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Welcome to today’s episode! We’re diving into a topic that goes beyond lesson plans and teaching strategies—executive presence in education. Often associated with corporate leadership, executive presence is just as critical in the world of teaching. It’s about how we carry ourselves, communicate, and connect with others in a way that inspires confidence and respect. As educators, we navigate a variety of roles—mentor, leader, mediator, and advocate. Whether it’s managing a classroom, collaborating with colleagues, or engaging with parents, our ability to project authority and empathy impacts every interaction. Today, we’ll explore what executive presence looks like for teachers, why it’s essential for building trust and credibility, and how it can influence career growth and classroom success. Join us as we unpack the key elements of executive presence and share practical strategies for enhancing your presence as an educator. From fostering student engagement to advocating for change, we’ll discuss how a confident and composed demeanor can shape your professional journey.

In today’s episode, we’re delving into the art and science of working with personalities and appreciation language. What better a topic to be released during this Valentine's Day week. As educators, we interact with diverse personalities daily—students, colleagues, administrators, and parents. Understanding these unique traits and how they influence communication, collaboration, and engagement is critical to fostering positive relationships and creating inclusive environments. We’ll unpack practical strategies for building strong team dynamics, explore how appreciation languages can transform workplace culture, and share real-world stories of how educators have used these tools to connect meaningfully with others. Whether you’re a pre-service teacher, current teacher, administrator, or support staff, we hope this episode will provide actionable tips and tricks for your day-to-day.

Well, we know that we have taken a little bit of a hiatus on Top of the Class these past few months. Life has been nothing short of a whirlwind, but we have missed you all and are so excited to jump right in.  Today we are chatting about the ever-glamorous topic of educator certification. Whether you're just beginning your journey into teaching or you're a seasoned professional, navigating the certification process can feel overwhelming. In this episode, we’re diving into the nuts and bolts of educator certification—what it takes to get certified, how it impacts your career, and why it’s a crucial step in shaping your teaching practice. We hope to bring you some practical insights and real-world advice from a certification expert!

So, we are back with Part II of our financial literacy conversation with our expert, Monica Martinez! We are here to chat about what financial literacy is and why it is important for us as educators. Again, we want to remind all you listeners that we are not professional financial advisors and the information shared today is simply to help educate and share tips. We ask that any listeners seek advice from professional financial advisors before making any changes to their financial planning. Let's go hear more on this important topic and if you missed part I, be sure to go back for a listen!

This is part one of a 2-part special! Today we bring to you a conversation that is not always an easy one to dig into, but one that is so important to discuss as educators. We are bringing to you an expert to help us chat and learn a bit more about financial literacy as educators. Before we learn about our amazing guest, Meredith and I do want to remind our listeners that we are not professional financial advisors and the information shared today is simply to help educate and share tips. We ask that any listeners seek advice from professional financial advisors before making any changes to their financial planning. Let's dive right in with our expert!

Special 75th Recording: This is a very special launch for a very special profession and we couldn't think of a better episode than this one! We have officially released 75 recordings here on Top of the Class. And, in this brand new year, we want to dedicate it all to our amazing profession and all the educators out there! You are all an inspiration and why we do what we do. Happy New Year and happy 75th recording!

We are excited to wrap up our special 4-part series on Character Education today. If you missed the first 3 episodes in this series, be sure to go back to hear all of the wonderful wisdom. As we enter episode 4 in this series, we are going to be chatting specifically about shared leadership and the Practical Wisdom Framework. Resource Links: Our Framework for Purposeful Cultures of Character The SSC for our Free Resources Leading with Virtue Free PD courses The Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues teacher resources, The Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues – The Character Teaching Inventory (also attached)/ Teaching Character Education: What Works What Works in Character Education by Berkowitz and Bier Character.org PRIMED by Berkowitz Karen Bohlin’s Practical Wisdom Framework

Welcome back! We are so excited to dive into the 3rd of a special 4 part series all about Character Education. If you didn’t catch our first 2 episodes in the series, be sure to take a listen. Today we have a catchy model that we are going to dig into, the “Caught, Taught, and Sought Model”. I am really looking forward to this one!  Resource Links:  Our Framework for Purposeful Cultures of Character The SSC for our Free Resources Leading with Virtue Free PD courses The Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues teacher resources, The Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues – The Character Teaching Inventory (also attached)/ Teaching Character Education: What Works What Works in Character Education by Berkowitz and Bier Character.org PRIMED by Berkowitz Karen Bohlin’s Practical Wisdom Framework

We are here with the 2nd episode in our special 4-part series on Character Educaiton! If you missed the 1st episode in the series, be sure to take a peek! Today we are chatting about some actionable steps. We all love some marching orders as educators! Resource Links:  Our Framework for Purposeful Cultures of Character The SSC for our Free Resources Leading with Virtue Free PD courses The Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues teacher resources, The Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues – The Character Teaching Inventory (also attached)/ Teaching Character Education: What Works What Works in Character Education by Berkowitz and Bier Character.org PRIMED by Berkowitz Karen Bohlin’s Practical Wisdom Framework

We are here to dive into a really important series on Top of the Class. We are about to jump into a special 4-part series around Character Education. We are here to build upon our previous episode where we had the opportunity to start chatting about this topic. So, in this series, we will have the opportunity to dig in much deeper to some of the practical applications and “action items” around implementing Character Education in our schools and classrooms. Let's dive into Part I of this amazing 4-part series on Character Education. Resource Links:  Our Framework for Purposeful Cultures of Character The SSC for our Free Resources Leading with Virtue Free PD courses The Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues teacher resources, The Jubilee Center for Character and Virtues – The Character Teaching Inventory (also attached)/ Teaching Character Education: What Works What Works in Character Education by Berkowitz and Bier Character.org PRIMED by Berkowitz Karen Bohlin’s Practical Wisdom Framework

We wanted to bring to you all a topic that has been on our minds for some time now. We have been in countless meetings, sessions, and conversations all about the teacher pipeline or educator pipeline and how we can help to fill the need out there. We know the need is great and we have had the opportunity to speak with some experts on some innovative pathways to educator certification AND GCU has been doing some innovation of its own. That said, we have two guests today who are going to help us break down this topic a bit more and chat about the idea of teacher residency and alternative pathways to educator licensure.

Recently, we celebrated a VERY important week. As the academic school year winds down each year, we have Teacher Appreciation Week. While we celebrate teachers and educators EVERY single day, this is a week where we pay extra special attention to our educators. To our listeners out there, teachers, leaders in the field, and anyone who is in the education field, we THANK you all from the bottom of our hearts. We know this job comes with a whole slew of ups and downs, but each and every one of you is making a daily difference in young minds and the future of society as a whole. So, thank you! That said, we wanted to celebrate here on Top of the Class. So, we have brought in some amazing guests and experts to chat with us about why we appreciate being an educator. Let's take a listen!

We are back with the 4th and FINAL episode in our special 4-part series on servant leadership. This topic has been rich with good reminders, tips, and ideas on how we can best serve our fellow colleagues, our students, our student’s families, and the community around us. We are so excited to wrap up such an amazing series with our final guest today. Let's jump right in and take a listen!

We are back…for part 3 of a very special FOUR-part series all on servant leadership. We know that it might not be a term used at all places of work, but our roles as educators really do embody a lot of those characteristics that are found in servant leadership. So, we thought it was such a worthy topic to dive into with 4 amazing experts who each have 4 very different backgrounds and are in 4 very different roles in the education profession! Join us as we hear from the expert, Melissa Woodward, and special guest host, Assistant Dean, Lindy Gaudiano!

Well, we are back for another wonderful episode. This is Part II of our Servant Leadership Series. If you missed Part I, we chatted with an alum who went a bit viral on our COE Instagram page for her role in “Life of a First Year Teacher: Life of Shay!” and learned SO much! Feel free to take a listen! Now, we know that as educators, servant leadership is a term we often hear used in our field. In addition, here at GCU and in the College of Education, part of our mission is to assist in the overall human flourishing of our communities. Teachers do just that! So, let’s hear from our next guest to chat about such a meaningful topic!