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Rewiring Routines, Expanding Impact: Executive Function in Real Life & Season 3 Finale

As MTG wraps up Season 3 of Making the Grade, Georgia & Christine reflect on just how much has grown, shifted, and expanded over the past year as they enter their 4th season of the show.

This season explored practical executive function skills including time management, motivation, emotional regulation, planning, and follow-through. One core takeaway emerged again and again: most challenges aren’t about doing more - they’re about how we manage our energy, systems, and brains.

Big ideas from Season 3:

• 🧠 Understand your brain: Executive function awareness changes how people approach work and life.
• 🔄 Simple systems matter: The most effective strategies are often unglamorous - but sustainable.
• ⚖️ Balance is built: Support, flexibility, and self-awareness are essential in every season.

Season 3 also marked major growth for The Making the Grade Project, including the launch of the Hack Your Brain course and the completion of the team’s first executive function coaching cohort, with more planned for 2026 across multiple industries.

What’s next:

• 🚀 Expanded with 9 new partnerships & renewals
• 👥 A new instructor supporting children and teens
• 🎧 Client stories coming to the podcast in 2026

On a personal note, Georgia welcomed a new baby and took maternity leave, while Christine traveled internationally for the first time since becoming a parent - all while making progress on their reading goals

✨ With a growing community - now 3,685 new subscribers across social and email - the MTG team is deeply grateful to every listener, learner, client, and partner who made this season possible.

Find out more about Making the Grade here

Learn more about Executive Function: https://makingthegradeproject.com/executive-function-for-educators/

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S3 EP 45 | Season 3 Episode 45: Unleashing Curiosity in Classrooms with Olivia Odileke

How do you spark curiosity, inspire engagement, and create those unforgettable “aha!” moments in learning?

On this episode of Making the Grade, Georgia sits down with Olivia Odileke, CEO of Kampus Insights, curiosity coach, professional development designer, and author of Unleashing Curiosity: Empowering Fearless Educators to Engage and Inspire. Olivia believes that wonder is the secret sauce to joyful, meaningful learning. She’s trained over 20,000 educators and created more than 100 micro-inquiry tasks—all to help teachers bring curiosity to life in their classrooms.

Olivia shares:
✨ How curiosity can transform classrooms and professional learning experiences
🧠 Her insights on executive function skills in practice, including:

• Task Initiation – the hardest first step for kids and adults alike
  
  
• Flexible Thinking (“MacGyver Mindset”) – making magic out of unexpected moments
  
  
• Emotional Control – using curiosity to de-escalate and re-engage
  
  
• Prioritization & Planning – leading with inquiry instead of instruction
  💡 How she built her business and designed Spark Day PD, a curiosity-driven professional learning experience that brings joy, imagination, and impact to schools
  🌴 Fun facts about Olivia: living on three islands, moving to a new country with four kids, and turning leaps of faith into a thriving business

Whether you’re an educator, school leader, or lifelong learner, this episode is full of actionable strategies, inspiring stories, and a reminder of the power of curiosity in every classroom.

Learn more about Olivia and her work:

• Book: Unleashing Curiosity: Empowering Fearless Educators to Engage and Inspire
• Spark Day PD: www.kampusinsights.com
• Instagram: @fearless.educator
  
  

Connect with Making the Grade:

• Learn more about Executive Function: https://makingthegradeproject.com/executive-function-for-educators/
  
  
• Website: makingthegradeproject.com/blog/category/podcast
  
  
• Instagram: @executivefunctionfix
  
  
• Apple Podcasts: Making the Grade Podcast (Listen and leave a rating!)
  
  

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S3 EP 44 | Season 3 Episode 44: The Executive Function Guide to Teaching Multilingual Students: Trauma, Communication, and Brain-Based Learning

What does it really take to reach, teach, and connect with English Language Learners and their families?

On this next episode of Making the Grade, Georgia sits down with Andrea Bitner - EL Teacher, Author, Professor, and PD Partner - who has dedicated 25 years to helping educators and multilingual learners build bridges through communication, confidence, and compassion.

From her early days as a high school ELA teacher to her current role teaching English Learners in Philadelphia, Andrea has taught every grade level and worn many hats: Title I Reading Specialist, Teacher Mentor, College Professor, and National Presenter. She now travels the country partnering with schools and universities to help educators strengthen their skills in teaching, reaching, collaborating, and confidently communicating with English Learners and their families.

Andrea shares:
✨ The challenges and solutions to effectively connecting with multilingual students and families
💬 The hidden traumas that many EL students face, and how educators can recognize and support them
🧠 How English learners acquire language and the neuroscience behind the process of becoming bilingual

She also opens up about her book, Take Me Home, the true story of 11 of her former EL students who share what it’s really like to learn English and adapt to life in America. Drawing from her own experiences - including traveling to El Salvador and learning what it feels like to be a language learner herself - Andrea offers powerful insights for any educator striving to create classrooms where every student belongs.

🔗 Learn more about Andrea’s work: www.andreabitnerbooks.com
Connect with Andrea: LinkedIn: @AndreaBitner | Instagram: @andreabitnerbooks

Find out more about Making the Grade here

Learn more about Executive Function: https://makingthegradeproject.com/executive-function-for-educators/

Follow Making the Grade!
🌐 Website | makingthegradeproject.com/blog/category/podcast/
📸 Instagram | @makingthegradeproject
🎧 Apple Podcasts | Making the Grade Podcast (Listen and give us a rating!)

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🎙️ S3 EP 43 | Season 3 Episode 43: Why Multilingual Learners Struggle with Executive Function: A Conversation with Dr. Dana Goodier

In this episode of Making the Grade, hosts Christine and Georgia sit down with Dr. Dana Goodier, an accomplished educator, author, and podcast host with over 25 years of experience in the field.

Dr. Goodier has taught World Languages and English, served as an administrator at both the middle and elementary levels, and completed her Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.) in 2020. She is passionate about equipping educators with strategies to minimize off-task behavior and increase time on task, helping classrooms run more efficiently and with greater engagement.

Currently serving as the President of the Colorado Congress for Language Teachers (CCFLT), Dr. Goodier also contributes regularly to the Teach Better Team and is the author of Out of the Trenches: Stories of Resilient Educators (2022). She hosts the popular “Out of the Trenches” podcast, where educators share stories of resilience and growth in the ever-changing landscape of education.

In this conversation, Dr. Goodier joins Christine & Georgia to explore:

🧠 Resilience in Education — what it truly means to persist through the challenges educators face today.
🌍 Supporting Multilingual Learners — why so many students struggle to exit ELD (English Language Development) programs and what schools can do differently.
💡 Instructional Practices that Empower — actionable ways to build inclusive classrooms and boost engagement for all learners.

Follow Dr. Goodier on Facebook, X (Twitter), and BlueSky: @danagoodier

Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, and YouTube: @outoftrenchespc

Visit her website: www.danagoodier.com

Find out more about Making the Grade here

Learn more about Executive Function: https://makingthegradeproject.com/executive-function-for-educators/

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S3 EP 42 | Season 3 Episode 42: Honoring Our Brains: Iris Wong on Executive Function, Neurodivergence, and Growth

What does it mean to honor your brain, your body, and your story while raising a family and supporting others? For Iris Wong, it means blending her work as a bilingual SLP, executive function coach, and author with the lived experience of being a neurodivergent adult and parent.

On this episode of Making the Grade, Georgia sits down with Iris Wong, a bilingual Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), Executive Function Coach, author, and storyteller. Iris’s journey has taken her from public schools in the U.S. to expat life overseas, and now into the deeply personal work of supporting others while honoring her own neurodivergence (AuDHD).

Iris shares how rollerblading and breakdancing in her kitchen as a child gave her an early way to meet her sensory needs - and how that thread of self-understanding now runs through everything she teaches and creates. From publishing A Kids Book About Executive Functioning to exploring representation in YA fiction, Iris brings heart, humor, and lived experience to the conversation about accessibility, identity, and growth.

Together, they talk about:

• The realities of being a caregiver while navigating her own late diagnosis
  
  
• What working overseas taught her about alternative education and inclusion
  
  
• How storytelling - both in children’s nonfiction and YA fiction - can shift representation and belonging
  
  
• The connection between sensory needs, creativity, and executive function
  
  
• Why executive function is not just about productivity, but about honoring our brains and bodies
  
  

💡 Iris also shares practical insights from her coaching practice, and why embracing neurodivergence in both kids and adults can unlock new ways of thriving.

🔗 Learn more about Iris’s work:

• A Kids Book About Executive Functioning: Penguin Random House link
  
  
  
• Instagram: @eftoolkit

Find out more about Making the Grade here

Learn more about Executive Function: https://makingthegradeproject.com/executive-function-for-educators/

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S3 EP 41 | Season 3 Episode 41: Executive Function Skills for College Success: Howard Freedman on Planning, Organization & Financial Aid

Have you ever felt like the stress of planning and paying for college is too much to organize, prioritize, and manage - leaving you wondering if higher education can ever feel affordable and achievable?

On this episode, Georgia & Christine sit down with Howard Freedman, financial aid consultant, author of Making College Happen, and longtime leader in financial management. Howard shares how executive function skills like planning, organization, and prioritization shaped his journey—from being a detail-oriented student, to careers in payroll and process improvement, to reinventing himself as a financial aid consultant helping families make college possible.

Howard also reflects on lessons from leadership, including a memorable payroll story that taught him the importance of preparation and problem-solving under pressure, and how he applies his ABC Model (Acknowledge the problem, Build teamwork, Commit to doing it better) to guide both organizations and families.

Together, they discuss persistence, reducing stress in the financial aid process, and practical strategies families can use to stay grounded and focused on what matters most when planning for college.

🔗 Learn more about Howard’s work and find his book, Making College Happen, at Amazon.com.

Find out more about Making the Grade here

Learn more about Executive Function: https://makingthegradeproject.com/executive-function

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S3 EP 40 | Season 3 Episode 40: Rocks First: Executive Function Advice with Dr. Curt Merlau

Have you ever felt like you're constantly juggling priorities - but the most important things always seem to slip through the cracks?

On this next episode of Making the Grade, Georgia & Christine sit down with Dr. Curt M., an educator turned education consultant who now leads a national team at Resultant - a data and technology firm that helps schools and agencies use the right data, at the right time, for the right people.

As a first-generation college student and longtime problem-solver, Curt shares how he carved a path from the classroom into systems-level leadership, all while navigating the internal work of managing his own executive function. Curt explores the role of emotional regulation in the workplace and how Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy has helped him better understand his own emotional responses. He also shares how his team uses the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and the “Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand” method to manage competing priorities and stay focused on what matters most. Together, these practices offer an honest look at what it takes to stay grounded and effective in a fast-paced, high-stakes world.

They also talk about daily rhythms, why being the smartest in the room isn’t the goal, and how to find structure when everything feels urgent.

💡 Want a framework for building better habits at work and at home? Curt also breaks down the Daily Drumbeat - a practice his team uses to stay aligned and grounded every day.

🔗 Learn more about Curt’s work at https://resultant.com

Find out more about Making the Grade here

Learn more about Executive Function: https://makingthegradeproject.com/executive-function-for-educators/

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MAKING THE GRADE

S3 EP 39 | Season 3 Episode 39: Teachers Deserve It: a Conversation with Rae Hughart

Have you ever felt like your to-do list is never-ending—or that your inbox has gotten past the point of no return?

On this next episode of Making the Grade, Georgia & Christine chat with Rae Hughart, a classroom teacher turned national speaker, professional development designer, and founder of Teachers Deserve It (TDI)—a professional learning company built by educators, for educators.

After more than a decade in the classroom and leading district-wide innovation efforts, Rae launched TDI to create the kind of support teachers actually want: practical tools, flipped PD, and a community that respects their time.

In this conversation, Rae shares her journey from burnout to building better systems—and why executive function skills like task initiation, prioritization & planning, and emotional control are game-changers for both educators and students. They also chat text messages vs. voice memos, documentaries & Rae shares her dog’s adorable superhero names (think: Batman!).

💡 Want to explore more? Check out the TDI Learning Hub, Rae’s all-access PD platform packed with self-paced courses, downloadable tools, and flipped learning options designed to help educators save time and actually support student success.

🔗 https://tdi.thinkific.com

Find out more about Making the Grade here

Learn more about Executive Function: https://makingthegradeproject.com/executive-function-for-educators/

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