How do we help this next generation with their relationship to screens, to each other, and to the adults in their lives? That's the question we're digging into today. Betty Ray talks about rites of passage — those moments that help children move from one stage to the next. She also has a genius way to work with children so they gradually earn more responsibility with technology. Lawrence C. Harris is a 20-year-old who looks back on his time in high school just a couple of years ago. He rose out of a traumatic childhood to become successful instead of a statistic, and now he helps other kids move forward. He has tips for reaching kids like him — the ones who don't act out, but need our attention all the same.

Finally, Luddite clubs and screen-free activities are growing fast, and — gasp — here's one for you: bridge! Yes, bridge clubs are growing, and Patty Tucker shares how the ACBL Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, will help you get the cards, the supplies, and the curriculum you need to teach bridge, reinforce math concepts, and have fun in your classroom. We're focusing on screen-free connections and reaching kids this week.

In this episode, you'll learn:

- How much screen time kids average at every age, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics
- The STARS framework for scaffolding a kid's relationship with a device instead of just handing it over
- Signal Check — a simple red, yellow, green system for earning screen privileges
- What NOT to say to a struggling student, and the four-second sentence to say instead
- Why the kid who is "always fine" may need you more than the kid who acts out
- How to get free bridge curriculum, cards, and supplies for your classroom

This show is not here to judge you. It's here to share the facts and the conversations so you can decide what works for your child, your classroom, and your community.

Full show notes and every link: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/reachkids

If this episode helped you, leave a review wherever you're listening and share it with a teacher friend.

Two women were named a 2026 National Principal of the Year — and when you ask them how they did it, they both use the same word: love. In part two of this leadership series, Vicki Davis talks with Amanda Jamerson, associate principal at Shorewood High School in Wisconsin and the 2026 National High School Assistant Principal of the Year, about the restorative discipline framework that cut office referrals by 69 percent, a cell phone policy that actually worked, and why she calls all of it heartwork. Then Sonia E. Ruiz, principal of Jane Addams Middle School in Bolingbrook, Illinois and the 2026 National Middle Level Principal of the Year, explains how she built a middle school where English learners and students with IEPs make real, measurable gains — and why she leads con corazón, with heart.

Show notes and full transcript: https://www.coolcatteacher.com/becoming

Leadership is not a personality you're born with. It can be learned — and if it can be learned, it can be taught. In part one of a two-part series, Vicki Davis talks with Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Principals Association (formerly NASSP), about what principals across the country actually told us about AI in their schools — and why the number one thing they need isn't a tool, it's time. Then Muriel Summers describes taking a struggling Title I elementary school and rebuilding it around a single conviction: every person in that building is a leader, including the five-year-olds who interview teacher candidates. The thread running through both conversations is the idea Vicki's mother gave her — make your to-be list before you make your to-do list. Character before tactics. Identity before activity.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why "time" — not training, not tools, not money — is what principals say they need most right now, and what a leader can actually take off a teacher's plate this week

• How to find the two or three teachers everyone in your building already listens to, and why consulting them before a decision solves problems the front office can't

• The difference between a multiplier who draws more capability out of people and a diminisher who shrinks it — and how to tell which one you're being

• What happened when a Title I school taught leadership habits to kindergarteners: discipline referrals fell, academics followed, and the model spread to more than 8,000 schools in over seventy countries

• Why "nobody is just anything" belongs on your wall, and what three words written above a school door did for the children who read them every morning

Full show notes, every book and link from the episode, and the complete transcript:

https://www.coolcatteacher.com/becoming

Part two takes this into the building with two National Principals of the Year who lead with love and prove that it works.

If this show helps you, the single best thing you can do is leave a rating or a review wherever you're listening — it's how other teachers find us. And if one educator comes to mind who needs to hear Muriel's story, send it to them.