Welcome to the Time for Teachership Podcast!

In this inspiring episode, Iuri Melo, therapist, educator, and founder of School Pulse, joins Lindsay to explore how schools, families, and students can proactively cultivate joy, positive relationships, and mental wellness.

Iuri shares his 20+ years of experience in therapy and his work with thousands of students, highlighting the importance of shifting from reactive crisis management to proactive, positive engagement. From live text-based support to fun, evidence-based student success activities, School Pulse provides tools that are inclusive, practical, and grounded in research.

• Why schools often focus on crisis intervention—and how early, proactive support can prevent many challenges.

• The power of positive psychology, growth mindset, and cognitive strategies in creating student wellbeing and academic success.

• How to implement benign, inclusive mental wellness content that works for diverse student populations without controversy.

• Practical ideas for starting and ending the day with positive momentum—for students, families, and teachers alike.

• How live text-based support, proactive emails, and short videos can engage students in building relationships, managing emotions, and developing life skills.

• Fun examples of student success activities, including acronyms like CASH (Compliment, Ask questions, Smile, Help) and SWIFT for relationship building.

• Mental wellness can be taught proactively, not just reactively.

• Inclusive, evidence-based strategies improve academic performance, relationships, and school culture.

• Small actions—like greeting students warmly or sending positive messages—can create momentum that impacts daily experiences.

• Families and schools can partner to reinforce positive habits and student growth.

Get Your Episode Freebie & More Resources On My Website: https://www.lindsaybethlyons.com/blog/251

Connect With Guest Iuri Melo:

• Email: iuri@schoolpulse.org
• Website: www.schoolpulse.org

Welcome to Episode 250 of the Time for Teachership podcast! 🎉

In this milestone episode, Lindsay explores how stories and civic imagination can help educators, leaders, families, and students co-construct shared values — and ultimately build meaningful community agreements for how we want to be together.

Inspired by the powerful book Practicing Futures: A Civic Imagination Handbook by Peter László and Srdja Popovic (and their incredible free online resources), this episode shares:

• Key insights from the book

• Reflections on civic imagination as a collective practice

• A practical, adaptable 60-minute workshop you can facilitate in classrooms, staff meetings, conferences, advisory blocks, PTA gatherings, or even at home

If you've ever struggled to move from "values on the wall" to lived, shared agreements — this episode offers a creative and hopeful pathway forward.

1. Civic imagination builds community — focus on shared values and trust, not just power struggles.

2. Stories reveal values — personal experiences or pop culture characters help groups identify what they care about.

3. Collective imagination drives action — envision futures, create stories, then connect them to real-world classroom or community practices.

4. Creativity + realism — fantastical thinking opens possibilities while addressing real problems.

Get Your Episode Freebie & More Resources On My Website: https://www.lindsaybethlyons.com/blog/250

What does it take to build a classroom culture where students truly believe:

• I belong here.

• I can master rigorous challenges.

• My ideas make an impact.

In this energizing conversation, Dr. Jennifer Berry, CEO of SmartLab Learning, joins Lindsay on the Time for Teachership podcast to explore how educators can intentionally cultivate what she calls STEM identity — not just in STEM classrooms, but across all learning spaces.

Together, we unpack how belonging, productive struggle, and agency are foundational not only for academic success, but for thriving in future careers and contributing meaningfully to the world.

This episode is about more than tools or technology. It's about designing an ecosystem that helps students develop the self-belief to lead.

• STEM identity starts with belief. Students thrive when they believe: I belong here, I can master challenge, and my ideas matter.

• Productive struggle builds confidence. Pause before stepping in. Calibrated support — not immediate rescue — strengthens learning power.

• Belonging requires intentional design. Environment, curriculum, facilitation, and real-world connection must work together as an ecosystem.

• Avoid "random acts of STEM." Tools and technology should be tied to authentic problems and industry relevance.

• Education must be future-focused. In an AI-driven world, students need agency, adaptability, and the confidence to lead the tools they use.

Get Your Episode Freebie & More Resources On My Website: https://www.lindsaybethlyons.com/blog/249

Connect With Guest Dr. Jennifer Berry:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-jennifer-berry-9a05113/

Last week, I had the incredible honor of speaking with Zaretta Hammond about cognitive justice, instructional equity, and rebuilding students' learning power. If you haven't listened to Episode 247 yet, I strongly encourage you to go back and start there.

In this episode, I do something a little different.

I reflect — in real time — on a moment in our conversation where Zaretta stopped me and challenged my thinking. Specifically, she pushed back on my assumption that student voice could serve as the primary lever for instructional improvement and equity.

Her response sparked a full-on mental model shift for me.

This episode is a transparent walk through that shift — the embarrassment, the defensiveness, the reflection, and ultimately, the integration. If you've ever experienced discomfort while learning, this episode may resonate deeply.

• Discomfort signals growth. Being challenged can trigger defensiveness, but that tension often marks the start of real learning.

• Student voice isn't a silver bullet. Dependent learners may need explicit instruction in literacy and metacognitive skills before voice can be fully leveraged.

• Build learning power intentionally. Cognitive apprenticeship — teaching students how to learn — is foundational to equity.

• Sequence matters. It's both/and (literacy and criticality, skill-building and voice), but clarity about outcomes and timing is essential.

• Change requires action. Dissatisfaction + vision + a concrete first step are necessary to move beyond resistance.

Get Your Episode Freebie & More Resources On My Website: https://www.lindsaybethlyons.com/blog/248

What does it really take to lead meaningful change in schools — not just adopt new strategies, but fundamentally shift practice?

In this powerful conversation, Zaretta Hammond joins Lindsay on the Time for Teachership podcast to discuss her latest book, Rebuilding Students' Learning Power: Teaching for Instructional Equity and Cognitive Justice. Together, we explore what it means to pursue cognitive justice, why change is so difficult in schools, and how instructional leaders can move beyond surface-level reforms toward true transformation.

Zaretta challenges leaders to examine the mental models and explanatory stories that drive their decisions. She explains why many well-intentioned reforms — even progressive ones — can unintentionally maintain cognitive redlining. Most importantly, she offers a roadmap for leading change that centers students as learners, not just participants.

This is not a conversation about adding one more strategy. It's about rethinking the recipe.

Zaretta's vision for education is rooted in cognitive justice — ensuring every student becomes a powerful, independent learner. Colonization and systemic inequities have historically underdeveloped the cognitive capacity of marginalized communities through invisible sorting mechanisms. Instructional equity requires intentionally countering those systems.

Change does not begin with new strategies. It begins with interrogating the explanatory stories we tell ourselves:

• What narratives do we hold about students and families?

• Where did those beliefs originate?

• How do those stories drive our instructional decisions?

Leaders must first collect and examine the stories circulating in their schools before attempting transformation.

Many school systems still operate within a "grammar of schooling" that hasn't shifted in over a century. Pacing guides, engagement checklists, and surface-level reforms often reinforce compliance rather than build learning power.

The shift requires:

• Integrating "learning how to learn" skills into curriculum pacing

• Designing classrooms as cognitive apprenticeships

• Creating productive struggle

• Moving students from novice → journeyman → mastery

Observable engagement does not equal learning.

Students repeating learning targets, appearing busy, or using the right jargon can create an illusion of learning. Leaders must develop a science-of-learning lens to avoid being misled by these poor proxies.

Professionalism in education requires ongoing inquiry into instruction — not just strategy adoption.

Get Your Episode Freebie & More Resources On My Website: https://www.lindsaybethlyons.com/blog/247

Connect With Guest Zaretta Hammond:

• Website: www.ready4rigor.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zaretta-hammond-2b122ba/

One-off workshops rarely create lasting change in classrooms. In this episode of the Time For Teachership podcast, Lindsay shares a practical Google Doc template designed to support teacher teams in ongoing, meaningful professional learning. She walks through a structured approach called Group Implementation Coaching Sessions, showing how coaching, feedback, and inquiry can help teachers refine their practice and better support student learning.

• Why continuous coaching is more effective than standalone workshops (Joyce & Showers, 2022).

• How to set the stage for teacher team coaching by identifying team strengths, individual values, and key priorities.

• Strategies for maintaining an asset-based, equity-focused, and student-centered approach in coaching sessions.

• Key coaching moves to help teachers shift mindsets, including:

  • Asking for examples to get to evidence.

  • Reframing challenges (e.g., valuing curiosity over background knowledge).

  • Moving from scarcity to prioritization.

  • Aligning pedagogy to core teaching values.

• A step-by-step walkthrough of a coaching session:

  1. Human Connection: Check-ins, celebrations, and group reflection.

  2. Implementation Check: Review previous action steps, data, and student feedback.

  3. Action Planning: Identify instructional strategies, micro-groups, or feedback systems to try before the next session.

  4. Next Steps: Decide who will try what and how data will be gathered.

• How to leverage peer coaching and group reflection to generate richer insights and practical solutions.

[00:00:00] – Welcome & Episode Overview

• Introduction to Episode 246

• The importance of continuous learning over one-off workshops

[00:00:22] – Google Doc Template Overview

• How to support teacher teams after workshops

• Group Implementation Coaching Sessions

[00:00:47] – Influences & Inspirations

• PLC at Work: Dr. Anthony Mohammed, Dr. Chad Dumas, Bob Sanju, Marin Powers, Shalene Miller

• Grow Model & Raman Behan

• Positive psychology, asset-based education, values alignment

• Books: Street Data, Pedagogies of Voice, Rebuilding Students' Learning Power

[00:04:00] – Meeting 1: Setting the Stage

• Identify team strengths and values

• Center equity and "critical hope"

• Name the students/groups on the margins

• Define success: what it looks, sounds, and feels like

• Co-design inquiry questions and evidence-gathering

[00:07:16] – Coaching Bank & Key Moves

• Asking for evidence: "Can you say more? Share an example?"

• Reframing challenges: curiosity > background knowledge

• Shifting from scarcity mindset to prioritization

• Aligning teaching to core values

[00:14:42] – Structuring Subsequent Meetings

• Start with human connection: check-ins, listening dyads, celebrations

• Implementation check: review prior actions and data

• Three containers: initial reactions, data reflection, gut checks

[00:19:35] – GLEE Model for Action Planning

• Goal: What do we want to foster before next session?

• Learn: Analyze student strengths, gaps, and feedback

• Explore: Identify instructional moves to grow skills & student agency

• Expectations: Decide who does what and gather data for next session

[00:24:34] – Final Thoughts & Evidence for Coaching

• Joyce & Showers (2022): coaching increases skill transfer from 5% → 75–90%

• Peer coaching and structured feedback as essential professional learning

[00:26:04] – Closing

• Think big, act brave, and be your best self

Get Your Episode Freebie & More Resources On My Website: https://www.lindsaybethlyons.com/blog/246