Reshan was born in NJ, and spent his entire life either there or in New York City. He’s married with 3 young kids, and last Thanksgiving he was on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (he made it to the 10th question before walking away with his winnings) (1:47)
Reshan was a music composition major in college; he started off in education by helping coach a basketball team, and after teaching for a while, he earned a master’s degree at Harvard, and then was a math teacher/tech coordinator at a small school, and then became Director of Education Technology at a large independent school, Montclair Kimberley Academy, and then entered a doctoral program at Columbia while working full time, and he now teaches at Columbia, at Montclair, and at another school (5:17)
Why Reshan wanted to make the move from teaching to being an administrator, and some of the struggles he faced early on (12:47)
One of the things Reshan is most proud of is introducing one day focused on whimsy and play (Whimsical Wednesday) to the week-long Technology Institute (21:45)
Getting buy-in from colleagues and superiors for projects that are relational but aren’t really quantifiable (26:20)
Growing in patience and wisdom comes with experience as an administrator (29:24)
Reshan talks about what Explain Everything is all about, and why he founded it (32:48)
Reshan’s book, Blending Leadership: Six Simple Beliefs for Leading Online and Off – what it’s all about and why he wrote it (40:37)
Don’t try to fix a problem right away (52:48)
The importance of leading from behind (54:28)
Reshan’s advice for staying humble and grounded (58:40)
Two outside the box book recommendations from Reshan (1:03:12)
Exercising too much control is just as bad as not exercising enough (1:07:42)
Three things you need to come to an agreement with your teachers on – what knowledge is, what it means to learn, and what it means to assess learning (1:10:30)
Some tips for winning over teachers who are resistant to change (1:12:00)
If Reshan 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 (1:14:25)
Books mentioned in this episode
Blending Leadership: Six Simple Beliefs for Leading Online and Off by Stephen J. Valentine, Reshan Richards, and Brad Ovenell-Carter
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters
Connect with Reshan Richards
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.
