April 1, 2024 • 41 mins
Welcome to episode 169 of the Leader of Learning Podcast. In this episode, we will hear from Phil Januszewski, a dynamo in the realm of education known for his infectious energy and mission to infuse happiness into the world of teaching. Since stepping into the classroom in 2005, Phil hasn't just taught chemistry and physics; he's also become a beloved motivational speaker who champions the well-being and upliftment of educators everywhere. Some of you might even recognize him from his whimsical foray into the "Nailed It" baking show on Netflix, where his alien cake became a memorable highlight.
Phil's powerhouse teaching strategy draws from the science of energy, motivation, and the pursuit of flow states. His structured schedule approach creates that coveted sense of calm and control that so many educators seek. This episode will delve into his fascinating insights on the art of giving and gratitude, including how his passion for baking enriches the lives of coworkers and students.
We'll also explore how Phil's interest in positive psychology led him to the Flourishing Center, and how this knowledge shapes his teaching and life philosophy. Today, he stands as a testament to balancing life's many roles: as a father, creator, worker, and teacher, Phil knows firsthand the importance of flexibility and decluttering our lives to focus on what truly brings us joy.
Guest Information:
Phil Januszewski is a tattoo-covered, Netflix baking-show flopping, high-energy chemistry/physics teaching keynote speaker and coach who is on a mission to create and spread happiness through education, motivation, and entertainment. He empowers his audiences to completely flourish in their personal lives first, in order to ignite passion and purpose in their professional lives as well. Phil is a nationally known dynamic speaker of 10+ years and a public school educator since 2005 with a bachelor's in chemistry, a master's in teaching leadership, and a certification in positive education. When not teaching, speaking, or supporting educators, Phil enjoys everyday adventures with his wife and two children and pursuing his personal passions of fitness, baking, networking, and personal development. If you ever meet Phil, be prepared for a great deal of positive energy, love, and passion.
Episode Resources:
Phil's Website
Positive Growth Lounge
This episode is sponsored in part by MagicMind, the world's first productivity drink. Visit https://magicmind.com/LL and use the code LOL20 at checkout to enjoy 20% off. If you want even more MagicMind, that same code will also get you 56% off on the 30-pack subscription!
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Phil's powerhouse teaching strategy draws from the science of energy, motivation, and the pursuit of flow states. His structured schedule approach creates that coveted sense of calm and control that so many educators seek. This episode will delve into his fascinating insights on the art of giving and gratitude, including how his passion for baking enriches the lives of coworkers and students.
We'll also explore how Phil's interest in positive psychology led him to the Flourishing Center, and how this knowledge shapes his teaching and life philosophy. Today, he stands as a testament to balancing life's many roles: as a father, creator, worker, and teacher, Phil knows firsthand the importance of flexibility and decluttering our lives to focus on what truly brings us joy.
Guest Information:
Phil Januszewski is a tattoo-covered, Netflix baking-show flopping, high-energy chemistry/physics teaching keynote speaker and coach who is on a mission to create and spread happiness through education, motivation, and entertainment. He empowers his audiences to completely flourish in their personal lives first, in order to ignite passion and purpose in their professional lives as well. Phil is a nationally known dynamic speaker of 10+ years and a public school educator since 2005 with a bachelor's in chemistry, a master's in teaching leadership, and a certification in positive education. When not teaching, speaking, or supporting educators, Phil enjoys everyday adventures with his wife and two children and pursuing his personal passions of fitness, baking, networking, and personal development. If you ever meet Phil, be prepared for a great deal of positive energy, love, and passion.
Episode Resources:
Phil's Website
Positive Growth Lounge
This episode is sponsored in part by MagicMind, the world's first productivity drink. Visit https://magicmind.com/LL and use the code LOL20 at checkout to enjoy 20% off. If you want even more MagicMind, that same code will also get you 56% off on the 30-pack subscription!
**************************************************************
TAKE MY NEW LEADERSHIP STYLES QUIZ!
https://dankreiness.com/quiz
**************************************************************
ACCESS MY INSPIRING RESOURCES:
SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Sign up for my email newsletter
50 AI Prompts for Instructional Leaders to Revolutionize Your School
The Teacher’s Guide to Becoming a School Leader“
Lead to Inspire Growth” eBook
FREE “Unlock Your Leadership Potential” course
**************************************************************
CONSIDER BECOMING AN OFFICIAL SHOW SPONSOR!
I can help promote your product or service
Email me at dan@leaderoflearning.com
Media Kit - https://dankreiness.com/media
Talk Studio is my recording platform of choice for video, audio, and even live streaming. For more information about Talk Studio and to receive 20% off your first billing cycle on ANY paid plan you sign
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
And when we can show up tonot only our personal lives but our work.
With that energy, we're able totake on the unique things that happen
to us every single day. Welcometo the Leader of Learning Podcast. I'm
your host, doctor Dan Krinis,and this is where I help educators grow
(00:20):
their impact as instructional leaders because myresearch and leadership experiences have led me to
understand that someone like you, regardlessof your role or your title, can
have a tremendous impact on your organization. I chat with inspiring guests who are
truly making an impact as instructional leaders. Whether this is your first time listening
(00:42):
or you come back for more,I hope you've subscribed to this show on
your preferred podcast app so you don'tmiss any of the great episodes, topics,
or guests. Anyway, I'm soglad you've tuned in. Now let's
get started. Welcome into another episodeof The Leader of Learning Podcast. I
(01:07):
have a great episode in store foryou with an amazing guest, Phil Jannazuski.
But before we get there, Ijust want to let you know that
by the time this episode comes out, we're in April, and if you're
an educator, like me. You'redown to the final couple months of the
school year, believe it or not, and this might be the time of
year where people start looking to makesome changes in their careers. Some people
(01:30):
might even look to leave the classroom, but not because they want to leave
teaching. It's because they want tomove into school leadership, becoming a coach
or an administrator, and I havea good resource for that. So I
just wanted to remind you that Ihave a guide called The Teacher's Guide to
Becoming a School Leader. If you'reinterested in taking that next step in your
(01:53):
career, you might want to checkit out. It's at dankrinis dot com
slash guide. I hope it helpsyou fulfill your goal of reaching the next
level. Now, let's get intothis episode. Since stepping into the classroom
in two thousand and five, PhilJanezuski hasn't just taught chemistry and physics,
He's also become a beloved motivational speakerwho champions the well being and uplifting of
(02:17):
educators everywhere. You might even recognizehim from his appearance on the Netflix show
Nailed It Anyway. Phil's teaching strategydraws from the science of energy, motivation
and the pursuit of flow states.This is a great episode. We had
an amazing conversation and I can't waitfor you to listen. So coming up
(02:38):
after these messages is my conversation withPhil Fear of Learning. Welcome back into
another exciting episode with a great guest, Phil Janezuski. He is a tattoo
covered Netflix baking show flopping high energy, chemistry and physics teaching keynote speaker and
coach on a mission to create andspread happiness throughout education and motivation and entertainment.
(03:04):
He is a nationally known dynamic speakerand been a school educator since two
thousand and five with the Bachelors inChemistry, Masters in Teaching Leadership, and
Certification in Positive Education. Phil,Welcome to the show. Really excited to
have you because I think definitely thisidea of keeping things positive and education is
(03:24):
extremely important and honestly, very timelybecause we're kind of getting into the crunch
time right like April May June,we got state testing going on, probably
where our listeners are coming from,and then of course wrapping up the end
of the year. So really excitedto dive in before we do. What
else can you tell us about whoyou are, where you are, and
(03:46):
what you do. Thanks so much, Dot, I've got a pleasure to
be here. Yeah. By day, I'm a chemistry physics teacher for the
last nineteen years. By night,I'm actually a motivational speaker, So I
go around the country lifting up teachers, helping them build on their own personal
selves first, kind of an upstreamapproach before we even dive into the professional
(04:06):
side of things. And totally wascalled to do this, just tugging on
the heartstrings due to so many greathumans, so many great teachers I see
burning out even the profession. Sothere's any way that I can help educators.
I feel like that therefore then helpsstudents as well. So I'm all
in man, just trying to helpour fellow educators out. The first question
(04:30):
I'm going to ask you is notthe most important, but it's the most
It's the most curiosity driven. WhatNetflix baking show? Yeah, yeah,
it's a great conversation starter, andDockett's not a good resume builder for sure.
But I was on a show calledNailed It. It's an amateur baking
show, and you are set upfor failure it's a comedy show. So
(04:51):
I had an eight hour professional cakeI had to make in two or two
and a half hours. It wasan alien cake and you cut it open
with an execto knife and it cameout like a lime coolly ooze. So
I had a blast. Man.I like attention, I like entertainment,
I love baking, so it wasright up my alley. A good fourteen
hour day of cameras and chaos.So I ended up not winning doc and
(05:15):
not winning the ten grand and mykids were bummed, but I had a
great time. I would do itin a heartbeat again, knowing I lost.
That's cool. No, we've definitelyseen that show. I might have
even seen you on there and justnot known it. But that's a great
story to tell, all right.So now for the more important questions now
that we got that out of theway. I was just so curious when
it comes to being positive and stayingmotivated. I think where I'd like to
(05:41):
start is, you've been in thissince about two thousand and five. I've
been in education since two thousand andsix, so we're right around the same
amount of time. And how isit that you keep yourself going at this
point. Yeah, I think thateverything starts at home upstream, which is
what I love to dig in foreducators. I've always been someone who's had
a lot of energy, a lotof positive energy. Looked on the bright
(06:03):
side, been healthy, and thatis allowed for energy. So I really
started to dig into me personally.What is it about me that allows me
to be an outlier in the worldof energy, an outlier in the world
of being a cheerleader for students,for my coworkers, just having this enthusiasm
and this resilience. And I starteddigging in and realized that I think some
(06:27):
foundational things in my life have reallyhelped me to maintain this energy. And
I really got into the world ofpositive psychology in the last five six years
and really started to realize that thosethings that I automatically did, you know,
just accidentally, doc if I cansay that's my personality really is backed
up by science into allowing you tofeel like you're flourishing and that So for
(06:51):
me, I dig into a lotof what I like to call my ers,
the things that light me up.I'm a father, I'm a creator,
I'm a a worker, outer ora lifter. I'm a baker,
a cooker, I'm a teacher.So when I know all those things that
I those ers, things that Ilove to do, and if I'm building
them into my day every single day, I am naturally hitting on things that
(07:14):
light me up so that when,as we all know, in education,
no matter what, there's going tobe things coming at you that you weren't
expecting. A lot of times thatcan be either draining or even negative.
But as long as we're trying tofill up that bank in a positive way
and leaning into those ers that dofill us up, we allow ourselves to
be more energized, more resilient.And when we can show up to not
(07:41):
only our personal lives but our workwith that energy, we're able to take
on the unique things that happen tous every single day. The tough parent
email, the tough interaction with thestudent, the new thing that the school
is going to try out. Theywant you to try, but you're also
trying to stay afloat with your regularcurriculum. So I like to look at
(08:05):
the upstring approach for myself because ifI'm not good for me, then doc,
when you come in with a newidea that hey, let's try this
in the classroom fill you can notonly do your chemistry curriculum, but it's
going to allow them to be moreinteractive and learn better. I'm able to
say, you know what, Dan, all right, let's try it as
(08:26):
opposed to whoa, whoa, everything'sburning down around me. Dan, I
can't handle that right now. Sothe idea that I have that energy already
is so important, and I loveto dig into that on how we can
do that. Once we know thegood stuff in our life, we build
it into our schedule, and webuild that structure, and eventually we get
(08:48):
to a point where we have thisextra energy, we have this extra vibe
to us, and then we canstart giving it away. We can give
it to our students, we cangive it to our families, our communities,
and our coworkers. So to goright back to where you originally started,
that was natural for me, andI didn't realize that. I was
just lucky that it benefited me tobe resilient in this line of work.
(09:13):
So I'm curious, and we willdig deeper definitely throughout the conversation. But
I'm curious because in your answer,you started kind of talking about how over
the past handful of years, asyou've digged dug into the science behind energy
motivation, really staying up for thejob you're doing, the life you're living,
(09:35):
parenting, whatever, what was itthat you found out about yourself that
actually science said like, hey,this is kind of how to do it.
Yeah. I think one of thebig ones is like reaching a flow
state when you find yourself doing thethings where you get lost in the time
and your mind kind of checks outfrom everything else and you can dive in.
(09:56):
And when you hit those flow states, they're really good for you.
Not only are they fulfilling and theybuild you up again that positive mental bank,
but also it's a huge stress reliever. So I found that that was
one of the natural things. Anotherone was that I'm a pretty structured guy.
And because I'm a teacher, Ihave two side companies, I have
(10:20):
two children, I have a wife, I have extended family. I really
need to be cognizant of how Ispend my time, and I'm very structured
with my schedule, So that naturallyhappened for me just to make sure that
I could do everything well. AndI realize that when you build in like
schedules and structures mentally, your brainfeels more in control. It takes less
(10:43):
energy to think of, oh whatam I going to do next? What
about this? And balancing, sothat structure allows our brain to feel more
calm. It allows our brain tofeel more like we're in control, even
though Dan, you know, nothing'sreally in our control completely, especially in
this line of work. So thepositive psych totally backed that up as well,
(11:05):
which was great. Again, Ijust lucked out that that naturally happened
to me. And then also thesense of giving and gratitude. One of
my favorite things about being an educatorand a co worker is I like to
do little quirky surprises and gifts andpay it forward style vibes, if you
will, to my coworkers and students. And one of the ways I do
(11:26):
that, one of my love languages, Dan, is like baking. I
like to make cakes and make themfor my co workers and you know,
wow, I can't believe that surprise, you know. And I like to
whip out some skillets and make pancakesfor my students and we just come together
as a family and even though we'relearning, we're also connecting. So for
me, that's one of my likejust unique, quirky things about me,
(11:48):
But every teacher, every person hastheir own gift that to them doesn't seem
like a big deal. To me, Cooking and baking for a bunch of
people isn't depleting. It actually builtme up. So when I can lean
into what I call lean into yourpurpose, lean into your passions, when
I can do that and give thatto others, it not only fills them
(12:09):
up, but it fills me upas well, and it allows me to
be happier and create this positive upwardspiral. So me doing that, I
didn't even realize backed by positive psychology, the idea of giving and gratitude and
expressing that also fills me up.So really it was cool. I got
so into it that I went tothe Flourishing Center and took like a thirty
(12:33):
two hour course on positive psychology foreducators specifically, just because I got so
into this and I was curious,what am I doing that's supporting that and
what other things can I do tohelp my classroom. So I just kind
of became obsessed with it. It'sjust a new thing, and I've really
enjoyed it because it's allowed me tobe happier but also allow me to help
(12:56):
my coworkers, my family, andmy students be happier too. Hey,
Leader of Learning, we'll be rightback with the episode. But I'm really
loving all the positive energy that Philis bringing in this episode, and it
reminded me to talk to you abouta product that I've been using to boost
my own energy and productivity, andI think you'll enjoy it too. It's
called Magic Mind. Magic Mind isthe world's first productivity drink. It's a
(13:20):
subtly sweet shot made with all naturalingredients that you drink for a boost of
energy and focus, to conquer procrastinationand elevate your mental clarity. You know
that I'm a pretty busy guy jugglinga full time career, family and small
business, and if I'm being honest, it's pretty hard to keep up with
everything. That's why I decided tostart adding these drinks to my morning routine.
(13:43):
I drink them along with my breakfastin the morning, and it allows
me to stay focused on everything Ineed to get done each day. Normally,
coffee is my drink of choice toget that energy boost, but I
only have one cup per day becauseany more than that and it can make
me a little jittery. So honestly, at first first I was hesitant to
try magic Mind. I thought itwould also cause those same jitters. But
(14:05):
what I found out was that theseproductivity shots are actually designed to be consumed
as a supplement alongside your current morningroutine. That's because Magic Mind has only
minimal amounts of caffeine and is scientificallydesigned to boost energy, enhance focus,
create a sense of calm, alertness, and increase overall productivity while not increasing
(14:26):
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Just for my listeners, Magic Mindis offering a special discount. Visit magicmind
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(14:52):
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productive. That's really cool, youknow. One of the things that I
heard you say throughout that answer,or at least that I was kind of
(15:13):
reading between the lines, is it'shelpful to I think you said dive in
or dig in to your your passionsand your interests. But you also talked
about really making sure that you havea system, a structure, a schedule
to not just fit everything in.But to I don't want to put words
(15:35):
in your mouth that seemed like whatyou were saying is like you want to
make you want to make sure you'remaking time for everything. And I don't
think correct me if I'm wrong.I don't think that means that it has
to be equal time, but justenough time right to devote to everything.
Because I know one of the thingsfor me that I've really kind of I
don't want to say perfected, butone of the things I've really gotten to
(15:56):
know throughout life and especially going throughmy doctoral program a handful of years ago,
is like, sometimes you do haveto pour into a certain bucket more
than another one, and maybe youneed to reverse that at some point,
but like sometimes you just need tokind of prioritize. So I guess what
I'm really trying to ask is like, if it's important to have some things
(16:19):
going on that you are using forthis kind of positivity and motivation that aren't
your job, your work life,maybe even you know, I mean,
let's face it, maybe not evenour family, because for some people,
work is not just a you know, I don't want to say an escape
because that makes it sound like youreally don't want to be with your family.
But it really does charge you up, fires you up, it gives
(16:41):
you that energy, but it's moreabout like balancing. So I guess what
I'm really asking is like, howwhat's a good way then for people to
systematize and schedule and make sure thatthey're devoting enough time or really thinking about
how much time to devote to eachof those things. I would think that
your schedule is not only flexible,right, it's going to consistently change.
(17:04):
And as you said, you gothrough seasons when you are working in the
doctoral program. I'm sure that somethings had to get put more on the
back burner as that came to theforefront. And I think that that's super
important to be cognizant of and justaccept the fact that sometimes in seasons more
some things are more important than others. So yeah, equal time. I
(17:26):
would never say that, and sometimesthe things that light you up you don't
need a lot of time for.So for me, music is a huge
part of my life. So aslong as I'm getting in some solid,
you know, ten fifteen minutes ofgood music throughout the day, that fills
whatever mood I'm in, that fillsme up enough. I don't need an
hour of it now in my stagein my life, I have an eleven
(17:49):
year old and an eight year oldnine she would get upset she just turned
nine, actually a nine year old. I think that I've tried to get
as much time as I can withthem, while still I don't ever want
to try to do a job butonly do it halfway. Whatever I do,
I want to do it well.So that's the hard part too with
(18:11):
scheduling, is that I found youhave to start decluttering even the things that
you enjoy, but you start askingyourself what value is this bringing me even
if I enjoy it. So oneof the things for me that not everybody
loves to hear, and I'm notsaying everyone needs to do this, but
for me, it was an hourof television at night. I eventually got
(18:32):
rid of it, just I enjoyedit. It was decompressing. It was
a nice habit. I looked forwardto it, but in the end,
when I really thought about it,it really wasn't fulfilling me as much as
reading, learning, video, editing, creating. I get more payoff from
that. So a lot of timeswhen we start getting into this idea of
(18:52):
how do I make a structure,how do I build a schedule, we'll
also start to find, oh,I wish I had more time for this.
When you start looking at well,do I really need this in my
life? I know it's a habit, I often do it, but is
it as valuable to me as somethingelse? So when you really start getting
into that, and I've been luckyto do that, I've been a youth
(19:14):
motivational speaker since twenty thirteen and balancingside jobs with full time career and family,
it was important to build that structure. And there have been times where
it's been out of balance, andman, you can feel it. And
then you have to start shifting andbeing realistic and transparent with my spouse,
with my business partner to figure outwhere it all fits. So I know
(19:34):
it's easy to just talk about youknow, you need to set a schedule
but it is a sloppy process,just like anything else. So I would
recommend the first place to start isby small things, maybe with a morning
routine. Maybe just think about whatdo I do in the morning. Does
it fill me up? If it'snot, is there anything I could do
to make it slightly better? Sotry to start making little tweaks and parts
(19:57):
of your day. Maybe it's duringschool, during lunch. Are you eating
lunch with coworkers? But unfortunately it'sjust a really negative environment. And even
though you may agree with a lotof it, is it serving you well
as opposed to Maybe I found myselfsome years eating lunch in my car,
the windows down, just because I'mdecompressing. It's quiet, I like the
(20:18):
fresh air, a little vitamin D. So whatever serves you, you start
to pick away at it, andthen once it starts working, I think
things naturally start weaving into a betterschedule. And I think as educators we're
pretty lucky because we already have schedulesseven eight hours a day anyways, with
bells and where we're going. Soif we can extend that just a little
(20:41):
before work and a little after,I think it'll be a really natural progression.
Speaking of which I think that's agood segue. You use the term
before, And I've been really tryingto be honest, and I'm no judgment
or anything. I've been trying toavoid the term burnout only mainly because I
(21:02):
almost think it's become really too clichefor educators to kind of quickly go that
route. And to be honest,I feel like I've been seeing education influence
influencers kind of taking advantage a littlebit of this period in education history where
so many teachers are feeling the burnout. But I mean, the term is
(21:27):
what it is, so you know, if if teachers are feeling burned out
and they do spend like you saidthat seven eight hours of the day in
school and they're still feeling like theygot to take work home with them,
or it's just not as easy tofit things in as you know, as
(21:49):
we want them to, Like wewere already saying, kind of try to
schedule in some things like what otheradvice might you give to and and keep
in mind, I have a prettymixed bag of an audience. We have
classroom teachers, we got school administrators, we got higher ed like, we
got a lot of people listening rightnow, so as specific as you can,
(22:11):
but keeping in mind, we gota lot of different you know,
job titles and descriptions and things likewhat happens when we're really feeling that burnout?
And look, we started by saying, we still got a couple of
months left in the school year,so what are we doing? Yeah,
I like how you said that too. I tend to think of burnout maybe
more as uninspired or just tired,you know. So I agree with you
(22:36):
that that's now the blanket statement.And it is a bit cliche, though
there are plenty of people that arejust shutting down and overwhelmed and leaving the
field. But I think you're right. We've been talking a lot about in
the education system. A lot ofpeople are feeling like, for lack of
a better term, like death bypaper cuts. There just seems to be
a lot of little jabs going ourway. There's feel people don't feel a
(22:59):
sense of trust in some teachers.You know, the system keeps changing,
and change is tough on a brain. There's just a lot of changes going
on and it is scary to thebrain, right, And we're trying to
the main idea, The main goalof the brain is to survive. So
it is a unique situation for sure, but I agree. I think my
biggest fear is that if we're showingup to work uninspired, then it's hard
(23:22):
to push through. So you're right, so say you've you've got a schedule,
but you're still overwhelmed. In that, I think it goes back to
those basics that probably anyone that isyou know, quote unquote a burnout coach
would say is that you have toset realistic boundaries. And no one wants
to hear that because that means puttingyour foot down and easing off something.
(23:44):
So I agree with you. Alot of influencers are cashing in on that
burnout term to get your attention.But then if for some of them,
they have some advice that is interestingto hear, like maybe the amount of
assignments you're grading and setting up,maybe you're creating a work cloth that isn't
necessary. Is there a way thatyou can lean on your instructional coaches to
(24:04):
find a way that's more efficient fortheir learning quicker, but also less burden
on you? And I think inmy second half of my career now every
decision I make asks is this goingto allow my students to learn better.
And then also, is this goingto create more work for me the same
amount or less in the end,Because if it's a dramatic more, then
(24:29):
I need to think about is therea different way to do it where I
can still allow my kids to learnbetter but not put all the burden on
me. And I think when I'vetaken that approach, it served me well
because my job is manageable when Imake those decisions decisions intentionally. So that
is a pride swallowing thing though,right Dan, Especially if you're talking to
a coworker who's just hanging on.They're exhausted, they're not sleeping while at
(24:55):
home, their home life's a mess. They're coming here, they're putting out
fires here, hard for them tonot be well. As your latest podcast
episode, I was just hearing you'retalking about people are resistant to change,
right, So if we're not takingcare upstream of ourself first, then it
is hard to even pull back alittle bit and see the big picture.
(25:18):
So I would say the boundaries andthe decisions we make are important, but
it's hard to do that if we'rein such a rhythm and such a survival
mode. It is hard to makethose changes. And that's why I'd say
lean on your instructional coaches because theycan definitely see the bigger picture and maybe
help you, and that'll help youget more control. And then another thing
(25:42):
too, is that even if workis a little bit of a mess,
there are basics that we've learned sincekindergarten that make all the difference, and
that's getting your sleep and taking careof yourself and trying to eat fairly well
balanced. And when you do thosethree things, a lot changes in our
(26:03):
life. And a lot of peoplesay, I just don't have the time
to get seven eight hours in andI fully respect that, but is there
a way to declutter more things?Are there things that are in your life
that aren't as important as sleep?Because when you can take a little bit
better care of yourself, all ofa sudden, you do have that energy
to start making better choices. Andthen when Dan shows up and says,
(26:27):
I got this idea, and Ithink it's going to make your job quicker,
easier to grade, but also they'regoing to retain it so better.
They're going to be able to beopen minded to and be like, all
right, let's try it. ThenI'm all ears anything down for helping kids
learn more and also helping me withmy job. This podcast is a cloud
member of the Teach Better podcast Network, Better Today, Better Tomorrow, and
(26:51):
a podcast to get you there.Explore more podcasts at www dot Teach Better
Podcastnetwork dot com. Now let's getback to the episode. You know,
as you're talking, I was kindof self reflecting a little bit about a
couple of moves that I made inmy career to help try in like you
(27:11):
said, declutter in terms of myinstruction, especially one I was. I
was a classroom ELA teacher for awhile, and one of the big shifts
I made was I realized I wasdoing way more work on student writing than
they were. So when I implementedthings like peer editing and you know,
more of a concerted effort for likerevisions and things, and and for the
(27:34):
students themselves to take more ownership overtheir own self editing and self assessment,
that helped a ton. I wasn't, you know, I wasn't reviewing each
essay that the students wrote with sucha fine toothed comb anymore. It was
like it was a relief. Itdefinitely was the other thing I did,
even after I was in an instructionalcoaching role for a while, and I
(27:56):
was put back in the classroom fora little bit. I started using what's
known as layered curriculum, a littlebit like choice boards or other student choice
related activities, where I did alot of planning and I front loaded the
units By building out these these tieredor leveled activities. Some students could kind
(28:21):
of only complete the ones at thelower level, other ones went further.
So it was a system of differentiation. But what I realized was sometimes even
though I did a lot of planningup front throughout the course of the unit
and even the lessons themselves, somuch more time was turned over to students
(28:42):
versus me having to kill myself planningevery single day or every week, you
know, laying out the lesson plansfor the week and all that. Like
it was kind of done for me. Yeah, I had to spend a
lot of time planning it up front, but once I did, you know,
it kind of took care of itselfafter a little bit. And then
I would say too, like forme, honestly, I've never had well,
(29:04):
I shouldn't say never, I've brieflyonly ever had less than about a
forty five minute commute each way toand from the schools that I've worked at,
sometimes over an hour each way,and I enjoy driving, to be
honest, And it's I think becauseof some of this, Like it allows
me to kind of get fired upin the morning, it allows me to
(29:26):
sort of decompress on the way home. And not everybody can do this,
but I do really enjoy go figure, listening to podcasts and kind of getting
some professional development, let's say,like personalized professional development during my commute.
Sometimes though, I listen to audiobooksor something different, and it's just like
I use my commute as a wayto do some of this as well,
(29:48):
because even though I can't really quoteunquote work on anything concrete in terms of
you know, my work or myfamily. Like even that time that I'm
in the car driving, I'm tryingto stay mindful. I guess of some
of these things too, and thingsthat will get me into what I'm doing,
whether it's at work or at home. Yeah, it's like the drive
(30:11):
by university, you know what Imean. I do the same thing.
I have a thirty five minute driveand it's I'm a learner. That's one
of my errors, and it's apodcast or an audiobook, and I agree
with you. It's time that couldbe dead, or it's time that could
be used for reflection, or it'stime that could be used for growing.
(30:33):
But you know that that helps andbenefits you, and what I do benefits
me. But being intentional about thatis really being useful of your time.
So I'm totally on board with you. And then when you were talking about
the choices you made in your classroom, the two of the biggest choices I
made that made the hugest impact forme as far as workload. But helping
students is for every single traditional physicsand chemistry worksheet that we do, you
(30:57):
know that's still typical we still practice. I have an answer key available and
I've made a video of every problemgoing through, and I have students some
that go right to the video,headphone in and follow along with me.
I have some students that look atthe answer key, try look work.
I have some that do neither.Do it separate and they grade themselves.
(31:18):
But in the end we check inthe work. I answer individual questions.
But it's freed up so much timeof me going through every problem. It's
now specific to that learner. Sowe say, all right, everybody's in
different spots who you know, callme over, and then they do,
Hey, I struggled with this one. Looked at the answer key in the
video. I still don't know wherethis number came from. I'm like,
(31:41):
now we're talking, we're getting specificquestions that they care about, not the
ones that I think they should careabout on the board. So that was
game changer for me, and you'reright, it was a lot of work
up front, but worth it inthe end, especially for my students who
miss a week or that they youknow, like, hey, I don't
know how to catch up, Like, take your time, go on the
class schedule, you can start watchingmy videos. Little by little, you're
(32:02):
gonna be able to catch up,no problem. And it's a lifesaver for
me too because I don't have toI don't have to find that time to
help them, and while my otherstudents they can get that and then come
with specifics. The other thing that'sreally changed the game for me is every
unit I have small quizzes in thereand then the big unit. The quiz
scores are whatever they can get doesn'tmatter, because at the end, whatever
(32:24):
that unit test is if their testscore is higher than their quiz grade,
I bring the quiz score up tothat test percent. The goal for me
is that I want them to knowthat a quiz is a speed bump.
It's just hey, we're figuring outwhere we're at. Hey, man,
you only do sixty percent. Youaren't ready for the test yet. But
that's okay. That sixty percent isgoing to go a way because in a
(32:45):
week and a half you are goingto crush this test. But now we
got to dig where are you weak? Where do we need to get the
help? And that's what's great.I dangle the carrot because, as you
know, Doc, I mean,they're worried about the grade, but what
they're accidentally doing, and I ranmind them constantly, you're actually doing the
learning process. You're figuring out whatyou know and don't know, fixing the
(33:06):
weak spots, and now you're crushingthe test. My grades have gone up
because of that. Their knowledge hasgone up because of that. And also
it takes a lot of stress offthem. Like I did poorly on this
quiz, I'm freaking out. Nono, no, no, no,
let's just let's work a little biteach day. You're gonna be ready.
It's we're built for this. AndI tell you it has alleviated so much
(33:27):
pressure on them, so much pressurefrom the parents to them because the parents
know as well, okay, thiswasn't great, but make sure you're going
into mister j get some help onthose week spots so we can crush that
test. So I don't know ifeveryone would love that, but I think
it's been a huge game changer forme and the success of my students.
Well, that's great. And againI think in the similarity between the stories
(33:51):
that we've both shared is well twothings. One figuring out systems that will
work for us and in our classrooms and with our students that shares more
of the responsibility, right, Andin education we talk about the gradual release,
like this is releasing some more responsibilityand empowering students to do a little
more, but to share. It'sit's in the name of sharing that workload,
(34:15):
right. And you know, dareI say, being for the teacher
to be that guide on the sidewhere you know, a little bit less
work, I don't, well,I don't want to say like you don't
have to work as hard, butlike a little bit less work for you
a little bit more on the plateof the students, might you know,
alleviate some of that stress. Youmentioned the ers, and one of them
(34:37):
is learner. What are what arethe other ones? For me? Learner?
Father, creator, lifter, likemusic listener, like a reader,
lover, teacher. I got alot of ers, and we talk about
that too when I speak with educators. There's ers we have that don't necessarily
(35:00):
fill us up, but they're partof our life and they're important. The
important thing to know is what arethe ers that build us up? And
how are you hitting on them eachand every single day, Dan, even
if it's five minutes. But likeyou, you're structured guy, right,
you're hitting a big drive there andback. Think of the wisdom, the
inspiration you're gaining because you are alearner. Now. I'd run into a
(35:21):
lot of teachers too who say,I'm embarrassed to say, Phil, you
know I'm thirty five or I'm fiftyfive. I don't really know what my
ers are. I don't really knowwhat I like. So I always try
to get them to go to theVia Institute, which is one of those
quick surveys, and they look inyour character strengths and they give you your
top five. So for like me, mine is like love, humor,
curiosity, learning, and something else. I forgot the fifth one. But
(35:45):
you can start looking at all,right, if you don't know what your
ers are, at least you know, like, what are your big strengths
that you can get in a flowstate with and then how are you introducing
those daily? And a lot ofpeople can definitely shove it aside, you
know, just like you try toget some new instructional tools or techniques and
they're resilient. A lot of peopleare resilient about you know, your character
strengths. They think it sounds hippydippy, you know I And there's actual
(36:08):
science to back it up, eventhough you know it's called like soft skills,
which is an accidental way they cointhat. I didn't realize that hard
skills when the military was like holdingmachines and guns, so they called everything
else soft skills, and it madeit sound weak, even though the military
never made it to sound like that. I just heard that recently. I
thought that was fascinating. But anyways, the more we know about ourselves and
(36:30):
the more intentional we are about buildingin not selfishly but intentionally the good stuff.
You're going to be more resilient,You're going to be more patient,
you're going to be more friendly,you're going to be more energized. You're
going to be able to roll withthe punches, and that's going to allow
you to do everything better, notjust reach students, but enjoy your life,
be a better partner. Everything that'sgreat. As we wrap up and
(36:54):
wind down a little bit, Iwant, well, first, if there's
anything else that you have been ableto share or I haven't asked you,
please use this time to do so. But also, we got a couple
months left in the school year.I think some of the audience may only
have like two full months April andMay. I have a couple of weeks
into June and some people do too. But we're winding down. So as
(37:17):
you wrap up, and again,if there's anything else that you want to
add, give us, give uslike a mini motivational speech, like how
do we what's the best way forus to get through the rest of the
school year? You got it.Before I go into motivation mode, I
do offer I have a educator membershipprogram called the Positive Growth Lounge, and
we meet twice a month virtually onWednesday nights at seven thirty pm Central,
(37:42):
and alls we do is pour intoeach other. And then I'm kind of
I'm the lead coach, and wehave one new positive psychology topic, super
light, nothing too heavy. Butit's all about not pedagogy, not about
instructional strategies, even though those areall important. It's about pouring into ourselves
that we can show up better forour life and in the classroom just as
importantly. So if anyone's interested inthat and they hear this, just reach
(38:07):
out to me via email and you'remore than welcome to be a guest to
check it out and see if it'syour vibe. The more the merrier.
We are a small but mighty groupthat pour into each other. So thanks.
I just wanted to make sure Imentioned that. And then as far
as shutting her down, here,doctor Dan, let's do it. Friends.
We have to be intentional and takecontrol of our happiness and the idea
(38:29):
that we can flourish. Happiness islike a leaky tire, it was said,
happiness, you build it up nomatter what. Eventually that tire will
deflate. Happiness is not something wereach and it stays forever. It's something
we actively pursue. The way todo that is to build in into our
schedule the things that fill us up. And when we do that, it
(38:52):
takes less energy to hit on thosethings. And by the end of the
night, when you put your headdown on that pillow, you have checked
so many any positive boxes without evenhaving to try that it's not exhausting,
but you only are left with thesense of gratitude, a sense of inspiration
in that a positive bank to startyour day for the next one. And
(39:13):
it takes intention, it takes workand energy, but I swear to you
it's worth it. I live it, I love it, and I love
trying to help people get there.So Doc, thanks so much for your
time though. It's been a pleasureto speak with you and to your audience
as well. Yeah. Great again. All the links to connect with Phil
and find his positivity programs and everythinghe does websites are Phil Jenazuski and also
(39:38):
Positive Growth Lounge dot com, andof course all the links and social contacts
and emails will be in the shownotes for this episode. Phil, thanks
so much. This was really great, and you know, of course it's
always just an amazing opportunity to talkabout how to stay positive and motivated as
(40:00):
an educator, because sometimes it's noteasy. So thank you so much,
my pleasure. Thanks for having me. We'll have to swap some good book
ideas soon you're a learner. Wellthat's it for this episode. Thank you
so much for listening. If youhaven't done so yet, don't forget to
(40:20):
subscribe to this show on your favoritepodcast app. If you enjoy the content
covered on this show, I wantto ask you to do this one thing
for me. Please share it.The biggest favor you could ever do for
me is to please let others knowabout what I'm doing and how I'm helping
educators grow their impact as instructional leaders. I hope you can share this podcast
(40:42):
with other educators, leaders, friends, or anyone you think would love listening
and learning. If you're interested inleaving a positive rating and review of this
show, links to do so arealways in the show notes for every episode.
For more information about me or thisshow, and to access the great
content that I share, please visitmy website at Leader of Learning dot com.
(41:04):
That's where you can find my onlinecourses, YouTube channel blog, how
to connect with me on social media, and even ways that you can support
the show like donating or purchasing Leaderof Learning merchandise. Thanks again, and
remember, no matter who you areor where you are, you are a
Leader of Learning.
And when we can show up tonot only our personal lives but our work.
With that energy, we're able totake on the unique things that happen
to us every single day. Welcometo the Leader of Learning Podcast. I'm
your host, doctor Dan Krinis,and this is where I help educators grow
(00:20):
their impact as instructional leaders because myresearch and leadership experiences have led me to
understand that someone like you, regardlessof your role or your title, can
have a tremendous impact on your organization. I chat with inspiring guests who are
truly making an impact as instructional leaders. Whether this is your first time listening
(00:42):
or you come back for more,I hope you've subscribed to this show on
your preferred podcast app so you don'tmiss any of the great episodes, topics,
or guests. Anyway, I'm soglad you've tuned in. Now let's
get started. Welcome into another episodeof The Leader of Learning Podcast. I
(01:07):
have a great episode in store foryou with an amazing guest, Phil Jannazuski.
But before we get there, Ijust want to let you know that
by the time this episode comes out, we're in April, and if you're
an educator, like me. You'redown to the final couple months of the
school year, believe it or not, and this might be the time of
year where people start looking to makesome changes in their careers. Some people
(01:30):
might even look to leave the classroom, but not because they want to leave
teaching. It's because they want tomove into school leadership, becoming a coach
or an administrator, and I havea good resource for that. So I
just wanted to remind you that Ihave a guide called The Teacher's Guide to
Becoming a School Leader. If you'reinterested in taking that next step in your
(01:53):
career, you might want to checkit out. It's at dankrinis dot com
slash guide. I hope it helpsyou fulfill your goal of reaching the next
level. Now, let's get intothis episode. Since stepping into the classroom
in two thousand and five, PhilJanezuski hasn't just taught chemistry and physics,
He's also become a beloved motivational speakerwho champions the well being and uplifting of
(02:17):
educators everywhere. You might even recognizehim from his appearance on the Netflix show
Nailed It Anyway. Phil's teaching strategydraws from the science of energy, motivation
and the pursuit of flow states.This is a great episode. We had
an amazing conversation and I can't waitfor you to listen. So coming up
(02:38):
after these messages is my conversation withPhil Fear of Learning. Welcome back into
another exciting episode with a great guest, Phil Janezuski. He is a tattoo
covered Netflix baking show flopping high energy, chemistry and physics teaching keynote speaker and
coach on a mission to create andspread happiness throughout education and motivation and entertainment.
(03:04):
He is a nationally known dynamic speakerand been a school educator since two
thousand and five with the Bachelors inChemistry, Masters in Teaching Leadership, and
Certification in Positive Education. Phil,Welcome to the show. Really excited to
have you because I think definitely thisidea of keeping things positive and education is
(03:24):
extremely important and honestly, very timelybecause we're kind of getting into the crunch
time right like April May June,we got state testing going on, probably
where our listeners are coming from,and then of course wrapping up the end
of the year. So really excitedto dive in before we do. What
else can you tell us about whoyou are, where you are, and
(03:46):
what you do. Thanks so much, Dot, I've got a pleasure to
be here. Yeah. By day, I'm a chemistry physics teacher for the
last nineteen years. By night,I'm actually a motivational speaker, So I
go around the country lifting up teachers, helping them build on their own personal
selves first, kind of an upstreamapproach before we even dive into the professional
(04:06):
side of things. And totally wascalled to do this, just tugging on
the heartstrings due to so many greathumans, so many great teachers I see
burning out even the profession. Sothere's any way that I can help educators.
I feel like that therefore then helpsstudents as well. So I'm all
in man, just trying to helpour fellow educators out. The first question
(04:30):
I'm going to ask you is notthe most important, but it's the most
It's the most curiosity driven. WhatNetflix baking show? Yeah, yeah,
it's a great conversation starter, andDockett's not a good resume builder for sure.
But I was on a show calledNailed It. It's an amateur baking
show, and you are set upfor failure it's a comedy show. So
(04:51):
I had an eight hour professional cakeI had to make in two or two
and a half hours. It wasan alien cake and you cut it open
with an execto knife and it cameout like a lime coolly ooze. So
I had a blast. Man.I like attention, I like entertainment,
I love baking, so it wasright up my alley. A good fourteen
hour day of cameras and chaos.So I ended up not winning doc and
(05:15):
not winning the ten grand and mykids were bummed, but I had a
great time. I would do itin a heartbeat again, knowing I lost.
That's cool. No, we've definitelyseen that show. I might have
even seen you on there and justnot known it. But that's a great
story to tell, all right.So now for the more important questions now
that we got that out of theway. I was just so curious when
it comes to being positive and stayingmotivated. I think where I'd like to
(05:41):
start is, you've been in thissince about two thousand and five. I've
been in education since two thousand andsix, so we're right around the same
amount of time. And how isit that you keep yourself going at this
point. Yeah, I think thateverything starts at home upstream, which is
what I love to dig in foreducators. I've always been someone who's had
a lot of energy, a lotof positive energy. Looked on the bright
(06:03):
side, been healthy, and thatis allowed for energy. So I really
started to dig into me personally.What is it about me that allows me
to be an outlier in the worldof energy, an outlier in the world
of being a cheerleader for students,for my coworkers, just having this enthusiasm
and this resilience. And I starteddigging in and realized that I think some
(06:27):
foundational things in my life have reallyhelped me to maintain this energy. And
I really got into the world ofpositive psychology in the last five six years
and really started to realize that thosethings that I automatically did, you know,
just accidentally, doc if I cansay that's my personality really is backed
up by science into allowing you tofeel like you're flourishing and that So for
(06:51):
me, I dig into a lotof what I like to call my ers,
the things that light me up.I'm a father, I'm a creator,
I'm a a worker, outer ora lifter. I'm a baker,
a cooker, I'm a teacher.So when I know all those things that
I those ers, things that Ilove to do, and if I'm building
them into my day every single day, I am naturally hitting on things that
(07:14):
light me up so that when,as we all know, in education,
no matter what, there's going tobe things coming at you that you weren't
expecting. A lot of times thatcan be either draining or even negative.
But as long as we're trying tofill up that bank in a positive way
and leaning into those ers that dofill us up, we allow ourselves to
be more energized, more resilient.And when we can show up to not
(07:41):
only our personal lives but our workwith that energy, we're able to take
on the unique things that happen tous every single day. The tough parent
email, the tough interaction with thestudent, the new thing that the school
is going to try out. Theywant you to try, but you're also
trying to stay afloat with your regularcurriculum. So I like to look at
(08:05):
the upstring approach for myself because ifI'm not good for me, then doc,
when you come in with a newidea that hey, let's try this
in the classroom fill you can notonly do your chemistry curriculum, but it's
going to allow them to be moreinteractive and learn better. I'm able to
say, you know what, Dan, all right, let's try it as
(08:26):
opposed to whoa, whoa, everything'sburning down around me. Dan, I
can't handle that right now. Sothe idea that I have that energy already
is so important, and I loveto dig into that on how we can
do that. Once we know thegood stuff in our life, we build
it into our schedule, and webuild that structure, and eventually we get
(08:48):
to a point where we have thisextra energy, we have this extra vibe
to us, and then we canstart giving it away. We can give
it to our students, we cangive it to our families, our communities,
and our coworkers. So to goright back to where you originally started,
that was natural for me, andI didn't realize that. I was
just lucky that it benefited me tobe resilient in this line of work.
(09:13):
So I'm curious, and we willdig deeper definitely throughout the conversation. But
I'm curious because in your answer,you started kind of talking about how over
the past handful of years, asyou've digged dug into the science behind energy
motivation, really staying up for thejob you're doing, the life you're living,
(09:35):
parenting, whatever, what was itthat you found out about yourself that
actually science said like, hey,this is kind of how to do it.
Yeah. I think one of thebig ones is like reaching a flow
state when you find yourself doing thethings where you get lost in the time
and your mind kind of checks outfrom everything else and you can dive in.
(09:56):
And when you hit those flow states, they're really good for you.
Not only are they fulfilling and theybuild you up again that positive mental bank,
but also it's a huge stress reliever. So I found that that was
one of the natural things. Anotherone was that I'm a pretty structured guy.
And because I'm a teacher, Ihave two side companies, I have
(10:20):
two children, I have a wife, I have extended family. I really
need to be cognizant of how Ispend my time, and I'm very structured
with my schedule, So that naturallyhappened for me just to make sure that
I could do everything well. AndI realize that when you build in like
schedules and structures mentally, your brainfeels more in control. It takes less
(10:43):
energy to think of, oh whatam I going to do next? What
about this? And balancing, sothat structure allows our brain to feel more
calm. It allows our brain tofeel more like we're in control, even
though Dan, you know, nothing'sreally in our control completely, especially in
this line of work. So thepositive psych totally backed that up as well,
(11:05):
which was great. Again, Ijust lucked out that that naturally happened
to me. And then also thesense of giving and gratitude. One of
my favorite things about being an educatorand a co worker is I like to
do little quirky surprises and gifts andpay it forward style vibes, if you
will, to my coworkers and students. And one of the ways I do
(11:26):
that, one of my love languages, Dan, is like baking. I
like to make cakes and make themfor my co workers and you know,
wow, I can't believe that surprise, you know. And I like to
whip out some skillets and make pancakesfor my students and we just come together
as a family and even though we'relearning, we're also connecting. So for
me, that's one of my likejust unique, quirky things about me,
(11:48):
But every teacher, every person hastheir own gift that to them doesn't seem
like a big deal. To me, Cooking and baking for a bunch of
people isn't depleting. It actually builtme up. So when I can lean
into what I call lean into yourpurpose, lean into your passions, when
I can do that and give thatto others, it not only fills them
(12:09):
up, but it fills me upas well, and it allows me to
be happier and create this positive upwardspiral. So me doing that, I
didn't even realize backed by positive psychology, the idea of giving and gratitude and
expressing that also fills me up.So really it was cool. I got
so into it that I went tothe Flourishing Center and took like a thirty
(12:33):
two hour course on positive psychology foreducators specifically, just because I got so
into this and I was curious,what am I doing that's supporting that and
what other things can I do tohelp my classroom. So I just kind
of became obsessed with it. It'sjust a new thing, and I've really
enjoyed it because it's allowed me tobe happier but also allow me to help
(12:56):
my coworkers, my family, andmy students be happier too. Hey,
Leader of Learning, we'll be rightback with the episode. But I'm really
loving all the positive energy that Philis bringing in this episode, and it
reminded me to talk to you abouta product that I've been using to boost
my own energy and productivity, andI think you'll enjoy it too. It's
called Magic Mind. Magic Mind isthe world's first productivity drink. It's a
(13:20):
subtly sweet shot made with all naturalingredients that you drink for a boost of
energy and focus, to conquer procrastinationand elevate your mental clarity. You know
that I'm a pretty busy guy jugglinga full time career, family and small
business, and if I'm being honest, it's pretty hard to keep up with
everything. That's why I decided tostart adding these drinks to my morning routine.
(13:43):
I drink them along with my breakfastin the morning, and it allows
me to stay focused on everything Ineed to get done each day. Normally,
coffee is my drink of choice toget that energy boost, but I
only have one cup per day becauseany more than that and it can make
me a little jittery. So honestly, at first first I was hesitant to
try magic Mind. I thought itwould also cause those same jitters. But
(14:05):
what I found out was that theseproductivity shots are actually designed to be consumed
as a supplement alongside your current morningroutine. That's because Magic Mind has only
minimal amounts of caffeine and is scientificallydesigned to boost energy, enhance focus,
create a sense of calm, alertness, and increase overall productivity while not increasing
(14:26):
the body stress hormone cortisol like coffee. Well, anyway, if you're also
looking to boost your energy and memorywhile increasing your focus but decreasing your stress,
then Magic Mind might just become thebest part of your morning ritual.
Just for my listeners, Magic Mindis offering a special discount. Visit magicmind
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(14:52):
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fifty six percent off on the thirtypack subscription. Cheers to be in more
productive. That's really cool, youknow. One of the things that I
heard you say throughout that answer,or at least that I was kind of
(15:13):
reading between the lines, is it'shelpful to I think you said dive in
or dig in to your your passionsand your interests. But you also talked
about really making sure that you havea system, a structure, a schedule
to not just fit everything in.But to I don't want to put words
(15:35):
in your mouth that seemed like whatyou were saying is like you want to
make you want to make sure you'remaking time for everything. And I don't
think correct me if I'm wrong.I don't think that means that it has
to be equal time, but justenough time right to devote to everything.
Because I know one of the thingsfor me that I've really kind of I
don't want to say perfected, butone of the things I've really gotten to
(15:56):
know throughout life and especially going throughmy doctoral program a handful of years ago,
is like, sometimes you do haveto pour into a certain bucket more
than another one, and maybe youneed to reverse that at some point,
but like sometimes you just need tokind of prioritize. So I guess what
I'm really trying to ask is like, if it's important to have some things
(16:19):
going on that you are using forthis kind of positivity and motivation that aren't
your job, your work life,maybe even you know, I mean,
let's face it, maybe not evenour family, because for some people,
work is not just a you know, I don't want to say an escape
because that makes it sound like youreally don't want to be with your family.
But it really does charge you up, fires you up, it gives
(16:41):
you that energy, but it's moreabout like balancing. So I guess what
I'm really asking is like, howwhat's a good way then for people to
systematize and schedule and make sure thatthey're devoting enough time or really thinking about
how much time to devote to eachof those things. I would think that
your schedule is not only flexible,right, it's going to consistently change.
(17:04):
And as you said, you gothrough seasons when you are working in the
doctoral program. I'm sure that somethings had to get put more on the
back burner as that came to theforefront. And I think that that's super
important to be cognizant of and justaccept the fact that sometimes in seasons more
some things are more important than others. So yeah, equal time. I
(17:26):
would never say that, and sometimesthe things that light you up you don't
need a lot of time for.So for me, music is a huge
part of my life. So aslong as I'm getting in some solid,
you know, ten fifteen minutes ofgood music throughout the day, that fills
whatever mood I'm in, that fillsme up enough. I don't need an
hour of it now in my stagein my life, I have an eleven
(17:49):
year old and an eight year oldnine she would get upset she just turned
nine, actually a nine year old. I think that I've tried to get
as much time as I can withthem, while still I don't ever want
to try to do a job butonly do it halfway. Whatever I do,
I want to do it well.So that's the hard part too with
(18:11):
scheduling, is that I found youhave to start decluttering even the things that
you enjoy, but you start askingyourself what value is this bringing me even
if I enjoy it. So oneof the things for me that not everybody
loves to hear, and I'm notsaying everyone needs to do this, but
for me, it was an hourof television at night. I eventually got
(18:32):
rid of it, just I enjoyedit. It was decompressing. It was
a nice habit. I looked forwardto it, but in the end,
when I really thought about it,it really wasn't fulfilling me as much as
reading, learning, video, editing, creating. I get more payoff from
that. So a lot of timeswhen we start getting into this idea of
(18:52):
how do I make a structure,how do I build a schedule, we'll
also start to find, oh,I wish I had more time for this.
When you start looking at well,do I really need this in my
life? I know it's a habit, I often do it, but is
it as valuable to me as somethingelse? So when you really start getting
into that, and I've been luckyto do that, I've been a youth
(19:14):
motivational speaker since twenty thirteen and balancingside jobs with full time career and family,
it was important to build that structure. And there have been times where
it's been out of balance, andman, you can feel it. And
then you have to start shifting andbeing realistic and transparent with my spouse,
with my business partner to figure outwhere it all fits. So I know
(19:34):
it's easy to just talk about youknow, you need to set a schedule
but it is a sloppy process,just like anything else. So I would
recommend the first place to start isby small things, maybe with a morning
routine. Maybe just think about whatdo I do in the morning. Does
it fill me up? If it'snot, is there anything I could do
to make it slightly better? Sotry to start making little tweaks and parts
(19:57):
of your day. Maybe it's duringschool, during lunch. Are you eating
lunch with coworkers? But unfortunately it'sjust a really negative environment. And even
though you may agree with a lotof it, is it serving you well
as opposed to Maybe I found myselfsome years eating lunch in my car,
the windows down, just because I'mdecompressing. It's quiet, I like the
(20:18):
fresh air, a little vitamin D. So whatever serves you, you start
to pick away at it, andthen once it starts working, I think
things naturally start weaving into a betterschedule. And I think as educators we're
pretty lucky because we already have schedulesseven eight hours a day anyways, with
bells and where we're going. Soif we can extend that just a little
(20:41):
before work and a little after,I think it'll be a really natural progression.
Speaking of which I think that's agood segue. You use the term
before, And I've been really tryingto be honest, and I'm no judgment
or anything. I've been trying toavoid the term burnout only mainly because I
(21:02):
almost think it's become really too clichefor educators to kind of quickly go that
route. And to be honest,I feel like I've been seeing education influence
influencers kind of taking advantage a littlebit of this period in education history where
so many teachers are feeling the burnout. But I mean, the term is
(21:27):
what it is, so you know, if if teachers are feeling burned out
and they do spend like you saidthat seven eight hours of the day in
school and they're still feeling like theygot to take work home with them,
or it's just not as easy tofit things in as you know, as
(21:49):
we want them to, Like wewere already saying, kind of try to
schedule in some things like what otheradvice might you give to and and keep
in mind, I have a prettymixed bag of an audience. We have
classroom teachers, we got school administrators, we got higher ed like, we
got a lot of people listening rightnow, so as specific as you can,
(22:11):
but keeping in mind, we gota lot of different you know,
job titles and descriptions and things likewhat happens when we're really feeling that burnout?
And look, we started by saying, we still got a couple of
months left in the school year,so what are we doing? Yeah,
I like how you said that too. I tend to think of burnout maybe
more as uninspired or just tired,you know. So I agree with you
(22:36):
that that's now the blanket statement.And it is a bit cliche, though
there are plenty of people that arejust shutting down and overwhelmed and leaving the
field. But I think you're right. We've been talking a lot about in
the education system. A lot ofpeople are feeling like, for lack of
a better term, like death bypaper cuts. There just seems to be
a lot of little jabs going ourway. There's feel people don't feel a
(22:59):
sense of trust in some teachers.You know, the system keeps changing,
and change is tough on a brain. There's just a lot of changes going
on and it is scary to thebrain, right, And we're trying to
the main idea, The main goalof the brain is to survive. So
it is a unique situation for sure, but I agree. I think my
biggest fear is that if we're showingup to work uninspired, then it's hard
(23:22):
to push through. So you're right, so say you've you've got a schedule,
but you're still overwhelmed. In that, I think it goes back to
those basics that probably anyone that isyou know, quote unquote a burnout coach
would say is that you have toset realistic boundaries. And no one wants
to hear that because that means puttingyour foot down and easing off something.
(23:44):
So I agree with you. Alot of influencers are cashing in on that
burnout term to get your attention.But then if for some of them,
they have some advice that is interestingto hear, like maybe the amount of
assignments you're grading and setting up,maybe you're creating a work cloth that isn't
necessary. Is there a way thatyou can lean on your instructional coaches to
(24:04):
find a way that's more efficient fortheir learning quicker, but also less burden
on you? And I think inmy second half of my career now every
decision I make asks is this goingto allow my students to learn better.
And then also, is this goingto create more work for me the same
amount or less in the end,Because if it's a dramatic more, then
(24:29):
I need to think about is therea different way to do it where I
can still allow my kids to learnbetter but not put all the burden on
me. And I think when I'vetaken that approach, it served me well
because my job is manageable when Imake those decisions decisions intentionally. So that
is a pride swallowing thing though,right Dan, Especially if you're talking to
a coworker who's just hanging on.They're exhausted, they're not sleeping while at
(24:55):
home, their home life's a mess. They're coming here, they're putting out
fires here, hard for them tonot be well. As your latest podcast
episode, I was just hearing you'retalking about people are resistant to change,
right, So if we're not takingcare upstream of ourself first, then it
is hard to even pull back alittle bit and see the big picture.
(25:18):
So I would say the boundaries andthe decisions we make are important, but
it's hard to do that if we'rein such a rhythm and such a survival
mode. It is hard to makethose changes. And that's why I'd say
lean on your instructional coaches because theycan definitely see the bigger picture and maybe
help you, and that'll help youget more control. And then another thing
(25:42):
too, is that even if workis a little bit of a mess,
there are basics that we've learned sincekindergarten that make all the difference, and
that's getting your sleep and taking careof yourself and trying to eat fairly well
balanced. And when you do thosethree things, a lot changes in our
(26:03):
life. And a lot of peoplesay, I just don't have the time
to get seven eight hours in andI fully respect that, but is there
a way to declutter more things?Are there things that are in your life
that aren't as important as sleep?Because when you can take a little bit
better care of yourself, all ofa sudden, you do have that energy
to start making better choices. Andthen when Dan shows up and says,
(26:27):
I got this idea, and Ithink it's going to make your job quicker,
easier to grade, but also they'regoing to retain it so better.
They're going to be able to beopen minded to and be like, all
right, let's try it. ThenI'm all ears anything down for helping kids
learn more and also helping me withmy job. This podcast is a cloud
member of the Teach Better podcast Network, Better Today, Better Tomorrow, and
(26:51):
a podcast to get you there.Explore more podcasts at www dot Teach Better
Podcastnetwork dot com. Now let's getback to the episode. You know,
as you're talking, I was kindof self reflecting a little bit about a
couple of moves that I made inmy career to help try in like you
(27:11):
said, declutter in terms of myinstruction, especially one I was. I
was a classroom ELA teacher for awhile, and one of the big shifts
I made was I realized I wasdoing way more work on student writing than
they were. So when I implementedthings like peer editing and you know,
more of a concerted effort for likerevisions and things, and and for the
(27:34):
students themselves to take more ownership overtheir own self editing and self assessment,
that helped a ton. I wasn't, you know, I wasn't reviewing each
essay that the students wrote with sucha fine toothed comb anymore. It was
like it was a relief. Itdefinitely was the other thing I did,
even after I was in an instructionalcoaching role for a while, and I
(27:56):
was put back in the classroom fora little bit. I started using what's
known as layered curriculum, a littlebit like choice boards or other student choice
related activities, where I did alot of planning and I front loaded the
units By building out these these tieredor leveled activities. Some students could kind
(28:21):
of only complete the ones at thelower level, other ones went further.
So it was a system of differentiation. But what I realized was sometimes even
though I did a lot of planningup front throughout the course of the unit
and even the lessons themselves, somuch more time was turned over to students
(28:42):
versus me having to kill myself planningevery single day or every week, you
know, laying out the lesson plansfor the week and all that. Like
it was kind of done for me. Yeah, I had to spend a
lot of time planning it up front, but once I did, you know,
it kind of took care of itselfafter a little bit. And then
I would say too, like forme, honestly, I've never had well,
(29:04):
I shouldn't say never, I've brieflyonly ever had less than about a
forty five minute commute each way toand from the schools that I've worked at,
sometimes over an hour each way,and I enjoy driving, to be
honest, And it's I think becauseof some of this, Like it allows
me to kind of get fired upin the morning, it allows me to
(29:26):
sort of decompress on the way home. And not everybody can do this,
but I do really enjoy go figure, listening to podcasts and kind of getting
some professional development, let's say,like personalized professional development during my commute.
Sometimes though, I listen to audiobooksor something different, and it's just like
I use my commute as a wayto do some of this as well,
(29:48):
because even though I can't really quoteunquote work on anything concrete in terms of
you know, my work or myfamily. Like even that time that I'm
in the car driving, I'm tryingto stay mindful. I guess of some
of these things too, and thingsthat will get me into what I'm doing,
whether it's at work or at home. Yeah, it's like the drive
(30:11):
by university, you know what Imean. I do the same thing.
I have a thirty five minute driveand it's I'm a learner. That's one
of my errors, and it's apodcast or an audiobook, and I agree
with you. It's time that couldbe dead, or it's time that could
be used for reflection, or it'stime that could be used for growing.
(30:33):
But you know that that helps andbenefits you, and what I do benefits
me. But being intentional about thatis really being useful of your time.
So I'm totally on board with you. And then when you were talking about
the choices you made in your classroom, the two of the biggest choices I
made that made the hugest impact forme as far as workload. But helping
students is for every single traditional physicsand chemistry worksheet that we do, you
(30:57):
know that's still typical we still practice. I have an answer key available and
I've made a video of every problemgoing through, and I have students some
that go right to the video,headphone in and follow along with me.
I have some students that look atthe answer key, try look work.
I have some that do neither.Do it separate and they grade themselves.
(31:18):
But in the end we check inthe work. I answer individual questions.
But it's freed up so much timeof me going through every problem. It's
now specific to that learner. Sowe say, all right, everybody's in
different spots who you know, callme over, and then they do,
Hey, I struggled with this one. Looked at the answer key in the
video. I still don't know wherethis number came from. I'm like,
(31:41):
now we're talking, we're getting specificquestions that they care about, not the
ones that I think they should careabout on the board. So that was
game changer for me, and you'reright, it was a lot of work
up front, but worth it inthe end, especially for my students who
miss a week or that they youknow, like, hey, I don't
know how to catch up, Like, take your time, go on the
class schedule, you can start watchingmy videos. Little by little, you're
(32:02):
gonna be able to catch up,no problem. And it's a lifesaver for
me too because I don't have toI don't have to find that time to
help them, and while my otherstudents they can get that and then come
with specifics. The other thing that'sreally changed the game for me is every
unit I have small quizzes in thereand then the big unit. The quiz
scores are whatever they can get doesn'tmatter, because at the end, whatever
(32:24):
that unit test is if their testscore is higher than their quiz grade,
I bring the quiz score up tothat test percent. The goal for me
is that I want them to knowthat a quiz is a speed bump.
It's just hey, we're figuring outwhere we're at. Hey, man,
you only do sixty percent. Youaren't ready for the test yet. But
that's okay. That sixty percent isgoing to go a way because in a
(32:45):
week and a half you are goingto crush this test. But now we
got to dig where are you weak? Where do we need to get the
help? And that's what's great.I dangle the carrot because, as you
know, Doc, I mean,they're worried about the grade, but what
they're accidentally doing, and I ranmind them constantly, you're actually doing the
learning process. You're figuring out whatyou know and don't know, fixing the
(33:06):
weak spots, and now you're crushingthe test. My grades have gone up
because of that. Their knowledge hasgone up because of that. And also
it takes a lot of stress offthem. Like I did poorly on this
quiz, I'm freaking out. Nono, no, no, no,
let's just let's work a little biteach day. You're gonna be ready.
It's we're built for this. AndI tell you it has alleviated so much
(33:27):
pressure on them, so much pressurefrom the parents to them because the parents
know as well, okay, thiswasn't great, but make sure you're going
into mister j get some help onthose week spots so we can crush that
test. So I don't know ifeveryone would love that, but I think
it's been a huge game changer forme and the success of my students.
Well, that's great. And againI think in the similarity between the stories
(33:51):
that we've both shared is well twothings. One figuring out systems that will
work for us and in our classrooms and with our students that shares more
of the responsibility, right, Andin education we talk about the gradual release,
like this is releasing some more responsibilityand empowering students to do a little
more, but to share. It'sit's in the name of sharing that workload,
(34:15):
right. And you know, dareI say, being for the teacher
to be that guide on the sidewhere you know, a little bit less
work, I don't, well,I don't want to say like you don't
have to work as hard, butlike a little bit less work for you
a little bit more on the plateof the students, might you know,
alleviate some of that stress. Youmentioned the ers, and one of them
(34:37):
is learner. What are what arethe other ones? For me? Learner?
Father, creator, lifter, likemusic listener, like a reader,
lover, teacher. I got alot of ers, and we talk about
that too when I speak with educators. There's ers we have that don't necessarily
(35:00):
fill us up, but they're partof our life and they're important. The
important thing to know is what arethe ers that build us up? And
how are you hitting on them eachand every single day, Dan, even
if it's five minutes. But likeyou, you're structured guy, right,
you're hitting a big drive there andback. Think of the wisdom, the
inspiration you're gaining because you are alearner. Now. I'd run into a
(35:21):
lot of teachers too who say,I'm embarrassed to say, Phil, you
know I'm thirty five or I'm fiftyfive. I don't really know what my
ers are. I don't really knowwhat I like. So I always try
to get them to go to theVia Institute, which is one of those
quick surveys, and they look inyour character strengths and they give you your
top five. So for like me, mine is like love, humor,
curiosity, learning, and something else. I forgot the fifth one. But
(35:45):
you can start looking at all,right, if you don't know what your
ers are, at least you know, like, what are your big strengths
that you can get in a flowstate with and then how are you introducing
those daily? And a lot ofpeople can definitely shove it aside, you
know, just like you try toget some new instructional tools or techniques and
they're resilient. A lot of peopleare resilient about you know, your character
strengths. They think it sounds hippydippy, you know I And there's actual
(36:08):
science to back it up, eventhough you know it's called like soft skills,
which is an accidental way they cointhat. I didn't realize that hard
skills when the military was like holdingmachines and guns, so they called everything
else soft skills, and it madeit sound weak, even though the military
never made it to sound like that. I just heard that recently. I
thought that was fascinating. But anyways, the more we know about ourselves and
(36:30):
the more intentional we are about buildingin not selfishly but intentionally the good stuff.
You're going to be more resilient,You're going to be more patient,
you're going to be more friendly,you're going to be more energized. You're
going to be able to roll withthe punches, and that's going to allow
you to do everything better, notjust reach students, but enjoy your life,
be a better partner. Everything that'sgreat. As we wrap up and
(36:54):
wind down a little bit, Iwant, well, first, if there's
anything else that you have been ableto share or I haven't asked you,
please use this time to do so. But also, we got a couple
months left in the school year.I think some of the audience may only
have like two full months April andMay. I have a couple of weeks
into June and some people do too. But we're winding down. So as
(37:17):
you wrap up, and again,if there's anything else that you want to
add, give us, give uslike a mini motivational speech, like how
do we what's the best way forus to get through the rest of the
school year? You got it.Before I go into motivation mode, I
do offer I have a educator membershipprogram called the Positive Growth Lounge, and
we meet twice a month virtually onWednesday nights at seven thirty pm Central,
(37:42):
and alls we do is pour intoeach other. And then I'm kind of
I'm the lead coach, and wehave one new positive psychology topic, super
light, nothing too heavy. Butit's all about not pedagogy, not about
instructional strategies, even though those areall important. It's about pouring into ourselves
that we can show up better forour life and in the classroom just as
importantly. So if anyone's interested inthat and they hear this, just reach
(38:07):
out to me via email and you'remore than welcome to be a guest to
check it out and see if it'syour vibe. The more the merrier.
We are a small but mighty groupthat pour into each other. So thanks.
I just wanted to make sure Imentioned that. And then as far
as shutting her down, here,doctor Dan, let's do it. Friends.
We have to be intentional and takecontrol of our happiness and the idea
(38:29):
that we can flourish. Happiness islike a leaky tire, it was said,
happiness, you build it up nomatter what. Eventually that tire will
deflate. Happiness is not something wereach and it stays forever. It's something
we actively pursue. The way todo that is to build in into our
schedule the things that fill us up. And when we do that, it
(38:52):
takes less energy to hit on thosethings. And by the end of the
night, when you put your headdown on that pillow, you have checked
so many any positive boxes without evenhaving to try that it's not exhausting,
but you only are left with thesense of gratitude, a sense of inspiration
in that a positive bank to startyour day for the next one. And
(39:13):
it takes intention, it takes workand energy, but I swear to you
it's worth it. I live it, I love it, and I love
trying to help people get there.So Doc, thanks so much for your
time though. It's been a pleasureto speak with you and to your audience
as well. Yeah. Great again. All the links to connect with Phil
and find his positivity programs and everythinghe does websites are Phil Jenazuski and also
(39:38):
Positive Growth Lounge dot com, andof course all the links and social contacts
and emails will be in the shownotes for this episode. Phil, thanks
so much. This was really great, and you know, of course it's
always just an amazing opportunity to talkabout how to stay positive and motivated as
(40:00):
an educator, because sometimes it's noteasy. So thank you so much,
my pleasure. Thanks for having me. We'll have to swap some good book
ideas soon you're a learner. Wellthat's it for this episode. Thank you
so much for listening. If youhaven't done so yet, don't forget to
(40:20):
subscribe to this show on your favoritepodcast app. If you enjoy the content
covered on this show, I wantto ask you to do this one thing
for me. Please share it.The biggest favor you could ever do for
me is to please let others knowabout what I'm doing and how I'm helping
educators grow their impact as instructional leaders. I hope you can share this podcast
(40:42):
with other educators, leaders, friends, or anyone you think would love listening
and learning. If you're interested inleaving a positive rating and review of this
show, links to do so arealways in the show notes for every episode.
For more information about me or thisshow, and to access the great
content that I share, please visitmy website at Leader of Learning dot com.
(41:04):
That's where you can find my onlinecourses, YouTube channel blog, how
to connect with me on social media, and even ways that you can support
the show like donating or purchasing Leaderof Learning merchandise. Thanks again, and
remember, no matter who you areor where you are, you are a
Leader of Learning.
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