Check out John’s previous episode on Educators Lead: http://www.
John has a young, growing family and is returning to Educator’s Lead for his second interview (his first was Episode #97) (1:45)
John has a degree in math, but instead of his original plan of working for a major defense contractor, he applied for a schoolteacher position, and has never looked back. He now oversees 8 high school, 1100 teachers, and 24,500 students (3:48)
What John did when he found himself just kind of going through the motions, and why you have to be willing to take risks (6:54)
Some ways 3-D printing can change education, in every grade and classroom, and the time a class 3-D printed a new hand for a teacher who had lost one due to illness (11:05)
John explains why he wrote his new book Table Talk Math, and what it’s all about (16:40)
How John’s parents helped him learn to love understand math (20:30)
How Twitter has greatly improved John’s professional life (24:57)
Some things parents can do to help their kids retain their learning over the summer and during the school year (27:00)
How to find time to write a book while working lots of hours and raising a young family (34:55)
Parents can use John’s website TableTalkMath.com to help their kids develop math fluency (37:11)
Some fun facts about John’s book (39:37)
The importance of saying “yes, and…” (41:35)
Don’t be afraid of looking silly from time to time (42:27
The one book that’s had the most impact on John (43:07)
Some great advice for administrators working with students (43:59)
You’ve got to invest time in your teachers when making big changes (44:50)
If John had a time machine, here’s the advice he would go back and give his younger self when he was just starting out in administration (47:54)
Visual Patterns (Fawn Nguyen’s website)
Books mentioned in this episode
Table Talk Math: A Practical Guide for Bringing Math Into Everyday Conversations by John Stevens
The Classroom Chef: Sharpen Your Lessons, Season Your Classes, Make Math Meaningful by John Stevens and Matt Vaudrey
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Connect with John Stevens
About EducatorsLead:
Educators Lead is a podcast created to help launch educators into the next level of leadership. This show is for you if you are interested in educational leadership as an assistant principal, principal, superintendent, teacher or someone who hopes to be a school leader one day. Educators Lead offers inspiration and practical advice to help you lead more effectively. Jay Willis interviews school leaders three days a week to discuss why and when these educators made the decision to move into school leadership, challenges along the journey, and stories that made it all worthwhile. Educators Lead is a great resource for any educator looking to make a greater impact.
Educate. Inspire. Lead.
