Latest / Integrate This! Ed Tech Podcast / “I Love Your Face” | Joe Beckman on Human Connection in Education | Live from IT2 2025

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“I Love Your Face” | Joe Beckman on Human Connection in Education | Live from IT2 2025 · Integrate This! Ed Tech Podcast

0:00
Welcome to Integrate This, your go -to edtech
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podcast where curiosity meets classroom innovation.
0:07
Join your hosts, David Berner and Jeremy Mikla,
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as we explore the rapidly evolving world of educational
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technology. From game -changing tools to insightful
0:15
conversations with today's top edtech voices,
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we're here to help educators stay informed, inspired,
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and ready to innovate. So tune in, level up,
0:25
and let's integrate this. Hey welcome to the
0:30
integrate this edtech podcast Today we have kind
0:34
of a little bit of a different episode We are
0:37
in our conference center right now in Wilmer
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for the IT squared conference and We've been
0:44
doing sessions all day. It's been a good day
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so far. We got to Go to one session in particular.
0:50
That was really great the happy caveman and we
0:54
are joined today luckily by Joe Beckman the breakout
0:58
session speaker for that for that session. And
1:02
Joe, why don't you introduce yourself? We're
1:04
happy to have you here as a guest and give us
1:06
a little background on your journey. Well, thanks
1:08
for having me. Number one, I have never recorded
1:11
a podcast in a pool area before, and I'm so excited
1:14
that I get to have the conversation with both
1:16
of you. And so a little bit about my background.
1:19
I'm a speaker and an author. I grew up in. St.
1:24
Paul Minnesota went to school there and went
1:27
to college at St. John's and my hope was that
1:29
I was going to be a performer someday be on stage
1:33
whether it was theater or film or commercial
1:37
and along the way I found that I had this huge
1:40
passion for kids and low like just through certain
1:45
you know life circumstances I ended up. finding
1:49
an organization that did retreats in schools.
1:52
And for 12 years, I led those and I loved being
1:55
a part of it. But I've always been an entrepreneur
1:58
at heart. And I thought, what if I could create
2:00
my own version of this, my own brand, my own
2:03
mission around human connection, which is like
2:06
the one thing that I'm somewhat good at. And
2:10
what if I could create that and share that with
2:12
as many people as possible? And that was 10 years
2:15
ago. And after a lot of C-, D +, maybe F -plus
2:21
performances. We've learned a few things along
2:24
the way. We've gotten better at typing up our
2:26
message. We've grown our company. It's not just
2:29
Joe Beckman anymore, or Happy Caveman. We have
2:31
a larger team, and we're doing work to support
2:34
districts all across the country with motivating
2:37
keynotes, but also professional development,
2:39
stuff that we're doing with students. We have
2:41
a digital platform. that talks about your mental
2:45
health and social emotional learning and so it's
2:48
been really fun to be a part of this journey.
2:50
Yeah, awesome, you know like like we have no
2:53
experience with improvement over time and MC
2:57
plus D minus type or you know with anywhere within
3:00
that range here But you know one of the things
3:02
that I really appreciated not just from the breakout
3:04
session that I saw you in earlier today But also
3:07
looking ahead a little bit towards the keynote
3:09
address, which you're going to give at the IT
3:12
square conference tomorrow Can't help but notice
3:16
the importance of the relationships and the human
3:19
connections. Can you speak to that and how that
3:22
plays a central role, not in just your message,
3:25
but in how we could be better humans because
3:29
of that? Yeah. Well, I think we live in a really
3:32
complicated world. And there's a lot of things
3:34
going around right now that make life complicated.
3:37
But when you break it down and we can get Underneath
3:40
some of that complication into some more simplicity.
3:43
I think that's where we meet human connection
3:46
There was a study and has been a study the longest
3:49
Longitudinal study in our country last 80 years
3:51
Harvard has been doing it and they've been asking
3:54
people at the end of their lives What were the
3:57
things when they look back and when they think
3:59
about joy and contentment and happiness? And
4:02
imagine somebody was asking you those questions.
4:05
You had a few weeks left to live They've been
4:07
doing this for 80 years Nobody has ever talked
4:09
about money. Nobody ever talked about status
4:12
or the amount of likes they got on an Instagram
4:15
post. Nobody ever talks about stuff. What people
4:18
have been talking about for the last 80 years
4:20
and what I believe, if we do it right, what we
4:22
will need to continue to talk about for the next
4:25
80 years is the one thing that got us here in
4:28
the first place, which is quality relationships.
4:31
And that's very different than quantitative relationships,
4:34
the quality relationships that I have with my
4:37
children. the quality relationships that I have
4:39
with my spouse, significant others, spouse quality
4:42
relationship that we have with our community,
4:44
and maybe for educators, most importantly, the
4:47
quality relationships that we have with our students
4:49
and our co -workers. And what we found is that
4:53
those relationships don't just magically happen.
4:56
They take work, they take effort, they take investment,
4:59
and all of them are founded on good old -fashioned
5:02
human connection. Do you think there's a danger
5:05
in this technological time and with the accessibility
5:09
that us as adults have, that students have, we
5:13
have constant access to devices to disconnect
5:17
from some of that and is that something that...
5:19
scares you or that, you know, yeah, we should
5:21
be worried about it. And I know like a lot of
5:23
schools and I think to their credit are implementing
5:26
a lot more stringent cell phone policies and
5:29
they're not available to students in the classroom
5:31
to to kind of recenter some of that focus. But
5:34
yeah, what do you what do you think of that?
5:35
Well, it's interesting because I think every
5:38
society believes they know everything that we
5:42
need because we know as much as we know in this
5:43
moment. But when we look back, we did some pretty
5:46
stupid things about 40 years ago, 40 years ago.
5:49
I was born 46 years ago in a hospital in St.
5:52
Paul. The doctor looked at my mom and said, rest
5:54
and relax. What that meant to my mom was to pull
5:57
out a cigarette, pull out a lighter, and smoke
5:59
it in the hospital. And here's the crazy thing.
6:02
A doctor wouldn't have come in and said, put
6:05
that out. You are in a hospital. They might have
6:08
said in 1979, if you want an ashtray. we were
6:11
so backwards with this addiction around smoking
6:14
because we knew so little that we did some really
6:16
stupid things and now we look back with all the
6:18
wisdom in the world and say what idiots what
6:20
were we thinking did we not know the consequences
6:23
but like can't help but think 40 years from now
6:26
they're not gonna look back at us and go you
6:27
mean you gave an eight -year -old an iPad for
6:31
eight hours a day and you didn't think it would
6:32
have any kind of impact that might sound as stupid
6:36
as smoking a cigarette in a hospital so yeah
6:40
I am concerned. Scared is, I don't know, I don't
6:44
really get too scared. I always feel like there
6:45
are solutions to all problems. But I do think
6:49
it starts with awareness. And I think it starts
6:51
by understanding that just like there was big
6:54
tobacco when it came to the cigarette addiction,
6:57
there certainly is big tech. And there are people
6:59
making millions of dollars doing everything they
7:02
can to get us to look down. because it makes
7:05
them more money. And how they do it is through
7:07
releasing the same chemical in our brains that
7:10
cigarettes do, it's dopamine. So every ring,
7:12
every ding, every notification has been strategically
7:15
designed to get us to get that dopamine rush,
7:18
which becomes addictive, right? Which is why
7:21
we can't get off our screens. And so there's
7:23
a lot of concerns that I have when it comes to
7:26
looking down all the time, but Yeah. Have you
7:28
had a chance to read the book Stolen Focus by
7:31
Yohana Hari? No, but I... Because you're talking
7:34
about like one of his premises of the book is
7:36
exactly that. Yeah. And he even talks about like
7:40
how apps like Twitter X and you have the continuous
7:43
scroll and you just keep going because you want
7:46
to see what that next thing is and just how that
7:49
is designed purposely to be that. Yep. You know,
7:53
it's trying to tap into those sensory things
7:55
within our brain that stimulates that type of
7:58
a response. We get further disconnects us. And
8:00
right. And I think to that. So if you get a chance
8:01
to check that book out, I think you're going
8:03
to connect with that really, really well. That's
8:05
a phenomenal option. I've read some of his other
8:07
books and he's awesome. And then The Anxious
8:09
Generation by Jonathan Hype is also on my list.
8:13
I'm waiting to get that from the public library.
8:15
Yeah. Well, when she hit it, yeah, it's awesome.
8:19
So and I do think it's great that schools are
8:21
moving forward in this direction and that leaders
8:23
are starting to see because the data is coming
8:25
back. That less connection leads to more problems,
8:28
social, emotional problems, confidence problems,
8:32
engagement problems. And so we also know as human
8:34
connection is a practice. It's like basketball.
8:37
It's like podcasting. The more you do it, the
8:40
better you get at it. And when we rob kids of
8:43
opportunities to get good at human connection,
8:46
we're doing them a huge disservice. One example
8:48
would be when I see parents order for their kids
8:51
at restaurants and they allow their kid to stay
8:53
on their phone and be on their iPad and they
8:55
don't get the kid the opportunity to look up
8:57
and make eye contact and practice maybe what
9:01
feels like an awkward conversation, but it will
9:03
be less awkward the more you practice it. And
9:06
if we rob kids of little opportunities to practice
9:09
connection, They're going to get weak at it.
9:11
And then we're going to as adults get frustrated
9:13
for the kids these days and they don't do this.
9:15
I can't make eye contact. Well, I couldn't speak
9:18
a different language if no one ever taught me
9:20
how to do it beforehand. You know what I mean?
9:22
So these skills are something that need to get
9:25
taught and built and, you know, prioritized.
9:28
And we talk a little bit, too, about just how
9:31
when so much of your what we heard in your breakout
9:35
session, the stuff that is part of your work
9:37
is about human connection. Um, with us, you know,
9:42
part of what we're doing is working in the AI
9:43
space. Yeah. And what we've seen recently is
9:47
some data that, um, we have kids that are advocating
9:52
their own responsibility for work. That's one
9:55
side. We have the cognitive offloading. So they're,
9:58
they're not doing any of the work, but then there's
9:59
a social component too, where we now see that
10:03
there are kids that would rather spend time talking
10:05
to an AI chat bot. as opposed to another human
10:08
being or a peer. What are your thoughts around
10:13
that? Like, obviously there that's a that's a
10:15
huge negative. What are your concerns in that
10:19
area? And do you see any positives to with some
10:22
of that? I think the positive to a lot of technology
10:26
is efficiency. And that is super alluring. And
10:31
in society in general, any time we can find an
10:34
easier way to do anything. that feels awesome.
10:37
But sometimes the easy things and the right things
10:40
aren't the same things. And so my thought is
10:43
this, like, I am huge advocate for alternative
10:47
education. We're meeting kids where they're at.
10:52
And for some kids, learning is better done in
10:55
a virtual setting for whatever reason. And I
10:58
guess we could dive down, but from social reasons
11:00
or whatever. And so I'm not anti like virtual
11:03
learning or anything like that. But I do think
11:05
it's even more important that if we are teaching
11:08
kids in those spaces, that we find more opportunities
11:12
to give them, you know, time to practice connection.
11:16
And whether that's parents being intentional
11:19
about that, or whether that schools be intentional
11:22
about finding times where, you know, their online
11:25
program can find some human connection or whatever
11:28
it may be, I just think it's even more important.
11:32
and we don't lose that in the process just because
11:34
it's easier for kids to learn in this certain
11:37
way because these social skills need to get practiced
11:40
so as far as like when um when teachers are coming
11:44
into contact with students and this is actually
11:47
touching on some of the tools that you brought
11:50
up until us they're in in um a happy caveman
11:53
the the thing that i'm kind of wondering is at
11:56
you know what are the little wins that they can
11:59
start to do so if you're going back to your classroom
12:02
today or the next day? What are the things that
12:06
can help with making some of those connections
12:08
or even to you? You talked about the importance
12:11
of maybe it's not even that you can reach out
12:14
to somebody else at this time, but thinking about
12:17
what are little wins for yourself? Yeah, I mean,
12:19
I have three ideas that teachers could certainly
12:24
implement into their classrooms starting tomorrow.
12:27
But before we get to those, like you said, I
12:29
do think it starts by looking into the mirror
12:32
and rally, you know, taking the time to do some
12:36
self -reflection, some inventory around where
12:39
we're putting our focus and our time and our
12:41
energy. And like we talked about today at the
12:43
breakout, when we put our time and energy into
12:46
places that we value, we generally show up for
12:49
others better. And so without getting too far
12:52
down that rabbit hole, I think it's really important
12:55
that we're good to ourselves. And sometimes people
12:58
are like, oh, let's do a yoga retreat or go to
13:00
a happy hour with your friends. Like put on your
13:02
own mask first. And all that is great. But all
13:04
those are little band -aids. And I think deeper
13:07
is when we know what we value, we have self -awareness
13:11
and then we actively pursue choices that are
13:14
in line with those values. And I think that's
13:17
a really helpful way that we can help ourselves
13:20
show up as the best version of ourselves so that
13:22
we can make connections now. If we've done that,
13:25
or even if we're not doing that, if we're looking
13:27
for small wins to build connection in classrooms,
13:31
first thing I would suggest is music. What do
13:33
you mean? Have music as kids are walking into
13:36
your classroom or if you're during a virtual
13:37
setting, have music as they're checking in or
13:40
whatever it may be. Music is one of those easy
13:43
things that people connect to. And it's a universal
13:47
language. And another thing of like just kind
13:50
of sets the tone. It's fun. I always tell teachers,
13:53
maybe you let the students pick the song that
13:55
people walk into that day. Then that kid gets
13:58
to go in the middle and share why they chose
13:59
that song or what that music means to them. It
14:02
just is a easy way to build connections. So music,
14:05
having music loaded up or just playing or whatever
14:08
it may be, that's awesome. And honestly, I think
14:11
a teacher could at the beginning of a semester
14:13
or some sort of a term, have that be a question.
14:17
I mean, a lot of teachers to get to know you
14:19
kind of ask questions like, why not ask them?
14:21
Well, what's your walk up to walk up song? Yeah.
14:24
Yeah. So then you would want to walk in and you
14:26
know, if you think, oh, you know, and then all
14:28
of a sudden it shows. It looks like David having
14:30
a bad day. I think I could lift their spirits
14:33
if I play their walk up song as they're walking
14:34
into the end. It's easy. You don't have to have
14:36
the guitar. You don't have to be a good singer.
14:38
He was other people to, you know, be the experts
14:41
on that. So music is awesome. I know it sounds
14:44
silly and it's not for everybody, but I'm a big
14:46
fan of green them at the door and just how you
14:48
doing high five, maybe a funny nickname. uh little
14:53
things like that that just help build a little
14:55
bit of a connection and remind kids that you're
14:58
happy that they're your class i think that helps
15:01
and then the last thing we'll talk about this
15:02
tomorrow is story using the power of story i
15:06
don't know if you noticed today at my breakout
15:07
i told several stories and part of that is because
15:10
it was it's a great way for me to build trust
15:14
between me and my audience and once you know
15:17
that i've gone through certain things that i've
15:19
gone through that are maybe different but oh
15:22
his life isn't perfect or oh we did tease it
15:25
something similar that stories are an amazing
15:28
way to build trust and engagement and if you
15:31
tell stories where your things didn't work out
15:33
perfectly for you I think it it builds that connection
15:37
because kids can empathize and relate they don't
15:40
think you've got it all figured out. Showing
15:42
that vulnerability, having that humility when
15:45
you do mess up that you're going to. Because
15:46
you're the teacher, because they see you up here
15:50
when you chop yourself off at the diesel a little
15:52
bit. Oh, my gosh, it levels the playing field.
15:55
And I'm much more likely to listen to your lesson
15:58
about physics because you told me that five minute
16:01
story. about how you used to love ride your Harley
16:04
Davidson when you were younger, whatever it may
16:06
be. You know what I mean? That story builds all
16:09
that connection and trust, which allows for more
16:11
engagement. It makes sense. It cuts cuts the
16:14
tension a little bit like like you don't have
16:16
it. Not everyone has to have it all put together.
16:18
I like that about your sessions right away, because
16:21
starting with the. where everybody was part of
16:24
this rock, paper, scissors tournament, which
16:27
is impromptu. I mean, I know you probably thought
16:30
like, this is what we're going to do. Right.
16:31
But for us coming into this session, it's kind
16:34
of like we didn't expect it. And it was a way
16:37
where we all got to engage with people in the
16:41
room that we otherwise wouldn't have. And that
16:43
was great. I thought so. But did you notice when
16:45
you walked in, there was music playing. Yes.
16:47
Came in. And I strategically did that. And I
16:50
also had slides of like means and different things,
16:53
but really the music piece is, is, and when I
16:56
don't have it, it feels so weird to now sure
16:59
it feels stale and off. And so it, sometimes
17:02
people come in raising their shoulders and they're
17:04
smiling and it gives me something to talk to
17:05
them about. So it's been a real at value act
17:08
in a hesitant person in the hallway. That's like
17:11
figuring out what session to go to. Maybe that
17:13
peaks their interest, right? For it coming into
17:16
a class. If I really want to walk into Mr. Bird
17:20
is going to have that terrible lesson or did
17:22
not. Exactly. So one of the things that I noticed
17:27
in and you're wearing one now, I love your face.
17:31
Yeah. And you had us do these things in this
17:33
breakout several different times. Right. Yeah.
17:35
Turn to the person by you and give a little high
17:38
five and stuff to them. I mean, they seem a little
17:41
gimmicky. Yeah, you know, but do you think obviously
17:44
I could see the importance of it, those those
17:47
small little things again here. But now, you
17:49
know, what are some of those things that you
17:50
think really help to get help kids gain the confidence
17:54
or resilience? You know, some of those those
17:57
character traits that we want them to be able
17:58
to build within our classrooms by just even offering
18:01
them some sort of simple phrase. Do you think
18:03
is that like a little trigger or is that like
18:05
a thing that you think works? You know, as a
18:07
teacher, you sometimes try things and you're
18:10
like, well, Oh my gosh, that worked sort of thing.
18:13
It was like one of those where as a speaker early
18:16
on, when I was first starting, I have to now
18:19
put together not a 15 minute talk, but a 60 minute
18:22
talk. And I have to try to keep them engaged
18:24
the whole time. And yet I have to jump from thing
18:26
to thing. And so I started adding in what I call
18:29
commercial breaks to my talks to help break it
18:32
up. And now I have fancier commercial breaks.
18:34
Like I have my guitar and I'll have videos. But
18:37
back in the day when I didn't have either of
18:39
those. I would just have them turn to someone
18:42
else to the left or right. Yep. Give them a high
18:44
five and say something. And one time I said,
18:46
turn to somebody, give them a high five and say,
18:48
I love your face. And lo and behold, they all
18:51
did it. And then six months later, I got a call
18:53
from the principal that says they can't stop
18:55
saying the stupid phrase, I love your face, but.
18:58
I'd much rather they said that, but six seven.
19:01
Six seven or whatever it may be. And I also think.
19:06
In general, we want to be good. Like we want
19:09
to do good. We want to be good. We want to leave
19:12
a positive legacy. And sometimes we just need
19:15
that push and that permission. And sometimes
19:18
even the on -ramp on here's something you can
19:20
even say that will allow you to be good. Like
19:23
if I were to say, hey, go up to somebody and
19:25
say, you're beautiful like nobody would do that
19:28
but if you say go up and say I love your face
19:31
which kind of means the same thing like it's
19:33
weird enough that they they do it and you can
19:36
give kids the on -ramp and the opportunity to
19:40
do something good and say something positive
19:42
and lo and behold like they do it and it should
19:45
snowball it snowballs it's contagious yeah just
19:48
like every other negative thing that we see like
19:50
it snowballs and it's contagious so if we can
19:52
give them the positive things to say do yeah
19:55
respond to, then I think some of that is out.
19:59
Isn't there like, I'm picturing this commercial
20:01
that I must've seen this one time where someone
20:03
like starts out by holding a door open for someone
20:05
that person walks through the door into a restaurant
20:08
or something and someone had dropped their napkin
20:10
and they reach over and they pick it up and they
20:12
hand it back to them who then they turn and they
20:14
give the waiter a nice tip and who then turns
20:16
around, you know, like that's that snowball effect.
20:18
That's that taking clicks, but here's the snowball
20:21
to the snowball. What that video doesn't show.
20:25
is all the people surrounding all these kind
20:29
acts who saw all these other people. All you
20:32
see is the ripple effect of like what happened
20:34
right there in your eyes. Yeah, then you're lying.
20:38
But I kind of look back and because what science
20:40
is proving and is that not only those random
20:44
acts of kindness, not only do they benefit the
20:46
person you are kind to, and obviously they benefit
20:49
you as a human, but anybody who even witnesses
20:52
it sees it. cures it, it benefits them and they're
20:55
more likely to go do that. And so I'd be interested
20:58
in that commercial to see like almost like a
21:00
60 ,000 year map from a drone and to see like
21:03
all the goodness that happened out from that
21:06
linear line that is in the commercial, if that
21:09
makes sense. And I know Jeremy and I, uh, we
21:12
probably shouldn't have sat by each other in
21:13
the session. Cause after I was like, I should
21:16
have sat by someone I didn't really know. because
21:17
we ended up just giving each other high fives
21:19
and saying I love your face to each other the
21:21
whole time. Just what you know already. We were
21:24
together all the time. But it was still good.
21:27
Yeah, but we can't high five when we're better.
21:29
That's right. We can only do it here. So as far
21:34
as like when you're thinking about positivity
21:38
and happiness, you had mentioned that's something
21:40
that you can. You can set yourself up for success
21:44
in that. Yeah. Um, and I think it's not inherent.
21:47
It can still be learned. Yeah. You, I like that
21:49
you made the point in the session where it was
21:51
like, there's definitely, it's not like pretending
21:55
that yeah, there's some people that are up here
21:57
a little bit more and they're just naturally,
21:59
they have that kind of natural high and they're
22:01
happy, but it doesn't mean that someone who doesn't
22:04
have that can't. put that into practice or you
22:07
know and set themselves up for success in that
22:09
so can you talk a little bit about when the phrase
22:13
when we feel good we do good and how that connects
22:16
to that yeah i think well i think the quote really
22:20
is from abraham lincoln and he says when i do
22:23
good i feel good and i thought that's pretty
22:25
good but what if we flipped it What do we need
22:28
to first before we do the good? I think the feel
22:31
the good part is pretty important as well. And
22:35
so I take this quote from Abraham Lincoln, who's
22:38
one of the most famous people in the history
22:39
of the world. And I butcher it and I switch it
22:41
around and I try to make it that something a
22:44
little bit more relevant. But I do think that
22:46
good that we want to give towards others. We
22:49
all want to do it, but we limit ourselves when
22:53
we're not. at our best. And so the program today
22:56
kind of really talked about what are some small
22:58
practices that we can do so that when we can
23:02
feel the best version that we can feel so that
23:05
we can do as much good for others as possible.
23:09
But yeah, I think it's just kind of a different
23:12
philosophy that a lot of times we focus on others,
23:15
which I think is great. And then we feel good
23:17
about ourselves. But I like to flip it and say,
23:19
let's start here. Let's get this part right and
23:22
then think about all the amazing good we could
23:24
do for others after that. But so I see like teacher
23:29
mental health and teacher wellness, self care
23:32
comes up a lot at PD workshops and things that
23:36
I go to is, is that, you know, kind of the reason
23:38
is because we do face situations where teachers
23:41
are, they're struggling with that group of students
23:43
this year. Right. And they're thinking, I, maybe
23:46
I'm not in the right field, you know, and is
23:49
that. by itself going to be enough or do they
23:52
have to to dig deeper, look further inward to
23:56
kind of find whatever success that they need
23:59
to to turn things around? I mean, I think it's
24:04
it really is. It's one of those things where
24:06
like specifically in education, it is really
24:09
never been harder to be a teacher with all the
24:12
different factors that are going on outside of
24:15
your control. I've had plenty of elementary teachers
24:19
say, I've been doing this a long time. I never
24:22
used to get bit in the leg. And now I get bit
24:24
in the leg almost on a monthly basis, right?
24:27
I've been doing this. It's never been as hard
24:30
as it has been. And it's easy to blame COVID.
24:33
And it's easy to blame that. But let's drop that
24:36
excuse at this point. I think that adds a little
24:38
fuel on the fire. But I think part of the reason
24:41
it's never been harder, because our engagement
24:47
has gone down so much. And it's really hard to
24:50
get a kid to focus in on a lesson that you want
24:52
to teach them for 20 minutes or 30 minutes when
24:55
they're used to 15 second reels since they've
24:58
been seven years old or whatever it may be. And
25:01
so I think it is harder and I think more is getting
25:04
put on teachers plate than than ever before.
25:10
And I think a lot of the work that they got into
25:12
it for is ends up not being the work. that they
25:15
do, if that makes sense. And it can be really
25:18
easy to burn out in that situation. So if you're
25:21
a school leader, you got some sort of an administrative
25:24
role. Yeah. If you could suggest something to
25:27
a school leader to help take something off the
25:30
plate of their teachers so that they're not getting
25:33
to that point, what would you suggest to them
25:35
that they try to do? For a school leader, what
25:37
they can do to pick up the hard part about that
25:39
is the school leaders already got 15 things that
25:42
have been added to their plate. And so now we're
25:44
asking more for that to do for. So where does
25:47
that stop? So where does that stop right there?
25:49
Would we ask for the superintendent to help them
25:51
or whatever it may be. And so you can go down
25:53
that, you know, what could an ad, I just think
25:56
part of an admin's role is to make sure that
25:59
when their people walk into the building every
26:02
day, they have a place where they feel like they
26:04
could belong. They have a place that is a living
26:09
breathing. Sort of entity of what we all talk
26:13
about as adults to kids we want more empathy
26:16
or kindness more inclusiveness we want people
26:18
to feel they have a voice at the table and a
26:21
place that they belong and i think part of the
26:24
rules and admin. Is to create that space where
26:27
people the adults feel like they have a place
26:30
at the table they feel like they can belong because.
26:34
There's a lot of the things that. are coming
26:36
at teachers, you know, get thrown at teachers.
26:41
I don't know if we can magically make those go
26:43
away. But if I have to take all of that on, on
26:47
top of the fact that I feel like people are talking
26:49
about me behind my back and I'm walking on eggshells
26:52
every time I walk into the building and it feels
26:54
super negative in the teachers lounge. And that
26:57
is like, I believe, where we get to that burnout
26:59
stage. We can only take so much of that on top
27:03
of all the other things. And then the last thing
27:05
I would say, is the number one reason people
27:09
leave the field of education is financial, but
27:12
the second one is because of lack of recognition.
27:15
And so if there was ever an opportunity as an
27:17
admin to write small handwritten notes to your
27:20
staff and say, hey, I see you, I appreciate you,
27:23
or to take 15 minutes at the end of a staff meeting
27:25
to do gratitude shout outs, or to somehow continue.
27:29
to remind the teachers and the staff, the custodians
27:33
and the IT directors and all the different people
27:36
that make a school go like to make sure they
27:39
feel appreciated. And that's something every
27:41
administrator has control over. You can control
27:44
that. Yeah. And I can tell you too, like, well,
27:47
for one, the the one thing that I guess is important
27:51
then is what you're saying is to keep consistent
27:53
is opportunities for human connection because
27:56
there's there's no way you can just all of a
27:59
sudden snap your finger and and a couple tasks
28:01
are off your plate or even if you all these ones
28:04
that are on your plate there's always the element
28:07
of like actually doing them well which is difficult
28:09
the more you have on your plate but if you do
28:12
have opportunities for human connection you can
28:15
kind of set those things aside and get to the
28:18
heart of why you're there at the school district
28:21
I know it made me think of when you're talking
28:24
about that it made me think about there was the
28:27
first superintendent I ever had at my school
28:31
that I taught at first. His name was Bob Tewes.
28:35
Every single morning, the one thing he made sure
28:38
he did was to stand outside the school and greet
28:41
everybody that came into the school. Superstudent?
28:44
Yes. That was awesome. He always made sure that
28:47
that was something he did. And I can't tell you
28:49
the amount of times, even after I stopped working
28:51
there, got a job at a different school, the amount
28:53
of people I ran into that knew Bob that referenced
28:57
that thing that he did. It just, which was kind
29:01
of incredible because it was this small thing
29:03
where it took a little bit of time out of his
29:06
morning to go outside and just say good morning
29:09
to people. And, but everybody remembered. Yep.
29:12
It's, it's just crazy. And yet I think it gets
29:14
overlooked. And here's what I'd say. If number
29:17
one, some people might say, well, that's just
29:18
not me. That's Bob. Bob's good at that. I'm not
29:21
good at that. even if Bob wasn't good, I don't
29:23
even know if Bob was that was in his wheelhouse
29:25
or not, but that could have completely been outside
29:27
his wheelhouse. And he did it anyway. Yeah. And
29:30
the fact that he did it anyway, or if you're
29:32
an administrator listening to this, and you're
29:34
not good at that stuff, or you're a teacher,
29:35
and you're not good at the fact that you even
29:38
attempt it and try it, your people see that whether
29:41
it's students or staff, and they appreciate the
29:44
fact that they see you stepping outside of your
29:46
comfort zone. Because that's what we ask for
29:48
our people every single day. So when you model
29:51
it as a leader, I think it's awesome. So anybody's
29:53
last not be that's I mean, that would be even
29:56
more of a race to do it because it's not you
29:58
and it's outside of your comfort zone. And sometimes
30:01
we have to do hard things and people appreciate
30:03
that. So I love it. I really like how it comes
30:07
back to the human connection they get, you know,
30:09
and you're you're going out of your way to continue
30:11
making those connections with people, even if
30:13
it is outside of your comfort zone, because you
30:16
don't know what kind of snowball effect. that
30:18
that's going to happen where that's going to
30:20
if we want to go back to our other example that
30:22
we talked about, it kind of leads right back
30:24
into it. Well, imagine you're a substitute teacher
30:26
or a guest teacher and you're walking into that
30:28
building for the first time and you know nobody,
30:30
you don't even know where the office is. And
30:34
all of a sudden, somebody is there to say, Hey,
30:36
welcome, we appreciate you. And It sounds so
30:39
small, but it's like as a speaker, like when
30:42
I go into a school and the first interaction
30:44
that I have is positive, it sets the tone for
30:46
the day and makes a huge difference. And so,
30:49
you know, and now that guest teacher goes in
30:51
and does a better job. It feels like it wants
30:53
to come back to that school, has a better experience.
30:56
I just think it adds value all the way around.
30:59
So we're getting back, I think, to the theme
31:02
of human connection here again. Right. And how
31:06
urgent is it now? to reclaim that human connection
31:10
from and I'm not blaming COVID. I'm not, you
31:12
know, I don't want to necessarily just blame
31:14
the distraction of devices and things like that.
31:16
But I do see a tendency like you talked about
31:19
kids that they get to a restaurant and having
31:22
dinner with their parents and they're down on
31:24
their devices the whole time. I've seen adults
31:26
do the same thing. Yeah. You know, like how urgent
31:29
is this message to start to reclaim that human
31:31
connection? Yeah, I mean, there's no timetable,
31:34
right? It's not like if it's not done by April
31:36
15th, 2026, watch out. But it's like, I don't
31:42
know, like I feel like our joy and our happiness
31:46
and like is at stake and our kids success and
31:51
future is at stake. And so it's, I don't know,
31:54
I think it's pretty important that we start talking
31:56
about it right now. And the reason too, is like
31:58
when you start looking at the numbers they studied.
32:01
kind of mental health and where we're at over
32:03
the last 20 years. And there was a gradual like
32:07
uptick and then a sudden spike in the year 2011
32:11
between 2011 and 2023 basically. And so you look
32:15
back, what was that uptick? Why is that political?
32:18
Was it our divide in communities? What's happening?
32:20
And that's the year the iPhone was saturated
32:24
into the market. It was introduced in 2007, but
32:27
it didn't get fully saturated. 85 % of people
32:30
had one. in 2011 they call that market saturation
32:33
that that is the time once these saturated the
32:36
market where you see an uptick and then a sudden
32:38
spike in depression anxiety self -harm ideation
32:43
all of them have gone up while human connection
32:46
has gone down and so those numbers are going
32:50
to continue to go up unless we somehow counterbalance
32:53
it and so what we also house like is this urgent
32:57
yeah because Sometimes we go, well, that's just
33:00
a different kid in a different community and
33:02
a different zip code. It's not the kid in the
33:04
back of the room with the hood up and the earbuds
33:06
in anymore. It's the young girl in the front
33:08
row with her hand raised at the ear and the kid
33:11
on the outside that looks like they have it all
33:13
together. And I just think it's, it's more of
33:17
a problem and more, it's more urgent than ever
33:20
that we start, you know, really leaning in to
33:23
prioritize the human connection for our kids
33:25
sake, for our own mental health sake. Yeah. And
33:28
despite that, do you think there are signs, you
33:31
know, positive signs of changes that are or can
33:34
be made that are being done? Yeah. I mean, number
33:38
one, schools are doing a much better job of becoming
33:41
self -help free or putting different things.
33:44
Is that what you're talking about from like a
33:46
school? Yeah. And if that's going to tip the
33:50
needle. you know, back into helping us in the
33:53
situation that we're facing. Yeah, I don't know.
33:55
I feel like we're kind of going to be on this
33:57
needle tip for a very long time. And I don't
34:00
think technology is ever going to go away. We're
34:03
going to continue to innovate. We're going to
34:04
continue to find easier ways to do things, more
34:07
efficient ways to do things. And that is really
34:10
awesome. But we just cannot lose the connection
34:13
piece along the way with that efficiency. Do
34:17
you think AI is a threat to that? I think AI
34:20
is a threat. I mean, the stuff that I'm listening
34:23
to, like sometimes I hear it and I'm like, oh
34:25
my gosh, it's going to be so amazing. And then
34:27
sometimes I'm like, oh my gosh, smoke them if
34:30
you got them because we're gone in about five
34:31
years. You know what I mean? So it would be really
34:35
interesting to see kind of how where AI goes
34:38
in the next five years. It's going to be crazy.
34:40
The stuff that then there's listening to somebody
34:42
the other day is they tell me what's going to
34:43
happen in 2050. Like there's things that are
34:45
happening right now that I we won't even be able
34:48
to describe. It'd be like trying to describe
34:50
the iPhone to somebody in the 17 context and
34:53
couldn't do it. It's going to be such, you know,
34:55
technological advancements. And I'm hoping that
34:59
those advancements are used in the right way
35:01
to reduce sickness, to improve, you know, efficiency
35:05
in many ways. But I'm worried that that, yeah,
35:10
these skills of human connection will get lost
35:11
along the way. And just as a follow up to that,
35:14
like if so, one of the things that as we go and
35:16
train on AI. We do that with schools and we kind
35:19
of give them an overview of AI and really focus
35:23
on what are the things that they can do within
35:25
their profession to make their job a little bit
35:27
easier. I think one of the things that people
35:29
are hopeful about, I know I think about this
35:31
and Jeremy and I have talked about this too in
35:34
previous podcasts, but allowing teachers to use
35:38
AI hopefully in a way that will allow them to
35:44
free up some of their time so that when you talk
35:47
about human connection, it will open some of
35:49
those doors where they can interact with students
35:52
more and not spend so much time with overwhelming
35:57
lesson planning and grading and all those different
36:00
types of things because you'll be able to do
36:02
that piece of it more efficiently. Are you hopeful
36:05
about that aspect of it at all? I'm hopeful about
36:08
that and I'm hopeful about how AI can be used
36:12
to help collaboration. So like, imagine you have
36:15
all these great ideas and things that you've
36:17
used, and now you bring that out to your larger
36:20
team, and now your team is sharing some ideas
36:23
together. And if that AI was the reason that
36:25
your team was able to come together to share
36:26
ideas, to collaborate, and to meet, that builds
36:29
human connection, right? And so it's like, how
36:31
do we not use AI? And I'm thinking of this for
36:36
my own kids and stuff. to put them into a silo
36:38
where they go, oh, I don't need anybody else
36:40
in my life. I can just ask Chad GPT and I'll
36:43
figure and I don't have to do anything on my
36:44
own. That's hard. I'll just ask Chad GPT and
36:47
they'll answer the question for me instead of
36:49
me having that have that conversation. So I think
36:52
it's the amazing that's the efficiency that it's
36:54
going to, you know, allow us to have is awesome.
36:57
But I want that extra time that we gain because
37:00
of the efficiency. I would love it to be used
37:03
and then invested. Almost like you put money
37:06
and invest in your bank or whatever to be used
37:08
on for connection to collaboration Yeah, Joe,
37:12
we're kind of hitting up on the end of our time
37:14
here because we're we're recording between two
37:16
different sessions of a conference and I actually
37:18
present during the next session and have to pack
37:21
stuff up here, but You know before we go What
37:24
do you have going on that you think you would
37:26
like to share to our audience or things? Do you
37:29
have a project you're working on or you want
37:32
to give a shout out to some organization? You
37:35
know, like, what can we do to help promote you?
37:38
Yeah, I would say, I mean, we're always working
37:40
on different projects. If you're a school or
37:43
administrator or a district and you're looking
37:45
for support. for your staff or your students,
37:48
we'd love to have the conversation. We travel
37:51
all over the country, but we'd love to do more
37:53
stuff in our home state of Minnesota. Selfishly,
37:57
it allows us to impact people in and around us,
38:01
but also selfishly, selfishly allows me to sleep
38:04
in my own bed at night and be around my family
38:05
a little bit more and not travel as much. But
38:08
yeah, so we're constantly continuing to build
38:12
new talks. We have professional development around
38:16
classroom management and relationships and environment
38:20
and leadership. And we have this really cool
38:24
new thing for students. It's called our Leadership
38:26
Toolkit, and it's kind of a bite -sized version.
38:29
of a bigger platform that schools can use that
38:33
will give them just a little bit of a shot in
38:35
the arm for their student leaders. It has videos
38:39
and lessons and activities that go along with
38:41
it. And we're really excited about rolling that
38:44
out because not every school can bring in a speaker
38:45
and not every school is ready for a big event.
38:47
But we want to start creating smaller bite size
38:50
products that schools can use. And so that's
38:52
what we're excited about. And where can those
38:53
people reach out and find you? Till360 .com.
38:56
that's it or joe at till 360 .com and they connect
39:00
with me personally and we'll definitely link
39:02
that into the show notes so you can get right
39:04
to it on to the books as well got the two books
39:07
right so just look up at just look back so all
39:10
right great well thanks joe absolutely thanks
39:13
for having me you can actually shake someone's
39:14
hand one time right yeah the one time Thanks
39:37
for listening to Integrate This. Want to take
39:40
your learning further? Head over to our YouTube
39:42
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39:45
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40:02
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