September 18, 2021 • 32 mins
We’ve become accustomed to using a GPS when we get lost on America’s roads and highways but what if we start using GPS as a way to guide our daily lives? What if we started to offer grace, positivity, and support in all our daily interactions? What if it became our mantra like it is for today’s guest, Mike Cobb.
In today’s episode, host Jason Ramsden has a conversation with Mike Cobb, Head of School at All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler, Texas. A fascinating leader with a compelling philosophy focused on G.P.S. - grace, positivity, and support, Mike gives us a glimpse into how G.P.S. works at his school with faculty, students, and parents and also shares some impactful lessons along the way.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mike Cobb (00:00):
And I started pondering it that moment like,
(00:01):
wow, wouldn't it be great ifeveryone in our lives had that
same grace, positivity andsupport? And so it really began
this thought for me about asteachers, but beyond that as
people, how can we offer gracepositive support always.
Jason Ramsden (00:17):
Hi, I'm Jason Ramsden and I believe we can all
work on leading a more positiveand intentional life. And this
show details my journey bysharing my learning stories and
conversations with guests. Ifyou want to lead a more
intentional life, focus on beingthe best you possible. Please
subscribe today. Now, let's getinto today's episode. Hello, my
positivity posse and welcome toanother episode of positivity on
(00:39):
fire. Today I am happy to sharewith you my interview with Mike
Cobb, Head of School at AllSaints Episcopal School in
Tyler, Texas. Mike is afascinating leader with a
compelling philosophy focused onG p. s. Grace, positivity and
support. And in today's episode,you'll get a glimpse into how
GPS works at Mike's school, aswell as some impactful lessons
(01:01):
for the students. I hope youenjoy today's show. Well, hello,
Mike. Rob, as I say down path.
It's been a minute.
Mike Cobb (01:12):
Good to see y'all. I reckon that that's some other
Texas slang I can throw out now.
Everything is great. It's greatto be with you today.
Jason Ramsden (01:19):
Well, I'm glad to have you. Good to see in person.
It's been a while since we'vewe've connected. I would love
for you to tell my listeners alittle bit about who you are and
what you do.
Mike Cobb (01:30):
Absolutely. Well, I'm Mike Cobb. And I'm currently the
Head of School at All SaintsEpiscopal School in Tyler,
Texas. That is just the east ofDallas and beautiful piney
woods. And we are a school thathas three rows through grade 12.
And we have about 700 studentson on campus on 150 acre campus
that we've been able to reallyleverage some really great
(01:53):
outdoor learning and reallyfocusing on authentic learning
student agency. And beyond thatI married to a wonderful woman
who is a teacher too. So that'swhat's kept me going all along.
And I have a daughter who's 23,who's just jumped out into the
adult world. So that's been afun adventure as well getting to
experience that point of lifewith her.
Jason Ramsden (02:14):
As you know, we probably have a lot in common,
right, you know, having done 30years of education, my wife is a
brand new head of school. Soshe's living that head of school
life like you are and I have twokids 23 and 21. ones just
graduated college getting readyto get out there themselves. And
the other one getting ready togo back this week for senior
year. Wow. It's that time ofyear right. All schools are
(02:36):
getting ready to be fired upand, and moving on.
Mike Cobb (02:39):
Absolutely. Yeah, you know, it's been such a blessing
for me to get to enjoy watchingso many families go through the
learning process and thejourney, but then also as a
father getting to watch it. Nowon the other end, I didn't
always get to know all the nextsteps for our students, you
know, we stay in contact, butyou don't see them as intimate
as you do while they're withyou. But watching it through my
(03:00):
daughter's eyes, I have a deeperappreciation for what it looks
like after they leave ourschools now.
Jason Ramsden (03:06):
I love that I really like being able to see
kids move on progress, do thethings they were meant to do in
life. It's It's so exciting, notonly just for our own kids, you
know, as parents, but also forthe kids that we know that have
been through our schools that wemay have stayed connected to. I
(03:27):
think it says a lot about thetypes of schools we work in, or
I've worked in, where the kidsfeel really comfortable about
staying connected back to theinstitution and the people that
were in the institution. I'mcurious because your school is I
think it on your website saysit's one of inquiry innovation
and impact. Mike, what I'mreally want to dive into is the
(03:51):
impact part because that's apart of what I believe in, how
does that live out day to day inthe school life for you?
Mike Cobb (03:57):
Yeah, you know, that is been really my passion for a
long time is that, you know, Italk a lot about authentic
learning and student agency, butthat if you are attempting to
have those two things, butthere's no impact from a
learning, there's no next stepthat I don't really believe you
can have authentic learning. Andyou certainly don't have kids
that want to agency becausethere's no relevancy, there's no
(04:18):
importance in what they'relearning or what they're going
to do with it. And so for us,and every single grade level, at
every age, our students arechallenged to whatever you're
learning now, how can you dosomething with that to impact
the world? And not just the kindof impact that you hear often
worse, like when I grow up kindof statements, but no right now,
(04:39):
what can you do? You know, wehave students that are building
prosthetic devices for peopleall over the world. We have a
group that does makers on amission where they work with UT
Tyler here in East Texas tobuild assistive technologies for
people that need them. And thenwe have things like our kids are
chicken farmers in second gradethat are actually nurturing and
nourishing our chickens. To selleggs and carpool that help bring
(05:02):
about sustainable food. And soreally helping students today
learn they can actually have animpact is vital, I think to have
a truly authentic experience forour students that will make them
leaders that are prepared forthe future.
Jason Ramsden (05:16):
So how does that obviously, they're impacting the
world around them, whether it'slocal, or in the state, or else
elsewhere. What is the impactback on them as kids and their
developmental learning?
Mike Cobb (05:28):
Huge. I mean, you know, I think again, that that
when you're able to help astudent, one, understand that
what they know or they'relearning is relevant, we talk
about a lot about moving fromlearning to knowing by doing
that, once you do that, then youare going to see the relevancy
and you're going to want tointrinsically know more, I tell
(05:49):
you a great story. A studentnamed jet who was a great
musician had been used in someof our Fab Lab resources, but
really cared more about musicwas in the recording studio way
more, and he was using the 3dprinters. But he developed a
problem with his hand where whenhe was strumming for long gigs,
he couldn't grip the guitar pickanymore. So he decided he was
going to figure out how to solvehis problem, he created this
(06:11):
really cool device that held theguitar pick that you didn't have
to have grip strength, itbasically went through your
hands like a ring. That waspretty cool. And he solved his
own problem. He then decided toget a patent for it. And then he
got recognized the newspaper.
Well, this older gentleman namedCharlie saw his picture on the
cover of the paper. And hecalled in and Charlie was almost
80 years old, had played thebanjo his whole life but hadn't
(06:34):
played for the last two years,because he had crippling
arthritis. And so he came in andhe met with jet and jet sized
him for it and one of thesedevices that allowed him to play
the banjo again. And like Iwatched that moment, and I still
get chills talking about nowbecause I watched jet, his whole
countenance changed. And I Iknew at that moment, that jet
(06:54):
was going to be chasing that forthe rest of his life. Right? I
want to I want to learnsomething that I can know and
then do something with it hasimpact on the world. I no longer
had to give jet any externalmotivators for why he might want
to do something, he had theintrinsic desire to know and do
more.
Jason Ramsden (07:11):
That's absolutely amazing. And I'm a big believer
in impact one or impact 1million, there's no difference.
Absolutely, nearly jet hasimpacted one person, probably
more than that, but one that wasable to come forward and let
y'all know, and then getinvolved in the school. And that
in and of itself is going to, Ithink probably or has probably
(07:33):
changed jets whole perceptionabout the learning by doing.
Mike Cobb (07:37):
Absolutely. And, again, it has this ripple
effect, right? I mean,certainly, like you say, he's
impacting Charlie and others,but then also you watch that,
like, it's impacted me, right.
I'm an I'm an old guy, butwatching jet has inspired me to
want to learn and know and thendo more, right. And that's what
we can all hope for. For I agreewith you that it's whether it's
(08:01):
one or a million, the impact,you have no idea what that's
going to be. But we have to moveour schools away from these
external motivators that arebringing extrinsic extrinsic
reasons for kids to do it, thatthey don't connect to right and
that unfortunately, too manyschools are still programmed
under that system. And we haveto realize that we have to
(08:22):
change the way we think aboutwhat our kids are learning how
they're expressing it, and thenwhat they can do with it.
Jason Ramsden (08:29):
I love it. It's just kids getting inspired to
learn and to have an impact. Ithink that speaks volumes, like
what comes next in the nextgeneration of kids. Yes, that
you're doing to get kids torealize what the connection is
to the real world is animportant part. Now I know at
all saints, one of the thingsyou talk about is grace,
(08:50):
positivity and support, I thinkyou call GPS, which makes sense.
Tell me more about that. I wasintrigued when you had mentioned
that. We were weird exchangingemails pre show
Mike Cobb (08:59):
that the idea of GPS it actually goes back a few
years. When my family and I wereon a road trip, we love road
trips. And we were, we weredriving around and we were
actually driving towards theeast. And I had my GPS on and I
love sharing the story that mywife and I've always loved road
trips. But early in ourmarriage, I think our marriage
(09:22):
almost ended because of theAtlas. It was pre GPS and my
wife was supposed to be thenavigator not a job she signed
up for, but was given and we endup in a big fight nearly every
time we went to road trip, youknow, because I blame the
navigator. She blamed the pilotand when the first GPS came out,
it was the first garment we gotthat had the overlays and
(09:42):
everything right like I realizedlike hey, this is gonna save our
marriage like we actually mightmake it now. And but so I have
been always a kind of a frontrunner on the GPS as I've always
tried to have that the newest,the latest and the greatest,
because it's saved my marriage.
So we were on this road tripthough and I was using my GPS
and As we were traveling, I gotoff track. And honestly, I just
wasn't paying attention. And Imissed my turn. And first of
(10:05):
all, I reveled in the momentthat I wasn't uptight or worried
because I knew that mmediatelyit was about to recalculate. And
that's what my GPS said, itsaid, recalculated in such a
pleasant tone, and then just putme back on a new path to where
we were wanting to go. And Istarted pondering at that
moment, like, wow, wouldn't itbe great if everyone in our
lives had that same grace,positivity and support? Not the
(10:28):
GPS as far as globalpositioning, but that, that she
had grace that she didn't? Shedidn't start off saying, hey,
why did you not listen? Are youdumb? What's going on with you?
Right? She just said,recalculating in writing tone,
she tells me to take a left or aright. And it was positive, and
it was helpful. And then I alsoreally started thinking about
(10:49):
also, as we were traveling,there are many times where I
needed to get gas, or we need tofind some other support along
the way, and I'll have to do isjust tell her what I wanted. And
she didn't again, get mad andsay, Well, you didn't plan that
at the beginning. Or why do youneed that? Now, you should have
got gas earlier, she just toldme how to get it. And so it
really began this thought for meabout as teachers, but beyond
that, as people, how can weoffer grace positive support
(11:11):
always there, there are timeswhere we have students or our
colleagues that get off trackaccidentally. And then there are
sometimes they just take a left,and we tell them that you're
right, they do it on purpose.
But if we can offer the grace tosay just recalculating, and we
don't judge, we just give themthe new path to go on to the
journey that we're going on. Andthen offer the the positive
(11:34):
tone, but also support along theway, I say often that one thing
I know for sure with ourstudents is that I don't know
everything they're going to needfrom now until the time they
graduate, it's going to be anawful lot of new things added
there's going to be gas that'sneeded, they're going to be need
support, bathroom breakseverything in between. and we
have to be willing to do that.
So it's become this reallyimportant mantra for us here at
(11:55):
all saints that we're going tohave GPS on. I love the idea of
really powered common language,though, because we can just say
it, you know, like, there aretimes whenever I'm about to lean
into something I know, it'sgonna be difficult for our team
or our colleagues. And honestly,guys, we need to crank our GPS
up right now today, I literallyin an email said, our GPS needs
(12:15):
to be on tilt for the next twoweeks, right? Like that
language, though, lets us knowwhat what is going to be needed
and what is expected. And it'sjust been really helpful for us
to understand that. And then onelast part of that for me is that
I also remind folks that if youwant your GPS on, you got to be
a GPS to others, right? So youcan't just be always receiving
(12:37):
it, you also have to be thatGPS, for those that are around
you. You can't just be areceiver doesn't work that way.
And so we've really focused onthat over the last few years,
too, if you feel like the GPS isnot helping, and you don't feel
the grace, Pazzini support,maybe you haven't been also
given it in that that timeperiod that you're not feeling
it.
Jason Ramsden (12:59):
Common Language is such a huge part of
leadership and being a leader.
And so I appreciate that youbring that to the table. When
you look back at this past year,everything that you had to do to
get ready for last school yearCOVID came in March and made its
way across the country. How didGPS help you last year,
Mike Cobb (13:18):
it was huge. And you know, the interesting thing I
would add, though, is that ithelped us as a faculty, we'd
already gotten our mind aroundit. And and we we really use
that grace, the positive supportto just get through. But we also
extended it to our families andour parents and I had talked to
our our broader community aboutthis, but we really hadn't
(13:41):
really pushed it in the way thatwe had with our faculty is kind
of that common language. But thelast year, I can tell you, our
families now no GPS as well, asour teachers and faculty and
staff that they understand thatthere is no way we were going to
get through the challenge thatwe had in front of us, unless we
were willing to do that willingto offer that grace when
(14:02):
something didn't work out quiteright when we were trying to do
our elearning or remote learningour to offer the positivity when
we didn't have a plan. But wejust we just knew we were going
to have to go together and leanin you know, and then of course,
the support. I mean, we had tohave support from every angle
this year. Without the communityeffort, we would not have been
able to have a full school yearwhere we were successful in our
(14:24):
outcomes.
Jason Ramsden (14:25):
So when you look back on last year, what was the
most defining moment in yourlife this past year?
Mike Cobb (14:32):
Wow. You know, that's a deep question. I think that
there were a lot of definingmoments. I don't know that I can
give a moment but i can i cantell you what, what really the
lesson I guess that I feel likewe have learned is that one we
don't have to always know theanswer. As someone who's been in
school a long time, but alsohave had been in leadership
(14:53):
roles for many decades. Youknow, I think there's always
this feeling that we have tohave the answer and we have to
be willing To say, okay, you askthe question, ask an answer.
Here we go. I learned this yearthat that I couldn't I couldn't
do that. And and what I found,though was that it was okay. I
never gave a non response, butoften would say that we don't
know the answer to that. Buthere's what we're doing to try
(15:15):
to get to that answer. Right.
And, and that people were reallyhappy with that. And so I grew
as a leader in the uncertaintyand you know, that what I often
use the vuca term, you know, itwas certainly volatile,
uncertain, complex and ambiguousthis year, and that being a
leader, and that meant that attimes, you had to be vulnerable
enough to say, we don't know,but here are the things that
(15:35):
we're doing. And when the answeris known, we're on it. Right. So
that was a big lesson for me.
Jason Ramsden (15:43):
So when you look back on that the lesson that you
learn, there's Okay, you don'thave to have the answer all the
time. What was something thatyou learned about yourself in
that process? And just as aperson
Mike Cobb (15:54):
I learned one is that I mean, I am enneagram, eight,
right? So I know that for methat I don't like that, right? I
want to be able to challenge andask an answer. And I learned
that, that that's just part ofmy mentality. Sometimes that's
really great for me that thatmakes me good at my job this
past year, if I hadn't learnedto be more vulnerable and step
(16:15):
back from that kind ofinstinctual desire to be the
answer. I was gonna get in a lotof trouble this year. Right? I
was gonna try to create ananswer when there wasn't one.
And so that was the lesson Ilearned. And I feel like, even
though there's still a lot ofambiguous things, and questions
and things hovering above usright now, I feel like I've
(16:37):
found myself and lesschallenging questions. And I
would say, you know, I don'tknow. But But here is what we're
doing to try to get to thebottom of that, or how we're
working as a team to come upwith the best solutions. And
it's, it's just to me, it'sreally been a relief. And I
honestly felt like through mostof the year, though, the
pressure was high, the stresswas low, you know, I mean, and I
(17:00):
don't know that everyone feltthat way. And there were
probably times where I probablyshowed a little differently, and
I feel now on retrospection. ButI really do feel like many times
this year, I was able to not letthe stress get to me as much as
it had in the past because ofthis kind of Revelation.
Jason Ramsden (17:16):
But when you look back on last year, you talked
about the stress and it notbeing as stressful. Where do you
turn for for positivity? Where'sthat? Where do you look for the
P and your GPS? Where does thatcome from? for you personally?
Mike Cobb (17:27):
Well, first of all, my faith is where I get my my
positivity from is that I mean,I'm a believer, and I know that
there's a, there's a positiveoutcome at the end of all this
right, no matter what todayholds, or whatever is in front
of me that I know down the road,that I have faith and an outcome
that will be glorious, andbeautiful. But you know, also,
(17:48):
just, I'm an educator, and I dochallenge all the time that if
you're an educator, and youcan't go join the Optimist Club,
you ought to quit. And I knowthat's a really challenging
statement. But remember, I'menneagram eight, but I just have
a hard time because as aneducator, you ought to be in
this because you are absolutelyan optimist, you have
positivity, that what we'redoing has an impact on others,
(18:10):
the world's gonna be a betterplace because of what we do. And
if you don't have thatmentality, I don't know how you
get up every day and do what wedo. Because I, I believe this
generation of kids is smarter,stronger, and more caring than
the last one, right? And Ibelieve they want to come in
behind them is going to outpacethem. And that's why I love what
I do. You share you're not acloset enneagram two, because
(18:31):
I'm a type two. So
Jason Ramsden (18:32):
you know, we're like servants, we just, that's
how we go. We like to be hostsand hostesses. We like to help
people. So last year, was I alsoagree it was a tough year. But
it was also super satisfying,you know, having worked, you
know, and led an IT team to getpeople through the hybrid model.
It's it's just one of thosethings where I agree, if you're
not in education, and you can'tfeel like you can be helpful and
(18:56):
optimistic about what's comingnext for our kids, then perhaps
it's maybe time to think aboutmaking a switch. Exactly. I
know, I may have some listenersout there who may not agree with
me on that particular point. ButI think you know, we're there to
serve kids, and to teach themhow to be resilient, how to be
positive, how to have a growthmindset, that's going to change
(19:21):
things for lots of people, theimpact is going to be huge down
there. Absolutely.
Mike Cobb (19:25):
Well, and I love your point. I mean, I have a lot of
friends in all types ofindustries. And you know, they
all don't agree with me thatbeing a teacher and educator is
the greatest gig you know, youhave a quite a few in there
like, I could never do what youdo. But But I will tell you
this, the people I try tosurround myself were theorists
passionate about whatever theydo, as I am about education, and
(19:47):
they see a positive influenceand what they think it will do
for the world, whether thatmeans they're selling cars, or
they're programming computers orwhatever that is that they
believe that what they're doingwill possibly impact society and
their community. And those arethe people that I want to hang
around with. Right. And Ibelieve it's true. I believe all
of us have that role and to makethe world a better place.
Jason Ramsden (20:08):
Yeah, that's a great point. That's a great
point. Again, it goes back toimpact, right? We everybody sees
how they impact the worlddifferently and how they're
going to go about it. I know ifI asked you this question a year
ago, or if I ask it to you ayear from now, your answers may
be different. But right now,what's, what's the biggest
motivator in your life rightnow?
Mike Cobb (20:27):
Oh, wow. You know, for me, at our school, we have
been casting some really boldvisions about how we really want
to see realize this idea ofauthentic learning student
agency, as well as agileframeworks to really bring
about, I think, education toyour life. So I still I would
answer that, that I just, I'mexcited about every next step
(20:49):
right now, you know, I mean, I,I have envisioned where it is
going. And that I know that weare still along the path. And
there's some really neatadventures. I know, there's some
things already that we've mappedout that we're going to see more
and more of as we walk down thispath, but also know there's
gonna be a few incrediblenatural wonders that just jump
(21:10):
out along the journey that we'renot expecting. And that's what
I'm excited about. I love theadjacent possibilities that
happen whenever you map out agreat plan. So I'm excited about
the known that's coming in frontof us that we're planning for,
and I'm excited about theunknown, that will also be
probably some of the mostglorious outcomes of all,
Jason Ramsden (21:28):
what are the plans in the future for both
yourself and for for all saints?
What's down the road?
Mike Cobb (21:33):
Yes. So you know, right now, we, I think I
mentioned to you off air that wewere, we have 13 major projects
this summer that we are workingon construction wise on campus.
And we've been very busy overthe last four years doing some
the same things, we have builtout outdoor learning classrooms,
and this summer, we're addingthree more outdoor learning
(21:54):
cabins in our 15 acres in thewoods we call the outdoor
Learning Center. And so youknow, I'm excited about having
our students leave a traditionalclassroom setting and actually
literally go out into the woodsfor their classroom experience.
And to see that happening. Sofor us, we have several things
that we're living out every day.
And we are launching somethingthat we just got funded with EA
(22:14):
Ford, and what we're calling athree learning and a three
learning is looking at authenticlearning agency and agile
frameworks that help schoolsbetter achieve what they want to
do, and especially in thoseoutcomes for students and
relevant learning. And so we'llbe launching this this year,
where we're going to be puttingon a workshop here for teachers,
but more importantly forstudents to come and talk about
(22:37):
those three A's. And then alsohelping people go out and
present these at conferences andshare as well as creating this
network, kind of a gamifiedapproach to leveling up so that
as people become a threestudents or teachers, they get
certified and what this means sothey can share that information
and those resources with others.
(22:58):
So we're really excited aboutwhat that's going to look like.
And we're thankful for EA Fordand having confidence in us and
funding this project goingforward.
Jason Ramsden (23:07):
You mentioned the phrase agile framework for my
listeners who don't know whatthat is, as it pertains to
education. One of the positivesides of having an agile
framework,
Mike Cobb (23:15):
we really, we base a lot of our agile work from off
the book Scrum, which a lot ofpeople are familiar with. So it
really helps, I think, putcontext to it. We've created our
own way of scrumming. We do haveScrum masters here and, and
such. But we've created a systemthat we're we're able to move
away from that watershed problemsolving that used to be the way
that not only schools but manyindustries use as their way of
(23:39):
solving you know that we have tocontemplate every last detail
and every possible problem tothe overall solution before we
move forward. Schools though, Ibelieve were absolutely the the
worst at this like that we hadto have everything run through a
committee, we had to knowexactly how it would look for a
teacher, a student, a parent.
And then we had to go back andwe had to do two more rounds of
(24:01):
that committee then we had tocreate a glossy and then by the
time we were finished, all thekids we had dreamed this up for
had already graduated from ourschool, we might be implemented.
Right. And so one of the thingsthat our school has helped us
move so fast is that we areusing the Agile the scrum
framework to make us move fast.
We don't have to know everythingabout what it will look like we
(24:24):
have to know what our immediateproblems are. We're trying to
solve what are thoseopportunities in front of us?
Right behind me here is our mainScrum board for the campus. And
it's not real full right nowbecause it is we just launched
it this week for this comingschool year. But we've averaged
about 80 campus wide initiativessince I've been here each year.
And that's because one the Agileprocess lets us just tackle
(24:46):
problems. We don't have to knowall the answers. And then
secondly, it allows us to do itincrementally and as a team and
that's something I love aboutour system and about both agile
frameworks is that you don'thave to wait on The owner, I
mean, the middle school head maynot be the person who is raising
a question that might solve amiddle school problem. It could
(25:07):
be someone else on the team thatcreates a strong team around
that particular issue. And so,you know, it gives agency to our
team. And that is something thatI believe is vital as well is
that you know, you have to havepeople that are working to solve
what they're most passionateabout around campus. And a
teacher that's teaching historyshould care about history and
(25:29):
teach that class, but that'sjust an avenue for them to be a
leader on campus and otherplaces, right. So why not let
them lead an outdoor learningchallenge or something else,
that they're also passionateabout that
Jason Ramsden (25:40):
the scrum framework really helps with
distributing leadership? Yes,right. Many people, which I have
always found a wonderful way toget people involved in engaged.
And again, going back to what wewere talking about earlier,
having an impact where they maynot have otherwise had an impact
and absence, I bring that to thetable at your school. I would
(26:04):
like to get to know you just alittle bit better. So what's
something you've always wantedto do? But you haven't done?
Mike Cobb (26:11):
Oh, wow. So I'm a big car guy. I'm a car enthusiast.
And so I actually have a coupleof garages, I have a small
garage at my house. And then Ihave a shop that I actually have
built over the last few yearshere where I have some major
projects. So I I love cars. Andit's my my one thing, I love
school. And so I literally wouldwork all the time, because I do
(26:34):
enjoy it. But I've learnedthat's not healthy. And so my
shop has become this greatrelease for me, especially as my
wife and I become empty nesters.
So one of the things that is onmy bucket list that my wife and
I actually had planned to dountil the pandemic hit was we're
going to do a tour of Europewhere we go on a supercar tour,
we actually for 10 days drive 10different supercars and get to
(26:56):
disco experience from thegreatest roads and greatest cars
in the world. And so that that'son my bucket list right now that
we're hoping to do in the next12 months.
Jason Ramsden (27:06):
Now, that's a great bucket list item, one I've
heard before. And I think it'simportant to to have self care.
It's an important part of beinga leader port part of actually
living life as right as everourselves. And I tell that to my
listeners all the time goingthrough different topics is that
you need to be able to take careof yourself before you can take
(27:27):
care of other people. So I'mglad that you found that time
for yourself. What I would liketo do like usually here, I like
to wrap up sessions with twoquestions, guys, for those that
I asked them all my guestssomething that I feel like
closes out a show. And so what'ssomething that most people don't
know about you?
Mike Cobb (27:46):
I think that a lot of people don't know that I was in
the Navy for 10 years, I servedas a CB and the Navy working for
the ninth Regiment, Marines.
And, you know, we're honestly Iwent into the Navy because I
needed to fund my college andthe GI Bill helped me do that.
But it has been one of thosedefining experiences in my life,
(28:06):
I obviously didn't decide tobecome a, a career, military
person. But I learned so muchattention to detail. I learned
about how to do systems. Andthen now in my role as Head of
School doing constructionprojects for 10 years I was with
a construction battalion. And ohmy goodness, it comes in handy
all the time. So yeah, a lot ofpeople don't know that very
(28:27):
different part of my world war,a uniform for 10 years, and now
wear a bow tie every day. Sovery different.
Jason Ramsden (28:35):
Very different.
very different than and I didnot know that about you. So I
appreciate you sharing that withme. The final question. It's
always a good one. I like peopleto fill in the blank to this
question. But happiness is a
Mike Cobb (28:48):
Oh, wow. That's great. Okay, so happiness is a
choice is what I'd say to that,that I believe that we all have
a choice to see the upside to bepositive no matter what's going
on. One thing that I've sharedwith my daughter for for all her
life is that I don't like thephrase, everything happens for a
reason. I don't like that. Idon't believe in that. That's
(29:09):
just not doesn't help with me.
But I do believe there is reasonand everything that happens it's
up to you to decide what thatis. And so, you know, as I've
gone through life, and certainlyI've had challenges and things
that have happened that weren'tpositive, I've chosen to try to
find the reason in that to tryto find what I can grow and
learn from that or how I can usethat wound that pain or whatever
to help somebody else. And, andso that that's been a huge one
(29:34):
for me. So I definitely believehappiness is a choice.
Jason Ramsden (29:39):
Like I don't think I could have closed the
show any better than happinessis a choice. You choose to be
happy. It is all about mindset.
So thank you for for closing theshow that way. People wanted to
learn more about you or learnmore about all saints in the
work that you do. Where can theyfind you? How can they get in
touch about the good work thatyou're doing?
Mike Cobb (29:58):
Well, I appreciate that. No, I'd love for people
that Check out what we're doingat All Saints Episcopal School
in Tyler. And you can find ourwebsite at all das thinks.org.
You can also follow me ontwitter fun. The MC 01 is what
my Twitter handle is. And again,we would love to have people
come visit. So if anyone everhas the opportunity and would
(30:19):
love to see what our expressionof authentic learning students
use looks like they have an openinvitation anytime.
Jason Ramsden (30:25):
Sounds great.
Mike, thank you so much forbeing on the show. I appreciate
it.
Mike Cobb (30:29):
Thank you, Jason. I love your podcast. I'm a huge
fan of you. But now positivityon fire. So thanks for putting
out all that great work.
Jason Ramsden (30:38):
Wow, thanks for the kind word. All right, thank
you. I think we all could use alittle bit more grace,
positivity and support in ourlives. And the concept of GPS is
a good one to help get us there.
Here are three things I learnedfrom my conversation with Mike
today. One grace, positivity insupport can bring a community
together during times of highexpectations. To mindset
(31:01):
matters, especially optimismwhen working with school aged
children in three, whether wewant to believe it or not.
Happiness, my friends, is achoice. If you liked today's
episode, please give us a fivestar rating wherever you listen.
And please share this episode asword of mouth is the only way
this shows message grows. Andfinally, as I close every show,
(31:24):
thank you for being here today,my friends, your gift of time
listening to the show means theworld to me. And as always be
well be happy, be you and untilnext time, may your quest for
positivity begin today.
Mike Cobb (31:44):
I tell you a great story. A student named jet who
was a great musician had beenusing some of our Fab Lab
resources but really cared moreabout music but he developed a
problem with his hand where whenhe was strumming for long gigs,
he couldn't grip the guitar pickanymore. So he decided he was
going to figure out how to solvehis problem. He created this
really cool device that held theguitar pick that you didn't have
(32:06):
to have grip strength itbasically went through your
hands like a ring.
Jason Ramsden (32:10):
For more on my positivity quest to follow me at
underscore j y Ramsden onInstagram tik tok and Twitter.
If you like today's episode,please give us a five star
rating and review on yourfavorite podcast app or visit JC
comm and search for positivityon fire. Positivity on fire is a
production of impact one mediaLLC All rights reserved.
And I started pondering it that moment like,
(00:01):
wow, wouldn't it be great ifeveryone in our lives had that
same grace, positivity andsupport? And so it really began
this thought for me about asteachers, but beyond that as
people, how can we offer gracepositive support always.
Jason Ramsden (00:17):
Hi, I'm Jason Ramsden and I believe we can all
work on leading a more positiveand intentional life. And this
show details my journey bysharing my learning stories and
conversations with guests. Ifyou want to lead a more
intentional life, focus on beingthe best you possible. Please
subscribe today. Now, let's getinto today's episode. Hello, my
positivity posse and welcome toanother episode of positivity on
(00:39):
fire. Today I am happy to sharewith you my interview with Mike
Cobb, Head of School at AllSaints Episcopal School in
Tyler, Texas. Mike is afascinating leader with a
compelling philosophy focused onG p. s. Grace, positivity and
support. And in today's episode,you'll get a glimpse into how
GPS works at Mike's school, aswell as some impactful lessons
(01:01):
for the students. I hope youenjoy today's show. Well, hello,
Mike. Rob, as I say down path.
It's been a minute.
Mike Cobb (01:12):
Good to see y'all. I reckon that that's some other
Texas slang I can throw out now.
Everything is great. It's greatto be with you today.
Jason Ramsden (01:19):
Well, I'm glad to have you. Good to see in person.
It's been a while since we'vewe've connected. I would love
for you to tell my listeners alittle bit about who you are and
what you do.
Mike Cobb (01:30):
Absolutely. Well, I'm Mike Cobb. And I'm currently the
Head of School at All SaintsEpiscopal School in Tyler,
Texas. That is just the east ofDallas and beautiful piney
woods. And we are a school thathas three rows through grade 12.
And we have about 700 studentson on campus on 150 acre campus
that we've been able to reallyleverage some really great
(01:53):
outdoor learning and reallyfocusing on authentic learning
student agency. And beyond thatI married to a wonderful woman
who is a teacher too. So that'swhat's kept me going all along.
And I have a daughter who's 23,who's just jumped out into the
adult world. So that's been afun adventure as well getting to
experience that point of lifewith her.
Jason Ramsden (02:14):
As you know, we probably have a lot in common,
right, you know, having done 30years of education, my wife is a
brand new head of school. Soshe's living that head of school
life like you are and I have twokids 23 and 21. ones just
graduated college getting readyto get out there themselves. And
the other one getting ready togo back this week for senior
year. Wow. It's that time ofyear right. All schools are
(02:36):
getting ready to be fired upand, and moving on.
Mike Cobb (02:39):
Absolutely. Yeah, you know, it's been such a blessing
for me to get to enjoy watchingso many families go through the
learning process and thejourney, but then also as a
father getting to watch it. Nowon the other end, I didn't
always get to know all the nextsteps for our students, you
know, we stay in contact, butyou don't see them as intimate
as you do while they're withyou. But watching it through my
(03:00):
daughter's eyes, I have a deeperappreciation for what it looks
like after they leave ourschools now.
Jason Ramsden (03:06):
I love that I really like being able to see
kids move on progress, do thethings they were meant to do in
life. It's It's so exciting, notonly just for our own kids, you
know, as parents, but also forthe kids that we know that have
been through our schools that wemay have stayed connected to. I
(03:27):
think it says a lot about thetypes of schools we work in, or
I've worked in, where the kidsfeel really comfortable about
staying connected back to theinstitution and the people that
were in the institution. I'mcurious because your school is I
think it on your website saysit's one of inquiry innovation
and impact. Mike, what I'mreally want to dive into is the
(03:51):
impact part because that's apart of what I believe in, how
does that live out day to day inthe school life for you?
Mike Cobb (03:57):
Yeah, you know, that is been really my passion for a
long time is that, you know, Italk a lot about authentic
learning and student agency, butthat if you are attempting to
have those two things, butthere's no impact from a
learning, there's no next stepthat I don't really believe you
can have authentic learning. Andyou certainly don't have kids
that want to agency becausethere's no relevancy, there's no
(04:18):
importance in what they'relearning or what they're going
to do with it. And so for us,and every single grade level, at
every age, our students arechallenged to whatever you're
learning now, how can you dosomething with that to impact
the world? And not just the kindof impact that you hear often
worse, like when I grow up kindof statements, but no right now,
(04:39):
what can you do? You know, wehave students that are building
prosthetic devices for peopleall over the world. We have a
group that does makers on amission where they work with UT
Tyler here in East Texas tobuild assistive technologies for
people that need them. And thenwe have things like our kids are
chicken farmers in second gradethat are actually nurturing and
nourishing our chickens. To selleggs and carpool that help bring
(05:02):
about sustainable food. And soreally helping students today
learn they can actually have animpact is vital, I think to have
a truly authentic experience forour students that will make them
leaders that are prepared forthe future.
Jason Ramsden (05:16):
So how does that obviously, they're impacting the
world around them, whether it'slocal, or in the state, or else
elsewhere. What is the impactback on them as kids and their
developmental learning?
Mike Cobb (05:28):
Huge. I mean, you know, I think again, that that
when you're able to help astudent, one, understand that
what they know or they'relearning is relevant, we talk
about a lot about moving fromlearning to knowing by doing
that, once you do that, then youare going to see the relevancy
and you're going to want tointrinsically know more, I tell
(05:49):
you a great story. A studentnamed jet who was a great
musician had been used in someof our Fab Lab resources, but
really cared more about musicwas in the recording studio way
more, and he was using the 3dprinters. But he developed a
problem with his hand where whenhe was strumming for long gigs,
he couldn't grip the guitar pickanymore. So he decided he was
going to figure out how to solvehis problem, he created this
(06:11):
really cool device that held theguitar pick that you didn't have
to have grip strength, itbasically went through your
hands like a ring. That waspretty cool. And he solved his
own problem. He then decided toget a patent for it. And then he
got recognized the newspaper.
Well, this older gentleman namedCharlie saw his picture on the
cover of the paper. And hecalled in and Charlie was almost
80 years old, had played thebanjo his whole life but hadn't
(06:34):
played for the last two years,because he had crippling
arthritis. And so he came in andhe met with jet and jet sized
him for it and one of thesedevices that allowed him to play
the banjo again. And like Iwatched that moment, and I still
get chills talking about nowbecause I watched jet, his whole
countenance changed. And I Iknew at that moment, that jet
(06:54):
was going to be chasing that forthe rest of his life. Right? I
want to I want to learnsomething that I can know and
then do something with it hasimpact on the world. I no longer
had to give jet any externalmotivators for why he might want
to do something, he had theintrinsic desire to know and do
more.
Jason Ramsden (07:11):
That's absolutely amazing. And I'm a big believer
in impact one or impact 1million, there's no difference.
Absolutely, nearly jet hasimpacted one person, probably
more than that, but one that wasable to come forward and let
y'all know, and then getinvolved in the school. And that
in and of itself is going to, Ithink probably or has probably
(07:33):
changed jets whole perceptionabout the learning by doing.
Mike Cobb (07:37):
Absolutely. And, again, it has this ripple
effect, right? I mean,certainly, like you say, he's
impacting Charlie and others,but then also you watch that,
like, it's impacted me, right.
I'm an I'm an old guy, butwatching jet has inspired me to
want to learn and know and thendo more, right. And that's what
we can all hope for. For I agreewith you that it's whether it's
(08:01):
one or a million, the impact,you have no idea what that's
going to be. But we have to moveour schools away from these
external motivators that arebringing extrinsic extrinsic
reasons for kids to do it, thatthey don't connect to right and
that unfortunately, too manyschools are still programmed
under that system. And we haveto realize that we have to
(08:22):
change the way we think aboutwhat our kids are learning how
they're expressing it, and thenwhat they can do with it.
Jason Ramsden (08:29):
I love it. It's just kids getting inspired to
learn and to have an impact. Ithink that speaks volumes, like
what comes next in the nextgeneration of kids. Yes, that
you're doing to get kids torealize what the connection is
to the real world is animportant part. Now I know at
all saints, one of the thingsyou talk about is grace,
(08:50):
positivity and support, I thinkyou call GPS, which makes sense.
Tell me more about that. I wasintrigued when you had mentioned
that. We were weird exchangingemails pre show
Mike Cobb (08:59):
that the idea of GPS it actually goes back a few
years. When my family and I wereon a road trip, we love road
trips. And we were, we weredriving around and we were
actually driving towards theeast. And I had my GPS on and I
love sharing the story that mywife and I've always loved road
trips. But early in ourmarriage, I think our marriage
(09:22):
almost ended because of theAtlas. It was pre GPS and my
wife was supposed to be thenavigator not a job she signed
up for, but was given and we endup in a big fight nearly every
time we went to road trip, youknow, because I blame the
navigator. She blamed the pilotand when the first GPS came out,
it was the first garment we gotthat had the overlays and
(09:42):
everything right like I realizedlike hey, this is gonna save our
marriage like we actually mightmake it now. And but so I have
been always a kind of a frontrunner on the GPS as I've always
tried to have that the newest,the latest and the greatest,
because it's saved my marriage.
So we were on this road tripthough and I was using my GPS
and As we were traveling, I gotoff track. And honestly, I just
wasn't paying attention. And Imissed my turn. And first of
(10:05):
all, I reveled in the momentthat I wasn't uptight or worried
because I knew that mmediatelyit was about to recalculate. And
that's what my GPS said, itsaid, recalculated in such a
pleasant tone, and then just putme back on a new path to where
we were wanting to go. And Istarted pondering at that
moment, like, wow, wouldn't itbe great if everyone in our
lives had that same grace,positivity and support? Not the
(10:28):
GPS as far as globalpositioning, but that, that she
had grace that she didn't? Shedidn't start off saying, hey,
why did you not listen? Are youdumb? What's going on with you?
Right? She just said,recalculating in writing tone,
she tells me to take a left or aright. And it was positive, and
it was helpful. And then I alsoreally started thinking about
(10:49):
also, as we were traveling,there are many times where I
needed to get gas, or we need tofind some other support along
the way, and I'll have to do isjust tell her what I wanted. And
she didn't again, get mad andsay, Well, you didn't plan that
at the beginning. Or why do youneed that? Now, you should have
got gas earlier, she just toldme how to get it. And so it
really began this thought for meabout as teachers, but beyond
that, as people, how can weoffer grace positive support
(11:11):
always there, there are timeswhere we have students or our
colleagues that get off trackaccidentally. And then there are
sometimes they just take a left,and we tell them that you're
right, they do it on purpose.
But if we can offer the grace tosay just recalculating, and we
don't judge, we just give themthe new path to go on to the
journey that we're going on. Andthen offer the the positive
(11:34):
tone, but also support along theway, I say often that one thing
I know for sure with ourstudents is that I don't know
everything they're going to needfrom now until the time they
graduate, it's going to be anawful lot of new things added
there's going to be gas that'sneeded, they're going to be need
support, bathroom breakseverything in between. and we
have to be willing to do that.
So it's become this reallyimportant mantra for us here at
(11:55):
all saints that we're going tohave GPS on. I love the idea of
really powered common language,though, because we can just say
it, you know, like, there aretimes whenever I'm about to lean
into something I know, it'sgonna be difficult for our team
or our colleagues. And honestly,guys, we need to crank our GPS
up right now today, I literallyin an email said, our GPS needs
(12:15):
to be on tilt for the next twoweeks, right? Like that
language, though, lets us knowwhat what is going to be needed
and what is expected. And it'sjust been really helpful for us
to understand that. And then onelast part of that for me is that
I also remind folks that if youwant your GPS on, you got to be
a GPS to others, right? So youcan't just be always receiving
(12:37):
it, you also have to be thatGPS, for those that are around
you. You can't just be areceiver doesn't work that way.
And so we've really focused onthat over the last few years,
too, if you feel like the GPS isnot helping, and you don't feel
the grace, Pazzini support,maybe you haven't been also
given it in that that timeperiod that you're not feeling
it.
Jason Ramsden (12:59):
Common Language is such a huge part of
leadership and being a leader.
And so I appreciate that youbring that to the table. When
you look back at this past year,everything that you had to do to
get ready for last school yearCOVID came in March and made its
way across the country. How didGPS help you last year,
Mike Cobb (13:18):
it was huge. And you know, the interesting thing I
would add, though, is that ithelped us as a faculty, we'd
already gotten our mind aroundit. And and we we really use
that grace, the positive supportto just get through. But we also
extended it to our families andour parents and I had talked to
our our broader community aboutthis, but we really hadn't
(13:41):
really pushed it in the way thatwe had with our faculty is kind
of that common language. But thelast year, I can tell you, our
families now no GPS as well, asour teachers and faculty and
staff that they understand thatthere is no way we were going to
get through the challenge thatwe had in front of us, unless we
were willing to do that willingto offer that grace when
(14:02):
something didn't work out quiteright when we were trying to do
our elearning or remote learningour to offer the positivity when
we didn't have a plan. But wejust we just knew we were going
to have to go together and leanin you know, and then of course,
the support. I mean, we had tohave support from every angle
this year. Without the communityeffort, we would not have been
able to have a full school yearwhere we were successful in our
(14:24):
outcomes.
Jason Ramsden (14:25):
So when you look back on last year, what was the
most defining moment in yourlife this past year?
Mike Cobb (14:32):
Wow. You know, that's a deep question. I think that
there were a lot of definingmoments. I don't know that I can
give a moment but i can i cantell you what, what really the
lesson I guess that I feel likewe have learned is that one we
don't have to always know theanswer. As someone who's been in
school a long time, but alsohave had been in leadership
(14:53):
roles for many decades. Youknow, I think there's always
this feeling that we have tohave the answer and we have to
be willing To say, okay, you askthe question, ask an answer.
Here we go. I learned this yearthat that I couldn't I couldn't
do that. And and what I found,though was that it was okay. I
never gave a non response, butoften would say that we don't
know the answer to that. Buthere's what we're doing to try
(15:15):
to get to that answer. Right.
And, and that people were reallyhappy with that. And so I grew
as a leader in the uncertaintyand you know, that what I often
use the vuca term, you know, itwas certainly volatile,
uncertain, complex and ambiguousthis year, and that being a
leader, and that meant that attimes, you had to be vulnerable
enough to say, we don't know,but here are the things that
(15:35):
we're doing. And when the answeris known, we're on it. Right. So
that was a big lesson for me.
Jason Ramsden (15:43):
So when you look back on that the lesson that you
learn, there's Okay, you don'thave to have the answer all the
time. What was something thatyou learned about yourself in
that process? And just as aperson
Mike Cobb (15:54):
I learned one is that I mean, I am enneagram, eight,
right? So I know that for methat I don't like that, right? I
want to be able to challenge andask an answer. And I learned
that, that that's just part ofmy mentality. Sometimes that's
really great for me that thatmakes me good at my job this
past year, if I hadn't learnedto be more vulnerable and step
(16:15):
back from that kind ofinstinctual desire to be the
answer. I was gonna get in a lotof trouble this year. Right? I
was gonna try to create ananswer when there wasn't one.
And so that was the lesson Ilearned. And I feel like, even
though there's still a lot ofambiguous things, and questions
and things hovering above usright now, I feel like I've
(16:37):
found myself and lesschallenging questions. And I
would say, you know, I don'tknow. But But here is what we're
doing to try to get to thebottom of that, or how we're
working as a team to come upwith the best solutions. And
it's, it's just to me, it'sreally been a relief. And I
honestly felt like through mostof the year, though, the
pressure was high, the stresswas low, you know, I mean, and I
(17:00):
don't know that everyone feltthat way. And there were
probably times where I probablyshowed a little differently, and
I feel now on retrospection. ButI really do feel like many times
this year, I was able to not letthe stress get to me as much as
it had in the past because ofthis kind of Revelation.
Jason Ramsden (17:16):
But when you look back on last year, you talked
about the stress and it notbeing as stressful. Where do you
turn for for positivity? Where'sthat? Where do you look for the
P and your GPS? Where does thatcome from? for you personally?
Mike Cobb (17:27):
Well, first of all, my faith is where I get my my
positivity from is that I mean,I'm a believer, and I know that
there's a, there's a positiveoutcome at the end of all this
right, no matter what todayholds, or whatever is in front
of me that I know down the road,that I have faith and an outcome
that will be glorious, andbeautiful. But you know, also,
(17:48):
just, I'm an educator, and I dochallenge all the time that if
you're an educator, and youcan't go join the Optimist Club,
you ought to quit. And I knowthat's a really challenging
statement. But remember, I'menneagram eight, but I just have
a hard time because as aneducator, you ought to be in
this because you are absolutelyan optimist, you have
positivity, that what we'redoing has an impact on others,
(18:10):
the world's gonna be a betterplace because of what we do. And
if you don't have thatmentality, I don't know how you
get up every day and do what wedo. Because I, I believe this
generation of kids is smarter,stronger, and more caring than
the last one, right? And Ibelieve they want to come in
behind them is going to outpacethem. And that's why I love what
I do. You share you're not acloset enneagram two, because
(18:31):
I'm a type two. So
Jason Ramsden (18:32):
you know, we're like servants, we just, that's
how we go. We like to be hostsand hostesses. We like to help
people. So last year, was I alsoagree it was a tough year. But
it was also super satisfying,you know, having worked, you
know, and led an IT team to getpeople through the hybrid model.
It's it's just one of thosethings where I agree, if you're
not in education, and you can'tfeel like you can be helpful and
(18:56):
optimistic about what's comingnext for our kids, then perhaps
it's maybe time to think aboutmaking a switch. Exactly. I
know, I may have some listenersout there who may not agree with
me on that particular point. ButI think you know, we're there to
serve kids, and to teach themhow to be resilient, how to be
positive, how to have a growthmindset, that's going to change
(19:21):
things for lots of people, theimpact is going to be huge down
there. Absolutely.
Mike Cobb (19:25):
Well, and I love your point. I mean, I have a lot of
friends in all types ofindustries. And you know, they
all don't agree with me thatbeing a teacher and educator is
the greatest gig you know, youhave a quite a few in there
like, I could never do what youdo. But But I will tell you
this, the people I try tosurround myself were theorists
passionate about whatever theydo, as I am about education, and
(19:47):
they see a positive influenceand what they think it will do
for the world, whether thatmeans they're selling cars, or
they're programming computers orwhatever that is that they
believe that what they're doingwill possibly impact society and
their community. And those arethe people that I want to hang
around with. Right. And Ibelieve it's true. I believe all
of us have that role and to makethe world a better place.
Jason Ramsden (20:08):
Yeah, that's a great point. That's a great
point. Again, it goes back toimpact, right? We everybody sees
how they impact the worlddifferently and how they're
going to go about it. I know ifI asked you this question a year
ago, or if I ask it to you ayear from now, your answers may
be different. But right now,what's, what's the biggest
motivator in your life rightnow?
Mike Cobb (20:27):
Oh, wow. You know, for me, at our school, we have
been casting some really boldvisions about how we really want
to see realize this idea ofauthentic learning student
agency, as well as agileframeworks to really bring
about, I think, education toyour life. So I still I would
answer that, that I just, I'mexcited about every next step
(20:49):
right now, you know, I mean, I,I have envisioned where it is
going. And that I know that weare still along the path. And
there's some really neatadventures. I know, there's some
things already that we've mappedout that we're going to see more
and more of as we walk down thispath, but also know there's
gonna be a few incrediblenatural wonders that just jump
(21:10):
out along the journey that we'renot expecting. And that's what
I'm excited about. I love theadjacent possibilities that
happen whenever you map out agreat plan. So I'm excited about
the known that's coming in frontof us that we're planning for,
and I'm excited about theunknown, that will also be
probably some of the mostglorious outcomes of all,
Jason Ramsden (21:28):
what are the plans in the future for both
yourself and for for all saints?
What's down the road?
Mike Cobb (21:33):
Yes. So you know, right now, we, I think I
mentioned to you off air that wewere, we have 13 major projects
this summer that we are workingon construction wise on campus.
And we've been very busy overthe last four years doing some
the same things, we have builtout outdoor learning classrooms,
and this summer, we're addingthree more outdoor learning
(21:54):
cabins in our 15 acres in thewoods we call the outdoor
Learning Center. And so youknow, I'm excited about having
our students leave a traditionalclassroom setting and actually
literally go out into the woodsfor their classroom experience.
And to see that happening. Sofor us, we have several things
that we're living out every day.
And we are launching somethingthat we just got funded with EA
(22:14):
Ford, and what we're calling athree learning and a three
learning is looking at authenticlearning agency and agile
frameworks that help schoolsbetter achieve what they want to
do, and especially in thoseoutcomes for students and
relevant learning. And so we'llbe launching this this year,
where we're going to be puttingon a workshop here for teachers,
but more importantly forstudents to come and talk about
(22:37):
those three A's. And then alsohelping people go out and
present these at conferences andshare as well as creating this
network, kind of a gamifiedapproach to leveling up so that
as people become a threestudents or teachers, they get
certified and what this means sothey can share that information
and those resources with others.
(22:58):
So we're really excited aboutwhat that's going to look like.
And we're thankful for EA Fordand having confidence in us and
funding this project goingforward.
Jason Ramsden (23:07):
You mentioned the phrase agile framework for my
listeners who don't know whatthat is, as it pertains to
education. One of the positivesides of having an agile
framework,
Mike Cobb (23:15):
we really, we base a lot of our agile work from off
the book Scrum, which a lot ofpeople are familiar with. So it
really helps, I think, putcontext to it. We've created our
own way of scrumming. We do haveScrum masters here and, and
such. But we've created a systemthat we're we're able to move
away from that watershed problemsolving that used to be the way
that not only schools but manyindustries use as their way of
(23:39):
solving you know that we have tocontemplate every last detail
and every possible problem tothe overall solution before we
move forward. Schools though, Ibelieve were absolutely the the
worst at this like that we hadto have everything run through a
committee, we had to knowexactly how it would look for a
teacher, a student, a parent.
And then we had to go back andwe had to do two more rounds of
(24:01):
that committee then we had tocreate a glossy and then by the
time we were finished, all thekids we had dreamed this up for
had already graduated from ourschool, we might be implemented.
Right. And so one of the thingsthat our school has helped us
move so fast is that we areusing the Agile the scrum
framework to make us move fast.
We don't have to know everythingabout what it will look like we
(24:24):
have to know what our immediateproblems are. We're trying to
solve what are thoseopportunities in front of us?
Right behind me here is our mainScrum board for the campus. And
it's not real full right nowbecause it is we just launched
it this week for this comingschool year. But we've averaged
about 80 campus wide initiativessince I've been here each year.
And that's because one the Agileprocess lets us just tackle
(24:46):
problems. We don't have to knowall the answers. And then
secondly, it allows us to do itincrementally and as a team and
that's something I love aboutour system and about both agile
frameworks is that you don'thave to wait on The owner, I
mean, the middle school head maynot be the person who is raising
a question that might solve amiddle school problem. It could
(25:07):
be someone else on the team thatcreates a strong team around
that particular issue. And so,you know, it gives agency to our
team. And that is something thatI believe is vital as well is
that you know, you have to havepeople that are working to solve
what they're most passionateabout around campus. And a
teacher that's teaching historyshould care about history and
(25:29):
teach that class, but that'sjust an avenue for them to be a
leader on campus and otherplaces, right. So why not let
them lead an outdoor learningchallenge or something else,
that they're also passionateabout that
Jason Ramsden (25:40):
the scrum framework really helps with
distributing leadership? Yes,right. Many people, which I have
always found a wonderful way toget people involved in engaged.
And again, going back to what wewere talking about earlier,
having an impact where they maynot have otherwise had an impact
and absence, I bring that to thetable at your school. I would
(26:04):
like to get to know you just alittle bit better. So what's
something you've always wantedto do? But you haven't done?
Mike Cobb (26:11):
Oh, wow. So I'm a big car guy. I'm a car enthusiast.
And so I actually have a coupleof garages, I have a small
garage at my house. And then Ihave a shop that I actually have
built over the last few yearshere where I have some major
projects. So I I love cars. Andit's my my one thing, I love
school. And so I literally wouldwork all the time, because I do
(26:34):
enjoy it. But I've learnedthat's not healthy. And so my
shop has become this greatrelease for me, especially as my
wife and I become empty nesters.
So one of the things that is onmy bucket list that my wife and
I actually had planned to dountil the pandemic hit was we're
going to do a tour of Europewhere we go on a supercar tour,
we actually for 10 days drive 10different supercars and get to
(26:56):
disco experience from thegreatest roads and greatest cars
in the world. And so that that'son my bucket list right now that
we're hoping to do in the next12 months.
Jason Ramsden (27:06):
Now, that's a great bucket list item, one I've
heard before. And I think it'simportant to to have self care.
It's an important part of beinga leader port part of actually
living life as right as everourselves. And I tell that to my
listeners all the time goingthrough different topics is that
you need to be able to take careof yourself before you can take
(27:27):
care of other people. So I'mglad that you found that time
for yourself. What I would liketo do like usually here, I like
to wrap up sessions with twoquestions, guys, for those that
I asked them all my guestssomething that I feel like
closes out a show. And so what'ssomething that most people don't
know about you?
Mike Cobb (27:46):
I think that a lot of people don't know that I was in
the Navy for 10 years, I servedas a CB and the Navy working for
the ninth Regiment, Marines.
And, you know, we're honestly Iwent into the Navy because I
needed to fund my college andthe GI Bill helped me do that.
But it has been one of thosedefining experiences in my life,
(28:06):
I obviously didn't decide tobecome a, a career, military
person. But I learned so muchattention to detail. I learned
about how to do systems. Andthen now in my role as Head of
School doing constructionprojects for 10 years I was with
a construction battalion. And ohmy goodness, it comes in handy
all the time. So yeah, a lot ofpeople don't know that very
(28:27):
different part of my world war,a uniform for 10 years, and now
wear a bow tie every day. Sovery different.
Jason Ramsden (28:35):
Very different.
very different than and I didnot know that about you. So I
appreciate you sharing that withme. The final question. It's
always a good one. I like peopleto fill in the blank to this
question. But happiness is a
Mike Cobb (28:48):
Oh, wow. That's great. Okay, so happiness is a
choice is what I'd say to that,that I believe that we all have
a choice to see the upside to bepositive no matter what's going
on. One thing that I've sharedwith my daughter for for all her
life is that I don't like thephrase, everything happens for a
reason. I don't like that. Idon't believe in that. That's
(29:09):
just not doesn't help with me.
But I do believe there is reasonand everything that happens it's
up to you to decide what thatis. And so, you know, as I've
gone through life, and certainlyI've had challenges and things
that have happened that weren'tpositive, I've chosen to try to
find the reason in that to tryto find what I can grow and
learn from that or how I can usethat wound that pain or whatever
to help somebody else. And, andso that that's been a huge one
(29:34):
for me. So I definitely believehappiness is a choice.
Jason Ramsden (29:39):
Like I don't think I could have closed the
show any better than happinessis a choice. You choose to be
happy. It is all about mindset.
So thank you for for closing theshow that way. People wanted to
learn more about you or learnmore about all saints in the
work that you do. Where can theyfind you? How can they get in
touch about the good work thatyou're doing?
Mike Cobb (29:58):
Well, I appreciate that. No, I'd love for people
that Check out what we're doingat All Saints Episcopal School
in Tyler. And you can find ourwebsite at all das thinks.org.
You can also follow me ontwitter fun. The MC 01 is what
my Twitter handle is. And again,we would love to have people
come visit. So if anyone everhas the opportunity and would
(30:19):
love to see what our expressionof authentic learning students
use looks like they have an openinvitation anytime.
Jason Ramsden (30:25):
Sounds great.
Mike, thank you so much forbeing on the show. I appreciate
it.
Mike Cobb (30:29):
Thank you, Jason. I love your podcast. I'm a huge
fan of you. But now positivityon fire. So thanks for putting
out all that great work.
Jason Ramsden (30:38):
Wow, thanks for the kind word. All right, thank
you. I think we all could use alittle bit more grace,
positivity and support in ourlives. And the concept of GPS is
a good one to help get us there.
Here are three things I learnedfrom my conversation with Mike
today. One grace, positivity insupport can bring a community
together during times of highexpectations. To mindset
(31:01):
matters, especially optimismwhen working with school aged
children in three, whether wewant to believe it or not.
Happiness, my friends, is achoice. If you liked today's
episode, please give us a fivestar rating wherever you listen.
And please share this episode asword of mouth is the only way
this shows message grows. Andfinally, as I close every show,
(31:24):
thank you for being here today,my friends, your gift of time
listening to the show means theworld to me. And as always be
well be happy, be you and untilnext time, may your quest for
positivity begin today.
Mike Cobb (31:44):
I tell you a great story. A student named jet who
was a great musician had beenusing some of our Fab Lab
resources but really cared moreabout music but he developed a
problem with his hand where whenhe was strumming for long gigs,
he couldn't grip the guitar pickanymore. So he decided he was
going to figure out how to solvehis problem. He created this
really cool device that held theguitar pick that you didn't have
(32:06):
to have grip strength itbasically went through your
hands like a ring.
Jason Ramsden (32:10):
For more on my positivity quest to follow me at
underscore j y Ramsden onInstagram tik tok and Twitter.
If you like today's episode,please give us a five star
rating and review on yourfavorite podcast app or visit JC
comm and search for positivityon fire. Positivity on fire is a
production of impact one mediaLLC All rights reserved.
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