Sheldon [00:00:00]:

Welcome, Math and Kids, to another episode of the Leading Equity podcast. A podcast that focuses on supporting educators with the tools and resources necessary to ensure equity at their oh, listen, folks. I want you to know I have a Good buddy of mine. This guy here, this fraternity brother. This is a brother that I look at all the time. I watch his social media, and I say, man, this brother is putting in some work. I'm impressed with the stuff that you do. So I have doctor Sean Woodley is here with us.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:00:34]:

He is the author of the league of extraordinary educators, the secret strategies of transformational teachers. Without further ado, Sean, thank you so much for joining us today.

shaun woodly [00:00:45]:

Hey, doctor Akins. Thank you so so much for opportunity to join you on this platform. I do not take it lightly when somebody, You know, opens their virtual doors, if you will, to be to have for the opportunity to have a conversation. Much appreciated, and shout out and salute to you for everything that you are doing quick, because of this podcast with the hundreds of episodes that you have, I know that it is out They're just changing lives. You know, 1 educator after the next who is influencing the students that they serve, so you probably can't even measure the impact that you've had. So definitely salute to you, brother.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:01:22]:

Hey. Pleasure is mine. K? And And I and I mean it. Like, you I consider you as one of my mentors. Like, you're you're a dude I can hit up anytime,

shaun woodly [00:01:30]:

and I'll

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:01:31]:

be like I'll text you like, well, hey. Can can you Talk to me about branding and merchandise. Can you talk to me about, you know, this Talkadot app that's so great for your speaking engagement? Like, You have put me on to a lot of things, a lot of tools. You've opened up your doors in that sense and just like, you've never you you're one of those people that I I feel like I can reach out to if I need, Like, if I have questions about, you know, work and just kind of equity stuff like that Mhmm. And vice versa. You know, you can come to me at any point, and, you know, we reciprocate that. So I I really do appreciate you.

shaun woodly [00:02:03]:

Absolutely. Absolutely, Anton.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:02:06]:

Well, let's get into it. So I know who you are, but I'd love for you to start us off by sharing with our audience a little bit about yourself and what you currently do.

shaun woodly [00:02:15]:

Sure. My name is, again, doctor Sean Woodley. I am the CEO and founder of the educator movement, teach, hustle, inspire. Teach means to unlock intellectual treasure. The hustle is about how we can't stop and won't stop learning, and the inspire is to spread love and light. I am a 15 year educator. I taught at the k twelve level for 10 years, the university level for 5, and now, I have dedicated literally my professional and even a lot of my personal life to education, supporting, and working to improve education, particularly in urban and culturally diverse communities as an author and as a speaker, as a researcher. Urban education specifically is near and dear to my heart because I am somebody who grew up in urban schools.

shaun woodly [00:03:02]:

I have taught in urban schools. I have researched extensively in urban schools, and, again, I've dedicated my myself to supporting education in urban and culturally diverse schools. Like, I have seen this from any vantage point that you can possibly imagine.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:03:16]:

Nice. Well, let's get into it because Let's do it. A piece within your book

shaun woodly [00:03:22]:

Mhmm.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:03:22]:

Talks about transformational teachers, and I wanna have that conversation. And we'll kinda we'll move into some things for, like, I don't know, up and coming teacher teacher candidates, current teachers, and, you know, our veterans, the OGs. As well. We'll we'll move into all of that. But to set the tone, I want you to start us off by explaining or defining what is a transformational teacher.

shaun woodly [00:03:45]:

Absolutely. A transformational teacher essentially is one that has impact and has to understand that it is about going beyond simply what's on that lesson plan. A transformational teacher is one that touches the student inside and out and understands that it is more about the Pythagorean theorem. And I'm just using that as a catchall for any sort of content area Because we, as educators and sometimes we don't realize this, sometimes we do, but we are in the relationship building business first. Like we teach other human beings. And if you're going to spend a 180 days with someone else's child, you have to know that you are going to have an impact. And I I hate to be so I I I hate to kind of position it this way, but facts are facts. In the relationship building business in which we are as educators, we interact and engage with our students every single day.

shaun woodly [00:04:48]:

There is no such thing as a neutral interaction with a student. It falls on a spectrum in some way, shape, or form, so it's either going to be positive in some way or negative in some way. Every educator is technically transforming that student in one way or another. I'm trying to help, and I'm on a mission to make sure that that transformation is on the positive end of that spectrum and is far to the end of that positive impact and transformation as absolutely possible.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:05:20]:

Brother, you you Don't start off like that already. Okay. Okay. You blow my mind. Alright. Here's the thing. You said you you said Transformate part of your explanation or definition rather, a transformational teacher is going beyond the lesson plan. And I would imagine most of us, if not 99% of us, who have gone through some sort of teacher prep program, That is typically the basis or foundation of what teaching is all about is setting up your lesson plan, getting organized, and getting those kind of things together.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:05:58]:

So when you say going beyond going beyond the lesson plan Mhmm. Let's unpack that a little bit more, because I remember going to college and and learning, you know, anticipatory set, the assessment style, summative, informative assessments, all these things. What was missing? What did I not learn as a teacher candidate?

shaun woodly [00:06:21]:

Yeah. And, you know, That is a really great question, and I love the way that you teed that up because what I've come to understand and I started to see this Being in the classroom, but then even further when I got into the research. First of all, if you think from a structural side

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:06:40]:

Mhmm.

shaun woodly [00:06:41]:

The education system, the way that it is Design for those that are not familiar, technically speaking, it is not designed for everybody to be successful. It was built from the ground up to exclude people. That's and this is not my guess. This is not conjecture. This is actual fact.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:06:58]:

Okay.

shaun woodly [00:06:59]:

That's first and foremost. And what is also fact is that same foundation is still what we are using today in the learning environment. And the people that it was designed to exclude, it still excludes them and has been successful at excluding even more. And what we have to understand is that the reason that those Things happen is you have to understand that when we're taught to become teachers, what the criteria that is deemed Successful as far as you completing your teacher preparation program or career switcher program, that curriculum is determined by the university. Mhmm. At university, those standards are given to them by the state. Mhmm. And those states are given though those state standards and and And, if you will, minimum requirements are issued by the governing body, the United States, you know, education, department of education, and the people that run that are not educators.

shaun woodly [00:08:00]:

So, you know, you're talking about a trickle down effect of just this continuation of pushing things that don't ultimately end up serving the students the way that they need to. Have there been some changes? Have there been some Pushes for certain things? Absolutely. But universally speaking, we are nowhere near where we need to be. One of the biggest things, and I said this to, a recent, cohort of educators for a workshop that we were doing, and I I said think about it in these terms. I find it absolutely fascinating that Our profession, we are charged every day with inputting information into students' brains, but we're not taught how they work. Ask everybody in that room. So show of hands, anybody who here who is taking, taken a course in cognitive science, Neuroscience. You understand inner workings of the brain, the reptilian brain, the the, the neocortex, the prefrontal court, like, All of these aspects which have everything to do with what we are supposed to do and we're accountable for doing every single day, and it's not the it's not the full I went to a wonderful institution of high learning.

shaun woodly [00:09:13]:

I went to an HBCU, Hamden University, and that was one of the best experiences in my life. But at the end of the day, they have to when I'm prepare when they're preparing me to be a teacher, they have to teach me according to the standards of what the state of Virginia says that they have to do in order for me to get that license. So at the end of the day, regardless of where you went to school, that school's institute as an institution, their hands are essentially are tied.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:09:39]:

Okay.

shaun woodly [00:09:40]:

And with what you are going to need. So A lot of what I've come to learn again, I'm a researcher. I'm in and out of this. I mean, when I say daily, like, I this stuff is I see it in my sleep. And some of the things that I've come to understand that we should be prepared with and are not, it's Absolutely criminal. And when you look at the data and you look at who's mostly affected, unfortunately, it's people that are in the wrong ZIP code, the wrong Skin color and the wrong socioeconomic status. And if you happen to be a part of all 3, good luck.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:10:15]:

Okay. Okay. Well, Where do I wanna start? Because you you mentioned that the brain, and and we're not taught about how the brain works because often we're we're We're we're stuck with being taught whatever the US department all the way trickled down into the state the standards for our university or institutions of higher learning. And so we're we're stuck there. However, why do you argue that understanding how the brain works Mhmm. Is so important or a key essential factor, if you will. Why is it so important? And and maybe even you could share with us what your thoughts are as to why is not being taught into our, curriculum programs?

shaun woodly [00:10:59]:

Well, let me start with the latter. Why? I I think It's probably a combination of 1 or both is that when you prepare Teachers with what they actually need to help their students be successful, it's a greater chance of evening the playing field. Mhmm. And so If your objective is to keep the playing field uneven, then why would you teach them?

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:11:25]:

K.

shaun woodly [00:11:27]:

And or it could be the fact that they simply just don't know. Regardless, We have to understand that the brain works in a very specific way. And and when The brain as far as, you know, just sensory input, as far as information processing, as far as creating an environment for your students to authentically engage, if There are certain conditions that are not met. A lot of what happens when educators are pouring their Hearts out every day to instruct students. It's literally like trying to teach a brick wall because we're not equipped with what it is that the brain. Let me I'll share it to you like this. Let me let me go from this go with this from another perspective. Alright? In this day and age of social media, right, if you think about it, You have these organizations who literally spend not 100, Not 1,000, not even 100 of 1,000, not even 1,000,000.

shaun woodly [00:12:29]:

They spend 100 of 1,000,000 on research. You know what they spend most of their research trying to understand? Attention. Their job is to keep You engaged and using their platform and engage in their platform as long as possible, so they have mastered the art of attention.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:12:53]:

Mhmm.

shaun woodly [00:12:53]:

I I I gave this example sometimes because I work so hard and especially on the road, I travel a lot. So at the end of the day, a lot of time, time Spit, I just need a few minutes to just detach from the research, from the education, and just sit. I'll open my phone up, And I'll scroll on Instagram or TikTok or something like that. Have you noticed, especially in the last couple of years, the push for video content? Yeah. Have went away from nice pictures to videos. That's not an accident. It's because it is more engaging. And what these algorithms have been so cleverly designed to do is that when there are specific reactions, that's an interpretation of you liking something, or you watched 60%, 70% of this video, so I'm gonna show you more things like that.

shaun woodly [00:13:43]:

You scrolled right past this one. I'm not going to show you things similar to that. And it keeps getting smarter and smarter to, again, keep you engaged because the longer you engage with that application, the more money that you make. So now I'll sit down at the end of the day of the more money that these organizations make. Excuse me. So now I'll sit down at the end of the day from an algorithm that has mastered what I like. They give me and then the next thing I know, I'm scrolling, and 2 hours has gone by. And it's just like, wow.

shaun woodly [00:14:14]:

Oh, let let me go. I forgot. My kids gotta eat. Like, it's stuff like that. Yeah. And and it's it's not an accident. Like, it is not an accident. And so you have a population of students who are consistent, man.

shaun woodly [00:14:29]:

Every time you scroll, when that's something that you like, it's a small hit of dopamine, and that is happening literally sometimes dozens of times an hour. Mhmm. And then you have this whole population of students as digital natives who are used to being persistently stimulated over a long period of time, and then they go to school, and then the teacher's like, well, here's his worksheet.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:14:49]:

No.

shaun woodly [00:14:50]:

And we wonder why we have issues. You see, when you and I were in school, we didn't have that same level of Conditioning to be consistently stimulated. Was school perfect? No. As a product of the eighties and nineties, school is pretty much the same it is today, but the Children are not. That's a big problem.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:15:09]:

You know, I I've read a study or I listened to it on a podcast, something like that, where they talked about Simple things like when you turn on your phone and you see the various apps such as your Twitters, your your Instagrams, all they'll have, like, a number on there. A lot of time, you'll see a one or to, like, let you know your notifications just to get you to open up the app.

shaun woodly [00:15:30]:

Correct.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:15:30]:

You'll see a one on there. I see this all the time, especially on my Facebook, and I open it up. And there's nothing really there's nothing there. It's it's you know? So, well, I don't care about it. And and so now I started now on Facebook, then I started noticing that all the other apps are trying to do those. Just the little things just to get you to open up the app

shaun woodly [00:15:48]:

Yeah.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:15:48]:

To start to scroll in and, like you said, getting into the the reels are are where everything is now. You know? As a person that does social media. And I try to keep up, but, man, I'm I'm I'm trying to find trending audio and and trying to find all these things so I can make a video to get people to watch it so that I can get follow. It's just crazy how all of this works. So okay. Let let's connect that to the classroom. Right? Sure. How do we get, quote, unquote, followers Mhmm.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:16:16]:

In the classroom that works out to where, Obviously I mean, I don't know. I mean, do are you suggesting that as teachers, we need to be making reels? Or or, like, how do we make that connection with the attention that our these, you know, this generation is is experiencing in a classroom.

shaun woodly [00:16:33]:

Sure. No. I first of all, let me clarify, And I was just simply using that as an example. Okay. I'm not suggesting we master creating reels. What I am suggesting is that We master understanding why reels are successful.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:16:48]:

Okay.

shaun woodly [00:16:49]:

And when you look at it from those terms, I I did it's it's funny. In one of the workshops that we do, I have an exercise depending on what we're learning. Mhmm. And I I committed I I have the teachers split up essentially into groups, small groups of anywhere from 5 to 7 people, and I give them each group depending on how large the total group is. I but I give each group the same set of cards. And, essentially, if I set it up, I set it up with a story line, and I use the theme of law and order.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:17:23]:

Okay.

shaun woodly [00:17:23]:

And I Set it up, and I give each group the same exact deck of cards, but they have the cards have clues on them. They're not playing cards. And what happens is each Card, there's 1 clue, and so you distribute them to all the group members. And when you put all the facts together, essentially, you can figure out who committed the crime. Simple at its explanation. When I tell you that every single time that I do this one exercise, just as an example, I have 1 I I've I can think of maybe 2 times in the several years that I've been doing this one exercise in particular where I Haven't had I've had 1 or 2 people that haven't engaged, but for the most part, it's a 99.9% chance that everybody is engaged. Now think about teachers that Engage in professional development. You got some that have their phones out.

shaun woodly [00:18:10]:

Sometimes you have some that are grading papers. Yeah. I'm talking about engagement top to bottom. And the reason is is because I understand and I'm leveraging things that the brain is looking for to hold its attention. What I do is as I open curiosity loops, I use the idea of The fact that we are social animals and we need to engage and collaborate with one another, and I give them the opportunity to think creatively. That exercise, Technically, it I I use it. It's a communication exercise, and it was designed technically for 9th graders. But well, I have 1st, 2nd year teachers all the way up to 25, 30 year vets and com committed.

shaun woodly [00:18:54]:

Wait. Hold on. I need to figure this out. Who did and and they are thoroughly engaged because the universal expectations of what the brain is looking for has no age limits. And I take advantage of those things and just so that they have an opportunity like me explaining that to you, it does it no justice. Because when we're sitting there engaged at it sounds like something. It's like, oh, okay. I I can see.

shaun woodly [00:19:21]:

But when they're actually doing it, because the brain has to. There's certain things that the brain is looking for and especially when it has certain opportunities under the right conditions to engage with your peers, To figure out the answers to certain curiosity loops, and I use law and order for a reason. Think about law and order, man. Law and order has been on, at the time of this recording, November 27th 2020, that show has been on all all close to 30 years.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:19:46]:

Yeah.

shaun woodly [00:19:47]:

And they do the same exact thing every single time in the criminal justice system. They start out that way. And then you open up to some scene, Something is happening. Dun dun. There's a guy. There's a character. Yeah. And then you turn the corner, somebody's dead.

shaun woodly [00:20:04]:

Mhmm. And then and and so now you spend the next 58 minutes trying to figure out what the heck happened. It's the same plot, the same story line with, you know, character back Stories weaved in there. It's the same thing every single time. That's because what the brain is looking for does not change. And when educators are not taught this information, You can take those same things. I do it. I use those same principles, and I use it to teach effective communication in as as the Topic.

shaun woodly [00:20:33]:

I I asked them after we do the exercise to reverse engineer. I said, reverse engineer this for me because, like, we do the lesson, then we talk about it. So if you had to come up with An objective and create a lesson plan based off of the activity that we just did. Let's reverse engineer this. What would the objective be? And, usually, we get a couple of different answers because they're thinking about the experience, and I tell them that it's for you to think creatively, for you to communicate, for you to collaborate. And it's just like boom. So I'm teaching communication and collaboration and and effective, critical thinking, but I'm not saying The student will communicate with with their peers. Like, do you see what I'm saying? Like, I'm using what the brain is looking for, and I'm taking advantage of that because, again, there's no age limits on that.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:21:18]:

It seems simple. Like like, why aren't we you know? It's one of those things I do. This this should be stuff that we we should be doing automatically. And and like you said, I mean, you have organizations that have or 1,000,000,000 or 100 of 1,000,000 of dollars into doing this type of research. And it sounds so very simple. And we've already kinda touched on, you know, why this isn't being why we aren't just necessarily focusing on the brain. Because like you said, the system initially, you said the system wasn't designed for everybody. And there's there's there's a group of there's groups of people that have been excluded within historically how our lessons and how education I mean, I've talked about it as well, you know, industrial revolution and how all of that impacted things.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:22:02]:

And I was really hoping with COVID, but we all shut down. I was just like, okay. We're gonna restart. We're gonna redo things, and now we're still starting to see a lot of the original, you know, stuff that we've been doing. It still kinda just I don't I don't see things have changed as much as they should have even though these I mean, what you're explaining to me is it sounds very, like, why why aren't we doing this? And and okay. I will hear a teacher that will say, I can't I can't engage with the kids. I'm not I'm not you know, I don't have the same connection. I don't have the relationship, or we're not into the same things.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:22:41]:

You know, I get these kind of questions all the time. When you were when you're instructing them, you're coaching a teacher, and and we'll say at any level, brand new, middle, or they've been around for the OGs. Right? Yep. Yep. When you're giving them the instruction and you're teaching them how to become a transformational teacher. What are some of the things you initially start to look at maybe on your observation side of things, And what are some of the practices that you provide as an instructional coach that supports our teachers that are looking to transform?

shaun woodly [00:23:11]:

Sure. Sure. I'm gonna go back to the specific example that you just mentioned because I get that too.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:23:16]:

Yeah. Yeah.

shaun woodly [00:23:18]:

And what the teacher is really saying is is that They don't have the personal relevance, which is okay. No one is suggesting that You need to have the same exact interest at your as your students. That is okay. What they're really saying is that I don't I'm not interested in the same things. I don't find joy in some of the same activities, so I don't know how to connect with the students. I understand the sentiment there, but if you go just a little bit further below that, you'll be you'd be surprised to understand that you have more interest in connections with those students than you might think. Because, again, sometimes these conversations and the instruction that happens around these things is very surface. We gotta go below the surface.

shaun woodly [00:24:07]:

We have to understand what the brain is looking for. Fundamentally speaking, the brain's primary job is to do one thing, and that is to help you survive, period. But in order to do that, there are several secondary functions, if you will, that it does to increase the chances of that happening. And one of those things is to keep your surroundings familiar, to keep you in a group. We we are tribal beings by nature. That's how we've survived for so long, and so being alone doesn't feel good. But then when you have a situation where you have the opportunity to connect with somebody, it's like, alright. Well, How do I do this? And that's a skill.

shaun woodly [00:24:46]:

That's a skill that needs to be taught. And then when you bring that into instruction, there are certain things again that if you stand about the brain and how memory works and how to tap into that and get information not just in the brain short term memory wise, but get it to long term memory and help the student learn to retrieve that information, you become literally unstoppable. Literally unstoppable. One of one of the things that I do To kinda quickly walk the listeners through this little bit of a framework is is I help them not just like think of it people think of it from an instructional design standpoint. If you think of it from instructional design, you're thinking of of it from a teacher centered place. Instructional design is is focused on just that, the instruction. I'm talking about designing for achievement, achievement, and instructional design. So now we're putting the student at the center of what it is that we're teaching and how that we're teaching.

shaun woodly [00:25:39]:

So we have to first understand what that student knows because new information has to be connected to hold information. How do you do that? You find out what I kind of labeled as the building blocks you uncover, what it is that the student knows relevant to the specific content that you are going to teach, and this can be any content area. And then once you do that, you find out what the student knows. Now you you're getting into the instruction, so you have to make that information matter according to what the brain looking for.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:26:11]:

Mhmm.

shaun woodly [00:26:11]:

And that is when we talk about human behavior and talking about attention and how we get students to really zero in and focus on some things. But then even with that, you make the information matter, but the brain, as far as what it can hold on to, it has limited capacity when we're talking about learning new things. So probably no more depending on the age of the students, 15, 20, 25 minutes max. And now you you get into a situation where you go past that. What was learned first starts to get pushed out because it's, again, limited capacity, so you have to allow that information time to process. You connect it again to something that they already know. You give them it in a way that makes it matter so that they could focus on that, but you only can do that for a limited time before you a lot of the process. And the analogy that I give is, have you ever been somewhere where you're studying, you're focusing on something, and you're doing it intently, And then the information just for whatever reason you're trying to say it back to yourself and or we're trying to see alright.

shaun woodly [00:27:08]:

Do I have it? You're trying to use flashcards, jot it down, whatever it is, and you just Can't do it. Step away from it, and then sometime later, it's like, boom. I got it. And there's a reason for that is because what is happening neurologically is that there are neurons being formed, and those things take time to connect so that the path of information of what you just learned can adequately and securely connect in some ways to what you already know, creating new neuropaths So that now when you actively think about something, the energy that it takes, it's literally like if you think of a spider web, and I know people that are listening can't see it, but, like, I'm moving my hands in really weird directions so that you can really think about it in terms of something that in the brain has to connect, and there are literally electronic signals that move back and forth to access certain things. And you have to allow those things time to connect, and that's With the act of information processing, and there's a few other steps after that. But, essentially, like, you when you understand that, you can teach towards that instead of just teaching the way that a lot of us were taught to teach.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:28:15]:

So this is not just for my science folks. My my my my folks said, so this this is for everybody. Correct. And and I would probably argue for staff in general and not necessarily limited to teachers.

shaun woodly [00:28:27]:

Mhmm. 100%. 1000%. And there are so many things that we learn this way and and and Have learned this way, but when we get into the classroom, we teach a different way. Mhmm. And if and if you really think about it, if you You peel back the layers on it. It just sometimes it doesn't make sense, and then you have these anomaly classrooms where these students and this teacher has gotten them to achieve. And when you really look at it, What the heck is going on in there? You'll find a lot of alignment with those students feeling comfortable, those students taking risks, and those Students being put in a position where their brains can actively engage, focus on, and process information.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:29:09]:

You know what's interesting is, you know you know, most schools, districts, state, what whatever, they always have, like, their teacher of the year and those kind of things. And and I would imagine they're doing a lot of, like, what you're saying. They may not know the process, the technical side of things. Yep. Might just come natural.

shaun woodly [00:29:26]:

Correct.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:29:27]:

So what I'm hearing is, yeah, for some of us, it might be a natural thing. It may we may not know all the the ins and outs, the the The background information, we don't necessarily know. Like, I remember when I learned culturally responsive teaching, I was like, oh, I was already doing that. Like, I didn't know that was a thing. Like, so and so that's what I'm hearing. Right?

shaun woodly [00:29:44]:

Yep. Yep. There are a lot of times where you just have people who I don't wanna say stumble because that makes it sound active accidental. They are doing things intentionally, but they may not have The verbiage to say, oh, okay. Well, this is actual information processing, or I'm helping my students retrieve information. They may not have that specific set of knowledge, not knowledge. They have the knowledge, but they may not have that verbiage. That's what I meant to say.

shaun woodly [00:30:12]:

But they do have the knowledge. That's exactly what it

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:30:15]:

Yeah. So so this to me, this this book is relevant. So for those who are working towards this and just kinda want to, even those who might wanna be able to reinforce, okay, what is it called that I've been doing already?

shaun woodly [00:30:27]:

Yeah.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:30:27]:

I think those things will be, essential for anybody that's looking to learn how to become more of a transformational teacher. You may not know that you already are a transformational teacher or you're working towards that progress. I I don't believe that you can arrive somewhere. Like, I think we can always be learning. We can always be working somewhere. Mhmm. And so even if you feel like, hey. I don't need this.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:30:48]:

This you know, I I know I already know what I'm doing. I already know how to bring work, blah blah blah. I feel like there's always room for growth at the end of the day. So, Sean, I'll say this. You know? Every time I get a chance to talk to you, man, I get excited because, man, you you always play game. You always teaching me something. I'd love for you to share with our listeners maybe one final word of advice to to to kinda close things out.

shaun woodly [00:31:11]:

Sure. I'll say this. In the latest book that I wrote, the league of extraordinary educators, the secret strategies of transformational teachers, One of the big differences between this book and others that you may be familiar with in our profession is I try to think of What is it that again, I'm just thinking of what the brain is looking for and how it can be an engaging read. And everything that I kept looking at, everything that I kept thinking about, everything that I I know in my personal professional life, and if you think about yours too, there are Stories all around us. When we converse, we don't just spit facts. We tell stories. That is how information for the human race has Really just been transferred from 1 generation to the other so long. We are storytelling people, and that is what I used in this book.

shaun woodly [00:32:04]:

So the first 2 thirds of the book is actually a fable. I'm teaching through a story. And the book, It sets the tone for a secret society of educators, and these secret society of the members of this Specific organization, they hide in plain sight, and they fight oppressive practices in schools through this organization called the League of Extraordinary Educators and or certain principles that are being taught in the book. But, again, I'm teaching through storytelling again because I'm trying to take advantage of what the brain is looking for, and the brain learns and engages with and loves stories. So if there's one thing that I can leave you with is understand these a lot of times, these answers are already all around you because many of us read, We watch TV or we engage with other people, and we tell stories. These things are all around us. These things that the brain is looking for, they look for it inside the classroom and out. Take advantage of it.

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:33:04]:

We'll leave it right there. So, folks, if if if Sean, if we got some folks that wanna connect with you, what's the best way to reach you online?

shaun woodly [00:33:11]:

My website is teach hustle inspire.com, and or I can be found on social media platforms at teach hustle inspire, on the platform x, formerly known as Twitter. It's just my first and last name, Sean Woodley, because t t hustler inspires too long. So Yeah. There you

Dr. Sheldon Eakins [00:33:28]:

go. Okay. But once again, I'm speaking to my good friend, doctor Sean Woodley, author of the League of Extraordinary Educators, the secret strategies of transformational teachers. Of course, there will be links in the show notes. Sean, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure.

shaun woodly [00:33:43]:

Thank you, doc Bakings. Again, thank you for the opportunity to join your platform, and shout out to you. Continue to do this work and hold it

Are you subscribed to the podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

Now if you enjoy listening to the show, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other advocates find the podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!