Oxygen for Educators™

This episode offers a practical conversation with Dr. Laura Lockhart about how educators can manage stress, understand their triggers, and show up with more self-awareness and compassion in hard moments.       ************************************************************************************************ Follow on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/oxygen-for-educators/id1775510846 Foll...

SUMMARY In this episode of Oxygen for Educators , Michelle Kinder sits down with Nicholas Ditto, founder and CEO of Fort Worth STEAM Academy, for an honest conversation about the unseen weight educators carry every day. Nicholas shares his journey into education, the thousands of decisions teachers make daily, and how leadership, culture, and community directly shape student outcomes. After the co...

Opt in HERE  for your gifted copy of the Oxygen for Educators magazine!  (  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdj3tz0r6L2KIAJJ5dTnzx3CfXka2fqTHfUqHDlqtqo_96cCg/viewform?usp=header )   SUMMARY In part two of our conversation with filmmaker and logotherapist Alex Vesely, grandson of Viktor Frankl, we explore what it really means to live a life of meaning as an educator. Alex unpacks burnout t...

Don't forget to opt in HERE for your gifted copy of the Oxygen for Educators magazine!  ( https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdj3tz0r6L2KIAJJ5dTnzx3CfXka2fqTHfUqHDlqtqo_96cCg/viewform?usp=header )   SUMMARY   We're re-releasing this conversation with Alex Vesely because it has never felt more needed. In a moment when so many educators are exhausted and searching for steadiness, Alex brings a...

SUMMARY  Jose "Joe" Villaseñor has one of the most unexpected paths into education you'll ever hear: TV production, seminary, bail bonds, school counseling, and now leading Employee Wellness at Irving ISD. In this conversation, he shares how those turns shaped his deep empathy for people in hard places and how that shows up in real, practical supports for educators today, from yoga and fitness cla...

  Educators, we're gifting you the  Oxygen for Educators  keepsake magazine. Opt in here:   https://forms.gle/AmdrpsnP1GNKXEag8   SUMMARY After losing her 16-year-old son David to suicide following relentless cyberbullying, Maurine Molak turned her grief into advocacy. She has led the passage of groundbreaking laws protecting children from online harm and now champions federal reform through the K...

Educators, we're gifting you the  Oxygen for Educators  keepsake magazine. Opt in here:   https://forms.gle/AmdrpsnP1GNKXEag8   Before Radical Hope resumes in the new year, Michelle offers a moment of reflection and gratitude. Drawing from The Small Work in the Great Work by Victoria Safford, she honors educators who keep showing up with heart and humanity, even when things are uncertain, and remi...

Coming early 2026 :  Get your FREE copy of  Oxygen for Educators  magazine — radical hope delivered straight to your home, no strings attached. Opt in  here . https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdj3tz0r6L2KIAJJ5dTnzx3CfXka2fqTHfUqHDlqtqo_96cCg/viewform?usp=header     SUMMARY   What if the secret to transforming a school isn't a new program, but a new perspective? In this re-released conversa...

  Coming early 2026 : Get your FREE copy of Oxygen for Educators magazine — radical hope delivered straight to your home, no strings attached. Opt in here . https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdj3tz0r6L2KIAJJ5dTnzx3CfXka2fqTHfUqHDlqtqo_96cCg/viewform?usp=header     SUMMARY   We're zooming out for a big-picture view of the Radical Hope series so far, what patterns are emerging, what ideas kee...

SUMMARY We are re-releasing this conversation with Rockwall ISD leader Dr. Shanon Zais because late October can feel like a grind for educators. This is the moment when stamina dips, the calendar is packed, and a reset matters. Shanon offers embodied, practical wisdom on rest, boundaries, and community care that lands differently right now. On re-listen, we also reflect on why this message is urge...

Coming early 2026 : Get your FREE copy of Oxygen for Educators magazine — radical hope delivered straight to your home, no strings attached. Opt in here.   SUMMARY   What would it look like for your calendar to reflect your deepest values, not just your obligations? In this powerful follow-up to Part 1, Michelle Kinder shares 10 practical attention management practices that support mental health a...

    SUMMARY This one feels like a deep breath. Sharon Bradley lets us into the story that made her an educator, teaching her brother what school hadn't, and how that love widened into a career of pulling kids  in instead of pushing them out. She shows us why "take care of the big people so they can take care of the little people" isn't a slogan; it's a strategy. We talk about practical care for ad...

  SUMMARY In Radical Hope: Attention Management for Mental Health (Part 1) , Michelle Kinder explores how the way we direct our attention shapes not only our inner world but also our relationships, choices, and sense of meaning. Drawing from research, lived practice, and the book Indistractable , Michelle reframes attention management away from productivity hacks and toward well-being. Through pow...

SUMMARY: The way you see students today can change a trajectory tomorrow. In this episode of  Oxygen for Educators , 2023 National Teacher of the Year Rebecka Peterson sits down with Michelle to talk about choosing the good without slipping into toxic positivity. Rebecka shares how listening to understand, not to be understood, changed her teaching and her students' outcomes. She tells the story o...

SUMMARY : In this Oxygen for Educators Radical Hope episode, Michelle Kinder gets practical about "coping flexibility," the everyday skill of noticing when your go-to strategy is no longer serving you, then choosing a better fit for this moment. Educators already live flexibly in classrooms, yet many of us go rigid with our own wellbeing. Michelle names the two big lanes of coping, problem focused...

SUMMARY In this episode of Oxygen for Educators , Claudia Vega, former Dallas principal and founder of Whose Books and ARCO, walks us through building a true reading culture in Oak Cliff. She connects book deserts to historic redlining, then shows what access, representation, and a welcoming space can unlock for families. We talk gatekeeping, community surveys, and curation that lets people feel s...

SUMMARY   Educators are carrying more than ever, and in the middle of all that noise, the inner critic often shouts the loudest. In this episode of the Radical Hope Series , Michelle Kinder offers practical, light-lift ways to quiet that critic and tune into a steadier guide, the  inner mentor . With relatable stories, examples pulled straight from the classroom, and strategies from Tara Mohr ( Pl...

SUMMARY In this episode of Oxygen for Educators , we sit down with Heather Junker to talk about what it really means to be a lifelong learner in education. Heather has spent years helping schools grow, but she's the first to admit that none of us ever have it all figured out, and that's okay. The conversation touches on everything from the wild ride of technology in classrooms to the ups and downs...

SUMMARY Michelle Kinder unpacks what self-compassion really looks like in everyday life. She talks about both the tender, nurturing side we usually think of and the fierce, protective side that helps us set boundaries and stay grounded.  Using the idea of the "two arrows," Michelle explains how self-compassion changes the way we handle challenges: the first arrow is the pain we can't avoid, the se...

  SUMMARY This episode feels like sitting down for coffee with someone who's walked the walk and really cares about people. Brenda Scott, now the Director of Cultural Intelligence for SMU Athletics, shares her story from being a first-generation college student to becoming a leader who helps others reach their full potential. She talks about why cultural intelligence matters, how truly seeing and...

SUMMARY   Ever feel like some days you're calm and grounded, and others you're just… barely holding it together? In this episode of Radical Hope , Michelle Kinder unpacks neuroception, your nervous system's built-in radar that constantly scans for danger or safety (without you even knowing it). She explains how our state creates our story, when we're stressed or shut down, we see the world differe...

SUMMARY Get ready to meet a woman whose story will stay with you long after the episode ends. In this raw and transparent interview, Michelle Kinder sits down with Tausha Nickleberry—an educator, leader, and fierce believer in the transformative power of connection and hope. Tausha's journey from a traumatic childhood marked by domestic violence and instability, through a life-altering teen pregna...

SUMMARY  Join host Michelle Kinder in this episode of Radical Hope as she explores the transformative practice of befriending your nervous system. Discover how understanding and nurturing your inner state can lead to steadiness, interrupt shame spirals, and reconnect you with your truest self. Drawing from the insights of polyvagal theory, Michelle shares practical ways to move from survival mode...

SUMMARY In this episode, we sit down with the wise, wholehearted, and purpose-driven Dr. Shanon Zais, principal of Rockwall High School's ninth-grade campus and a woman who leads with both conviction and care. With a deep belief that educators deserve the same level of support as students, Dr. Zais shares how she has built a school culture where rest is honored, community is cultivated, and core v...

SUMMARY In this special mini-sode , host Michelle Kinder launches Radical Hope: Inner Work with a Ripple Effect —a new short-form series from Oxygen for Educators . These shorter episodes are designed to offer grounded, actionable insights for educators navigating complex realities with courage and heart. Michelle opens this first installment with a powerful question: How do we hold the truthiest...