In this episode, Bob shares his professional journey—from his early years in Fresno Unified School District, one of the largest districts in California, to leading a small rural district, and ultimately returning to Fresno Unified as superintendent. Along the way, he reflects on the lessons he’s learned in leadership—what works, what doesn’t, and what he would do differently.Dr. Bob Nelson is an Assistant Professor in the Kremen School of Education and Human Development at Fresno State, where he teaches in the Department of Educational Leadership. He is also the Founder and CEO of #MilitantPositivity, LLC, an organization focused on speaking, consulting, and podcasting in education.LinkedIn: Bob Nelson | LinkedInFacebook: (2) Facebook

If you're in Learning & Development, there’s one question you can’t ignore: what happens when you don’t need your tools anymore?This week on The Fabulous Learning Nerds, Scott and Dan explore a bold shift in how learning gets built—moving from traditional authoring tools to AI-driven, prompt-based creation. From building fully functional SCORM courses in minutes to generating executive-ready presentations with nothing but notes and curiosity, they unpack what it really means to “build without tools.”Whether you’re an instructional designer, learning leader, or just starting to experiment with AI, this episode challenges you to rethink where your value truly lies—and how to stay ahead when speed, iteration, and curiosity become your biggest differentiators.3 Key Takeaways:Tools are no longer the barrier—your thinking is. The ability to design, prompt, and refine matters more than mastering any single platform. Curiosity is your competitive advantage. Those willing to experiment, fail, and iterate will outpace those waiting for certainty. AI accelerates the build—but you own the impact. Your value is in context, storytelling, and driving behavior change—not just creating content. The Nerds You Know:Scott Schuette: Training strategist, creativity engine, and host of the Fabulous Learning Nerds, Scott is always looking for smarter, faster ways to drive impact—while keeping learning human. Daniel Coonrod: Resident storyteller and facilitation expert, Daniel brings curiosity and experimentation to the forefront, constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with AI in L&D. Connect with the NERDS:Email: nerds@thelearningnerds.comFacebook: Learning Nerds Instagram: @FabLearningNerds Website: www.thelearningnerds.comDon’t Miss Out!🎧 Listen to the episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts Catch the episode now on your favorite podcast platform and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and leave us a review!

In this episode, Priten speaks with Mary Shawn Newins, a computer science teacher in Greensboro, North Carolina, who arrived in the classroom at sixty with decades of corporate and sales experience but no coding background. Her unusual arc gives her permission to build AI literacy alongside her students rather than ahead of them. What emerges is a classroom culture where curiosity itself—not mastery or fear—becomes the pedagogical goal. She uses practical structures like a "quack" incentive and peer questioning to shift how students see AI: not as a shortcut to avoid, but as a tool that works best when you know what you actually want to learn.Key Takeaways:Curiosity as a pedagogical aim changes everything about how students use AI. When learning for its own sake is the standard—not grades or compliance—AI becomes a catalyst for deeper exploration rather than a means of dodging work. A student asking AI about birds of prey out of genuine interest learns far more than one copying homework.Making AI use visible and gamified shifts students from hiding it to owning it. Mary's "quack quack" jar and peer accountability turn using AI into something worth discussing openly. Social transparency works where rules do not.Three non-negotiable standards replace prohibition: name the tool, share the prompt, explain the output in your own words. This mirrors citation practices students already know. It's not about policing—it's about maintaining the chain between question, resource, and understanding.Strict phones, generous computers reflects a deeper principle about attention and agency. Banning personal devices while enabling desktop computers creates a bounded space for learning. The boundary isn't about rejecting technology; it's about who controls the environment.Late-career teachers bring a rare asset: they remember how knowledge worked before AI. Mary's corporate background means she can model learning alongside students without needing to be the expert first. That permission ripples through the classroom.Mary Shawn M. Newins is a Marketing and Computer Science educator at Southern Guilford High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. She has been a full-time faculty member since Spring 2023 and proudly serves as the school’s AI Champion, supporting innovative and responsible technology integration in the classroom. Mary holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Bowling Green State University and is an Ambassador for the CodeMonkey High School curriculum, advocating for accessible and engaging computer science education for all students. Before transitioning into education, Mary spent 30 years in the business sector, working across business-to-business sales, retail, direct sales, and operations management. Outside the classroom, Mary is a wardrobe stylist at Chico’s Friendly Center, a denim upcycler, and a creative at heart who enjoys painting.

In this episode of The Principal’s Handbook, we tackle one of the most common and frustrating complaints principals hear: “Nothing happens to kids.” If you’ve heard this from your teachers, this episode will help you understand what’s really behind it and why it’s not about you being a bad leader or teachers being negative. We break down the five root causes of this belief. You’ll learn how these hidden issues create inconsistency, frustration, and a sense of overwhelm across your building.  More importantly, this episode gives you three practical ways to fix it.  If discipline is taking over your day or you’re hearing growing frustration from staff, this episode will help you identify exactly where the breakdown is and how to rebuild a system that actually works.Check out The Team Approach to Challenging Student Behaviors.Get the Principal's Discipline Toolkit. 

In this episode, host Erin Bailey sits down with Dr. Timothy Shanahan — professor emeritus, former president of the International Literacy Association, and Reading Hall of Fame inductee — to discuss his groundbreaking new book, Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives.Dr. Shanahan challenges one of education's most deeply held assumptions: that students should be matched to texts at their individual reading level. Drawing on decades of research, he explains why this practice may actually be holding kids back — and what teachers should be doing instead.About Dr. Tim Shanahan:Timothy Shanahan is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chi­cago where he was Founding Di­rector of the UIC Center for Literacy. Previously, he was director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools. He is author/editor of more than 300 publications on literacy education. His research emphasizes the improvement of reading achievement, teaching reading with challenging text, reading-writing relationships, the and disciplinary literacy.Tim is past president of the International Literacy Association. He served as a member of the Advisory Board of the National Institute for Literacy under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and he helped lead the National Reading Panel, convened at the request of Congress to evaluate research on the teaching reading, a major influence on reading education. He chaired two other federal research review panels: the National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children and Youth, and the National Early Literacy Panel, and helped write the Common Core State Standards.He was inducted to the Reading Hall of Fame in 2007, and is a former first-grade teacher.Dr. Shanahan's Blog: Literacy Blogs | Shanahan on LiteracyLeveled Reading, Leveled Lives: Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives