EDUCATOR INSIGHTS

Hello Insightful Educators

One of my favorite things to do is grab coffee with someone and catch up on the books, podcasts, TED talks, articles, shows, and people influencing them.

So, alongside the full newsletter, I push out a weekend edition of insights I think you will find influential in your journey as an Insightful Educator.

Think of it as you and I grabbing coffee and jamming on what’s influencing us at this time.

Feel free to reply with what you are finding helpful and invite a friend to subscribe! The more people around the table…the better!

Book I’d Recommend

Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World by Tony Wagner

In a world that desperately needs fresh thinking and courageous leadership, Dr. Tony Wagner invites us to reimagine how we cultivate creativity, purpose, and agency in young people. Through rich storytelling and research, Creating Innovators explores how parents, educators, and mentors can nurture the conditions that allow curiosity to take root and meaningful innovation to flourish. This book is both a challenge and an encouragement—a call to move beyond compliance-driven systems and toward learning environments where students are inspired to ask bold questions and pursue work that matters. For school leaders seeking to grow future-ready learners, this is essential, energizing reading. This is one of my FAVORITE books…and one that had a deep impact on the creation and shape of Odyssey Leadership Academy

KEY QUOTES FROM CREATING INNOVATORS:

“The world doesn’t care what you know; what the world cares about is what you do with what you know.”
A clarion call for educators to prioritize applied learning, creativity, and real-world problem solving over rote knowledge.

“Play, passion, and purpose: these are the forces that drive young innovators.”
A reminder that when we design learning around intrinsic motivation and meaning, we unlock the potential for transformative growth—in our students and in our schools.

In a soon to be AI saturated world, we no longer need better test takers. What we desperately need are creators, innovators, designers, and thought leaders ready to lead a human-centered, purpose-driven vision of a life worth living…and this book can help get us there

Grab your copy here: https://amzn.to/4m7EKX5

Thought I’m Pondering

WORDS HAVE SIGNIFICANT POWER AND IMPACT

In his book, Words Can Change Your Brain, Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at Thomas Jefferson University, writes:

A single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress

Think about that

A single word has the power to influence us deep down in the marrow of our DNA

The power of a single word….

Words impact us deep down at the genetic level, harnessing the ability to influence even our physical and emotional states

The words spoken over us literally cast spells (that is why it is called “spelling” after all) that weave the very fabric of our lives: the thoughts we have about ourselves, the “self talk” going on inside our heads, the constant tape of internal dialogue that fuels how we see ourselves and what we believe to be true about us.

Here’s how we as educators can use the “magic” of our words to weave spells of blessing, hope, encouragement, and purpose in the lives of our students:

What I’ve Been Up To

I just returned from keynoting and sharing on a panel at VELA CON in Washington, D.C. VELA CON is a gathering of those looking to do something big, bold, innovative, and new in education…and I loved engaging and rubbing shoulders with those doing brave things upstream in education

My Book Disappeared Fast!

My book literally jumped off the shelf within the first hour at VELA CON!!

I was blown away by the response to my book on helping educators think upstream when it comes to creating new models of learning for schools and kids. The entire supply was gone almost before I finished my keynote!!!!

If you were there and didn't get a chance to grab it...or just want one for yourself, you can purchase a copy of "Quit Asking Permission" here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/quit-asking-permission-an-edupreneurs-field-guide-to-starting-something-new-in-education-scott-martin/1147911026?ean=9798319643520

Join the Journey

I’m in the midst of creating some really powerful resources to inspire, uplift, encourage and bring together visionary, upstream educators and leaders just like you to curate a community of practice ready to change the narrative of education!

These resources will include

• Digital ebook to help school leaders flourish and thrive as they foster human-centered education at their sites

• Video courses aimed at offering inspired strategy for those ready to do something new and unique in education

• Curated cohorts of like-minded, like-hearted visionaries to come together and learn with and from one another

• Mountain retreats aimed at re-centering the work of education in human and communal flourishing

If that sounds interesting…hit me up!

Follow and share this newsletter and join me on this mission to reimagine education!!!

Until next time….

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