The Mic'd Up & Motivated Podcast

When Adults Feel Steady, Classrooms Come Alive

• Jason A. Dixon • Season 2 • Episode 7

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0:00 | 1:13:10

Opening Vibes & Purpose

SPEAKER_05

Who Sarah really needed at like right around 13, 14 years old, was a true best friend, somebody who just would be there with her at all times. Um I I struggled with friendships in uh elementary and middle and even in high school, where I I think I came on too strong and I was like, let's be best friends. And I wanted to get really deep. I love deep conversations. I love just really getting to know people, really building that sense of connection.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to the Mic'ed Up and Motivated Podcast, where we interview passionate professionals who empower young people, impact lives, and create positive change in schools, organizations, and communities.

SPEAKER_01

Everybody in here has a talent, and you have a gift, and you were given that gift so that you can go change the world.

SPEAKER_05

Hi, I'm Sarah, and at the heart of my work is this belief. The fastest way to improve outcomes for students is to take better care of the adults who show up for them every day. I started my career as a teacher who loved kids and saw that supporting teachers was the most powerful way to reach more students. Today, I work with educators and school leaders to move schools from survival mode to sustainable, human-centered systems that support well-being and learning. What drives me is seeing how supporting educators changes everything. Because when adults are steady and connected, students thrive. My work is about restoring capacity and building cultures where caring doesn't cost your well-being.

SPEAKER_02

Sarah Fillion, thank you for joining us for the Mic'ed Up and Motivated Podcast. It's been a long time coming, but I'm glad. I'm glad to have you here. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_05

I'm great. I just want to start off saying, Jason, thank you so much. Uh, from the first time we connected on LinkedIn and I saw a couple of your posts. Uh, motivated was definitely the right phrase that you used for yourself. And I was all in with jumping on the comment bandwagon to be like, let's go. So I'm really excited we can make this happen.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, me, me as well. And I gotta tell you about that first interaction. That first time you commented on a post, I was like, okay, who is this? Because believe it or not, I don't get a lot of people to comment on a post, especially on LinkedIn. But when you commented, and I was like, Okay, yeah, I definitely have to have her on the podcast because you just gave off this this vibe, like you're just so positive and so reaffirming. And I'm like, okay, yeah, she is definitely a podcast guest that I need to get on. So thank you so much for just pumping me up and making me feel good about what I was posting.

SPEAKER_05

Oh yeah, I loved it. I love all of that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, you you put some good stuff out there, which you were gonna talk about on the the podcast today, but again, I just gotta give you your kudos. You're doing some amazing work. I'm a fan, I'm a fan. I w I watch what you post, and you're just so consistent and so amazing. Um I love it. I love it. So let's start right there. How did you know that you would be so impactful in this work that you do?

SPEAKER_05

No, and I feel like there still are a lot of moments where I look at it and I'm like, am I speaking into the void? Is anyone hearing? And then usually once I start questioning that, something appears. You know, last week I had the I had that exact moment. I was just like, Am I am I doing that, like, am I doing anything like worthwhile right now? You know, like I, you know, because right now the world is heavy in so many places. And I was like, is what I'm doing making a difference? And literally that afternoon, probably two hours after I had had those thoughts, two hours later, somebody who I'm coaching sent me an email and she was like, Sarah, it's day 98. And today is the first day all year that I have not had to call for behavior support. And then she continued on and she said, if this had been any other year and I hadn't been working with you as a coach, I would have been like, I can't believe it's taken 98 days. And she's like, but because I've been working with you, I'm like, it didn't hit a hundred. Like, look at us. Like, out of triple digits. And I was just like, in that moment, I was like, you know what? I did make an impact for for that one teacher and for those 20 students, I made a difference. And I feel like so often we see these overnight success stories, or we see these people who are celebrities and have gained all this traction. And and we can compare ourselves and be like, I'm not making that level of difference. And I think it's really important that we go back and we ground ourselves regularly and we say, Who am I making a difference for though? I, you know, I know I am making a difference, and and we can ground ourselves in that, and that really can give us a lot of motivation to continue doing the work we're doing rather than jumping on the comparison bandwagon. We can stay right in where we need to be and we can make a huge difference that way.

SPEAKER_02

Wow, I love it. I love it. Well, we can end the podcast right there. Well, that what you just said, like it was a cherry on top, but fortunately we have a lot more time. We go, but I love how you started with that story and just how the work that you're doing and for the the people listening, like, okay, uh, what is this work that she's talking about? What does she do? So tell us what you do.

Proof Of Impact: Day 98 Email

SPEAKER_05

Sure, thanks. So I work with school leaders and their staff, all aspects. So not just teachers, but um support staff, bus drivers, front office people, cafeteria workers. And we have a three-prong approach because first and foremost, we need to make sure that staff well-being is being met. If the adults are not regulated, we can't ask them to regulate children. If the adults are not ready to show up and bring their best selves to school, we can't ask kids to come up and learn the best that they can. So that's our first part is really working on staff well-being. And then we work on skill building for all areas, any type of staff member, we know that we can work on teacher language or we can help them figure out how they can connect with students or how can they connect with their colleagues as well, so that we make it more of a cohesive environment. And then the third prong is that we work on culture-shaping leadership. So my goal is always really to work myself out of a job. I don't want to be staying in schools forever because I want them to pick up the momentum and say, okay, we've got it, but I'm there to partner with them at first and say, let me show you. Here's how you shift the culture, here's how you move the culture into being a place. My goal, I always say, is I want each school that I work with to become that school in the district, in the city, wherever, where everyone's going, like, what are they doing? Like, I want to do that. You know, it's the one that families want to move to that area, kids want to show up, staff is coming in and doesn't want to leave, and they're good staff. You know, like that's like they're really committed, they're really on board. And that's what I my goal is. So to summarize, I guess I would say like the work I do is really trying to elevate each school so that they become that impressive school in their district, in their um city, in their community, and that they're the ones that are watched to kind of set the bar too.

SPEAKER_02

Wow, that's that's amazing. And I know you're doing a great job. I mean, it's you can tell if anybody that follows you on any social media, you can tell you're you're doing the work, you're doing an amazing job. And it's so, you know, it's so amazing to hear about what you're doing. Because again, I I you know, I work with students, I travel to schools and speak, and um just uh I see it on the teachers' faces, I see the burnout, I see the stress, I see all the stuff that's going on, and then you have somebody like you coming into these schools, doing that work, you know, breathing life into them. Like, what is the most gratifying aspect of that for you?

SPEAKER_05

Ooh, there's so many. I I think first and foremost, when I walk into a school and staff is happy to see me, I have a couple of schools who I've now worked with for two or three years. And when I step into their school, they are just like, Hey, how are you? And like they are genuinely excited to see me. And they're like, You're coming to my room today, right? You're gonna watch me. And having that type of energy is so different from I feel like, you know, when we tell teachers, you know, like, oh, you're gonna have someone come in and do an observation, they're like, Oh, like I don't want anyone, and they feel really stressed. And so I think that that's the the the biggest uh highlight for me. It's also great when students come up to me and they're like, You're back, and I'm like, I am, you know, or they give me a compliment. Like earlier this week, one kid was just like, I love your sneakers, and I was like, Thanks, I just got them, and they were like, That's awesome, and so I was like fun, and they were like, Can you jump high? And I was like, No one has asked me that, and I'm too old to probably be trying to jump too high, but I'll give it a go. We'll give it a go.

SPEAKER_02

Wow, wow. So I just have to tell you, like, because you're navigating in a space where not a lot of people can can do that, like you are able to connect with the teachers and then go and connect with the the students. Uh not a lot of people are able to walk that that that tight rope, right? So where did where did that come from? How are you how do you learn how to balance that? You go from working with the the stress level and the and the in the baggage that that teachers often carry to just kind of flipping that personality and being able to connect with the student over like tennis shoes. How are you gonna do that?

What Positive School Solutions Does

SPEAKER_05

Well, so I think it for me it actually started in the opposite order. So I started off as a classroom teacher and I I loved it and I loved teaching. And at the same time, I I was like, I want to make an even bigger impact. I want to make a bigger impact. And so I left and I started working for a nonprofit organization that delivered professional development, and they had a really comprehensive training program that helped us to learn how do we present? How does it how do you take what you are doing with students? And now how do you do it with adults without them feeling like you're talking down to them or you're making them into the student? How do you keep it in a really uh authentic way? And then from that point, I started uh in that business, in that nonprofit organization. I had an opportunity to travel all over the place and really get to see what it looks like in different schools across the country and all around the world, which was really neat. And then from there, I was like, I started missing it because I, you know, as as usually happens when you climb up the ladder in an organization, instead of working with teachers, instead of working with students, I was sitting in meetings again and again, and I really missed developing the relationships. And so I was like, I want to get back out there and I want to do this. And so I started a company, I co-founded a company with a good friend. And um, that really allowed me to really go the full spectrum. So now I can sit in a meeting with the superintendent one day and then the next day be in the classroom and playing games and and teaching a lesson to students, and then later on that day, having the rest of the staff watch that video and say, okay, so now let's pick this apart. What could I do differently? What do you notice that worked really well here? If I was going to rewind it and try it again, let me tell you what I would do different. Why do you think I, you know, and so so I think that it really is a lot of experience. Um, and I think really what I've learned is that good teaching principles work with five-year-olds, they work with 15-year-olds, they work with 55-year-olds. And a lot of it just becomes your language and it doesn't necessarily become your tone of, you know, like I don't need to be like, oh, Jason, how are you today? If you're five.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

But I do need to use language that you can understand. And so instead of saying something like, Jason, you need to be respectful right now, which I might say to you if you were 15, if you're five, I'm gonna say, Jason, how are we kind to our friends? And so it's still the same tone, and that still works, you know. Like, so at your present age, I could just say, Jason, how are you, how are you going to show respect today in our meeting? You know, and not necessarily calling you out, but just with that same type of tone. But all of those pieces really are good teaching principles that go across all ages. It doesn't work for every everything, but there's a lot that it does work for.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. And I can tell you have a high success rate. I can definitely tell. Just as you were explaining that to me, I'm like, yeah, you just you have a way of communicating and getting that buy-in from people. So I definitely can see why you're so successful. When did you know it was time to make that shift? Because I talked to a lot of people who uh are you know start off working in a certain career field, then they find they reconnect with that passion, they find it, and they they reach that crossroad and they make that pivot, and uh and then they're they're full on and they're doing what they love, and it's you know, it's you know, it's all he wrote out of that. When did you when did you know it was time for you to make that shift?

Joy Of Returning To Classrooms

SPEAKER_05

Hmm. Well, I feel like I've shifted a few times, and what I can say is when I when I was thinking about it, I really would go back to what is it that I want to to do with my life? And really going back to that big question, which was my whole why. I don't know if you're familiar with Simon Sinek, but he has the start with why. And that came out probably like 15 years ago now, but it came out a while ago. And I remember I spent, I agonized over that for probably like six days trying to write this really simple, what's my why? And what I finally landed on was that my why is to inspire change and empower growth across the board. That's what I want to do. I want to do that with you and me in this conversation tonight. I want to do that for every listener out there. Every time I even go home and visit my parents, I want to figure out how I can inspire some level of change and or empower some type of growth. And so, as I anytime that I would be in a situation, uh, for example, my first teaching career, my my first teaching um school that I was at, I had an hour and a half long commute on a really busy highway each way. And um I remember I got in a car accident and I was okay, I was fine. And that started something in my mind being like, is this the best, is this the best place to be right now? Is this what I want? And I remember at that moment thinking, well, actually, I should say I got in a second car accident like a week later. And um, it was like a staged accident. It was bad. Um, and so it was like, it was they were trying to get an insurance claim off of me, blah, blah, blah. But anyway, when that happened, I was thinking about it and I was like, I've been working in the same school for the past five years, and I've gotten really comfortable with this school and with this clientele. The school that I was working in was in a very affluent suburb. Um, we were one of the um most affluent schools in the district. We had everything that we could possibly need. And I was like, I kind of want to test my teaching chops and see if I went to another school, how would I do? Like, would am I good enough to do the to do this elsewhere? Or is this just like I have the conditions so I can't fail?

SPEAKER_04

Right.

SPEAKER_05

And so I found a school that was the complete opposite. It was one of the lowest uh schools in a city. It was um in a city in New Hampshire. I should be really clear about that, because I'm not talking about like Detroit or any like major, major city, but still it was one of New Hampshire's biggest cities. And so I started thinking about that, and that's when I made that pivot there. And then again, at some point, there was a time where I think an opportunity arose with the nonprofit organization. And I was just like, am I able to inspire growth and empower or inspire change and empower growth? Could I could I have a bigger impact if I went here versus staying with this class of 30 students? And I was like, yeah, I could. And so I think a lot of it does come down to, you know, you can't wait until you feel safe and you can't wait until you feel ready because you're never gonna feel ready.

SPEAKER_04

Right.

SPEAKER_05

But I think you can, you can all like every person can look inside of themselves and say, what is it that I really want to do? And is what I'm currently doing the best path? And it it will keep me, it will, it will help me meet that, or is there another opportunity that I could go after and that would help me meet meet what my passion is and what my goal is?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. Wow, that's so amazing. I'm glad you you you made that pivot. I'm glad you you took the courage, you you had the bravery, you just you listen to your heart, and for the record, you would kill it in Detroit. You would do amazing. Like again, you you uh you just have that ability, and as you were talking about this this came to mind. I I love uh this when I listen, I love thinking about different things that I can repeat back to the people. Transformation is transferable. You are uh you are amazing at uh creating transformation. And I mean anybody who talks to you uh within the first five minutes can see that. Like but that train that transfers to wherever you go. Right, right. So it's like when you said you wanted to see if you could uh perform at that level at the other school, right? You were able to do that because then you just have you have that it factor, you like you have the ability to create transformation, and it followed you to that the place where you went, and it and it continues to follow you, which is why you're so successful. So when as I was listening to you talk, I it just came to mind transformation is transferable, and for you, Sarah, you're you're you're a transformer, you you do amazing work. To you, you say what? What do you say to that?

From Teacher To Coach To Founder

SPEAKER_05

I I say thank you. And to me, I say, you know, I I really look at every single person and who I'm working with, whether it's in a group context or one-on-one coaching, and I and I say, I like I feel like one of my strengths is I can see people who for who they can be, not just for who they currently are. And I think that that's where my transformation power really steps in, is I can say, okay, so I can see you're here now, and I can see where you can be or where you want to go.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And I can help you get to where you want to go. Here are the steps. Like, let's go. And I'm um really good at, I think one of my strengths is I'm really good at at creating conditions so so that I can achieve whatever it is that I want. And so, and for most, for the most part. So, you know, I think, you know, like um like one example is I I figured out for myself I was trying to get into a really regular workout routine and I couldn't. And I figured out it was because five days on and two days of rest don't work for me. Because what ends up happening is I play this little game with myself and I'm like, well, I'm kind of tired today. I'll take my rest day today. And then it gets towards the end of the week, and I'm like, oh, I really want that other rest day, but I really want both days. So I'll take Saturday off, but then I'll take next week's uh one day. And so I start playing Let's Make a Deal. And so my deal that I ended up making with myself is you exercise seven days a week. You are allowed to have two junk days. So you can have two days that are not your best, your best workout, but you work out every single day. And that way it just becomes this like, I know I have to block that time off my calendar. And there's not this option of being like, oh, I'm gonna finagle it here. I'm gonna try this here. And so I think that that's the other part is that when I look at somebody and I get to know them, I can be like, okay, so here's where you are, here's where you want to be. Here's how we create the conditions because we're not gonna get there. You know, like I didn't jump into I'm gonna uh, you know, like run a marathon every day. Like I started off with like, I'm gonna start off with 20 minutes of exercise and it's gonna be a walk, but I'm gonna commit to that every single day. And that's really where I feel like one of my strengths are, and that's where I feel like I can take my own transformation and I can transfer it and I can say, I'm gonna transfer it to you. And here's how you are gonna make your own transformation.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Wow, I love the way you just broke that down, and it's it's so correct in just how you explain that because again, the duality of what you were just to explain is like it's like you're the teacher and the student as you're trying to convince yourself, like you're you're bargaining with yourself, like trying to create uh a compromise, right? And so I love that. Is that what it looks like when you go into the classroom? Working with these teachers and students, is that what it what it look looks like?

SPEAKER_05

So I I really try to meet teachers with where they're at, and so I'll ask them because teachers have different levels of comfort. So with one of my coaching clients, she is always like, stop me in the moment. I want like I learn best by like interrupt me, give me a pointer right then and there. Yeah, and so I work with her that way, and so you know, she'll be doing something and she'll kind of look at me and I can see that it's not going the way she wants, and I'll just say, pause, and I'll like run up and I'll be like, Here's what I want you to do like do this, this, and this right now.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And then she does it and she's just like, Yeah, that's exactly. And then afterwards, then we can debrief it. With other teachers that I work with, they want more of me to observe them and then to give them some suggestions. And so in that case, you know, I'll say when I was observing, you had the students on the Rug for 15 minutes during around minute eight, uh, six of your first graders started rolling on the floor. And then we have more of a conversation. So, what does that tell you about this? You know, like, and so we start having conversations. So it really is flexible in the sense of what's going to make that person because I I could come in and I could say, here's the best way to coach. However, if it's not the best way for them to learn, they're not going to be able to take any of the advice that I'm giving them. So and I really do want it to be a partnership to say, what works best for you? How can we go about this together?

Principles That Work For All Ages

SPEAKER_02

Right. Wow, I love it. And I I I love I knew this was going to be an amazing interview, but like this is just blows me away. Like what you're saying. And again, I'm so fascinated. And like I told you before, I'm nerding out, right? I'm nerding as you're listening. I'm taking mental notes myself on how I can improve and get better in my craft. But you said something that really resonated with me. And this is my mantra as well. I try to stick to this. Uh, but when you said that, you know, part a big part of it is is is seeing, I can't put it like you put it, so I'm gonna paraphrase. Well, you said something to the effect of of you know, the the students are not the finished product yet, right? So you have to be able to see, kind of envision where they can become be and what they can become. Um, as a coach, my background is in coaching. A lot of coaching is that I I see a kid who can't uh dribble a basketball, right? I can't get discouraged, I have to implement certain skills and drills to help them learn how to dribble a basketball. Even with teaching, right, and working with the students, like being able to help them see the fact that they can get an A. If they're an F student, well, coach, how can I get an A? So a big part of it is what you said. When it comes to teachers, like how do you get them to buy into that, to believe that, especially if they're working with a student who's always disruptive, who's who doesn't listen, who can't do the work. How do you get them to buy into that belief that hey, this student can become you know, this a student or this transformational student? How do you get them to buy into that?

SPEAKER_05

Well, I feel like I'm kind of giving away my secret sauce, but I'll I'll tell you.

SPEAKER_02

Um Well, you don't have to.

Finding Your Why And Pivots

SPEAKER_05

No, no, no. Um, I the first thing I always when when a teacher is is saying, you know, like, oh, I have this heavy hitter or here's what's going on, and if I just didn't, da-da-da-da-da, I always will start and I'll say, tell me three things that you know about, I'm gonna use your name. Tell me three things that you know about Jason outside of school. Like, what are his interests? What is he good at? What does he do? And if a teacher can't tell me, then I say, that's your first job. Have some conversations and figure that out. Because as soon as you start making that actual connection to this is a student who does thrive in some area, who is able, who has interests, who has passions, who has uh finds joy in different things. That's what allows us to start to unlock that. And the way that once I've done that, then I can say, okay, so um, an example that I have from one person that I coached recently is I asked that question, they didn't know. I said, okay, I'm coming back next week. By next week, you need to know three things about the student that you can tell me outside of school. They shared with me that um one thing that they learned from the the student's parents is that the kid really liked to take things apart and try to put them back together or make make them better in some way. So whether it was, you know, like a broken remote or uh anything like that, like around the house, like the kid would either, if they had permission, they would take it apart, or they would try to, if something was broken, they would fix it. And so I said, okay, so now that we know that about that student, let's think about how can we use that and leverage that for other things that we're trying to do. So how could we take that and what could we, what could we have that student reading right now? And they were like, I don't know. And I was like, what about like a Lego instruction set? And they were like, oh, and I was like, okay, so now we're getting on board with with reading. And so really kind of pointing out some of those things and just having them stop and make a true human-to-human connection first, that then really allows us to buy in, allows a lot of people to buy in. And then the second thing that I often will do is I'll say to them, like, oh, I can relate exactly to what that kid is doing. Like just the other day, I had this experience happen. Have you ever had that? And they're like, Yeah, I have. And I'm like, so can you see how if you had this happen to you and you were being told that you needed to sit on the rug in crisscross applesauce style, and you had to sit there for 25 minutes and all of these different things? Can you see how you would be really frustrated and how you might be um uh throwing books or you know, like picking books off the shelf or something? They were like, yeah. And I'm like, okay, so now we have that human-to-human connection and we're not vilifying the kid anymore. And now we can start getting into the belief of like, okay, so now what can we do to really help the student to thrive? Because what we want is a good partnership between the teacher and the student, not not either one having more power.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Wow, that's so amazing. And I love what you said. You're you're you're humanizing the student, you know. And I I I love what you said. And and for anyone listening, okay, this is not you, you're getting this information free as this you listen to this podcast. But if you want the real deal, if you want Sarah to come to your school or to your organization, she she's gonna charge. So she she gave us a free nugget right there. But I got your back, sir. Don't worry about it, right? Don't worry about it. You're you're giving out this information. This is this is gold, this is amazing. And I again, I can see how you're transforming these classrooms, how you're instilling hope and belief in the teachers and the students. And it's so amazing. Again, as I listened to you say this stuff, again, I'm I'm thinking about the schools that I go into on a daily basis. Again, thinking about teachers right now, even as we speak, thinking about teachers who are on the verge of quitting, of giving up. I'm sure you've seen that before. You've seen teachers who are like uh probably a classroom away from like quitting and giving up. Like, what what does that do to you? And when do you when you see that? What what like what's your response or what what in what makes you like want to go in there and try and change that?

SPEAKER_05

Well, I I mean what what makes me want to do that is I'm like, we need really good teachers in the schools, and we have a lot of really good teachers in the schools. You know, we can find stories about teachers who are not so good, but for every single one of those stories, I can tell you three teachers who I've worked with personally who are really good. And so I what makes me want to do that is I'm like, I want to keep teachers in the classroom. Teachers went into teaching because they loved that art and they loved that um really just that whole career idea. And I want to make sure that teachers can do it in a way that feels reasonable. And so when that's happening, my first goal, like if somebody says, you know, like I just don't know if I can make it to the next break or to the weekend or till tomorrow, my first thing is just to hype them up and just to say, okay, what would make tomorrow one percent better so that you would want to, that you would want to stay tomorrow? Just one percent. We're not looking for 100%. Let's, let's, let's make it really small. And then the next thing I do is I go directly down to the school leader and I'm like, hey, if you've got one teacher like this, this is the tip of the iceberg. So we can see one teacher. I bet you could have a whole lot more. As we know, the iceberg effect, you know, there's a lot more underneath the water that we can't see. So we need to be doing something. Same thing as what I do with students. I say, so here's what I want you to do. I want you to write down three to five questions, and I want you to go out and I want you to find five staff members and talk to them. And these questions are not earth-shattering, they're just authentic and sincere. How's your day going? How's your week going? What's one thing that's made you smile in the past week? You know, something small like that, but again, humanizing it and getting them back in touch because we don't necessarily, especially when a teacher is really close and feeling really burnt out, they're too overwhelmed. If a leader comes in and says, What can I do to help you? They're just like, uh, I don't know, you know, like take 50% of my students out of this room, uh, give me a 500% pay increase, uh, six more personal days, you know, like, but they don't really know, like in that moment, they don't know what, you know, that they're like, new pencils aren't gonna help. Like, I don't know what would help. And so in that moment, we need to start more at the humanizing piece and just say, like, hey, just wanted to say thanks so much for coming today. I know it's really tough.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

How did today go? You know, and starting there can be really powerful. So I think that that's the number one way is is when I see a teacher like that, I'm like, we need to have a bigger conversation because if it's one teacher, I can guarantee it's more than one teacher in the building that's feeling that way. And that's really where we need to start addressing the culture issue of the school.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. And I I love how you call yourself, well, uh you you do this. I don't know if you call yourself coach, but I can see it, even as we have this conversation, even as you're taking me inside the schools and the rooms, like you're literally coaching. Um, and and it's so amazing. And again, as a coach, as a former uh former coach, former athlete, uh, when I see it, I'm like, uh yes. And then when you were talking earlier, when you were talking about how you were breaking down, just gonna put it like this breaking down film, you're taking you're taking a teacher through like certain things, then you're rewinding and letting them see their mistakes on video. I'm like, yeah, she's the real deal, she's a coach, right? She's changing, you're you're turning schools that were losing into winners, like you're helping them uh create uh create a championship culture, if I can put it like that, in simple terms, right? So that's so amazing. I want to ask you this question, okay? And so I get a lot of flack sometimes for being Mr. Positive, right? And when I go into schools, people are like, Oh, here comes Mr. Positive, and like this this that pie in the sky attitude, that optimistic attitude is not gonna work with these kids that are always fighting, that are cussing each other out, that throwing pencils off. You know, I get that, I get a lot of pushback sometimes with that. Yeah, but when it comes to you, and you know the the the you know teachers sometimes can be very cynical at times, right? They need practical stuff, right? Do you ever get teachers or schools say, like, oh, here comes Sarah, Mrs. Positive with this pie in the sky approach and all these she wants us to be miss the optimistic and all do you ever get people who want like push back to to that and like I need something more practical or something that'll really like work? This positive stuff really doesn't sit well with me. Like, I don't think it's gonna work. You ever get that?

SPEAKER_05

Oh yeah, oh yeah, and I feel like so many what's that?

SPEAKER_02

I was saying it's good to know somebody else though.

Seeing Potential Before It’s Visible

SPEAKER_05

Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah. And I feel like my number one thing is is I have I have then started saying to people, give me 30 minutes. Yeah, yeah, give me 30 minutes and in this PD, and if you don't like it, and like sometimes I'll even like I'll give them in some cases, I've given them like a piece of paper. I'm like, just hold up this piece of paper. And if you hold up this piece of paper, you're telling me like this is a swing and a miss, and I will adjust. But usually I let them know I have so many practical strategies in here. And I always started off just by saying to people, you're going to get what you put into this experience. And so I'm going to present information. I am not an expert in every single person's classroom. So I am happy to talk about an individual student or a group of students or a grade level with leaders, you know, like especially at the district level, I am happy to talk about this type of teacher or this group of teachers. However, I am not an expert because the first thing that we need to have is we need to have a relationship. So let me build a relationship with you. And if you feel like then afterwards, if you still are feeling like you're not getting any strategies after about 30 minutes, let me know. I have never once, knock on wood, I have never once had somebody hold up a paper or anything like that. I will tell you though, when I worked for this nonprofit organization, my first time going into this, um, I was in a school in New York. And I watched this man and this woman walk into my section. And the backstory is that this other presenter had been coming to this district for like 10 years. And so like they knew this other presenter really well. And so I see this man and this woman walk in, the man leaves, and I'm just kind of like, okay, like I don't really know what's going on there. The woman walks up to me and she says, Listen, I've been teaching longer than you've been alive. And that was my principal. And he literally had to drive me here and drop me off because he knew if I had my own car, I would leave. This is what she's saying to me before the session even starts. It's my first like day on the job of being out there and presenting. And so I'm just like, okay, like here we go. And I'm like, thank you so much for your honesty. I'm gonna check back with you. By lunchtime that afternoon, I was shaking in my shoes, but I went up to her and I was just like, I'd love some honest feedback. Not just is this going okay, but tell me what is one thing that's resonated with you and what's two things that you'd like to see me do differently. Because I wanted to stack, I wanted to let her stack the deck. And she told me a positive thing, and then she said, um, one thing that she said was like, it was something like you touch your hair too much, or something like that. And I was just like, duly noted. And then she said, I wish I had a second thing. And she was like, I really, really, really want to have a second thing. And so I feel like a lot of times it's it's again meeting people there, you know, and saying, you know, I will be quite honest and say, I have not always been this positive. And there are a lot of days I have to work really hard still to feel positive. Um, and for me, I've figured out what that is. You know, like for me, I have to go for a run in the morning. And when I go for a run in the morning, it just I say it sets my brain straight. And without that, I would not be as positive. I would not be able to look at the day as positively as I always can. However, I think when I get into with a group of people, I can say, yeah, you are gonna hear a lot of positive, but also you're gonna get a lot of strategies. So let's hold on and give me a half hour to before you reserve judgment and then we can talk after that.

Coaching In The Moment Vs Debrief

SPEAKER_03

You are listening to the Mic'ed Up and Motivated podcast with Jason A. Dixon and featured guest Sarah Fillion.

SPEAKER_02

All right, Sarah, this has been such an amazing conversation. I'm enjoying every minute of it. Now I just want to take a pause and give you the floor and see if you have any questions that you want to ask me. I mean, I'm not gonna be as entertaining as you are, but again, if are there any questions you want to ask me?

SPEAKER_05

Well, first I just wanted to ask you, based on our our last question, what do you do when people are saying, Oh, great, here you know, here he is, here's Jason, like, oh, we gotta be all all pie in the sky. How do you deal with that? What's your secret?

SPEAKER_02

That's a great question. I I I really attack it head on. I attack it head on, and I kind of like what you said. I I I I'm pretty up front with people. I'm not always positive, but what uh then I kind of retort with the like this this question, what what do I stand again by not being being authentically myself, right? I'm not gonna come in here and be somebody different than who I am. And so I try to mix the positivity with some practicality, you know, something that that will make people laugh, make them like relate to me. Understand that there are tough days, there are students that you know I quite literally just want to like turn my back on and say, I'm not dealing with you today. I can't deal with it today, right? But again, like the energy that you put out is the energy that you're gonna get back. And I'm sure you know this, right? With working with students, especially. Like if you come in there with an attitude, you come in there um uh just upset and bringing like whatever happened to you outside of the school into that building, into that room, like the students are gonna see that, they're gonna feel that, they're gonna reciprocate that. I feel like it's the same way with adults. Um, and I have a saying, like uh I have a saying saying make a connection before correction. Yes. Connection before correction. So my job is to connect before I try to teach you anything. And I'm sure you heard the saying also kids don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Yeah, and so those are two things that I really try to live by. Like, I want to connect with you before I correct you, and I want to show you that I truly, truly do care. Like, if you get nothing else out of this conversation, this talk, this PD, whatever it may be, I want you to genuinely know that I love you and I care about you, and I want to see you win.

SPEAKER_04

I love that. Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_02

That's that's my secret sauce. I like it. Well, so it sounds like you with that, which means that we need to be doing some work together. I agree.

SPEAKER_05

Let's go. Let's go.

SPEAKER_02

Let's go.

SPEAKER_05

All your listeners, we're ready. We're ready to do a team.

Humanize Students To Unlock Growth

SPEAKER_02

We're ready, Sarah and Jason hitting the road together. Yeah, but but uh Sarah, again, you are so amazing. And I wanna I want to ask you this question because I want we're we're gonna talk a little bit about your journey now and how you got to where you are now. And I love to kind of take people back. Um, you were talking to me about how you were watching a past podcast about the inner child, right? What would the younger Sarah be? Well, well, let me rephrase this question. I'm gonna I'm gonna provide this with uh uh preface and say this. I believe that um we as adults should be we should be the the person that we needed as young people. Right? And then so people are always asking me, like, how did you uh become a youth motivational speaker? How did you become a life coach and all those things? I just tell them, like, I just became the person that I needed when I was 13, 14, 15 years old, right? So who is the person that Sarah needed when she was a teenager, a young adult, and who is she now? Did she become that person that she needed back then?

SPEAKER_05

I feel like yes, I did become her. And what I would say is who Sarah really needed at like right around 13, 14 years old was a true best friend, somebody who just would be there with her at all times. Um I I struggled with friendships in uh elementary and middle and even in high school, where I think I came on too strong and I was like, let's be best friends. And I wanted to get really deep. I love deep conversations. I love just really getting to know people, really building that sense of connection. And I feel like in uh 13, 14 years old, um, it was my first experience with grief because my grandfather passed away very unexpectedly. And I remember going back to school and it was just this weird moment where I just felt so alone and nobody wanted to talk to me and nobody asked any questions about, you know, like, are you doing okay? You know, and I had missed some school. And I I feel like I just needed somebody who was just going to show up and just be like, hey, I see you. And I think that that is who I really try to be is I I can I can sit with you whether you are angry or sad or happy and you're celebrating, like I'll be there. And I just want to let you know, like I see you and I'm here with you. I'm not I'm not going to try to fix anything. I'm not going to try, I mean, unless you want me to, but you know, like about so many times, like, and that's what I really needed at 1314 was I just needed somebody just to be like, I'll sit here with you. I'll I'll I'll sit and just be with you. We can listen to music, we can talk, we can cry, we can, you know, you can do whatever. I'll just hold that space for you. And that's what I really try to do now.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Wow, that's amazing. And I can I can definitely see that too. As you were explaining how the younger version of yourself needed a best friend. And now when you go into these classrooms and work with these students, the the teachers, especially, but students also, you're becoming like their best friend, their confidant. That person that they can really lean on during times of struggle. Because as you know, it can be very vulnerable to express to someone like you're you're perceived that I'm talking about the teachers, you're the experts, right? You're not supposed to have any flaws. This is your job. You're supposed to be able to do it to perfection. And then you're meeting these people at a moment where it's like, okay, I'm exposing something to you, I'm being vulnerable, I'm confiding in you. And here's this best friend coming, like putting their arm around, and it's okay. We're gonna get through this together. Like I that's what you're doing. That's so amazing. Like you're becoming their best friend.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and that's really all and again, a lot of it is just so much, so much of human needs are just being seen. I was in a classroom earlier this week. And as soon as I walked in, I had three students, and I haven't been in that classroom now for two weeks. And I had two, I three first graders who came up to me and they were just like, Miss Sarah, will you sit by me? Will you play this game at recess with me? And they just wanted that connection. And I feel like, like what you were saying earlier, connection is just so powerful. And I feel like at this point in time right now, it can be so overlooked because we've got teachers have all this curriculum and leaders have all of these mandates and initiatives that they're trying to lead. And so, really, what I say is just put everything down for five, 10 minutes and make a sincere connection and watch at how much growth happens just from that one area, just from that connection.

Addressing Teacher Burnout Systemically

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, that's so true. That is so true. So talk a little bit about um your human moment. You know, you spend a lot of time trying to get the teachers to just dehumanize themselves, trying to see the the students, their students, uh dehumanize their students. Talk about a human moment that it really was almost like a life-offering, life-changing moment for you. That really kind of made you say, Okay, all right, this this life is lifeing right now. This is tough right now. I don't know if I'm gonna get like really get through this moment.

SPEAKER_05

Ooh. Um, well, I think, you know, I think again, one of my earlier times was I can tell you every single thing that happened on the morning that my grandfather passed away because he'd gone into the hospital. And my whole plan was I had woken up early. I I had a job cleaning an office. And so I'd woken up really early to go and see, um, to go and get that done. And then I was gonna go up to the hospital. I had my bike route planned um from how to get from point A to point B. I had told my parents everything. And I can tell you, like, I can still see vividly the moment that my father walked in and he was just really quiet. And I was just like, something's not okay. And as soon as he told me what was going on, and it was my mom's father who passed away, it was this moment where it just felt like every domino crashed. You know, like you had been building this huge, beautiful structure, and and it was like dominoes from three ends got pushed in and were all collapsing. And I feel like that whole summer was so much up in the air and so much of trying to find myself and trying to figure out how do I navigate all of these different things. I could see my mom was really upset. So it was this moment of like, am I allowed to be upset or not? You know, so there's all of these questions that were coming. And I feel like that that is a lot as a 13-year-old to really hold on to and to process. I'm very fortunate in the sense that my mom uh was a teacher and she was able to see through my BS right away, and she was able to kind of be like, let's get you like what you need and and to support me. I feel like that is one really truly human moment, though, where we all experience grief on some level. And I think grief is such a universal feeling. And if it's not even about a person, you know, like for a while I was um I got into rescuing really old, um, small dogs who didn't have a lot of time left, but needed a quiet house because I have a very quiet house. And so um I had a couple of them, and for over three years, we said goodbye to five different dogs. And and each time that grief just would hit again. And it was, you know, in one case, I was like, I've only had this dog for nine months, but I had such a connection with that dog. And so I feel like anytime that you experience some of those really core um feelings like grief, like true anger, like true um happiness or joy, I feel like all of those are really humanizing moments. And what we have to do is we have to remind ourselves that without feeling the grief, we won't know how good the joy feels.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Wow. And that's a part that we really have to hold on to is, you know, things taste sweeter when you haven't had sweet in a while, or when you've been having sour for a long time, and then you start eating sweet, you're like, wow, it's so good. And I feel like that is, it becomes this balance of, and I don't really think that balance is the right word, but it's it's the part that shows us, it's almost the mirror of when we experience this, the opposite is also a really strong feeling as well. And we have to make sure that we hold on to the joy because think about how long we hold on to anger, think about how long we hold on to grief. And those are all okay things. You know, it's it's okay in society to hold on to grief and to go through it for months or years and to use that almost as an excuse. And yet, going back to our positivity piece of why isn't it okay for us to show up and just be like, I had this really joyful thing happen six months ago and I'm still riding that high? You know, like let's hold on to that, like let's keep going with that because that's the way that we balance this out. And that's to me, what really makes life worth living is that we get to hold on to these moments and we get to keep revisiting these moments again and again. Yeah, not just the negative ones.

Winning Skeptics With Practical Tools

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, wow, that is amazing. That that is amazing. Have you ever uh have you ever met a teacher in that moment that you just described in that moment? Either that moment of grief or that moment of like feeling like, okay, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't really feel like I'm good at this job, or even just a human moment, a life moment. Like, have you met a teacher in that moment? And like, what did you do to help them get through it?

SPEAKER_05

So I've met I've met teachers in all different facets of life. I've met teachers who just had their children um unalive themselves and they're trying to work through that while they're teaching. I've met um last year, one of my most recent incidences is I was running an online course and it was all on well-being and really helping to ground yourself, being able to find joy, thinking about your mindset, being able to bring your best self to school. And one day she messaged, and this was all um asynchronous. So I wasn't really seeing on a day-to-day basis. However, they would write some things and they would share some notes with us. And she wrote to us and she said, Um, my mom passed away last week, and I have just been grieving so much. And I have to be honest and just say, this is the one thing that's really keeping me going right now. Yeah. And I was just like, wow, like to have to have that type of power of, you know, it's it reminds me of uh Spider-Man's um Uncle Ben, you know, like with great, with great power comes great responsibility. And I was like, I didn't even know that that was the power of this course. And I'm so glad it's living up and it's and it's holding its responsibility. And so we sent her flowers and we just said, Hey, we're so sorry to hear about your mom. And we know that she'd be so proud of what you're doing here, here, and here. And she wrote us back again and she was just like, I can't believe that somebody who's doing an online course would send me flowers. Yeah. But you know, like in addition to that, she was just like, You, and she said, You just made me feel like it's okay to feel my feelings and that it's okay to keep doing what I'm doing. And so I think in so many cases, that's the number one thing we can give that I can give to teachers, that I can give to leaders. I've met several leaders lately who have been like, I just don't know if I can keep going. And so I'll just say, well, let's talk about it. Like, what's what's going on? And then I'll just acknowledge it and just say, what you're saying and what you're feeling is absolutely true. Yeah, it is a hundred percent true, and you can absolutely feel these feelings.

SPEAKER_04

Right.

SPEAKER_05

No question. You don't have to defend it. Be angry, be upset, be frustrated, be whatever you want to be, and that is an okay feeling to feel.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And now then I think it becomes the like after we've processed that, then we can just go into again, like instead of trying to make things 50% better or 100% better, what would make things one percent better tomorrow? Or what's one small thing you can do tomorrow that'll bring you 30 seconds of joy? Maybe it's that you don't leave the office until you've taken one sip of hot coffee. The rest of the coffee might not get drunk hot. You know, like at least one sip. And if that's what will make you happy, then do it. And so it really becomes more of thinking around what is still in your control to to help you start moving away from where you are and where and more towards where you want to be. It doesn't have to be a huge step, it can just be one foot, one foot step.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. Oh man, you I I love this. You you're you're a superstar, Sarah. You really are. You you really are. I I wanted to ask, and I you know, I talk a lot about the the mask, especially when I you know going to schools and I talk about the masks that students put on when they come to the school, right? And and so you know, people think that the kid that's always getting sent out of class and getting suspended is really that kid, right? And he's just w he or she is just wearing a mask, right? And so how can we remove the mask? But I think what's often overlooked is the teachers are also putting on that mask when they're coming into the building, right? And so what you're talking about, you're giving them permission, you're empowering them to be okay with being not okay. You know, and and so I I love I love that that you have the ability to do that. So, which leads me to this question. Now you you referenced Spider-Man and Uncle Ben. Right? Does it ever feel like does it ever become burdensome? You know, this power that you have, this great ability that you have. Does it ever become burdensome for you? Does it ever become something that makes you like uh wish that I you could take a break, or sometimes you didn't have this ability?

SPEAKER_05

Um it doesn't, but I think a lot of that goes back to the whole the the saying that I'm now adopting that you gave me of uh transformation is transferable. And I feel like what I end up doing is I will check back with you. And as soon as I see that you're taking one step and that you're making one thing, then I'm like, he's gonna be okay. She's gonna be okay, they're gonna be okay, you know. And so I'm able to do that, and then I will follow up a little bit later on and just be like just checking in. How's it going?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

Host–Guest Role Reversal

SPEAKER_05

And usually what ends up happening is they're like, oh yeah, I've gained so much momentum in this new direction. And I'm like, perfect, that's exactly what it is. And so I feel like it's it's something that there are so many things that we can pick up and we can carry and we can bring around with us. And there are also things that we can set down. And it doesn't mean that we're setting it down and we're walking away and we're never remembering or coming back to it, but it just means we don't have to carry it on a day-to-day basis. And I think that that's the biggest thing that we can do as a gift to ourselves as well as to others that interact with us is I can sit here with you, I can feel this with you, and then I can put this down. What I can still do is I'm gonna remember to come back and check on you in a little while. But for right now, like this isn't mine to carry. And I think that that's like the most important thing. And it's not in any way, shape, or form saying I'm not sensitive to what people are going through, or that I, you know, slam a door in their face and say, no, you can't do that. It's more of just this is your journey. And I'm going to be here. And like you said, like I am going to coach you and I am going to, I will happily put out, point out what the next step is. I can't take that step for you, though. You have to be the one to take that step. And I think that's the biggest part is instead of me trying to do it for you, I'm saying, how can I empower you to do that? If that's where you want to go, I I can literally paint a yellow brick road for you, but I can't make you walk that road. You have to be willing to make walk that road. And so that's the way that I look at it and I say, I'm not going to get overburdened with it. With that said, of course I wish I had a magic wand where I could be like, all of schools get this and everything, you know, all teachers get this. I wish I could do that, but I know reality says I can't.

SPEAKER_02

Right, right. And and and then and the the the good thing about that is that if that were the case, we wouldn't need people like yourself. And I'm sure that is a much bigger blessing, a much bigger uh I don't know, it it's more gratifying to have you come in and help people realize that the answers are within. Like you can do this as opposed to just waving a magic line, right? Everybody will want that, the students will want that. I want to go from a C to an A and no, you have to put the work in. But you have to have somebody come in and kind of be that bridge to help them understand how to get to that other side. And that's you. That's that's you. So you come from a line of educators, right? You have yeah, like your mom was an educator, right? I think you said your grandmother was an educator. So I often think about this, right? I think about like when you're a legacy and you have people who've done this work before. I often wonder how those people who've done it before you think about like the person that's currently do it doing it. Do you ever get feedback on how, like, okay, sir, you need to do this? There's when you have educators who are in your family and they see you doing the work, you ever get that constructive feedback?

SPEAKER_05

Um, I haven't. So I can tell you a quick funny story, which is that um, so my mom brought me into her school. Uh, she had been talking about what I was doing when I first started working for the nonprofit. And uh her principal was like, Yeah, I'm interested in this. Let's let's have her in. And the night before I was going to go and present, my mom was really nervous. And, you know, she was saying, now some of my some of my colleagues can be like this, and some of the colleagues will say this, and da da-da-da-da-da. And she was really nervous for me. And she wanted, you know, she was kind of mama bear. She wanted to protect me. And I got a migraine. And so I was just like, I mom, like, I can't hear this. And she was like, Are you what can I do to help you? And I was like, it's fine. I was like, I'm gonna go to sleep for four hours. I will wake up, the presentation will be fine. And the next day, you know, she's sweating bullets in in the audience. And about at our first break, she said people just swarmed her and were just like, She's amazing, she's so good. And so my mom was just like, oh my gosh. And so since then, I've had an opportunity where she's come and she's watched me present a couple of times, and she is just, she's like you, she's a great hype woman. She's just like, That's my daughter, look what she's doing. Like, this is amazing. And so um, I feel like in all cases, and when I when my grandmother was alive and I would talk to her, she would just be like, That's amazing that you're doing that. Or like I would tell her stories when I was in the classroom and I'd be like, and here's what's going on now. And she'd be like, Wow, when I was in, when I taught, like, here's a story that I had, and it was never really a comparison, it was more of just like swapping stories. Um, so not really constructive criticism. It was all just kind of like, yeah, teaching really is hard. And I think that in that case, the legacy that has been amazing is all of these other people around me have been like, we know how hard being in education is. And so they're the first ones, you know. Like if someone was to say something and no one in my family has, but you know, if somebody in the family was to be like, oh, you're just a teacher, I would, I know I would have all of these women who are also teachers would be like, no, no, no, like that's not what you're gonna say. Like, we can tell you how it is.

Becoming Who Younger You Needed

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you're you're so much more than that, and that's a an amazing story, you know. When especially when it's your parents, you know, and they they see that this path that you've gone down is like you weren't just it wasn't just a pie dream or you weren't just you know dreaming or being reckless with your professional career, right? This was uh like a calling, this was something I was really meant to do. And then when you you the person who may have doubted you or whatever, they get to see it in real time, and then they affirm you and they're like, Okay, yes, he is good, he is the real deal. That is a beautiful feeling. I I had that that that myself. I experienced that I that when I when I switched from uh being a sports reporter and uh pivoted and decided to start my own business and uh speak to youth and work with uh adults who work with youth. My dad kind of doubted me at the beginning, like I was crazy, right? I had a pretty good career as a sports writer. But then as he kind of saw me evolve and grow and um get better at my craft, like he became my number one fan. Like, and he's like like your mom, right? He will defend me to no end if somebody tries to say something about like the work that I'm doing, like so it's so I I know that and it's it's so arm wrestle him for your opening acts, let him know. Oh yeah, there you yeah, there you go. And my dad won't back down from a challenge, so so he might take you up on that. Seriously, seriously. So, but you are amazing at what you do, and just and so I know uh uh a TED talk is coming. If it hasn't come already.

SPEAKER_04

It hasn't, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

It's coming, it's coming. I'm gonna give you an opportunity and a book is coming. I can so you know I wanna know, like, again, as you look at the landscape of of education and and you see the teachers who are battling and going through different things, like what would that talk to me about? What what like what's a message, a universal message that you think teachers need to hear right now in this climate?

SPEAKER_05

I think teachers need to hear you are doing an amazing job. And if we can take a big step back and look at the 30,000-foot view, you have a ton of responsibility on you because you are not just trying to get through your reading curriculum or in high school, you know, like your whatever your core curriculum and core standards are. You are trying to raise the next level of community. You are trying to, you are responsible and you are tasked with giving inspiration to students so that they can pursue their dreams, whether it's becoming a doctor or a football player or a ballerina or a sports writer or a presenter, whatever it is. Yeah, that's what you're tasked with. And the the number one way that we get there is through connection. And the more that we can stop and we can look and we can see, like at some point, Jason was motivated to become a writer and to believe that, oh, yeah, I could write for sports. You know, I could take what I really love to do with sports and my athletic background, and I can now use my writing skills and I can combine these. Same with me, you know, like somebody saw in me and pushed me to be like, you know what? You like to work with others and help them see the best in them. And you have no fear of getting up and delivering a keynote or doing something like that. And so that's where teachers' real magic lies. And I feel like if we can hold on to that and we can remember that, then it makes it a lot easier to be like, oh shoot, I didn't get through my phonics lesson and my math lesson, and we're four pages behind on this read aloud and da-da-da-da-da-da. Those lists are always going to exist. I've never met anyone who creates a to-do list who truly gets through their full to-do list on a daily basis. You know, you might hit it once, but it's not something that you hit regularly. And I feel like if we just take the step back as teachers and we just breathe into how can I take this opportunity through reading, through my core class, and instead have a really good conversation with the students so I can see, oh, hey, you're really good at math and you really like geometry. Have you thought about construction? Have you thought about this, this other, you know, all of the different ways that you could take and you could apply that? Really using that, that's where their magic is. And that's what I feel like teachers need to be reminded of.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

Grief, Joy, And Holding Space

SPEAKER_05

It's not something that they've forgotten. You know, I there's the catchphrase so many times right now of like, oh, you just need to remember your passion and find your passion. I'm like, no, teachers know where their passion is. It's like underneath that huge stack over there. You know, like they still have it. They just feel like they're drowning with all this other stuff. And I feel like if we can instead say, I'm not trying to keep every plate spinning. Instead, I'm going back and I'm looking at the 30,000-foot view and I'm saying, this is the most important thing. How does that then make me show up during my lesson? How does that then make me show up when kids are walking into my classroom or when they're leaving my classroom? What am I saying? What am I doing? Because those are the interactions that are the most powerful and are going to have the biggest impact on students.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Wow. That is so beautiful. I love what you just say. That that does sound like a TED talk, right? That just that really does. Hey, no, that is amazing. I want to be front.

SPEAKER_05

Do you have a TED talk?

SPEAKER_02

Wow. Wow. Yes, yes, and I'm still worth shopping that right now. Would you know what? Could you ask me that question? You're when when I I get it fully formed, you you're gonna be the first one to hear it and and and we're gonna see get your thoughts and test it out, right? But I know I would I would wanna I would really wanna talk about how I know it's cliche, but how uh teachers really do have the power to to shape um these kids in in a positive way. And like you said, when you said that passion is buried under that stack of papers like that is visual. Like you advocating for the teachers. You know you have a uh you may have an administrator or somebody you're not doing this you're behind on the less plan. Where's your passion? Where's your go your your your your enthusiasm right? And here you come now it's right there under that stack of papers under that bad evaluation I think whatever it is. Yeah like but no helping them realize that you you still have the power to do that. And like I think you said it earlier like everybody was shaped and impacted by an educator at some point in time in their lives otherwise they wouldn't be doing this work. So helping them helping them see that you can be that educator. In fact you are that educator. Now you just gotta start to believe in and walk in that yeah right so yeah so that's amazing and thank you thank you for like giving me that shit like we're like sparring partners you know I love it I love it yeah yeah so so I want to ask I want to ask two final questions and they kind of go hand in hand okay I want to ask the first question is what's next for Sarah what is next for what's on the horizon for you what are those goals those dreams those aspirations what's next for you and then I'm gonna get get have one final question after that.

SPEAKER_05

All right so what's next for me is I I really want to um just continue to expand positive school solutions so that we are offering high quality professional development that every teacher in every school can get and that we you know like I have all of these different ideas in my head of how we can have different systems in place so that a school in an affluent district actually ends up helping to fund a school that isn't in as affluent of a district so that we can make PD equitable for everyone because what we have to offer benefits every single teacher. It's not just for teachers in uh this type of district or in a private school you know it's it's everyone and so my my what's next and I guess my huge aspirational goal is I want positive school solutions to be in every single classroom and in every single school. And um that's really what I'm what I'm working on. And I want it to happen in a way that is natural and sustainable because I want it to be growing with me so that it doesn't become oh we have so many schools we're so flooded we can't give high quality relationship building with our schools. I don't want that I want it to be we're gonna keep growing and we're gonna keep expanding as it as it fits into our our um growth pattern.

Coaching Through Crisis And Small Wins

SPEAKER_02

Yeah yeah I love that I love that you know what I think I hear a certain region or demographic like a place I I think I hear Detroit calling right so we can so we can prove that positive solutions can work anywhere right in the in the I'm telling you I I really believe that like it really can. And you kind of asked started to answer my second question but I want to give you an opportunity to expound upon your answer. You talked about positive solutions and and and how you want to continue to build on that how can people reach you and get in touch because I know as people listen they're gonna want to bring this this this amazing woman in um that's doing amazing work positive solutions how can people get a hold of you and what are schools getting when they bring you and positive solutions in great thanks for thanks for this question.

SPEAKER_05

So um you can our website is Positiveschoolsolutions dot com.com I would love to chat i i'm um I'm probably one of the worst salespeople for my business um but you know I I would love to just have a chat just to hear where is your school where are you um working with individuals working with leaders working with schools and what they get is really they get to be heard and then we get to figure out what is your next step. And so it's not a cookie cutter um process because what one school might need depending on where they are is they might need really to focus in on the adult well-being whereas in another school they might really have a really strong and solid adult community and in which case we're gonna really explore how do we make sure that we're getting the skills in into everyone's hands and how are we making sure that all learning spaces are are are being elevated. And so um it really is starts with a conversation so that we can hear what are your needs and then we can say here are some of the solutions that we can offer you.

SPEAKER_02

Oh wow that's awesome Sarah thank you so much thank you for coming on you're doing amazing work and I'm excited to see you continue to grow and flourish same we're gonna have to have like a reunion sometime and uh absolutely maybe maybe when we go on tour we can we can do a podcast live has that there we go yes yes it's yes together I love that I love that you're gonna take the lead on that I'm gonna sit back and and just let you take the lead so oh man again thank you so much Sarah you're awesome thank you keep up the great work oh wait and because you wanted yes I drink from the largest uh coffee mug ever that's symbolic right there that is symbolic the of the great work that you're doing so again thank you so much I appreciate you appreciate you thank you for listening to this episode of the Mic'Up and Motivated Podcast you have people waiting on you to cross over to the other side so you can reach back and grab them