Ming and Chase introduce the "Why" behind choosing Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation for our summer book study. Plus we talk Chase's decrepit joints, redneck go-carts, and Ming's solo flight across the world as a child.

Summer is on the way and that's a beautiful thing. But what's not so hot (pun intended) is the summer slide many will experience. This week, we look ahead at the idea of unfinished learning with the Mindful Math Coach, Chrissy Allison (@mindfulmathcoach). How do we help students make up for lost learning when their needs are so diverse? And, we explore other ideas like: What's the worst number? Is "good enough" okay? And is the food pyramid a lie?

This week, we tap the INCREDIBLE wisdom of Patti Brucki, a veteran educator from Chicago's south side and long time mentor of ours. We discuss strategies for sustaining a career, how being a parent affects being a teacher (and vice versa) and watermelon eating contests -- what they are, why Patti and Ming love them, and why Chase is the worst for not knowing a thing about them.

This week we bring the humor with Craig Aarons-Martin, veteran school leader and CEO of CCM Education Group. We explore why and how every school leader can benefit by infusing humor into their work -- whether they think they (or education) is funny or not. We also talk peanut butter, Ming's matta, and stripping as an alternative career path.

This week, we tap the brilliant brain of Kristin Schmoke, teacher, parent, and parent coach. We discuss two sides of the parent-teacher coin: How can educators support parents in reinforcing our hard work in schools? And how can we understand parents better to best support their kids? We also discuss the REAL important things like which of our own kids would survive a March Madness Hunger Games battle.

This week, Chase and Ming let their geek flag fly, sharing six of their favorite studies for being a better educator, school leader, and general human. We discuss things like mind wandering, 19 words for better feedback, why teachers should work less, why introversion does NOT equate to hating humans -- and more!

Tired. Deflated. Disengaged. A lot of educators can relate to these words, feeling them on a weekly or daily basis. Yet, creating effective schools takes a LOT of energy. So how do we re-energize ourselves, our teams, and our schools? Dr. Jim Van Allan, co-author of The Energy Bus for Schools, takes us on that journey, sharing his greatest insights for building energized, positive, and impactful cultures.

We study other peoples’ stories all the time in school. But what if we did more to empower students to explore, write, and share THEIR stories? This week Ming and I get to kick it with our friend Richard Reyes, founder of the PLUS ME Project (@thePLUSMEproject), a nonprofit that activates the art of personal storytelling to increase confidence in youth as they pursue college, career, and life goals.

Educators all over America experience students with BIG emotions. Big anger. Big sadness. Big fear. How the heck do we help them (and ourselves) through these huge feelings? Enter: Taes Leavitt -- Childhood emotion expert, award-winning kids entertainment writer, speaker, and all around gem of a human being. We're getting authentic and practical this week on how big emotions affect us all and what we can do about it.

This week, we're joined by the dynamic and authentic Dr. Matthew Woods (@woodfromawoods) about assumptions and stereotypes: How do they affect the lives of educators and students? And what are the simple actions we can take to disrupt assumptions for greater connection, learning, and leadership?