been a part of, or better yet, you've created a vague school action plan, then this is YOUR episode. I have no reservations telling you that I've had vagueness in school action plans. Although if you would have asked me at the time, I would have told you it was a...

We talk a lot about STEAM programs in our schools. There are a lot of great resources and programs out there for schools to utilize. But what about the STEAM that is right in front of us every day? I could name a variety of every day experiences that are teeming with Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. But the first thing that stands out to me? NASCAR! Babette Huitt and Melissa...

The role of the assistant principal is critical to the success of a school. Which makes the fact that we do not have any formal preparation program to help those who step into the role be the most successful version of themselves as an assistant principal. Too often we are not clear with how the assistant principal can best support the whole school. Now, we are blessed with a resource that will he...

Discipline has always been an integral part of the education process. That is not the same as saying all discipline practices are effective and contributing to improving student behavior. In fact, many times when we think of discipline, we immediately think of exclusionary practices. After all, this is what we're most familiar with. My guest today is Andy Jacks, author of the book Discipline Win:...

Have you ever ruminated yourself crazy? Have you ever tried to control every aspect of every single moment? Do you find your place of employment to be less than desireable sometimes? Or maybe you engage in negative self talk. Sometimes we have to tell ourselves to move on.  My guest today is Jodie Eckleberry-Hunt, author of the book  Move on, Motherf*cker: Live, Laugh, and Let Sh*t Go.  Jodie, a c...

This week, authors and educators Dr. Mike Lubelfeld, Dr. Nick Polyak, and Dr. PJ Caposey are back to continue the conversation about their book The Unfinished Leader: A School Leadership Framework for Growth and Development . Last week we discussed Empathy, Equity, and Adapting. Join us this week for part two as we discuss the last three sections of their book. After listening, head over to www.es...

Finishing things in life typically provides a sense of accomplishment. As young children, we felt triumphant when we finished our supper. Runners feel that rush when they finish a run. And nothing beats finishing a good book. But when it comes to building our leadership capacity, finishing might not be what is best of us.  The idea of remaining unfinished was proposed to us by school leaders Dr. M...

The  Anchored in Education conversation today is around reading. Specifically, we are going to look at the structured literacy approach to teaching reading. Our guest today is Kellyn Sirach, a literacy specialist who is passionate about the science behind teaching and learning to read. Frustrated by feeling unprepared to teach reading, Kellyn embarked on a journey to be informed not only by best p...

Charley Cass returns to Anchored in Education after completing his first year as a superintendent. He shares experiences from that first year that will forever serve as cornerstones in shaping how he approaches the superintendent position. He also discusses what servant leadership means and why it is important to him to practice it. Charley gives great advice for anyone new to the position or who...

Anchored in Education is returning after a long hiatus while a host, E. Scott England, navigated a district through a global pandemic as well as embarked on a professional journey that has landed him in a new role, a new state, and a new studio to record a second run of Anchored in Education . The guests already lined up for future episodes is exciting. Take a listen to this short update and get r...

I started this podcast 73 episodes ago with a main goal of providing on high-quality episodes. Due to the circumstances surrounding the global pandemic and trying to navigate the reopening of schools, I feel that pushing on right now with Anchored in Education only jeopardizes the quality for my listeners. Not willing to do that, I am putting this podcast in hiatus until proper time can be given....

What do you do when you find the research showing that your elementary students do not benefits whatsoever from homework, but yet, you are mandated by your school to assign homework daily? Well. You get creative. This is exactly what Alex Valencic did when he was teaching fourth grade. Required to assign homework, he brainstormed how he could meet the school requirement but yet give students a voi...

Back in February, I had the Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction on the podcast as the first elected official. Today, we are fortunate enough to have Joy Hofmeister, the Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction join us on  Anchored in Education . Joy has been instrumental in helping lead Oklahoma through several positive changes in the education environment. In today's episode,...

Speech Language Pathologists are simply rock stars in the world of education. So why is it we have such a struggle in including them in planning for the needs of students? Maybe it is because we don't realize just what it is they do. Kelly Gosch, CCC-SLP is our guest today on  Anchored in Education talking about Speech Language Pathology. She gives us the down low that speech services are much, mu...