Student Voice - Future Leaders

As professionals in education and leadership development, it's time we shine a spotlight on a group that often gets overlooked: high school sophomores.

Sophomore year is a critical time in a student's journey. It's a period of immense transition, where they're navigating new relationships, testing boundaries, and facing increasing pressures from peers. Yet, it's also a time ripe with opportunities for growth and development.

Ignori...

As teens, we often find ourselves navigating a complex web of expectations from our peers, teachers, and even our parents. Sometimes, it can feel like we're putting on a mask just to fit in or avoid judgment. But what does it mean to be truly authentic in a world where conformity seems to be the norm?

Let's start by talking about literal masks. With the ongoing pandemic, many of us have had to wear face masks to protect ourselves a...

When I started thinking about leadership this way I was still teaching chemistry. In school, we often ask students who understand the content to support other students who might be struggling. We don’t express to either student that this grouping has much more value than just helping one student better understand the material. Leadership skills (confidence, communication, and listening to name a few) are being developed, both stude...

In this episode, we meet Kellina Powell. Kellina is a young entrepreneur who loves to help people with their personal growth and educate others about the deaf community. Little do people know Kellina is actually a hard-of-hearing person. She became deaf at the age of 4. She recently graduated with a psychology degree and is now starting her own online coaching business while launching her book!

So as educators, we have had students...

How important is your name to you? How does it feel when somebody mispronounces your name or calls you by a name, even a nickname that you didn't offer? I know for me, I bristle when somebody calls me Lori. I don't know why, but I do. So when a student tells me to call them by a different name than is on my roster, why would that be a problem for me?

Why can't I just call this student the name that they asked to be called? If the ...

What are the reasons that students struggle to keep up with their academics in school sports and outside commitments, injuries, sickness, or having a place that they call home? These were all the different reasons that Oakley and I talked about in this conversation. I tried to imagine dealing. Just one of these challenges and that, and not all of them at different times.

It's so impressive to hear Oakley's perseverance and positive...

Have you e...

Meet Jess Fuller, she has been in education for almost 14 years and spent the last five with Reschool, which is a Colorado-based nonprofit that was founded on the idea that our education systems can be more equitable and accessible when we co-create with families and young people and partner with them to co-create ideas.

Student and family voice is at the heart of Reschool, and all the concepts that Reschool has tried over the last...

Kaitlyn is a 20-year-old psychology major with a minor in criminal justice at Western New England University. She was an EMT for 2 years before college, she tutors at-risk middle schoolers. She lives with her boyfriend and her service dog, Evie. Her favorite topics in psychology are serial killers, neuroscience, and behavior analysis, and her favorite things outside of school include hanging out with her friends, learning new food ...

I wonder if you've considered the stress an average person puts on their nervous system with stimuli like social media or any notifications, and now add being in a highly stimulated environment of a classroom. It's really enough to make anyone need a break, but did you know that one in five of us is considered highly sensitive and that these stimuli have an even greater impact on our reactions? Knowing that about ourselves and our ...

Batsheva Frankel, MAT, a veteran educator of over 25 years, is the producer and host of the popular, entertaining podcast Overthrowing Education. As an educational consultant with her company New Lens Ed., Batsheva gives workshops, courses, coaching, and consulting for educators at universities, conferences, schools, and other organizations internationally in person and online. She also teaches courses on podcasting for teens nd de...

Have you ever wondered how a student might respond if we ask them to give us some time to think about changes that we wanna implement in the school? Do you think they would say, no, I don't want you to take your time? I wanna do school right now, or do you think they might have some understanding? In this conversation with Izaiah, I explore that question with him about the response to Covid.

The answer was really surprising to me...

In this bonus episode, I wanna talk about the idea of a teacher holding their classroom as if they were holding it in the palm of their hand versus a tight fist.

As brand new teachers, we are in the process of holding our hand so tight around that classroom. We imagine that in order to manage that classroom, we have to be in control, and control a lot of times looks like holding our hand in that fist.

I've recently had several conv...

Meet Shane Lawrence, he has been teaching for 17 years, mostly within the arts. Over that time, he has taught Drama, ELA, Social Studies, Photography, Computers, Film, Art, & Digital Media. His biggest passion is teaching Film Studies and Production. Outside of work, he is a husband, a dad of two young ones, a cyclist (as time allows), and someone with too many hobbies and interests. 

I wonder if you've considered asking students...

In this bonus episode, I challenge the ideas about student behavior. I examine how I may have contributed to the struggles students had in my classroom. I explore the idea that students can benefit from talking about the ways we all learn differently.

I am excited to revisit the conversations I had with Kela and how she shared the difference between giving 100% as a student and what I the teacher expected 100% to look like. I revis...

Dr. Joseph Williams III is a K12 leader, who currently works as a high school principal with Seattle Public Schools. He has 20+ years of PreK-12 experience, including 10 years as a special education teacher and 13+ years as an assistant principal and principal at the elementary and secondary level. He has earned multiple university degrees, including his doctorate degree in educational administration and MBA degree. He is certified...

Meet Shriya - Shriya is a junior in high school and is working on her own book about podcasting! At school, she is the president of the Science National Honors Society and Lead Organizer of the TEDx Club. Outside school, she works as the Social Media Director for the Project: Empower non-profit, and President of the Teen Council at the local library. In her free time, she loves to sing and spend time with her little brother. She al...