Imagine walking into a school where a principal tells a fart joke, and within seconds, students take deep breaths and self-regulate back to attention. Sound impossible? For Leroy Slanzi, this is everyday reality in schools that have embraced his emotional intelligence framework.
With over 25 years of experience across elementary, middle, and high school leadership, Slanzi brings a unique perspective to the educational leadership conversation. Having begun his career as a special education teacher, he quickly discovered that managing the emotional responses of adults was often more challenging than working with students. This insight became the foundation for his approach to school leadership and eventually led to his book, "Emotional Schools."
Slanzi argues that dramatic shifts in childhood experiences over the past 15 years—reduced free play, increased screen time, helicopter parenting—have created a generation of students struggling to manage stress and persevere through challenges. "We're seeing more kids with anxiety disorders, mood disorders, behavior disorders," he explains, noting this trend began well before the pandemic and continues to accelerate worldwide.
Rather than lamenting these changes, Slanzi developed a framework that teaches students the science behind their emotions. Even kindergarteners learn how deep breathing activates the prefrontal cortex, allowing for better decision-making. Using consistent language and visual cues throughout the school, this approach becomes embedded in daily interactions rather than existing as a separate program.
The results speak for themselves. Schools implementing Slanzi's framework report dramatic improvements in student behavior, attendance rates, and academic performance. Teachers spend less time managing disruptions and more time teaching. Perhaps most impressively, students begin to self-regulate independently, taking deep breaths when frustrated or overwhelmed instead of melting down or acting out.
Whether you're dealing with elementary students who think you "walk around with a cape on" or high schoolers contemplating their futures, Slanzi's approach offers practical strategies for building emotional resilience alongside academic skills. Ready to transform your school culture through emotional intelligence? Visit EmotionalSchools.com to learn how you can bring these evidence-based practices to your community.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Principal JL (00:00):
Today I'm excited to have Leroy Slanzi on the show
.
He is a seasoned educator withover 25 years of experience in
the field.
He is currently a practicingeducational leader and has done
it all from being a principal atthe elementary, middle school
and high school levels.
Leroy is also the author of theinfluential book Emotional
(00:21):
Schools, which dives deep intothe essential role emotional
intelligence and mental healthplay in our education system.
Beyond the page, leroy is adynamic facilitator of
professional development, atrusted voice of numerous
podcasts and a sought-afterspeaker whose guidance helps
parents, teachers and schoolleaders navigate the chaos life
(00:44):
throws our way.
I'm excited to share with youhis educational leadership
journey.
Now let's get to theconversation with Leroy Slanzi.
Welcome back, everybody foranother episode of the
(01:07):
Educational Leadership Podcast.
Today.
I am so excited to bring inLeroy Slanzi.
Leroy, welcome to the show.
Leroy Slanzi (01:17):
Jeff, thanks for having me.
Man, I'm looking forward tothis conversation.
Awesome, leroy, I'd like tostart off everybody with the
(01:37):
same question what inspired youto become an educator?
I'm a Gen Xer, I'm almost 50years old and, you know, our
parents kicked us out, told usto come home when, you know, the
street lights went off, and soI was always that guy who was
making sure we were having fun.
So I coordinated everything.
So, I think, starting early, Ijust loved being a kid and being
(01:58):
, you know, coordinating kids.
And then, eventually, as I grewolder, you know, I started
playing sports and then I becamea lifeguarding and swimming
instructor at 16 years old and Ijust loved it.
So I started teaching early,when I started teaching swimming
and then, you know, I ended upgoing into college, into
teaching school, and, um, youknow, the rest was history.
(02:18):
I coach.
I coached for 25 years as wellas being a teacher, so, and a
principal.
So it's just always been one ofthose things that it's been
natural for me just to be thatkind of a person.
I'm just engaged and wanting toconstantly have something going
on for people, right, so thatwas just a natural fit.
Principal JL (02:39):
Awesome.
Now, leroy, what did you decideto go into teaching, what area
did you become a teacher in?
And let's talk about some ofyour coaching.
Let's talk about what did youcoach and how did that all
transpire within youreducational career Because I
(03:00):
love American history.
Leroy Slanzi (03:01):
You guys are interesting down there at the
same place Pre-Trump stuff.
I just loved learning aboutFranklin Roosevelt and all the
stuff that was going on downthere.
I was just fascinated by it.
It also helped that I had afantastic American history
professor in college.
He was from the States man.
He could tell stories.
I just couldn't get enough ofhim.
(03:22):
I actually went to school to bea social studies teacher.
That's what I was hoping to doSocial studies, grade five, six
and, ironically, my first job Iended up in a foundation skills
class.
So back 25 years ago they usedto stream kids here in British
Columbia, canada, and so I wasin a class for kids.
If they had learningdisabilities, behavior problems,
whatnot, they were put in oneclass, and so that's what I did.
(03:45):
I taught for three years doingthat and then I just found a
real nation, a real passion forworking with kids with
disabilities.
So I became, I did my master'sin special ed and I ended up
being a special ed teacher forthree years and then somehow
flipped into being a viceprincipal very early in my
career.
But yeah, so that's kind of mystory there.
(04:07):
I was a teacher for six yearsand then was an admin quick.
Principal JL (04:11):
There you go.
All right, leroy.
So let's talk about being aclassroom teacher, special
education teacher.
I always feel like those peopleare just special people.
They have to have patience andyou know you're dealing with
some really tough kids, that youknow.
They just need that extraguidance.
They need things you know.
You know structure and there'sa lot of different ways you can
(04:33):
go into that.
Where are some things that youlearn as a special education
teacher?
What are some things that, asyour time, that stands out for
you?
Leroy Slanzi (04:43):
I think one of the things that I had to learn
early on being a specialeducation teacher is not so much
the students.
I found that the kids werequite easy.
They're quite entertaining,they're very passionate kids.
They wanted to learn and again,their progressions were a lot
smaller than kids who were notneurotypical.
(05:06):
But what I had to learn most asa special ed teacher is how to
manage the adults.
Um, I I find that when specialed kids and and it's, I know,
it's the same everywhere whenspecial ed kids are in a, in a
classroom, if you're in aninclusive school, that puts a
lot of pressure on teachersbecause then they have to
differentiate their instructionthey have to work with.
In canada we call them ieps,individualized education plans.
(05:28):
I know there's all kinds ofnames for them, but essentially
it's a plan for a kid withspecial needs, and so you know
I'd have to deal with a lot offrustrations.
You know a lot of of teachersstruggling with keeping up with,
with managing that, and then,if it was a kid who had a
designation, that came withcertain behaviors and whatnot.
So I, I think, in terms ofbeing the leader I am now, I
(05:52):
really learned that structureand understanding emotional
intelligence, which ties into mybook and some of the stuff I do
with, because I do a lot ofwork with other schools other
than my own.
I do a lot of workshops andstuff around emotional
intelligence.
I had to learn how to manage, um, that emotional intelligence
piece and that socialintelligence piece with the
adults, with the kids.
(06:12):
And then I had to learnstructure, because, as a special
ed teacher, the easier I couldmake it for teachers, the better
it was for my special ed kids.
And and I think that wasprobably the biggest thing I had
to learn is that I I couldn'tin thinking that all teachers
were going to be like me, thisgigantic hearts, going to work
the extra two to three hours tomake sure that I was prepared
for my kids, because I startedmy career in a foundational
(06:40):
skills class with no, not as aspecial ed teacher in a high
school too.
So you can imagine, you havespecial ed kids in there and a
calculus 11 class or you know,you know a kid who's
neurodivergent and they, youknow, and they're on the
spectrum there and they're,they're, can do pre-cal, but
their behavior may not be whatthe teacher wants in there,
right?
So that was the biggestlearning thing is I that really
(07:02):
kind of slapped me in the facethat I better get a firm grip on
emotional intelligence to makesure that this, this is best for
my kids.
Principal JL (07:09):
So, during your teaching time, what is the one
thing you love the most aboutteaching?
Leroy Slanzi (07:14):
Uh it, the kids still is.
Um, I, I just love interactingwith kids.
So a good example.
So I've been in severalelementary schools, and every
elementary school I've been in Idon't have a principal's office
, I work out of a classroom.
So that way I'm part of the.
You know, I'm a cog in thewheel, and so I support my
(07:35):
teachers and my kids by being ina space that's open, the doors
are open all the time and I dothat because I have to be around
kids.
And same thing with coaching.
Here in Canada we don't getstipends for coaching, we
actually volunteer our time, andso I coached basketball for
almost 25 years and I coachedswim club for some time too.
And I did that because I justenjoy being around kids.
(07:57):
I enjoy the growth, I lovewatching them learn, I love how
they you know, when you get themgoing they develop that grit
and perseverance and passion,all that sort of stuff.
Principal JL (08:09):
Yeah, and I know you kind of touched on it a
little bit about understandingemotional intelligence and how
that shaped you as a teacher tohelp you into the role, into
leadership.
Are there anything else thatshaped you during your teaching
time to take that next step andwhat was that?
(08:30):
And then, how did that inspireyou to become a principal
assistant principal in this case?
To start off with, how did thatall wrapped up together?
Leroy Slanzi (08:41):
there.
Well, I think, like a lot ofpeople that go into admin,
sometimes we have greatadministrators when we're
teachers and sometimes we haveshitty ones.
And I think, and I, and I thinkyou know, I, I was lucky cause
I had both.
I had some good administrators,but I also had some, um, some
not so good ones.
And I I felt early on in mycareer which is is I don't know
(09:03):
how normal it is, but early on Ifelt that if I could get into a
leadership position, I wouldrun a school differently.
I would do it differently, notonly for my kids, but for my
teachers, because I loveteachers.
I think teachers are ourgreatest asset, our greatest
resource.
Teachers, you know to to be, um, what they can be, um, through
(09:28):
emotional intelligence.
Your, your culture will thriveand your, you know, your
numeracy and literacy rates will, will go up.
Your attendance will decrease,uh, it decrease in the sense
that you won't have as many kidsabsent and and that's been the
truth so, um, I think part of itwas that is that I wanted to.
I wanted to affect change on abigger, on a more macro level
than just on the classroom.
Principal JL (09:49):
Yeah, that's really interesting.
You talk about how you know youhave some principles that you
watched right and how you go hey, you know what I really like,
how, what that guy does, or hey,I really like what she did or
didn't do, and you kind of takenotes.
I was kind of the same way as ateacher, where I was watching
(10:10):
my leaders going.
I like that.
I didn't quite like that.
Maybe I'll do somethingdifferent than that, and so it
sounds like you kind of did thesame thing as I did is when, as
a teacher, you kind of watchedyour leaders and it kind of
helped you develop maybe yourleadership style or how you
would like to go about doingthat.
(10:30):
So let's talk about yourassistant principalship.
You know what got you into it.
Was there a moment where it wasa tap on the shoulder that
someone says it's time?
Did you know it was time?
Did it just kind of sneak up onyou?
Did it happen organically?
There's so many different waysthat you know how did you step
(10:50):
into that leadership role as anassistant principal.
Leroy Slanzi (10:54):
Yeah, interesting.
So I was a department head inthe high school in student
services which, so you're thedepartment head of counselors,
special ed teachers, you knowanyone who supports students,
work experience teachers, thatsort of thing.
And I was in a really toxicschool at the time and so I
actually put in a request totransfer schools just to go to a
(11:17):
school where I wasn't, becauseI can't, I couldn't affect
change on the toxicity.
So I thought I'm not one ofthose people that I'm going to
sit around and bitch aboutsomething.
If I can't make a change, I'mnot going to just complain and
complain and spin whales, I'mgoing to move, right.
And I think that's that's my,my advice to teachers and
principals.
If you can't, if you're in adistrict or if you're in a
school and it's just notchanging and you can't, don't
(11:38):
wallow in that, just get out andgo somewhere else, right.
And so I actually went to gosomewhere else and the
superintendent kind of said tome go, say he goes, I'd like to
meet with you, because I heardyou're going to move because
there's a smaller district.
And I said yeah, I said I I'mgonna go, I would like to be
special ed teacher of the schooland on that level in the
seniority list he goes.
Well, if you don't mind, can youapply for the vice principal
(11:59):
position out at a differentschool?
He goes you're doing some goodwork.
I understand your.
You're doing some good work.
I understand your department.
You're doing some stuff around.
I was using the AVID program.
It's an American program, sowe're using the AVID program and
I was leading that and I saidvice principal.
I said I've been teaching, I'veonly been at this for six years
.
He goes.
I think you got what it takesand so I applied and the rest
(12:19):
was history.
I became a vice principal orassistant principal in the
States and yeah, and it's been19, 20 years.
I've been an admin since thenyour vice principalship.
Principal JL (12:45):
What are some things you learned, what are
some things that you've gainedfrom that that helped you become
a better leader, and whatadvice could you give somebody
in that role that is looking toget into that assistant
principal role down the road?
So again.
Leroy Slanzi (12:59):
You know I'm going to keep you're going to hear me
throughout this podcast.
Going back to emotionalintelligence, I, I, I.
There's one story I had.
So I became a vice principaland things were going great.
I made sure like I I'd be.
I sat in on school-based teammeetings.
I was the head of the specialed department.
I wanted to make sure I stuckto things that I was really good
at.
I dove into athletics because Iwas coaching, you know, but I
(13:23):
wasn't really familiar with, youknow, dealing with behavior and
having to suspend kids and thefirst kid I ever suspended in my
life.
I phoned home and I said to themom I'm like hey, listen, your
daughter's doing this, that andthe other.
They crossed the line, it'stime for them to go home.
And mom said to me Nope, I'm apardon.
She said my daughter's notsuspended, she'll be at school
(13:49):
tomorrow.
And I was like what I was in myhead?
I'm like you don't get to saythat.
And I said I'm sorry.
I said I'm suspending yourdaughter, they can't be on
school property there.
And it blew up and I raised myvoice, she raised her voice and
it just went sideways andafterwards I was done.
I kind of hung up the phone, notknowing if this kid was going
to show up the next day.
And I went to the principalnext door and he said to me he
(14:11):
said, leroy, have you ever eatencrow?
And I said no, I've never eatencrow.
I've eaten a lot of things.
I've eaten rattlesnake, I mean,and he goes well, if you put a
little salt on it it tastespretty good.
And I said, well, what do youmean?
He goes well, you handled thatparent all wrong.
He goes.
When you talk to a parent, thefirst thing you should be asking
them is for help.
And I said, oh, he goes.
(14:32):
So when you're phoning tosuspend a kid, you need to say,
hey, this is the situationthat's going on.
We're kind of hitting a line.
I need some help from you.
Can you tell me what you'redoing, how you're?
And he's preaching to me aboutemotional intelligence.
And I went into this having myemotions rise and fall with this
parent.
She clearly flipped her lid andI wasn't being empathetic and
(14:56):
you know I wasn't being mindfuland I wasn't.
It just went sideways.
And so I learned early on as avice principal.
And again I go back to being adepartment head and then being a
vice principal.
It comes down to teachers andyou have to be emotionally
intelligent if you're going todevelop a strong culture in your
school, because if you're not,your school environment is going
(15:17):
to become toxic and yourparental environment is going to
become toxic.
So that first suspension I knowthe kid's first name, last name
, I know mom's first name, Iknow I will never forget that,
and that was 20, 20 years agoand I have never and since then
I've suspended I don't know 500,middle schools, elementary
(15:40):
schools, middle schools.
You're guaranteed to suspendsome of those clowns and to this
day that's the one suspension.
That's the one parent whorefused the suspension.
It never happened again afterthat and that is something
that's resonated with me.
And when I have vice principalsI teach that I front load
(16:01):
anyone new coming into beingassistant principals about
emotional intelligence.
And now every school I go intowe have an emotional
intelligence structure, that wehave an emotional schools
framework that we use.
That's embedded into what we do.
So our culture is thrivingwithin in that capacity, right?
Principal JL (16:18):
So yeah, that's a really great story to learn, I
think, as assistant principals.
Like I have never beenassistant principal for some
reason, I went from teacherright into the building, so, but
I was a small town, small ruralschool principal where I still
dealt with all the suspensions.
(16:39):
I dealt with everything.
You know I had hats today, allthe suspensions, I'm doing this,
I'm doing that.
So I know I've been throughthat.
I've learned lessons like that,to where, how you approach, how
do you talk, how do you get theparent to help you with their
child, because you're alwaystrying to say, hey, you know
(17:01):
your kid better than I do.
So how can we work together tomake this so this situation
doesn't A become worse but B wecan move forward without having
a repeat of this behavior or thesituation that you're working
through with that.
So that was a really greatstory that you shared there,
leroy.
Thank you for sharing that.
(17:21):
So let's talk about you knowyou went from assistant
principal to to principal, tobuilding leader.
What was it, um, that inspiredyou to go from that role into
that role, um, was it a?
There's, there's a story thatgoes behind it.
Did it kind of happen naturally?
Leroy Slanzi (17:41):
or, um, know what, what, what, what perspired for
you to go from the assistantprincipal or vice principal into
principalship, um, but I uh, bythe end of the three years that
(18:01):
I was an assistant principal,it was, it was time for me to
now to do, you know, toimplement a system and develop a
culture that I thought wasgoing to.
You know, I got hired for bothof them, so I had to turn one
(18:23):
down and I ended up, uh, middleschool principal for my first
gig, and that was tough.
Middle schools are tough.
I was a teacher at middleschool for three years, so I
already knew, um, but then Ibecame a principal of a middle
school.
So, um, uh, it was, it wassomething that was necessary and
it was just time, cause you getto a point when you're, when
you're, an assistant principal,it's like you want it to be your
(18:44):
own baby, right, you want to,you want to nurture something
and grow it, and then you knowand you learn a lot in those I,
because I was only there forthree years before I I moved to
an elementary school for six, um, um, but it was uh, you know,
it's a beautiful, beautifulthree years yeah, let's talk
about that a little bit.
Principal JL (19:02):
Let's talk about you know, do you have a story
that you could share about beinga middle school principal,
cause we all know there there'sgotta be something there, um,
but also talk about going frommiddle school, cause you also
talked about being a high schoolprincipal.
Talk about, like, what it'slike to be a middle school
principal, what it's like to bean elementary principal, and
(19:22):
then what is it like to be ahigh school principal, because
they're all three just differentanimals and you just have that
unique experience and I lovepeople to just understand the
difference between those threedifferent, those different areas
as a principal, yeah, ifsomebody came to me cause I'm 51
now and I've been doing thisfor 25 years If somebody came to
(19:44):
me and said, hey, can you be aprincipal of this middle school?
Leroy Slanzi (19:47):
I'd say no, I think.
I think all middle schoolsshould be labeled as Bart
Simpson academies.
Um, you know, girls are areoverly dramatic, more so than
they are in high school, causethere's it's all, emotional,
it's all.
Oh, you talked about a cultureof emotional intelligence and
this is my.
I wished I would have knownthen what I know now about
(20:09):
developing an emotional schoolsframework where I could have
implemented the right frameworkwith the right common language
and the right competencies.
Um, but I tell you, it was likeI was living in an episode of
bart simpson.
Every day there'd be kidsflicking lights on and off,
garbage cans would sometimes getlit and lit on fire.
Vaseline on door handles,condoms in the spots they
shouldn't be in.
I'd go into the gym and kidsare jumping off the mezzanine
(20:32):
onto mats.
There's, you know, there's.
It's just energy and and andnothing serious, like nothing.
I mean, when a garbage can gotlit in fire, it was kind of
serious, but there was neveranything really serious, it was
just all of this like juvenileboy behavior.
(20:53):
The girls it was more dealingwith drama and, and you know,
girls can be mean to each otheroh man, they beat each other up,
but the boys it's just constant, you know it, just constant.
And, uh, it wore me down justbecause I would.
The hardest part was that Iwould find a lot of it hilarious
, like I'd get to do something.
I'd have to discipline them,because I believe in
(21:14):
consequences as well as teachingself-regulation and emotional
intelligence, and and I would goback into my office and I would
just laugh.
I'm like, oh my god, that wasthe most funny thing in the
world.
Like I just find the stuff thatdid the humorous, even though
they'd sometimes get suspendedand and it just it was just like
this, right?
So, yeah, that was, it wastough being in a, in a middle
(21:35):
school, it is tough.
I give a lot of credit tomiddle school teachers man, they
, wow, wow they.
School teachers, man, they,they, wow, wow.
They're dealing with kids atthe, at an interesting.
And I've raised two kids too,right, my son is now 18 and in
college, my daughter's 16 inhigh school.
But man, oh man, I it's, it's,that's just that age 11 to 13.
There it's like holy moly.
Principal JL (21:56):
Oh yeah.
So what was it like to be aprincipal at the elementary
level?
Leroy Slanzi (22:05):
Uh, you know, it's funny cause people ask me you
know where my favorite level is?
Because I've been in a coupleof high schools and a couple of
elementary schools and you knowwhat I really?
Because I coached and I coachedhigh school.
At the high school level, I didcoach elementary stuff too, but
what I really liked about highschools is that kids, when
they're in grade 11 and 12, arereally mature and they're
starting to think about life andyou know they, you know they
worry about their mental healthand they worry about what's
(22:26):
going to happen with theirfuture and they worry about what
their career is going to be.
Um, you know, and it's kind ofcool that way, that's, it's just
a more mature kind of sort of apeaceful environment.
I find, with the odd except whentheir behavior is bad, it's bad
and it and it and it could bedangerous at times, right.
And then I look at elementaryand in an elementary school kids
think you're super mad, theythink you're the greatest thing
(22:49):
since sliced bread, right, andthat's who doesn't love.
You know, when I talk emotionalintelligence, it's all centered
around your ego.
It's how your ego is eitheroveractive and under, uh,
underactive, and when you're inan elementary school.
You can't leave it every day.
You leave thinking you're thebest principal in the entire
planet, right, because I thinkthe kids think you walk around
with a cape on.
So you know, I, I, I think I'mmore partial to elementary,
(23:12):
because I do.
You know, when kids smile andadore you, like my own children
when they're little I can't geta hug out of my daughter right
now, and she used to worship me,right.
So there's that.
But I also, you know the highschool has got some really,
really cool parts to it too.
Principal JL (23:26):
Yeah, you kind of hit on a couple of things there.
You kind of helped me reflectback on my time at Southern
Valley, which is a small ruralschool.
It's actually a one-site area,it's K-12.
So we had an elementary sideconnected to the elementary gym,
which was connected to the highschool gym, which is connected
(23:47):
to the secondary side.
So I was the 7-12 principal, soI had to deal with middle
school age kids all the way upthrough high school kids in that
building.
We had about 175 students totalon my side.
But if I was having a rough go,I just walk over to the
elementary side and those kidswould just like Mr Linden, we,
(24:11):
you know, we love you, we'regoing to.
They just come up and they giveme hugs and like it was the
best thing ever because like Ican always go over to the
elementary side and those kidswould just love you, they'll
give you hugs, they'll give youhigh fives.
It kind of just made you go.
You know what.
This is why I do what I do andI love that part.
Now you still get some of thatwith the upper level guys, but
(24:34):
they just, you know, they kindof, they kind of don't um,
they're too cool for that attimes, right, um, yeah.
And now, being at the highschool level, you know that is
my niche.
I really enjoy the high schoolage kids.
Um, I, I feel like the peoplethat do elementary are special,
just like the special educationteachers.
You know, it takes a specialtype of person to work with
(24:57):
those kids.
I don't have the patience forit, but I can deal with middle
school kids, but I do preferhigh school kids because those
middle school kids, man, it'sjust.
Sometimes you're just like, oh,they're not thinking straight.
They're just like what are youdoing?
You know, and I think the bestpart about being a 7-12
principal is I had two years tostraighten them out before they
(25:19):
got in the high school, so thatwas the best part about it.
Them out before they got intohigh school, so that was the
best part about it.
But now, being a high schoolprincipal, I have to bring in
the eighth graders as ninthgraders and it takes us about
nine weeks to get them where weneed to go, because we have to
go.
This is no longer middle schooland this is our expectation
let's get you guys where youneed to go and it takes a little
(25:41):
bit of time.
It's a little rough at thebeginning but by the time we get
about, you know, six to nineweeks into the school year, it
all smooths itself out.
So they start figuring it outand things like that.
There are different, you know,they're just different beasts
and I really enjoy you sharingyour experiences with that.
So let's talk about your book.
(26:02):
What inspired or what was themoment um that inspires you to
write the book?
Emotional schools?
Leroy Slanzi (26:10):
uh, you know, I I think it's because kids changed
and and it started.
A lot of people want to blamecovid as the, as the thing that
changed kids, but I think itstarted about you, you know, 10,
15 years ago.
Kids are playing less.
There's less free play wherethey're out in the neighborhood,
you know, throwing the ballaround or riding their bikes or
(26:32):
climbing trees.
Technology come into play,which caused a lot of that.
Parents are fearful.
I think there's a lot of parentshave shifted in terms of how
they parent.
We see more gentle parenting,we see more helicopter parenting
and I think, for teachers, ourrole started to shift from one
(26:54):
of we're a teacher to nowco-parents, to see kids who were
, who are, who are becoming lessable to deal with stress
because of all theseenvironmental factors in life.
Right, and a lot of it is isdue to technology.
A lot of it's due to bothparents having to work and a lot
of it is, you know, a fear thatyour kid is going to get
(27:14):
kidnapped.
A lot of it's because it costsmoney to play sports.
Um, you know, and, but it wasthe perfect storm.
And I think, as you've seenover the years, that kids are
shifting.
We're seeing more kids withanxiety disorders, more kids
with mood disorders, withbehavior disorders, on top of
special needs designationsStates, australia, europe,
(27:40):
because I have a lot ofconnections all over the world
and we're seeing it worldwide.
The World Health Organizationhas a lot of data out on kids
who have mental health issues,and so it's something that's
exponentially growing and I knowyou can attest to it, jeff.
Our kids' behavior and theirability to cope is diminishing,
which led me to writing my bookand developing an emotional
schools framework that revolvesaround emotional intelligence,
(28:02):
so we can teach kids how to cope, because now we have kids who
can barely get through adifficult math question without,
you know, losing it or quitting.
And whereas back in the day, inthe olden days, you know, kids
actually did homework at home,you know, and now, god forbid,
you send homework home with kidsbecause parents aren't going to
(28:23):
help them with it, and and norare the kids going to do it,
because they're just not.
And so you know we're justdealing with a different
generation of parents and adifferent generation of kids,
and and so it led me to write abook on what the state of
education is like in the UnitedStates, and my.
My focus was more United Statesand Canada and North America.
So educational systems arequite similar, although
(28:43):
Australia is quite similar to.
I've done a lot of work downthere too, and and I just wanted
to kind of portray what'shappening in schools and then
and then teach educators,principals, teachers,
superintendents about howimportant it is to understand
the science of emotions,understand ego, understand how
that emotional intelligence,social and social intelligence
(29:06):
piece has to be incorporated andembedded into reading, writing
and arithmetic, because if wedon't, our schools are just
going to keep spiraling withbehavior issues.
Teachers, teachers are going tokeep burning out, teachers
aren't going to want to do thejob, and you know.
And kids are going to get lessand less productive as we
continue.
And so that's what the book is.
It's basically a guide forschools and it's a first.
(29:29):
Like I said, it talks abouthistory and why we're at where
we're at, and then it providesthe science of it and then
provides a nice solid plan forschools to embed into their
systems.
And the nice part about it isyou know, I do a lot of
professional developmentworkshops, I go to a lot of
schools and I work with them toembed this emotional schools
(29:50):
framework into their schools andthe biggest frustration for
teachers is having to doprofessional development that's
going to be meaningless orthat's just added on to their
day and it's just extra work.
And what I do is about it'ssomething that you come in, it's
a one-day workshop, and thenteachers like if you can see
behind me the colored postersand the competencies, those
(30:10):
revolve around emotionalintelligence, and you just you
work with schools within theirsystems, with their structures,
with their programming, theirreading, writing, math, english
programs, their sports programs,and you and I teach them how to
embed this in there so itbecomes culturally enabled,
right, and so that's what thebook is about.
That's the work I do on the sideof being a principal, because
(30:33):
it's so crucial in this day andage, because kids can just not
handle stress and a lot of itagain.
I think free play, that kidsgoing outside and not wiping out
on their bike, or having toorganize a game of tag, like I
used to when I was five yearsold, or a game of street hockey
outside, and kids don't do thatanymore.
They're not out there gettinginto arguments with their
(30:53):
buddies or having to communicatehow we're going to play a game,
and so they're losing thosecritical thinking skills,
creative thinking skills, theability to communicate naturally
those natural things that weredeveloped as kids.
For us aren't there anymore, andyou can't blame parents and you
can't blame society, becauseit's just where we've shifted
with technology, right, and sothat's why we had to write,
(31:14):
because we're in a different eraand you can't, and what's
frustrating is is sitting hereafter all these years and
watching schools sit in the same, you know, spinning their wheel
the same way.
Let's keep doing it this wayreading, writing, arithmetic,
assessment, standardized tests.
This is how you do it withbehavior, or it's either.
Schools either go really toosoft with behavior or they're
(31:35):
too hard with behavior, and it'sa and it should be a
combination of old and newtogether, right and so, and so
that's what I wrote in the bookand that's what I do when I work
with with schools all over theplaces.
I teach schools how to how todo it.
It's fantastic.
Principal JL (31:53):
So you kind of hit on a lot of things there, Leroy
.
And you know and so I, I hearyou, um, you know I'm I'm 46
years old, I'll be 47 here inJuly.
So I get, I was one of thosekids.
I was out playing, we wererunning the neighborhood, we
were doing all those things isnow it's like, oh my gosh, we
(32:14):
don't want our kids to runaround and do what we did, but
we're missing that.
And I know I read a bookrecently called the Anxious
Generation.
I don't know if you're aware ofthat book, but it has talked
about bit and how they went fromfree play childhood into a
(32:38):
handheld device or a deviceelectronic childhood, where
they're getting all theirinteractions through a phone or
a computer, where you know thatis actually affecting our
students ability in schoolbecause that's where they have
that with them at all times.
And I know for us we've reallywe kind of want to have high
(33:02):
expectations.
We want to be able to understand.
You know we want to teach youhow to utilize technology
correctly, when's a proper timeto use it.
We want you to be educated.
So we have worked, you know,the last couple, two or three
years since I've been here as aprincipal at my school, here at
Hastings High, to try to helpkids understand yeah, this is a
(33:25):
tool, this is something you canuse, but there's times where you
need to not use it.
So you can be educated andlearn the things you do, but we
also need to teach them socialinteractions.
We need to teach them what'sthe best time and place for
those things, because if they'renot learning that, they're
going to get out of school andthey're going to go to a job and
(33:45):
get fired because they haven'tlearned the skills they need to
learn when it comes on how to dothat.
And so do you have like a storywith schools that you worked
with that implemented some ofyour emotional support,
competencies and framework intoit, and how did it change their,
(34:06):
their overall culture andschool climate?
Leroy Slanzi (34:09):
Well, I'm going to tell you a little story that
just happened today.
So today we had a group.
They're actually from utah.
They've been traveling throughcanada, they're traditional
dancers and they and they cameto our school and I invited
another elementary school fromdown the road and you know
there's about 400 people inthere, and so the dancers were
there and afterwards, you know,at an indigenous school, having
(34:31):
a gathering and providing foodis very important to the culture
of indigenous people.
And so I you know the peoplewere barbecues, we just did
burgers and hot dogs and they'rebarbecuing outside and I get on
the mic and I'm always aboutjoking, right, and I get up
there.
I'm like you guys smell that,and they're like, yeah, it
smells delicious.
I'm like, really, because Ijust farted and I and I, so I
(34:52):
make a joke and all the kids,but I mean you tell a fart joke,
you're the funniest guy in theworld, right?
So all the kids start laughingand then I wait, and so part of
being emotionally intelligent isthat you can take some deep
breaths, you can self-soothe andbring yourself back.
So my school, my kids, are onone side and this school is on
the other side, so I wait, mykids are used to it Because I
have Monday morning assemblieswhere, where we talk about
behavior, we teachself-regulation, we talk about
(35:14):
emotions, we teach breathing.
It's embedded into what we do.
And so my kids, within 15seconds they're ready, they're
listening to Leroy now and thisother school they can't bring it
together.
So I had to get on the mic andsay okay, listen, take some deep
breaths, come back to me and Ineed to be quiet now.
So I had to use words to getthem to self-regulate With my
kids.
I didn't.
So afterwards the principalwho's a good buddy of mine and
(35:34):
he's going to hear this he goes,leroy, he goes.
I love fart jokes, I'm like metoo and he says you can't tell a
fart joke and expect kids toregulate afterwards.
And I said, yes, I can bed.
(35:56):
Self-regulation, you can doalmost anything with your kids
because they will learn how totake those deep breaths and calm
their mind so their prefrontalcortex can work and I've been.
It was proof was in the puddingand I said, yes, I can.
I said you just need to do thework with your school and you
need to do some of these things.
And we kind of left it at thatand he has his own philosophy
and doing things and he's a goodbuddy of mine.
So you know, I just kind of lethim be.
But when I do and go and I, whenI do go and work with other
(36:17):
schools and I've worked with alot of schools and I, first of
what I do is I go in and I teachthe background.
Why are we here?
Like what got us here?
No free play where they develop, because free play is crucial
to developing thosecharacteristics around learning,
which is, you know, you knowcommunication, collaboration,
critical, creative thinking,personal social awareness, all
those things Right.
(36:38):
And so you know, one of the,when I go into schools, I teach
them all that and I then I teachthem about the science behind
it and understanding emotion.
So when they do see a kid getemotional, they know right away
that if they teach the kidsabout the science, the brain
science and I teachfive-year-olds about how the
brain works with your emotionsand we teach them, if you take
deep breaths and you soothe, itallows your prefrontal cortex to
(37:00):
work, and so I teach schools toteach that.
And then we use the commonlanguage that's here in these
colored posters plus thecompetency posters, and so it's
always front and center and youwould be amazed what happens in
people's schools.
All of a sudden, these kids inkindergarten or grade one, who
are learning how to blend vowelsounds or having to, you know
when they're learning how toread or if they're learning how
(37:21):
to use a pen, how they canpersevere and they have more
rigor and they have more abilityto cope because they're aware
of themselves, they're aware ofhow they're feeling, and so it
becomes this drastic change inschools where all of a sudden
it's easier for teachers toteach because kids can
self-soothe and so when they'refeeling frustrated or angry or
(37:41):
sad or mad, where you know,sometimes they flip a desk or
crawl under a table, a lot ofthat stuff starts to dissipate.
Right, I only see in my schoolbehavior from kindergarten and
grade one kids cause they'rejust learning it, and so a lot
of schools I work with highschools too I we work this stuff
right through high schools,middle schools, and when you
teach this stuff, man, it makesa drastic change because all of
(38:01):
a sudden kids, you know, andthere's an attendance crisis
right around the world inaustralia they have, they call
them ghost children, wherethey're since covid, they're
just not attending and a lot ofit's this anxiety stuff, right,
that you were talking about fromthat book.
And when you have kids who cancope with stress, they start
coming back to school and all ofa sudden, your attendance rates
are better.
And when your attendance ratesare better, guess what?
(38:21):
A monkey can get kids to learnhow to read and write and do
math, because they're thereevery day, right, and so I I
think that's the biggest piecethat I've noticed when I work
with schools is that evenschools that are doing great,
you can make them excellent andyou can make teaching excellent.
And the other piece of that isyou see staff.
You see, when I work with aschool, you see that toxicity
(38:44):
between staff members decreasebecause they're also aware.
It's like okay, I need to beaware of how I'm feeling in this
situation, what I'm bringing tothe table.
I need to be socially aware, soI need to understand what's
going on with my colleagues, ifthey're having a bad day, how I
should treat them, or if I'mhaving a bad day, how I should
act.
And then I need to adjust mycommunication, my verbal and
nonverbal communication, so thatI'm interacting better with my
(39:07):
kids, my staff members, and itjust shifts everything.
And and it's amazing becauseit's not like a lot of these
programs that you do, whetheryou use tribes or mind up or
some of these other ones youknow you do it and then you got
to get a subscription and thenyou got to follow all these.
You know these booklets andit's.
You know it's paper and pen andkids sit down with this program
that I do science and then it'sembedded into everything
(39:36):
because your kids, during theday, they're going to give you
20, 30 different behaviors in anhour and every time there's a
behavior you get to use thecommon language, you get to talk
about breathing, you get totalk about the science promotion
, and it's really quick andyou'll be amazed after a few
months, all of a sudden you seekids who are just you'll look
over and you can see them takingdeep breaths and it's like
they're calming themselvesbefore they punch their buddy in
the face next door, right?
So it's, yeah, it's having a,it's having a massive impact and
(39:59):
and you know it's it's, youknow, as it grows, it's getting
more and more exciting to watch,because I feel like I'm
changing the education system,because and and this doesn't
mean there's no consequences.
I still suspend kids, right, Istill could give kids detention,
because you don't throw thebaby out with the bath water.
It's about combining the twoand eventually the punishment
(40:19):
stuff disappears because yourkids start behaving better and
and it's because people, whenthey hear oh, self-regulation
and emotions, they think it'sall flowers, rainbows and
unicorns.
But really it's just thescience and teaching them to be
emotionally intelligent.
But to get them to be, yousometimes need to kick them in
the ass.
Still, eventually the asskicking goes away and the
(40:39):
suspensions decrease and thedetention decrease and right in
lines decreases, picking upgarbage decreases because
they're getting more emotionallyintelligent.
And you find I see schools aftersix months, seven months, eight
months, it's.
It's almost like I, like Inever in.
In.
When I was in at, when I was ata high school, before this
elementary school, I rarely hadbehavior issues with kids in
(41:00):
grade 9, 10, 11, and 12, more so10, 11, and 12, because they
were just emotionallyintelligent and they could do
the right thing right.
And so that's the.
You know.
Imagine being in a world wherepeople were emotionally
intelligent.
How productive and efficientand prosperous we'd all be.
It'd be amazing.
It's the same thing in schools,right.
Principal JL (41:19):
Yeah, you bet.
I mean you touch on a lot ofreally great things there and
there's going to be people thatare going to want to get in
contact with you about the workthat you're doing.
And Leroy is still a principal.
Leroy is still a principal.
He's still doing the work, buthe's also got you know his
(41:42):
emotional school framework thathe does as well.
So if people, leroy, wanted toget in touch with you and learn
more about your work, how couldthey do that?
Leroy Slanzi (41:49):
Go to EmotionalSchoolscom.
Awesome, that simple.
Go to EmotionalSchoolscom thatsimple, all my emails there.
There's all the my emails there.
There's a lot of information onthere.
All these posters that arebehind me here, those are, those
are that swag that every, everyteacher, every school that does
the workshop.
So they have these to put up intheir classrooms.
They have the language rightthere.
They don't have to buy any.
(42:09):
I even give them a free copy ofmy book, emotional schools.
So it's all there.
They don't have to go buysubscriptions and all this sort
of stuff and it's there.
And then everybody just has totow the company line together,
believe in emotionalintelligence, and then you just
shift.
You don't have to bring me back, unless you want a refresher
(42:30):
and want me to come back, andthen I'm available for phone
calls, to work emails and I willwork within.
Like I email teachers from allover the place all the time.
It's like, hey, this is what'sgoing on, what am I missing?
It's like, oh, here and it'sfree, right, so it's a, it's a
one-time thing.
And then I teach them how Iteach schools, how to embed it
elementary, middle and highschool because I've done it all
and and then they go and thenit's up to.
(42:51):
The trick is, though, iseverybody has to be on board,
and the principal has to be onboard.
If the principal doesn'tbelieve in it, don't waste my
fricking time, because, as youand I both know, we're the
leaders of the ship, and ifwe're steering, we better be
buying in.
You know, and, and and I thinkthat's the biggest thing, and
most principals, I think theirheart's in the right spot.
Principal JL (43:10):
Most schools I go to, the principles are in there
and you bet, and what we'll dois we'll put that link in the
show notes so people can clickon and find you real easy, so
they can get in touch with youto learn more about the work
that you do do.
And so, leroy, this has been agreat episode.
It just seems like this time isjust going quickly and it's
(43:33):
kind of escaping us right now,like this time is just going
quickly and it's kind ofescaping us right now.
Is there any advice that youwould like to give to aspiring
principals out there, some thatyou may have learned that, hey,
this would be something thatwould be good for you to know.
It helped me, and you know what.
What would that be?
Leroy Slanzi (43:53):
You know, what I would, I would say would say is
be someone who observes, watch,watch, what's going on with
interactions between staff, whatyour principals do, good and
bad, like we talked about andthen learn how to respond
instead of react and by that Imean don't react emotionally,
(44:17):
take a step back, take some deepbreaths and then respond
tactfully, with propercommunication, and you're going
to know how to respond tactfullybecause you've been observing
and and be a student of the game.
It's like if, when I watchsports, if I, because I was a
basketball coach, you know whenI go and watch, I, I, I don't
watch just for entertainment,I'm a student of the game, like
I'm, I'm I'm trying to figureout why that guy's open in the
(44:38):
corner for threes all the time,like or you know, or why is the
post dominating, or you knowwhat I mean.
And I think that's the onething.
If you're aspiring to be aleader, be a student of the game
.
Just know how every pillar ofyour school works and it's
littered.
If an elementary school literacy, numeracy, social, emotional,
well-being, right, which isbehavior, um, and special ed.
If you're in a high school,there's tons of different
(44:59):
departments.
Know how every cog in the wheelworks and observe and learn,
and don't be dismissive of themath department because they
think they're smarter thaneveryone else, right?
Or the science department,because science and math guys,
they think they're smarter thaneverybody, right?
Whereas us social studiesteachers are the real geniuses.
Yeah, just call a spade a spade, right?
So I mean, and that's just it.
Be a student of the game, like,be a student of the game if
(45:21):
you're going to go intoleadership.
Truly understand it.
Principal JL (45:24):
Hey, leroy, this has been a great conversation.
I really enjoy having you onthe podcast today.
I learned probably a lot herejust by sitting back and
listening to all the thingsyou're doing and your
experiences as a leader, and Iknow there's a lot of people out
there that this message isgoing to resonate, and so, leroy
(45:45):
, I appreciate the time that youtook today to come on the show.
Thank you for coming on theshow today.
Leroy Slanzi (45:52):
Jeff, it was fun man I could talk.
We could talk for the next sixhours about this stuff.
I love pedagogy.
Principal JL (45:59):
Wow, what an insightful conversation with
Leroy Slancy.
His passion for emotionalintelligence, mental health and
building responsive schoolcommunities truly shines through
.
Whether you're a parent,educator or school leader,
leroy's message reminds us thatemotional wellness isn't a side
note.
It's the foundation ofeverything we do.
(46:20):
If today's episode sparkedreflection or gave you new tools
to bring back to your school orteam, be sure to check out his
book Emotional Schools andfollow his work.
There's a link in the shownotes for you to connect.
Thanks for listening and untilnext time, be 1% better.
Today I'm excited to have Leroy Slanzi on the show
.
He is a seasoned educator withover 25 years of experience in
the field.
He is currently a practicingeducational leader and has done
it all from being a principal atthe elementary, middle school
and high school levels.
Leroy is also the author of theinfluential book Emotional
(00:21):
Schools, which dives deep intothe essential role emotional
intelligence and mental healthplay in our education system.
Beyond the page, leroy is adynamic facilitator of
professional development, atrusted voice of numerous
podcasts and a sought-afterspeaker whose guidance helps
parents, teachers and schoolleaders navigate the chaos life
(00:44):
throws our way.
I'm excited to share with youhis educational leadership
journey.
Now let's get to theconversation with Leroy Slanzi.
Welcome back, everybody foranother episode of the
(01:07):
Educational Leadership Podcast.
Today.
I am so excited to bring inLeroy Slanzi.
Leroy, welcome to the show.
Leroy Slanzi (01:17):
Jeff, thanks for having me.
Man, I'm looking forward tothis conversation.
Awesome, leroy, I'd like tostart off everybody with the
(01:37):
same question what inspired youto become an educator?
I'm a Gen Xer, I'm almost 50years old and, you know, our
parents kicked us out, told usto come home when, you know, the
street lights went off, and soI was always that guy who was
making sure we were having fun.
So I coordinated everything.
So, I think, starting early, Ijust loved being a kid and being
(01:58):
, you know, coordinating kids.
And then, eventually, as I grewolder, you know, I started
playing sports and then I becamea lifeguarding and swimming
instructor at 16 years old and Ijust loved it.
So I started teaching early,when I started teaching swimming
and then, you know, I ended upgoing into college, into
teaching school, and, um, youknow, the rest was history.
(02:18):
I coach.
I coached for 25 years as wellas being a teacher, so, and a
principal.
So it's just always been one ofthose things that it's been
natural for me just to be thatkind of a person.
I'm just engaged and wanting toconstantly have something going
on for people, right, so thatwas just a natural fit.
Principal JL (02:39):
Awesome.
Now, leroy, what did you decideto go into teaching, what area
did you become a teacher in?
And let's talk about some ofyour coaching.
Let's talk about what did youcoach and how did that all
transpire within youreducational career Because I
(03:00):
love American history.
Leroy Slanzi (03:01):
You guys are interesting down there at the
same place Pre-Trump stuff.
I just loved learning aboutFranklin Roosevelt and all the
stuff that was going on downthere.
I was just fascinated by it.
It also helped that I had afantastic American history
professor in college.
He was from the States man.
He could tell stories.
I just couldn't get enough ofhim.
(03:22):
I actually went to school to bea social studies teacher.
That's what I was hoping to doSocial studies, grade five, six
and, ironically, my first job Iended up in a foundation skills
class.
So back 25 years ago they usedto stream kids here in British
Columbia, canada, and so I wasin a class for kids.
If they had learningdisabilities, behavior problems,
whatnot, they were put in oneclass, and so that's what I did.
(03:45):
I taught for three years doingthat and then I just found a
real nation, a real passion forworking with kids with
disabilities.
So I became, I did my master'sin special ed and I ended up
being a special ed teacher forthree years and then somehow
flipped into being a viceprincipal very early in my
career.
But yeah, so that's kind of mystory there.
(04:07):
I was a teacher for six yearsand then was an admin quick.
Principal JL (04:11):
There you go.
All right, leroy.
So let's talk about being aclassroom teacher, special
education teacher.
I always feel like those peopleare just special people.
They have to have patience andyou know you're dealing with
some really tough kids, that youknow.
They just need that extraguidance.
They need things you know.
You know structure and there'sa lot of different ways you can
(04:33):
go into that.
Where are some things that youlearn as a special education
teacher?
What are some things that, asyour time, that stands out for
you?
Leroy Slanzi (04:43):
I think one of the things that I had to learn
early on being a specialeducation teacher is not so much
the students.
I found that the kids werequite easy.
They're quite entertaining,they're very passionate kids.
They wanted to learn and again,their progressions were a lot
smaller than kids who were notneurotypical.
(05:06):
But what I had to learn most asa special ed teacher is how to
manage the adults.
Um, I I find that when specialed kids and and it's, I know,
it's the same everywhere whenspecial ed kids are in a, in a
classroom, if you're in aninclusive school, that puts a
lot of pressure on teachersbecause then they have to
differentiate their instructionthey have to work with.
In canada we call them ieps,individualized education plans.
(05:28):
I know there's all kinds ofnames for them, but essentially
it's a plan for a kid withspecial needs, and so you know
I'd have to deal with a lot offrustrations.
You know a lot of of teachersstruggling with keeping up with,
with managing that, and then,if it was a kid who had a
designation, that came withcertain behaviors and whatnot.
So I, I think, in terms ofbeing the leader I am now, I
(05:52):
really learned that structureand understanding emotional
intelligence, which ties into mybook and some of the stuff I do
with, because I do a lot ofwork with other schools other
than my own.
I do a lot of workshops andstuff around emotional
intelligence.
I had to learn how to manage, um, that emotional intelligence
piece and that socialintelligence piece with the
adults, with the kids.
(06:12):
And then I had to learnstructure, because, as a special
ed teacher, the easier I couldmake it for teachers, the better
it was for my special ed kids.
And and I think that wasprobably the biggest thing I had
to learn is that I I couldn'tin thinking that all teachers
were going to be like me, thisgigantic hearts, going to work
the extra two to three hours tomake sure that I was prepared
for my kids, because I startedmy career in a foundational
(06:40):
skills class with no, not as aspecial ed teacher in a high
school too.
So you can imagine, you havespecial ed kids in there and a
calculus 11 class or you know,you know a kid who's
neurodivergent and they, youknow, and they're on the
spectrum there and they're,they're, can do pre-cal, but
their behavior may not be whatthe teacher wants in there,
right?
So that was the biggestlearning thing is I that really
(07:02):
kind of slapped me in the facethat I better get a firm grip on
emotional intelligence to makesure that this, this is best for
my kids.
Principal JL (07:09):
So, during your teaching time, what is the one
thing you love the most aboutteaching?
Leroy Slanzi (07:14):
Uh it, the kids still is.
Um, I, I just love interactingwith kids.
So a good example.
So I've been in severalelementary schools, and every
elementary school I've been in Idon't have a principal's office
, I work out of a classroom.
So that way I'm part of the.
You know, I'm a cog in thewheel, and so I support my
(07:35):
teachers and my kids by being ina space that's open, the doors
are open all the time and I dothat because I have to be around
kids.
And same thing with coaching.
Here in Canada we don't getstipends for coaching, we
actually volunteer our time, andso I coached basketball for
almost 25 years and I coachedswim club for some time too.
And I did that because I justenjoy being around kids.
(07:57):
I enjoy the growth, I lovewatching them learn, I love how
they you know, when you get themgoing they develop that grit
and perseverance and passion,all that sort of stuff.
Principal JL (08:09):
Yeah, and I know you kind of touched on it a
little bit about understandingemotional intelligence and how
that shaped you as a teacher tohelp you into the role, into
leadership.
Are there anything else thatshaped you during your teaching
time to take that next step andwhat was that?
(08:30):
And then, how did that inspireyou to become a principal
assistant principal in this case?
To start off with, how did thatall wrapped up together?
Leroy Slanzi (08:41):
there.
Well, I think, like a lot ofpeople that go into admin,
sometimes we have greatadministrators when we're
teachers and sometimes we haveshitty ones.
And I think, and I, and I thinkyou know, I, I was lucky cause
I had both.
I had some good administrators,but I also had some, um, some
not so good ones.
And I I felt early on in mycareer which is is I don't know
(09:03):
how normal it is, but early on Ifelt that if I could get into a
leadership position, I wouldrun a school differently.
I would do it differently, notonly for my kids, but for my
teachers, because I loveteachers.
I think teachers are ourgreatest asset, our greatest
resource.
Teachers, you know to to be, um, what they can be, um, through
(09:28):
emotional intelligence.
Your, your culture will thriveand your, you know, your
numeracy and literacy rates will, will go up.
Your attendance will decrease,uh, it decrease in the sense
that you won't have as many kidsabsent and and that's been the
truth so, um, I think part of itwas that is that I wanted to.
I wanted to affect change on abigger, on a more macro level
than just on the classroom.
Principal JL (09:49):
Yeah, that's really interesting.
You talk about how you know youhave some principles that you
watched right and how you go hey, you know what I really like,
how, what that guy does, or hey,I really like what she did or
didn't do, and you kind of takenotes.
I was kind of the same way as ateacher, where I was watching
(10:10):
my leaders going.
I like that.
I didn't quite like that.
Maybe I'll do somethingdifferent than that, and so it
sounds like you kind of did thesame thing as I did is when, as
a teacher, you kind of watchedyour leaders and it kind of
helped you develop maybe yourleadership style or how you
would like to go about doingthat.
(10:30):
So let's talk about yourassistant principalship.
You know what got you into it.
Was there a moment where it wasa tap on the shoulder that
someone says it's time?
Did you know it was time?
Did it just kind of sneak up onyou?
Did it happen organically?
There's so many different waysthat you know how did you step
(10:50):
into that leadership role as anassistant principal.
Leroy Slanzi (10:54):
Yeah, interesting.
So I was a department head inthe high school in student
services which, so you're thedepartment head of counselors,
special ed teachers, you knowanyone who supports students,
work experience teachers, thatsort of thing.
And I was in a really toxicschool at the time and so I
actually put in a request totransfer schools just to go to a
(11:17):
school where I wasn't, becauseI can't, I couldn't affect
change on the toxicity.
So I thought I'm not one ofthose people that I'm going to
sit around and bitch aboutsomething.
If I can't make a change, I'mnot going to just complain and
complain and spin whales, I'mgoing to move, right.
And I think that's that's my,my advice to teachers and
principals.
If you can't, if you're in adistrict or if you're in a
school and it's just notchanging and you can't, don't
(11:38):
wallow in that, just get out andgo somewhere else, right.
And so I actually went to gosomewhere else and the
superintendent kind of said tome go, say he goes, I'd like to
meet with you, because I heardyou're going to move because
there's a smaller district.
And I said yeah, I said I I'mgonna go, I would like to be
special ed teacher of the schooland on that level in the
seniority list he goes.
Well, if you don't mind, can youapply for the vice principal
(11:59):
position out at a differentschool?
He goes you're doing some goodwork.
I understand your.
You're doing some good work.
I understand your department.
You're doing some stuff around.
I was using the AVID program.
It's an American program, sowe're using the AVID program and
I was leading that and I saidvice principal.
I said I've been teaching, I'veonly been at this for six years
.
He goes.
I think you got what it takesand so I applied and the rest
(12:19):
was history.
I became a vice principal orassistant principal in the
States and yeah, and it's been19, 20 years.
I've been an admin since thenyour vice principalship.
Principal JL (12:45):
What are some things you learned, what are
some things that you've gainedfrom that that helped you become
a better leader, and whatadvice could you give somebody
in that role that is looking toget into that assistant
principal role down the road?
So again.
Leroy Slanzi (12:59):
You know I'm going to keep you're going to hear me
throughout this podcast.
Going back to emotionalintelligence, I, I, I.
There's one story I had.
So I became a vice principaland things were going great.
I made sure like I I'd be.
I sat in on school-based teammeetings.
I was the head of the specialed department.
I wanted to make sure I stuckto things that I was really good
at.
I dove into athletics because Iwas coaching, you know, but I
(13:23):
wasn't really familiar with, youknow, dealing with behavior and
having to suspend kids and thefirst kid I ever suspended in my
life.
I phoned home and I said to themom I'm like hey, listen, your
daughter's doing this, that andthe other.
They crossed the line, it'stime for them to go home.
And mom said to me Nope, I'm apardon.
She said my daughter's notsuspended, she'll be at school
(13:49):
tomorrow.
And I was like what I was in myhead?
I'm like you don't get to saythat.
And I said I'm sorry.
I said I'm suspending yourdaughter, they can't be on
school property there.
And it blew up and I raised myvoice, she raised her voice and
it just went sideways andafterwards I was done.
I kind of hung up the phone, notknowing if this kid was going
to show up the next day.
And I went to the principalnext door and he said to me he
(14:11):
said, leroy, have you ever eatencrow?
And I said no, I've never eatencrow.
I've eaten a lot of things.
I've eaten rattlesnake, I mean,and he goes well, if you put a
little salt on it it tastespretty good.
And I said, well, what do youmean?
He goes well, you handled thatparent all wrong.
He goes.
When you talk to a parent, thefirst thing you should be asking
them is for help.
And I said, oh, he goes.
(14:32):
So when you're phoning tosuspend a kid, you need to say,
hey, this is the situationthat's going on.
We're kind of hitting a line.
I need some help from you.
Can you tell me what you'redoing, how you're?
And he's preaching to me aboutemotional intelligence.
And I went into this having myemotions rise and fall with this
parent.
She clearly flipped her lid andI wasn't being empathetic and
(14:56):
you know I wasn't being mindfuland I wasn't.
It just went sideways.
And so I learned early on as avice principal.
And again I go back to being adepartment head and then being a
vice principal.
It comes down to teachers andyou have to be emotionally
intelligent if you're going todevelop a strong culture in your
school, because if you're not,your school environment is going
(15:17):
to become toxic and yourparental environment is going to
become toxic.
So that first suspension I knowthe kid's first name, last name
, I know mom's first name, Iknow I will never forget that,
and that was 20, 20 years agoand I have never and since then
I've suspended I don't know 500,middle schools, elementary
(15:40):
schools, middle schools.
You're guaranteed to suspendsome of those clowns and to this
day that's the one suspension.
That's the one parent whorefused the suspension.
It never happened again afterthat and that is something
that's resonated with me.
And when I have vice principalsI teach that I front load
(16:01):
anyone new coming into beingassistant principals about
emotional intelligence.
And now every school I go intowe have an emotional
intelligence structure, that wehave an emotional schools
framework that we use.
That's embedded into what we do.
So our culture is thrivingwithin in that capacity, right?
Principal JL (16:18):
So yeah, that's a really great story to learn, I
think, as assistant principals.
Like I have never beenassistant principal for some
reason, I went from teacherright into the building, so, but
I was a small town, small ruralschool principal where I still
dealt with all the suspensions.
(16:39):
I dealt with everything.
You know I had hats today, allthe suspensions, I'm doing this,
I'm doing that.
So I know I've been throughthat.
I've learned lessons like that,to where, how you approach, how
do you talk, how do you get theparent to help you with their
child, because you're alwaystrying to say, hey, you know
(17:01):
your kid better than I do.
So how can we work together tomake this so this situation
doesn't A become worse but B wecan move forward without having
a repeat of this behavior or thesituation that you're working
through with that.
So that was a really greatstory that you shared there,
leroy.
Thank you for sharing that.
(17:21):
So let's talk about you knowyou went from assistant
principal to to principal, tobuilding leader.
What was it, um, that inspiredyou to go from that role into
that role, um, was it a?
There's, there's a story thatgoes behind it.
Did it kind of happen naturally?
Leroy Slanzi (17:41):
or, um, know what, what, what, what perspired for
you to go from the assistantprincipal or vice principal into
principalship, um, but I uh, bythe end of the three years that
(18:01):
I was an assistant principal,it was, it was time for me to
now to do, you know, toimplement a system and develop a
culture that I thought wasgoing to.
You know, I got hired for bothof them, so I had to turn one
(18:23):
down and I ended up, uh, middleschool principal for my first
gig, and that was tough.
Middle schools are tough.
I was a teacher at middleschool for three years, so I
already knew, um, but then Ibecame a principal of a middle
school.
So, um, uh, it was, it wassomething that was necessary and
it was just time, cause you getto a point when you're, when
you're, an assistant principal,it's like you want it to be your
(18:44):
own baby, right, you want to,you want to nurture something
and grow it, and then you knowand you learn a lot in those I,
because I was only there forthree years before I I moved to
an elementary school for six, um, um, but it was uh, you know,
it's a beautiful, beautifulthree years yeah, let's talk
about that a little bit.
Principal JL (19:02):
Let's talk about you know, do you have a story
that you could share about beinga middle school principal,
cause we all know there there'sgotta be something there, um,
but also talk about going frommiddle school, cause you also
talked about being a high schoolprincipal.
Talk about, like, what it'slike to be a middle school
principal, what it's like to bean elementary principal, and
(19:22):
then what is it like to be ahigh school principal, because
they're all three just differentanimals and you just have that
unique experience and I lovepeople to just understand the
difference between those threedifferent, those different areas
as a principal, yeah, ifsomebody came to me cause I'm 51
now and I've been doing thisfor 25 years If somebody came to
(19:44):
me and said, hey, can you be aprincipal of this middle school?
Leroy Slanzi (19:47):
I'd say no, I think.
I think all middle schoolsshould be labeled as Bart
Simpson academies.
Um, you know, girls are areoverly dramatic, more so than
they are in high school, causethere's it's all, emotional,
it's all.
Oh, you talked about a cultureof emotional intelligence and
this is my.
I wished I would have knownthen what I know now about
(20:09):
developing an emotional schoolsframework where I could have
implemented the right frameworkwith the right common language
and the right competencies.
Um, but I tell you, it was likeI was living in an episode of
bart simpson.
Every day there'd be kidsflicking lights on and off,
garbage cans would sometimes getlit and lit on fire.
Vaseline on door handles,condoms in the spots they
shouldn't be in.
I'd go into the gym and kidsare jumping off the mezzanine
(20:32):
onto mats.
There's, you know, there's.
It's just energy and and andnothing serious, like nothing.
I mean, when a garbage can gotlit in fire, it was kind of
serious, but there was neveranything really serious, it was
just all of this like juvenileboy behavior.
(20:53):
The girls it was more dealingwith drama and, and you know,
girls can be mean to each otheroh man, they beat each other up,
but the boys it's just constant, you know it, just constant.
And, uh, it wore me down justbecause I would.
The hardest part was that Iwould find a lot of it hilarious
, like I'd get to do something.
I'd have to discipline them,because I believe in
(21:14):
consequences as well as teachingself-regulation and emotional
intelligence, and and I would goback into my office and I would
just laugh.
I'm like, oh my god, that wasthe most funny thing in the
world.
Like I just find the stuff thatdid the humorous, even though
they'd sometimes get suspendedand and it just it was just like
this, right?
So, yeah, that was, it wastough being in a, in a middle
(21:35):
school, it is tough.
I give a lot of credit tomiddle school teachers man, they
, wow, wow they.
School teachers, man, they,they, wow, wow.
They're dealing with kids atthe, at an interesting.
And I've raised two kids too,right, my son is now 18 and in
college, my daughter's 16 inhigh school.
But man, oh man, I it's, it's,that's just that age 11 to 13.
There it's like holy moly.
Principal JL (21:56):
Oh yeah.
So what was it like to be aprincipal at the elementary
level?
Leroy Slanzi (22:05):
Uh, you know, it's funny cause people ask me you
know where my favorite level is?
Because I've been in a coupleof high schools and a couple of
elementary schools and you knowwhat I really?
Because I coached and I coachedhigh school.
At the high school level, I didcoach elementary stuff too, but
what I really liked about highschools is that kids, when
they're in grade 11 and 12, arereally mature and they're
starting to think about life andyou know they, you know they
worry about their mental healthand they worry about what's
(22:26):
going to happen with theirfuture and they worry about what
their career is going to be.
Um, you know, and it's kind ofcool that way, that's, it's just
a more mature kind of sort of apeaceful environment.
I find, with the odd except whentheir behavior is bad, it's bad
and it and it and it could bedangerous at times, right.
And then I look at elementaryand in an elementary school kids
think you're super mad, theythink you're the greatest thing
(22:49):
since sliced bread, right, andthat's who doesn't love.
You know, when I talk emotionalintelligence, it's all centered
around your ego.
It's how your ego is eitheroveractive and under, uh,
underactive, and when you're inan elementary school.
You can't leave it every day.
You leave thinking you're thebest principal in the entire
planet, right, because I thinkthe kids think you walk around
with a cape on.
So you know, I, I, I think I'mmore partial to elementary,
(23:12):
because I do.
You know, when kids smile andadore you, like my own children
when they're little I can't geta hug out of my daughter right
now, and she used to worship me,right.
So there's that.
But I also, you know the highschool has got some really,
really cool parts to it too.
Principal JL (23:26):
Yeah, you kind of hit on a couple of things there.
You kind of helped me reflectback on my time at Southern
Valley, which is a small ruralschool.
It's actually a one-site area,it's K-12.
So we had an elementary sideconnected to the elementary gym,
which was connected to the highschool gym, which is connected
(23:47):
to the secondary side.
So I was the 7-12 principal, soI had to deal with middle
school age kids all the way upthrough high school kids in that
building.
We had about 175 students totalon my side.
But if I was having a rough go,I just walk over to the
elementary side and those kidswould just like Mr Linden, we,
(24:11):
you know, we love you, we'regoing to.
They just come up and they giveme hugs and like it was the
best thing ever because like Ican always go over to the
elementary side and those kidswould just love you, they'll
give you hugs, they'll give youhigh fives.
It kind of just made you go.
You know what.
This is why I do what I do andI love that part.
Now you still get some of thatwith the upper level guys, but
(24:34):
they just, you know, they kindof, they kind of don't um,
they're too cool for that attimes, right, um, yeah.
And now, being at the highschool level, you know that is
my niche.
I really enjoy the high schoolage kids.
Um, I, I feel like the peoplethat do elementary are special,
just like the special educationteachers.
You know, it takes a specialtype of person to work with
(24:57):
those kids.
I don't have the patience forit, but I can deal with middle
school kids, but I do preferhigh school kids because those
middle school kids, man, it'sjust.
Sometimes you're just like, oh,they're not thinking straight.
They're just like what are youdoing?
You know, and I think the bestpart about being a 7-12
principal is I had two years tostraighten them out before they
(25:19):
got in the high school, so thatwas the best part about it.
Them out before they got intohigh school, so that was the
best part about it.
But now, being a high schoolprincipal, I have to bring in
the eighth graders as ninthgraders and it takes us about
nine weeks to get them where weneed to go, because we have to
go.
This is no longer middle schooland this is our expectation
let's get you guys where youneed to go and it takes a little
(25:41):
bit of time.
It's a little rough at thebeginning but by the time we get
about, you know, six to nineweeks into the school year, it
all smooths itself out.
So they start figuring it outand things like that.
There are different, you know,they're just different beasts
and I really enjoy you sharingyour experiences with that.
So let's talk about your book.
(26:02):
What inspired or what was themoment um that inspires you to
write the book?
Emotional schools?
Leroy Slanzi (26:10):
uh, you know, I I think it's because kids changed
and and it started.
A lot of people want to blamecovid as the, as the thing that
changed kids, but I think itstarted about you, you know, 10,
15 years ago.
Kids are playing less.
There's less free play wherethey're out in the neighborhood,
you know, throwing the ballaround or riding their bikes or
(26:32):
climbing trees.
Technology come into play,which caused a lot of that.
Parents are fearful.
I think there's a lot of parentshave shifted in terms of how
they parent.
We see more gentle parenting,we see more helicopter parenting
and I think, for teachers, ourrole started to shift from one
(26:54):
of we're a teacher to nowco-parents, to see kids who were
, who are, who are becoming lessable to deal with stress
because of all theseenvironmental factors in life.
Right, and a lot of it is isdue to technology.
A lot of it's due to bothparents having to work and a lot
of it is, you know, a fear thatyour kid is going to get
(27:14):
kidnapped.
A lot of it's because it costsmoney to play sports.
Um, you know, and, but it wasthe perfect storm.
And I think, as you've seenover the years, that kids are
shifting.
We're seeing more kids withanxiety disorders, more kids
with mood disorders, withbehavior disorders, on top of
special needs designationsStates, australia, europe,
(27:40):
because I have a lot ofconnections all over the world
and we're seeing it worldwide.
The World Health Organizationhas a lot of data out on kids
who have mental health issues,and so it's something that's
exponentially growing and I knowyou can attest to it, jeff.
Our kids' behavior and theirability to cope is diminishing,
which led me to writing my bookand developing an emotional
schools framework that revolvesaround emotional intelligence,
(28:02):
so we can teach kids how to cope, because now we have kids who
can barely get through adifficult math question without,
you know, losing it or quitting.
And whereas back in the day, inthe olden days, you know, kids
actually did homework at home,you know, and now, god forbid,
you send homework home with kidsbecause parents aren't going to
(28:23):
help them with it, and and norare the kids going to do it,
because they're just not.
And so you know we're justdealing with a different
generation of parents and adifferent generation of kids,
and and so it led me to write abook on what the state of
education is like in the UnitedStates, and my.
My focus was more United Statesand Canada and North America.
So educational systems arequite similar, although
(28:43):
Australia is quite similar to.
I've done a lot of work downthere too, and and I just wanted
to kind of portray what'shappening in schools and then
and then teach educators,principals, teachers,
superintendents about howimportant it is to understand
the science of emotions,understand ego, understand how
that emotional intelligence,social and social intelligence
(29:06):
piece has to be incorporated andembedded into reading, writing
and arithmetic, because if wedon't, our schools are just
going to keep spiraling withbehavior issues.
Teachers, teachers are going tokeep burning out, teachers
aren't going to want to do thejob, and you know.
And kids are going to get lessand less productive as we
continue.
And so that's what the book is.
It's basically a guide forschools and it's a first.
(29:29):
Like I said, it talks abouthistory and why we're at where
we're at, and then it providesthe science of it and then
provides a nice solid plan forschools to embed into their
systems.
And the nice part about it isyou know, I do a lot of
professional developmentworkshops, I go to a lot of
schools and I work with them toembed this emotional schools
(29:50):
framework into their schools andthe biggest frustration for
teachers is having to doprofessional development that's
going to be meaningless orthat's just added on to their
day and it's just extra work.
And what I do is about it'ssomething that you come in, it's
a one-day workshop, and thenteachers like if you can see
behind me the colored postersand the competencies, those
(30:10):
revolve around emotionalintelligence, and you just you
work with schools within theirsystems, with their structures,
with their programming, theirreading, writing, math, english
programs, their sports programs,and you and I teach them how to
embed this in there so itbecomes culturally enabled,
right, and so that's what thebook is about.
That's the work I do on the sideof being a principal, because
(30:33):
it's so crucial in this day andage, because kids can just not
handle stress and a lot of itagain.
I think free play, that kidsgoing outside and not wiping out
on their bike, or having toorganize a game of tag, like I
used to when I was five yearsold, or a game of street hockey
outside, and kids don't do thatanymore.
They're not out there gettinginto arguments with their
(30:53):
buddies or having to communicatehow we're going to play a game,
and so they're losing thosecritical thinking skills,
creative thinking skills, theability to communicate naturally
those natural things that weredeveloped as kids.
For us aren't there anymore, andyou can't blame parents and you
can't blame society, becauseit's just where we've shifted
with technology, right, and sothat's why we had to write,
(31:14):
because we're in a different eraand you can't, and what's
frustrating is is sitting hereafter all these years and
watching schools sit in the same, you know, spinning their wheel
the same way.
Let's keep doing it this wayreading, writing, arithmetic,
assessment, standardized tests.
This is how you do it withbehavior, or it's either.
Schools either go really toosoft with behavior or they're
(31:35):
too hard with behavior, and it'sa and it should be a
combination of old and newtogether, right and so, and so
that's what I wrote in the bookand that's what I do when I work
with with schools all over theplaces.
I teach schools how to how todo it.
It's fantastic.
Principal JL (31:53):
So you kind of hit on a lot of things there, Leroy
.
And you know and so I, I hearyou, um, you know I'm I'm 46
years old, I'll be 47 here inJuly.
So I get, I was one of thosekids.
I was out playing, we wererunning the neighborhood, we
were doing all those things isnow it's like, oh my gosh, we
(32:14):
don't want our kids to runaround and do what we did, but
we're missing that.
And I know I read a bookrecently called the Anxious
Generation.
I don't know if you're aware ofthat book, but it has talked
about bit and how they went fromfree play childhood into a
(32:38):
handheld device or a deviceelectronic childhood, where
they're getting all theirinteractions through a phone or
a computer, where you know thatis actually affecting our
students ability in schoolbecause that's where they have
that with them at all times.
And I know for us we've reallywe kind of want to have high
(33:02):
expectations.
We want to be able to understand.
You know we want to teach youhow to utilize technology
correctly, when's a proper timeto use it.
We want you to be educated.
So we have worked, you know,the last couple, two or three
years since I've been here as aprincipal at my school, here at
Hastings High, to try to helpkids understand yeah, this is a
(33:25):
tool, this is something you canuse, but there's times where you
need to not use it.
So you can be educated andlearn the things you do, but we
also need to teach them socialinteractions.
We need to teach them what'sthe best time and place for
those things, because if they'renot learning that, they're
going to get out of school andthey're going to go to a job and
(33:45):
get fired because they haven'tlearned the skills they need to
learn when it comes on how to dothat.
And so do you have like a storywith schools that you worked
with that implemented some ofyour emotional support,
competencies and framework intoit, and how did it change their,
(34:06):
their overall culture andschool climate?
Leroy Slanzi (34:09):
Well, I'm going to tell you a little story that
just happened today.
So today we had a group.
They're actually from utah.
They've been traveling throughcanada, they're traditional
dancers and they and they cameto our school and I invited
another elementary school fromdown the road and you know
there's about 400 people inthere, and so the dancers were
there and afterwards, you know,at an indigenous school, having
(34:31):
a gathering and providing foodis very important to the culture
of indigenous people.
And so I you know the peoplewere barbecues, we just did
burgers and hot dogs and they'rebarbecuing outside and I get on
the mic and I'm always aboutjoking, right, and I get up
there.
I'm like you guys smell that,and they're like, yeah, it
smells delicious.
I'm like, really, because Ijust farted and I and I, so I
(34:52):
make a joke and all the kids,but I mean you tell a fart joke,
you're the funniest guy in theworld, right?
So all the kids start laughingand then I wait, and so part of
being emotionally intelligent isthat you can take some deep
breaths, you can self-soothe andbring yourself back.
So my school, my kids, are onone side and this school is on
the other side, so I wait, mykids are used to it Because I
have Monday morning assemblieswhere, where we talk about
behavior, we teachself-regulation, we talk about
(35:14):
emotions, we teach breathing.
It's embedded into what we do.
And so my kids, within 15seconds they're ready, they're
listening to Leroy now and thisother school they can't bring it
together.
So I had to get on the mic andsay okay, listen, take some deep
breaths, come back to me and Ineed to be quiet now.
So I had to use words to getthem to self-regulate With my
kids.
I didn't.
So afterwards the principalwho's a good buddy of mine and
(35:34):
he's going to hear this he goes,leroy, he goes.
I love fart jokes, I'm like metoo and he says you can't tell a
fart joke and expect kids toregulate afterwards.
And I said, yes, I can bed.
(35:56):
Self-regulation, you can doalmost anything with your kids
because they will learn how totake those deep breaths and calm
their mind so their prefrontalcortex can work and I've been.
It was proof was in the puddingand I said, yes, I can.
I said you just need to do thework with your school and you
need to do some of these things.
And we kind of left it at thatand he has his own philosophy
and doing things and he's a goodbuddy of mine.
So you know, I just kind of lethim be.
But when I do and go and I, whenI do go and work with other
(36:17):
schools and I've worked with alot of schools and I, first of
what I do is I go in and I teachthe background.
Why are we here?
Like what got us here?
No free play where they develop, because free play is crucial
to developing thosecharacteristics around learning,
which is, you know, you knowcommunication, collaboration,
critical, creative thinking,personal social awareness, all
those things Right.
(36:38):
And so you know, one of the,when I go into schools, I teach
them all that and I then I teachthem about the science behind
it and understanding emotion.
So when they do see a kid getemotional, they know right away
that if they teach the kidsabout the science, the brain
science and I teachfive-year-olds about how the
brain works with your emotionsand we teach them, if you take
deep breaths and you soothe, itallows your prefrontal cortex to
(37:00):
work, and so I teach schools toteach that.
And then we use the commonlanguage that's here in these
colored posters plus thecompetency posters, and so it's
always front and center and youwould be amazed what happens in
people's schools.
All of a sudden, these kids inkindergarten or grade one, who
are learning how to blend vowelsounds or having to, you know
when they're learning how toread or if they're learning how
(37:21):
to use a pen, how they canpersevere and they have more
rigor and they have more abilityto cope because they're aware
of themselves, they're aware ofhow they're feeling, and so it
becomes this drastic change inschools where all of a sudden
it's easier for teachers toteach because kids can
self-soothe and so when they'refeeling frustrated or angry or
(37:41):
sad or mad, where you know,sometimes they flip a desk or
crawl under a table, a lot ofthat stuff starts to dissipate.
Right, I only see in my schoolbehavior from kindergarten and
grade one kids cause they'rejust learning it, and so a lot
of schools I work with highschools too I we work this stuff
right through high schools,middle schools, and when you
teach this stuff, man, it makesa drastic change because all of
(38:01):
a sudden kids, you know, andthere's an attendance crisis
right around the world inaustralia they have, they call
them ghost children, wherethey're since covid, they're
just not attending and a lot ofit's this anxiety stuff, right,
that you were talking about fromthat book.
And when you have kids who cancope with stress, they start
coming back to school and all ofa sudden, your attendance rates
are better.
And when your attendance ratesare better, guess what?
(38:21):
A monkey can get kids to learnhow to read and write and do
math, because they're thereevery day, right, and so I I
think that's the biggest piecethat I've noticed when I work
with schools is that evenschools that are doing great,
you can make them excellent andyou can make teaching excellent.
And the other piece of that isyou see staff.
You see, when I work with aschool, you see that toxicity
(38:44):
between staff members decreasebecause they're also aware.
It's like okay, I need to beaware of how I'm feeling in this
situation, what I'm bringing tothe table.
I need to be socially aware, soI need to understand what's
going on with my colleagues, ifthey're having a bad day, how I
should treat them, or if I'mhaving a bad day, how I should
act.
And then I need to adjust mycommunication, my verbal and
nonverbal communication, so thatI'm interacting better with my
(39:07):
kids, my staff members, and itjust shifts everything.
And and it's amazing becauseit's not like a lot of these
programs that you do, whetheryou use tribes or mind up or
some of these other ones youknow you do it and then you got
to get a subscription and thenyou got to follow all these.
You know these booklets andit's.
You know it's paper and pen andkids sit down with this program
that I do science and then it'sembedded into everything
(39:36):
because your kids, during theday, they're going to give you
20, 30 different behaviors in anhour and every time there's a
behavior you get to use thecommon language, you get to talk
about breathing, you get totalk about the science promotion
, and it's really quick andyou'll be amazed after a few
months, all of a sudden you seekids who are just you'll look
over and you can see them takingdeep breaths and it's like
they're calming themselvesbefore they punch their buddy in
the face next door, right?
So it's, yeah, it's having a,it's having a massive impact and
(39:59):
and you know it's it's, youknow, as it grows, it's getting
more and more exciting to watch,because I feel like I'm
changing the education system,because and and this doesn't
mean there's no consequences.
I still suspend kids, right, Istill could give kids detention,
because you don't throw thebaby out with the bath water.
It's about combining the twoand eventually the punishment
(40:19):
stuff disappears because yourkids start behaving better and
and it's because people, whenthey hear oh, self-regulation
and emotions, they think it'sall flowers, rainbows and
unicorns.
But really it's just thescience and teaching them to be
emotionally intelligent.
But to get them to be, yousometimes need to kick them in
the ass.
Still, eventually the asskicking goes away and the
(40:39):
suspensions decrease and thedetention decrease and right in
lines decreases, picking upgarbage decreases because
they're getting more emotionallyintelligent.
And you find I see schools aftersix months, seven months, eight
months, it's.
It's almost like I, like Inever in.
In.
When I was in at, when I was ata high school, before this
elementary school, I rarely hadbehavior issues with kids in
(41:00):
grade 9, 10, 11, and 12, more so10, 11, and 12, because they
were just emotionallyintelligent and they could do
the right thing right.
And so that's the.
You know.
Imagine being in a world wherepeople were emotionally
intelligent.
How productive and efficientand prosperous we'd all be.
It'd be amazing.
It's the same thing in schools,right.
Principal JL (41:19):
Yeah, you bet.
I mean you touch on a lot ofreally great things there and
there's going to be people thatare going to want to get in
contact with you about the workthat you're doing.
And Leroy is still a principal.
Leroy is still a principal.
He's still doing the work, buthe's also got you know his
(41:42):
emotional school framework thathe does as well.
So if people, leroy, wanted toget in touch with you and learn
more about your work, how couldthey do that?
Leroy Slanzi (41:49):
Go to EmotionalSchoolscom.
Awesome, that simple.
Go to EmotionalSchoolscom thatsimple, all my emails there.
There's all the my emails there.
There's a lot of information onthere.
All these posters that arebehind me here, those are, those
are that swag that every, everyteacher, every school that does
the workshop.
So they have these to put up intheir classrooms.
They have the language rightthere.
They don't have to buy any.
(42:09):
I even give them a free copy ofmy book, emotional schools.
So it's all there.
They don't have to go buysubscriptions and all this sort
of stuff and it's there.
And then everybody just has totow the company line together,
believe in emotionalintelligence, and then you just
shift.
You don't have to bring me back, unless you want a refresher
(42:30):
and want me to come back, andthen I'm available for phone
calls, to work emails and I willwork within.
Like I email teachers from allover the place all the time.
It's like, hey, this is what'sgoing on, what am I missing?
It's like, oh, here and it'sfree, right, so it's a, it's a
one-time thing.
And then I teach them how Iteach schools, how to embed it
elementary, middle and highschool because I've done it all
and and then they go and thenit's up to.
(42:51):
The trick is, though, iseverybody has to be on board,
and the principal has to be onboard.
If the principal doesn'tbelieve in it, don't waste my
fricking time, because, as youand I both know, we're the
leaders of the ship, and ifwe're steering, we better be
buying in.
You know, and, and and I thinkthat's the biggest thing, and
most principals, I think theirheart's in the right spot.
Principal JL (43:10):
Most schools I go to, the principles are in there
and you bet, and what we'll dois we'll put that link in the
show notes so people can clickon and find you real easy, so
they can get in touch with youto learn more about the work
that you do do.
And so, leroy, this has been agreat episode.
It just seems like this time isjust going quickly and it's
(43:33):
kind of escaping us right now,like this time is just going
quickly and it's kind ofescaping us right now.
Is there any advice that youwould like to give to aspiring
principals out there, some thatyou may have learned that, hey,
this would be something thatwould be good for you to know.
It helped me, and you know what.
What would that be?
Leroy Slanzi (43:53):
You know, what I would, I would say would say is
be someone who observes, watch,watch, what's going on with
interactions between staff, whatyour principals do, good and
bad, like we talked about andthen learn how to respond
instead of react and by that Imean don't react emotionally,
(44:17):
take a step back, take some deepbreaths and then respond
tactfully, with propercommunication, and you're going
to know how to respond tactfullybecause you've been observing
and and be a student of the game.
It's like if, when I watchsports, if I, because I was a
basketball coach, you know whenI go and watch, I, I, I don't
watch just for entertainment,I'm a student of the game, like
I'm, I'm I'm trying to figureout why that guy's open in the
(44:38):
corner for threes all the time,like or you know, or why is the
post dominating, or you knowwhat I mean.
And I think that's the onething.
If you're aspiring to be aleader, be a student of the game
.
Just know how every pillar ofyour school works and it's
littered.
If an elementary school literacy, numeracy, social, emotional,
well-being, right, which isbehavior, um, and special ed.
If you're in a high school,there's tons of different
(44:59):
departments.
Know how every cog in the wheelworks and observe and learn,
and don't be dismissive of themath department because they
think they're smarter thaneveryone else, right?
Or the science department,because science and math guys,
they think they're smarter thaneverybody, right?
Whereas us social studiesteachers are the real geniuses.
Yeah, just call a spade a spade, right?
So I mean, and that's just it.
Be a student of the game, like,be a student of the game if
(45:21):
you're going to go intoleadership.
Truly understand it.
Principal JL (45:24):
Hey, leroy, this has been a great conversation.
I really enjoy having you onthe podcast today.
I learned probably a lot herejust by sitting back and
listening to all the thingsyou're doing and your
experiences as a leader, and Iknow there's a lot of people out
there that this message isgoing to resonate, and so, leroy
(45:45):
, I appreciate the time that youtook today to come on the show.
Thank you for coming on theshow today.
Leroy Slanzi (45:52):
Jeff, it was fun man I could talk.
We could talk for the next sixhours about this stuff.
I love pedagogy.
Principal JL (45:59):
Wow, what an insightful conversation with
Leroy Slancy.
His passion for emotionalintelligence, mental health and
building responsive schoolcommunities truly shines through
.
Whether you're a parent,educator or school leader,
leroy's message reminds us thatemotional wellness isn't a side
note.
It's the foundation ofeverything we do.
(46:20):
If today's episode sparkedreflection or gave you new tools
to bring back to your school orteam, be sure to check out his
book Emotional Schools andfollow his work.
There's a link in the shownotes for you to connect.
Thanks for listening and untilnext time, be 1% better.
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