Be A Funky Teacher Podcast

Episode Summary In this episode, I explore how meaning carries teachers forward through the ordinary rhythms of education. While great days in the classroom are energizing, most of the work of teaching happens on steady, ordinary days. Motivation comes and goes, but meaning lasts longer. Meaning reminds teachers that their work matters even when inspiration is low or when progress feels slow. Teac...

Episode Summary In this episode, I explore the moments in teaching that feel sacred again. Many days in education can feel routine and mechanical, filled with transitions, behavior redirection, and responsibilities. But occasionally something deeper breaks through. These moments rarely arrive during perfect lessons or exciting activities. Instead, they appear quietly — when a struggling student sh...

Episode Summary In this episode of the Freedom to Teach series, I reflect on attending the Bare Moon Powwow with the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. The experience reminded me that teaching never exists in isolation. Classrooms are rooted in communities, histories, and traditions that began long before any teacher arrives. Watching my students dance, drum, and share their culture with pride was a pow...

Episode Summary In this episode, I take a fresh look at the phrase “remember your why.” Over time, it has become a slogan in education — repeated so often that it can feel dismissive when teachers are overwhelmed. When used carelessly, the phrase can sound like a quick fix for real systemic challenges. Remembering your why does not erase workload, policy pressure, or burnout. It does not magically...

Episode Summary In this episode, I reflect on the quiet moments in classrooms that feel almost magical. Education often moves through routines, transitions, and procedures. But inside those ordinary moments, something unexpected can happen — a burst of insight, laughter, courage, or connection. Magic in teaching rarely announces itself. It arrives quietly inside everyday lessons. A student reframe...

Episode Summary In this episode, I slow the pace and address the loud narrative surrounding education. Headlines often highlight disruption, decline, and dysfunction. But the noise is not the full story. Most of what teachers do daily is quiet stability. While systems dominate conversations, classrooms are filled with names, not policies. Teachers influence anxious students, distracted students, a...

Episode Summary In this Sunday School for Teachers episode, I reflect on the story of Moses and the burning bush from Exodus 2–4. Moses was not confident or polished when God called him. He was hesitant, insecure, and carrying a complicated past. Through Moses’ objections — “Who am I?” “What if they don’t believe me?” “I am slow of speech.” — we see something deeply human. God does not respond wit...

Episode Summary In this Saturday Stories Leadership Kit episode, I introduce the next layer of attitude: sometimes your response does not just affect you — it affects the entire room. Students may not control every circumstance, but they can influence the climate. Through the story “The Morning Shift,” we see how Aaliyah, Jaden, and Sophia respond to Mateo’s rough morning. No dramatic speeches. No...

Episode Summary In this episode, I challenge the quiet narrative in education that exhaustion equals commitment. Martyr culture is subtle. It rewards staying late, saying yes, and absorbing everything. But sacrifice as identity leads to depletion, not sustainability. Longevity asks a different question. Instead of “How much can I give?” it asks, “How long can I sustain this?” Martyrdom feels noble...

Episode Summary In this episode, I explore how educators can stay soft in a system that often feels hard. Education holds sacred moments of connection and breakthrough, yet it also operates within mandates, deadlines, and compliance structures. Systems are built for efficiency. Humans are built for connection. The tension between the two is real. Softness is not weakness. It is regulation under pr...

Episode Summary In this episode, I unpack why boundaries are not defensive — they are directional. For years, I viewed boundaries as protection of time and energy. But I have come to understand that boundaries clarify who you are as a leader. Without them, you do not just get tired — you become misaligned. The education system will expand to fill whatever space you do not define. Emails grow. Comm...

Episode Summary In this episode, I explore the critical distinction between caring and carrying. Teaching attracts people who care deeply — about students, growth, fairness, and outcomes. But over time, caring can quietly shift into carrying, and carrying is heavy. Through real classroom scenarios, I unpack how teachers begin to internalize responsibility for things beyond their control. The menta...

Episode Summary In this episode, I explore why protecting your energy may be one of the most important leadership habits teachers can develop. Educators are trained to give — instruction, attention, emotional support, time. But rarely are we trained to protect our focus, our emotional bandwidth, and our long-term sustainability. Teaching is human work, and human work costs something. Emotional lab...

Episode Summary In this Sunday School for Teachers episode, I reflect on Daniel in the Lion’s Den and what courage looks like for Christian educators serving in public spaces. Daniel’s courage was not reckless defiance. It was consistent integrity formed long before crisis came. He didn’t suddenly become bold; he had already been faithful. Daniel continued praying just as he had done before the de...

Episode Summary In this first official Freedom to Teach episode, I introduce a new lens for examining education through moments that won’t leave me alone. This series isn’t scheduled. It surfaces when something reveals a deeper question about agency and professional trust. In this episode, that lens centers on autonomy. Using the journey of Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu, I explore what happens w...

Episode Summary In this Saturday Stories Leadership Kit episode, I introduce a new value: attitude. After building around listening and enthusiasm, we now move into something that shows up quickly and visibly in classrooms. Through the story “The New Seat,” students explore what it means to choose their attitude even when circumstances feel frustrating or unfair. The story centers on Mateo, who is...

Episode Summary In this episode, I explore how educators can honestly name what’s broken in education without losing hope. There are policies, systems, and expectations that create strain. Pretending everything is fine does not serve anyone. But living in constant frustration does not sustain us either. I draw a distinction between negativity and professional honesty. Negativity tears down without...

Episode Summary Sometimes the conversation around education gets loud. There are debates, policies, opinions, and constant commentary. But in the middle of all that noise, what teachers are asking for is much simpler than people assume. We are not asking for applause, perfection, or control. We are asking for support, respect, sustainability, and humanity. In this episode, I talk about the differe...

Episode Summary In this episode, I unpack something that many educators feel but don’t always say out loud: a quiet classroom is not automatically an engaged classroom. Students who are sitting still and following directions may be compliant, but that does not mean they are invested. Compliance is external. Engagement is internal. And when we confuse the two, we miss what truly drives learning. I...

Episode Summary In this episode, I name something too many teachers carry quietly: burnout. The exhaustion, the emotional fatigue, the sense of being stretched thin. I say clearly that burnout is not weakness and it is not a character flaw. In many cases, it’s evidence that you care deeply. I unpack how burnout often grows from emotional investment, not apathy. When teachers give energy all day —...

Episode Summary In this episode, I reflect on the quiet tension that builds when systems begin to prioritize procedure over people. Schools need structure. They need consistency. But sometimes, gradually, systems drift away from the humans they were designed to serve. And teachers feel that friction first. I talk about the weight of standing in the middle — interpreting policy, translating expecta...

Episode Summary In this Sunday School for Teachers episode, I reflect on the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25 and what it means to be faithful with what we’ve been given. Jesus’ words remind me that the goal is not comparison or competition, but stewardship. The master in the parable doesn’t measure success by who had the most. He simply says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” As teach...

Episode Summary This week’s Saturday Story centers on a simple but powerful idea: enthusiasm spreads. I share a short student story called It Spread and unpack how one student’s quiet excitement shifted the entire energy of a table group. It didn’t start loud. It didn’t start dramatic. It started with one student being genuinely excited. Over the past several weeks, we’ve been building around enth...

Episode Summary In this episode, I reflect on what it means to stay true as a teacher when it would be easier not to. Teaching rarely challenges us with dramatic moments of compromise. Instead, integrity is tested in subtle ways — in small decisions, tired responses, and quiet compromises that slowly shape who we become. I explore how drift happens gradually. It can look like avoiding hard convers...

Episode Summary In this episode, I explore what courage really looks like in education. When most people think about courage, they picture bold declarations and dramatic moments. But in classrooms, courage is often quiet, steady, and intentional. It doesn’t draw attention to itself, yet it shapes the culture of a room every single day. I reflect on how loudness and courage are not the same thing....