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May 27, 2025 15 mins

We've compiled the best "pare down pointers" from our incredible Season 4 guests into one special highlights episode, offering powerful insights and reminders about minimizing complexity in education.

• Craig Rudolph emphasizes being available, responding promptly to inquiries, and genuinely listening to what people need
• Jill Cross shares how color-coding systems help both students and teachers with organization
• Dr. Michele Ogden reminds us "just because you can doesn't mean you should" when making career decisions
• Fred Ende recommends stepping away for 24 hours when facing complex problems
• Lisa Fort discusses classroom organization strategies that save time and reduce stress
• Lori Namey advocates for "people by day, paperwork by night" to prioritize human connections
• Dr. Krista Leh urges educators to remember they don't have to do anything alone
• Dr. Tom Hoerr challenges educators to prioritize self-care amid caring for others
• Lindsay Durkin emphasizes clearly defined objectives by asking "what are we solving for?"

We're taking a break for the summer but will be back with Season 5 featuring fresh conversations, new guests, and more ideas to explore. Thank you for being part of our growing community!


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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Welcome to the Minimalist Educator Podcast, a
podcast about paring down torefocus on the purpose and
priorities in our roles withco-hosts and co-authors of the
Minimalist Teacher Book, TammyMusialski-Bornemann and
Christine Arnold.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Hi there and welcome back to the Minimalist Educator
Podcast.
On today's episode, we're doingsomething a little different
but very special.
We have got one of ourhighlights episodes for you.
Our highlights episodes arealways a favourite.
In these episodes, we share thepare down pointers that our
guests have shared with us allduring the season.
We've had some amazing guests onthe show for this season of the

(01:00):
podcast experts in their areasof education, who have had some
wonderful tips to share with us.
So, whether you're new here orwhether you've been with us from
the very start, this is theperfect chance to revisit some
powerful insights and remindersabout how we compare back in the
work that we do.
So let's sit back, relax andrewind the tape to listen into

(01:22):
some of the fabulous wisdom fromour guests that have shaped the
podcast this season.
Our first clip is from episode67 with Craig Rudolph, where he
spoke to us about the world oftutoring.
His pare down pointer was allabout how to be there for people
, listening to what they wantand getting them the help that

(01:44):
they need.

Speaker 3 (01:47):
Well, answer the phone, I mean things like that.
Or people come up to you at ashow and stuff like be available
.
It's huge because lots of theseplaces don't get back to you
for two or three daysInstantaneously.
Get back to people.
So if I get an online inquiry,if I can't get to it, I'll get
to it as soon as I get home andback to people.
So if I get an online inquiry,if I can't get to it, I'll get
to it as soon as I get home andrespond to people.

(02:09):
Be genuine.
I mean, there's times you can'thelp people, maybe we don't
have the tutor, but I'll alwayspoint them in another direction,
even to a competitor, if I haveto.
Just try to get them the help,because they'll appreciate that
and they may circle back to you,regardless if the student ended
up learning and having a goodexperience, that's really all we
want and you show that that'salways good.

(02:30):
Um, I don't see a lot of othercompanies out in the community
doing things and give.
You know, giving stuff back anddoing farmers markets stuff.
I do a zillion of them.
It's pretty fun.
I love it.
Then you're meeting somebody inperson maybe the student or the

(02:52):
parent or a tutor that you hire.
So it's kind of nice.
It's like a first meeting rightaway and you just have a
discussion and more justlistening to what people want
instead of telling them whatthey want.
I think that's massive.
And then being able to makethat match right away.
So we say within 48 hours wecan have somebody in place with

(03:13):
you.
If we can't, we'll try to guideyou in the right direction.
But 99 times out of 100, we'reable to do that.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
Next up, let's revisit our conversation with
Jill Cross in episode 63.
Her pare down pointer was aboutcolor coding to aid with
organization.

Speaker 4 (03:35):
Yeah.
So I was thinking about thisahead of us, talking and
thinking about something thatactually helps our students,
which I thought might be helpfulto people we started and also
really helps with organization,which I think is we're always
trying to figure that out andalso trying to teach and equip

(03:55):
our students to be able to beorganized.
We started doing in our middleschool a few years ago, color
coding, and so our classes arecolor coded, and so that means
that anything that's happening,like the English folder is blue
for six, seven and eight.
Right, the red folder is thissubject for six, seven and eight
, and it helps the kids organizethemselves a ton, and I think

(04:18):
it's, and so I'm actuallythinking this year we're going
to start to like push it downinto our lower school and start
having our four and fivestudents do it, and so when I
was doing this as a teacher, Iactually also used it as my
organization tool because itmade it super easy.
If I needed okay, I need blueEnglish, let me just grab the
blue folder, right, and so that,I think, is one of those super

(04:43):
simple things that, like, almostanybody can do and implement
that is hugely effective andjust productivity.
So that would be like myteacher and student tip, I think
.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Now here's a standout moment from our chat with
Michelle Ogden in Episode 72.
She shared with us some greatwisdom in her pare down pointer
where where she said justbecause you can doesn't mean you
should.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
Well, I was thinking about the decisions I've made in
my career and how you know it'snot a typical path.
So, in that I was thinkingabout, just because you can
doesn't mean you should, and youhave to really consider what
are the things that bring youenergy and what are the things
that drain you and how do youalign your career to that.

(05:37):
So, thinking about those thingsthat you find energizing and
where you really want to bespending your time, those are
the things.
You should say yes to Continueon that path, and it's okay to
also say okay, that's not for me, at least not right now.
So, making those decisionsabout where you want to, not

(06:00):
just because you can.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
This next clip comes from episode 70, featuring Fred
End, where he shares a simplestrategy when facing a problem
and that is come back 24 hourslater with fresh eyes.

Speaker 6 (06:19):
Yeah.
So when you said a pare-downpointer, I thought of what has
been really helpful in mecollecting thoughts, being more
concise, sometimes be morebalanced in my approach, and so

(06:39):
one of the most helpful thingsthat I've done, anytime I'm
faced with something that seemslike really big or really
complicated, or if it's like anemail that I can't process
because of all of the potentialchallenges in it, is just give

(07:03):
myself I know it's so simple,right, and yet we don't always
do it Just give myself 24 hours,step away from whatever it is
and come back to it with a freshpair of eyes, and not always,
but the vast majority of timethe problem seems significantly

(07:27):
smaller and much simpler whenI've done that.
So, for what it's worth, asimple strategy that has saved
me a lot of time andoverthinking.

Speaker 2 (07:45):
Let's go back now to our episode 61 with lisa ford.

Speaker 7 (07:49):
Her pairback pointer was also about organization and
how to organize the room andconsider what needs to be ready
from day one I think I mightbring it right back around to
the start of the conversation,where you flattered me with my
organization, and I think that'sthe big thing is that when you

(08:10):
do find things that work or havea system where all the material
like for me for science, allthe material for that goes into
one place so that when I need itI just pull out that bin or
that piece, I think that's a big, big piece of the puzzle.

(08:30):
If you don't have that, thenyou're scrounging and you're
like what can I pull together?
And then I think from that thatorganization piece goes as well
, just with how do you organizeyour classroom?
You know, I have my stations upfrom day one, my agree disagree
posters up and day one, andusually students are like what

(08:51):
are all those for?
And I'm like you'll see, it'sall.
You know.
We're going to be doing labactivities and you're going to
move between those labactivities because we can't all
do the exact same thing at thesame time, because I don't have
enough material.
But it's knowing that all thatmaterial is in one bin, all
eight stations come out at thesame time, and I think that's

(09:11):
the big thing that really helpsme in terms of just looking at
content and prioritizing, asjust staying organized with
stuff and knowing exactly whereit is.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
In this next highlight, Laurie Namy shared
some valuable thoughts on herapproach to hard work.
Her pare-down pointer was aboutpeople by day, paperwork by
night yeah, I think it's.

Speaker 8 (09:43):
It's a couple things.
I mentioned that people by day,paperwork by night yeah, it's
going to require you to workharder.
You know it's going to be.
There's no substitute for hardwork or and being relentless and
getting to success, and so hardwork, routines, practices and

(10:03):
prioritizing people um, yeah,those, those are the big things
this next clip comes from oursit down with chris delay.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
In episode 71.
She has a very importantreminder for us in her pare down
pointer, and that is don't doit alone.

Speaker 9 (10:28):
You know what I think it would be that you don't have
to do anything alone, likereach out to the people who are
around you, your colleagues whocan help you relate to a student
a little bit better, orsomebody who might have a
different type of expertise thanyou do, or to a partner at home
to give you five minutes todecompress so you can be your

(10:49):
best self for whoever you havein the household.
So I think really just howpeople realize that you don't
ever have to walk through anyaspect of life alone and that
sometimes, when you are asked tojust get up and meet with a new
group, it could introduce youto new ideas and new people who
could really become a solidsupport structure for you.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
In this next highlight.
Our pare down pointer comes inthe form of a question.
In episode 62, dr Tom Herrchallenged us to ask ourselves
what can I do to take care ofmyself?

Speaker 10 (11:29):
Well, coming back to Tammy's point about what's easy
, that's not easy.
I've given a whole lot of ideas, but I went in by saying that
the people who are listening tothis podcast, what I would like
them to do when they stoplistening after they think, well
, that guy was interesting.
Hopefully.
I'd like them to think what canI do to take care of myself?
It's too easy and educators aregreat at this, great's in

(11:53):
quotes it's too easy to give allof your time to everybody else
and to take everybody else andforget yourself.
You know we talk about anempathy deficit and what I don't
want people to do is get allcharged from this, come back and
not take care of themselves.
So two things.
One is, if you get all charged,can't do it by yourself.
Talk to somebody else, pick oneidea that I talked about and

(12:16):
think, hey, what do you think ofthis, and play with it.
You probably change it andthat's good.
But then your second thing isto say, ok, how much time am I
spending on my job?
And that isn't just in thebuilding, it's emotionally.
What does this look like?
What does this feel like?
What do I do to need to takecare of myself?
It's a marathon, it's not asprint and unfortunately, if you
don't take care of yourself,it's also hard for other people

(12:38):
to take care of you.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
In our final highlight for this episode, we
revisit our conversation withlindsey durkin in episode 68.
Her pare down pointer was areminder that we should always
strive for clearly definedobjectives, outcomes and
deadlines I can actually sharesomething that serves me every
day in my current role.

Speaker 11 (13:06):
But, looking at it, it's something that we actually
do in teaching constantly.
Maybe we don't know it or not,but it would just be to ask
yourself the question what arewe solving for?
So when I get pinged for, hey,I want to build out this
training for my team Great, whatare we solving for?
I have to know where we need toend up in order to and it

(13:28):
reminds me of backwards planningand education I need to know
what the end goal is before Ican kind of think backwards of
what are the resources and toolsand activities and how am I
going to scaffold the learningin order to get there.
So that would be still one ofthe things that was big for me
in teaching, and still is, ofjust understanding what we're

(13:49):
solving for and just having veryclearly defined outcomes,
objectives and, of course,deadlines.
Deadlines are huge in thecorporate world.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
We love a deadline and with that we are at the end
of our special highlightsepisode and the end of season
four of the minimalist educatorpodcast.
A huge thank you to all of ourincredible guests this season

(14:22):
and to you, our listeners, fortuning in and sharing and being
part of this growing community.
All of your support and yourlistens really mean the world to
us.
We are now taking a break forthe summer, but don't worry,
we'll be back with lots of freshconversations, lots of new
guests and even more ideas toexplore in season five.
Until then, please take care,recharge and have a re-listen to

(14:45):
a favourite episode or two FromTammy and myself at the
Minimalist Educator Podcast.
We hope you have a wonderfulsummer and we'll see you again
soon.
Today's episode was brought toyou by Plan Z Professional
Learning Services,forward-thinking educator

(15:06):
support.
Find out more atplanzplservicescom.

Speaker 1 (15:15):
Be sure to join Tammy and Christine and guests for
more episodes of the MinimalistEducator Podcast.
They would love to hear aboutyour journey with minimalism.
Connect with them at planzPLSon Twitter or Instagram.
The music for the podcast hasbeen written and performed by
Gaia Moretti.
Thank you.
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