Latest / Integrate This! Ed Tech Podcast / Approaching Life and Education with Purpose | Dr. Jorge Valenzuela

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Approaching Life and Education with Purpose | Dr. Jorge Valenzuela · 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.
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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
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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,
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and let's integrate this. Hey, welcome to the
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Integrate This EdTech podcast. I'm David Berner,
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joined by co -host Jerry Mikla. And right above
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us, you see an amazing guest we have with us
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today, Dr. George Valenzuela, does a ton of work
0:39
in project -based learning and all sorts of different
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things now with AI. And so we just want to welcome
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you, George, to the podcast. We're very happy
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to have you. Thank you so much. Happy to be here.
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And just to kind of kick things off, we usually
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like to give the guests a little Let our listeners
0:56
hear a little bit about how they got to where
0:58
they got to today. Can you tell us a little bit
1:01
about your journey? Because you've been in IT
1:03
and now you're in education, PBL and all sorts
1:07
of stuff. Can you tell us kind of the story of
1:09
George? Yeah, so I began my life in New York
1:12
in the mid 1970s. I just dated myself like my
1:16
son says. I was born in the late 1900s. And I
1:22
was really good in school. really good in school,
1:24
but I came from a very difficult background,
1:29
had a rough start, wasn't a foster care system.
1:32
And I ended up going to college, of course. And
1:36
that really helped me out because even though
1:40
my major was in education, it was computer science.
1:44
So that taught me how to think in algorithms,
1:48
which now I speak in frameworks. So I didn't
1:50
know that that world was preparing me for this.
1:53
I started computer science, but like you said,
1:57
I was in IT, worked in New York a couple of years.
2:01
And then my aunt, who was a teacher, encouraged
2:04
me to try teaching. And at first I was like,
2:07
I don't want to do that. And she was like, why?
2:09
I said, it doesn't pay enough. And she said,
2:12
what if I got you a job teaching summer school
2:15
for five weeks for $36 .50 an hour? And you only
2:19
have to work five hours a day. and for four days
2:23
a week. So after doing the math, it was like
2:25
$700. I was like, I can do that. So I started
2:28
doing that. And I realized very, very quickly
2:31
that I should be doing this for an entire career,
2:36
not knowing I would be a business owner, entrepreneur,
2:39
and all of those things, speaking around the
2:41
country. But I just felt that I thought that
2:46
my life was difficult. And what I realized is
2:51
that I was neglected, but not really abused in
2:56
the way that some of the kids I met were. And
2:59
I wanted to help them, and I wanted to help them
3:01
make career connections. Those of us that understand
3:05
computer science or have studied it, we know
3:08
that computing is in everything, is in everything.
3:12
And I knew that that would be the future. So
3:14
I became a Tech Ed teacher, started in Virginia.
3:18
I had moved down south. And I was in the classroom
3:22
a few years. I went and got my admin's license,
3:25
did my master's. And I don't know how. I remember
3:31
walking out of my internship to be principal.
3:34
It was summer school. And I remember telling
3:37
my wife, I am not doing that job. I will not
3:42
be a principal and have to do, well, have to
3:45
start out as an AP. and be focused on referrals
3:49
and cafeteria duty and bus duty when I can have
3:52
a part -time job and make what those guys make.
3:55
So I was like, that's what I'm going to do. And
3:57
then maybe six months later, the guy that supervised
4:03
tech and computer science in Richmond City public
4:07
schools, he retired or moved on. And people started
4:11
asking me, you should apply. So I was like, why
4:13
should I apply? They said, well, you have the
4:16
teaching ability, but you don't understand how,
4:21
how administration and budgets and things like
4:23
that work, but we can teach you those things.
4:26
So I went into the interview and I wasn't that
4:32
set on having the job, but I wanted them to know
4:37
who I was. So if something ever came up in the
4:40
future, I would be considered. Well, anyway,
4:43
make a long story short. I ended up getting the
4:45
job. And there I learned how an entire district
4:49
works, how all the fundings work, how all the
4:52
departments work, how all the core content areas
4:56
work. And we had a superintendent and a director
5:00
of CNI that wanted to make sure that all 50 schools
5:05
were fully accredited. So what they did was made
5:09
sure that every instructional leader in the district
5:13
partnered with school leaders in all the schools,
5:16
all 50 schools. And every quarter we had to do
5:19
something called instructional rounds, where
5:22
we used learning walks to visit each of the classrooms.
5:27
And what happened was we got to know our students,
5:30
our teachers on a very deep level, on a personal
5:33
level. So when we designed all of the professional
5:36
learning, it was designed as an intervention
5:39
for the solutions that we were looking for. So
5:43
if the solutions were to improve math and reading
5:46
and writing, or morale, we would have to investigate
5:51
what has been done in those fields. Who are the
5:54
top speakers? Who are the top coaches? And sometimes
5:57
it would be folks in our district. Well, anyway,
6:01
we started doing that around 2007. And in 2010,
6:05
we got all of the 50 schools fully accredited.
6:09
And I was a part of that team. then I realized
6:14
as I was working in STEM and computer science,
6:16
we were asking our teachers to do things that
6:20
we didn't know how to do ourselves in the classroom.
6:23
So I sought out a organization that can make
6:26
me an expert in project -based learning. I learned
6:30
about the Buck Institute for Education, which
6:32
is now known as PBO Works. I signed up for an
6:36
academy. And just make a long story short, they
6:39
invited me to be part of the national faculty.
6:42
It was a 14 -month boot camp. I did that. And
6:46
in those 14 months, I became a master teacher.
6:49
And because I had worked in that district job
6:52
where we visited all of the classrooms and I
6:55
had to design PL for everyone, I already knew
6:58
about the content areas. I already knew about
7:00
CTE. I already knew about computer science, which
7:02
was the big push at that time. So I was able
7:06
to help. all teachers. Well, anyway, they started
7:09
sending me out all around the country, and I
7:11
was training entire faculties, entire staffs
7:17
on how to do PBL, well, how to teach what they
7:22
teach, but in the context of a project. I got
7:26
into the PhD program, and then all of a sudden,
7:29
all of the practices in PBL and instructional
7:32
rounds, learning walks, data collections, action
7:36
research, all of the knowledge that I already
7:40
had really became crystallized by the research
7:46
I had to do in the PhD program. And during COVID,
7:53
well, about five years before COVID, I was on
7:57
the road every summer, every week in a different
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school, in a different district. And then in
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2017, I went full -time on my own. When COVID
8:11
hit, no one knew who I was, but I had a lot of
8:16
experience already facilitating workshops, already
8:18
working with admin and with teachers. So what
8:22
happened was when all the major conferences like
8:25
ISTE went virtual, teachers wanted to hear the
8:30
experts. And that's how it happened. I did the
8:35
summer learning academy for ISTE in 2020. And
8:39
from there, I went from 10 days a month to 20,
8:41
25 days a month. And I wrote a wave all the way
8:45
into 2024. And it's not quite like it used to
8:50
be, but now I'm doing keynotes and more major
8:53
stages and things like that. Yeah. And as you
8:56
look back at it, I mean, it sounds like, as you
8:58
described it, like a lot of this just seemed
9:00
to kind of happen naturally. And it's almost
9:03
like you You were really working hard on focusing
9:07
on schools in Virginia, and then it just kind
9:11
of flowed into the work that you would be doing
9:15
in your, your PD, PhD work. Is that a good way
9:18
to describe it? Or like, as you listen, I can
9:20
see what it seems like. I always try to find
9:24
alignment in everything I do. Alignment in my
9:27
personal life, you know, God, self, family, friends,
9:32
relationships, right? And I look alignment in
9:36
the work I do. If you really look at my work,
9:38
it focuses on instructional innovation, improving
9:43
instruction, which means that we have to observe
9:46
instruction. You observe it, and you start with
9:50
your core instruction, your core teaching, your
9:52
foundational things. But as you improve that,
9:56
and as you improve that, you include innovation,
9:59
project -based learning, ed tech. artificial
10:02
intelligence integration, but it really starts
10:04
with teaching and learning. Becoming a master
10:08
teacher has helped me keep that at the focus
10:12
at the forefront and therefore I can add things
10:16
on top of it. Kind of one of the things that
10:19
I thought when I moved into this position that
10:22
I'm in now and I and David and I have talked
10:24
about this before is that we're not in positions
10:26
anymore where we're both classroom teachers,
10:29
you know every day. face in front of the students,
10:34
but you know we work with then teachers to help
10:37
them. you know better improve their instruction
10:40
you know to you know reach a wider audience than
10:44
maybe what we could even just in in one classroom
10:47
and it seems like you have that experience as
10:49
you go and just even as you were talking about
10:51
your instructional rounds i was i was kind of
10:53
picturing that like a a doctor and you know their
10:56
attendees and they're they're walking around
10:58
checking on all the patients and all of the different
11:00
rooms in it it becomes that learning experience
11:02
you know for everyone else that is part of that
11:05
and that's kind of what i'm picturing as you're
11:07
going around in and like you said I could really
11:09
see how that you know you do get to know then
11:12
those instructors that you're dealing with on
11:14
much more a personal level which then when you
11:17
bring to them an idea for something you know
11:21
you where you know let's let's because you we
11:23
you talked about it here so I want to go down
11:25
that road of project -based learning and you've
11:27
you've written a couple of different books on
11:29
on pbl and you know even pbl plus so I guess
11:33
kind of what I'm kind of curious is Where does,
11:37
what is the plus? How does that come in? And,
11:40
you know, and I'm, you know, kind of thinking
11:42
like you have this relationship already with,
11:45
with the people that you're presenting this stuff
11:47
to, like how receptive do they become when you
11:51
add that plus part into it? Does that make sense?
11:55
Yeah. So project based learning plus is my brand
12:00
of PBL. That's number one. And The plus refers
12:06
to life skills and what's happening in education
12:09
right now. So what that means is I've had 10
12:13
years of doing PBL nationally, and all those
12:16
data collections have informed the plus. Now
12:19
the plus can be what life skills kids need, beginning
12:24
with knowledge of self, then emotional intelligence,
12:27
and then with career readiness. All kids are
12:30
not the same. So the So the part of the life
12:33
skills that they would need would be the one
12:36
that we've surveyed them and the parents, and
12:38
we know that they're interested in instead of
12:40
pushing the same thing on every kid. Then also
12:43
in education, things always change. We were focused
12:47
on SEL back during the pandemic. Now we want
12:50
kids to learn AI literacy. So those things all
12:54
fit into the plus, whatever the plus is. So we're
12:57
keeping project -based learning as a pedagogy.
13:01
We don't change that, right? We want authenticity,
13:05
reflection, accomplishment, all the things we
13:08
know work, public product, you name it. But the
13:11
plus is just what's happening in education and
13:14
what kids really need. And that's where I'm focused.
13:17
I look at my own journey. I was very compliant
13:21
in school. I was a really good kid. I did everything
13:24
I was told. I... Went to college. I I got the
13:30
nine -to -five. I got all the degrees. I Bought
13:33
a house. I got married I I did everything I was
13:36
supposed to do and then at the age of 35 my stepdad
13:38
walks into my house and we spend a weekend together
13:41
and at the end This guy looks me in the face.
13:44
It says George if I was 35, I couldn't have advised
13:48
you and Because I reflect I sat in my bed that
13:52
night and said to myself he thinks is a compliment
13:56
But I feel like I wasted my time and listening
13:59
to all these adults who don't know what they're
14:02
doing either And now I'm an adult Imagine if
14:06
someone in middle school or high school would
14:09
have asked me what do you want to do? What is
14:12
the impact you want to make in the world? What
14:14
are the problems you want to solve? I? Wouldn't
14:18
have been Where I'm at so I decided that 35 years
14:25
old that I am listening to me now. I am focusing
14:30
on what I want to do. I wasn't sure what that
14:33
was Wasn't sure but I knew that it was helping
14:38
people and I read a book through I Read a book
14:45
a new earth by Eckhart Tolle and he said whatever
14:50
you're meant to do a version of that is where
14:55
you are right now, because life happens for you,
15:00
not necessarily to you. So, I knew that it would
15:05
be helping people and education, but how would
15:10
I do that? So, it was very simple. I'm responsible
15:14
for X amount of people. In my situation, it was
15:18
40 people in tech and computer science. and then
15:21
an entire district that we worked on as a team.
15:25
I just became an expert at the things I needed
15:28
to help those people. I began there and took
15:31
those same principles and applied it to all facets
15:35
of my life. So then eventually now in 51, now
15:40
think of all those years of wanting to help and
15:44
learning the things that the people I'm responsible
15:47
for need the most. And that seems to me very
15:51
much like it aligns almost perfectly with what
15:54
a classroom teacher faces with their students
15:56
in their room. And you just extrapolate that
15:58
down to that level. And that teacher then needs
16:02
to become that expert of where their students
16:06
are at and the expert of how to get those students
16:10
the learning that they need in order to be successful,
16:14
to be able to set up that type of life that you're
16:17
talking about. Yeah. And if you look at all my
16:21
data, like, so I run everything through either
16:25
chat GPT or Gemini. And all my data collections
16:31
have a qualitative piece where all participants
16:34
get to write down what they think, feedback,
16:37
things like that about the workshop or what they
16:39
experienced. But then there's a quantitative
16:44
piece that uses Likert scales. And I went through
16:48
like hundreds of people, maybe a couple of thousand
16:51
from last summer. And I looked at all the data
16:55
on the quantitative side. I was had a 4 .9 out
16:59
of five. And when I looked at what people wrote
17:05
down, I asked chachi PT, what are the themes
17:09
here? And it said two things, emotionally compelling.
17:14
When you speak. People get emotionally compelled.
17:18
Something inside them says, I need to listen
17:20
here. And second, actionable strategies and tools
17:24
and resources that they can take back and use
17:27
immediately. Now, I can't say that I was that
17:31
type of teacher in the classroom, or even as
17:34
a facilitator in the beginning. I had to develop
17:37
into that. But my intention was, like you said,
17:41
is to think this way. What do the kids I teach
17:45
now? What do the adults I need? What do the adults
17:51
I support need in order for me to help them learn?
17:56
And that's it, right? And so that seems to me
17:59
kind of. Like if you're thinking about it, I'm
18:04
sure you have to come across some staff some
18:06
teachers that are a little bit resistant Like
18:08
I can't do that. That's way too much I've got
18:10
35 kids and that's just one hour of the day,
18:13
you know And if I'm a high school teacher or
18:15
middle school teacher that you know times five
18:18
or six, right and and so The pushback that you
18:22
get, you know has to be like I can't do that
18:24
with everything else that I need to do I have
18:27
these standards to cover I've got my you know
18:30
you're you know divided up into different units
18:33
that all need to be addressed in that time frame.
18:36
So is that the way then that you try to engage
18:40
that teacher to you know that that that emotional
18:43
connection that you're talking about to you know
18:47
the wanting to do what's right for the students
18:49
and then I guess there's almost an AI obviously
18:52
kind of tied to this too is Is that what you
18:57
can now sell teachers on that can be your assistant
19:00
in helping you identify those needs for students
19:02
and be able to personalize it individually for
19:05
them? All right, so the first thing I tell teachers
19:08
is this. Well, I deliver two very different workshops.
19:14
If I'm at a conference. People are there because
19:18
they want to see me. So that that workshop or
19:23
that keynote. I'm flowing, I'm killing it, everyone's
19:28
into it, everyone's laughing, everyone is really
19:30
enjoying themselves and they're getting a lot
19:33
of takeaways. But then, like you mentioned, at
19:36
the district level, in schools, it's very different
19:39
now. A lot of teachers don't want to be there
19:42
in professional learning. They just don't. So
19:46
you walk in, they don't make eye contact, they
19:48
don't speak unless if they're spoken to, things
19:51
like that. And before COVID, we had people like
19:54
that, but they weren't as vocal as they are now.
19:59
So I automatically do two things. I break up
20:03
my audience into three segments. And these are
20:06
dummy numbers, but I got this from a success
20:09
coach, James Taylor. 10 % want to work with you.
20:13
They understand the assignment. They are ready
20:16
to do the work, and they are ready. This is not
20:21
my target audience. This is not who I'm preparing
20:23
for. Then there's another 10%. They don't want
20:27
to be there. They are committed to misunderstanding
20:32
every word I say. I can't say that they don't
20:35
like me because they don't know me, but they
20:37
definitely have a bias. And the bias is probably
20:41
professional learning. They just don't want to
20:43
do it. My message is not for them either. They're
20:48
not my core audience. They already decided that
20:50
they're tuned out. There's an 80 % and these
20:53
folks are mostly on the fence. They've had a
20:56
lot of bad professional learning. They have a
20:59
lot of competing initiatives. They have a lot
21:01
of standards that they have to teach. They have
21:03
a whole bunch of things that they have to do
21:06
and they don't even have time to meet with me
21:09
today. But, but they love our profession. They
21:15
care about doing the best thing for children.
21:19
And all they have to see in us as we do this,
21:22
they have to see that we care also and that we
21:25
know what we're doing and talking about and we
21:28
have receipts. So I always begin with this. I'm
21:34
going to show you a lot of instructional strategies
21:37
and I'm going to model them. But you have expertise
21:40
too. If you're already doing something that is
21:45
getting the same effect and impact of what I'm
21:48
doing, don't throw away what you want to do.
21:53
Do what you're doing that's already working.
21:55
But if there's a piece that you see here that's
21:57
going to improve what you're doing, then let's
22:00
try that out. And you have to try everything
22:02
10 to 15 times before you fully learn it. And
22:07
I don't make teachers buy my books. I don't.
22:09
That's not who my client is. I write so many
22:14
articles for each of those chapters that are
22:17
already on Edutopia online, and I'm modeling
22:20
what's happening in the article along with the
22:23
research, my personal experience, and then the
22:26
actionable steps that they can do so they can
22:28
replicate the same success in their class. When
22:31
they hear it that way, there's not much you can
22:33
dispute with that unless you really don't want
22:35
to be there, but here's the thing. The reason
22:38
why they may start out having a negative attitude
22:43
in the beginning, but all my data shows that
22:47
it's very positive at the end. The reason why
22:50
they're not with me in the beginning is because
22:54
they're not with their administrators and school
22:56
leaders. That's why. So I always tell my admin,
23:00
hey, you're spending all this money on PL. You've
23:05
got to make sure that you have some conversations,
23:08
mend fences, and have strong relationships with
23:11
the people that you have in these sessions because
23:13
they're going to like what I'm doing, right?
23:18
But the success of this initiative and these
23:20
things you want to do, it depends solely on the
23:23
relationships you all have. Life is all about
23:25
relationships and relationships are the most
23:28
important thing in life and in business and in
23:31
work and in schools, in marriages. with God,
23:35
everything, it's relationship. Yeah, that's really
23:39
insightful too, because I think that one of the
23:41
things that I was just thinking about as you
23:43
were talking about that, George, is that anything
23:45
that seems to come out of nowhere, like AI, right?
23:50
That approach that you mentioned, I mean, I think
23:52
it's still applicable no matter what comes up,
23:55
right? Like you have that mindset of this is
23:59
what people need, we need relationships and do
24:03
you already kind of know based on the data? Like,
24:05
you know, these folks are not going to be into
24:08
what you're doing. You have your 10 % that love
24:10
it, and then you have 80 % in the middle. And
24:13
I guess I'm just wondering your thoughts on like,
24:15
as you've because you you were doing PBL, keynotes
24:20
and different things well before gen AI, right?
24:25
So did you was there any thought that came into
24:27
your mind like? No, like as you approach things
24:31
was there any shift that you had to think about?
24:34
Just based on gen AI being like a new thing or
24:37
was it more like you already have the tools to
24:39
apply How you want your professional learning
24:42
to go? So it's really just a matter of learning
24:45
about gen AI for you or how did that happen for
24:48
you personally? Yeah personally So I didn't see
24:52
it coming. I didn't see it coming and you can
24:55
actually look on edutopia in December, 2022,
24:59
I believe it was. I wrote an article on teaching
25:03
kids about AI. And it came out in December, the
25:07
same time that generative AI came out. But the
25:11
article was written in October and we were saving
25:14
it for CS week, which is the first week of December.
25:19
So I was completely blindsided. And it was sent
25:24
to me by a friend and she said, you got to check
25:26
this out. And she's a realtor. She's out of education.
25:30
But she was like, you can use it to write your
25:31
articles. And so I already knew that I couldn't
25:34
do that. Right. So I started looking at it and
25:37
I didn't. So. I understood after diving in, I
25:46
understood the concept of a language model and
25:49
how it was scouring the Internet and getting
25:52
all this data for text, video and. audio, right?
25:59
So I understood how it was working, but I didn't
26:02
understand how it would fit into schools or into
26:05
what I do. Until I started to ask it about macros.
26:13
Macros are your carbohydrates, protein and fats,
26:17
and how that composition of those things, how
26:21
it should be aligned to whatever fitness goals
26:25
you have. weight, working out, things like that.
26:28
So I always had a hard time with that. But when
26:30
I can take a picture of food and chat GPT can
26:34
now tell me what the macros are and what to leave
26:38
off and what to add, then I started to see that
26:44
it was affirming things I know, but it was filling
26:47
in my blind spots. And for the first time in
26:51
my life, I started to understand the effects
26:55
of food on my body. And therefore, I can learn
26:59
now to tailor my menu and align it to what my
27:05
fitness goals are. So that was the first plus.
27:08
Number two, I really focus on understanding relationships.
27:14
And there's a spectrum of human psychology, human
27:19
nature and dark psychology that if people don't
27:21
know, They will never be able to set boundaries
27:24
from a stoic place They'll be very reactive to
27:30
everything and when they set boundaries that
27:33
they'll weaponize them like imagine I Set a boundary
27:38
with you. You've disrespected me. So I don't
27:42
take your phone call anymore so or I Don't engage
27:48
you in the same way Well, if you do it from a
27:53
stoic lens You're just respecting yourself and
27:57
you don't let anyone disrespect you. You don't
28:00
say anything You're not upset with the person
28:03
you're using their disrespect as information
28:06
That that's the stoic way. That's how I want
28:10
to be then there's the way of Very emotional
28:14
I do the same thing, but I'm hoping it hurts
28:17
you I'm hoping you feel the same pain that you
28:20
feel. So I am looking to see how you're reacting.
28:25
Whereas in the stoic way, I don't care. I'm setting
28:30
my boundary. So anyway, when I started to learn
28:35
these things on ChatGPT, I realized it was taking
28:41
knowledge I already know, affirming me where
28:45
I needed to be, but it was... giving me new pieces.
28:50
And then I was able to take a lot of the writings
28:53
I already had and learn how to explain it the
28:58
way the algorithms now demand in 35 to 45 seconds
29:02
using frameworks. So it took what I already did,
29:06
but helped me do it better. Like you hear me
29:08
speaking right now. It's very actionable. It
29:12
makes sense. It's very logical, it has a cadence,
29:18
all these things. Well, anyway, I started realizing
29:21
that I don't have to let AI do my work. I can
29:26
do my work with AI. That's it. So in working
29:34
in schools, I just listen to what teachers need
29:38
and then use my own intuition or my own knowledge,
29:43
and I developed a conceptual framework. And if
29:47
you notice, I didn't really start to talk about
29:49
AI. Like I did a few articles on how to do lesson
29:53
planning, how to integrate it into PBL. I didn't
29:57
try to position myself as an AI expert. A lot
30:01
of people did in the beginning. I did not. I
30:06
waited to see how I was going to use it. and
30:10
I would see what teachers need and then make
30:15
the framework. So the first step is to learn
30:18
how to tailor AI. There's a lot of different
30:20
things you can do in how to tailor AI, but what
30:26
people need to understand is that with technology,
30:29
algorithms, AI, these things, you have to teach
30:35
it what you do and how you do it. So therefore,
30:38
it can give you the outputs that you need in
30:42
order for you to have success with the tool.
30:44
So for me, I found it in the beginning as a very
30:48
affirming machine. George, you're the greatest
30:51
at everything. You know everything. And so that's
30:54
nonsense. So I trained it to always give me responses
30:58
in stoic fashion based on evidence and research,
31:03
based on faith in God. and in logical steps,
31:08
frameworks. Then I started to take all my different
31:14
workflows. I'm an entrepreneur, I'm a consultant,
31:18
I'm a thought leader, I'm a coach. And then how
31:22
to take the parts of those jobs or roles that
31:28
require automation. and then train different
31:31
tools through orchestration and agents to help
31:35
me achieve those things faster and in a better
31:37
way. So that is tailoring. Then be a creator.
31:45
You're using and evaluating AI tools to make
31:50
your content better, whether it's audio, visual,
31:53
or text. And if you think about everything I'm
31:56
saying, Kids can learn how to do these things
32:00
and so and so can teachers then studying the
32:04
impact of AI AI has an impact on self on society
32:10
and the environment When we learn the impact
32:14
by looking at data and studying data and then
32:18
presenting it Then we automatically learn the
32:21
work of the people that study those things in
32:24
real life which now helps you understand career
32:27
pathways or a career pathway. So anyway, that's
32:32
what schools were looking for or are looking
32:34
for. And they need examples for that. They need
32:37
examples in each of the content areas, in CTE,
32:41
what that can look like. And I don't think we
32:45
want our teachers to change what they teach.
32:48
We just want young people to do their work with
32:51
AI. And I'm biased. But I think a project, PBL,
32:58
is just an easier entry point that any teacher
33:01
can use. But they don't have to always use a
33:05
project. But it makes it easier. Yeah. And one
33:09
of the things that we talked about this a little
33:11
bit before we started the podcast, but we'll
33:15
all be at ISTE together. And you had mentioned
33:17
you'll have uh doing a workshop on pbl plus with
33:22
ai literacy and so as you you know you gave some
33:26
really good examples there um of like your uses
33:29
of ai and as you think about classroom teachers
33:33
what do you think the best methods are and i
33:36
know you mentioned this a little bit with projects
33:38
and that but what what does it look like for
33:41
you like if you're working with some teachers
33:43
at a school and you have, we experience this
33:46
frequently where we, you know, you go in and
33:48
obviously you have a wide range of staff, right?
33:51
They all have different content areas and grade
33:54
levels and all these different things, different
33:55
approaches to teaching. What is, what are your
33:58
thoughts as far as when you're doing those, like
34:01
a PBL plus AI literacy workshop, what's the main
34:04
thing that you want teachers to take away from
34:07
that? Well, I want them to have a framework for
34:12
how AI is using a project. So it always starts
34:16
with the prompt, right? You know, kids prompt
34:20
whatever they want to do. Let's say they want
34:23
to learn about a career. How is AI used in the
34:27
role of a nurse practitioner today? And how might
34:30
that change in the next five to 10 years? Okay,
34:33
so that's the prompt or the scenario. Then there's
34:38
research analysis. AI identifies new tools, right?
34:43
And also what the key benefits are and what the
34:46
challenges are. So number one is prompting. Number
34:51
two is research and analysis. And they're looking
34:55
at tools. They're looking at what are the benefits
34:58
and what are the challenges. Now they can do
35:02
step three, evaluate and reflect. They can...
35:11
evaluate for accuracy using multiple sources
35:14
to make sure that what they were told are the
35:17
tools and what the benefits and what the challenges
35:20
are, if that's accurate. Once they know it's
35:24
accurate, then they can identify roles and jobs
35:29
in those things. And then step four, they make
35:32
the final product, which is a career brief or
35:35
some type of presentation where they include
35:37
the impact of AI. opportunities, risk, and the
35:42
skills that they've learned. And if you give
35:46
them a rubric where they're able to look at that
35:48
process and their own process, whatever it is,
35:52
is design thinking, Blooms, whatever you want
35:54
it to be, when they can articulate what the tool
35:59
was used for and how it didn't replace thinking,
36:03
it helped them in the thinking. and in the content
36:07
creation or the orchestration of using multiple
36:11
tools, then we are developing a future ready
36:16
student. And if you think about it, everything
36:18
I just said, right? I do that every day. You
36:21
do it every day. If you stay ready, you never
36:24
have to get ready. And that's the whole point.
36:28
Is your strategy to their... You know, as you're
36:32
working with teachers, are you hoping that a
36:33
lot of that is then transferable? Because, you
36:36
know, we get specifically with AI, there's a
36:38
ton of concerns around AI, like it's going to
36:41
make students lazy and they're not going to,
36:43
you know, do what they should be doing. There's
36:46
a lot of there's a whole lot of worry going on
36:48
there. So is your is your is part of your approach
36:51
to take teachers through that workshop and then
36:54
hope hopefully that's transferable then to the
36:57
things that they're doing in the classroom to
36:59
increase students. ability in using AI and effectiveness
37:05
of using AI. Is that a goal of it? Well, so think
37:10
about everything I just said. I gave you a framework
37:13
for using AI to teach a lesson. When I go into
37:17
my workshops, I bring an example for each of
37:20
the content areas and for CTE. So I'm bringing
37:24
in a math example. You put in the prompt, right?
37:28
And it's just help me identify what is the formula
37:35
for this solution, right? So you're basically
37:42
sticking to what you teach. You're not changing
37:44
what you teach. You're allowing kids to use AI
37:48
to help them understand what they're doing. So
37:53
they're just using it to verify certain things,
37:56
and they're going to evaluate it to make sure.
38:00
It's correct, but it's also filling in blind
38:02
spots, how to use this in the real world. You
38:05
see what I'm saying? And so by showing them examples,
38:08
like I bring in multiple examples, I bring in
38:13
lessons I've already created, I teach them to
38:16
systematic framework of what that can look like
38:20
in the classroom, I show video examples, and
38:23
then it's up to them. And the experience I have
38:27
is when you facilitate it that way, They can
38:31
see it. They can see it. Something you just said
38:34
kind of just struck me here and maybe help clarify
38:38
my thinking if I'm off base on this, but you
38:41
talked about using AI to help you find the formula
38:44
for the solution. In my mind, is that almost
38:48
like using a backwards design? model for instruction,
38:52
right? And teachers are familiar with that. That's
38:55
how we have constructed a lot. You start with
39:00
the end in mind, and then you work from there
39:02
to get to that point. It ties back to understanding
39:05
by design. The work of Jamie Tai and the late
39:08
Dr. Grant Wiggins. You begin with the outcome.
39:11
What are we trying to do? Then what is the knowledge
39:14
and skills I need to arrive there? And then what
39:18
are the learning experiences I need? in order
39:20
to get there. And AI can be that tool that helps
39:23
you get to those points more efficiently. Right.
39:27
Not just by yourself, but just in an efficient
39:29
way. Exactly. Interesting. So, George, I don't
39:35
want people to think that all you do is all PBL
39:37
and all AI all the time, right? I know you have
39:41
a much broader skill set than that and your areas
39:43
of expertise are much greater than just those
39:46
particular areas, although Those things definitely
39:49
I think should be tying into some of the core
39:53
instruction that is taking place in classrooms
39:56
here. How do you help bring in some of those
40:00
concepts, whether they're PBL or AI or even some
40:03
STEM concepts, robotics, whatever, you know,
40:06
is going to help bring about that what we call
40:10
core instruction or what you refer to as core
40:12
instruction. Everything needs a foundation. like
40:17
a house. If the foundation isn't strong, then
40:20
the house won't stand for long. I've been visiting
40:23
classrooms over 20 years now and after looking
40:27
at countless data collections and just seeing
40:31
what makes a confident teacher, what makes a
40:34
really good, solid, very confident teacher, I've
40:38
arrived at five things and these make your core
40:40
instruction. Number one, it's a standards aligned
40:44
lesson. Whether we use scripted resources or
40:48
we have to design our own every day, a skill
40:53
teacher should be able to map a daily lesson
40:56
based on standards, based on competencies, based
41:00
on whatever they have so they can know what you're
41:04
doing each day. Number two is the promotion of
41:08
literacy and numeracy skills. So yes, reading,
41:11
writing, and math can be included into number
41:13
one. But I think reading, writing, and math is
41:16
the foundation for everything. And every teacher
41:20
needs to be a literacy teacher. That doesn't
41:23
mean that if we don't teach ELA, we now have
41:26
to assess reading and writing. But what it does
41:29
mean is I can do three things every day. Number
41:32
one, make sure our kids have the correct grammar.
41:35
Number two, sentence structure. And number three,
41:38
citing sources. And the same thing with math.
41:42
we make a logical connection to numeracy where
41:45
it makes sense in our daily lessons. Number three
41:50
is to now facilitate my lessons using high yielding
41:55
strategies. Numbers one and two pertain to what
41:58
we teach. Number three is how we teach it using
42:03
high yielding strategies. Some teachers like
42:06
Merzano, some teachers like Visible Learning.
42:09
The point here is to know what we're doing and
42:12
why we're doing it. Then number four is to monitor
42:16
student engagement and achievement. If you look
42:19
into the literature, there's a strong correlation
42:22
between the two. If young people are not engaged,
42:26
they're not going to learn. And number five is
42:30
to monitor our impact on learning. Every teacher
42:33
I believe should feel very comfortable getting
42:40
feedback on how they teach from their students
42:42
and from trusted colleagues. The key word is
42:45
trusted, right? So these five things is the playbook.
42:49
It's your core instruction. It's your foundational
42:51
teaching. I believe if that's not right, imagine
42:55
having to integrate AI, but I don't know how
42:59
to map a daily lesson. I don't know how to balance
43:04
my relationships with students. Look at standards
43:10
and how to align this all together. And then
43:13
life skills on top of that. But if I have a foundation,
43:16
if I have a system in education, we say this
43:19
is our pedagogy, our pedagogical strategies.
43:24
Or we can also say instructional design. What
43:28
is my system for planning lessons? And what is
43:32
my system for how to facilitate them? If I keep
43:36
all these things in a toolbox, then I know what
43:39
to reach for when I'm planning or when I'm teaching.
43:44
A teacher has to have an enormous bag of tricks,
43:48
you know, and whether it involves using AI or
43:51
whether it involves, you know, a student that
43:54
seems to be maybe getting a little fidgety and
43:57
you just need to know you go down and you. put
43:59
a little stress ball down on their desk so it
44:02
disrupts nobody. But again, it's kind of using
44:05
all of those different skills and tricks. And
44:08
I think about even some of the teacher prep that
44:11
I had. decades ago. Um but you know II felt like
44:16
I came out very strong in my knowledge and understanding
44:20
of my content area in which I teach. But it it's
44:23
just some of those other things that you have
44:25
to pick up along the way. The giving relationships
44:28
with the students and understanding how essential
44:31
you know gaining the the students respect is
44:34
before they're ever going to want to learn anything
44:36
and knowing you care before they're ever gonna
44:39
wanna learn anything from you, right? Um and
44:41
it's just some of the other skills that I think
44:44
also are important to becoming a great teacher
44:47
that you're I feel like with your core instruction
44:49
here that you're talking about that you're really
44:51
trying to remind teachers of too and it's that
44:54
that and part of that too is keeping your you
44:58
have to know how to design the lesson before
45:01
AI can tell you whether you want to use that
45:04
or not which is you know and that's why we can't
45:10
worry about AI doing kids work. If we're teaching
45:13
them the frameworks and systems in our class,
45:18
the thinking frameworks and the problem solving
45:21
techniques, then all AI now is a helper. But
45:25
if you don't teach kids that, then AI is just
45:27
giving answers to things you don't understand
45:29
anyway. And just like you talked about, you know,
45:33
numeracy and literacy being important in all
45:36
content areas and all grade levels is Is that
45:40
the same place that AI literacy should be at
45:43
as well? Well, I think so. Because if you look
45:46
at data, newer data says that more than 50 %
45:55
of the kids who responded to the survey, even
46:00
though they're using AI, 58 % are saying, I don't
46:03
understand AI. And that is very problematic because
46:08
if you look at what industry projects by 2030,
46:13
70 % of the work is going to change. It's going
46:18
to change so drastically that if kids are not
46:24
understanding how to work with AI or what the
46:28
pathways and emerging jobs are in AI, then how
46:33
will they be successful? New jobs are in sustainable
46:35
computing, energy auditing, data science, and
46:39
nuclear operations. So if we engage young people
46:42
in projects to teach them to study the impact
46:46
of AI, then they will naturally learn about the
46:48
jobs of the people that I just mentioned. And
46:54
they're also going to, you know, in that project
46:57
situation, they'll be identifying their gaps
47:01
Where they need to make up that learning that
47:04
they don't they're they're starting to realize
47:06
they don't know what they don't know yet, which
47:09
I Told you earlier they're asking AI for this
47:14
career. I think I said nurse practitioner. It
47:17
could be any career What are the tools I will
47:19
need? How is it changing? What are the pros and
47:24
cons and what are the negatives or or Yeah, the
47:28
cons. What are the pros? And what are the cons?
47:32
So when they learn these things and we are teaching
47:35
them by. Really creating these sentence stems
47:40
and these questions. Then we are guiding them
47:44
to now guide their own version of AI. You see,
47:49
that's how I understand, or that's how I know
47:52
that certain people are just regurgitating information.
47:56
You gotta understand what you know first. and
48:00
what you're trying to achieve, then you can use
48:04
any tool, whatever, to help you become successful
48:08
in that thing. And that's what we have to teach
48:09
kids. And one of the things, George, that you
48:12
brought up too several times is the importance
48:15
of relationships. And can you talk a little bit
48:19
about how how did you come to get invested in
48:25
emotional intelligence and developing? People
48:29
in that regard so that they can be more effective
48:32
or more whole as you might say It started really
48:38
in my own household I had no idea what emotional
48:42
intelligence was until 2019 My My son and daughter
48:51
around that time they became teenagers and they
48:55
started to pay me no never mind And that was
48:58
very painful for anyone listening. No, nevermind
49:01
means that whenever I would say anything they
49:04
don't like, they would just roll their eyes and
49:07
look the other way. That was pretty painful because
49:10
before they started doing that, like when they
49:13
were little, they would just jump up and say
49:15
yes to everything I said, and they would agree
49:17
with everything I said. But now they started
49:19
to to buck everything or just ignore it. Being
49:25
a very Reflective Person I realize that I have
49:32
a knowledge gap. There's something that I'm missing
49:33
here. Well, anyway, I was reading an article
49:35
by dr. Travis Bradbury on the importance of relationships
49:40
and In the article he mentioned emotional intelligence
49:45
which all of a sudden those two words has jumped
49:48
up at me and I did a search and I found a the
49:56
work of Daniel Gohmann and Dr. Trasbert and Dr.
50:01
Bradbury and Jean Greaves have a book titled
50:04
Emotional Intelligence 2 .0. I got the book and
50:08
it came with an appraisal that I took and it
50:12
taught me what my knowledge gap was and it rated
50:15
me. I think I got like a 74 in social awareness,
50:20
which isn't that horrible, but it means you have
50:24
some work to do. So after evaluating myself,
50:29
I discovered that my feedback to my children
50:33
was all over the place. It was more ranting for
50:36
20 minutes in opposed to really giving them a
50:39
framework step by step of what I wanted them
50:41
to do that I can do in four steps. Instead, I
50:44
would rant, rave, and bring up things from the
50:48
past. So anyway, once I worked on it myself,
50:54
I started to realize that a lot of the people
50:58
I work with, I think that they love the kids.
51:04
I think that they sympathize with young people
51:07
when things don't go well. But I don't believe
51:11
that we all have empathy for young people. Empathy
51:15
meaning that we understand where they're coming
51:18
from. nor do we have high expectations for those
51:24
kids we don't understand. So looking at the science,
51:29
the science says that the first thing you need
51:32
to have is high expectations. You have to believe
51:37
that they can achieve. And this has worked that
51:39
has been done with animals, it's been done with
51:42
soldiers, students. When you have high expectations
51:47
for someone that... that you believe that they
51:50
can achieve, then what happens is you have better
51:53
interactions. And better interactions lead to
51:57
rapport, and then hopefully relationship. And
52:02
that's the first step to forming any type of
52:06
learning partnership, business partnership, any
52:10
type of partnership. You want to form a learning
52:13
partnership, but in order to do that, you have
52:16
to get on the same page. Relationally And one
52:21
of the big things that's coming up to this is
52:23
a big conversation nationally and maybe you've
52:25
been following is just the the screen the screen
52:28
conversation it's kind of started with social
52:30
media and the mental health challenges there
52:34
that arise and then it's kind of Moved it more
52:38
into like at the ed tech spaces and screens in
52:42
the classroom and that kind of thing And so there's
52:44
a big conversation on you know, either side going
52:47
on where, you know, one side wants to get devices
52:50
completely out of the classroom. One side is
52:52
saying, well, it's not the devices. It's actually
52:54
just the instruction and how they're used. And
52:57
so I don't know how much you've been following
52:59
that conversation, but do you have any thoughts
53:01
there on, on that conversation as it relates
53:05
to social media and mental health challenges
53:06
for kids? And then also the screen time debate,
53:09
I guess. My job is to follow and know. If you
53:15
look at China, and this came out yesterday, I
53:18
believe, they banned 500 social media influencers,
53:23
even those that have 100 million followers or
53:26
a million or whatever. They banned anyone that
53:30
is promoting wealth, showing off with money and
53:34
cars and all these fancy things. Think about
53:38
that. The UK and China put guardrails on social
53:41
media, but the United States didn't. And we have
53:44
a lot of mental health. If you look at CDC data
53:47
from just a year ago, more than half of the students
53:51
that responded are saying they feel hopeless
53:55
and have depression. I think what we look at,
54:01
I know myself, when I'm looking at politics especially,
54:06
when I'm looking at things overseas, when I'm
54:08
looking at negative things, it has a negative
54:11
impact. Emotionally. And at the end of the day,
54:20
would we know these things are happening if we're
54:22
not on a phone 24 seven? So I believe, like I
54:27
just said, it's my job to know every day after
54:30
work, after work, after the gym, after I did
54:34
the things to fill my own cup. And so you see
54:37
that you see right there, I fill my own cup.
54:42
After I fill my cup then I get on YouTube and
54:45
then I watch the news and see what's going on
54:48
20 30 minutes tops There's got to be some guardrails
54:52
on this stuff So if kids are doing that in class,
54:55
then yeah, they you know that shouldn't be but
54:58
if teachers If we have our core instruction,
55:01
right and we have those relationships It first
55:04
starts with relationship. My daughter just started
55:07
teaching And when she is finding in fourth grade
55:12
is that the kids can't stop talking. Can't stop
55:16
talking. Well, when I was a student, we also
55:19
couldn't stop talking, but we did so for the
55:23
teachers that we liked and respected because
55:25
they liked us and they respected us. So it's
55:29
not as easy as I'm saying, obviously, but it
55:32
starts with relationship and then every day having
55:35
a game plan, your core instruction and your daily
55:39
lesson map. so you know what you're doing with
55:41
kids. I think if we completely get rid of devices
55:46
in schools, then how is that real world? In the
55:50
real world, devices is how we work. Young people
55:56
need to learn how to use devices to do their
56:00
work or part of their work. And I think you're
56:07
spot on there. I think just if you go to straight
56:12
all out bands on screen time, for example, in
56:16
the classroom, or if you want to talk about using
56:20
devices or using AI to help you with the type
56:24
of work that you're doing, we're not teaching
56:26
them how to use them appropriately, effectively
56:29
in the areas that they need. it must be a much
56:34
more nuanced conversation that you need that
56:36
that needs to take place than just Lee saying
56:39
you know you can't do this you can't do that
56:42
and you know like it's limited to only these
56:46
you know five things or whatever it happens to
56:48
be that that you know it's got to be much more
56:50
nuanced right i agree Yeah, and I think, you
56:55
know, as our time is kind of starting to come
56:57
to a close, it's gone by so fast here. There's
56:59
there's one more area that I I do want to touch
57:01
on here before we get to our lightning round
57:03
stuff. And that has to do with the tagline for
57:07
your your company that you've started lifelong
57:10
learning defined is elevate your potential. So
57:14
since your your company is, you know, lifelong
57:16
learning defined, define what you mean here by
57:19
elevating your potential. Well, your lifelong
57:23
learning is always your personal and your professional
57:26
growth. I believe that they go hand -in -hand
57:29
Right and that elevates your potential right
57:32
there Just that simple. It's that simple. You
57:36
have to show up in life or you should be especially
57:39
I think after 40 there's no excuse Alright, so
57:43
so let me back up a little bit. I forgive my
57:45
parents. My parents are boomers. Okay, and They
57:51
just didn't have the Internet. They didn't have
57:52
YouTube. They didn't know what they were doing.
57:55
They were just trying to survive and and pay
57:58
bills and the thing that That hurt my relationship
58:04
with them a lot of times in my younger days Was
58:08
there was a mentality about my way or the highway?
58:11
You do as I say not as I do Right. Like it was
58:15
like this this way of being where they never
58:19
really took an interest in what I like. Now,
58:25
I realize as a father of two and as a teacher
58:29
and as a coach for many educators, I realize
58:33
that as a 50 year old man, I'm out of touch with
58:36
youth culture. I'm out of touch with the needs
58:40
of young people, women in the sense of what out
58:44
of touch in the sense that I shouldn't be telling
58:46
people how they should be doing things or being.
58:51
I should be listening, listening and modeling
58:55
things I want to see in the world. I have spent
58:59
so much time watching stranger things, wicked,
59:04
things I would normally not even care about because
59:08
I know if I don't take an interest in what my
59:11
children are into, then we won't have a relationship
59:15
because when you're young, You're just being
59:18
and experiencing new things and you're loving
59:22
every minute of it and anything That derails
59:25
that or tries to put a hamper on it. You're ignoring
59:29
even your own family So I have learned how to
59:33
shut my mouth and accept that my opinions Don't
59:37
have to be voiced and heard every single day.
59:39
I can Learn more by listening. So anyway Is that
59:45
what teachers need to do then too? Is it? Yes.
59:49
You know, because they're dealing with students
59:51
that are from that different. I mean, you call
59:54
them boomers, right? Or Gen Xers or millennials.
59:57
And what are coming? Gen Alpha and beta down
1:00:00
the road here. At least that's what, you know,
1:00:03
futurists or whatever people are calling them,
1:00:05
right? Is it, is that the key into reaching to
1:00:09
those students is more listening? I believe so.
1:00:12
You, you have. we have to get out of the mindset
1:00:17
of back in my day and we just have to to accept
1:00:24
that times have changed just like when we were
1:00:26
younger we thought the adults were boring and
1:00:29
corny and what they were into was whack right
1:00:33
it's the same thing so it's not that our experiences
1:00:36
don't matter they do but they matter to us and
1:00:39
to our peer group If we go in and try to learn
1:00:44
about what the kids are doing and what they're
1:00:47
into, that's the empathy. Then we can empower
1:00:50
them with the things that they need in order
1:00:53
to learn. That's the piece that we know. That's
1:00:56
the piece that we're good at. No more of this
1:01:00
just saying, oh, those, that generation, they're
1:01:03
just, we can't deal with them. They're, they're,
1:01:06
you know, they're, they're too far gone. They're.
1:01:08
Listen. Human beings come from dysfunction. If
1:01:11
you look at the first family ever the most dysfunctional
1:01:15
ever They got kicked out of paradise imagine
1:01:19
how Adam must have felt Sitting on earth realizing
1:01:24
look what I just lost look what those kids just
1:01:27
did That's what I'm saying and then And then
1:01:32
like one brother killed the other like weak from
1:01:35
dysfunction. We have to understand that And once
1:01:39
we accept that and understand that and then lead
1:01:41
with love and empathy, UPI. All right. Well,
1:01:48
thanks, George. We want to we want to get into
1:01:50
our lightning round here. A little bit of like
1:01:53
personal mixed in with a couple couple professional
1:01:57
questions. But I think I'm going to I'm going
1:02:00
to kick this off, Jeremy, right? Yeah. OK. So,
1:02:04
uh, you, George, with these, like the lightning
1:02:06
rounds, you can expound on these as much as you
1:02:08
would like to, or they can be like, there's totally,
1:02:11
totally up to you. Um, but what's a PBL project
1:02:15
you wish you could have done as a student in
1:02:17
high school or in just in grade school? A passion
1:02:20
to purpose project where I would get to learn
1:02:23
how to learn exploring my own interests and passions.
1:02:26
And then finding out what purpose truly is. Purpose
1:02:31
is. helping others but your passion and purpose
1:02:35
is what you like. So learning how to merge these
1:02:38
two I wish I could have found out in middle school
1:02:41
or high school. What's one word or one thing
1:02:46
one topic if you want to to elaborate a little
1:02:48
bit that describes what's missing for most professional
1:02:51
development for teachers today? Well I can't
1:02:55
say most but in things I've seen authenticity.
1:03:00
The person that is Providing professional learning
1:03:04
should have receipts, proof that they've done
1:03:08
that in their actual work. All right, first job
1:03:14
you ever had? A stock boy in a supermarket. One
1:03:21
of my first jobs was in a grocery store, also,
1:03:24
bagging groceries. And we were in a small town,
1:03:26
so I was carrying them out. And then when it
1:03:29
wasn't busy, You were stocking the shelves and
1:03:32
basing all the product. I yeah Which was great
1:03:36
I mean it taught me a lot of valuable life lessons
1:03:38
and also things that I didn't want to do for
1:03:41
the rest of my life as well There you go Um,
1:03:45
what's your guilty pleasure a TV show or movie?
1:03:48
anything involving the power universe The power
1:03:52
universe is a multiverse for drug dealers in
1:03:56
New York and they have multiple shows And I'm
1:03:59
not sure why, but I just enjoy watching that.
1:04:04
Best meal you ever had. It's a tough one. Afghan
1:04:07
food in New York City. In those food trucks,
1:04:11
they've inspired everything there. What's something
1:04:15
that people would be surprised to know about
1:04:16
you? That I believe that relationships are the
1:04:20
most important thing in life. And as I'm interacting
1:04:23
with people, I anything I do, I lead with empathy,
1:04:31
with understanding, with respect. And then I'm
1:04:34
using how people respond because relationships
1:04:38
and life are like tennis. I hit the ball over
1:04:41
and you hit it back. I'm watching and analyzing
1:04:43
how people respond. And I'm using that as information
1:04:47
to know whether or not we can have a relationship.
1:04:53
All right. So in one hour, you have a keynote.
1:04:56
Jeremy and I are helping just get the disc ready.
1:04:59
And you have to tell us what your keynote walk
1:05:02
up song is so we can put it on for you when you're
1:05:04
gonna walk out on the stage. What's the keynote
1:05:06
song? If I'm at a great conference and everyone
1:05:09
is happy and everyone's in the moment, don't
1:05:11
stop till you get enough by Michael Jackson is
1:05:13
to go to. And if we're in a rough spot, people
1:05:17
are angry, upset, Hard Knock Life by Jay Z. Good
1:05:22
calls. So the next part is some series of this
1:05:28
or that questions and you can only pick one,
1:05:30
right? We're just gonna go rapid fire here. Only
1:05:33
one? Only one, yep. We try to back our guest
1:05:36
into it. No, I'm just kidding. We have a lot
1:05:39
of people say both. And because we're trying
1:05:43
to show that relationships matter and we're being
1:05:46
empathetic, we let them choose that. So are you
1:05:50
an early bird or a night owl? I'm both. Everything
1:05:53
in moderation including moderation. Would you
1:05:57
rather take a road trip or go on a flight? Flight.
1:06:02
Flight. I can afford flights now so that's a
1:06:04
flight. Would you rather cook at home or eat
1:06:08
out? Both. I do meal prep all week so on the
1:06:11
weekend I'm not cooking anything. Perfect. Would
1:06:15
you prefer to text or call call someone? Phone
1:06:18
call. I'm old school. And would you rather be
1:06:22
at the beach or in the mountains? The beach.
1:06:27
Nice. We've had a lot of guests recently that
1:06:30
have all been mountains and I'm, I'm a beach
1:06:33
guy myself. So, uh, and the last one here that
1:06:36
we have, are you, are you the first one out the
1:06:38
door at a party or the last one to leave? If
1:06:41
it's family, I'm the last one to leave. And if
1:06:44
it's people I don't know, I'm the first one to
1:06:46
leave. All right. Well, thanks, George. We really
1:06:50
appreciate you joining us and having this conversation.
1:06:53
We want to just give you a chance to plug anything.
1:06:55
So is there anything that you want to mention,
1:06:57
upcoming events or things that people should
1:06:59
be aware of to check out at all or socials to?
1:07:03
Yeah, if you follow me on all the platforms at
1:07:05
George's PBL, J -O -R -G -E does PBL. You see
1:07:09
all my events, all my videos, things I'm doing.
1:07:12
And if you're interested, if you're a teacher,
1:07:16
Project Based Learning Plus. And if you're a
1:07:18
leader, Instructional Innovation Plus are the
1:07:21
books. You can find them on my website, on Amazon,
1:07:24
or on Corwin .com. Awesome. And we'll be sure
1:07:28
to put those in the description and everything
1:07:29
too so everyone can access the books and access
1:07:32
George's site and all that. So thanks again,
1:07:34
George, for joining us. We really appreciate
1:07:36
it. Thanks, George. Thanks for listening to Integrate
1:07:41
This. Want to take your learning further? Head
1:07:44
over to our YouTube channel for quick tutorials,
1:07:47
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1:07:50
right away. Don't forget to subscribe and catch
1:07:53
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1:08:00
next time, keep exploring, keep innovating, and
1:08:04
keep integrating this.