Anchored in Education

We've all been there. We've either made a snap decision (knee-jerk) or hesitated to make the decision at all (wishy-washy). But why do we do this? Well, of course, there is research behind it. Follow me on an adventure of decision making as I use examples and hypotheticals both in and out of education. Of course, we explore how to make better decisions using a simple model to test out the decision...

Last week on Anchored in Education , we spoke to Dr. Ken Wallace from Maine Township High School District #207 about Getting it "Right" for Every Student. It was an amazing episode that was well received because of the fascinating and forward-thinking approach they are taking to education. This week, we are visiting briefly with Ken again to talk about the business partners that Maine Township has...

How many times have students heard that they need to be preparing for college when they are in high school? Get good grades, study habits, attendance, and so forth. Colleges will look at all of it. But, what if college is not for everyone? True statement: College is not for everyone. In fact, a good portion of college graduates are in professions in which they are overqualified. And most carry unn...

Good decision making is a skill that we all need. Selecting the profession in which we will be the happiest. Our car, our homes, even our diets. Decisions are all around us. It is no different in education. Decisions are made daily that impact the finances, the curriculum, and every other moving part that make education work. Typically, we see the adults making the decisions. But who are we here f...

Bella Trupiano is an 8th grader at St. Joe Catholic School in Olney, Illinois. About a month into the shutdown, Bella penned a powerful post about doing things differently had she known she wouldn't be returning to school. We have heard many stories during these odd COVID-19 pandemic times, but we're giving the day to hear from a student. Listen to  Anchored in Education today to hear more from Be...

A leader is more than the person who holds the leadership title or has taken a step into administration. A leader is someone who recognizes their role and value and steps up to become a foundation. Teacher leaders do not wait until others solve problems for them; they see a problem and take initiative to to find a solution. Joe Fatheree and Rebecca Mieliwocki co-authored the book Adventures in Tea...

A leader is more than the person who holds the leadership title or has taken a step into administration. A leader is someone who recognizes their role and value and steps up to become a foundation. Teacher leaders do not wait until others solve problems for them; they see a problem and take initiative to to find a solution. Joe Fatheree and Rebecca Mieliwocki co-authored the book Adventures in Tea...

Charley Cass is back on  Anchored in Education to talk this time about the value of school social workers and counselors. Charley, a three time podcast guest and I agree that too often social workers and counselors are overlooked for everything they do for students and families. This isn't intentional, but we must make sure to get better at recognizing the value they bring to a school environment....

What do you do when you see a six foot eight human dressed in a giraffe costume to tell students to hang in there and that they're missed? You invite him onto the podcast. Nathaniel Lackey is a first-year math teacher who first dressed as a giraffe to say hi to students and give words of encouragement. In the days that followed, Nathaniel dressed up as Spiderman, T-Rex, Bob Ross, and an alien to h...

I recently read a re-print of a popular comic strip. Inspired by the message, I wrote today's episode with that strip in mind. In this episode I talk about the importance of being in the present—not dwelling in the past or living only for the future. In my opinion, this is an all-to-important message for educators. As always, the intent is not to offend, just looking to spark reflection. 

This podcast was recorded from the Anchored in Education Live Show hosted on Sunday, April 19. Our topic was seven factors leading to increased anxiety and stress as well as seven science-backed strategies to reduce stress. Our guest was Julie Adams and she takes us through a journey of neuroscience.

Ever notice how some are quick to point out when it's not their fault? Or how quick someone will distance themselves from a failure—refusing to accept that they more than likely are part of the problem? In today's brief episode we're going to explore this a little more.

This podcast was recorded from the Anchored in Education Live Show hosted on Sunday, April 5. Guests this episode were Jodi England, art teacher; Nixie Hnetkovsky, higher education instructor; and Ben Landers, elementary PE teacher.

This podcast was recorded from the Anchored in Education Live Show hosted on Sunday, March 29. This recording has been edited, but all interviews were left in their entirety.

This podcast was recorded from the Anchored in Education Live Show hosted on Sunday, March 22. This recording has been edited, but all interviews and calls were left in their entirety.

On December 4, 2019, Dr. Drew Gitomer and three colleagues published an article in the American Educational Research Journal . It was titled "Assessing the Assessment: Evidence of Reliability and Validity in the edTPA." By December 5, the article had nearly gone viral on Twitter by opponents of edTPA. Drew joins us today on Anchored in Education to talk more about this article and why we should be...

Prior to this episode there has been 52 brand new  Anchored in Education episodes every Monday. What began as just solo episodes where I briefly shared thoughts and reflections quickly blossomed into an exciting and fresh look into a different area of education each week. And it would never have been possible without the amazing guests who agreed to join me. Forty-five out of the 52 episodes in ye...

You don't have to be in education for long to see many ideas and suggestions for improving schools. Most of the ideas promoted a flashy, borderline gimmicky, and come with a hefty price tag. Now, I'm not arguing that all of these ideas don't work, but what if instead of investing in yet one more thing, we could turn a school around with what we have, investing in our already established resources?...

Educator burnout. It's a real thing. There has been countless studies on burnout. There are a wide variety of books detailing burnout including why we should avoid burnout because we're needed in this profession. Duh.  If avoiding burnout was as easy as saying, Today I will choose not to get burned out, then we don't really have a conversation on our hands. And a good bet would be that an educator...

What is your reaction when someone calls you biased? If you are like most people, including myself, you probably immediately go on the defensive exclaiming how you are in no way a biased person. Don't worry, you are not alone. In fact, that is exactly how I felt when I watched a TEDx of the same title of today's episode. The speaker was Megan Fuciarelli, and she said, "All of us in this room are b...

It is no secret that I am often critical of elected officials and the meddling they do in education. They often pitch their work as helpful to all, but it is more often than not just a small group in their region or district they are trying to appease. What happens is punishment for all. Or let's talk education funding. Of course I'm bias, but I believe education is the most important line item on...

Have you ever stopped and considered the language we use everyday? Most of what we say or do becomes such second nature that we never give it a second thought. But maybe we should. That's what retired submarine Captain L. David Marquet proposes we do in his new book Leadership is Language . He points out that the language we use comes from the Industrial Revolution era. In a time in which work was...

We've talked about time management in a recent episode. One thing we established is that we have only a finite amount of time. Regardless of how efficient or effective we may be, nothing changes the fact that we are all given the same 24 hours in a day. Our guest today is Allison Rodman. You may remember her from an earlier episode of  Anchored in Education when she was a guest talking about her a...

I remember my first year of teaching all too well. It was an amazing year, but one that was regularly filled with questions, fear, and second guesses. And, to be completely truthful, there were times when I thought maybe I'd made a career mistake. Times when I doubted my effectiveness as an educator because a lesson didn't go as planned or the overall behavior in my class was less than pleasing. T...

Julie Adams is back this week on  Anchored in Education for part 2 of #FullyCharged. Last week we spent time talking about meeting even the most basic of our students. We also went a step further and talked about meeting the needs of parents and staff as well. In essence, you can say we tended to our Maslow last week in order to prepare to Bloom this week. Julie is back to talk about how we can Bl...