Only Relate! We live in a world of limitless opportunities for connection, yet we are lacking in authentic human relationships. This podcast is aimed at teachers, yet applicable to parents, students, and anyone seeking answers to the following questions:
How do we ensure that we are truly reaching others? How does our relationship with ourselves impact our relationships with our friends, colleagues, and family? What can we learn from the school classroom as we engage in the “classroom of life”?
Join 25-year International Educator Nat Damon in conversations about what it means to truly relate to other human beings. Through mindfulness. Through kindness and compassion. Through building bridges of trust. Through using our words with intention. Through navigating change, which is truly the only constant in life.
Guests include educators, school reformers, advocates of education, spiritual leaders, business leaders and coaches, and others who all share an appreciation for the relationships in their personal and professional lives.
Reach. Teach. Talk. with Nat Damon promises to inspire through authentic conversation and engage the listener through insightful discussion designed to make you feel as if you are part of an exchange between friends. Stories form the basis of each episode, and helpful life lessons are the result.
Whether you are a teacher, a student, or just someone seeking deeper meaning in your day-to-day interactions with others, this podcast is for you.
41. ChatGPT in the Classroom: Savior of Education or the Worst Thing Ever? (Spencer Burrows,11th Grade Dean at Pacific Ridge School in Carlsbad, California, as well as Teach Plus of California policy fellow)
40. The Cherishing Classroom (Fr. Gregory Boyle, Jesuit Priest and Founder, Homeboy Industries, Inc.)
39. Disconnecting to Connect (John Kalapos, Associate Head of School, Buxton School - MA)
38. The Art of Possibility (Benjamin Zander, Music Director, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra)
37. Cultivating Positive Masculinity (Craig Wilkinson, Founder, Father a Nation, South Africa)
36. Boys as Relational Beings (Judy Y. Chu, Lecturer in Human Biology, Stanford University and Board Chair, Promundo)
35. Relational Positivity (Mike Erwin, (Co-Founder, The Positivity Project)
34. Finding our Selves through Sisu (Katja Pantzar, Helsinki-based Journalist, Author: Finding Sisu)
33. Relational Trust (Parker Palmer, Author: The Courage to Teach, educator and founder, The Center for Courage and Renewal)
32. Culturally Responsive Teaching Informs Relational Teaching (Zaretta Hammond, Teacher, educator and author of Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain)
31. Let the Children Play (Dr. Nancy Carlsson-Page, Professor of early childhood education, Lesley University (MA), author, Let the Children Play)
30. Meaning-Making in the Remote Classroom (Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang [USC] and Dr. Rebecca Gotlieb [UCLA]
29. The Finnish Miracle (Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, Finnish education expert, author Finnish Lessons 2.0 and professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia)
28. To Listen is to Understand (André Lee, Thought-Leader and Filmmaker, The Prep School Negro)
27. “Listen” to Me (Erahm Christopher, Filmmaker)
26. The Hidden Power of Listening (Dr. Graham Bodie, Professor, Consultant, University of Mississippi)
25. Compassion in the Classroom of Life (Jimi Slattery, Executive Director, Compassion Matters)
24. The Change Cycle (Lorri Palko, Executive Coach: Love, Money, Purpose, LLC)
23. Rassias is Relational Teaching (Ann Diederich, Educator, Global Scholar)
22. Are We Lonely or Alone? (Rev. Janet Broderick, Priest, Writer, Ceramicist)
21. Discovering the Special in Our Needs (Susanna Peace Lovell, Life Coach for Special Needs Families)
20. The Tribal Classroom (Dr. Lou Cozolino, Professor, Pepperdine University, Writer - The Social Neuroscience of Education)
19. Constructive Candor (Drew Kugler, Leadership Coach, drewkugler.com)
18. Building the Remote Classroom (A Teacher’s Perspective) (Marc Rudajev, Educator)
17. Building a Strong SEL Connection with Brittany Collins (Author, Educator, Curriculum Designer)
16. Building a Thriving Classroom (Dr. Tyrone Howard, UCLA)
15. It’s Cool to be Kind (Ben Berger, The Kindness Movement)
14. Building a Growth Mindset Online (Hamish Mackenzie, Director, Digital Resilience, UK)
13. Making Remote Teaching Relational: Building the Online Classroom (Brad Rathgeber, Head of School, Oneschoolhouse.com)
12. Making Remote Teaching Relational: Building Empathy Online (Claire Goldsmith, Executive Director, Malone Schools Online Network)
11. Teacher Wellbeing (Adrian Bethune, TeacHappy, Inc.)
10. The Art of Teaching (Andria Zafirakou, 2018 Global Teacher of the Year)
9. Relationships Matter Most (Rob Loe, ED, The Relationships Foundation)
8. Teaching and Coaching (Alex Rosenblum, UNLV football, coach, US history teacher)
7. Mindfulness and Learning (Suze Schwartz, Founder, Unplug Meditation)
6. The Power of Belief (Brian Wogensen, English Teacher, Archer School for Girls)
5. Adolescent Health (Oona Hanson, Parent Coach)
4. Two Sides of Technology (Matthew Arnold, The Reboot)
3. The Call to Teach (Chip Williams, International Educator)
2. Build the Trust Bridge (Judy Mansfield, 45 year elementary school teacher)
1. Only Connect! (Eric Wlasak, Director Diversity/Inclusion, Village School)
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Arizona is my greatest gift…I remember when I first found out that my daughter was different, and that she would potentially have a different life trajectory than most families that I knew of. And I always love to have that trip down memory lane because it makes me appreciate so much what is right now. Which is, by the way, nothing I thought would be possible back then.
Read MoreThe key is to create an environment where everyone feels invested, like they're benefiting from it and a respected member of the tribe.
Read MoreIt’s not about you. It's about their story. Because they're the ones who have to change. Not you. You’re there to help them change. So make it about them.
Read MoreWe've actually had an increased interaction with parents...sometimes the student will be in the (parents’) office and mom or dad pops in unintentionally because they need to pick up a book or a sheet of paper or some document and they'll say, 'Hi, Mr Rudajev. How are you?
Read MoreWe need these emotional skills as much as we need content-based knowledge.
Read MoreThis is an opportunity to learn and engage and really start to get to know students in ways that many educators have never gotten to know their students. And this is where you can take the time out and not feel the pressure from the upcoming benchmark or not feel the pressure from the upcoming testing.
Read MoreA community is something that strengthens you…(it) has a certain sense of kindness, of empathy. By being together, working together, (being in community) can face the challenges from the outside world.
Read MoreIt’s about recognizing that students are more than what you see in front of you in the classroom. The students will want guidance and they still want those connections.
Read MoreCreate simple solutions. It will be more easy to create and add complexities in later than it will be to take away anything you're [over] creating now.
Read More[Teachers] have an advantage in having been 3/4 of the school year already in person with your students. You will be able to make the switch to online in a beautiful and seamless way because there is already a shared history and a deep relationship there.
Read MoreDuring that time I had this realization that I was someone who had worked incredibly hard at school. And I thought to myself during this difficult time, “I have all of this knowledge, all of these qualifications and I literally have no idea how to help myself feel better or get better.” I was literally in a rut and I didn't know what to do.
Read MoreThe thing that I don’t feel we do enough is say ‘thank you’ to our teachers. And because of that, I don’t think they really appreciate how significant they are, and what their worth is. They are gold dust. They are priceless.
Read MoreWe must understand that in order to impact young people's lives at the ages of 14, 15, 16, you have to invest heavily at the ages of four, five, and six. And I think when we realize that and appreciate that, we will see different outcomes later down the line.
Read MoreAt the end of the day, these kids need to know more than anything else that you care about them and that you want to see them succeed. And something I think about all the time in coaching is, am I doing that? Am I making sure that these kids know that I care about them? And that's really been one of the reasons that we've been successful at our school is because of whether it's the sports or whether it's the classroom, the kids know that we're passionate about what they're doing.
Read MoreI think we really owe it to our children to learn how to meditate and stop this crisis of stress and anxiety which is everywhere. It needs to end, and it's optional. We don't have to be a stressed out world. Yeah, we're going to have stress, but we need to learn how to deal with that, and it's so easy.
Read MorePositivity is about feeling like there's meaning to what you're doing and that there's a kind of mystery. When I'm feeling the most positive, and I think when my students are feeling the most positive, is when there's an unknown. There’s a mystery that we're seeking. So there's something drawing us forward.
Read MoreIt's part of a cultural message to parents that they're somehow always getting it wrong. And that doesn't help anybody. It's just like with students, if they're always feeling criticized they aren't necessarily going to learn better. Shame doesn't motivate people.
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Before, when somebody was anxious you could see it, and you could see why. Today, everyone just retreats on their phone, and they hide their real state of mind.
Read MoreIn Turkey a teacher is respected like we respect doctors here in the United States. Once people know that you're a teacher, they address you as teacher, respectfully.
Read MoreEvery child has a talent. They may not be athletic. They may not be musical. It might be an emotional kind of talent. For many, you need to dig deeper. The harder you dig, and the more you find that special talent, the more a child will begin to know that you really, really like and know them.
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