Embracing productive beliefs to transform your teaching, starring Mike Flynn
Meet Our Guest(s):
Mike Flynn
Mike Flynn, CEO of Flynn Education, is a nationally recognized expert in mathematics education and online learning. For 10 years he served as Director of Math Leadership Programs at Mount Holyoke College, where he developed his innovative hybrid learning model. During the pandemic, Mike and his team trained more than 100,000 educators in online teaching best practices.
Before his leadership roles, Mike taught second grade for 14 years and was named Massachusetts Teacher of the Year in 2008. He is the recipient of the National Education Association’s Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching. Mike is also the author of Beyond Answers: Exploring Mathematical Practices with Young Children.
Meet our host, Ana Torres.
Ana has been an educator for 30 years, working in both the K–8 and higher education sectors. She served as an administrator and instructor at various public and private colleges and universities and as a bilingual and dual language teacher, dual language math and reading interventionist, dual language instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal in K–8 schools. Ana is currently the Senior Biliteracy and Multilingual Product Specialist at Amplify, and delivers literacy and biliteracy presentations across the nation. Ana’s passion and advocacy for biliteracy and support for all students from all walks of life has led her to educate leaders, teachers, and parents about the positive impact of bilingualism and biliteracy in our world.
Meet our Classroom Insider, Eric Cross.
Eric Cross is a middle school science teacher who hopes to someday be a lifelong educator, like the guests on Beyond My Years! In each episode, Eric connects with host Ana Torres to discuss her guests’ best insights, gleaned from their long and rewarding careers in the classroom. Then, Eric talks about bringing some of their wisdom into his current classroom and busy life.
Transcripts and additional resources:
Quotes
“Leadership comes in a lot of different formats, but anyone interested in influencing change can orchestrate experiences to disrupt unproductive beliefs.”
“Teachers who are continually reflecting on their practice and always seeking to improve are the best teachers. They're always evolving, adjusting, reflecting, and paying attention to their kids.”
“Don’t be afraid of your own teacher voice and exercising that. Advocacy is one of the best things you can do.”
“When you look at where you started and where you ended up with a student, with a teacher, with a school, you realize that there's always progress.”
“ Sometimes it gets really hard before it gets better. It just always reminds me to just remember the long game.”
“Change really begins when we look at the unintended consequences of our practice.”
“As a learner, you have to have humility. Otherwise you won't grow.”
“If you think you know it all, you're never going to be open to getting new information.”
“People don't change just because someone tells them they need to. We change when we experience something that challenges what we used to think and then we have time to reflect on it.”