In this episode, host Mike Caldwell sits down with Jo Lane, an educator support and instructional coach with 16 years of experience, who is currently a principal coach based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jo shares insights from her new book, Burn the Script: How Great Coaches Disrupt Thinking and Transform Practice, released May 19th.The conversation dives deep into the concept of "mental fossils" — the ingrained beliefs and behavioral scripts educators develop from past professional experiences that often hold them back from growth. Jo breaks down how beliefs are anchored by three factors: skill, identity, and value, and explains why simply teaching a skill isn't enough to change behavior if underlying beliefs aren't addressed.Show Notes:Substack: EduCoach by Jo LeinLinkedIn: Jo LeinBook: Burn the Script: How Great Coaches Disrupt Mindsets and Transform PracticeInstagram/TikTok: @educoachbyjo

Host Eric Makelky sits down with Katie Kelly and Sarah Merkt, co-founders of Crescanova Global, an online (and in-person, via Crescanova Labs) enrichment program serving students across five continents. Katie and Sarah unpack their concept of "inspired learning" — designing classes around curiosity-sparking questions rather than rigid skill-based standards — and share real examples, from a class on designing alien life to a lesson born from a power outage. They discuss how they train teachers to follow student curiosity, how classes are structured for different age bands, and how they support parents navigating homeschool and supplemental education choices, including free consultations and their monthly "Student Sparks" webinar series.

Jake Rupp teaches AP Lang and public speaking, and he built his TikTok following by breaking down rhetoric in bite-sized lessons. In this episode we get into what voice actually means, why AI-written text is so easy to spot, and why Jake has decided AI has no place in his classroom at all.Jake grades without points. He built a feedback and revision system years before AI showed up, and students are still using AI to write their own reflections on their own AI-generated work. That single fact reshapes the whole conversation. We talk about a student who told him flat out she wasn't thinking about getting caught; she just needed the assignment done. We talk about the curse of knowledge and why group work and presentations fail when we assign them without ever teaching them. And we talk about whether early AI exposure builds better judgment later or just moves the desensitization earlier.This one gets a little heated, a lot honest, and ends with Jake handing me one of the best lines I've recorded on this show.Find Jake on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and beyond!Connect with Matt on LinkedIn!Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction2:00 Jake's background teaching rhetoric and how his TikTok lessons grew out of the classroom21:00 AI and student voice, the cognitive offload problem24:00 The student who said "I wasn't thinking about you at all"30:00 Jake's gradeless classroom and why it hasn't stopped AI misuse36:00 The curse of knowledge and why we assign skills we never teach41:00 Tech giants, AI in schools, and the shift from preference to reliance50:00 The doctor question, and proving what you actually know56:00 Gen Z, work ethic, and whether AI anxiety is about something else1:01:00 Student disgust at AI generated feedback and Jake's non-negotiables1:05:00 Being curious about the future, without AI1:07:00 Wrap-up and where to find Jake

Artificial intelligence is changing how we think about teaching, learning, and the future of work. As schools begin introducing AI literacy and new technologies, a deeper question is emerging: What human qualities become even more valuable in an AI-enabled world?In this conversation, Mike Miles, Superintendent of Houston ISD, shares the thinking behind Future 2—an initiative that responds to AI not by centering technology, but by intentionally building the human competencies students will need to thrive alongside it.Rather than focusing solely on AI tools, Future2 expands opportunities for critical thinking, communication, collaboration, design thinking, emotional intelligence, and real-world experiences, while continuing to strengthen core academics. Mike explains why these competencies are becoming central to the curriculum, how Houston is embedding them into the school day, and why he believes schools must prepare students not simply to use AI, but to work, create, and lead in a world where AI is everywhere.

Host: John Mihalyo | Guest: Sloane Heffernan, Founder, StorymoreYour school has an incredible story happening inside its four walls every single day. So why does almost nobody outside those walls know about any of it?Sloane Heffernan spent the majority of her career in broadcast news at NBC affiliates in Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina before the weight of the stories she was covering started eating away at her. She left the newsroom and founded Storymore, where she now helps organizations, including Catholic schools across the country, find and share their stories through video and clear messaging. She's also sent all three of her own kids through Catholic school, so this conversation is personal for her too.In this episode, Sloane and John dig into why so many Catholic schools are sitting on one of the best kept secrets in education, and what it actually takes to stop keeping it. They talk about the real difference between putting information out there and telling a story people feel, why the school leader usually isn't the right person to be the face of that story, and how any school, regardless of budget, can start capturing what is already happening in their classrooms today.Here is some of what they get into:Why storytelling beats "drill and kill" messaging, and the difference between noise and soundHow to find your one target person and talk directly to them instead of a crowdWhy parents and teachers make better storytellers than principalsThe two most common excuses schools give for not telling their story, and how to move past themWhy you do not need a big budget or a film crew, just a phone and the willingness to hit recordHow to "story mine" your own school to uncover what actually sets you apartWhy that old COVID era welcome video still sitting on your homepage might be quietly costing you trustA two week summer challenge to keep your families connected before the fallIf you have ever looked around your school and thought, "we are doing amazing things and nobody knows it," this one is going to give you a lot to think about and a lot to go do.Connect with John If you want to talk about your school's story, enrollment, or advancement strategy, head over to www.elementaryadvancement.com and let's set up a time to connect.Learn more about Story-more here!If this episode was helpful, subscribe and share it with another Catholic school leader who needs to hear this. Thank you for everything you do for your students, your families, and the mission of Catholic education.