Just Schools

Canoeing Schools: Tod Bolsinger

Leadership of the past meant coming up with answers. Today, leadership means asking questions.Tod Bolsinger, the author of Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory joins host Jon Eckert to discuss what questions Christian leaders can start asking to become stronger leaders. One of the main questions he advises leaders to ask themselves is what can be eliminated from our life in order to focus on our priorities.  To learn more, order Jon's book, Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student.The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.Be encouraged.Timestamps:[1:40] - Tod is introduced.[2:40] - Every Christian leader is committed to show up as the same person in every setting.[4:30] - Tod defines leadership.[6:15] - Adaptive leadership is when you don't have an existing best practice.[9:25] - Having to identify and name competing values is a challenge.[10:41] - The pandemic has shifted how we see a college education.[11:50] - What questions can leaders be asking?[14:45] - Every school sits down and finds out what their hedgehog is, but don't always make decisions based on it.[17:45] - Leaders never get praised for telling people "no".[18:52] - Experimental innovations are the key to surviving in a changing world.[24:10] - Take one small step to create big change.[27:43] - How can looking at our mortality help us reframe how we see our time?[30:50] - Jon puts Tod through a lightning round of questions.Links:The 'No' in 'Innovate' by Jon EckertBooks:Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student by Jon EckertCanoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory by Tod BolsingerThink Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam GrantWhy We're Polarized by Ezra KleinConnect on Social Media:Baylor MA in School LeadershipBaylor Doctorate in EducationJon Eckert: @eckertjonCenter for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl

Choosing Joy over Substances: David Magee

So many people struggle with addiction each year in the United States. And the ways young people use different substances has changed over the years.Today, David Magee, best selling author, joins host Jon Eckert to have a transparent and personal conversation about his journey with addiction and recovery and how he's been able to choose joy over addiction. He also discusses his work helping students who are experiencing addiction.To learn more, order Jon's book, Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student.The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.Be encouraged.Timestamps:[2:50] - David introduces himself.[5:50] - His family's struggles with addiction was a calling for David to help college students.[8:13] - Many of the college students David talked to said their substance abuse started at puberty.[10:20] - The thing that scares David the most is the amount of different substances kids today are using.[12:12] - Drugs have changed over the years.[13:20] - The joy is in the students.[14:30] - When it comes to older generations and younger generations, it's not us vs. them.[16:50] - It's important to speak to students at their level.[20:30] - Leading by example can help kids create good habits.[23:50] - Jon puts David through a lightning round of questions.[27:20] - Educators need to start listening to students instead of telling them what to doBooks:Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student by Jon EckertDear William: A Father's Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, Love and LossConnect on Social Media:Baylor MA in School LeadershipBaylor Doctorate in EducationJon Eckert: @eckertjonCenter for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl

Timely Wisdom: Jen Pollock Michel

A lot of us are on a quest to fit everything we need to get done into our schedules. But few, if any of us, are ever actually able to fit it all in. Oftentimes, when we can't fit it all in, we feel guilty. But we're all human and can only fit in what we fit in.Today, Jen Pollock Michel joins host Jon Eckert to discuss her new book In Good Time and the lessons she's learned managing her time over the years. She also discusses how her time management missteps have helped her gain wisdom and understand she's human and instead of feeling guilty she needed to reimagine what productivity meant to her.To learn more, pre-order Jon's book, Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student.The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.Be encouraged.Timestamps:[3:20] - The pandemic inspired Jen to write her newest book, In Good Time.[6:50] - It's important to understand that you can't fit everything in. [8:00] - Time management is a personal and individual concept. [10:15] - Not being able to fit more and more things into our schedules doesn't make us bad people.[11:55] - Wisdom, by definition, is communal.[15:20] - Gaining wisdom takes time, patience, and making mistakes.[20:00] - There are a lot of wisdom traditions that share the same principles.[23:25] - Jen discusses the eight habits for reimagining productivity.[25:05] - Enjoyment requires you to encounter the world.[29:45] - There are some things that can't be put off. Links:Website: Jen Pollock MichelPodcast: People I (Mostly) Admire with Steven LevittBooks:Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student by Jon EckertIn Good Time: 8 Habits for Reimagining Productivity, Resisting Hurry and Practicing PeaceGlittering Vices by Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoungEssentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeownFour Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver BurkemanConnect on Social Media:Baylor MA in School LeadershipBaylor Doctorate in EducationJon Eckert: @eckertjonCenter for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl

Building a Profession

Is teaching an occupation or profession? Is it missional or is it professional? Is it exhausting or is it life giving? If we want to build a profession that our students deserve we have to think through what that looks like.Today, Erik Ellefsen and Matt Thomas join host Jon Eckert and discuss their experiences in taking on too much at work and leading to burnout. They share what triggered them to shift their mindsets to turn their exhausting work into life giving work.To learn more, pre-order Jon's book, Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student.The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.Be encouraged.Timestamps:[2:00] - Erik discusses how school leaders are burnt out.[3:30] - Matt talks about becoming burnt out after taking on too much responsibility.[5:00] - Collective leadership is essential to building a life giving profession.[7:05] - When we wrap up our identity with our work it's hard to take a step back from our work.[10:00] - It's not about the individual leader, it's about the work that is being done.[14:15] - Feeling the need to prove yourself at work can lead to overworking yourself.[17:15] - Ranting about and tearing down a team member is toxic and drags the whole team down.[19:30] - Matt shares some of the joys he's seen at his job.[23:00] - By sharing our brokenness we find a levity to it.Books:Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student by Jon EckertThink Again by Adam GrantGod Wants You to Be a Burden by Christine Gordon and Hope BlantonLinks:Life giving vs Exhausting chartSuperhero vs Catalyst chart Connect on Social Media:Baylor MA in School LeadershipBaylor Doctorate in EducationJon Eckert: @eckertjonCenter for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl

Work-Life Integration

We've all struggled with work/life balance but few of us have ever achieved it. How can we integrate our work and life without blurring boundaries in unhealthy ways? Jackie Villareal is a recent graduate from Baylor's MA in School Leadership, she's recently started an administrative role at a new school all while raising her family. On top of all that, her son has been planning a wedding. Today she joins host Jon Eckert to discuss ways she's able to find the right amount of work/life integration.  To learn more, pre-order Jon's book, Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student.The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.Be encouraged.Timestamps:[4:30] - Jackie discusses how she discovered her why.[8:15] - Life for Jackie hasn't gone in the order she expected.[10:00] - Making time to step away from your job is essential to stay grounded.[11:50] - We all have the power to be leaders.[13:50] - Jon discusses how he's able to bring his work into his home and vice versa in a healthy way.[15:41] - We spend more time with our co-workers than we do with our families and friends. Jackie discusses how she integrates her personal and work lives.[17:30] - When you love the students you serve unconditionally, great successes will follow.Books:Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student by Jon EckertConnect on Social Media:Baylor MA in School LeadershipBaylor Doctorate in EducationJon Eckert: @eckertjonCenter for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl

Humans Before Outcomes Using Data

Oftentimes, data and humanity are two separate things. But what if we started to rethink that mindset? What if we were able to utilize data to help us start seeing each student as an individual.Today, English and History High School teacher Katie Fitzpatrick joins host Jon Eckert. She discusses how she has used data to see each individual student and focus on their success. She explains how she's able to give attention to each student but not lose the whole group in the process.To learn more about seeing each individual student, pre-order Jon's book, Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student.The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.Be encouraged.Timestamps:[3:00] - Katie discusses some of the ways she sees each student in her classroom.[5:30] - The pandemic was hard for everyone, especially schools. Katie tells us how she was able to make connections with students virtually.[7:00] - Using wellness survey data, Katie was able to find ways to focus on individual students.[10:30] - When data is used well it can make a huge difference.[13:42] - Katie discusses how her school's mindset about AP classes has changed.[16:30] - Sometimes the "less but better" approach is what schools need.[19:05] - Put your head down and do the mission.Books:Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student by Jon EckertConnect on Social Media:Baylor MA in School LeadershipBaylor Doctorate in EducationJon Eckert: @eckertjonCenter for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl

Habits Before Goals

In the moment, micro changes don't feel like they make an impact. But consistently making small, positive changes create habits that are life giving and create joy.Today, three educators from Baylor's MA in School Leadership program, Ryan Denham, Kathleen Peercy and Crystal Chapman join host Jon Eckert. Though they each come from very different school settings they have a lot in common. They discuss how they've each built life giving cultures in their schools through micro changes.To learn more about creating joy within the classroom, pre-order Jon's book, Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student.The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.Be encouraged.Timestamps:[2:40] - How can you build a culture in schools that's built on habits?[3:20] - Ryan introduces himself and discusses his current campus.[5:03] - Kathleen has recently started a new role. She introduces herself and discusses some of the challenges.[7:40] - Schools having core values is so important. Crystal introduces herself and discusses.[10:00] - It's a difficult time right now for educators, but Ryan, Kathleen and Crystal are committed to having hope for the future.[13:20] - It's important to not only give praise to students, but also to teachers as well.[15:00] - Each guest discusses the habits they want to implement in their lives in 2023.[20:10] - Having fun with your students is a great way to build relationships and create joy.Books:Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student by Jon Eckert Connect on Social Media:Baylor MA in School LeadershipBaylor Doctorate in EducationJon Eckert: @eckertjonCenter for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl

Why don’t students like school? Lessons from Pixar

Spotlighting individual student accomplishments isn't easy. Most schools don't have the time or structure to be able to do it consistently. But it is so important to keep students engaged and feel like school has a purpose and is life giving.Brad Thornton is an educator outside of Chicago and a master of positive venting. He's become the go to source for friends and colleagues when they need to talk through something. Today, Brad joins host Jon Eckert and discusses how he and his colleagues create important moments for their students to drive a passion for learning.To learn more about how to spotlight student accomplishments, pre-order Jon's book, Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student.The Just Schools Podcast is brought to you by the Baylor Center for School Leadership. Each week, we'll talk to catalytic educators who are doing amazing work.Be encouraged.Timestamps:[3:00] - Venting doesn't typically help us move forward.[4:25] - Jon shares a simple exercise on how to be more positive.[6:00] - Brad shares a story about how a group of teachers collaborated to use Pixar to teach a lesson on storytelling.[10:00] - Spotlighting students' accomplishments is one way to create a special moment for a student. [12:46] - A lot of schools want to be able to celebrate individual accomplishments but just don't have the time.[16:15] - Calling out a teacher's accomplishments and skills is just as important as spotlighting a student's accomplishments.[18:30] - Brad explains why it's so important to guide people to become who they're becoming, not who he wants them to become.Books:Just teaching: Feedback, engagement, and well-being for each student by Jon EckertAtomic Habits by James ClearThe Power of Moments by Chip and Dan HealthEssentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeownEffortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most by Greg McKeownReframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership by Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal Connect on Social Media:Baylor MA in School LeadershipBaylor Doctorate in EducationJon Eckert: @eckertjonCenter for School Leadership at Baylor University: @baylorcsl