WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:03.581 --> 00:00:12.871 Gene Tavernetti: Welcome to Better Teaching, Only Stuff That Works, a podcast for teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, and anyone else who supports teachers in the classroom. 00:00:13.701 --> 00:00:19.701 This show is a proud member of the BE Podcast Network shows that help you go beyond education. 00:00:20.121 --> 00:00:24.471 Find all our shows@bepodcastnetwork.com. 00:00:24.971 --> 00:00:27.731 I Am Gene Tavernetti the host for this podcast. 00:00:27.821 --> 00:00:35.711 And my goal for this episode, like all episodes, is that you laugh at least once and that you leave with an actionable idea for better teaching. 00:00:36.331 --> 00:00:38.881 A quick reminder, no cliches, no buzzwords. 00:00:39.216 --> 00:00:40.056 Only stuff that 00:00:40.056 --> 00:00:40.586 works. 00:00:41.829 --> 00:00:43.749 My guest today is Weston Knick. 00:00:44.319 --> 00:00:49.989 Weston is considered one of the world's most recognizable and sought after speakers and educational leaders. 00:00:50.379 --> 00:00:55.899 He is an award-winning teacher, bestselling author, head, ex, speaker, coach, husband and father. 00:00:56.529 --> 00:01:00.759 He is the author of the Educators Atlas Bold School, breaking Bold. 00:01:01.650 --> 00:01:13.140 Co-author of the Learning Transformation, a Guide to Blended Learning for Administrators and the creator and host of Teaching Keating, one of the most downloaded podcasts in the United States for educators and parents. 00:01:13.800 --> 00:01:24.515 Wessin has worked in collaboration with innovative tech and publishing companies such as Google, Hutton, Mifflin, hard Court, apple to refine and redefine teaching and learning in schools. 00:01:25.124 --> 00:01:44.975 As such, he's advised educators from every state in the US and more than 30 countries around the World District, where Weston has work, has designed content, implemented initiatives and trained educational leaders that have been recognized by the Learning Council as one of the top 10 in the nation for their work in blended learning. 00:01:45.665 --> 00:01:53.465 You can find Weston's work published in EdWeek EdTech Magazine, the Spark and featured on Ted, the 10 minute Teacher Teaching Tales. 00:01:53.465 --> 00:01:56.225 Kids deserve it and lead up to teach. 00:01:56.975 --> 00:02:02.285 Connect with Weston on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or@westonknik.com. 00:02:03.305 --> 00:02:09.914 Weston and I talk about everything from teaching, teaching and learning, teaching and tech to parenting. 00:02:10.308 --> 00:02:11.778 I think you're gonna like this one. 00:02:12.862 --> 00:02:18.022 Hello Weston, thank you for being a guest on Better Teaching Only stuff that works. 00:02:18.772 --> 00:02:19.372 Weston: Awesome, gene. 00:02:19.372 --> 00:02:20.062 Thanks for having me, man. 00:02:20.062 --> 00:02:20.752 I appreciate you. 00:02:21.232 --> 00:02:26.012 Gene Tavernetti: Well, I, you know, as we said before we got recording here, I became a fan. 00:02:26.372 --> 00:02:28.782 You know, after I read your first book Bold School. 00:02:29.082 --> 00:02:32.722 And it was 2018, I think was the published date. 00:02:33.172 --> 00:02:33.772 And so, 00:02:33.772 --> 00:02:35.327 Weston: Boy, doesn't that seem like ages ago. 00:02:36.617 --> 00:02:37.037 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah, 00:02:37.387 --> 00:02:39.157 Weston: Lots has changed since I wrote that book. 00:02:39.487 --> 00:02:43.539 Gene Tavernetti: Well, and that's what I wanna talk to you about, you know, but I think one of the things that. 00:02:44.144 --> 00:02:50.534 You know, got me to be a fan of yours in that book was the idea that the technology isn't gonna teach. 00:02:51.044 --> 00:02:52.124 Weston: It's not Yeah. 00:02:52.214 --> 00:03:00.144 Gene Tavernetti: The teacher teaches the technology is great to provide rehearsal, to provide practice, provide repetitions, all of those things. 00:03:00.714 --> 00:03:03.674 And that I really bought into that, that made sense to me. 00:03:04.124 --> 00:03:04.784 Weston: So, you know what? 00:03:05.084 --> 00:03:06.284 It made sense to me too. 00:03:06.284 --> 00:03:07.604 It's why I wrote the book. 00:03:08.114 --> 00:03:14.829 It was like, man I keep, I, I actually, I'll tell you this, I don't think I've actually talked about this on a podcast before. 00:03:15.219 --> 00:03:25.329 One of the catalysts for me writing that book was I did an event at Google and one of the, you know, they show up and the Google Fred people are all there. 00:03:25.569 --> 00:03:33.489 And one of the Google for Fred people, and this was maybe in, I don't know, 20 14, 20 15, so this was a few years before the book before I even wrote the book. 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:37.449 But one of the basic premises they were operating on was like, Hey. 00:03:37.784 --> 00:03:47.084 We believe that technology can move to a place where it can not only like surpass, but essentially supplant the role of the classroom teacher. 00:03:47.354 --> 00:03:49.964 Like we can standardize and use technology in such a way. 00:03:49.964 --> 00:03:53.954 And I remember sitting there thinking, good God, I hope that's not true. 00:03:54.344 --> 00:03:55.904 I hope that's not true as a teacher. 00:03:55.904 --> 00:03:57.374 I hope that's not true as a parent. 00:03:57.734 --> 00:04:03.194 And so, like that moment like stuck in my brain and frankly stuck in my crawl so much, I was like. 00:04:03.579 --> 00:04:10.029 I don't think there's ever a space where the most important thing we put in the classroom is the technology more than the teacher. 00:04:10.149 --> 00:04:12.069 And that was really the impetus for that whole book. 00:04:12.459 --> 00:04:18.299 Gene Tavernetti: Can you talk a little bit more about the book because I still think it's a must read for everybody. 00:04:18.599 --> 00:04:19.859 Weston: No I appreciate that, man. 00:04:19.859 --> 00:04:33.024 And so the basic premise behind bold School is just a mashup of the words blended and old as a constant reminder to all of us that as we pursue new paths towards blended learning and we're always pursuing new paths toward, and. 00:04:33.359 --> 00:04:40.259 Frankly, I don't even like to call it blended learning anymore, because any teaching and learning that we're doing with kids right now includes technology in some way, shape, or form. 00:04:40.559 --> 00:04:49.189 So as we're pursuing those paths towards, you know, technology integrated instruction, the fact is like our old school wisdom has to come with us on that path. 00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:55.319 And when I'm talking about old school wisdom, I'm talking about those instructional strategies that we know work. 00:04:55.369 --> 00:04:57.919 That have worked with kids for a really long time. 00:04:58.189 --> 00:05:10.739 I leaned into John Hattie's work really heavily for that book to say like, okay, if we're gonna bring an instructional strategy, like reciprocal teaching, which John tells us has an effect size of greater than seven tenths into the modern classroom. 00:05:10.739 --> 00:05:15.749 Like how can we use tools like Pear Deck or Nearpod to elevate. 00:05:16.449 --> 00:05:22.629 As opposed to replace a strategy like reciprocal teaching and make it more effective than inefficient than it's ever been before. 00:05:22.629 --> 00:05:24.654 And that was the whole premise for that book to say like. 00:05:25.404 --> 00:05:37.314 We can't continue to have conversations about digital tools that occur independent from instructional strategies because otherwise, like any innovation that we throw into a classroom is rudderless. 00:05:37.314 --> 00:05:43.284 Like the conversation that we have about digital tools, like, you know, whether it's gim kid or Cahoot has to be like, okay. 00:05:43.684 --> 00:05:46.684 These are tools that are vehicles for questioning and feedback. 00:05:46.714 --> 00:05:48.634 Questioning has an effect size of 0.48. 00:05:48.844 --> 00:05:50.944 Feedback has an effect size of 0.74. 00:05:50.944 --> 00:05:56.524 So like, let's talk about questioning and feedback and then how those tools can support those strategies. 00:05:56.524 --> 00:06:01.534 And that's sort of the mindset that we need to approach the integration of technology within our classrooms. 00:06:01.534 --> 00:06:09.214 But that's, it's not what I was seeing and it's not what I was experiencing as a classroom teacher and the, I thought that those conversations were necessary. 00:06:09.654 --> 00:06:17.104 As our, especially our veteran teachers, didn't see where they fit in the new world of digital instruction. 00:06:19.054 --> 00:06:20.344 Gene Tavernetti: My experience is they still don't. 00:06:21.824 --> 00:06:34.974 You know, and I think, you know, we have anybody who listens to my podcast know that I'm gonna talk about silos, and I'm gonna talk about the, you know, one of the big silos in education is the tech people. 00:06:35.214 --> 00:06:40.224 And I always make a joke, you can always tell the tech people because they have all the stickers on the back of their computer. 00:06:41.204 --> 00:06:41.414 That's so, 00:06:41.954 --> 00:06:43.634 Weston: it's so funny 'cause it's so true. 00:06:43.994 --> 00:06:44.204 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:06:44.634 --> 00:06:51.814 And so as you're talking about this you know, you mentioned at least four or five different platforms just in a couple minutes. 00:06:52.324 --> 00:06:52.384 Yeah. 00:06:52.414 --> 00:06:55.944 And I think if we could talk about this for a second, there's other things I wanna talk about. 00:06:55.974 --> 00:06:56.154 Yeah. 00:06:56.204 --> 00:06:58.784 But the, i, the idea that, okay, so I'm. 00:06:59.669 --> 00:07:01.079 Let's say I'm an old school guy. 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:05.069 I'm a teacher and I feel like I'm pretty, pretty good. 00:07:05.369 --> 00:07:09.959 You know, my kids, I got good scores every year and now. 00:07:11.014 --> 00:07:12.214 I've got these platforms. 00:07:12.244 --> 00:07:13.744 You want me to use these platforms? 00:07:13.954 --> 00:07:14.944 Which platforms? 00:07:15.004 --> 00:07:16.894 Well, here's four or five you could use. 00:07:17.224 --> 00:07:17.674 Well, geez. 00:07:17.674 --> 00:07:19.084 And then, you know what's gonna happen? 00:07:19.384 --> 00:07:21.844 Then they're gonna be, you know, there's not four or five. 00:07:21.844 --> 00:07:23.044 We are in a school district right now. 00:07:23.254 --> 00:07:26.704 There were 15 different platforms being used throughout. 00:07:26.774 --> 00:07:30.194 Throughout the district, so that becomes an issue. 00:07:30.374 --> 00:07:36.094 So do you have any suggestions for those teachers for choosing platforms or any suggestions to 00:07:36.094 --> 00:07:36.424 Weston: school? 00:07:36.424 --> 00:07:36.994 Absolutely. 00:07:36.994 --> 00:07:37.024 Okay. 00:07:37.084 --> 00:07:37.954 Absolutely. 00:07:38.014 --> 00:07:38.314 Okay. 00:07:38.314 --> 00:07:46.534 So like step number one, so if you're like, you know, Jean, you're a classroom teacher, I'm talking to you about this, and you're like, Hey, I've got all these, like what do I use? 00:07:46.774 --> 00:07:51.904 The first thing I want to know from Eugene is like, okay, what is it that you do best? 00:07:52.809 --> 00:07:53.229 Right. 00:07:53.289 --> 00:08:01.429 Like, because everybody in every walk of life, you find success by figuring out like, Hey, what are the things that I do best? 00:08:01.609 --> 00:08:03.499 And then you build around those things. 00:08:03.499 --> 00:08:05.074 And so like, the first thing I want to know is like. 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:08.069 What are your go-to instructional strategies, right? 00:08:08.069 --> 00:08:09.179 What are you a master at? 00:08:09.209 --> 00:08:16.019 Because if it's questioning, if it's feedback, if it's metacognitive strategies, things like think pair shares or quick writes or think alouds. 00:08:16.289 --> 00:08:24.629 If you are the reciprocal teaching master of the universe, or you are a science or math teacher and you love problem solving, teaching as a methodology, right? 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:28.144 You know, model problem, discuss, struggle, intervene like I want to. 00:08:28.289 --> 00:08:30.959 I wanna know first and foremost what you do best. 00:08:31.109 --> 00:08:37.259 And then I think the role of a lot of the tech people out there isn't to show you like, Hey, here's 15 tools. 00:08:37.469 --> 00:08:38.579 It's to be able to say like, no. 00:08:38.609 --> 00:08:40.319 Here's what this teacher does really well. 00:08:40.379 --> 00:08:49.134 And because I'm an expert at all of this tech and all of these tools, here are the two or three that I would suggest that I think can elevate what this teacher is doing. 00:08:49.374 --> 00:08:53.724 And not just make them more effective, but make them more efficient in the work that they do. 00:08:54.304 --> 00:09:00.774 And that's a thing that I think a lot of our tech coordinators and people around the country I don't think they've done a good enough job of answering that question. 00:09:01.074 --> 00:09:07.644 We do a really good job of answering the question of like, Hey, how does this, you know, enhance teacher efficacy? 00:09:07.729 --> 00:09:12.409 But we do a really bad job of answering the question of how does this address teacher efficiency? 00:09:12.649 --> 00:09:15.979 Efficiency when it comes to planning and delivery of instruction? 00:09:16.249 --> 00:09:27.679 'cause I'll tell you this, if I'm a classroom teacher and you give me a tool and that tool is gonna cost me more time in terms of my planning and less efficiency in terms of my delivery, guess how many times I'm gonna use it? 00:09:27.889 --> 00:09:28.399 Zero. 00:09:28.829 --> 00:09:35.729 Zero or I'll use it the one time that you pop in and you do your observation and I need to show you that I'm using the thing and then you're never gonna see it again. 00:09:35.969 --> 00:09:38.609 So I think number one, we have to figure out what do you do best? 00:09:38.609 --> 00:09:40.859 Number two, match the tools to the thing that you do best. 00:09:40.889 --> 00:09:44.459 And number three, answer the question of not just efficacy, but improved efficiency. 00:09:45.405 --> 00:09:50.085 Gene Tavernetti: You gave an answer, and I'm gonna say you gave a current day answer that this is what you do right now. 00:09:50.085 --> 00:09:50.175 Yes. 00:09:50.235 --> 00:09:51.375 When you're working with folks. 00:09:51.375 --> 00:09:51.615 Okay. 00:09:51.615 --> 00:09:51.675 Yeah. 00:09:52.065 --> 00:09:54.860 So let's go back at the time machine to 2018. 00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:56.210 Was anything different? 00:09:56.210 --> 00:10:00.320 Has your thinking changed about use of technology? 00:10:00.420 --> 00:10:07.205 You know, you're gonna have a 2.0, a Bold School 2.0 with updates, or are you pretty. 00:10:08.640 --> 00:10:15.430 You're pretty consistent in, in, because it wasn't specific about tools, it wasn't specific about I'm, 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:21.970 Weston: yeah I'm actually happy with how Evergreen that book has stayed given sort of its peripheral. 00:10:23.835 --> 00:10:25.455 Focus on technology. 00:10:25.875 --> 00:10:34.415 Is there any I'll tell you this, and it's not I touched on this a little bit in Bold school, but this is actually an an opinion of mine that has changed. 00:10:34.415 --> 00:10:36.515 It's done a complete 180 over time. 00:10:36.915 --> 00:10:44.535 And I wrote about this in Bold School and I did a blog post about this once upon a time that went viral where I talked about the use of cell phones in school. 00:10:45.125 --> 00:10:49.385 And this, sorry, this may not be the path that you want me to take, so if it's not, just let me know. 00:10:49.735 --> 00:10:56.135 But my, my, my thinking around the presence of cell phones in school used to be dramatically different. 00:10:56.435 --> 00:11:09.375 I was a hardcore advocate for the presence of cell phones in our schools and the ability for teachers to be able to use them in their instruction and my opinion on that has changed completely. 00:11:09.975 --> 00:11:11.265 But also I will say. 00:11:11.640 --> 00:11:15.270 That was my opinion in 20 16, 20 17, 20 18. 00:11:15.875 --> 00:11:20.705 When the digital divide in this country was massive, it was massive. 00:11:20.705 --> 00:11:24.305 Like forget about the schools who had gone one-to-one and the ones who hadn't. 00:11:24.305 --> 00:11:29.405 I'm talking about schools who had gone one-to-one and schools that didn't have reliable internet access. 00:11:29.655 --> 00:11:31.125 Like that was a massive divide. 00:11:31.125 --> 00:11:37.175 And if COVID did anything positive for us and there the things that are positive that came out of that are few. 00:11:37.415 --> 00:11:41.225 I think the one positive thing was it bridged the digital divide really quickly. 00:11:41.530 --> 00:11:47.410 For schools around the country, because so many schools were forced in a place where it was like, Hey, we have to catch up. 00:11:47.650 --> 00:11:48.850 Our kids are about to go home. 00:11:48.850 --> 00:11:54.280 We don't know for how long, and we've gotta make sure that they go home and they can have access to the school, their teacher. 00:11:54.280 --> 00:11:56.800 And so, so many of our schools went one-to-one. 00:11:56.800 --> 00:12:03.130 And because that's the case, and there's so much more equity around technology and our schools I'm not an advocate for. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:04.580 Cell phones in our schools. 00:12:04.580 --> 00:12:07.900 I'm actually looking at some of the bands that are happening around the country. 00:12:07.990 --> 00:12:11.590 And quite frankly, I think those are good for kids and good for teachers. 00:12:11.930 --> 00:12:21.520 Almost every Stitcher research that's out there right now says that the presence of your cell phone with like any proximity to you whatsoever even if it's off. 00:12:21.730 --> 00:12:22.780 And that's the amazing part. 00:12:22.780 --> 00:12:28.220 Like even if your phone is by you and you've turned it off, the fact that it's near you decreases productivity over time. 00:12:28.730 --> 00:12:29.840 And it's like. 00:12:30.085 --> 00:12:30.565 Okay. 00:12:30.665 --> 00:12:33.515 We've we've got enough research, we've got enough data around this. 00:12:33.515 --> 00:12:39.745 Like we've seen these in our schools for long enough and you know what, like they're not helping our kids. 00:12:39.775 --> 00:12:41.515 They're sure as hell not helping our teachers. 00:12:41.665 --> 00:12:43.445 And I'm not an advocate anymore. 00:12:44.310 --> 00:12:45.600 Gene Tavernetti: You know, it's interesting. 00:12:45.630 --> 00:12:46.590 It is very clear. 00:12:46.590 --> 00:12:50.120 All you need to do is to be in a school and watch the kids. 00:12:50.420 --> 00:12:50.540 Yeah. 00:12:50.540 --> 00:12:53.805 And it you will get to your opinion very quickly. 00:12:54.285 --> 00:12:54.705 Weston: Oh, yeah. 00:12:54.755 --> 00:12:55.085 Gene Tavernetti: And, yeah. 00:12:55.085 --> 00:12:57.785 You'll have the whole school in agreement. 00:12:58.385 --> 00:13:02.045 And then I'm observing classrooms yesterday. 00:13:02.555 --> 00:13:03.760 Kid wants to use the restroom. 00:13:04.655 --> 00:13:05.135 Okay. 00:13:05.435 --> 00:13:12.565 So you know they have a system now where they have to use their phone and they check in with the QR code. 00:13:13.225 --> 00:13:13.525 Weston: Yeah. 00:13:13.825 --> 00:13:14.730 Gene Tavernetti: To let you know, so. 00:13:15.160 --> 00:13:18.460 Oh, we need to rethink some things, you know? 00:13:19.390 --> 00:13:19.600 Weston: Yeah. 00:13:19.640 --> 00:13:21.630 We've we're doing these bands. 00:13:21.630 --> 00:13:27.720 I was thinking about this 'cause my kids own high school next year is sort of rolling out a phased out, like for the freshmen next year. 00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:31.410 Like it's no phones for them in classroom and they're gonna phase it by grade level. 00:13:31.530 --> 00:13:34.540 I'm not sure how that's gonna work, quite frankly, but we're gonna see. 00:13:34.810 --> 00:13:42.670 But I'm thinking about like, okay, when my son shows up to do weight training for football in the morning, he's gotta access the programming via the train heroic app. 00:13:42.730 --> 00:13:43.960 And then he's gotta record. 00:13:44.020 --> 00:13:52.650 Well, we've required our kids to do so many of the logistical things via their phones, and now we're gonna pull those out and people are gonna have to rethink that. 00:13:53.220 --> 00:13:53.790 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:13:53.910 --> 00:13:55.085 No, ab, absolutely. 00:13:55.085 --> 00:13:56.405 But I will tell you one other thing. 00:13:56.545 --> 00:14:09.780 This is not phones per se, but, you know, we're working in a school and we, you know, we had, we gave everybody training about all the problems with phones, many of which you just talked about and devices in general. 00:14:10.170 --> 00:14:10.260 Yeah. 00:14:10.260 --> 00:14:16.830 That we just, you know, after COVID, we just became so, so dependent on these devices and as teachers have. 00:14:17.250 --> 00:14:20.820 Begun to do less with the Chromebooks. 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:23.610 The kids respond positively. 00:14:23.790 --> 00:14:24.840 They're sick of it too. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:25.650 Weston: They're, yeah. 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:27.270 They're fatigued too. 00:14:27.270 --> 00:14:27.330 Yeah. 00:14:28.290 --> 00:14:28.530 They're, 00:14:28.530 --> 00:14:28.765 Gene Tavernetti: you know. 00:14:28.980 --> 00:14:29.370 Yeah. 00:14:29.730 --> 00:14:32.310 Weston: You know, I, that's been the most surprising thing, don't you? 00:14:32.310 --> 00:14:42.750 Like I, I anticipated seeing pushback around the country because there, there was a huge pendulum swing post COVID, VID where people were so sick of doing everything here. 00:14:42.990 --> 00:14:43.110 Yeah. 00:14:43.110 --> 00:14:49.710 That a lot of people got back into classrooms and those Chromebook carts sat and gathered dust and kids liked it. 00:14:49.755 --> 00:14:50.045 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:53.410 In some classrooms and in other classrooms. 00:14:53.470 --> 00:14:57.520 It was almost as if it was a virtual classroom in person. 00:14:57.850 --> 00:14:57.970 Weston: Yes. 00:14:57.970 --> 00:14:59.560 Gene Tavernetti: Everybody was still, it was still on. 00:14:59.710 --> 00:15:01.120 So we're still figuring it out. 00:15:01.185 --> 00:15:02.335 I think we're figuring it out. 00:15:02.575 --> 00:15:07.405 That's where I think, you know, the evergreen nature of your book is something that, that folks should read. 00:15:07.795 --> 00:15:12.515 And the other thing that I to piggyback on something you said about your own book, it talked about. 00:15:13.190 --> 00:15:18.920 Strategies of good teacher that good teachers do, you know, it wasn't, you're on your own. 00:15:18.980 --> 00:15:20.000 Anything goes? 00:15:20.060 --> 00:15:20.390 No. 00:15:20.390 --> 00:15:28.880 There, there are some things that we know are effective that we know, that work and that are going to, that are going to work with when you bring the technology in. 00:15:29.640 --> 00:15:29.880 Yeah. 00:15:31.650 --> 00:15:37.150 What are the things that you know, we know that the, one of the issues with the phones that we just brought up is attention. 00:15:38.230 --> 00:15:44.430 And then you wrote another book, Atlas, where one of the a was for attention. 00:15:44.435 --> 00:15:44.665 Weston: Attention. 00:15:44.670 --> 00:15:50.540 Gene Tavernetti: Can you talk, could you talk about attention a little bit and how you addressed it in, in that book and how important it's 00:15:50.780 --> 00:15:51.530 Weston: Yeah, no problem. 00:15:51.530 --> 00:15:54.140 So Atlas is just a book on engagement. 00:15:54.420 --> 00:15:57.060 This is a word that we use in our profession all the time. 00:15:57.090 --> 00:16:01.140 Everyone's talking about engagement, especially right now, our kids are less engaged than ever before. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:18.690 And so I. I was super interested because what I kept hearing in schools around the country would was people would talk about engagement in different ways, and there was not a clear, like nobody that I talked to could clearly define engagement. 00:16:19.300 --> 00:16:21.430 In a really succinct and meaningful way. 00:16:21.730 --> 00:16:28.510 And what I actually found was that so many educators were using the words engagement and fun as though they were synonyms. 00:16:29.050 --> 00:16:32.440 And I was like, Ooh, that's not like fun. 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:35.860 Isn't the main event in terms of what should be happening in our classrooms? 00:16:35.860 --> 00:16:36.130 Yes. 00:16:36.130 --> 00:16:37.900 Should they be joyful, engaging, successful? 00:16:37.900 --> 00:16:38.950 All those things should be true. 00:16:39.160 --> 00:16:41.230 But fun is not the main event learning. 00:16:41.330 --> 00:16:44.120 Growth and development, like that's the main event. 00:16:44.660 --> 00:16:48.980 And so if we're telling teachers to be more engaging and they're interpreting that as fun. 00:16:50.170 --> 00:16:51.430 I was like that's a problem. 00:16:51.700 --> 00:16:57.800 So step number one, it was about like let's establish what we mean when we're talking about engagement, right? 00:16:57.830 --> 00:16:59.240 Engagement isn't fun. 00:16:59.750 --> 00:17:03.230 It's curiosity, participation and the desire to persevere. 00:17:03.560 --> 00:17:06.080 And if those three things are present, people are engaged. 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:06.650 Okay? 00:17:06.680 --> 00:17:08.600 Step number one, let's get on the same page. 00:17:08.750 --> 00:17:16.250 And then step number two was like, okay, I wanted to know what the world's most engaging teachers do, because if we can distill it. 00:17:16.610 --> 00:17:17.780 We can replicate it. 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:26.640 And that book actually took me about 12 years to write because I went in thousands of classrooms to try to figure out like what is it that they're doing? 00:17:26.910 --> 00:17:29.100 Because engaging teachers already exist. 00:17:29.265 --> 00:17:39.215 Like I wish Jean that I could take people around the country, put 'em in my back pocket with me, because the incredible things that I see happening in the nooks and crannies of our country is it's remarkable. 00:17:39.615 --> 00:17:42.855 And so I was like, okay, they're al these engaging teachers already exist. 00:17:43.215 --> 00:17:44.325 What are they doing? 00:17:44.835 --> 00:17:49.005 And after thousands of observations, I was able to distill like, oh, okay. 00:17:49.660 --> 00:17:50.530 Number one is enga. 00:17:50.590 --> 00:17:52.120 Engagement is formulaic. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:53.740 Like that's a thing we have to acknowledge. 00:17:53.740 --> 00:17:54.910 I talk about that a lot in the book. 00:17:54.910 --> 00:17:58.270 And then number two, it's like, okay, what's the formula they're following? 00:17:58.540 --> 00:18:01.870 And ATLAS is just an acronym for what engaging teachers do all the time. 00:18:01.900 --> 00:18:04.240 They are MAs like the A stands for attention. 00:18:04.510 --> 00:18:05.980 The T stands for transition. 00:18:06.010 --> 00:18:07.300 The L stands for lesson. 00:18:07.510 --> 00:18:10.180 The A stands for activity and the S stands for summation. 00:18:10.510 --> 00:18:14.440 And the more of these things that are present, the more likely kids are to be engaged. 00:18:14.705 --> 00:18:20.015 And what I found was that masterful teachers were masters of capturing and holding student attention, right? 00:18:20.015 --> 00:18:24.395 When kids walked in the door, they used transitional phrases that were repeated for emphasis. 00:18:24.395 --> 00:18:24.755 'cause what? 00:18:25.025 --> 00:18:26.555 What gets repeated, gets remembered. 00:18:26.975 --> 00:18:30.845 They taught a clear and concise lesson that was aligned to a priority content standard. 00:18:30.905 --> 00:18:33.935 And then they always followed that lesson with an activity. 00:18:34.055 --> 00:18:39.155 There was a doing thing, a way for kids to wrap their heads or hands around the content in ways that weren't possible. 00:18:39.245 --> 00:18:41.165 And then the summation, right? 00:18:41.375 --> 00:18:43.355 Notice I didn't say summative assessment. 00:18:43.675 --> 00:18:45.085 Summation, right? 00:18:45.125 --> 00:18:48.605 Masterful teachers understand that learning is sticky when it's tied to emotion. 00:18:49.115 --> 00:18:57.635 And they were really clear about those summative activities and the things that like the closer of their lesson and they understood like, hey. 00:18:57.840 --> 00:19:00.900 The feeling kids feel when they walk into my classroom can't be boredom. 00:19:01.020 --> 00:19:04.440 And the feeling they feel right before they walk out can't be failure. 00:19:04.740 --> 00:19:08.310 'cause if those are the two prevailing emotions, they'll forget everything that happens in between. 00:19:08.430 --> 00:19:13.620 And so it was like, oh, if we, like, if we can identify this, we can distill it, then we can replicate it. 00:19:13.650 --> 00:19:19.020 'cause I refuse to believe that the world's most engaging teachers are just more talented than the rest of us. 00:19:19.020 --> 00:19:23.645 Like these are things that are learned over time and they've bumped into 'em and they show up over and over. 00:19:24.805 --> 00:19:29.815 Gene Tavernetti: And I think as you talk about those things you don't take anybody's personality out of it. 00:19:30.415 --> 00:19:32.065 Does it matter what your personality is? 00:19:32.065 --> 00:19:33.355 It's personality neutral. 00:19:33.685 --> 00:19:34.015 Weston: Correct. 00:19:34.055 --> 00:19:37.915 Gene Tavernetti: You know, and it's also technology neutral. 00:19:38.530 --> 00:19:39.130 Weston: Bingo. 00:19:39.190 --> 00:19:39.580 Yeah. 00:19:39.580 --> 00:19:46.330 And you don't, like so many teachers felt boxed out of engagement because they were like, oh, I'm not funny. 00:19:46.930 --> 00:19:50.320 And being engaging has nothing to do with being funny. 00:19:50.410 --> 00:19:54.130 There's zero correlation between teachers who are funny and teachers who are engaging. 00:19:54.490 --> 00:19:54.760 Right. 00:19:54.760 --> 00:20:00.740 And so it's like, I didn't want teachers to feel like, oh, because I'm not, you know, insert personality trait. 00:20:00.740 --> 00:20:03.380 Like I can't be engaging 'cause it's just, it's not factual. 00:20:09.455 --> 00:20:14.985 Gene Tavernetti: When you were listing those things and people couldn't see you, but you were, you know, it's on on, on your hand. 00:20:15.435 --> 00:20:15.495 Weston: Yeah. 00:20:16.335 --> 00:20:22.410 Gene Tavernetti: What that told me was that teacher, that engaging teacher had a structure. 00:20:22.950 --> 00:20:23.280 Weston: Yeah, 00:20:23.330 --> 00:20:24.530 Gene Tavernetti: That the kids understood. 00:20:24.600 --> 00:20:28.260 the kids, you know, even if I came in bored, hang in there buddy. 00:20:28.260 --> 00:20:30.720 You know, this guy hasn't let me down before. 00:20:30.840 --> 00:20:30.900 Yeah. 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:32.880 Just hang in there a little bit and we'll get there. 00:20:33.190 --> 00:20:45.160 And I think that's one of the things, you know, we hear and you did not mention creativity, you did not mention, you know, these, you know, these wild, you know, how can I teach this lesson? 00:20:46.165 --> 00:20:48.355 And then the next day, how can I teach this lesson? 00:20:48.355 --> 00:20:53.335 No, you have that structure and that predictability and the kids are gonna trust you. 00:20:53.335 --> 00:20:55.315 The kids are gonna be with you, and you know what? 00:20:55.435 --> 00:20:58.375 You can even suck one day and the kids are going to be with you. 00:20:58.375 --> 00:20:58.975 Weston: Yes. 00:20:59.905 --> 00:20:59.995 Yeah. 00:20:59.995 --> 00:21:00.595 You know what? 00:21:00.835 --> 00:21:04.015 'cause we're all gonna suck and we're gonna suck for more than one day. 00:21:04.315 --> 00:21:04.435 Yeah. 00:21:04.435 --> 00:21:05.035 That's for sure. 00:21:05.090 --> 00:21:05.380 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:21:05.385 --> 00:21:05.725 Weston: Yeah. 00:21:05.815 --> 00:21:10.895 My, my daughter actually just came home and she was raving about one of the teachers she has, and she was just like. 00:21:11.510 --> 00:21:12.770 Guys, I'm so sorry. 00:21:12.770 --> 00:21:17.390 Like today's just one of those days that's, it's kind of boring and it's gonna suck. 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:18.240 But you know what? 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:30.660 We're gonna get through it because tomorrow we're gonna be right back with, and my daughter came home and that dude Jean, that resonated so much with her, like she sat down and told me, and for a 14-year-old girl to be like, dad, listen to this about school. 00:21:30.840 --> 00:21:33.120 And it doesn't have to do with recess or lunchtime. 00:21:33.360 --> 00:21:33.715 She like. 00:21:34.335 --> 00:21:35.535 Kids appreciate that. 00:21:35.585 --> 00:21:36.995 They're lie detectors, man. 00:21:37.025 --> 00:21:41.165 If we think something's boring and we're trying to masquerade, like, hey, this is exciting. 00:21:41.195 --> 00:21:41.765 They see it. 00:21:42.125 --> 00:21:42.455 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:21:42.515 --> 00:21:44.015 No, ab Absolutely. 00:21:44.015 --> 00:21:44.675 Absolutely. 00:21:44.915 --> 00:21:52.885 So, you know, one of the things, one of the other things you talked about at Atlas, and I know you talked about in other things, is you talk about the relationship building. 00:21:53.335 --> 00:21:53.575 Weston: Yeah. 00:21:53.965 --> 00:22:01.825 Gene Tavernetti: And you talk about it, well, you talk a lot about it in another book but, what are, how we hear about relationship building all the time. 00:22:02.365 --> 00:22:08.325 And I talk about relate when I talk about it with like with coaches, instructional coaches who I train. 00:22:09.015 --> 00:22:12.645 I say this is not a relationship about being friends. 00:22:13.335 --> 00:22:15.945 This is more of a professional relationship. 00:22:15.945 --> 00:22:19.395 This is like, like I tell 'em like, like, you have a favorite doctor. 00:22:19.395 --> 00:22:20.475 Why do you like that doctor? 00:22:20.625 --> 00:22:22.365 You like that doctor because it's competent. 00:22:22.395 --> 00:22:23.625 They listen to you. 00:22:23.955 --> 00:22:26.145 They're gonna give you advice for you. 00:22:26.265 --> 00:22:31.275 Just like you, just like what you said at the beginning of this conversation, you're gonna ask a teacher, what are you best at? 00:22:31.635 --> 00:22:31.935 Weston: Yeah. 00:22:32.145 --> 00:22:39.285 Gene Tavernetti: Okay, so, so that's the, so, so when you're talking about student teacher relationships, what are you talking about and how do you. 00:22:40.230 --> 00:22:41.520 Work with teachers on that. 00:22:41.800 --> 00:22:44.230 Weston: We're talking about a lot of the same things, right? 00:22:44.230 --> 00:22:51.810 Which is step number one and rule number one, like when we're talking about building relationships, we're not talking about friendships. 00:22:52.140 --> 00:22:59.425 Those are two very different things, and I. And we've all seen it, like a lot of our newer teachers sort of confuse the two, right? 00:22:59.475 --> 00:23:10.875 They either adopt the don't smile before Christmas garbage piece of feedback that's been passed around for ages, or they adopt the like, oh, I'm gonna be like the cool guy, cool girl, teacher, like, we're friends. 00:23:10.875 --> 00:23:11.340 We're to no. 00:23:11.565 --> 00:23:11.835 No. 00:23:12.075 --> 00:23:14.175 Like we're not friends with kids. 00:23:14.365 --> 00:23:15.925 We build relationships with kids. 00:23:15.925 --> 00:23:26.225 And so when I'm talking about building relationships again, so, so much of my work is really about distillation, distilling big concepts down to actionable steps. 00:23:26.285 --> 00:23:32.075 And so, you know, relationships is another one of those words that gets thrown around all the time. 00:23:32.255 --> 00:23:38.825 And so like, I'm really interested in like, okay, what are the habituated behaviors of people who are awesome? 00:23:39.385 --> 00:23:40.645 Building relationships. 00:23:40.675 --> 00:23:46.415 And I try to get down to like, okay let's take a look at some of these behaviors things like trust, right? 00:23:46.415 --> 00:23:48.935 That's a cornerstone for any healthy relationship. 00:23:49.155 --> 00:23:51.345 Things like clarity, right? 00:23:51.395 --> 00:23:55.445 Thing like things like teacher expectations, student self expectations, right? 00:23:55.445 --> 00:24:02.225 So like, I wanna distill down to the nitty gritty of the behaviors and say like, okay, let's take one of those habits, right? 00:24:02.285 --> 00:24:03.150 Let's take a habit like trust. 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:06.180 Trust is a cornerstone for any healthy relationship. 00:24:06.180 --> 00:24:09.480 So, I talk to teachers all the time and I'm just like, okay. 00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:14.310 We, like, I ask 'em like, Hey, have you had conversations about trust with your kids? 00:24:14.310 --> 00:24:14.670 Gene? 00:24:14.670 --> 00:24:15.090 What do you think? 00:24:15.090 --> 00:24:17.220 Everyone said, yes, of course. 00:24:17.340 --> 00:24:20.400 And I said, and then my next question is always like, okay, what is trust? 00:24:21.421 --> 00:24:23.011 Dude, that, that shouldn't like that. 00:24:23.011 --> 00:24:24.691 It shouldn't be a hard question. 00:24:24.751 --> 00:24:25.021 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah, 00:24:25.051 --> 00:24:25.801 Weston: but it's real. 00:24:25.801 --> 00:24:27.481 What, like what do you mean what is trust? 00:24:27.511 --> 00:24:29.221 That's a, it's a simple question. 00:24:29.401 --> 00:24:34.141 It's a word you keep saying over and over what is trust and so like, let's understand what it is. 00:24:34.721 --> 00:24:37.181 Trust is believable behavior over time. 00:24:37.781 --> 00:24:39.761 And it's like, okay, how do you build trust? 00:24:39.821 --> 00:24:42.101 And I usually get like a long list of answers. 00:24:42.161 --> 00:24:42.401 Okay. 00:24:42.401 --> 00:24:43.211 How do you break trust? 00:24:43.211 --> 00:24:44.651 Another long list of answers. 00:24:44.681 --> 00:24:45.641 No simplify. 00:24:46.031 --> 00:24:47.831 There are two ways to build trust. 00:24:48.011 --> 00:24:51.971 You say you're gonna do something and you do it, or you say you're not gonna do something and you don't. 00:24:52.001 --> 00:24:52.841 That's how you build it. 00:24:53.136 --> 00:24:53.976 Guess how you break it? 00:24:54.246 --> 00:24:57.216 You say you're gonna do something and you don't, or you say you're not gonna do something and you do it. 00:24:57.276 --> 00:24:58.266 Trust is that simple. 00:24:58.626 --> 00:24:58.896 Right? 00:24:58.896 --> 00:24:59.226 Stop. 00:24:59.286 --> 00:25:01.146 Stop overcomplicating this for kids. 00:25:01.206 --> 00:25:05.826 And then we have to show up as trustworthy in the classroom. 00:25:05.946 --> 00:25:10.236 And we have to in those moments where our kids don't demonstrate that they're trustworthy. 00:25:10.326 --> 00:25:14.526 We have to default back to like, Hey, remember what is trust believable behavior over time? 00:25:14.646 --> 00:25:19.326 And we have to be water on a rock and drip away and wear away at negative behaviors. 00:25:19.386 --> 00:25:22.356 And then constantly redirect towards more positive behaviors. 00:25:22.356 --> 00:25:23.706 And that's how you build trust. 00:25:24.569 --> 00:25:25.169 Gene Tavernetti: Let me see. 00:25:25.520 --> 00:25:26.900 I disagree with you slightly. 00:25:27.055 --> 00:25:27.770 Weston: Okay, good. 00:25:27.770 --> 00:25:28.520 Let's talk about it. 00:25:29.340 --> 00:25:30.930 Gene Tavernetti: I would say with today's kids. 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:31.560 Redirect. 00:25:31.560 --> 00:25:32.100 Redirect. 00:25:32.100 --> 00:25:32.730 Redirect. 00:25:33.135 --> 00:25:33.425 Weston: Yeah. 00:25:34.800 --> 00:25:34.980 Yeah. 00:25:34.985 --> 00:25:40.282 Gene Tavernetti: It's, you know, there is a palpable difference, you know, in the attention of kids. 00:25:40.672 --> 00:25:43.312 And we have developed systems. 00:25:44.047 --> 00:25:46.757 To really degrade that trust. 00:25:46.787 --> 00:25:56.037 I mean, you know, you talk about having, you know, operationalizing these words, you know, how about high expectations for kids? 00:25:56.187 --> 00:25:59.067 I mean, one of the high, you know, to me, you operationalize it. 00:25:59.967 --> 00:26:00.837 Being trustworthy. 00:26:01.017 --> 00:26:03.507 I hadn't said this before, but now I'm gonna use that. 00:26:03.897 --> 00:26:04.107 Yeah. 00:26:04.107 --> 00:26:07.437 And I'll give you credit for a while and then I'll forget to give you credit. 00:26:07.437 --> 00:26:07.497 You, you 00:26:07.497 --> 00:26:08.787 Weston: don't have to put it in your back pocket. 00:26:09.057 --> 00:26:09.507 Claim it as your own, 00:26:09.927 --> 00:26:19.147 Gene Tavernetti: you know, you know, but that idea is, the high expectation is you know, I teachers say, oh man, my afterschool class, they just, I can't get 'em to do anything. 00:26:19.447 --> 00:26:20.352 You know, they're just different. 00:26:20.997 --> 00:26:23.007 And so the response is, well, what are you doing different? 00:26:23.492 --> 00:26:25.717 You know, how are you know, if you, great 00:26:25.717 --> 00:26:26.317 Weston: question. 00:26:26.367 --> 00:26:27.747 Gene Tavernetti: You know who they are. 00:26:27.927 --> 00:26:30.137 How are you going to impact that? 00:26:30.467 --> 00:26:31.547 Because you know what? 00:26:31.552 --> 00:26:39.267 That, that, that's, I don't know what the other parts of the relationship building is, but one of them has to be that I believe in you Weston, and you know what? 00:26:39.357 --> 00:26:40.767 I'm not gonna let you do this. 00:26:41.217 --> 00:26:41.487 Weston: Yeah. 00:26:41.487 --> 00:26:44.187 Gene Tavernetti: You know, I, you can't go to the restroom for 15 minutes. 00:26:44.542 --> 00:26:47.212 Yeah, because I bet you're doing that six times a day. 00:26:47.452 --> 00:26:47.662 Weston: Yeah. 00:26:48.172 --> 00:26:48.442 Gene Tavernetti: You know? 00:26:48.712 --> 00:26:52.432 Weston: And guess what I'm gonna notice when other people pretend like they don't. 00:26:53.092 --> 00:26:53.362 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:26:53.497 --> 00:26:53.797 Yeah. 00:26:54.157 --> 00:26:56.617 So, so any Go ahead. 00:26:56.617 --> 00:26:56.947 I'm sorry. 00:26:56.997 --> 00:26:58.767 Weston: Our kids are, they are different. 00:26:59.127 --> 00:26:59.937 They are different. 00:27:00.247 --> 00:27:02.197 And I like that you keep using the word different. 00:27:02.197 --> 00:27:04.327 'cause I, I don't wanna say worse, they're not worse. 00:27:04.327 --> 00:27:07.507 They're just, every generation of kids has been different than the ones before. 00:27:07.877 --> 00:27:15.387 But our, we're, our kids are experiencing this moment, unlike anything we've experienced where they wake up. 00:27:16.162 --> 00:27:32.132 And the moment, from the moment they wake up for a lot of them till they go to bed, they are fed a constant stream of dopamine from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep, and then they jump into our classrooms and cell phones go away and there is no dopamine and the crash is hard. 00:27:32.672 --> 00:27:40.802 And we chalk that up to attention and it's like, hey I don't think it's as much attention deficit as it is withdrawal. 00:27:41.542 --> 00:27:42.742 Is what we're experiencing. 00:27:43.072 --> 00:27:45.382 And that, and I don't think enough people are talking about that. 00:27:45.442 --> 00:27:48.112 Like, our kids aren't suffering from attention issues. 00:27:48.262 --> 00:27:54.562 They're suffering from a withdrawal issue from the constant stream of dopamine they've received up until the point they walked into your classroom. 00:27:55.642 --> 00:28:02.162 Gene Tavernetti: So you're doing a nice segue into another little thing that you're doing that I've seen you on LinkedIn, the ten second. 00:28:03.182 --> 00:28:03.662 Ten second. 00:28:03.732 --> 00:28:04.657 What are, what do they call? 00:28:04.717 --> 00:28:05.197 I'm not saying 00:28:05.202 --> 00:28:06.607 Weston: 10, 10, 10 second truths. 00:28:06.607 --> 00:28:08.437 I can't believe how much these have blown up. 00:28:08.707 --> 00:28:17.487 Gene Tavernetti: Oh, well, and what made me think of it I wanted to talk to you about 'em but you just had one about childhood We haven't modernized childhood. 00:28:17.517 --> 00:28:18.927 We've domesticated it. 00:28:19.407 --> 00:28:19.827 Weston: Yeah. 00:28:20.247 --> 00:28:21.147 I stand by that. 00:28:21.207 --> 00:28:22.197 That's the ten second truth. 00:28:22.287 --> 00:28:23.247 I stand by that one. 00:28:23.817 --> 00:28:24.207 Yeah, 00:28:24.502 --> 00:28:26.067 Gene Tavernetti: you can you expand on that a little bit. 00:28:26.577 --> 00:28:36.177 Weston: Kids have a modernized experience of childhood for sure, but we as adults have not modernized the childhood experience. 00:28:36.417 --> 00:28:37.647 We've domesticated it. 00:28:37.677 --> 00:28:41.217 We have put like a lot of parents have put. 00:28:41.547 --> 00:28:54.622 Incredibly tight boundaries around childhood where the idea of free play is a thing in the past, completely a thing In the past, I'm sure I had a childhood, much like you did Jean. 00:28:55.222 --> 00:29:07.072 I don't know about you, but like, literally summer would roll around, and I remember vividly my dad, like I, I had a few days of summer break where I had slept in, done nothing, laid around the house. 00:29:07.192 --> 00:29:11.752 And my dad came in one morning and literally opened my door and he was like, you're out. 00:29:12.712 --> 00:29:15.442 And I think I was maybe 13 years old, right? 00:29:15.442 --> 00:29:16.222 He's like, you're out. 00:29:16.402 --> 00:29:17.392 And I was like, what do you mean I'm out? 00:29:17.392 --> 00:29:19.102 He's like, go outside, go do something. 00:29:19.672 --> 00:29:20.632 I was like, where am I gonna go? 00:29:20.632 --> 00:29:21.832 He goes, I don't care. 00:29:21.862 --> 00:29:22.732 Just not here. 00:29:23.317 --> 00:29:24.787 I said, when do I need to come back? 00:29:24.817 --> 00:29:27.307 And he was like, street lights, come on, you come back home. 00:29:27.357 --> 00:29:28.137 And I just left. 00:29:28.167 --> 00:29:29.217 Nobody knew where I was. 00:29:29.547 --> 00:29:29.727 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:29:29.727 --> 00:29:30.867 Weston: Nobody asked where I was. 00:29:30.927 --> 00:29:31.737 I went over to my buddies. 00:29:31.737 --> 00:29:32.607 I played backyard football. 00:29:32.607 --> 00:29:33.562 It was the best summer of my life. 00:29:34.227 --> 00:29:35.157 Best summer of my life. 00:29:35.187 --> 00:29:38.427 'cause my dad kicked me out, said, I don't care where you go, just go do something. 00:29:38.887 --> 00:29:40.567 Like kids don't have that experience. 00:29:40.617 --> 00:29:45.297 They have played dates, they have club soccer and baseball and club volleyball. 00:29:45.297 --> 00:29:48.437 Like every moment of their day is structured. 00:29:48.557 --> 00:29:52.037 And so that's what I mean by the domestication of childhood. 00:29:52.287 --> 00:29:52.467 There's. 00:29:53.187 --> 00:29:57.597 For so many of our kids, there's almost nothing free and open to it. 00:29:57.717 --> 00:30:05.097 And any time that is free and open is spent either here on the phone or here two hands in front of video games. 00:30:05.577 --> 00:30:08.157 Like, that's what I mean when I say we've domesticated childhood. 00:30:08.667 --> 00:30:19.807 Gene Tavernetti: Well, when I saw that, I'm trying to, I had a feeling that's what you were talking about, kind of like what John Haight talks about, you know, in, in in his book. 00:30:20.812 --> 00:30:22.732 That we're protecting our kids. 00:30:22.852 --> 00:30:28.942 And then, but the use of the word domesticated, it reminds me of my wife and I have two cats 00:30:29.392 --> 00:30:29.842 Weston: Yes. 00:30:29.902 --> 00:30:37.792 Gene Tavernetti: That do not go outside, you know, and I bet they would love to go outside, but you know why they don't go outside. 00:30:38.212 --> 00:30:39.082 We're afraid. 00:30:40.582 --> 00:30:41.002 Weston: That's, 00:30:41.002 --> 00:30:43.642 Gene Tavernetti: we're a, we're afraid it's the parents who are afraid. 00:30:43.912 --> 00:30:44.002 Yes. 00:30:44.052 --> 00:30:45.822 And unless the student. 00:30:45.912 --> 00:30:46.542 The student. 00:30:46.542 --> 00:30:55.742 I always think of Susan, you know, unless the kid has the opportunity to face some small fear to get over it, then we're gonna transfer that fear onto them. 00:30:56.162 --> 00:31:08.242 And we're gonna continue to have what you talked about, because, even though that was your experience with your dad, I bet you still don't give quite as much freedom to your kids as you had. 00:31:08.482 --> 00:31:09.682 Weston: Of course I don't. 00:31:09.862 --> 00:31:10.792 Of course I don't. 00:31:13.042 --> 00:31:17.722 And it's, and the irony of that is not lost on me, Jean, as I'm sitting here. 00:31:17.722 --> 00:31:21.962 It's just like, I literally just told you like, it was the best summer of my life. 00:31:22.262 --> 00:31:22.412 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:31:22.442 --> 00:31:23.732 Weston: But I will tell you this, like. 00:31:24.317 --> 00:31:29.037 The moments when my son and my D like I also lucked out a little bit. 00:31:29.037 --> 00:31:40.587 Like we live in an awesome neighborhood and my daughter's 14, her best friend Brooklyn lives right down the street and there's so many times where like our front door will open and I just hear, I'm going to Brooklyns. 00:31:40.767 --> 00:31:41.097 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:31:41.547 --> 00:31:42.357 Weston: So happy. 00:31:42.987 --> 00:31:44.067 Gene Tavernetti: Forget your phone. 00:31:44.337 --> 00:31:44.517 Weston: Yeah. 00:31:44.517 --> 00:31:44.877 Right. 00:31:44.877 --> 00:31:45.207 Yeah. 00:31:45.207 --> 00:31:45.837 Don't, yeah. 00:31:45.957 --> 00:31:47.847 I'm gonna check on you on Life 360. 00:31:47.847 --> 00:31:48.507 You're not gonna know. 00:31:48.507 --> 00:31:49.467 I'm checking all the time. 00:31:49.467 --> 00:31:49.617 Good. 00:31:49.617 --> 00:31:52.947 I'm gonna check to make sure you're safe, but I. But I love that, you know? 00:31:52.977 --> 00:31:53.247 Yes. 00:31:53.307 --> 00:31:53.547 Yeah. 00:31:53.552 --> 00:31:53.572 Yeah. 00:31:53.877 --> 00:32:01.947 My 16-year-old son like jumps in his car and he and his boys are going up to in and out, and then they're gonna go up to the field and they're gonna throw, and they're gonna play football. 00:32:01.977 --> 00:32:02.517 Great. 00:32:02.997 --> 00:32:03.357 Great. 00:32:03.362 --> 00:32:03.572 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:32:03.987 --> 00:32:04.167 Weston: Yeah. 00:32:04.167 --> 00:32:04.467 Awesome. 00:32:04.752 --> 00:32:05.052 Do it. 00:32:05.052 --> 00:32:06.837 Do it every day. 00:32:07.227 --> 00:32:08.217 I want that for you. 00:32:08.802 --> 00:32:19.212 Gene Tavernetti: You know, I love that we're kind of talking about some of this stuff because again, I told you where I began to be a fan, but as I began to look at you, you know, you have a podcast with your wife. 00:32:20.102 --> 00:32:29.902 And you take on a lot of these issues, you know, that, that are just kind of, just general life issues and it is very entertaining. 00:32:29.902 --> 00:32:36.627 And one of them is getting back to teachers being funny, is can you teach someone to be funny? 00:32:36.925 --> 00:32:38.365 What did you guys conclude? 00:32:38.722 --> 00:32:40.102 Weston: Molly answered this so quickly. 00:32:40.102 --> 00:32:40.852 She said no. 00:32:41.138 --> 00:32:41.948 Absolutely not. 00:32:41.948 --> 00:32:46.388 But also, full disclosure, we have a lot of disagreements in our fa. 00:32:46.598 --> 00:32:55.928 This is, I would say, a biweekly argument that we have at our dinner table, gene, where we will sit and the four of us will argue about who the funniest person in our family is. 00:32:56.333 --> 00:32:56.693 Right. 00:32:56.983 --> 00:32:58.303 My wife claims it's her. 00:32:58.553 --> 00:33:00.173 She's a hundred percent wrong about that. 00:33:00.203 --> 00:33:01.253 It's my daughter, Charlotte. 00:33:01.253 --> 00:33:03.653 She is the funniest person in our family by far. 00:33:04.023 --> 00:33:07.653 But then I am undoubtedly the second funniest person. 00:33:07.953 --> 00:33:07.983 Okay. 00:33:08.463 --> 00:33:15.783 And nobody in my family agrees with that jean, which I'm just like, Hey, people pay me to show up. 00:33:16.233 --> 00:33:19.143 And tell funny stories, like in my keynote, right, right. 00:33:19.148 --> 00:33:28.508 I've had people come up and yell at me after a keynote, like, Hey I had this woman in Texas come up and she said, I drove four hours to hear you tell the bull riding story. 00:33:28.538 --> 00:33:30.728 And I'm like, I'm sorry, it's not in this keynote. 00:33:30.728 --> 00:33:31.508 So like, oh. 00:33:31.568 --> 00:33:34.508 And I'm like, did, has that happened to any of you at this table? 00:33:34.808 --> 00:33:36.428 And they're like, oh, whatever, dad. 00:33:36.428 --> 00:33:37.988 You know, 'cause I'm dad, I don't know anything. 00:33:38.043 --> 00:33:38.343 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:33:38.433 --> 00:33:40.713 Weston: And so like we, we have that argument all the time. 00:33:41.268 --> 00:33:45.168 And I don't, I think you can teach people to be funnier. 00:33:45.708 --> 00:33:53.238 I don't think, I don't think you can teach funny, like super funny, like 00:33:53.298 --> 00:33:53.478 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah, 00:33:53.538 --> 00:33:58.608 Weston: I'm talking like Nate Bartzi, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler. 00:33:58.608 --> 00:33:58.968 Funny. 00:33:58.968 --> 00:34:00.828 Like I don't think you can teach that. 00:34:01.548 --> 00:34:01.818 Yeah. 00:34:01.818 --> 00:34:03.138 I think some people just have that. 00:34:03.138 --> 00:34:04.728 I think you can teach people to be funnier. 00:34:05.577 --> 00:34:06.087 Gene Tavernetti: I think so. 00:34:06.182 --> 00:34:07.147 I think so too. 00:34:07.147 --> 00:34:08.077 And it is. 00:34:09.112 --> 00:34:12.472 But it's so, like, so many things they have to want it. 00:34:12.782 --> 00:34:13.412 They have to want it. 00:34:13.412 --> 00:34:14.882 Because part of it is an awareness. 00:34:14.882 --> 00:34:14.942 Yeah. 00:34:15.092 --> 00:34:23.162 It's like what you just, you, you just said all the thousands of classrooms that you went in to discover what makes this teacher engaging. 00:34:23.192 --> 00:34:25.652 You gotta do the same thing with comedy, with being funny. 00:34:25.652 --> 00:34:25.742 Yes. 00:34:25.952 --> 00:34:28.472 And not even comedy just having a sense of humor. 00:34:28.802 --> 00:34:29.252 Okay. 00:34:29.582 --> 00:34:29.882 Weston: Yeah. 00:34:29.982 --> 00:34:34.162 I could geek out about this topic all day, like just talking about comedy. 00:34:34.162 --> 00:34:37.372 Like I, I love listening to standup comedians, their podcasts. 00:34:37.372 --> 00:34:41.272 Like I have watched comedians in cars getting coffee over and over. 00:34:41.272 --> 00:34:41.292 Oh, yeah. 00:34:41.837 --> 00:34:48.167 Because I'm so interested in how all of those people talk about their process, and I'm interested in it from an educator's lens. 00:34:48.197 --> 00:34:51.577 'cause I do I'm curious if you agree with me on this or not. 00:34:52.207 --> 00:34:55.117 I think there's something inherently performative. 00:34:55.612 --> 00:34:59.252 About the work that we do as classroom teachers with kids. 00:34:59.402 --> 00:35:00.752 Would you agree or disagree? 00:35:01.482 --> 00:35:02.052 Gene Tavernetti: I'd agree. 00:35:02.232 --> 00:35:02.682 I'd agree. 00:35:02.747 --> 00:35:04.127 At a baseline level. 00:35:04.367 --> 00:35:05.267 That's the baseline. 00:35:05.447 --> 00:35:05.537 Yes. 00:35:05.597 --> 00:35:11.957 There is, you know, and an anecdote to kind of. 00:35:12.692 --> 00:35:13.322 Prove that. 00:35:13.382 --> 00:35:16.472 Well, one anecdote doesn't prove it, end of one is not enough. 00:35:16.802 --> 00:35:18.912 But but you probably had this experience too. 00:35:19.062 --> 00:35:23.382 I'll be training teachers and there's this little wallflower. 00:35:24.252 --> 00:35:29.122 You know, in the training and you thinking, God, am I getting through to this person? 00:35:29.122 --> 00:35:32.962 You know, taking notes and then you go into the classroom and they just explode. 00:35:33.022 --> 00:35:33.112 Yes. 00:35:33.142 --> 00:35:36.142 I mean, they're the, they're just a huge personality. 00:35:37.162 --> 00:35:37.222 Yeah. 00:35:37.272 --> 00:35:39.252 And I don't know which one is which. 00:35:39.642 --> 00:35:43.817 You know, I don't know which one is the real one, but actually as I said that I should say they're both real. 00:35:43.817 --> 00:35:44.507 That's who they are. 00:35:44.927 --> 00:35:46.517 This is who they are as an individual. 00:35:46.667 --> 00:35:48.137 This is their teacher persona. 00:35:48.512 --> 00:35:49.722 But it's not real. 00:35:49.842 --> 00:35:50.862 That's just who they are. 00:35:50.982 --> 00:35:53.502 Weston: I know, but I'm always confused by people like that. 00:35:53.532 --> 00:35:53.952 Are you? 00:35:53.952 --> 00:35:56.242 'cause I I'm not like that. 00:35:56.512 --> 00:35:59.362 Who people see when I'm on the road is exactly who I am. 00:35:59.452 --> 00:35:59.722 Right? 00:35:59.722 --> 00:36:01.222 Like, I'm dis enthusiastic. 00:36:01.222 --> 00:36:02.572 I'm this obnoxious about it. 00:36:02.572 --> 00:36:03.502 Like, I'm sorry. 00:36:03.712 --> 00:36:05.242 It's how I wake up in the morning. 00:36:05.632 --> 00:36:05.662 Okay. 00:36:05.722 --> 00:36:08.032 Like I don't have that sort of on and off switch. 00:36:08.032 --> 00:36:09.802 So I'm mesmerized by people like that. 00:36:10.882 --> 00:36:11.272 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:36:11.572 --> 00:36:20.832 No I'm like you I'm like you, you know, I would love to talk about being funny, but I should probably be talking to your wife because you're only number two in the family. 00:36:20.832 --> 00:36:21.347 How dare you? 00:36:24.135 --> 00:36:27.420 You know, you know it, it's funny you talk about, you know, you're just dad. 00:36:27.760 --> 00:36:29.734 I have a daughter. 00:36:30.214 --> 00:36:31.324 She'll be 38 this year. 00:36:31.564 --> 00:36:42.034 And, we were down visiting and she had one of her friends at her house and she's in Southern California and her friend I hadn't met before had been you know, a college soccer player. 00:36:42.274 --> 00:36:43.294 She's an actress. 00:36:43.294 --> 00:36:45.964 She's been in stuff that we have seen her in. 00:36:46.444 --> 00:36:47.824 And I'm just real curious. 00:36:47.824 --> 00:36:52.709 I'm just asking her questions and my and I'm having this great conversation with this friend of my daughter. 00:36:52.859 --> 00:36:54.599 And my daughter turns to her and said. 00:36:55.334 --> 00:36:56.534 I should have warned you about him. 00:36:58.516 --> 00:37:04.726 Weston: that's a universal rite of passage and becoming a dad is you just apparently just become immediately embarrassing to your children. 00:37:05.456 --> 00:37:05.996 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah. 00:37:06.072 --> 00:37:06.492 Okay. 00:37:06.533 --> 00:37:08.003 So you've seen lots of teachers. 00:37:08.123 --> 00:37:08.423 Okay. 00:37:08.551 --> 00:37:18.191 you've observed lots of classrooms, and you gathered all this information about who's effective and how they are able to maintain attention. 00:37:18.641 --> 00:37:23.998 And then you wrote a book, a more general book about performance. 00:37:24.628 --> 00:37:26.338 Are these teachers a subset? 00:37:26.338 --> 00:37:29.818 A. Of the high performers or what did you discover? 00:37:29.818 --> 00:37:31.748 What's in your book about high performers? 00:37:32.018 --> 00:37:32.108 Weston: Yeah. 00:37:32.108 --> 00:37:32.168 Ab 00:37:32.168 --> 00:37:32.918 Gene Tavernetti: what did you find? 00:37:33.338 --> 00:37:33.998 Weston: Absolutely. 00:37:33.998 --> 00:37:36.548 Like obviously the education is my world. 00:37:36.548 --> 00:37:37.388 It's my wheelhouse. 00:37:37.388 --> 00:37:41.588 So there's tons of relevance for educators and there's references to educators in this book. 00:37:41.588 --> 00:37:51.608 But I was, you know, like I, gene, all I ever wanted to do, like I wanted to teach high school social studies and I wanted to coach high school football when I entered into this profession. 00:37:52.448 --> 00:37:53.288 That's what I wanted. 00:37:53.348 --> 00:37:58.748 Quite frankly, it's, there's a lot of months where I've been traveling too much and I threatened my wife. 00:37:58.898 --> 00:37:59.888 I'm gonna go back and do that. 00:38:00.578 --> 00:38:00.758 Right? 00:38:00.758 --> 00:38:03.303 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah, no I'm just, I'm sorry to interrupt you. 00:38:03.318 --> 00:38:06.948 I'm just laughing because I always say I'm that cliche as well. 00:38:07.008 --> 00:38:09.828 I just wanted to coach football, but I had to teach social studies. 00:38:10.638 --> 00:38:11.028 Weston: Right? 00:38:11.508 --> 00:38:11.928 Yeah. 00:38:11.928 --> 00:38:14.568 It's like, that's all I, that's what I wanted to do. 00:38:14.568 --> 00:38:17.958 It was the beginning and end of every ambition that I had in education. 00:38:18.548 --> 00:38:26.818 And now for a long time I've had this really weird and wonderful job where I get to travel around and I get to meet and talk to incredible people. 00:38:26.818 --> 00:38:31.978 And I get to speak at conferences where other really, you know, high achieving people are speaking. 00:38:31.978 --> 00:38:41.818 And so I've gotten to have really interesting conversations and build really interesting friendships and relationships with high achievers from almost every category. 00:38:42.118 --> 00:38:43.438 And I was just like. 00:38:43.798 --> 00:38:50.828 I started thinking not just through my educator brain, but also as a parent and as a coach as a person who runs my own business. 00:38:50.828 --> 00:39:02.408 It's just like, okay, as an educator, as a business person, as a father, as a spouse, as a coach, like there are things that I'm noticing about all of these people that are universally applicable. 00:39:02.828 --> 00:39:08.408 And if we can just the hidden work is really just about like eliminating the pitfalls. 00:39:08.653 --> 00:39:16.563 That under achievers default to over and over, and instead redirecting towards the behavior patterns of high achievers. 00:39:16.593 --> 00:39:17.883 And I'll just list 'em out real quick. 00:39:17.883 --> 00:39:29.793 So, if you look at the habituated behaviors of underachievers and low performers, you'll find over and over that in the midst of adversity, they default to these four things. 00:39:29.883 --> 00:39:35.553 They default to things like blame, excuses, self-deception, and the propensity to give up. 00:39:36.213 --> 00:39:42.303 They, like low performers will default to one or more of these behavior patterns over and over. 00:39:42.553 --> 00:39:51.383 But if you look at top performers, again, it's not talent that separates the two, it's the consistency to default to instead of blame. 00:39:51.558 --> 00:39:54.468 They default to ownership instead of excuses. 00:39:54.498 --> 00:39:56.478 They are highly focused on solutions. 00:39:56.478 --> 00:39:58.308 They have a profound solution mindset. 00:39:58.588 --> 00:40:03.718 Instead of giving up, they are exemplars of what grit looks like, sounds like, and feels like. 00:40:03.748 --> 00:40:10.948 And instead of self-deception, like they tell themselves the truth about who they are, the work they put in and what they're capable of. 00:40:11.338 --> 00:40:16.498 And it's just like, man, as, and again, if look everywhere. 00:40:17.043 --> 00:40:21.933 People who are listening to this like, oh, if things aren't going well in my marriage, guess what you'll find? 00:40:21.993 --> 00:40:26.253 You'll find tons of blame, excuses, self-deception, and people who are giving up, right? 00:40:26.283 --> 00:40:39.243 If you look at businesses who are under that are underperforming, if you look at athletes that are underperforming, if you look at students and teachers who are underperforming, if you look at business leaders who are under, like, you'll find these things to be universally true. 00:40:39.303 --> 00:40:41.583 And the good news is all of these things are fixable. 00:40:42.123 --> 00:40:44.493 They're all fixable, and they cost us nothing. 00:40:45.078 --> 00:40:50.848 It costs us nothing to adopt a new set of behaviors that leads to improved performance. 00:40:51.268 --> 00:40:53.688 And that's the thing I'm super passionate about right now. 00:40:55.008 --> 00:40:58.938 Gene Tavernetti: I can see how that's impossible not to bring that message to schools 00:40:59.178 --> 00:40:59.388 Weston: as well. 00:40:59.583 --> 00:40:59.873 Yeah. 00:40:59.903 --> 00:41:01.063 It's, its impossible. 00:41:01.293 --> 00:41:02.023 It's impossible. 00:41:02.183 --> 00:41:04.543 I like, and that's, I don't. 00:41:05.548 --> 00:41:09.043 I don't write books 'cause I want to, or I care about selling books. 00:41:09.313 --> 00:41:20.088 I write books because it's like something worms, its way into my brain and it's like, I can't sit on this and just keep it for myself and my kids and the kids that I coach. 00:41:20.178 --> 00:41:24.198 And there's the students that I get to see, like, I, I have to share this. 00:41:24.468 --> 00:41:25.938 'cause I think it can help so many people. 00:41:27.108 --> 00:41:27.888 Gene Tavernetti: Absolutely. 00:41:27.888 --> 00:41:28.668 That sounds great. 00:41:28.668 --> 00:41:28.728 Yeah. 00:41:28.728 --> 00:41:30.718 Well, I can ask you questions all day. 00:41:31.078 --> 00:41:32.638 Wes, do you have any questions for me? 00:41:32.688 --> 00:41:33.198 Weston: I do. 00:41:33.198 --> 00:41:39.138 And it actually came up I have been trying to glean as much expertise and wisdom as I can. 00:41:39.138 --> 00:41:41.718 You mentioned that you have a 38-year-old daughter, correct? 00:41:41.718 --> 00:41:41.728 Yes. 00:41:41.778 --> 00:41:41.868 Gene Tavernetti: Yes. 00:41:42.258 --> 00:41:42.648 Weston: All right. 00:41:42.948 --> 00:41:45.258 I've got a, I've got a 16-year-old son. 00:41:45.258 --> 00:41:52.458 I've got a 14-year-old daughter, and I am staring down the barrel of what feels like an existential crisis. 00:41:52.518 --> 00:41:58.668 And forgive me, I'm sure you wanted more of like an education type question, but I'm gonna take this opportunity to be selfish if it's okay. 00:41:59.403 --> 00:41:59.613 Gene Tavernetti: Sure, 00:41:59.643 --> 00:42:08.313 Weston: I want to know, you know, 'cause my wife and I will lay awake at nights and be like, man, we've got two more summers left with our son. 00:42:08.793 --> 00:42:10.023 And then he's off. 00:42:10.023 --> 00:42:13.173 He's gotta go live his own life and we have four more left with our daughter. 00:42:13.563 --> 00:42:19.803 I wanna know from you, like, you know, with the benefit of hindsight and wisdom, what are the things that we should be doing more of? 00:42:19.803 --> 00:42:22.053 And what are the things that we should be doing less of? 00:42:22.883 --> 00:42:28.753 Gene Tavernetti: Well, the number one thing you should be doing more of is finding a better person to ask for advice. 00:42:29.443 --> 00:42:42.933 You know, because I can't remember who it was, but you know, I took several, I took quite a few psychology courses and I remember somebody saying, by the time a kid gets to be 12 or 13 years old, you've done all you can. 00:42:44.298 --> 00:42:53.338 And then it is, you know, whatever you have instilled at that point, all your values and all the lessons it's up to them, you know? 00:42:53.368 --> 00:43:01.288 And because all the good things that my daughter has done, my wife and I will say, how, where did that come from? 00:43:01.378 --> 00:43:04.108 I mean, because that's not us, you know? 00:43:04.468 --> 00:43:04.858 And 00:43:04.858 --> 00:43:07.698 Weston: it's man, but it, I think you're sandbagging a little there. 00:43:08.263 --> 00:43:09.403 If I'm being like that. 00:43:09.403 --> 00:43:14.163 Ha there's profound foundational elements of that have to come from you and your wife. 00:43:14.163 --> 00:43:14.823 They have to. 00:43:16.023 --> 00:43:17.463 Gene Tavernetti: Well, I appreciate you saying that. 00:43:17.568 --> 00:43:23.438 I'll let my daughter know next time I see her, but but you know, I, I don't have advice. 00:43:23.438 --> 00:43:35.468 I mean, you know, I remember being at a conference and after, you know, all the speakers we're sitting around a table having dinner and everybody's telling horror stories about my 24-year-old son. 00:43:35.498 --> 00:43:37.088 I can't get him out of the house. 00:43:37.778 --> 00:43:40.433 So I told him, I'll tell you what, I'll give you six months. 00:43:41.138 --> 00:43:44.408 I'll give you six months and then you gotta find your own place. 00:43:44.408 --> 00:43:47.228 But up until then, you know, I will take care of you. 00:43:48.488 --> 00:43:49.058 And so. 00:43:50.318 --> 00:43:53.678 It gets toward the six months and the dad says, well, did you get a place? 00:43:53.708 --> 00:43:58.298 He goes, oh yeah, I got a place two months ago, but I was to save the money that you sent. 00:43:58.393 --> 00:44:02.243 And I mean, and he just like went around the table like that. 00:44:02.243 --> 00:44:03.233 And I'm thinking, I am. 00:44:03.233 --> 00:44:07.253 So, you know, we were so blessed my daughter couldn't wait to get out of the house. 00:44:07.463 --> 00:44:07.703 Yeah. 00:44:07.733 --> 00:44:10.153 You know, and again, why? 00:44:10.153 --> 00:44:10.783 I don't know. 00:44:10.783 --> 00:44:11.863 But that's the way I was. 00:44:11.923 --> 00:44:12.613 I mean, I couldn't. 00:44:12.918 --> 00:44:14.298 You know, I couldn't wait to get out. 00:44:15.138 --> 00:44:15.198 Yeah. 00:44:15.198 --> 00:44:15.528 I was too. 00:44:15.588 --> 00:44:31.323 So, so maybe that, you know, maybe that message got out, but boy I wish, you know, I'm just gonna tell you have faith in the job that you've done and, you know, I think you'll, I think you'll see the fruits of that as you watch your kids thrive. 00:44:31.533 --> 00:44:32.403 Weston: I hope so, man. 00:44:32.453 --> 00:44:34.733 And you know what I think you gave me a good piece of advice. 00:44:34.733 --> 00:44:48.103 You know, like by 1314, like the bulk of the work is done and I think I probably need to have transitioned a long time ago from, from a author authoritative parent to facilitator and guide. 00:44:48.703 --> 00:44:53.743 Gene Tavernetti: Well, just think of the anecdote you shared about your 14-year-old daughter talking about what she saw at school. 00:44:54.133 --> 00:44:55.903 Look at, look there, there's an example. 00:44:55.908 --> 00:44:57.073 There's a great example. 00:44:57.073 --> 00:45:04.603 Weston: Well, and the good news is I've had plenty of conversations with my own kids where I've had to walk upstairs to their rooms and be like, Hey, I really screwed that up. 00:45:04.693 --> 00:45:05.593 I'm really sorry. 00:45:07.933 --> 00:45:08.908 And those won't be the last ones. 00:45:09.638 --> 00:45:11.798 Gene Tavernetti: Yeah, I hear that. 00:45:11.918 --> 00:45:12.608 I hear that. 00:45:12.788 --> 00:45:14.908 You know what, Wes, it was joy talking to you. 00:45:14.908 --> 00:45:17.338 It was a pleasure meeting you and right back at you, my 00:45:17.338 --> 00:45:17.698 Weston: friend Jean. 00:45:17.698 --> 00:45:18.418 Thanks so much. 00:45:18.898 --> 00:45:19.918 Gene Tavernetti: Hey, my pleasure. 00:45:19.918 --> 00:45:22.318 And any last words for teachers? 00:45:22.318 --> 00:45:25.678 Any big something funny or motivational? 00:45:26.128 --> 00:45:27.808 You don't save your bull riding story? 00:45:28.228 --> 00:45:29.818 Weston: Yeah, I'll save the bull riding story. 00:45:29.818 --> 00:45:33.858 I'll just message I'm giving teachers around the country right now and I'm I want every. 00:45:34.218 --> 00:45:42.538 Not just teacher, but every educator in every level of profession to hear, like I'm begging you, like stop lighting yourselves on fire to keep everyone else warm. 00:45:43.078 --> 00:45:44.848 It's the thing that we do in our profession all the time. 00:45:44.848 --> 00:45:47.878 We light ourselves on fire to keep our kids warm, our communities warm. 00:45:47.998 --> 00:45:52.798 And the fact of the matter is like we have to get better at finding the balance in this work right there. 00:45:52.828 --> 00:45:57.268 We have to give ourselves and each other time and permission to close the lid, step away. 00:45:57.673 --> 00:45:59.173 Spend time with people we love. 00:45:59.173 --> 00:46:00.823 Spend time with people who love us. 00:46:00.853 --> 00:46:03.463 Tell teachers, spend time with your own kids. 00:46:03.733 --> 00:46:09.643 'cause we can't keep asking them to take care of other people's children and not giving them the time, grace, space and permission to take care of their own. 00:46:10.213 --> 00:46:10.663 Gene Tavernetti: Amen. 00:46:11.293 --> 00:46:11.443 Weston: Yeah. 00:46:11.503 --> 00:46:12.253 Gene Tavernetti: Thank you Weston. 00:46:12.253 --> 00:46:12.973 We'll talk soon. 00:46:13.543 --> 00:46:14.113 Weston: Sounds good. 00:46:14.113 --> 00:46:14.683 Thanks brother. 00:46:16.277 --> 00:46:18.917 Gene Tavernetti: If you're enjoying these podcasts, tell a friend. 00:46:19.217 --> 00:46:24.787 Also, please leave a 5 star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. 00:46:25.477 --> 00:46:35.557 You can follow me on BlueSky at gTabernetti, on Twitter, x at gTabernetti, and you can learn more about me and the work I do at my website, BlueSky. 00:46:35.967 --> 00:46:36.397 Tesscg. 00:46:37.387 --> 00:46:52.757 com, that's T E S S C G dot com, where you will also find information about ordering my books, Teach Fast, Focus Adaptable Structure Teaching, and Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles.