David Martelli is a dedicated educator and leader in STEM learning, with over 20 years of experience designing innovative educational spaces and programs. His career began in the U.S. Air Force, where he led high-tech programs before transitioning into education. As Head of Computer Science and Engineering at a school, he built a cutting-edge Makerspace, giving students hands-on experience with technology and engineering.

During our discussion, David describes his educator journey, highlighting his experience in robotics and computer science, his transition from engineering to teaching, and the impact of COVID-19 on his educational initiatives. We also get into why Guild Hall’s Makerspaces are so helpful for students.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode133.

In this episode, I speak to Shannon Russell of the Second Act Success Podcast. Russell is a career transition and business coach empowering women to leave unfulfilling careers and build joyful, purpose driven businesses. She recently published a book “Start Your Second Act: How to Change Careers, Launch a Business, and Create Your Best Life,” which comes out May 7.

During our discussion, Shannon passes along a lot of great tips for moving to new horizons, such as celebrating past achievements for motivation. She also tells the story of how she started her own franchise, Snapology, after working in television for years. She’s full of wisdom after years of working as career coach and finding a second act herself.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode132.

This week I speak to Richard Welsh, an associate professor at Vanderbilt University and the founder of its School Discipline Lab. We talked about his new book, “ Suspended Futures: Transforming Racial Inequities in School Discipline.” The book focuses on prevalence of exclusionary discipline in schools, particularly among Black students, who are twice as likely to be suspended. The book is eye-opening and hopeful, as its full of strategies for making classroom discipline more equitable.

In our discussion, Richard breaks down what the research on school discipline disparities says and why he started researching the subject in the first place. He also explains why educators need to be involved in fixing these issues. It’s an important episode and hopefully by discussing the issue, we will start seeing some positive change.

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode131.