Being 'Pro-Kid' in 2024: What Teachers REALLY Need to Know

In this S2E1 Schoolutions Teaching Strategies interview, join education expert Cornelius Minor for this powerful conversation about revolutionizing classroom management, student engagement, and inclusive teaching. Discover why traditional behavior strategies fail and learn the "radical listening" approach that transforms disruptive students into engaged learners.

What You'll Learn:
✅ Why student behavior is communication, not defiance - game-changing classroom behavior insights
✅ The "heavy presence, light touch" technique for managing students without controlling them
✅ How to shift from being a good employee to being an effective teacher (even when it means bending rules)
✅ Practical student discipline alternatives that build connection instead of punishment
✅ The curriculum changes that eliminate most classroom management issues
✅ Why low engagement signals problems with instruction, not students
✅ Innovative teaching strategies for culturally responsive teaching and equity in education
✅ How to develop a pro-kid mindset that transforms school culture

Minor shares real stories of education transformation, from reducing office referrals through relevant curriculum to inspiring students through authentic teacher modeling. Learn how "presencing" creates thriving students and discover why the best professional development starts with truly seeing the whole child.

Chapter Timestamps
0:00 Introduction to Cornelius Minor & "We Got This"
4:18 Educators Who Inspired Cornelius: Fannie Lou Hamer & Carter G. Woodson
7:45 Do We Still "Got This" in 2024? Current Education Challenges
10:17 What is Radical Listening? Beyond Traditional Student Engagement
14:46 "Heavy Presence, Light Touch" - Presencing in Classrooms
18:15 Disrupting the Status Quo: Why Rule-Breaking is Sometimes Necessary
21:48 Student Behavior as Communication, Not Defiance
26:49 Making Curriculum Work for Students: Real Classroom Transformations
32:28 Modeling Reading Behavior: The Power of Teacher Authenticity
37:22 Good Teacher vs. Good Employee: Navigating Institutional Pressures
42:54 Lessons Learned: What Would Be Different in "We Got This" Today
46:16 Closing Thoughts on Being Radically Pro-Kid

Fannie Lou Hamer  

• Carter G. Woodson 
  • The Mis-Education of the Negro
• Theory U: Presencing, Crossing the Threshold into the Field of the Future
• Yetta Goodman
  • Kidwatching
• Carla Shalaby
  • Carla Shalaby on Radically Inclusive Discipline
• We (still) Got This: What It Takes to Be Radically Pro-Kid by Fran McVeigh (4/10/23)

When teachers, coaches, administrators, and families grow together, they create schools where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged, supported, and ready to thrive.