Episodes

This week’s guest, Tom Schimmer, shares his journey as a leader, redefining accountability in grading, the myths of standards based grading and the importance of descriptive feedback. In this episode, we discuss: Standards Ba...

In this bonus episode, Greg Moffitt shares his five top leadership books and the reasons he loves these amazing resources. In addition, Greg introduces two bonus children’s books to instill leadership qualities in our classro...

Based on your past educational struggles, have you ever asked yourself, “Will I be enough in this leadership position?”. This week’s guests, Dr. Basil Marin, explains how his struggles in school created doubt about the impact...

When someone comes to you with a problem, do you immediately try to solve the issue? This week’s guests, Dr. Nathan Lang-Raad, explains how leaders need to use a coaching model of questions to find the best solutions and teac...

Have you ever been on the dance floor at a party or a wedding and when the DJ changes the song, everyone either runs on or off the dance floor? This week’s guests, Dr. Joe Clark, explains why leadership is similar to being a ...

When you add resources or programs to your campus or district, how do you decide what students receive these new opportunities? This week’s guests, Zandra Jo Galvan, shares how when presented an opportunity to add multiple re...

In your district or on your campus, how are you identifying and supporting the social emotional needs of your students, staff, and parents? As many of you know, I believe, as a leader, we must focus on all aspects of a person...

In the 19th Aspire Mailbag episode, Hedreich Nichols, Jeff Gargas, and I answer questions on different leadership topics provided by the listeners. Please join us for this episode as we answer questions and discuss how to ret...

Regardless of which direction it's headed, a ship encounters different weather patterns during its voyage: smooth sailing, the doldrums, and storms. Like a ship, life is unpredictable and ever-changing. The Captain needs to b...

In your school or district, how is homework utilized and graded? Has your philosophy of homework changed during the pandemic and online learning? Today's guest, Dr. Erik Youngman, discusses the role of homework and shares str...

When you think of Social Emotional Learning (SEL), do you think about the procedures, curriculum, and skills needed for students? What about the adults in the building? How are they supported through your Social Emotional Lea...

As a teacher, have you ever received feedback from an administrator who only was in your classroom once, twice, maybe three times a year? And if you are the administrator, did you feel the time in the teacher’s class was enou...

In this 18th Aspire Mailbag episode, Todd Nesloney, Jeff Gargas, and I answer questions on different leadership topics provided by the listeners. Please join us for this episode as we answer questions and discuss common mista...

As an administrator, there are days that can feel lonely and overwhelming, especially when you are new in the position. This week’s guest, Rachel George, shares her administrative struggles and humorous experiences to explain...

I had the amazing opportunity to moderate during the Teach Better 12 Hour Live Event with four amazing educators and podcasters. In this bonus episode, Jeffrey Prickett, Brittany Rincon, Robert Breyer, Deanna Lough, and I dis...

In a time where current events have created strong emotions, how are we able to have conversations about racism, equity, and injustice? This week’s guest, Hedreich Nichols, shares strategies she uses to facilitate difficult c...

I had the amazing opportunity to moderate during the Teach Better 12 Hour Live Event with two amazing educators. In this bonus episode, Hans Appel, Tre Gammage, and I discuss how to incorporate Social Emotional Learning (SEL)...

With the new experience of teaching virtually, many educators are struggling to teach in this new setting. What is the measure of success for teachers and students? What should our goal be as we teach online? This week’s gues...

With the battle of teaching students from a variety of learning environments, our schools are challenged with uncovering and solving many community challenges at the same time. In today’s episode featuring Andrew Stanton, Sar...

As our educational setting has shifted dramatically in a short period of time, the teaching strategies and educational tools needed to be successful have pushed educators to discover new ways to provide information and collab...

In this 17th Aspire Mailbag episode, Jeff Gargas and I answer questions on different leadership topics provided by the listeners. Please join us for this episode as we answer questions and discuss how to coach the coaches, es...