We're in an education crisis, and many teachers fear they won't make it through this year. Some are begging for help; some are preaching self-care. Others are quitting--just walking out of their classrooms and schools and moving on to something

155: Note to angry, litigious, anti-mask parents and their friends

Oct 7th, 2021 8m 46s

Angry, litigious, anti-mask parents are suing schools in Ohio, and Mark Barnes has Hacks you can share to stop this madness and solve one of education's biggest problems.1 -- Don't sue schools over mask mandates2 -- Don't attend school boards i

154: How to Hack Teacher Burnout

Sep 18th, 2021 9m 34s

Sometimes teacher burnout is due to shame and blame and avoiding the problems. Mark shares some quick hacks from Hacking Teacher Burnout author Amber Harper. Learn how to seek help and to seek "help seekers." More episodes are available at hack

153: Preparing for Change in Education

May 14th, 2020 9m 5s

Mark is joined by two national distinguished principals, Tony Sinanis, an administrator in New York and co-author of Hacking Leadership, and Jessica Cabeen, a principal in Minnesota and author of Lead With Grace and Hacking Early Learning. In t

152: Tips and tools to identify anxiety and help students cope

Apr 27th, 2020 11m 18s

In this brief excerpt from the Times 10 Roundtable, Mark Barnes talks with anxiety experts Christine Ravesi-Weinstein and Connie Hamilton about anxious students' triggers, while providing powerful tips and tools for helping our kids cope with a

151: Hacking Distance Learning in a Pandemic World and Beyond

Apr 17th, 2020 14m 13s

Mark Barnes shares an excerpt of the Times 10 Roundtable Webinar--Hacking Distance Learning: How to Deliver Impactful Instruction When Teaching from Home.Times 10 teachers, school leaders, and authors unpack the problems educators face with dis

150: Spare the rod, SAVE the child

Feb 24th, 2020 8m 58s

A school district in Texas is bringing back the paddle, because some parents okayed teachers hitting their children. Mark Barnes compares this to 1950s style discipline and shares the thoughts of Nathan Maynard, co-author of Hacking School Disc

149: How you can LEARN to be a Modern Mentor

Feb 10th, 2020 11m 5s

The focus and goal of mentoring is not to point out weak performance, but rather to shape a career and develop potential. Before you can be a mentor, you have to LEARN what it means to be a Modern Mentor. Mark Barnes shares the LEARN model from

148: How to connect with introverts

Oct 14th, 2019 8m 10s

James had what appeared to be some major problems. How did his teacher connect with this introverted student? You'll be amazed at how simple it was.For more on connecting with introverted students, look inside Quiet Kids Count: Unleashing the T

147 - Understanding your quiet kids

Oct 7th, 2019 10m 24s

Teacher, author, keynote speaker Chrissy Romano Arrabito was the student who always raised her hand first, always had the answer, was eager to share, was well-behaved, and made good grades. She was, from any teacher's perspective, a well-adjust

146: The Lead Forward Mission

Jul 8th, 2019 9m 35s

Encourage, evolve, empower. Mentor, move, motivate. Create, innovate, elevate. Always be listening. Always be learning.These are the qualities of someone who leads forward. They’re not just my words or those of the educators who write leadershi

145: Impactful leadership and the backwards bicycle

Jun 10th, 2019 9m 30s

Why is impactful leadership like riding a backwards bicycle? It's actually quite simple, says award-winning school principal, presenter, and author of Be Excellent on Purpose, Sanée Bell. EduHacker Mark Barnes shares an excerpt from a conversat

144: How to be a pinball wizard and spark mind-blowing conversation

May 20th, 2019 9m 48s

Want amazing, even mind-blowing, conversation in your classroom? Throw out your ping pong questions, and become a pinball wizard. Mark shares--and SINGS--this powerful strategy from Hacking Questions, by Connie Hamilton. Listen now and learn th

143: Coping with the criminals in your classroom - Uncut

May 8th, 2019 9m 30s

Disruptive students are criminals who must be put out of your classroom. So says one educator, who Mark Barnes is taking to task, in this uncut episode that comes with this disclaimer: Beware, Mark is angry, and one misguided teacher is going t

142: It's time to kick the IDK bucket

Apr 22nd, 2019 10m 49s

In this excerpt from Hacking Questions, we learn how to set ourselves up to kick the IDK bucket by identifying the root cause for the “I don’t know” response. You see, we cannot assume that IDK means the student really does not know something.R

141: If you can't teach empathy, you can't teach anything -- Hack Learning Uncut

Apr 18th, 2019 7m 57s

People said they don't have time to teach empathy, compassion, and self-awareness. Mark Barnes responds, and you may be surprised at what he says. At first, you might say, "That's not Hack Learning." But if you listen till the end, you might ag

140: Take a breath, change your behavior, and model empathy for kids

Apr 15th, 2019 8m 1s

Hack Learning host Mark Barnes lost his temper recently. If only he had taken his own advice, which he shares in this episode, things might have been different.What's this earth-shattering advice? Three words: Take a breath!Sounds easy, right?

139: Are Teachers Doing Enough for Generation Alpha?

Apr 8th, 2019 7m 42s

Are you teaching Generation Alpha with Baby Boomer content? Educators are faced with new challenges from the generation that may live into the 22nd century. How can teachers cope? Mark shares what Michael Fisher and Elizabeth Fisher, authors of

138: How one restorative practice turned a troublemaker into a school leader

Apr 1st, 2019 7m 38s

Mark shares a story from Hacking School Discipline, about Amarra, a troublemaker that many teachers might have given up on. Instead of quitting on her, though, her teachers instilled a growth mindset in Amarra, and a once troubled young lady be

137: Throw out your office referral; circle up instead

Mar 26th, 2019 8m 47s

Handing out office referrals like candy to students who misbehave is like sending kids away from learning for a brief holiday, and Mark Barnes says, "It's time to throw out your office referral." Mark shares a powerful, simple hack from Hacking

136: How teachers and runners chase greatness

Feb 27th, 2019 10m 32s

Running a marathon seems crazy to Mark Barnes. Teaching is often crazier. But being both marathon runner and teacher is unfathomable. Still, these unique individuals are littered across race courses and classrooms worldwide. And, what Mark has

135: The Best and Brightest Teachers

Feb 12th, 2019 10m 20s

Florida is considering bonus pay for the "best and brightest teachers," but who are they? According to one plan, they are the teachers whose students perform well on standardized tests. This is a flawed system, for many reasons. Is there a bett

134: How Social Media Perception May Forever Impact Our Kids

Feb 5th, 2019 10m 5s

Mark Barnes is Uncut again, and he's wondering if teachers and parents hurt kids by NOT teaching them about perception, when it comes to social media. He recalls a Washington DC protest video going viral, and the perceptions people had about th

133: It's time to allow the F Word in your classroom

Jan 15th, 2019 8m 46s

When someone asks how your day was, do you say, “It was very satisfying?” Do you exit a roller coaster and exclaim, “That was a very satisfying ride?” When you last dined at a 5-star restaurant, did you tell the server that you just couldn’t wa

132: Hacking School Policies That Harm Kids

Jan 8th, 2019 9m 13s

Mark Barnes shares a story about a school district that makes students wear color-coded badges that label them as potential failures. We need better leadership in 2019, Barnes says, and we need to hack these policies that harm our students. Mar