The Balanced Educator Podcast

Unlock the power of a growth mindset in this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast. We dive into the science behind learning, discuss the importance of staying motivated through challenges, and how repetition and breaks fuel progress. Learn how a growth mindset can help students and educators thrive in any age or stage. Plus, get insights on how to foster this mindset in your classroom!

In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we chat with Sam Squire about preparing students for jobs that don’t exist yet. Sam, a yoga teacher, meditation guide, and entrepreneur, shares how the skills she gained from yoga and meditation helped shape her success in an ever-changing world. We discuss the importance of teaching compassion, creativity, and communication to equip students for t...

Want to bring more mindfulness into your classroom? In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we explain the difference between formal and informal mindfulness practices. Discover how the Educalm mindfulness program can guide you and your students, and learn 10 simple, no-prep ways to add mindful moments throughout your school day. These practices will help students calm down, prepare for...

Looking to introduce mindfulness into your classroom? In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, Kailey interviews Josianne about how she successfully implemented the 5 steps to starting a mindfulness practice in her grade 5/6 classroom. Josianne shares her experience communicating with administrators and parents, scheduling mindfulness into the school day, and setting her students up for s...

Are you ready to bring mindfulness into your classroom? In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we chat with Danielle Lefko about her journey teaching mindfulness in both kindergarten and grade 8 classrooms. Danielle shares how she successfully introduced mindfulness practices to younger students and how she plans to integrate Educalm with her grade 8 students this year. Learn practical...

Ready for a purposeful school year? In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we dive into how to set intentional goals for the year ahead and align them with your values. We walk you through our goal-setting process for our business and share how you can apply the same strategy in your classroom. Learn how to prioritize your time, make intentional choices, and stay focused on what truly m...

Struggling with classroom management? In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we challenge the traditional idea of classroom management and explore how to empower students with the skills to self-regulate and stay intrinsically motivated. Instead of managing behavior, we focus on teaching kids how to manage their emotions and actions independently. Discover two powerful classroom routine...

Feeling overwhelmed by a “busy” schedule? In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we explore time perception, productivity, and the stories we tell ourselves about being “too busy.” Discover how to shift your mindset, prioritize what truly matters, and make the most of your 24 hours. Learn practical tips to recognize where your time really goes and how saying "yes" to one thing...

Want to create a calmer classroom? In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we chat with Carolina Smith, a Grade 1 French Immersion teacher from Calgary, who shares how she weaves mindfulness into her life and teaching. Carolina, who overcame burnout by embracing self-care and mindfulness, offers real strategies for bringing calm, focus, and balance into K-12 classrooms. From Breathe Grow...

Struggling with negative emotions? In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we share a simple, science-backed, 2-step strategy to help teachers and students shift from feeling low to finding emotional balance and positivity. Learn how to recognize, understand, and move up the emotional scale toward happier feelings—a tool that’s as helpful for educators as it is for kids! We dive into the...

Feeling guilty about taking time for self-care as a teacher? It's time to let go of that guilt and prioritize your well-being! In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we share why self-care is crucial for educators and how it makes you a better teacher. We discuss 5 key ways self-care positively impacts your teaching: 1. You’ll feel calmer, which will reflect in your students' be...

Are you feeling overwhelmed? In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we share powerful strategies to ditch overwhelm and regain balance in both your personal and professional life. We discuss how we, as teachers, often create feelings of overwhelm ourselves and how shifting our perception—rather than the situation itself—can help us regain calm. This practice takes time, but it’s one of...

Ready to bring mindfulness into your classroom? In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we continue our conversation with Keith Macpherson, mindfulness trainer, life coach, and author of Making Sense of Mindfulness. Keith reveals his powerful five-principle framework that simplifies mindfulness and helps you integrate it into daily life—both in and out of the classroom. Keith's mindf...

Unlock the power of mindfulness both in and out of the classroom! In this episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we sit down with mindfulness expert, life coach, and author, Keith Macpherson, to dive into practical strategies for integrating mindfulness into your daily life and teaching practice. Keith, author of Making Sense of Mindfulness, shares his unique five-principal framework that helps...

In this week’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we share valuable insights from our work in various schools across different divisions and the key factors contributing to positive school atmospheres. We reveal the common thread between the happiest schools with the calmest classrooms, focusing on how mindfulness and growth mindset play crucial roles in creating a thriving educational envi...

In this week’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we dive into how changing our routines can provide a fresh perspective and transform our lives. We explore simple, practical ways to shake up your daily habits and break free from the regular routine. Whether it’s through travel, mindfulness, or trying something new, we discuss how stepping out of our comfort zone opens up new ways of seeing...

In this week’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we explore how mindfulness inspired us to simplify many areas of our lives—both personally and professionally. We share how our mindfulness journey began with formal seated meditation and evolved into being more present throughout our day. Through this practice, we learned to observe our thoughts, catch ourselves when we drift into past or f...

In today’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we’re exploring why it’s essential to feel and acknowledge negative emotions as they arise, so we can move past them and return to a positive state. Often, we try to ignore or suppress our difficult feelings, but this actually keeps us stuck. We dive into the mindfulness practice of observing the present moment with non-judgment, which includes...

In today’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we’re bringing back Janelle Laflèche, an inspiring Grade 2 teacher from a French school who has been integrating Educalm into her classroom since 2017. Janelle shares how easy it was to implement mindfulness in her classroom, thanks to the simple, audio-guided practices in the Educalm subscription. With just the press of a button, mindfulness be...

In today’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we’re diving into the transformative power of gratitude! Gratitude isn’t just a feel-good practice—it’s backed by science, and the more we practice it, the more grateful we become. We explore the true meaning of gratitude and share powerful “rampages of appreciation” to shift our mindset. Plus, we’ll talk about how you can cultivate gratitude bo...

Today’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast is extra special because we’re joined by the incredible Janelle Laflèche, a passionate Grade 2 teacher who has been using Educalm in her classroom since 2017! Janelle shares how building strong relationships with her students brings light and joy to her teaching practice, helping her stay energized and connected. She and Kailey dive into how, as we...

In this week’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we’re diving deep into how reality isn’t real—and how shifting your thoughts can completely transform your experiences, both inside and outside the classroom. Did you know that your thoughts create your emotions? What we think about any experience directly influences whether we feel good or bad about it. Two people can watch the same movie,...

In this week’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we dive into how to teach children about emotions and empower them to understand that their thoughts shape their feelings. By learning how to choose the thoughts that create the emotions they want to feel, children gain emotional intelligence and self-regulation. We share a mindfulness practice from our SEL & Mindfulness Foundations for...

In today’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we’re diving into one of the most empowering things we’ve learned: how our thoughts create our emotions. It’s not the situations we encounter, but our perception and thoughts about them that determine how we feel. We share mindset shifts that helped us move from negativity to positivity simply by changing our thinking. This episode is perfect if...

In today’s episode of The Balanced Educator Podcast, we explore how to make mindfulness a daily habit, even when you think you don’t have a second to spare. We dive into the mindset shifts needed to prioritize mindfulness, and share practical tips for starting a mindfulness practice—no matter how busy you are. We discuss how habits are formed in the brain, why it’s tough to create new ones, and ho...