My guests Charle Peck and Josh Stamper are co-authors of The Language of Behavior: A Framework to Elevate Student Success, winner of the 2025 Firebird Educational Book Award.

We talk about:

• Like our last episode with Dr. Bill Penuel, co-author of Creating Compassionate Change in School Communities, this book also refers to a compassionate approach to school culture and student behavior.
• Discussing student behavior as a form of communication
• Trauma-informed framework, 3 core tenets: Consider the Environment, Explore the Root Causes of Behavior, Respond with Intentionality
• How improving student behavior with this framework affects other areas, like academic performance or classroom culture
• What would the authors say to educators or school administrators who might be skeptical about trying a new approach?

Find The Language of Behavior on Amazon or wherever you get your books.

About today’s guests

Charle Peck holds an MS in Education and an MS in Social Work as a 20+ year veteran in education (K-12). As a global keynote speaker, she delivers powerful messages of hope to educators and facilitates meaningful professional learning sessions to equip adults with tools that integrate into everyday practice. Her unique lens as a high school teacher turned clinical therapist, and her work with adolescents and families in crisis, makes her stories relevant and captivating to those struggling in today’s system. You can purchase her books on Amazon and connect with her via her website CharlePeck.com and on LinkedIn @CharlePeck

Joshua Stamper is a dedicated educator, speaker, author, and creator of Aspire to Lead. With a rich background in teaching and school administration, Joshua brings invaluable insight into the challenges and opportunities within the education system. His personal journey as a struggling student, combined with nine years of experience as a middle school administrator, fuels his passion for creating supportive and transformative learning environments. Joshua is committed to helping educators and leaders unlock their full potential, fostering growth, and inspiring lasting change in education.

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies, a coaching and consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Bluesky or LinkedIn

I also host Sideline Sessions, a podcast for coaches and parents of student-athletes. The show features conversations with coaches and performance experts in the NFL, NBA, NCAA, Olympics, and more. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3Rp0QGt

Dr. William Penuel is Distinguished Professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development in the Institute of Cognitive Science and School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder.

He is co-author of Creating Compassionate Change in School Communities: Leading Together to Address Everyday Suffering in Schools. We talk about:

• Why does compassion matter for educators?
• How is compassion different from empathy, kindness, and relationship-building?
• How school leaders and educators can put compassion and dignity into action
• Everyday suffering in schools - how can and should educators work to reduce it?
• Fostering inclusiveness
• Relationships with families
• 4 steps to help develop a plan for a more compassionate school
• How can educators create self-compassion to move past burnout toward hope and positive action in their schools?

Creating Compassionate Change in School Communities is published by Wiley. Find it wherever you get your books.

About today’s guest

William R. Penuel, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development in the Institute of Cognitive Science and School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is also a Faculty Fellow at the Renée Crown Wellness Institute. He designs and studies curriculum materials, assessments, and professional learning experiences for teachers in STEM education. He also studies how contemplative practices and critical inquiry can support educators in cultivating more compassionate schools. A third line of his research focuses on how long-term research-practice partnerships can be organized to address systemic inequities in education. He is a co-developer of an approach to partnership research called Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR) and is a co-author on the new book, Creating Compassionate Change in School Communities.

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies, a coaching and consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Bluesky or LinkedIn

I also host Sideline Sessions, a podcast for coaches and parents of student-athletes. The show features conversations with coaches and performance experts in the NFL, NBA, NCAA, Olympics, and more. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3Rp0QGt

Blending memoir, personal essay, local topography, and culture, Alex Poppe’s Breakfast Wine is a frank, human story of pursuing an unconventional life and finding a way home.

Alex is a business analyst, turned actor, turned teacher who accepted a teaching position in northern Iraq after a chance encounter with an acclaimed journalist. In this episode, you’ll hear her stories and learn what it was like to teach in conflict and post-conflict zones, including during the COVID-19 pandemic — and you’ll find out it was much different than you think.

Get Breakfast Wine at bookshop.org: https://bit.ly/3FTV9hM

About today’s guest

Having lived in conflict zones such as Iraq, the West Bank, and Ukraine, Alex Poppe writes about fierce and funny women rebuilding their lives in the wake of violence. She is the author of four works of literary fiction: Duende, a 2024 American Legacy Book Awards winner, a 2023 International Book Awards winner, and a 2023 Readers’ Choice Book Awards finalist; Jinwar and Other Stories, a 2024 Pen Craft Awards runner-up, a 2023 Readers’ Choice Book Awards winner, and a 2022 International Book Awards finalist; Moxie, and Girl, World, a 35 Over 35 Debut Book Award winner, First Horizon Award finalist, Montaigne Medal finalist, Eric Hoffer Grand Prize finalist, and was awarded an Honorable Mention in General Fiction from the Eric Hoffer Awards. In 2021, Alex was an artist-in-residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, where her memoir-in-essay Breakfast Wine began.

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies, a coaching and consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Bluesky or LinkedIn

I also host Sideline Sessions, a podcast for coaches and parents of student-athletes. The show features conversations with coaches and performance experts in the NFL, NBA, NCAA, Olympics, and more. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3Rp0QGt