Can you help me give a sh*t?

For the final episode of season 1, Becca is rejoined by Liz and Jess to discuss a question they've each found it helpful to use when working with tweens and teens, whether as their kids or students: what's right with you? Liz opens it up with a story many parents can relate to of how hard it can be sometimes not to slip out with a "what's wrong with you?" when a kid makes a particularly big slip t...

Recently a listener reached out to Becca to ask about when to focus on building sustainable motivation vs when to just use standard extrinsic motivators, like rewards and punishments. To discuss this topic, Becca pulled in her spouse and co-parent, Mark Fasano, because it's both a topic with no one-size-fits-all-answer, and a topic they've discussed many times before. Becca shares how her tendency...

This week, Becca is joined by Cath Covacin, founder of Keys to Potential, who discusses key strategies she's learned form teaching young people in Australia on how to engage with tweens and teens so they want to listen to and connect with you even though the brain development is urging them to do a lot more listening to their peers. You can learn more about Cath's work, including her book and onli...

High school teacher Diane Manser started a journal a few years ago, trying to navigate the emotional work of being a teacher. At the request of other teachers, she turned that into the book I Didn't Sign Up For This. She joins today's conversation to share the key insight sh had as a teacher that allowed her to change how she navigates the hard emotional labor of teaching (& parenting): being...

In contrast with last week's episode, this week we delve into the flip side of the college question with Kadeem Leslie. He was a straight A student in college, went on to get a Master's degree, and then became an entrepreneur and investor -- and began to wonder at the exact return on investment (ROI) of college degrees. He shares his somewhat controversial but thoughtful take on how parents and st...

Often, students and families don't start thinking about college readiness until their junior year of high school. Or, on the flip side, some families have been thinking about it since elementary school, carefully selecting every move that might lead to that perfect college application. Either way, former guidance counselor Briana Rahmani noticed that there's something many families overlook: the i...

Today's episode is a very candid (and explicit--there are a lot of curse words in this one) conversation with recovering addict Rory Londer about how connection allowed him to come back from drug use that had him living unhoused and stealing to get his next high. He shares his full story in his book, Should've Been Dead, but in today's episode he shares the parts of his story that are most relevan...

In this episode, we discuss a question many parents and educators share: how do I handle it when the teen in front of me is just absolutely losing their you-know-what in front of me? We've all been there: the teen or pre-teen in front of us is realy upset, crying or yelling, and we're wondering "well now what do I do?" Shahin has faced this experience directly herself as a parent, and coached many...

In this episode, teacher Kelly Tag, who has taught across the K-12 spectrum in a variety of school environments, joins us to talk about why middle school can be an especially tricky time for motivation -- for both students and teachers! Becca and Kelly wrangle through their different opinions in what the best motivators are for this age group (grades, test scores, love of learning?), and Kelly sha...

In today's episode, Becca interviews Leslie Kuny, long-time dance educator, about the question she's heard many parents and young people ask: do I have to pick between STEM and the arts? They get into some slightly spicy opinions (there's one curse word used today, hence the explicit rating this time!) on whether abandoning arts extracurriculars when students hit the heavier academic load of high...

In today's episode, Becca interviews Heather Criswell, serial entrepreneur, mom, and experienced educator about how to have more meaningful conversations -- and how to handle the difficult conversations that sometimes arise, especially for the parents and educators of pre-teens and teens. Heather discusses the importance of regulating yourself before you try to have a conversation, how to do that,...

In today's episode, Becca, Jess, and Liz delve into the C (meaningful choices) of the ABCDs of motivation to explore what those look like in middle and high school, why they can feel risky to parents, and why they're essential to preparing young people to be effective in college and general adulting. Becca and Liz share some personal stories of times they've struggled with this and what criteria t...

Procrastinators, unite! Eventually. Once we get that one thing done...oh, then that other thing. Wait, are there any interesting new reels to watch? Chances are, if you're reading this, you, or someone you know, sometimes find procrastination hard to avoid. So in today's episode, Becca, Grace, Jess, and Liz talk about procrastination -- how we all can relate, why Grace thinks it's inevitable for s...

To celebrate the launch of the book this week, we revisit a favorite topic with a fresh perspective: another interviewee from the book joins Grace and Becca to discuss his insights now, two years later, on what he wishes he'd known or done in high school now that he's in college. Ira gets into the value of extra-curriculars and internships (or co-ops, depending on the term you like best!) in both...

On today's show, Becca dives into a lively conversation with Dr. Lulu, aka The Momatrician, about how parents and educators who care about LGBTQ+ youth can best support them. Listen to learn about how Dr. Lulu learned from her own mistakes as the parent of a trans child, why it's important to understand the difference between gender identity, gender expression, and genitalia, and even why we shoul...

This episode jumps into a question raised by a young person looking for ideas on finding their people, especially in college. Grace, Becca, and Jess discuss why that first year of college can be an especially tricky time to find a real sense of belonging, why it's worthwhile, and some strategies Grace stumbled into in her subsequent years of college that helped her find friends she really connecte...

As kids approach and enter adolescence, it becomes more challenging for educators and parents to know what they can do to support young people in engaging in kind and supportive ways with each other. In this episode, we share stories from inside and outside the school building about the difficult experiences young people have experienced in not belonging and how adults can support belonging withou...

In today's episode, we answer a question from a parent who realized they might accidentally be preventing their kid's executive functioning from developing more fully because they were operating as their child's frontal lobe without even realizing it. Our in-house EF expert, Liz Daly, chimes in with some pro tips on how to scaffold toward goal-setting, planning, and execution skills; Becca talks a...

On today's episode, we answer a question submitted by a listener about student voice: what is it really, and how can adults support it? To help us dig into this topic, we invited Connor Flick, current undergrad student and longstanding member of the Kentucky Student Voice Team, to share examples and stories of what tokenized vs authentic student voice look like, what is possible to accomplish with...

In today's episode, Liz gives us the skinny on what multitasking is (and isn't--hint, it's not when you're doing dishes and also listening to music) and why it can both feel so tempting and is so destructive to our ability to learn efficiently. Becca, Jess, and Liz all share stories from their own experience plus those of students and parents they know, as well as helpful and simple tips on how to...

In this episode of Can You Help Me Give a Sh*t: the podcast we tackle a question that high schoolers (and their parents and teachers) wish they'd thought of before getting to college: what do college students wish they'd known in high school? We suspect this will be first in a series of conversations with different young people, but in this episode Grace, co-author of the book, gives her "hot take...

In this episode, Becca dives deep into the questions she was seeking to answer with the research behind the book Can You Help Me Give a Sh*t? Unlocking Teen Motivation in School and Life, and the ways that listening to young people from around the county surprised, inspired, and changed the ways she approaches her own kids' education. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We follow up to last time's discussion about wheth it's worth it to pursue admission into top colleges and universities with some ideas & experiences about the alternatives. Jess shares research on human thriving and positive youth development, Liz asks great questions and shares examples form students she knows, and Becca, among other things, shares an embarrassing mom moment that exemplifies...

In this episode, we dive into a question we hear from both young people and parents, frequently: is it worth all the effort and stress to pursue getting into top colleges and universities? What's the pay off, and is it worth it? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Though we've talked about motivation and executive functioning somewhat separately in other episodes, they affect each other deeply, and parents and educators frequently ask us about how they interact. In this episode, we discuss the relationship between them and share some stories and practical tips about that interaction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.