Always A Lesson's Empowering Educators Podcast

Latest Episodes:

185: Being Your Best with Kim Lepre May 20, 2019

Show notes

Kim is a veteran educator of 17 years, currently a 7th-grade English teacher, Beginning Teacher Mentor, Educational Technology Specialist, and technology and standards-based coach throughout her district. She also has a Leading Edge Blended Learning certificate and is a Level 2 Google Certified Educator. During her career, she’s taught band, choir, AVID, Study Skills, and all levels of English Language Arts (ELA), including special education, English Learners, accelerated, and students with disabilities with a co-teacher. She has a unique set of experiences that allow her to meet her students and teaching mentees where they’re at, illuminate their unique value to the world, and create strong and lasting relationships. Kim says, “I absolutely LOVE teaching 7th grade as well as coaching new teachers. Both groups have needs that are unique to that time in their life. They’re dealing with crazy and overwhelming transitions and their future success greatly depends on the love and support they receive at that time.”

Quotables

Be introspective and look at what we are doing well
Use what you are good at in a positive way
Be quick to apologize
“How can I help you so that you can be your best?”
You can be teaching’s biggest cheerleader, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to make you a successful educator
Be self-reflective and have a burning desire to improve and learn for the sake of the kids
Be honest with yourself
Your life in the classroom is going to be vastly easier and enjoyable if you are a likable teacher who genuinely connects with their students
We have to stop making excuses for ourselves
Use your time off to reset

Kim’s Stamp of Approval

Education Podcast Network
Chris Nesi from House of EdTech
Gary Vaynerchuk
Twitter Thought Leaders: David Geurin, George Couros, Alice Keeler, Pernille Ripp,

Connect with Kim

Blog: https://www.mrslepre.com
Podcast: https://teachersneedteachers.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimlepre
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrslepre
Facebook Group: Teachers Need Teachers
Facebook Page: Lepre’s Learning Log
Email: Kim@teachersneedteachers.com

Connect with Gretchen

Email: gretchen@alwaysalesson.com
Blog: Always A Lesson
Facebook: Always A Lesson
Twitter: @gschultek
Instagram: Always.A.Lesson
Linkedin: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Google+: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Book: Elementary EDUC 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in College

Why?

This helps my show remain active in order to continue to help other educators remain empowered in a career that has a long lasting effect on our future.

How?

Search for my show in iTunes or Stitcher. Click on ‘Ratings and Reviews.’ Under ‘Customer Reviews,’ click on “Write a Review.” Sign in with your iTunes or Stitcher log-in info Leave a Rating: Tap the greyed out stars (5 being the best) Leave a Review: Type in a Title and Description of your thoughts on my podcast Click ‘Send’

184: Developing your Leadership Style May 05, 2019

Show notes

The term “teacher leader” encompasses so many jobs in and around a school building. Learning how to lead others can be tricky and confusing. But when you understand the variety of leadership styles that are out there and you reflect on your strengths and weaknesses, you are able to create your own style of leadership. Tune in to hear four common leadership types as well as the cost and benefits of each so that you can get to work developing your own style to lead others.

Quotables:

I didn’t differentiate my style based on who I was leading, and I think that held me back from being more effective sooner.
That is what is tricky about leadership- it’s not what works for you, it’s what works for them. You are now developing other people, so you need to read your audience.
I can’t be left out in the deep ocean figuring out how to swim on my own
No one ever outgrows a coach because the support changes based on your needs.
Be kind to yourself as you are honing your craft because you’re not going to be perfect

Previous Podcast Episode Mentioned

Interview with Nicole Turner

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Blog: Always A Lesson
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Book: Elementary EDUC 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in College

Leave a Rating and Review:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/always-lessons-empowering/id1006433135?mt=2

Why?

This helps my show remain active in order to continue to help other educators remain empowered in a career that has a long lasting effect on our future.

How?

Search for my show in iTunes or Stitcher.

Click on ‘Ratings and Reviews.’

Under ‘Customer Reviews,’ click on “Write a Review.”

Leave a Rating: Tap the greyed out stars (5 being the best)

Leave a Review: Type in a Title and Description of your thoughts on my podcast

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183: Remain Passionate When Your Toes are to the Fire Apr 22, 2019

Show notes

Educators experience stress just like all other professions. Sometimes those seasons of stress feel never ending and can even convince you that your life in education will never be any different than the ugly struggle it is right now. The truth is, seasons of stress when your toes are to the fire are moments for growth. Tune in to hear a 3 step system to help you tackle those seasonal stressors while never losing your passion along the way.

Quotables

Whether you sink or swim, you learn what to do next time.
Stress is an old friend… It will keep coming around, so you might as well get to know it.
[Fight] the flame instead of running around screaming about the fire.
You don’t want to relive the same stress even if you meet the same fire.
My passion started to grow in the same place where it was once stolen

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Email: gretchen@alwaysalesson.com
Blog: Always A Lesson
Facebook: Always A Lesson
Twitter: @gschultek
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Linkedin: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Google+: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Book: Elementary EDUC 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in College

Leave a Rating and Review:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/always-lessons-empowering/id1006433135?mt=2

Why?

This helps my show remain active in order to continue to help other educators remain empowered in a career that has a long lasting effect on our future.

How?

Search for my show in iTunes or Stitcher.

Click on ‘Ratings and Reviews.’

Under ‘Customer Reviews,’ click on “Write a Review.”

Leave a Rating: Tap the greyed out stars (5 being the best)

Leave a Review: Type in a Title and Description of your thoughts on my podcast

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182: Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing Apr 08, 2019

Show notes

It is easy this day in age to get distracted. Teachers can easily fall down a rabbit hole full of shiny, sparkly classroom implementations that don’t always lead to student learning or teacher effectiveness. Tune in to hear what the “main thing” is when it comes to teaching and tips to hone your craft in the areas of lesson design and execution.

Quotables

Cutesy classroom décor.. is the icing on the cake, but it’s not the ingredients to make a cake, let alone a good one.
You cannot be great in teaching if you don’t know how or don’t spend time getting better at the main thing.
We have to get good at the main thing before we can add the icing.
There is no reason to keep writing plans you won’t read or use or that do not help students achieve.
Thorough doesn’t mean wordy.
When you write your lesson plans just think about putting purpose into that piece of paper
We can’t wait until ¾ of the lesson goes by to get students interacting with their new learning

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Email: gretchen@alwaysalesson.com
Blog: Always A Lesson
Facebook: Always A Lesson
Twitter: @gschultek
Instagram: Always.A.Lesson
Linkedin: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Google+: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Book: Elementary EDUC 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in College

Leave a Rating and Review:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/always-lessons-empowering/id1006433135?mt=2

Why?

This helps my show remain active in order to continue to help other educators remain empowered in a career that has a long lasting effect on our future.

How?

Search for my show in iTunes or Stitcher.

Click on ‘Ratings and Reviews.’

Under ‘Customer Reviews,’ click on “Write a Review.”

Leave a Rating: Tap the greyed out stars (5 being the best)

Leave a Review: Type in a Title and Description of your thoughts on my podcast

Click ‘Send’

181: The Reward of Developing People Mar 25, 2019

Show notes

Being a teacher is more than just teaching content lessons. It is the life-giving work of an educator to develop the people in front of them every day. One way to do that is to provide appropriate challenge and support so that overtime students begin to rely on themselves to overcome hardships. Tune in to hear tips on how to elevate your lesson design process so that it stretches students in a comfortable, rewarding way.

Quotables

Give me a sticker and I will do my very best for a few minutes. Give me a warm smile and I will do my very best for a little while. Give me encouragement and I will do my very best for a long while. Give me the experiences that help me believe in myself and I will do my very best forever. (Author Unknown)
it is the art of lesson design and student engagement that provides the EXPERIENCE that lasts the lifetime.
They are seeing a highlight reel in their head of all the past road blocks and obstacles and remember the feeling hurdling over them without the help of anyone but their inner dialogue and muscle memory.
They learn what they are made of and how they are smart enough to think it through and strong enough to make it through.
It has to be a continuous process that develops in intricacy over time.
The dominos cannot go into motion until you have a plan in place for how to stop teaching content lessons and think bigger into developing people.

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Connect with Gretchen

Email: gretchen@alwaysalesson.com
Blog: Always A Lesson
Facebook: Always A Lesson
Twitter: @gschultek
Instagram: Always.A.Lesson
Linkedin: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Google+: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Book: Elementary EDUC 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in College

Leave a Rating and Review:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/always-lessons-empowering/id1006433135?mt=2

Why?

This helps my show remain active in order to continue to help other educators remain empowered in a career that has a long lasting effect on our future.

How?

Search for my show in iTunes or Stitcher.

Click on ‘Ratings and Reviews.’

Under ‘Customer Reviews,’ click on “Write a Review.”

Leave a Rating: Tap the greyed out stars (5 being the best)

Leave a Review: Type in a Title and Description of your thoughts on my podcast

Click ‘Send’

180: Classroom Resources with Leanne Stone Mar 11, 2019

Show notes

Leanne Stone is a former third grade teacher in Charlotte, NC who taught through Teach for America. Like most new teachers, Leanne found herself overwhelmed by the responsibilities and costs of creating new classroom materials and began to explore online materials to help her prepare for class. Leanne now coaches hundreds of teachers and school administrators through Teachers Pay Teachers, an online hub for teacher-authored resources. She helps schools implement TpT for Schools, the schoolwide version of TpT that allows the school to pay for classroom resources rather than teachers and share those materials campus-wide.

With more than two thirds of all teachers in the U.S. using TpT, and more than 2,000 schools using the campus-wide offering, the website has evolved into a “virtual teachers’ lounge,” according to Forbes. Leanne offers first-person insights on how TpT is providing teachers with alternatives and solutions to the obstacles they face in the classroom.

Quotables

Teacher Must Haves = positivity, relationship building, open to new ideas and tactics
Don’t try to do everything
Lean in to the people around you who have been in your shoes
A growth mindset is inspiring to me
Get out of your building and get connected

Leanne’s Stamp of Approval

Connect with Leanne

TpT for Schools Website- schools.teacherspayteachers.com
Email- leanne@teacherspayteachers.com
TpT for Schools Email- schools@teacherspayteachers.com

Connect with Gretchen

Email: gretchen@alwaysalesson.com
Blog: Always A Lesson
Facebook: Always A Lesson
Twitter: @gschultek
Instagram: Always.A.Lesson
Linkedin: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Google+: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Book: Elementary EDUC 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in College

Leave a Rating and Review:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/always-lessons-empowering/id1006433135?mt=2

Why?

This helps my show remain active in order to continue to help other educators remain empowered in a career that has a long lasting effect on our future.

How?

Search for my show in iTunes or Stitcher.
Click on ‘Ratings and Reviews.’
Under ‘Customer Reviews,’ click on “Write a Review.”
Sign in with your iTunes or Stitcher log-in info
Leave a Rating: Tap the greyed out stars (5 being the best)
Leave a Review: Type in a Title and Description of your thoughts on my podcast
Click ‘Send’

179: Leadership like Rock, Paper… Pencil Feb 25, 2019

Show notes

As teacher leaders, we have many pencils in our lives that need our attention to be sharpened so that their talents come to fruition. But if we do not provide the paper so that these pencils can develop and create their masterpieces, then it’s all for not. Tune in to hear an inspiring analogy from an elite educator plus my quick tips to put things into action!

Quotables

Pencils, however, become dull over time, losing the ability to put forth life changing work. It isn’t until they are sharpened that they can continue to achieve what they were created to accomplish.
Paper is what allows ideas to be remembered, thoughts to be shared, and wisdom to be internalized.
Without paper, “pencils” would be useless.
They need us to lead the way they need support
Pencils are instruments of impact and by refusing to sharpen them we are denying their impact from coming to fruition.
We can’t continue being roadblock rocks…. Standing in the way of forward momentum, passion development, skill acquisition, and a sense of community and support.

Connect with Chuck Poole

Teachonomy

Resource Mentioned in this Episode

Mentor-Mentee Discussion Dice Game

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Email: gretchen@alwaysalesson.com
Blog: Always A Lesson
Facebook: Always A Lesson
Twitter: @gschultek
Instagram: Always.A.Lesson
Linkedin: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Google+: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Book: Elementary EDUC 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in College

Leave a Rating and Review:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/always-lessons-empowering/id1006433135?mt=2

Why?

This helps my show remain active in order to continue to help other educators remain empowered in a career that has a long lasting effect on our future.

How?

Search for my show in iTunes or Stitcher.

Click on ‘Ratings and Reviews.’

Under ‘Customer Reviews,’ click on “Write a Review.”

Leave a Rating: Tap the greyed out stars (5 being the best)

Leave a Review: Type in a Title and Description of your thoughts on my podcast

Click ‘Send’

178: Leverage Your Surroundings Feb 11, 2019

Show notes

As leaders, we sometimes think we have to know and be able to do everything. The truth is, were only need to know of people and things to help us along the way. Tune in to hear 3 ways you can leverage your surroundings so that you can maximize your influence in helping teachers.

Quotables

“If you are on social media, and you are not learning, not laughing, not being inspired or not networking, then you are using it wrong.” Germany Kent . [mentioned by @medahl]
You are as good as you use your resources.
Use what you got, then go get more.
You are a Teacher leader not because of what you bring to the table already, but what you are CAPABLE OF BRINGING TO THE TABLE IN THE FUTURE.
I don’t know the answer to that, but I will be glad to find out.
You are only as powerful as you allow yourself to be.

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Email: gretchen@alwaysalesson.com
Blog: Always A Lesson
Facebook: Always A Lesson
Twitter: @gschultek
Instagram: Always.A.Lesson
Linkedin: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Google+: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Book: Elementary EDUC 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in College

Leave a Rating and Review:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/always-lessons-empowering/id1006433135?mt=2

Why?

This helps my show remain active in order to continue to help other educators remain empowered in a career that has a long lasting effect on our future.

How?

Search for my show in iTunes or Stitcher.

Click on ‘Ratings and Reviews.’

Under ‘Customer Reviews,’ click on “Write a Review.”

Leave a Rating: Tap the greyed out stars (5 being the best)

Leave a Review: Type in a Title and Description of your thoughts on my podcast

Click ‘Send’

177: Developing Good Students into Great Humans Jan 28, 2019

Show notes

As educators we have a daily duty to help our students develop into their potential, both in life and academia. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., this episode focuses on how his prolific words ring true in our classroom practices to ensure our students can be kind and do good each and every day.

Quotables (in honor of MLK, Jr.)

Be Kind
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘what are you doing for others?’”
“The surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”
“The time is always ripe to do RIGHT.”
Do Good
“No one has the right to rain on your dreams.”
“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”
“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”
“If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

My Co-Host

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Email: gretchen@alwaysalesson.com
Blog: Always A Lesson
Facebook: Always A Lesson
Twitter: @gschultek
Instagram: Always.A.Lesson
Linkedin: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Google+: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Book: Elementary EDUC 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in College

Leave a Rating and Review:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/always-lessons-empowering/id1006433135?mt=2

Why?

This helps my show remain active in order to continue to help other educators remain empowered in a career that has a long lasting effect on our future.

How?

Search for my show in iTunes or Stitcher.

Click on ‘Ratings and Reviews.’

Under ‘Customer Reviews,’ click on “Write a Review.”

Leave a Rating: Tap the greyed out stars (5 being the best)

Leave a Review: Type in a Title and Description of your thoughts on my podcast

Click ‘Send’

176: When High Expectations Debilitate You Jan 14, 2019

Show notes

Having high expectations isn’t a bad thing, until they no longer are achievable and as a result, debilitate you. Tune in to hear my story of how I dealt with the reality of not being able to live the life I once had and adjusted my mindset and action steps to reach new heights in a more manageable way under those new circumstances.

Quotables

I am going to treat myself better and give myself space to be imperfect.
I take my worst attribute and do what I can to avoid it coming to the surface and in doing so that behavior becomes my best attribute.
High expectations are great but when they don’t match and take into consideration the circumstances of the moment, they are dead expectations.
It’s not that I am LESS THAN, I just have a different set of circumstances that alter my expectations.
I came into this moment of clarity on a pity party and left on a party bus.
I am not incapable of doing what I have done before. I just have to do it differently.
The best thing you can do is be real about what you’re facing.
I am not a lesser version of me, I am the best version of me in this circumstance.

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Email: gretchen@alwaysalesson.com
Blog: Always A Lesson
Facebook: Always A Lesson
Twitter: @gschultek
Instagram: Always.A.Lesson
Linkedin: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Google+: Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
Book: Elementary EDUC 101: What They Didn’t Teach You in College

Leave a Rating and Review:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/always-lessons-empowering/id1006433135?mt=2

Why?

This helps my show remain active in order to continue to help other educators remain empowered in a career that has a long lasting effect on our future.

How?

Search for my show in iTunes or Stitcher.

Click on ‘Ratings and Reviews.’

Under ‘Customer Reviews,’ click on “Write a Review.”

Leave a Rating: Tap the greyed out stars (5 being the best)

Leave a Review: Type in a Title and Description of your thoughts on my podcast

Click ‘Send’

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Quotables (in honor of MLK, Jr.)

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