Teacher Leadership, Wolfpack Workshops, and Expecting Excellence with David James

What's going on everybody, I hope this finds you strong and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. My name is Brian Martin. I'm a second grade teacher and host of the teaching champions podcast. And today we have a special episode, we're joined by David James, and he's a seventh grade social studies teacher. He's a lead mentor for new teachers, a grade level chair, as well as other leadership positions within the school. He's also extended his leadership beyond the school as he's on the board of directors for the North Carolina Association for Middle Level Education as the marketing director. And he's also the 2024 MC mle inspire conference director. And then this conversation, we're gonna dive into teacher leadership. We're going to talk about school culture, and bringing passion trust and a growth mindset into the classroom. And there's so many great takeaways in this conversation. And if you think someone would benefit from it, please share. This podcast is all about amplifying the voices of people who are having a positive impact on the education system, and just doing some amazing things. And David is definitely one of those people. And before we get into this conversation, here's a quick message about an amazing opportunity. Hello, middle level educators are you looking for a nationwide type of conference at the fraction of the cost? The North Carolina Association for Middle Level Education welcomes you to Charlotte, North Carolina, march 24 through the 26th for the 2024 NC Emelie inspire conference. My name is David James in CML li marketing and conference director and I want to personally invite you to our annual conference. You will not want to miss our keynote and featured speakers that lead over 100 middle specific teaching and learning sessions. Our featured lineup includes edu experts from across the country, such as principal and leadership expert, Maruti cafe, les Darren peppered the quanta, Nelson, Zack Bauer, Master and the guest on this teaching champions podcast. The NCM le inspire conference is for everyone. Go to NCAA mlb.org today to register your team for the 2024 NCAA MLB inspire conference. Not let's get into this conversation, and I hope you enjoyed as much as I did. I am super excited for this episode. We have an educator who's doing some amazing things. He's just implementing some very special things that we can all learn from inside his school. Plus, he has a fantastic conference that he's putting on coming up. I want to welcome David James to the teaching champions podcast. David, welcome, my friend. Hey, Brian. Thanks for having me today. honored to be with you on the teaching champions podcast. Yeah, well, I am super honored to have your brother. For those people who are not familiar with who you are. Would you mind giving me a little bit about your background? Sure. Thank you again for having me. I'm David James. I'm a teacher from Cabarrus County Schools and Charlotte just north of Charlotte, North Carolina. I'm a proud graduate of Ohio University, which I did a little bit of visiting back home over the holidays. Happy holidays to everybody out there. But I've been at a school named Harold E. Winkler Middle School in Cabarrus. County for about 14 years. I've bounced around a little bit, did some assistant principal role there for a few years, but I'm back in the classroom. It's given me a really great and fresh perspective being in the classroom back at Winkler middle school, but I teach seventh grade social studies in the last few years that I've joined the North Carolina Association for Middle Level Education, as we advocate for the middle level learner and the middle level teacher here in North Carolina. Like I said, I've been here living in the Charlotte area for about 14 years and I've got a little family with my wife Erin and my little guy, six years old, and the star of Harrisburg Parks and Rec five, six basketball, Aiden, Michael James, currently I'm on the seventh grade hallway. I still have 125 students in my classrooms. Love in every single day of it. We've got nine teachers on the hallway that are doing special things with with kids. I hold multiple leadership positions, including our professional development facilitator, the lead mentor in the building, the grade level representative, the social studies PLC representative as well. And I do as much as I can with Cabarrus County Schools in those leadership regards as well. So Love and teaching at Cabarrus. County Schools. It's a special place. We got great leadership into the building. That's a little bit about myself. Yes. And you have such a unique background, because you've been you taught for a while, then you moved into the administration role, and then back into the classroom. Can you talk a little bit about that? Yeah. So in 2007, when I graduated from Ohio University, the nationwide economy was kind of going in the wrong direction. So it put me substitute teaching for three years as all schools were kind of on a hiring freeze in the state of Ohio, and I had had enough of that. And then in 2011, there was a new building being opened right here in Concord. And the principal of that building called me kind of out of a whim, gave me the old phone resume and the phone interview, which was cool before it became really cool in 2000. But now that out of the park, and I was sitting in Concord, North Carolina, and a school building that I've never been to and never thought would happen about two weeks later than the kids came rolling in about a week later after that in August. So that brought my family down here as well. I taught here at Winkler for five years, and did all the right things as far as leadership goes. And I thought I was on the right track to go into administration and I became an assistant principal at another building here in Cabarrus. County Schools very thankful for those opportunities to join Jane Frese Middle School. And for four years, I was the assistant principal that building under principal Christie Bullock, Christie Bullock, also a member of the NC Emelie organization really pushed me and made me a better leader. But after, after three and a half, four years, we had to have a conversation about a Michael James was on his way. And he was growing. And it was time to make a change for my family. So we took a step back. And she was incredibly supportive of that. I called the principal back at Winkler and said, Hey, you got a seventh grade social studies position opened for me. And he said, absolutely. So Mr. Michael Williams, who is also a phenomenal leader here with CCS welcomed me back into 706, in the room that I left those years before. And here I sit today, doing the same thing, love it to death, the teacher leadership for myself, in the perspective that I can bring from the administrative piece has really changed the game. For me, as a teacher leader, I think I bring a perspective that is fresh, bring a perspective that is different than other teachers that don't really have the admin variance. And when it comes to parent relationships, when it comes to seeing the big picture in the building, I think I have that perspective, which helps us all here on the hallway, it certainly made me a better teacher 100%, I'm a better teacher than I was 567 years ago. And now that I'm going into year 14, you know, taking the leadership to the highest level that I can and making sure everybody in the building can feel it from, from student staff to parents, and everybody in between. Yeah, I think that makes it so valuable, like the experiences that you had. And one thing that I think it hurts, teachers are hurt someone like myself, like, I get caught up in my own silo. So I only see what happens inside my classroom. And that's after 20 Some years of teaching. Like when you're an administrator, you get to see some amazing stuff that's happening in all these different classrooms. What would you say is like one or two of the things that you really took away from other teachers that you brought back inside your classroom? Yeah, there's a few. The first one you just mentioned is that there's so many good things that are happening in the building, that we as teachers, when we close our door don't understand the inner workings of the building as it pertains to the office staff and the custodial crew and the cafeteria crew, to the athletic department. And everything that goes within hiring and keeping everybody happy is such a big task for administrative teams, and as a teacher in the building, and now that I understand everything that they work on, I try to take those things off their plate. So when it comes to professional development, when it comes to leading meetings, that that I can take off their plate that they don't have to, you know, lead themselves, staff member staff, meetings or celebrations, all of those things, teacher leaders can do those things. And teachers leaders want to do those things. So for all you administrators out there, you have those individuals in your building. And those individuals want that leadership. So when do you find them and we can take those things off your plate that is going to take take the whole building to the next level, in my opinion. So all of those things that we can kind of help our administrators with getting outside of our door, visiting other classrooms. The lead mentorship piece, for me is a big part of what I do in the building. And, you know, my professional development plan for this year. One of my goals was to have all of my first year teachers for return for their second year. And I'll tell you, we are halfway through the school year and 100% of my VT ones are back here in the building. They came back from one avenue so and we've added one so my student teacher just finished just graduated is now teaching eighth grade ELA right? So we're moving the building and the grit in in a great direction. You know, that goal was huge for me. And we're going to keep moving forward for the end of the year. But I think another piece that I see on a daily basis that I that I don't think here at the middle school and at the high school level, our coaches do not get the credit that they deserve as well. Our coaches are working so hard after school, building relationships with kids and giving kids opportunities on the field and on the court that they just do not get enough credit for. And at the middle school level, at the high school level, they are passionate about the work they are doing. And they are not getting nearly enough money to do it. And I wish they would. But I know that's not what they're there for. Our athletic program here at Winkler Middle School is really really special as well. And really literally strong. Overall, the building as a whole with with arts, and band and athletics, everything in between all the clubs, but our coaches are working their tails off. And I know for a fact there's about four or five of them downstairs right now doing boys basketball tryouts at six o'clock, right? So they're working hard, they work all day on in the health and PE department, or we've got a math teacher that's doing eighth grade math that is then after schoolwork in the basketball program. But I think that perspective that I have, knowing that there's so many individuals other than myself as a Democratic socialist teachers working hard to move this building forward is is something different? And something that I like to make sure I communicate to all of my colleagues. Yeah, well, you know, I think the most important part you said, right, there's the communicating it to your colleagues, like you have a different, you see it through a different lens, because of your experiences, sometimes. We miss out on seeing that. And, you know, I coached I was assistant coach for 14 years, and I never put in the time nearly as much as the head coach did. And the head coach said it and ended up being his ex wife. But his ex wife said, you know, you're getting paid pennies per hour, for all the time by the time you do season practice. But they're doing Offseason training, you're doing summer camps. And the same can be said for the arts. For those people who are doing theater or doing orchestra. And course, like there's so many people that are putting in so much energy and time and love into the kids and that, you know, communicating that to others. letting others know that they're appreciated that they're doing great things is huge for the classroom culture. So I appreciate everything that you're doing with that brother. Now, looking at your social media feed. You just won a big award from Jimmy Casa with the culture eyes. Can you talk a little bit about that? And what you really did within your school for that? Yeah. So thanks for give me a shout on the social media heroic history 22 As you can find me on Twitter and and some of their social media accounts. But let me take a step back on that. So in 2021, about a year and a half ago, Rebecca Phillips, our principal asked all staff members in the building, where are we average here in the building and this comes from Jimmy Carson's book culture rise, culture, is it that book, the educational best seller has changed the culture in this building Harold Winkler Middle School, for the best in so many ways. So she asked this question to the staff where we average here in the building, and everybody got to write this down on their post it note and kind of go on their way. Well, I did so but then I took it off and kind of put it front and center on her laptop in front of her for her to, to make sure that she saw and Rebecca and I have a really special relationship. And she understands that I have this administrative experience. And we're both on the in CML Lea board as well, board of directors. So you know, she, my judgment, she she trusts my commentary. And I think she appreciated me pushing a little bit there, because that's what she's looking for. And what I wrote on that sticky note that day is that we are averaging average and professional development. There was nobody in this building, including myself that was pushing another colleague to be better professionally. You know, we were at a low point as far as academic standards go in this building. And that was new for Winkler middle school. When I started, you know, 13 years ago, until I left, we were exceeding expectations we were our school report card is what it is, but it was high. And since I had left and years after COVID 2000 22,021. We were not good and we were deemed an at risk school by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. And us growing was unacceptable. So I put that in front of her and what was born out of that we worked together to create what we call the Wolfpack workshop in house Professional Development co sessions. And this is teacher led voluntary PD that comes together every Friday morning from eight to 830. That is teacher led that is voluntary. And I get 30 to 40 staff members that come every single Friday morning to learn and grow and reflect with each other and we have professional development that is diverse, it is differentiated. It is not required. If they don't have to be there, but they love to be there, because it's the end of the week, they'd like to celebrate, they'd like to support. And when you talk about culture building, and culture is, that's what it's all about. And if we can get everybody supporting each other on a Friday morning, then we can get anybody to support sixth, seventh and eighth grade learners. And it is really taken the culture of this building to the next level, we've had just to name off a few of the sessions that we've had this just this year, before the school year even started, we had a parent come in and talk about the importance of open house, and the impressions that we give during open house. And this was really enlightening to hear from one of our eighth grade parents that has gone through open house for eight for eight years, and is telling us listen, this is what it looks like to a parent when you act and say this right and given us giving us some information, given us some some advice on to have a really, really successful open house experience. Right. So he was teaching us at that point. Then we got into some other sessions, we had three beginning teacher ones, in the second quarter, do a Wolfpack workshop session on the science behind the adolescent learner, that adolescent brain, excuse me. So we had a three teachers that are fresh out of college, that are teaching 30 of their colleagues on a Friday morning, middle school experience teachers about the adolescent brain, and it was amazing. And they did a phenomenal job. So we talked about professional growth, we talked about culture, building, all of these things are just taking our thoughts and our our energy, kind of to the next level here in the building. So what was born out of that, and I know I'm getting long winded here, but I love to brag about the Wolfpack workshops here at Winkler middle school still going on, still going strong, ready to go again this Friday. But what came out of that was I'm sitting at the breakfast table one morning, and I'm having breakfast with Aiden, and I'm scrolling Twitter a little bit. And I come across a tweet by Jimmy Costas and Jimmy Carr says those out of contest he says, shoot me a one to two minute video of how your school is living one of the core principles of the culture arise book, right? So there's four core principles and cultures. It was a six year book anniversary, and he wanted to see what everybody was doing and how everybody was utilizing it in their building. Well, thankfully, culture eyes was a book study for us last year, and we were living all for the core principles. But the strongest one that we were live in at the time was expect Excellence, which is Core principle number two, and I sent Jimmy a video one to two minutes long about the Wolfpack workshop PD series that he was a big part of unknowingly, you know, and he shot us an email back and he said, I'm proud to say you and Harold Winkler Middle School have won that contest. I'm going to be coming to Harold Winkler Middle School, whenever we can get a date situated, I'm going to do a free PD session with you and your staff. And when I announced that to our Wolfpack workshop participants a few Fridays ago, everybody was ecstatic. And they know that they had a big part in it, right, like we are doing ourselves for our growth and for our professional growth. But everybody has seen it. Everybody in the county understands that Winkler middle schools got it going on. And I got visitors from all over the place, calling me up on the phone. How did you do this? What was the process? What did what did you do to get teacher buy in? said, Well, I'm a teacher, you need a teacher that needs to get this going, right? This needs to come from teacher leadership. This isn't an administrative thing. This is ground, grassroots ground up, getting the teachers involved, getting everybody on the same page. And one of the thing that's kind of came out of this is that all of this is taken off the plate of the administrative team. You know, when it's from the administrative team, sometimes it can come off a little dry and a little forced, right? When you learn with colleagues. It is authentic, it is noticeable and it is necessary. And they know the kids, right? They know the kids that you have, and they know that this works. And they know that this doesn't work. And that's why I think it's so successful. We're excited to welcome Jamie into Harold Winkler Middle School. So excited. He sent us a video from Chicago saying, Harold Winkler Middle School. I'm so excited to meet you. And we're just looking forward to that getting that on the calendar. So when you talk about culture building talk about teacher leadership, that's what it's all about. Yeah, I saw there's so much there and I absolutely love it. I love that, that Jimmy's coming to your school. I love the video. Like I watched that a little bit a little while ago, and it made me feel good. You know, when when you talk about like that good energy, what you guys are putting out and, you know, so important, like when you talk about your own staff, the people in your building, that it's authentic, it's noticeable, it's necessary. And you know, you're talking about like everybody because that's my question I guess as well like the buy in piece that it has to be like teacher led. So can you just bring it back like day one like so? Was it just yourself or did you recruit A couple other people to help spur this on. Yeah, that's a great question. So the idea was, was kind of taken to the next level by Rebecca and myself principal fields. But I started with the school leadership team. So we had a school leadership team meeting. And I'm currently not on the leadership team. But we have two volunteers for each grade level, each department that meets once a month on Wednesdays, so I needed some time in front of them. And I had a presentation, and I told them what the goal was. And I asked them, I said, I need your help. If you want to be school leaders in this building, this is the way to do it. Right? We, and we've all been part of school leadership teams, if you're listening to this podcast, you're a leader in your building, more than likely, you've probably been part of this group. But we have people in the school leadership team that put it on their resume, and they don't put input. And they don't do anything further, as far as taking the building further in leadership. So I looked him in the eye and I said, this is your opportunity to do this. I'm going to send you a Google form. And I need everybody right now, to think of something that they're going to share. And at your convenience, let's go ahead and get this started. And before the end of the week, I had 20 presentations to put on the calendar. So all my school leadership team, volunteers got into it, they loved it, they loved the idea that same individuals there on Friday morning, we have doughnuts, we have juice, we have t shirts, if you were if you win wolf pack, workshop, bingo that we play, every Friday, we have other incentives that you can come and join. But, you know, the culture around learning and professional growth is where it started in the school leadership team really helped with that. And again, administrators, you got so much on your plate, your school leadership team is right there. And I know there's a lot of decision making. I know there's a lot of budgeting questions to be answered. But when it comes to professional growth, those are the individuals that should be using you should be using to move your school forward, and professional growth and learning. So that's where it started, then the Google Form, I got rolled out. And then I was pretty, I'm pretty strategic about how the calendar looks. So if there's a Wolfpack workshop, like I said, with a parent that wants to talk about good first impressions, that's gonna go at the beginning of the year, this week, coming back from winter break, we're going to ease back into our Wolfpack workshop with a session on EdPuzzle, which we just purchased, the school leadership team just spent a bunch of money on EdPuzzle. So you know, we've got to train the teachers on this stuff. So the Wolfpack workshop structure is perfect for that. So I'm going to do a session. Next week since we're getting into the wintertime, we got some work on asynchronous learning, because we are going to go home at some point. And we're going to be asked to put a lesson on canvas or Google classroom or whatever you use as far as your LMS. And it needs to be effective, and it needs to move your content forward. So we're going to do a session next week on effective practices and effective teaching in the asynchronous learning environment, which brings me chills and makes me think back to 2020. Altogether, and is what it is, we have. In three weeks, I got my instructional technology facilitator doing a Wolfpack workshop on effective practices with artificial intelligence, she was just certified on a program called Magic School, which I was kind of messing with a little bit today, which is a lot of fun. And I think I'm gonna get a lot of interest on that Friday morning. So like I said, it varies so much. It is voluntary, they do not, it's not mandatory, they kind of come and go, you'll have people that come every single week that just loved with their colleagues, which is special, you'll get people show up randomly because they're supporting the person that's presenting, which is also special. And then you'll get people that come because they like doughnuts, and they like to play bingo. I mean, that's just what it is. Right? So it's awesome. It's a wonderful thing that we've started and like I said, I've got people chirping through email and all around the country wondering, wanting more information about how they can get this started in their school. Yeah, how long is each session? Like? Yeah, so yeah, eight o'clock, and the kids start shuffling in at 835. So if we're done by 830 Yeah, it's perfect time, you know, not too long. And gets us in the mindset to get good Friday started. Awesome. Did you have to do anything like, sometimes because it can be intimidating. Sometimes it's easier to present in front of strangers than it is to people that you know, in everything. Was there anything that that you guys had to do to to make people at ease or is it just like the leadership team just stepped up and then everybody just kind of fell in after that? Yeah, but that's a great Wolfpack workshop session proposal you got there, Brian. effective public speaking strategies or something like that, but no, we didn't do anything like that. But I will tell you one of the proudest moments we had was in this. This was pretty special. Sixth grade teacher stood up there and did a session on anxiety and she talked about her struggles with anxiety, right and she's She knocked it out. apart 100%. Right. And we have some tears. And we have some laughs and we have some good times. But it's really special to hear these individuals just support each other. And a lot more comes out of it, if that makes sense than just professional growth. Yes, yes, it takes me back, let God Dr. Zack Bauer, Master, he was just on the podcast. And one of the things that that he talked about is, like, share your story. And when we start when we share our story, and when we others when we stop. And when we listen to other people's stories, it can really, like you said, with that person talking about their own struggle with anxiety, and how they handled it, it can bring us closer together and makes us appreciate the people that we passed in the hallways every single day. Yeah, it really, really special that one, and we'll get and we'll get one of those about once a month that really makes us reflect on each other and the work that's being done. Before we left for winter break. We had two Spanish teachers that are obviously fluent in Spanish, talk about our multilingual population here in the building and the struggles that they see. And a lot of the different nuances that come with language and culture and kind of grouping these individuals into into one cohort, but being incredibly unfair in that regard, right. So again, just eye opening, right. And in these are teachers in my building that are doing the winning paying professionals to come in to do PD are meeting together as friends and colleagues on a Friday morning and learning from each other and just having having a great time. So it's been special. And when I tell you that the Academic Success follows, it follows, because culture breeds those kinds of things. And when people are enjoying themselves, less people leave, leave your building. There's less hiring, you have more academic success with kids. And those things are dominating. Right. So we're having a great year. Yes, that's fantastic. And just look like when you when we talk about teacher retention, like all the teacher wants their first year teachers that you have in your building that are coming back. And now they're presenting and maybe this is a good time to transition into the conference that you're putting on because it's pretty it's pretty spectacular when I when I look at the lineup that you have, but they're going to be presenting at this conference. So you're doing some amazing things within your school buddy. Yeah, I appreciate you saying that. And let me talk real quick about the North Carolina Association for Middle Level Education in CML. Lee is a special organization here in North Carolina that advocates for middle level learners and the adolescents in our school building and the six to eight years especial we all know that the six to eight teacher is special and we all know that as well. And in CML. Lee is the only advocate to do that in our conference this year is going to be one for the ages last year and 2023 at our conference, we had our 50th anniversary in Charlotte we welcomed over 400 educators to Charlotte for the conference and it was awesome. But this year we are going to be welcoming way more than that and we have some of the best edu minds nationwide coming into Charlotte to to network to grow to learn from everybody. I'm proud of the featured speaker lineup that we got coming into Charlotte from you know Brandon Beck and to Darren pepper to Bruzzi Cafe les to Zack Bauer mastery mentioned the quanta Nelson has been on your show. She's coming in Charlie Paxman here with the teaching champions podcasts us coming in. So there are over 20 featured speakers that are edu experts that are coming into Charlotte to pour into our middle level educators and fill some buckets as far as their expertise. And on top of that, I've got 100 Plus middle level specific sessions from our boots on the ground, middle level classroom teachers as it pertains to social equity as it pertains to classroom management, teaching and learning as it pertains to everything middle school wide leadership, and all of those things in between. So everyone is welcome that you don't have to be a middle level educator. You don't even have to be a North Carolina middle level educator. You are welcome to Charlotte, North Carolina. Just go to NCM le.org. And sign up to join us and Charlotte March 24 through the 26th. It is going to be a wonderful conference. We've got karaoke night. We've got trivia night. We've got three free meals included in your registration. So we are proud of everything that's coming together. We are about 90 days away. I think it's coming fast. The presentations have been approved here recently. So we are moving forward with the schedule. Just looking forward to a great conference with everybody in march right there in Charlotte, North Carolina. Like I said, the lineup that you have because I've talked with several From chart, Charley pack to Dr. Raekwon, and Nelson, they're peppered, they're just so good. And I know you're your featured keynote speaker. He's traveled all around the country firing teachers up. So I just think this is a fantastic conference that you put together. And like you said, you have 100 other teachers, and we can learn just as much from them from the is the teacher or featured speaker. So, I mean, it's gonna be a fantastic conference, brother. Yeah, one thing that we're really proud of this year, this new for 2024 is called the school leaders Institute. So for this year, because all of these featured edu folks are coming in to Charlotte to kind of pour into the leadership piece of it, we've created a strand specifically for school leadership. So if you're a school administrator out there right now, and you're looking for an opportunity to maybe get out of town and bring your administrative team with you. This is a great opportunity to learn from those that you just mentioned, as far as the school leadership strand goes, Darren, like I said, Darren peppered Craig Boykin, Charles Williams, these are all individuals that have principalship experience around the country that we can all learn a lot from. I got a quick peek recently on a presentation and Chuck Moss from from Virginia is doing a session on the hiring process. And I know that sounds, you know, pretty standard. But if we can perfect the hiring process, we can do a lot of other great things in our buildings. So whether it's hiring, whether it's scheduling, whether it's school, Leadership, Culture, building, whatever it looks like the relationship with the admitted with the, with the athletic department, Brandon Beck's session is going to be focused on that all of these things are part of your job, and they're difficult and we all understand that. But in CML, Lee has created a leadership strand specifically for our school administrators to take advantage of, and our hope is that you bring some of those teachers with you as well. And we got to have a huge conference together in Charlotte in March 24 through the 26th. Yeah, it's gonna be so good, buddy. I wish I was a little bit closer because I definitely would be down there checking it out. I love that. So, um, one of my favorite questions, Bob, is do you have any book recommendations or podcast recommendations? Ya know, I mentioned earlier, traveling up to Ohio over winter break, and I did listen to I did catch up on a lot of teaching champion episodes with Zack and look, Dr. Quentin Nelson, Charlie Peck and Brandon Beck. I did catch up on all those I love listening to Darren pepper. It's leaning into leadership podcast. He's got a lot of really good information on that. And he does a great job on that podcast. But I tell you, I got into a non educational podcast recently called smartlace. Jason Bateman and a few of his buddies get together and kind of chat back and forth with a featured guest and I was really enjoying some of their guests recently. Peyton Manning, Steph Curry winning Gretzky, I'm a hockey guy from Ohio. So here in Wayne Gretzky story and they also weave in a lot of leadership and life story so life lesson kinds of things. Jason Bateman knows phenomenal actor and he's hilarious. So we we we obviously understand and enjoy that banter, but there's there's a lot of good tidbits in there as well. So if you're looking for a non educational podcast, that's what I would go with on my desk right now. You mentioned his name, but next level teaching is sitting on my desk right now from Jonathan all Shimer. Jonathan is coming back as our keynote speaker for NCM le inspire conference 2024. Jonathan does an amazing job. He's firing everybody up again this year, but his book next level teaching. I also have a book by one of our featured speakers on my desk called pause, ponder and persist from Julie hasten, Julie is I believe was on one of your episodes, or maybe Brandon's. But she is a professor from Appalachian State University. And her book really goes into, you know, a lot of classroom management things but just being patient and being empathetic and being and pausing and compassionate when it when it comes to maybe student redirections and things like that. So a lot of good reminders from Joe Lee, in that in that text. Yes. Oh, so good. I gotta jump on that. It's been a minute since I've listened to smart list. So I definitely want to get into some of those sports with Wayne Gretzky and curry in them, and then definitely want to dive into that book, too. Now, if someone wants to get a hold of you, what would be the best way to get in touch? Yeah, so I'm pretty active on Twitter. I do run the NCAA MLB, Twitter and Instagram and tick tock and Facebook account, who, so we're busy on the marketing front. So the NCM le account is in the middle. You can find us on all their social media accounts and we're active on there but personally Like, I do a lot of kind of classrooms, social media things, heroic history 22, on Twitter, Instagram and on Tik Tok my kids and that's one thing we can do to really connect with our kids is be just be productive and be funny and be willing to get outside your box in the social media realm. So that's what I tried to do. And we'll post some good content in there as well, as far as world history and social studies goes. So those are my social, social media accounts, happy to connect with anybody, as it pertains to professional development, teacher leadership in CML, Li, or, you know, just keeping the positivity going here in the educational realm. Yes, absolutely. And I love how you bring tic tac into the classroom to help connect with the kids, because that's I'm sure, especially at the middle school level, like so many of the kids are into that. Yeah, they are. And they remind me that I haven't posted something in a few days, and I need to get on it. So yeah, there we go. We know what you're doing later tonight, brother. Now, if you could have the listener, walk away with one thing? What would that be? So if you're administrator, I'm gonna go back to leaning on your teacher leaders, you know, the ones that are working really hard, but lean on the teacher leaders to take your professional development, take your culture to the next level, there's probably someone in that building that is ready to take some leadership under their wing that doesn't want to be a school administrator. I'm not saying I never will do that. Again. It may be in the cards in the future, once Aiden gets out of gets out of elementary and middle and high school, but we'll see. But the teacher leadership position is special. And you've probably got somebody in that building that has a lot of trust in the staff has a lot of trust in their colleagues and could really help build the culture in your building. So if you're administrator, that's what I would say to you. If you're a teacher, especially at the middle school level, you are awesome. You're special. I hope to see you at our NC Emelie conference. I hope you connect with me on social media, but you are doing a wonderful job on a daily basis. Stay positive 2024 is a fresh slate. Stay positive set goals, check things off your to do list, move forward. Know that kids need you. I guess that's it for now. Yes, so good brother. And, you know, we were talking earlier, and we were talking about personal brand and everything. And I think you have a phenomenal personal brand. I think that we all have a brand, how we carry ourselves the things that we say the things that we do, and everything that you put up from just looking at your social media, I said, you know, I checked out your Twitter account before getting on today. And watching that video and seeing those pictures and seeing your school in action. There was other things that we didn't get to jump into that you are putting out about, like fueling your school culture, the message that you're giving and spreading to other people. You're doing so many amazing things, my friend. On top of that, you're leading that five and six year old basketball team to a Charlotte championship. So we just I just wanted to say thank you. You're doing so many great things that can't see I can't wait to see what you do in the future, my friend. Let's get you down to Charlotte Bryan, you can be that featured speaker that we need in that positivity to bring it all home in 2025. How about I would love it, brother. Very good. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Thank you for being here. My friend. This podcast is a proud member of the teach better Podcast Network better today, better tomorrow and the podcast to get you there. You can find out more at Teach better.com/podcast Now let's get back to the episode. This conversation was so good. David is so inspirational and he's just doing some amazing things in his school and beyond. Now, this is a teaching champions tape where I share three of my favorite gems from the conversation. And the first gem that I loved is how David's really embraced being a teacher leader and creating that staff driven PD. And what I really loved about this is David emphasizes how this PD is authentic. It's necessary and it's noticeable in the PD that's created by his staff inside that building is based off of the needs of those students by the people who work with them day in and day out. And they know the specific needs to their students and that's so powerful. And the second Gemini love is how David he emphasizes that there are so many individuals in a school that are working hard to move a building forward because a building can't operate with just one person It takes every single person in every single role to keep that building moving forward. And it's important that we remember that it's important that we appreciate each and every single one of us. It's important that we celebrate each and every single one of us. And the third gem that I loved is how David emphasize that reflection piece. Whether you're an administrator, or you're in the classroom, all of us need to ask ourselves, where are we average, we have to identify those areas. And more importantly, we have to come up with the action steps and how we can make those areas stronger. Now these are just a few of my favorite gems hit me up on social media at be Martin real on x, and teaching champions podcasts on Instagram, and let me know what were few your favorite gems. A big thank you to David for sharing so many gems and for all that he does. And a big thank you to all of you for being here for being part of the teaching champions community. We support, we encourage we lift each other up. And always remember, it doesn't matter whether we're from rural America, to urban America, to Canada, to Spain to Bahrain. We're all on that same team. We're all on that same mission, and we're always better together. And as you go out into the week, May you step into your strength, may you step into your shine, and let's build our champions out. Have a great week, everybody