Baking Up Positivity in Education and Beyond with Phil Januszewski

WEBVTT

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And when we can show up to
not only our personal lives but our work.

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With that energy, we're able to
take on the unique things that happen

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to us every single day. Welcome
to the Leader of Learning Podcast. I'm

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your host, doctor Dan Krinis,
and this is where I help educators grow

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their impact as instructional leaders because my
research and leadership experiences have led me to

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understand that someone like you, regardless
of your role or your title, can

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have a tremendous impact on your organization. I chat with inspiring guests who are

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truly making an impact as instructional leaders. Whether this is your first time listening

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or you come back for more,
I hope you've subscribed to this show on

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your preferred podcast app so you don't
miss any of the great episodes, topics,

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or guests. Anyway, I'm so
glad you've tuned in. Now let's

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get started. Welcome into another episode
of The Leader of Learning Podcast. I

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have a great episode in store for
you with an amazing guest, Phil Jannazuski.

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But before we get there, I
just want to let you know that

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by the time this episode comes out, we're in April, and if you're

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an educator, like me. You're
down to the final couple months of the

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school year, believe it or not, and this might be the time of

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year where people start looking to make
some changes in their careers. Some people

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might even look to leave the classroom, but not because they want to leave

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teaching. It's because they want to
move into school leadership, becoming a coach

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or an administrator, and I have
a good resource for that. So I

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just wanted to remind you that I
have a guide called The Teacher's Guide to

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Becoming a School Leader. If you're
interested in taking that next step in your

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career, you might want to check
it out. It's at dankrinis dot com

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slash guide. I hope it helps
you fulfill your goal of reaching the next

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level. Now, let's get into
this episode. Since stepping into the classroom

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in two thousand and five, Phil
Janezuski hasn't just taught chemistry and physics,

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He's also become a beloved motivational speaker
who champions the well being and uplifting of

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educators everywhere. You might even recognize
him from his appearance on the Netflix show

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Nailed It Anyway. Phil's teaching strategy
draws from the science of energy, motivation

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and the pursuit of flow states.
This is a great episode. We had

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an amazing conversation and I can't wait
for you to listen. So coming up

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after these messages is my conversation with
Phil Fear of Learning. Welcome back into

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another exciting episode with a great guest, Phil Janezuski. He is a tattoo

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covered Netflix baking show flopping high energy, chemistry and physics teaching keynote speaker and

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coach on a mission to create and
spread happiness throughout education and motivation and entertainment.

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He is a nationally known dynamic speaker
and been a school educator since two

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thousand and five with the Bachelors in
Chemistry, Masters in Teaching Leadership, and

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Certification in Positive Education. Phil,
Welcome to the show. Really excited to

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have you because I think definitely this
idea of keeping things positive and education is

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extremely important and honestly, very timely
because we're kind of getting into the crunch

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time right like April May June,
we got state testing going on, probably

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where our listeners are coming from,
and then of course wrapping up the end

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of the year. So really excited
to dive in before we do. What

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else can you tell us about who
you are, where you are, and

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what you do. Thanks so much, Dot, I've got a pleasure to

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be here. Yeah. By day, I'm a chemistry physics teacher for the

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last nineteen years. By night,
I'm actually a motivational speaker, So I

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go around the country lifting up teachers, helping them build on their own personal

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selves first, kind of an upstream
approach before we even dive into the professional

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side of things. And totally was
called to do this, just tugging on

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the heartstrings due to so many great
humans, so many great teachers I see

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burning out even the profession. So
there's any way that I can help educators.

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I feel like that therefore then helps
students as well. So I'm all

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in man, just trying to help
our fellow educators out. The first question

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I'm going to ask you is not
the most important, but it's the most

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It's the most curiosity driven. What
Netflix baking show? Yeah, yeah,

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it's a great conversation starter, and
Dockett's not a good resume builder for sure.

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But I was on a show called
Nailed It. It's an amateur baking

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show, and you are set up
for failure it's a comedy show. So

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I had an eight hour professional cake
I had to make in two or two

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and a half hours. It was
an alien cake and you cut it open

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with an execto knife and it came
out like a lime coolly ooze. So

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I had a blast. Man.
I like attention, I like entertainment,

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I love baking, so it was
right up my alley. A good fourteen

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hour day of cameras and chaos.
So I ended up not winning doc and

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not winning the ten grand and my
kids were bummed, but I had a

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great time. I would do it
in a heartbeat again, knowing I lost.

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That's cool. No, we've definitely
seen that show. I might have

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even seen you on there and just
not known it. But that's a great

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story to tell, all right.
So now for the more important questions now

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that we got that out of the
way. I was just so curious when

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it comes to being positive and staying
motivated. I think where I'd like to

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start is, you've been in this
since about two thousand and five. I've

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been in education since two thousand and
six, so we're right around the same

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amount of time. And how is
it that you keep yourself going at this

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point. Yeah, I think that
everything starts at home upstream, which is

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what I love to dig in for
educators. I've always been someone who's had

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a lot of energy, a lot
of positive energy. Looked on the bright

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side, been healthy, and that
is allowed for energy. So I really

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started to dig into me personally.
What is it about me that allows me

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to be an outlier in the world
of energy, an outlier in the world

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of being a cheerleader for students,
for my coworkers, just having this enthusiasm

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and this resilience. And I started
digging in and realized that I think some

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foundational things in my life have really
helped me to maintain this energy. And

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I really got into the world of
positive psychology in the last five six years

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and really started to realize that those
things that I automatically did, you know,

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just accidentally, doc if I can
say that's my personality really is backed

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up by science into allowing you to
feel like you're flourishing and that So for

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me, I dig into a lot
of what I like to call my ers,

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the things that light me up.
I'm a father, I'm a creator,

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I'm a a worker, outer or
a lifter. I'm a baker,

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a cooker, I'm a teacher.
So when I know all those things that

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I those ers, things that I
love to do, and if I'm building

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them into my day every single day, I am naturally hitting on things that

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light me up so that when,
as we all know, in education,

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no matter what, there's going to
be things coming at you that you weren't

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expecting. A lot of times that
can be either draining or even negative.

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But as long as we're trying to
fill up that bank in a positive way

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and leaning into those ers that do
fill us up, we allow ourselves to

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be more energized, more resilient.
And when we can show up to not

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only our personal lives but our work
with that energy, we're able to take

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on the unique things that happen to
us every single day. The tough parent

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email, the tough interaction with the
student, the new thing that the school

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is going to try out. They
want you to try, but you're also

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trying to stay afloat with your regular
curriculum. So I like to look at

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the upstring approach for myself because if
I'm not good for me, then doc,

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when you come in with a new
idea that hey, let's try this

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in the classroom fill you can not
only do your chemistry curriculum, but it's

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going to allow them to be more
interactive and learn better. I'm able to

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say, you know what, Dan, all right, let's try it as

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opposed to whoa, whoa, everything's
burning down around me. Dan, I

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can't handle that right now. So
the idea that I have that energy already

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is so important, and I love
to dig into that on how we can

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do that. Once we know the
good stuff in our life, we build

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it into our schedule, and we
build that structure, and eventually we get

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to a point where we have this
extra energy, we have this extra vibe

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to us, and then we can
start giving it away. We can give

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it to our students, we can
give it to our families, our communities,

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and our coworkers. So to go
right back to where you originally started,

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that was natural for me, and
I didn't realize that. I was

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just lucky that it benefited me to
be resilient in this line of work.

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So I'm curious, and we will
dig deeper definitely throughout the conversation. But

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I'm curious because in your answer,
you started kind of talking about how over

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the past handful of years, as
you've digged dug into the science behind energy

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motivation, really staying up for the
job you're doing, the life you're living,

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parenting, whatever, what was it
that you found out about yourself that

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actually science said like, hey,
this is kind of how to do it.

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Yeah. I think one of the
big ones is like reaching a flow

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state when you find yourself doing the
things where you get lost in the time

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and your mind kind of checks out
from everything else and you can dive in.

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And when you hit those flow states, they're really good for you.

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Not only are they fulfilling and they
build you up again that positive mental bank,

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but also it's a huge stress reliever. So I found that that was

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one of the natural things. Another
one was that I'm a pretty structured guy.

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And because I'm a teacher, I
have two side companies, I have

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two children, I have a wife, I have extended family. I really

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need to be cognizant of how I
spend my time, and I'm very structured

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with my schedule, So that naturally
happened for me just to make sure that

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I could do everything well. And
I realize that when you build in like

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schedules and structures mentally, your brain
feels more in control. It takes less

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energy to think of, oh what
am I going to do next? What

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about this? And balancing, so
that structure allows our brain to feel more

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calm. It allows our brain to
feel more like we're in control, even

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though Dan, you know, nothing's
really in our control completely, especially in

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this line of work. So the
positive psych totally backed that up as well,

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which was great. Again, I
just lucked out that that naturally happened

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to me. And then also the
sense of giving and gratitude. One of

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my favorite things about being an educator
and a co worker is I like to

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do little quirky surprises and gifts and
pay it forward style vibes, if you

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will, to my coworkers and students. And one of the ways I do

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that, one of my love languages, Dan, is like baking. I

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like to make cakes and make them
for my co workers and you know,

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wow, I can't believe that surprise, you know. And I like to

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whip out some skillets and make pancakes
for my students and we just come together

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as a family and even though we're
learning, we're also connecting. So for

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me, that's one of my like
just unique, quirky things about me,

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But every teacher, every person has
their own gift that to them doesn't seem

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like a big deal. To me, Cooking and baking for a bunch of

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people isn't depleting. It actually built
me up. So when I can lean

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into what I call lean into your
purpose, lean into your passions, when

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I can do that and give that
to others, it not only fills them

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up, but it fills me up
as well, and it allows me to

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be happier and create this positive upward
spiral. So me doing that, I

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didn't even realize backed by positive psychology, the idea of giving and gratitude and

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expressing that also fills me up.
So really it was cool. I got

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so into it that I went to
the Flourishing Center and took like a thirty

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two hour course on positive psychology for
educators specifically, just because I got so

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into this and I was curious,
what am I doing that's supporting that and

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what other things can I do to
help my classroom. So I just kind

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of became obsessed with it. It's
just a new thing, and I've really

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enjoyed it because it's allowed me to
be happier but also allow me to help

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my coworkers, my family, and
my students be happier too. Hey,

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Leader of Learning, we'll be right
back with the episode. But I'm really

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loving all the positive energy that Phil
is bringing in this episode, and it

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reminded me to talk to you about
a product that I've been using to boost

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my own energy and productivity, and
I think you'll enjoy it too. It's

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called Magic Mind. Magic Mind is
the world's first productivity drink. It's a

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subtly sweet shot made with all natural
ingredients that you drink for a boost of

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energy and focus, to conquer procrastination
and elevate your mental clarity. You know

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that I'm a pretty busy guy juggling
a full time career, family and small

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business, and if I'm being honest, it's pretty hard to keep up with

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everything. That's why I decided to
start adding these drinks to my morning routine.

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I drink them along with my breakfast
in the morning, and it allows

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me to stay focused on everything I
need to get done each day. Normally,

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coffee is my drink of choice to
get that energy boost, but I

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only have one cup per day because
any more than that and it can make

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me a little jittery. So honestly, at first first I was hesitant to

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what I found out was that these
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as a supplement alongside your current morning
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minimal amounts of caffeine and is scientifically
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the body stress hormone cortisol like coffee. Well, anyway, if you're also

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productive. That's really cool, you
know. One of the things that I

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heard you say throughout that answer,
or at least that I was kind of

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reading between the lines, is it's
helpful to I think you said dive in

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or dig in to your your passions
and your interests. But you also talked

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about really making sure that you have
a system, a structure, a schedule

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to not just fit everything in.
But to I don't want to put words

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in your mouth that seemed like what
you were saying is like you want to

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make you want to make sure you're
making time for everything. And I don't

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think correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't think that means that it has

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to be equal time, but just
enough time right to devote to everything.

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Because I know one of the things
for me that I've really kind of I

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don't want to say perfected, but
one of the things I've really gotten to

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know throughout life and especially going through
my doctoral program a handful of years ago,

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is like, sometimes you do have
to pour into a certain bucket more

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than another one, and maybe you
need to reverse that at some point,

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but like sometimes you just need to
kind of prioritize. So I guess what

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I'm really trying to ask is like, if it's important to have some things

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going on that you are using for
this kind of positivity and motivation that aren't

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your job, your work life,
maybe even you know, I mean,

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let's face it, maybe not even
our family, because for some people,

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work is not just a you know, I don't want to say an escape

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because that makes it sound like you
really don't want to be with your family.

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But it really does charge you up, fires you up, it gives

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you that energy, but it's more
about like balancing. So I guess what

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I'm really asking is like, how
what's a good way then for people to

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systematize and schedule and make sure that
they're devoting enough time or really thinking about

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how much time to devote to each
of those things. I would think that

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your schedule is not only flexible,
right, it's going to consistently change.

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And as you said, you go
through seasons when you are working in the

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doctoral program. I'm sure that some
things had to get put more on the

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back burner as that came to the
forefront. And I think that that's super

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important to be cognizant of and just
accept the fact that sometimes in seasons more

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some things are more important than others. So yeah, equal time. I

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would never say that, and sometimes
the things that light you up you don't

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need a lot of time for.
So for me, music is a huge

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part of my life. So as
long as I'm getting in some solid,

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you know, ten fifteen minutes of
good music throughout the day, that fills

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whatever mood I'm in, that fills
me up enough. I don't need an

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hour of it now in my stage
in my life, I have an eleven

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year old and an eight year old
nine she would get upset she just turned

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nine, actually a nine year old. I think that I've tried to get

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as much time as I can with
them, while still I don't ever want

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to try to do a job but
only do it halfway. Whatever I do,

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I want to do it well.
So that's the hard part too with

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scheduling, is that I found you
have to start decluttering even the things that

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you enjoy, but you start asking
yourself what value is this bringing me even

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if I enjoy it. So one
of the things for me that not everybody

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loves to hear, and I'm not
saying everyone needs to do this, but

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for me, it was an hour
of television at night. I eventually got

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rid of it, just I enjoyed
it. It was decompressing. It was

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a nice habit. I looked forward
to it, but in the end,

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when I really thought about it,
it really wasn't fulfilling me as much as

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reading, learning, video, editing, creating. I get more payoff from

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that. So a lot of times
when we start getting into this idea of

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how do I make a structure,
how do I build a schedule, we'll

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also start to find, oh,
I wish I had more time for this.

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When you start looking at well,
do I really need this in my

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life? I know it's a habit, I often do it, but is

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it as valuable to me as something
else? So when you really start getting

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into that, and I've been lucky
to do that, I've been a youth

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motivational speaker since twenty thirteen and balancing
side jobs with full time career and family,

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it was important to build that structure. And there have been times where

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it's been out of balance, and
man, you can feel it. And

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then you have to start shifting and
being realistic and transparent with my spouse,

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with my business partner to figure out
where it all fits. So I know

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it's easy to just talk about you
know, you need to set a schedule

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but it is a sloppy process,
just like anything else. So I would

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recommend the first place to start is
by small things, maybe with a morning

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routine. Maybe just think about what
do I do in the morning. Does

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it fill me up? If it's
not, is there anything I could do

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to make it slightly better? So
try to start making little tweaks and parts

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of your day. Maybe it's during
school, during lunch. Are you eating

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lunch with coworkers? But unfortunately it's
just a really negative environment. And even

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though you may agree with a lot
of it, is it serving you well

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as opposed to Maybe I found myself
some years eating lunch in my car,

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the windows down, just because I'm
decompressing. It's quiet, I like the

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fresh air, a little vitamin D. So whatever serves you, you start

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to pick away at it, and
then once it starts working, I think

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things naturally start weaving into a better
schedule. And I think as educators we're

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pretty lucky because we already have schedules
seven eight hours a day anyways, with

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bells and where we're going. So
if we can extend that just a little

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before work and a little after,
I think it'll be a really natural progression.

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Speaking of which I think that's a
good segue. You use the term

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before, And I've been really trying
to be honest, and I'm no judgment

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or anything. I've been trying to
avoid the term burnout only mainly because I

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almost think it's become really too cliche
for educators to kind of quickly go that

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route. And to be honest,
I feel like I've been seeing education influence

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influencers kind of taking advantage a little
bit of this period in education history where

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so many teachers are feeling the burnout. But I mean, the term is

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what it is, so you know, if if teachers are feeling burned out

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and they do spend like you said
that seven eight hours of the day in

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school and they're still feeling like they
got to take work home with them,

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or it's just not as easy to
fit things in as you know, as

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we want them to, Like we
were already saying, kind of try to

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schedule in some things like what other
advice might you give to and and keep

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in mind, I have a pretty
mixed bag of an audience. We have

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classroom teachers, we got school administrators, we got higher ed like, we

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got a lot of people listening right
now, so as specific as you can,

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but keeping in mind, we got
a lot of different you know,

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job titles and descriptions and things like
what happens when we're really feeling that burnout?

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And look, we started by saying, we still got a couple of

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months left in the school year,
so what are we doing? Yeah,

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I like how you said that too. I tend to think of burnout maybe

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more as uninspired or just tired,
you know. So I agree with you

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that that's now the blanket statement.
And it is a bit cliche, though

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there are plenty of people that are
just shutting down and overwhelmed and leaving the

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field. But I think you're right. We've been talking a lot about in

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the education system. A lot of
people are feeling like, for lack of

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a better term, like death by
paper cuts. There just seems to be

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a lot of little jabs going our
way. There's feel people don't feel a

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sense of trust in some teachers.
You know, the system keeps changing,

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and change is tough on a brain. There's just a lot of changes going

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on and it is scary to the
brain, right, And we're trying to

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the main idea, The main goal
of the brain is to survive. So

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it is a unique situation for sure, but I agree. I think my

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biggest fear is that if we're showing
up to work uninspired, then it's hard

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to push through. So you're right, so say you've you've got a schedule,

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but you're still overwhelmed. In that, I think it goes back to

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those basics that probably anyone that is
you know, quote unquote a burnout coach

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would say is that you have to
set realistic boundaries. And no one wants

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to hear that because that means putting
your foot down and easing off something.

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So I agree with you. A
lot of influencers are cashing in on that

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burnout term to get your attention.
But then if for some of them,

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they have some advice that is interesting
to hear, like maybe the amount of

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assignments you're grading and setting up,
maybe you're creating a work cloth that isn't

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necessary. Is there a way that
you can lean on your instructional coaches to

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find a way that's more efficient for
their learning quicker, but also less burden

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on you? And I think in
my second half of my career now every

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decision I make asks is this going
to allow my students to learn better.

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And then also, is this going
to create more work for me the same

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amount or less in the end,
Because if it's a dramatic more, then

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I need to think about is there
a different way to do it where I

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can still allow my kids to learn
better but not put all the burden on

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me. And I think when I've
taken that approach, it served me well

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because my job is manageable when I
make those decisions decisions intentionally. So that

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is a pride swallowing thing though,
right Dan, Especially if you're talking to

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a coworker who's just hanging on.
They're exhausted, they're not sleeping while at

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home, their home life's a mess. They're coming here, they're putting out

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fires here, hard for them to
not be well. As your latest podcast

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episode, I was just hearing you're
talking about people are resistant to change,

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right, So if we're not taking
care upstream of ourself first, then it

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is hard to even pull back a
little bit and see the big picture.

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So I would say the boundaries and
the decisions we make are important, but

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it's hard to do that if we're
in such a rhythm and such a survival

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mode. It is hard to make
those changes. And that's why I'd say

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lean on your instructional coaches because they
can definitely see the bigger picture and maybe

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help you, and that'll help you
get more control. And then another thing

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too, is that even if work
is a little bit of a mess,

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there are basics that we've learned since
kindergarten that make all the difference, and

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that's getting your sleep and taking care
of yourself and trying to eat fairly well

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balanced. And when you do those
three things, a lot changes in our

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life. And a lot of people
say, I just don't have the time

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to get seven eight hours in and
I fully respect that, but is there

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a way to declutter more things?
Are there things that are in your life

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that aren't as important as sleep?
Because when you can take a little bit

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better care of yourself, all of
a sudden, you do have that energy

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to start making better choices. And
then when Dan shows up and says,

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I got this idea, and I
think it's going to make your job quicker,

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easier to grade, but also they're
going to retain it so better.

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They're going to be able to be
open minded to and be like, all

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right, let's try it. Then
I'm all ears anything down for helping kids

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learn more and also helping me with
my job. This podcast is a cloud

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member of the Teach Better podcast Network, Better Today, Better Tomorrow, and

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00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:56.000
a podcast to get you there.
Explore more podcasts at www dot Teach Better

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Podcastnetwork dot com. Now let's get
back to the episode. You know,

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as you're talking, I was kind
of self reflecting a little bit about a

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couple of moves that I made in
my career to help try in like you

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said, declutter in terms of my
instruction, especially one I was. I

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was a classroom ELA teacher for a
while, and one of the big shifts

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I made was I realized I was
doing way more work on student writing than

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they were. So when I implemented
things like peer editing and you know,

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more of a concerted effort for like
revisions and things, and and for the

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students themselves to take more ownership over
their own self editing and self assessment,

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that helped a ton. I wasn't, you know, I wasn't reviewing each

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essay that the students wrote with such
a fine toothed comb anymore. It was

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like it was a relief. It
definitely was the other thing I did,

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even after I was in an instructional
coaching role for a while, and I

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was put back in the classroom for
a little bit. I started using what's

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known as layered curriculum, a little
bit like choice boards or other student choice

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related activities, where I did a
lot of planning and I front loaded the

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units By building out these these tiered
or leveled activities. Some students could kind

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of only complete the ones at the
lower level, other ones went further.

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So it was a system of differentiation. But what I realized was sometimes even

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though I did a lot of planning
up front throughout the course of the unit

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and even the lessons themselves, so
much more time was turned over to students

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versus me having to kill myself planning
every single day or every week, you

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know, laying out the lesson plans
for the week and all that. Like

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it was kind of done for me. Yeah, I had to spend a

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lot of time planning it up front, but once I did, you know,

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it kind of took care of itself
after a little bit. And then

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I would say too, like for
me, honestly, I've never had well,

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I shouldn't say never, I've briefly
only ever had less than about a

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forty five minute commute each way to
and from the schools that I've worked at,

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sometimes over an hour each way,
and I enjoy driving, to be

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honest, And it's I think because
of some of this, Like it allows

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me to kind of get fired up
in the morning, it allows me to

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sort of decompress on the way home. And not everybody can do this,

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but I do really enjoy go figure, listening to podcasts and kind of getting

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some professional development, let's say,
like personalized professional development during my commute.

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Sometimes though, I listen to audiobooks
or something different, and it's just like

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I use my commute as a way
to do some of this as well,

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because even though I can't really quote
unquote work on anything concrete in terms of

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you know, my work or my
family. Like even that time that I'm

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in the car driving, I'm trying
to stay mindful. I guess of some

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of these things too, and things
that will get me into what I'm doing,

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whether it's at work or at home. Yeah, it's like the drive

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by university, you know what I
mean. I do the same thing.

409
00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:18.839
I have a thirty five minute drive
and it's I'm a learner. That's one

410
00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:25.400
of my errors, and it's a
podcast or an audiobook, and I agree

411
00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:29.680
with you. It's time that could
be dead, or it's time that could

412
00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:33.079
be used for reflection, or it's
time that could be used for growing.

413
00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:36.920
But you know that that helps and
benefits you, and what I do benefits

414
00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:41.039
me. But being intentional about that
is really being useful of your time.

415
00:30:41.160 --> 00:30:44.559
So I'm totally on board with you. And then when you were talking about

416
00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:47.720
the choices you made in your classroom, the two of the biggest choices I

417
00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:51.839
made that made the hugest impact for
me as far as workload. But helping

418
00:30:51.880 --> 00:30:57.079
students is for every single traditional physics
and chemistry worksheet that we do, you

419
00:30:57.119 --> 00:31:02.319
know that's still typical we still practice. I have an answer key available and

420
00:31:02.359 --> 00:31:07.160
I've made a video of every problem
going through, and I have students some

421
00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:10.440
that go right to the video,
headphone in and follow along with me.

422
00:31:10.759 --> 00:31:14.920
I have some students that look at
the answer key, try look work.

423
00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:18.599
I have some that do neither.
Do it separate and they grade themselves.

424
00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:22.799
But in the end we check in
the work. I answer individual questions.

425
00:31:22.839 --> 00:31:27.559
But it's freed up so much time
of me going through every problem. It's

426
00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:33.279
now specific to that learner. So
we say, all right, everybody's in

427
00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:36.480
different spots who you know, call
me over, and then they do,

428
00:31:36.599 --> 00:31:38.440
Hey, I struggled with this one. Looked at the answer key in the

429
00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:41.599
video. I still don't know where
this number came from. I'm like,

430
00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:45.680
now we're talking, we're getting specific
questions that they care about, not the

431
00:31:45.720 --> 00:31:48.640
ones that I think they should care
about on the board. So that was

432
00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:51.119
game changer for me, and you're
right, it was a lot of work

433
00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:53.400
up front, but worth it in
the end, especially for my students who

434
00:31:53.400 --> 00:31:56.400
miss a week or that they you
know, like, hey, I don't

435
00:31:56.400 --> 00:31:59.640
know how to catch up, Like, take your time, go on the

436
00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:02.200
class schedule, you can start watching
my videos. Little by little, you're

437
00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:05.839
gonna be able to catch up,
no problem. And it's a lifesaver for

438
00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:08.839
me too because I don't have to
I don't have to find that time to

439
00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:13.119
help them, and while my other
students they can get that and then come

440
00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:15.920
with specifics. The other thing that's
really changed the game for me is every

441
00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:20.960
unit I have small quizzes in there
and then the big unit. The quiz

442
00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:24.640
scores are whatever they can get doesn't
matter, because at the end, whatever

443
00:32:24.680 --> 00:32:29.279
that unit test is if their test
score is higher than their quiz grade,

444
00:32:29.559 --> 00:32:32.319
I bring the quiz score up to
that test percent. The goal for me

445
00:32:32.519 --> 00:32:36.039
is that I want them to know
that a quiz is a speed bump.

446
00:32:36.279 --> 00:32:37.920
It's just hey, we're figuring out
where we're at. Hey, man,

447
00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:42.319
you only do sixty percent. You
aren't ready for the test yet. But

448
00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:45.680
that's okay. That sixty percent is
going to go a way because in a

449
00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:49.039
week and a half you are going
to crush this test. But now we

450
00:32:49.119 --> 00:32:52.240
got to dig where are you weak? Where do we need to get the

451
00:32:52.279 --> 00:32:54.279
help? And that's what's great.
I dangle the carrot because, as you

452
00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:58.960
know, Doc, I mean,
they're worried about the grade, but what

453
00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:01.440
they're accidentally doing, and I ran
mind them constantly, you're actually doing the

454
00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:06.440
learning process. You're figuring out what
you know and don't know, fixing the

455
00:33:06.440 --> 00:33:09.160
weak spots, and now you're crushing
the test. My grades have gone up

456
00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:13.599
because of that. Their knowledge has
gone up because of that. And also

457
00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:16.440
it takes a lot of stress off
them. Like I did poorly on this

458
00:33:16.519 --> 00:33:19.559
quiz, I'm freaking out. No
no, no, no, no,

459
00:33:19.759 --> 00:33:22.759
let's just let's work a little bit
each day. You're gonna be ready.

460
00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:27.319
It's we're built for this. And
I tell you it has alleviated so much

461
00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:31.160
pressure on them, so much pressure
from the parents to them because the parents

462
00:33:31.240 --> 00:33:35.240
know as well, okay, this
wasn't great, but make sure you're going

463
00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:38.079
into mister j get some help on
those week spots so we can crush that

464
00:33:38.200 --> 00:33:42.160
test. So I don't know if
everyone would love that, but I think

465
00:33:42.200 --> 00:33:45.000
it's been a huge game changer for
me and the success of my students.

466
00:33:45.799 --> 00:33:51.839
Well, that's great. And again
I think in the similarity between the stories

467
00:33:51.839 --> 00:33:58.279
that we've both shared is well two
things. One figuring out systems that will

468
00:33:58.319 --> 00:34:02.240
work for us and in our class
rooms and with our students that shares more

469
00:34:02.279 --> 00:34:06.400
of the responsibility, right, And
in education we talk about the gradual release,

470
00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:10.199
like this is releasing some more responsibility
and empowering students to do a little

471
00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:15.239
more, but to share. It's
it's in the name of sharing that workload,

472
00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:19.960
right. And you know, dare
I say, being for the teacher

473
00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:23.719
to be that guide on the side
where you know, a little bit less

474
00:34:23.880 --> 00:34:25.920
work, I don't, well,
I don't want to say like you don't

475
00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:29.440
have to work as hard, but
like a little bit less work for you

476
00:34:29.800 --> 00:34:32.519
a little bit more on the plate
of the students, might you know,

477
00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:37.719
alleviate some of that stress. You
mentioned the ers, and one of them

478
00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:42.320
is learner. What are what are
the other ones? For me? Learner?

479
00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:49.719
Father, creator, lifter, like
music listener, like a reader,

480
00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:54.760
lover, teacher. I got a
lot of ers, and we talk about

481
00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:59.960
that too when I speak with educators. There's ers we have that don't necessarily

482
00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:02.280
fill us up, but they're part
of our life and they're important. The

483
00:35:02.360 --> 00:35:06.159
important thing to know is what are
the ers that build us up? And

484
00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:08.000
how are you hitting on them each
and every single day, Dan, even

485
00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:10.880
if it's five minutes. But like
you, you're structured guy, right,

486
00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:15.360
you're hitting a big drive there and
back. Think of the wisdom, the

487
00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:21.079
inspiration you're gaining because you are a
learner. Now. I'd run into a

488
00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:23.000
lot of teachers too who say,
I'm embarrassed to say, Phil, you

489
00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:27.239
know I'm thirty five or I'm fifty
five. I don't really know what my

490
00:35:27.400 --> 00:35:29.920
ers are. I don't really know
what I like. So I always try

491
00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:31.679
to get them to go to the
Via Institute, which is one of those

492
00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:36.920
quick surveys, and they look in
your character strengths and they give you your

493
00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:39.280
top five. So for like me, mine is like love, humor,

494
00:35:39.639 --> 00:35:44.920
curiosity, learning, and something else. I forgot the fifth one. But

495
00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:45.880
you can start looking at all,
right, if you don't know what your

496
00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:49.480
ers are, at least you know, like, what are your big strengths

497
00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:52.840
that you can get in a flow
state with and then how are you introducing

498
00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:55.800
those daily? And a lot of
people can definitely shove it aside, you

499
00:35:55.800 --> 00:36:00.239
know, just like you try to
get some new instructional tools or techniques and

500
00:36:00.239 --> 00:36:05.000
they're resilient. A lot of people
are resilient about you know, your character

501
00:36:05.079 --> 00:36:08.639
strengths. They think it sounds hippy
dippy, you know I And there's actual

502
00:36:08.679 --> 00:36:13.239
science to back it up, even
though you know it's called like soft skills,

503
00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:16.400
which is an accidental way they coin
that. I didn't realize that hard

504
00:36:16.400 --> 00:36:21.360
skills when the military was like holding
machines and guns, so they called everything

505
00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:23.159
else soft skills, and it made
it sound weak, even though the military

506
00:36:23.239 --> 00:36:25.880
never made it to sound like that. I just heard that recently. I

507
00:36:25.880 --> 00:36:30.719
thought that was fascinating. But anyways, the more we know about ourselves and

508
00:36:30.760 --> 00:36:37.000
the more intentional we are about building
in not selfishly but intentionally the good stuff.

509
00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:39.119
You're going to be more resilient,
You're going to be more patient,

510
00:36:39.199 --> 00:36:43.519
you're going to be more friendly,
you're going to be more energized. You're

511
00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:45.440
going to be able to roll with
the punches, and that's going to allow

512
00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:50.199
you to do everything better, not
just reach students, but enjoy your life,

513
00:36:50.440 --> 00:36:54.320
be a better partner. Everything that's
great. As we wrap up and

514
00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:58.559
wind down a little bit, I
want, well, first, if there's

515
00:36:58.599 --> 00:37:00.480
anything else that you have been able
to share or I haven't asked you,

516
00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:05.639
please use this time to do so. But also, we got a couple

517
00:37:05.719 --> 00:37:09.119
months left in the school year.
I think some of the audience may only

518
00:37:09.159 --> 00:37:14.079
have like two full months April and
May. I have a couple of weeks

519
00:37:14.079 --> 00:37:17.880
into June and some people do too. But we're winding down. So as

520
00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:21.840
you wrap up, and again,
if there's anything else that you want to

521
00:37:21.880 --> 00:37:25.079
add, give us, give us
like a mini motivational speech, like how

522
00:37:25.079 --> 00:37:28.559
do we what's the best way for
us to get through the rest of the

523
00:37:28.559 --> 00:37:31.760
school year? You got it.
Before I go into motivation mode, I

524
00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:37.239
do offer I have a educator membership
program called the Positive Growth Lounge, and

525
00:37:37.360 --> 00:37:42.400
we meet twice a month virtually on
Wednesday nights at seven thirty pm Central,

526
00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:45.280
and alls we do is pour into
each other. And then I'm kind of

527
00:37:45.280 --> 00:37:50.239
I'm the lead coach, and we
have one new positive psychology topic, super

528
00:37:50.360 --> 00:37:53.960
light, nothing too heavy. But
it's all about not pedagogy, not about

529
00:37:54.239 --> 00:37:59.840
instructional strategies, even though those are
all important. It's about pouring into ourselves

530
00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:02.480
that we can show up better for
our life and in the classroom just as

531
00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:07.360
importantly. So if anyone's interested in
that and they hear this, just reach

532
00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:09.360
out to me via email and you're
more than welcome to be a guest to

533
00:38:09.480 --> 00:38:13.119
check it out and see if it's
your vibe. The more the merrier.

534
00:38:13.159 --> 00:38:15.599
We are a small but mighty group
that pour into each other. So thanks.

535
00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:19.440
I just wanted to make sure I
mentioned that. And then as far

536
00:38:19.519 --> 00:38:23.119
as shutting her down, here,
doctor Dan, let's do it. Friends.

537
00:38:23.480 --> 00:38:29.559
We have to be intentional and take
control of our happiness and the idea

538
00:38:29.679 --> 00:38:34.719
that we can flourish. Happiness is
like a leaky tire, it was said,

539
00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:38.360
happiness, you build it up no
matter what. Eventually that tire will

540
00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:44.039
deflate. Happiness is not something we
reach and it stays forever. It's something

541
00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:47.639
we actively pursue. The way to
do that is to build in into our

542
00:38:49.119 --> 00:38:52.920
schedule the things that fill us up. And when we do that, it

543
00:38:52.960 --> 00:38:55.039
takes less energy to hit on those
things. And by the end of the

544
00:38:55.119 --> 00:38:59.559
night, when you put your head
down on that pillow, you have checked

545
00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:04.960
so many any positive boxes without even
having to try that it's not exhausting,

546
00:39:05.480 --> 00:39:08.360
but you only are left with the
sense of gratitude, a sense of inspiration

547
00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:13.039
in that a positive bank to start
your day for the next one. And

548
00:39:13.079 --> 00:39:15.039
it takes intention, it takes work
and energy, but I swear to you

549
00:39:15.159 --> 00:39:19.119
it's worth it. I live it, I love it, and I love

550
00:39:19.159 --> 00:39:22.599
trying to help people get there.
So Doc, thanks so much for your

551
00:39:22.599 --> 00:39:25.480
time though. It's been a pleasure
to speak with you and to your audience

552
00:39:25.519 --> 00:39:30.880
as well. Yeah. Great again. All the links to connect with Phil

553
00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:38.559
and find his positivity programs and everything
he does websites are Phil Jenazuski and also

554
00:39:38.679 --> 00:39:45.760
Positive Growth Lounge dot com, and
of course all the links and social contacts

555
00:39:45.760 --> 00:39:49.239
and emails will be in the show
notes for this episode. Phil, thanks

556
00:39:49.280 --> 00:39:52.119
so much. This was really great, and you know, of course it's

557
00:39:52.599 --> 00:40:00.119
always just an amazing opportunity to talk
about how to stay positive and motivated as

558
00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:04.639
an educator, because sometimes it's not
easy. So thank you so much,

559
00:40:05.239 --> 00:40:07.199
my pleasure. Thanks for having me. We'll have to swap some good book

560
00:40:07.239 --> 00:40:15.480
ideas soon you're a learner. Well
that's it for this episode. Thank you

561
00:40:15.719 --> 00:40:20.320
so much for listening. If you
haven't done so yet, don't forget to

562
00:40:20.360 --> 00:40:23.800
subscribe to this show on your favorite
podcast app. If you enjoy the content

563
00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:28.239
covered on this show, I want
to ask you to do this one thing

564
00:40:28.320 --> 00:40:31.639
for me. Please share it.
The biggest favor you could ever do for

565
00:40:31.760 --> 00:40:36.880
me is to please let others know
about what I'm doing and how I'm helping

566
00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:42.000
educators grow their impact as instructional leaders. I hope you can share this podcast

567
00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:45.880
with other educators, leaders, friends, or anyone you think would love listening

568
00:40:45.960 --> 00:40:51.000
and learning. If you're interested in
leaving a positive rating and review of this

569
00:40:51.119 --> 00:40:54.960
show, links to do so are
always in the show notes for every episode.

570
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.760
For more information about me or this
show, and to access the great

571
00:40:59.800 --> 00:41:04.079
content that I share, please visit
my website at Leader of Learning dot com.

572
00:41:04.360 --> 00:41:07.880
That's where you can find my online
courses, YouTube channel blog, how

573
00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:12.960
to connect with me on social media, and even ways that you can support

574
00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:17.320
the show like donating or purchasing Leader
of Learning merchandise. Thanks again, and

575
00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:22.800
remember, no matter who you are
or where you are, you are a

576
00:41:22.920 --> 00:41:22.719
Leader of Learning.