Male teachers are down to 23%. That’s crazy. Shout out to my mentors and the student teachers already schooling me. Get a mentor. Be a mentor. Stop waiting for someone else to fix it. #studentengagement #edusky #classroomculture #schoolleadership #belonginginschools #menwhoteach

If you believe in people, believe in them publicly. A journalist called me about our principal last week, and I couldn’t wait to brag. She’s building real community, embracing tech, and proving middle school can be about values, not just skills. Big congrats to her! #edusky #middleschool

Want to erase apathy in your classroom? Here's one easy step. Trust isn’t built by acting too cool to care, it’s built when you’re vulnerable enough to geek out about the material. Be a dork, be real, get engagement. #classroomculture #studentengagement #middleschool #edusky

Whenever Marcus and Adrian chop it up you know good things are going to happen. Even when discussing the intersection of issues we all are feeling, the conversations are about solutions.

How you spend your time is an expression of value. If you're trying to save time/be efficient, you're signaling it doesn't have as much value as something else. And people notice. (Especially students.)

Want to erase apathy in your classroom? Here's one easy step. Trust isn’t built by acting too cool to care, it’s built when you’re vulnerable enough to geek out about the material. Be a dork, be real, get engagement. #classroomculture #studentengagement #middleschool #schoolleadership #edusky

School isn’t just grades; it’s belonging. 9/11 gave our students space to reflect on resilience & community. Legacy is built when lessons move beyond class & into their world. Thanks @longislandherald for spotlighting this. #BelongingInSchools #ClassroomCulture #September11th #edusky

Your “disruptive” kids? They’re leaders. The problem isn’t them, it’s us. Stop choking their gift. Give them trust early, without conditions, then watch what happens. #studentengagement #belonginginschools #classroommanagement #edusky #professionaldevelopment #cpd #pd

The team’s back.
The culture’s strong. The key to growth is what you do when things are already good.
You push anyway. A year of belonging that’s there if you want it. Let’s talk.
#studentengagement #middleschool #classroomculture #schoolleadership #belonginginschools #edusky

If a student says you yelled at them and you didn’t? You might be doing something right. Holding students accountable in ways they aren’t used to feels loud to them even when it isn’t. That moment is gold. #studentengagement #classroomculture #belongingintheclassroom #edusky

I started speaking to bring real tools from a teacher still in the classroom. Here’s one that’s free and flips culture instantly: 👉 Anonymous surveys. Trust kids by letting them give feedback #classroomculture #teacherlife #belonginginschools #professionaldevelopment #edusky

Yelling is the fastest way to torch trust in your classroom Students follow leaders they trust not leaders they fear. Belonging starts with showing up calm consistent and real. Stop yelling start leading. #studentengagement #classroomculture #schoolleadership #edusky

The reflections from this have been inspiring. We loop, so same kids as last year. But they hit the ground running as we asked them to do something a little advanced for middle School kids. #edusky #studentengagement #classroomculture

Powerful piece by @mrneibauer.bsky.social about the challenges of teaching today. It should illuminate for everyone--not just teachers--how resisting conformity, standardization, and authoritarianism by promoting creativity, community, and communication in our workplaces is essential right now.

Bridges is back and bigger than ever. Catch my chat with @DarrinPeppard on Leaning Into Leadership, where we break down how our program builds real community. Want this in your district? Let’s make it happen. #studentengagement #middleschool #classroomculture #schoolleadership #edusky

Community doesn’t wait. You build it by showing, not telling. September 11th may be history for our students, but its lessons in legacy and the human condition are universal, if we’re intentional in how we share them. #studentengagement #middleschool #classroomculture #schoolleadership

If you think kindness is just being “nice,” you’re missing it. Kindness is truth, consistency, and action, even when it’s inconvenient. Wrote about it for Chris Culver 👉 www.orangesparrow.org/the-kind-voi... #edusky

9/11 may feel distant to students but poetry and perspective keep the legacy alive. We've used poetry and book clubs to reflect in the past. Will share what we did this year soon. #studentengagement #september11th #middleschool #september11 #edusky

The first thing we read to begin the school year in my 10th grade English class? A poem. The first thing we read to begin the school year in my AP Literature class? A poem. Poetry is the absolute, absolute best. thebrokencopier.substack.com/p/why-i-love...

Trust is the starting line. Show boys early on that they don’t have to choose one identity, and they’ll believe you belong in their corner. Thanks to @profgalloway.com for the inspo. #classroomculture #studentengagement #middleschool #schoolleadership #belonginginschools #edusky

Can't teach storytelling and not write your own stories. Seeing my favorite bad since eighth grade was well worth less sleep for the first day of teaching it. Oasis fans are different. #classroomculture #studentengagement #middleschool #belonginginschools #edusky

Stop starting school with rules on the board. Start with trust. Period. It’s the warm-up before the workout. You don’t skip it if you want to go the distance. How are you building trust day one? #schoolleadership #belonginginschools #studentengagement #edusky

My friends say I disappear every summer. They’re right. This year I built a keynote, stretched myself, and still found time for beaches, friends, and screaming Oasis. Belonging built. Belonging found. #BelongingInSchools #SchoolLeaders #edusky #ConnectedClassrooms #EduLeaders

My friends say I disappear every summer. They’re right. This year I built a keynote, stretched myself, and still found time for beaches, friends, and screaming Oasis. Belonging built. Belonging found. #BelongingInSchools #SchoolLeaders #edusky #ConnectedClassrooms #EduLeaders

For those who don’t have the privilege of working with adolescents: Now more than ever, kids are looking at the world around them and seeing that something is missing. They crave connection in ways that are becoming increasingly scarce in our society. School should be that place to reclaim that.

In NY, school starts every Sept. Then comes 9/11. For us: community + belonging. For our students: distant history.Every year, the gap grows. Educators: how do we bridge it? Let’s build belonging together. #edusky #middleschool #classroomculture #september11 #belongingintheclassroom

Dallas just showed what happens when Belonging and Trust get torched. 🔥 NFL team, school, or staff meeting: it’s the same. No trust, no winning culture. Educators, leaders, Cowboys & Packers fans: what would YOU have done differently? #dallascowboys #edusky #belongingintheclassroom #nfl

Kindness isn’t about being liked. It’s about being real, even when it’s hard. It’s intentional.
And it builds trust way faster than “nice” ever will. I wrote a guest post for Dr. Chris Culver about this.
Link’s below if you want to rethink how kindness shows up at work.
👇 Let me know your take.

Tools like these have been instrumental in my classroom; both in teaching kids to receive feedback and get them to progress as writers. As I loop back with the same group it's rare we see the same issues present themselves. The reflection is there, even in thirteen year olds.

I gave my students toilet paper on the first day.Kids laughed. Adults panicked.
But it worked. Sharing more trust-first moves like this all year.
👇 Drop your favorite. #studentengagement #middleschool #classroomculture #schoolleadership #belongingintheclassroom

Cold calling isn’t cruelty. Avoiding it is. Here’s the truth: resilience is reps. If we don’t let kids sit in discomfort, they’ll never trust themselves, or us. 👉 This is how we build cultures resilience AND belonging. If you want that for your school, let's talk! #edusky #backtoschool

This is a relationships business. You won’t see it on day one.
But when you’re down bad, your students will show up for you.
Because you modeled what it means to belong.
And they gave it back. Looking to build that? Let’s talk. #classroomculture #schoolleadership #belongingintheclassroom

This is a relationships business. You won’t see it on day one.
But when you’re down bad, your students will show up for you.
Because you modeled what it means to belong.
And they gave it back. Looking to build that? Let’s talk. #classroomculture #schoolleadership #belongingintheclassroom

She was a student on my first team. Now I’m a guest at her wedding., and she’s a teacher paying it forward. That’s community. That’s belonging. Forget slogans. What we build with people outlives the walls of our schools. Let’s make that happen in every classroom this year. #edusky

Call me unhinged, but I love the first day. I treat it like gameday—pacing, playlist on, whispering “build trust, not compliance.” 
Kids don’t need polished—they need to feel like they belong. Let’s get after it.
👇 #studentengagement #classroomculture #schoolleadership #belongingintheclassroom

Excited to share that Dr. Christopher Culver ,kindness expert, has featured me on Orange Sparrow's blog. Here's the article below. More to come! www.orangesparrow.org/the-kind-voi... #belonginginschools #studentengagement #edusky

Teaching can be complicated but at its core it’s simple. Here are three reminders if I were new, and they all surround taking our best intentions and applying them with intentionality. Do these and you end up modeling the same values you’re trying to create. #BackToSchool #edusky

As we get started on a new year it's so cool to see what everyone I've met through spaces like this is up to. Teaching is an island; great to see people like Adrian starting with trust, platforming identity, and throwing in an engaging poem to get started. Read more of his week one. #edusky

New teachers: No one tells you this, but they should.
How you handle your admin and coworkers will shape your year more than your lesson plans.
I said it in the spring, I’m saying it again now—because culture > content. Don’t just survive the system.
Learn how to navigate it👇 #edusky

Once you understand that a driving principle of American politics is there is no such thing as a compassionate solution that's cheap enough or a cruel solution that's too expensive, a lot of things click into place.

Wave two of hiring season is here. If you’re applying, interviewing, or rethinking your next move: listen up. I’ve been on both sides. Here’s what actually matters. DMs open if you want eyes on your resume or gameplan. #edusky #newteacher #education

Two of the worst potential consequences in one, de-skilling and self-alienation. Foreseeable from the beginning.

You can’t fake trust. It’s built when students don’t expect to see you—but you show up anyway. Ball games. Quiet concerts. Board meetings. They remember who was there.
That’s how you build belonging. #edusky #belonging #classroomculture

Teaching is systems plus performance. One day I realized I wasn’t just teaching: I was cutting a promo.
Voice up. Eyes locked. Stakes high. Anyone else turn into a character up there? 👇 Drop your teacher persona. #studentengagement #middleschool #classroomculture #schoolleadership

Bridges is my passion project. And this is a tribute post. 2 districts. Kids who wouldn’t have met otherwise, growing into leaders, friends, and change agents. It’s hard to plan. Always worth it. Shoutout to the team that makes it all possible.
 #studentengagement #changeagents

Very real question I have for folks bringing AI into their classrooms proactively (from a place of 100% curiosity!): How are you navigating students who have explicitly named their discomfort or unwillingness ethically with the technology?

"Kasey, I simply can’t wait to begin life together as husband and wife. Absolutely, here are some tips for nailing the delivery. Before the ceremony, practice the vows in front of a mirror. Be sure to print the vows out, removing any extraneous text or AI prompts."

Every morning for weeks, I’d walk in to new notes from students: jokes, quotes, reminders to keep going. This is what happens when a classroom feels like ours, not just mine. Swipe through to see how belonging shows up in the small stuff. #studentengagement #middleschool #edusky

"Just because I’m not on the keyboard—and you have to add two extra steps for me to appear correctly—I’m suddenly the product of some soulless technology?"