The Teach Different Podcast

How do we know when our actions will speak louder than our words? "Talk is cheap," as the saying goes. Talking about doing something is easy, but actually doing it is much harder. Doing things requires risk-taking, embracing uncertainty, and the knowledge that you just might be making mistakes along the way. Yet, depending on the person doing it, speaking also requires proactive risk, especially if your ideas aren't welcome or your voice has been marginalized in the past. Summoning the courage to speak up and setting priorities on when to act are difficult tasks, no matter what our age. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with Lindsey Wander- Founder of WorldWise Tutoring and the non-profit organization Educate. Radiate. Elevate., for a conversation on self-expression, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Educators FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Image Credit: Smithsonian Institution

What is the most beautiful way to reshape yourself through suffering? When we endure suffering, our character changes. Sometimes we grow weaker, less confident, and more resigned that life has it out for us. At other times, our character is strengthened. Suffering makes us resilient. It expands our capacity to persevere. We become empathetic, vulnerable. It crowds out our fears and opens our heart and mind. The unique way each of us navigates suffering determines the limits and possibilities of our personal fulfillment. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with Marisa Diaz-Waian- Founder and Director of Merlin CCC- a public philosophy non-profit in Helena, Montana, to discuss the role of suffering in shaping our character, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Image source: Al-Funoon Author Unknown - Public Domain

How should I be judged by other people? We all know the feeling of being judged. Many times others look to our accomplishments to judge whether or not we are living a worthwhile life. Our accomplishments are supposed to signify our success and happiness and worthiness for praise, but that often leaves us with an empty feeling, because it sidesteps an appreciation for the hardships we had to endure to achieve success. We want people to know how many times we failed and never gave up. That makes us feel truly understood. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with United States educator Dale Lasky, to discuss the power of resiliency, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Image source: Picryl | Maureen Keating - Public Domain

How do we know if somebody is good or bad? Kids are in the midst of making so many ethical choices about the types of people they should be hanging out with. There is peer pressure to spend time with friends who may make questionable life choices but whose approval is important for a child’s self-esteem. Friendship advice from parents, coaches and other authority figures often go unheard because they conflict with what kids believe inside. Decisions on which company to keep are never easy but they are integral to the healthy moral development of human beings. Join Steve and Dan Fouts - founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience - along with Mirna Madi, International Baccalaureate English language and literature teacher at the Bahrain Bayan School - for an unforgettable conversation about character using the Teach Different 3-Step Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Regarding the attribution of this quote to George Washington, he is not the original author. The quote comes from a collection of "Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation" regularly used by 16th century French school children. The Library of Congress writes, "Sometime before the age of 16, George Washington transcribed 110 'Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation' into his school copybook." Image source: Wikimedia | John Trumbull

What is the purpose of education? Our society has always struggled to agree on the purpose of education. Some say the purpose is for students to acquire factual knowledge of subjects. Others argue that the real purpose should be to motivate action. In that sense the debate really comes down to a definition of what it means to be an informed citizen, and whether citizenship goes beyond just acquiring knowledge into what obligations we have to act on that understanding. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with guest State Senator Laura Murphy for a compelling conversation about education, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

How do we create systems so that individuals can be successful? Success comes from a confluence of forces. Sometimes, it is the sheer will of the individual who, when faced with difficulty and challenge, rises to meet the moment. Riding alongside individual will is the system in which that individual operates, but no individual effort can overcome a dysfunctional system. The challenge here is to build healthy systems where the individual finds guaranteed success. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with TaRael Kee, Assistant Principal at Collinsville High School and the Past-President of the Illinois School Counselor Association, for a compelling conversation about success, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Image source: James Clear Website

What makes a great leader? Great leadership is about having influence. To get that influence, leaders use whatever tools they have. For some leaders, it's the moral choices they make which have the most enduring impact on followers. For others, it's their positional authority that commands people'srespect. Great leaders must find a creative way to use both of these tools to maximize their effectiveness. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with Daman Harris Ph.D., a co-director of the Building Our Network of Diversity (BOND) Project, for a compelling conversation about leadership, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Image source: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service

What is the best way to respond to hard times? Tough times greet all of us in varying degrees. The challenge is how to figure out exactly how we should behave when those tough times arrive. One plan is to push through the difficulties and emerge stronger at the other end. That way, our pain can be short-lived. We can also stop the pain and change direction so that we can avoid the hardship and discover joy on the other side. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with Donnell Mclean, school administrator and special education teacher, for a compelling conversation about determination, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty.

What is perfection? Motivation looks different to different people. For some, striving towards perfection is the greatest motivator for excellence. For others, who take a more incremental approach, just getting better in little chunks and seeing improvement provide enough incentive to move forward. To live well, we must all strike that middle ground-- have aspirational big-picture goals but also be okay with enjoying the little successes along the way. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with guest Darren Rainey, a military veteran who has worked in secondary and postsecondary education, for a compelling conversation about perfection, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Image source: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service

Which problems are worth solving? We are often told to be mindful of each other, our surroundings and ourselves. Implicit in this concept of mindfulness is the imperative to accept life as it is and try to the best of our abilities to enjoy our experiences and not spend time trying to fix things. The other way of seeing life is to think of our limited time on earth as an opportunity to solve problems. It's not just about experience; it's about getting stuff done. It's a challenge to balance these two competing worldviews. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with guest Tawana Akins, high school Assistant Principal for the Miami Dade County Public School System, for a compelling conversation about interdependence, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Image source: Picryl

Is it possible to get buy in to a vision if there isn’t buy in to the leader? There's a familiar saying "You can't teach kids until you reach kids." The idea here is that you have to develop a rapport with the people you lead; otherwise, they won't buy into your vision. It's all about the personal relationship. Yet, it is also true that if a leader doesn't communicate the 'why' behind their ideas, then they won't inspire any followers, no matter how charismatic and persuasive they are. This is true in classrooms and governments alike. Great leaders know how to blend the emotional and rational appeal to maximize effectiveness. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with guest Dr. Debbie Badawi, Head of School at Manarah Islamic Academy in Lehigh Valley, PA, for a compelling conversation about leadership, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Image source: Flickr | Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes Guatemala

How do we support others without instilling a sense of dependency? Everybody has bad days. At those times what we all need is to have somebody pay a little attention to us and pick up our spirits so we can gain strength to move forward. Being a good teacher, friend and partner means supporting them in times of need. Help too much, though, and we instill feelings of dependency on others, which ends up hurting their capacities to solve their own problems. We must discover the right balance in giving and receiving help. Join Steve and Dan Fouts – founders of Teach Different and twin brothers with over 50 years of teaching experience – along with guest Tinisa Huff, Principal at Betsy Ross Elementary School in Forest Park, IL, for a compelling conversation about interdependence, enriched by the Teach Different Method. Whether you are a teacher, school leader, or simply someone interested in experiencing the joy and fulfillment of challenging kids with big ideas, join our worldwide Community of Practice FREE for 30 days. Membership includes access to our robust library of resources, conversation plans, and lively discussions among teachers and faculty. Image source: Flickr | York College ISLGP