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I am a speaker, podcaster, author, and coach. I help school leaders and other influential people be their best and lead effectively. My podcast Transformative Principal is the most downloaded and longest running podcast for school leaders out there.
May 14, 2026 Hi Reader I’d like to share something with you through the BE Podcast Network that’s been coming up often in my conversations with school and district leaders. One question keeps circling back. How can schools reduce chronic absenteeism in a way that helps students feel connected, supported, and eager to come to school? I’ve been paying close attention to the work Playworks is doing in this area, especially as more schools look for practical ways to improve attendance. Their...
May 14, 2026 Have you ever felt like a bad parent, even when you were doing everything you could? I know that feeling. In the fall of 2018, a doctor told me, “I would have operated on your daughter six months ago.” Hearing that was devastating. My oldest daughter had been complaining about knee pain for several months. We took her to a specialist in Fairbanks and he said there was nothing wrong. But I knew there was. Eventually, we found a specialist in Anchorage, and he saw her, but he said...
May 14, 2026 I’ve been interested for a long time in the idea of soft skills. I even helped produce a podcast focused on this called Skilled by Design. Tom Bay has done a lot of work in this arena. As has Seth Godin. I recently found Dr. Marvin Berkowitz’s book PRIMED for Character Education: Six Design Principles for School Improvement to have the best definition, and one that I will adopt and use frequently. I only wish I had come up with it. I use the notions of organic vs. mechanical...