Interventions and Detentions

Episode 3:6 | Customer Service in Education Part 1 of a 2-Part Series When did doing what’s best for kids become less important than keeping the adults happy? Somewhere along the way, education has started to look a little too much like customer service. Parents have expectations. Teachers have expectations. Administrators face pressure from every direction. And sometimes, in our effort to keep ev...

Episode 3:5 – The Many Hats of an Educator What happens when you build a career in education without going to college to prepare for all the different roles you’ll eventually take on? Just ask Chris Blaize! In this episode of Interventions and Detentions, I’m joined by my longtime friend Chris Blaize for a conversation about his unique journey through education and the many hats he’s worn along th...

Episode 3:4 | Three Minutes: What School Safety Really Means, Part Two What happens after the immediate threat is over? The clock keeps moving, and so does the work of keeping our schools safe. In Part Two of this two-part series, I continue the conversation about school safety, returning to the 2018 Noblesville West Middle School shooting and exploring the responsibilities that extend far beyond...

What does school safety really mean? Is it locked doors, security cameras, emergency drills, and knowing what to do when something goes wrong? Or is there a much bigger picture we need to consider? In this episode of Interventions and Detentions, I take a deeper look at school safety, using the 2018 shooting at Noblesville West Middle School as a starting point. We examine the three minutes that c...

Episode 3:2: They’re Not Their IEP What happens when we start seeing the IEP before we see the child? In this episode of Interventions and Detentions, Brad takes a deeper look at special education, inclusion, accommodations, behavior, expectations, and the responsibility we have as educators to see the whole child. An IEP is an important tool. It tells us about goals, supports, accommodations, ser...

Thirty days into a new school year. Thirty years into a career in education. And somehow, I’m back where it all started. In 1997, I walked into South Side Elementary as a fifth grade teacher. Nearly 30 years later, I’ve walked back through those same doors, this time as the principal. In this episode of Interventions and Detentions, I’m taking a look at what it feels like to start over when you’re...

We’re closing out Season 2 of Interventions and Detentions with a conversation that every educator, school leader, and parent should hear. In this episode, I sit down with Ben Kaplan, President of Books Are Fun, to discuss the Book Blast program and how it’s helping schools across the country build excitement around reading while putting more books into the hands of students. We explore: * What ma...

After more than a year apart behind the microphone, Kylie returns to Interventions and Detentions for a special reunion episode. In Episode 2:37, Brad and Kylie catch up on everything that’s happened since their last episode together. From career changes and personal growth to lessons learned along the way, this conversation is filled with laughter, reflection, and the kind of authentic dialogue t...

What if one of the most effective staff retention strategies in your school doesn’t require a new initiative, a larger budget, or another professional development session? What if it’s appreciation? In this episode of Interventions and Detentions with Brad, we explore why staff celebration is much more than a feel-good activity. It’s a leadership practice that directly impacts morale, engagement,...

As another school year comes to a close, educators everywhere are packing classrooms, submitting final grades, and looking ahead to a well-deserved summer break. But before we rush into the next season, what can we learn from the one we’re leaving behind? In this episode of Interventions and Detentions with Brad, we explore the power of reflective practice for both teachers and school leaders. Ref...

In this episode of Interventions and Detentions with Brad, we dive into “The 10-Minute Fix: Small Moves That Change Classrooms.” Education doesn’t always need massive overhauls to create meaningful change. Sometimes the biggest impact comes from the smallest strategies.\n\nBrad shares practical, research-based ideas educators can implement immediately to improve behavior, increase engagement, stre...

Episode 2:33 – What Should Actually Come to the Office? Office referrals can be one of the most inconsistent systems in a school. What one teacher handles in the classroom, another sends to the office. What feels like a classroom-managed behavior one day suddenly becomes an office referral the next. Over time, that inconsistency impacts teachers, administrators, students, and overall school cultur...

If things feel a little harder right now in your classroom or school… you’re not imagining it. Late April and May bring a shift. Energy changes, routines get disrupted, and even strong systems can start to feel less effective. It’s not about losing control—it’s about navigating a different phase of the school year. In this episode of Interventions and Detentions, we break down: • Why behavior tend...

Social media has changed education—and not just for students, but for teachers and administrators too. There are more voices than ever sharing what leadership should look like. Some of it is helpful. Some of it is inspiring. But some of it… might be oversimplifying a job that’s anything but simple. In this episode, I take an honest, balanced look at the rise of education influencers and how leader...

In Episode 2:30 of Interventions and Detentions, we ease back in from Spring Break with a micro episode focused on one of education’s most familiar and debated traditions… the report card. Where did report cards come from? What were they originally designed to do? Do they truly communicate student learning, or have they become more about labels than growth? In this episode, we explore the history...

Something shifts in schools every spring—and it’s not just academic. In this episode of Interventions and Detentions, we take a real look at what educators are experiencing right now: shorter attention spans, increased behavior challenges, lower motivation, and overall fatigue from both students and staff. This isn’t about the “summer slide.” It’s about the very real spring slide in behavior, ener...

In Episode 2:28 of Interventions and Detentions, we take a deep dive into one of the most overlooked—but most impactful—factors in student success: attendance. While it may seem like a simple daily routine, consistent attendance is directly tied to academic achievement, social development, and long-term outcomes for students. Missing just a few days each month can create gaps that are difficult to...

Remember the excitement of field trip day? The permission slip. The yellow bus. The snacks packed in your backpack. But field trips today look a lot different than they did when most of us were in school. In the newest episode of Interventions and Detentions with Brad, we take a deep dive into the evolution of the school field trip. We talk about: • Where field trips originally came from • Why sch...

Episode 2:26 – Why Some Classrooms Run Smoothly… and Others Don’t Why can two classrooms in the same school, with the same students, feel completely different? One classroom runs smoothly. Expectations are clear, students stay engaged, and learning happens. Just down the hallway, another classroom can feel like a constant struggle to keep things on track. In this episode of Interventions and Deten...

From paddles labeled “The Board of Education” to restorative circles and progressive discipline systems, school consequences have changed dramatically over the last 100–150 years. But have we truly evolved… or simply swung the pendulum? In this episode of Interventions and Detentions, Brad takes a deep dive into the history of school discipline — from one-room schoolhouses and zero tolerance polic...

rushed to put a screen in every child’s hands. It made sense in 2020. But in 2026… does it still? In this episode of Interventions and Detentions, Brad asks the uncomfortable question many educators are thinking but not saying out loud: Have we gone too far with devices in elementary classrooms? Students in some grades are spending close to two hours a day on school-issued screens. Research shows...

Episode 2:23 – Recess Matters More Than You Think When was the last time we really stopped to think about recess? In this episode of Interventions & Detentions, Brad takes a deep dive into the history of recess in American schools, how it has evolved over time, and why it may be one of the most misunderstood parts of the school day. From the impact of high-stakes testing to the debate over rec...

Making Learning Visible — A Conversation on Visible Grading with Dave Nagel What if grading didn’t signal the end of learning, but instead helped students see where they are, where they’re going, and how to get there? In this episode, Brad is joined by Dave Nagel, educational consultant, coach, and co-author of Grading Visible Learners: Learning With Fluidity, Not Finality, for a thoughtful conver...

Season 2, Episode 21 The Code We Don’t Talk About: Ethics, Teaching, & the Lines We Cross We see posts about teacher ethics all the time. We like them. We share them. We agree with them. But we rarely slow down and talk about what ethics actually look like on our hardest days. In this episode, Brad takes a post he came across while scrolling Facebook on The Teachers Community and turns it into...

Classroom management hasn’t changed — but the culture around it has. In this episode of Interventions and Detentions, we examine how enforcing expectations now happens in a climate where authority is questioned, limits are challenged, and support for educators is inconsistent. This isn’t about better strategies or stricter rules. It’s about what happens when the shared understanding that adults de...