Value Adds Value!

As we round in to the fourth quarter of the year. As we make the turn down the home stretch. As we  round third and head for home. Or whatever other cheesy sports metaphor you can think of we want to be aware of our mindset. We have both made the mistake in our career of counting down the days we have until the year is over and we will be able to wash our hands of the school year. What we have learned the hard way because of that is it doesn't put you or your students in a position to succeed in the next school year-- it leaves you with a hole to dig out of because you are literally running on empty when the year is done.  Here's what we focused on in this episode: Being intentional and taking care of yourself as we finish the year Asking yourself the question, "What's next?" Keeping our eyes on next year How this generations of teachers will change the game Thank you so much for listening and supporting the podcast! We're glad you're here! Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/v

What is good fam?! Kyle here again. I wanted to drop my thoughts on the first week back to school after a year of virtual learning. Although it has been amazing to be back in the classroom I find myself with a lot of things on my mind. I am working hard not to try to process the past year all at once, but I am asking myself a lot of questions. How has the past year changed my perspective? How do I give both my in person and virtual students what they need? Did I make the right choices when it came to virtual versus in person? Can I make everything fun for the rest of the year? Can I get my kids to love school before the end of the year? I'll give you an update on these questions and the other ones that come up next week. We've got one week before spring break, so hopefully I can find some quiet time then. AS ALWAYS THANKS FOR LISTENING! PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AND LET US KNOW HOW WE ARE DOING BY LEAVING A REVIEW. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itsky

We are so pumped to be recording a new podcast with Liz Kleinrock this coming week that we wanted to throw it back to our first podcast with her. We hope that our Wikipedia page some day says that our podcast was the first one she ever did! We are so proud to call her a friend and admire her authenticity in fighting for the causes she believes in. Make sure you go follow her on Instagram @teachandtransform!! Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itskylekrueger/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/its.wil.law.iii/?hl=en Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/itskylekrueger https://twitter.com/its_wil_law_iii Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valueaddsvalue Check out our Youtube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ7hVS9BqW0OFOO5SFKxydA --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

Hey Fam it's Kyle... today for the first time in 367 days I will be teaching in a classroom. I thought I would put my thoughts down on audio before I get back and reflect on what the last 367 have meant for myself and others. I am committed to a reflection podcast once a week for the rest of the school year to ensure that I am learning the lessons this year wants to teach me. Thanks for listening. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itskylekrueger/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/its.wil.law.iii/?hl=en Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/itskylekrueger https://twitter.com/its_wil_law_iii Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valueaddsvalue Check out our Youtube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ7hVS9BqW0OFOO5SFKxydA --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/valueaddsvalue/support

For the first time in a year both of us will be back in the classroom for in person learning. Wilkie has been back since the fall and for the first time in a year Kyle will be back next week. We thought it would be a good time for us to look back at where we were when distance learning started. We are doing our best to reflect on this experience in real time and we hope that you are doing the same as an educator. We are doing everything we can to finish year on a positive and make a difference for our kids. Let us know your plans to finish the year strong!! Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itskylekrueger/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/its.wil.law.iii/?hl=en Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/itskylekrueger https://twitter.com/its_wil_law_iii Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valueaddsvalue Check out our Youtube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ7hVS9BqW0OFOO5SFKxydA --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/v

We recorded the first 14 episodes for 2021 of Value Adds Value during our winter break, and boy has a lot happened since then. The Capital Riots, a new president was sworn in, and Texas plunged itself into a deep freeze that caused millions of people to lose power, heat and water. So we decided to give an update on Wil's situation in Houston and talk a little bit about Kyle's return to the classroom after a year of virtual teaching.  Our overarching thoughts for this podcast-- our kids will be more adept at tackling adversity than any generation since WWII and we just gotta get back to doing what we do best--building relationships. Thanks for your listens and support! Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itskylekrueger/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/its.wil.law.iii/?hl=en Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/itskylekrueger https://twitter.com/its_wil_law_iii Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valueaddsvalue Check out our Youtu

We are back with part 2 of our conversation with Brandy Arnold from Project Wayfinder. This year more than ever we are looking for ways to bring Social and Emotional Learning into our classrooms, but Wayfinder really goes beyond just SEL to give students the opportunity to explore themselves and their future.  On this episode we discussed not just the Wayfinder programs, but how we as teachers can show up for the conversations ourselves. We talked a lot about the importance of showing up in our authenticity for these conversations we have with our students and the power of vulnerability. It can be hard as a teacher to be vulnerable with our students, but there are ways to share your journey with them that are appropriate to their age and help us build relationships. As we work to make our schools feel like a safe place after the difficulties of this past year we all need to find our way back to our communities. If you would like to learn more about how PROJECT WAYFINDER can do this for your students visi

As schools reopen for in person learning and we work to make our schools a safe place again, we are all looking for ways to support the Social and Emotional needs of our kids. This has been a year unlike any other and many of us are also relearning our place within the school. So we brought Brandy Arnold from PROJECT WAYFINDER on the podcast to talk about the work they do in helping students find belonging and purpose. During the first part of our conversation we get into the need for teachers to move beyond just the technical skills of teaching to help their students find belonging and purpose. As we try to see down the road to what our schools will look like in the coming years we hope that SEL will play a more prominent role in all our classrooms. The programs and skills taught through PROJECT WAYFINDER will give our students a chance to think about who they want to be and where they want to belong as they grow into adults. And those are skills that will serve them throughout their lives.  We hope &nb

We have often asked the question 'what is the most important thing you have to teach kids' we often find ourselves coming back to the idea of teaching them how gather information and form their own opinions. We want them to gather facts and decide for themselves how they see the world and the things that happen in it. When we take in new information our beliefs and opinions can often change. This happens to us quite naturally as we grow up and learn from our mistakes. We learn that things we thought were important aren't and our views on important issues may change. But this can be hard in our modern world because so much of our beliefs are tied to our identities and the groups we belong to are often times reenforcing our beliefs. So what happens when we hold the beliefs of a particular group, but then we change our minds? We learn new information that changes our view of a situation. That is what we talk about in this episode of the podcast with our friend Ben Scoggan.  How do we teach our kids to be op

In the world we currently occupy it can seem like we can't have conversations with people who have views that are different than ours. In this description we had originally called them OPPOSING viewpoints, but that would add to the problem we already have. The problem being anyone who has a different viewpoint than ours is the opposition.  Does it really have to be this way?  Can we have conversations with people who don't share our views? On this episode of the podcast we talk with our friend Ben Scoggan about how we can overcome our IDENTITY POLITICS, find multiple sources of information, and have conversations with people that may change our perspective for the better.  The goal of teaching and education is to learn, so when we only talk with people who share our views and listen to news that affirms us, how are we going to learn anything we don't already know. If we fall into this trap it will be very difficult for us to provide multiple perspectives for our students so they can make decisi

We are back with part 2 of our conversation with Mark Rivard (@rivardart @doradthingsco @stageculinary) talking about how he creates really stakes for the students who work in his programs and how that creates real investment from them. Mark was telling the story of his Sharpie campaign in 2011 when he was a brand ambassador for Sharpie for a full year because of his skateboard art. The conversation led us to talk about the role of social media for our kids and how we can help them use it to build real brands. In 2011 when Mark was working with Sharpie social media wasn't the monster that it is today. Twitter and Facebook were just taking hold and Instagram hadn't been created yet. Although he missed out on the spike of followers and attention that he could have gained working with Sharpie had the partnership come along a few years later he has learned to create his social media with authenticity-- a lesson he shares with the students he works with.  Whether it is in our classrooms or on our social media

Mark Rivard is a professional fine artist, writer, educator, and entrepreneur.  Working out of Minneapolis, MN, Rivard runs the highly regarded arts educational platform Do Rad Things- A Skateboard Art Education, STAGE Culinary, as well as his managing his own brand of products and creative services.  He has shown his work globally and been involved in internationally recognized projects. As we work to bring teachers early in their career the resources and knowledge they need to find success Mark is a perfect candidate to talk about how to bring authenticity to the classroom. Mark is not a traditional teacher, but is an educator in every sense of the word. He found art as a career after several ski accidents and found his way into classrooms by creating art on the bottom of skateboards. In part one of this conversation we hear how Mark uses his passion to create connections with students.  Here are a few other things we talked about:  Skate Culture Life Before Youtube Art for the 'unt

Thank you!! Thank you for helping us along this journey to 300 episodes of Value Add Value. We are so proud to be a part of the most important profession on the planet--Educator. When we started the podcast we never thought about what it would be like to get to 300 episodes. We just wanted to make the next one. With 300 behind we are looking forward to the next 300 and what that journey will bring. We are getting back to our roots and the mission of Lighthouse Educator Development and we can't wait to share the details with you soon. Here are a few of the things we talked about when reflecting on our first 300 episodes: How much we've gotten from the podcast Opportunities to learn through free podcasts Teaching Souls versus Students Every Interaction teaches Mentoring  Teaching is Messy Our big regrets Shared Values The importance of educators Thank you again for being a part of this journey and we hope you'll stick around over the next couple years to come!! IF YOU ARE A TEACHER WHO IS EARLIE

Welcome back to VALUE ADDS VALUE! This is the conclusion to our conversation with Jen and Mira from Teaching Is Intellectual. To be honest we could send an entire weekend listening to their perspective on teacher prep and higher ed., but we had to limit this conversation to just short of 2 hours. As we wrapped up the conversation we asked them what they think teacher prep will look like as we hopefully come out the back side of the pandemic and reassess what our new and preservice teachers need. If you are looking for more resources from Jen and Mira after this conversation please follow them on Instagram or visit their website teachingisintellectual.com! Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itskylekrueger/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/its.wil.law.iii/?hl=en Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/itskylekrueger https://twitter.com/its_wil_law_iii Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valueaddsvalue Check out our Youtube Channel! https:

We are back with part two of our three part conversation with Jen Newton and Mira Williams from TEACHING IS INTELLECTUAL! In part one we got an update on how their school years had been going and the impact it is having on their teacher candidates. On this episode we dive into the changes they are seeing in the teacher development space, building teachers to be lifelong learners, and avoiding the 'flashy new things' that come in the form of professional development. In part three we'll be talking about On The Job Training for teachers and how we can learn from our 2020 experiences!! Be sure to check it out next week and find Jen and Mira on social media @teachingisintellectual or on the their website teachingisintellectual.com!! Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itskylekrueger/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/its.wil.law.iii/?hl=en Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/itskylekrueger https://twitter.com/its_wil_law_iii Find us on Facebook: h

We were so thankful to have been able to reconnect with Jen and Mira from Teaching is Intellectual to talk with them about their experiences in preparing teachers for the classroom over the past six months. We talked with them over the summer about what they saw in the spring and we wanted to hear how things had gone to start the year.  Here are a few things we talked about:  Student anxiety The College Ecosystem in regards to COVID Teacher candidates desire to teach Virtual Field Experiences Teaching as a 'GIG' economy Privatizing teacher prep The Costs of Teacher Turnover Classroom Ecology This is part 1 of 3 that came out of our conversation with Jen and Mira and we hope you'll tune back in later this week to hear part 2! To learn more about the work they do visit https://teachingisintellectual.com/ or find them on Instagram @teachingisintellectual! Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itskylekrueger/?hl=en https://www.i

Welcome back to VALUE ADDS VALUE with your boys Kyle Krueger and Wilkie Law!! Thanks for tuning into the episode with our friend Carter Krueger where we get into how to role model healthy habits for our students. We know it is a challenge for teachers to prioritize their health and we experienced the guilt and shame that comes with choosing to take time away from what you could be doing for your students and use it to invest in yourself. During this episode we get into how both ourselves and our students benefit from the investments we make in ourselves how to model that invest to our kids in a positive way. Here are a few more things we talked about: Overcoming excuses Is weight the right measure of health? Working towards fulfillment Hours and Energy spent More is caught then taught Workday Expectations Selfish Choices To learn more about the work that Carter does visit healthcoachcarter.com! Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itsk

We brought Carter Krueger back on the podcast to talk about how to build on our healthy lifestyles in the new year. 2020 was a year that put our habits to the test. It was a year that limited our ability to go and do the things that we would normally do to protect our physical and mental health.  We've had to adapt and create new habits and that is what we talk about on this episode of the podcast.  Here are a few more things we talked about: The health effects of virtual learning and teaching Spending time with family during quarantine  Health vs. Fitness Self Accountability Creating mantras instead of goals Is weight a good measure of health? To learn more about Carter's programs visit his website or find him on Instagram @healthcoachcarter!  http://healthcoachcarter.com/ Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itskylekrueger/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/its.wil.law.iii/?hl=en Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.

We're back with part 2 of our conversation with the one and only Gary Gray Jr. (@garyrgrayjr on Twitter and Instagram) where we dive into our need to listen to more than one story and hear a lot more about Gary and Wil's experience as black men. We also talked about what Wil called THE EDUCATION OF TRUTH and how we can work back to make decisions based on a shared set of facts.  A moment that stood out to us is when Gary talked about how his wife (@narinramani) says that you can love your country and still put it on trial. As it usually does with our only five time guest things got a little bit heavy, but in the way that it only can with family! We hope you'll take a listen and while you're at it please go subscribe to the Gary's podcast-- It's Personal! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-grayarea-podcast/id1433551931 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valueaddsvalue/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/itskylekrueger/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/its.wil.law.iii/?hl=en Follow us on

It is safe for us to assume that nearly every teacher in the U.S. if they felt safe would want to reopen our schools, but with so many differing needs and opinions it can be hard to find clear information about what is working in terms of reopening our schools. We reached out to our friend Steph Edmonds (@theclassdisruption on Instagram) to talk with her about the Teachers 4 Open Schools Movement and how they are working to inform teachers.  It was a really interesting conversation to get the perspective of three different teachers in three different parts of the country. TO BE CLEAR-- THESE TEACHERS ARE NOT ADVOCATING THAT EVERY SCHOOL REOPENS NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCE. They have created a platform for teachers to come and look at data from across the country to have a more informed opinion on how schools should reopen.  We know that the discussion and debate about opening our schools is very heated and filled with big emotions, so before you dismiss this group of teachers please take the tim