GAEL UnscriptED

Georgia Association of Educational Leaders
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GAEL UnscriptED, the podcast that goes beyond the headlines and handbooks to bring you unfiltered insights from Georgia’s top educational leaders, innovators, and changemakers. Hosted by Ben Wiggins, Executive Director of GAEL, this show dives deep into the challenges, opportunities, and unexpected twists that shape education today. From leadership strategies to policy discussions—and everything in between—GAEL UnscriptED is your go-to source for candid conversations that make an impact. No scripts. No fluff. Just real talk from those leading the way in Georgia’s schools.

  1. Sep 21

    GAEL UnscriptED S3:E3 l AI That Gets Kids Back To School

    Most schools are fighting two fires at the same time: math scores that will not move and attendance that keeps slipping. What makes it worse is the blind spot nobody talks about enough, the huge share of absences that come through with no explanation, no context, and no clear next step. If we do not know why students are missing class, we cannot fix chronic absenteeism, and if students are not in the room, even the best instruction cannot stick. We sit down with Joe Filio, founder and CEO of EDIA, to unpack how AI in education can support both sides of the problem. Joe explains why districts often end up paying for three disconnected math tools (practice, assessment, intervention) and how EDIA combines them into one AI-powered math platform. We get specific about what an AI math coach actually does: it reads a student’s work, identifies the exact step that went wrong, and gives immediate feedback that helps learners who struggle at home without support. We also talk about what teachers see, including standards-based insights that make differentiation and small groups easier to run. Then we shift to attendance intervention. Joe shares why “end of day” robocalls fail and how EDIA’s AI attendance solution connects to the student information system to text parents within minutes, document routine reasons, and escalate serious issues to the right staff. We cover real examples, how data dashboards reveal transportation gaps and patterns, and what it looks like to pilot and launch quickly in a district. If you care about math achievement, MTSS workflows, and practical ways to reduce chronic absenteeism, this conversation will give you concrete ideas you can act on. Subscribe, share with a colleague, and leave a review, then tell us what attendance or math challenge you want to solve first.

  2. Sep 7

    GAEL UnscriptED S3:E2 | PAGE Builds A Yearlong Network That Helps New Teachers Stay

    The hardest part of teaching is not the lesson plan, it’s carrying the job alone once the “new teacher support” disappears. We talk with Craig Harper, Executive Director of PAGE (the Professional Association of Georgia Educators), and Michael Kobito, 2023 Georgia Teacher of the Year, about a new approach to teacher retention in Georgia that’s built on real mentorship, real community, and real skills early career teachers can use tomorrow. We unpack the PAGE New Teacher Academy, a yearlong cohort for educators who’ve completed their first, second, or third year in the classroom, including second-career teachers. Michael shares what participants get: four in-person sessions, monthly mentor check-ins, and a statewide network designed to last for decades. We also dig into what makes PAGE’s professional learning so accessible for members, including support that can cover substitutes, travel stipends, and more, so cost doesn’t block growth. You’ll hear how the academy’s four pillars connect directly to the day-to-day work of teaching: strengthening foundations like parent communication, sharpening instruction and impact, building advocacy and influence without turning it into politics, and creating a plan for what comes next. Plus, we talk about the Ron Clark Academy experience and why seeing great instruction up close can change a teacher’s trajectory. If you’re a principal, district leader, or educator looking for meaningful professional development, this is a blueprint worth sharing. Subscribe, send this to a school leader who needs it, and leave a review with the one support you wish you’d had in years 2 and 3.

  3. Aug 24

    GAEL UnscriptED S3:E1 | Fall Learning Lineup with Cindy Flesher

    Your calendar is already packed, so professional learning has to earn its spot. We sit down with Cindy Flesher to map out GAEL's fall lineup for Georgia educators, with clear dates, simple formats, and training you can actually use on Monday. If you’re staring at early-year diagnostic results and wondering what to do next, we walk through a free three-part webinar series with the Georgia Department of Education on diagnostic assessment toolkits, literacy data, decision trees, and K-8 intervention practice guides, plus the option to join live for Q&A or watch the recordings later. Then we shift from data to people, because leadership gets real the moment a tough conversation lands on your desk. We break down upcoming Crucial Conversations trainings designed to be interactive, practical, and accountability-driven: bring the conversation you’ve been avoiding, practice a better approach, and leave ready to follow through within a week. We also preview leadership coaching training that goes beyond a single workshop, with hands-on practice, multiple virtual follow-ups, a full coaching cycle with a client, and a micro-credentialing badge from the University of West Georgia. To round out the season, we share what’s coming in the member webinar series moderated by Dr. Marlon Stiles Jr., featuring Georgia leaders talking career-connected learning and CTAE pathways, schools at the heart of strong communities, and strategies for growing the next generation of leaders through in-district development. Listen, save the dates, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, then share this with a colleague and leave a quick review to help more Georgia education leaders find the show.

  4. Jul 22

    BONUS Episode: HB1193 - Unified Literacy Plans: District Training and Support by GOEWS & GaDOE

    A new literacy law can feel like a fire hose, especially when the deadlines are real and the details are easy to misunderstand. We sit down with Georgia literacy leaders, including Dr. Fran Dundore and Stacey Lutz, to translate House Bill 1193 into plain, usable guidance for district teams who have to approve and implement a Unified Literacy Plan without turning it into “one more thing.” We walk through what’s truly required versus what’s flexible, then zoom in on the coaching system that anchors the whole approach: school-based literacy coaches, regional literacy coaches, and regional literacy leadership coaches. We talk about why protecting the coach role matters, what the 70% direct instructional support expectation looks like on the ground, and how a tiered support plan and district self-audit will shape the kind of help each district receives. If you’ve been wondering how part-time coaches, split funding, or hiring timelines affect support, we address those questions head-on. Then we get practical with the new Unified Literacy Plan template: short narrative fields, required components, and how districts can connect literacy goals, universal screening, dyslexia-related supports, science of reading aligned instructional materials, and readiness and retention policies into one coherent system. We also explore what “birth to five engagement” can look like in different communities, from partnerships with Head Start and daycare providers to libraries, health systems, and educator prep programs. If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a district teammate, and leave a review so more literacy leaders can find it. What part of Unified Literacy Plan work do you want clearer examples of next?

  5. May 25

    GAEL UnscriptED S2:E19 | Your Master Schedule Is The Strongest Literacy Lever You Control

    Your literacy plan can be strong and still feel impossibly hard if the system around it is misaligned. We sit down with Georgia Department of Education leaders Dr. April Aldridge and Amy Denty, joined by curriculum and instruction director Felicia Purdy, to show how small shifts in alignment create real relief for leaders and real gains for students.  We start with the “Alignment Advantage” and why clarity, coherence, and consistency matter when you’re trying to lead ELA and literacy improvement during a busy testing season. Then Felicia gets practical about the master schedule as the most powerful instructional leadership tool we control. We dig into protecting Tier 1 instruction, building intervention intentionally, and why course coding accuracy is not just compliance but a direct line to accurate services, clean data, and appropriate funding through FTE categories and program weights. If you’ve ever wondered how delivery models should be reported or why “what we code” must match “what we do,” this is your roadmap. From there, we walk through examples across grade bands: elementary literacy blocks and micro-scheduling for equitable minutes, WIN time and staggered intervention structures, middle school schedules that reduce fragmentation and expand daily literacy time, and high school pathways that use double blocks and flex periods for intervention, enrichment, and credit recovery. We close with a simple data framework leaders can use tomorrow: looking at schoolwide trends, classroom variation, and individual student needs as one connected system. If this helped you think differently about time, data, and intervention systems, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, share this with a fellow leader, and leave a quick review telling us which “gear” needs the most attention in your building. Please note: this is Session #2 of the 2026 GAEL Spring Webinar Series.

  6. May 18

    GAEL UnscriptED S2:E18 | From Standards To Student Impact

    Your ELA standards aren’t “new” anymore, but the way they show up in classrooms still depends on leadership choices made every week. We sit down with Georgia DOE leaders Amy Denty and April Aldridge (with support from Dr. Sarah Welch in the chat) to get brutally practical about how to move from page to practice with Georgia’s Now ELA Standards. We dig into the alignment advantage and the four levers leaders juggle every day: standards, curriculum, time, and support. Then we walk through the three drivers of instructional alignment that keep the gears turning: clarity, coherence, and consistency. That means knowing what the standards actually require, using learning progressions to strengthen vertical alignment, and understanding today’s broader definition of “text” including digital, visual, auditory, spoken, and multimodal texts. We also talk about why situating text by author, audience, purpose, and context changes the quality of student thinking. From there, we move into the hard part: checking alignment between standards, high-quality instructional materials (HQIM), and real classroom tasks. You’ll hear what to watch for during learning walks, how to avoid over-scaffolding that lowers rigor, and why “engagement” can’t replace cognitive demand. We break down an eight-step planning process for PLCs that helps teams identify priority standards, deconstruct expectations into skills, write transferable learning targets and success criteria, align assessments, and fill curriculum gaps consistently without burning teachers out. Subscribe for the rest of the series, share this with an instructional leader who owns the schedule and the PLC agenda, and leave a review if it helps. What’s one alignment move you’ll try this week? Please note: this is Session #1 of the 2026 GAEL Spring Webinar Series.

  7. May 11

    GAEL Micro-Credentialing Course: Leadership Coaching

    Most leadership problems don’t need a faster answer. They need a better conversation. We sit down with Cindy Flesher, Kerensa Wing, and Wanda Law from GAEL to get practical about leadership coaching and why it’s becoming a must-have skill for principals, assistant principals, district leaders, and anyone supporting others in schools. If you’ve ever left a meeting thinking, “I gave great advice and nothing changed,” this one is for you. We unpack the real difference between mentoring and coaching. Mentoring often centers on sharing experience, while coaching relies on active listening and open-ended questions that help the other person clarify goals, explore options, and choose next steps they actually own. We talk about why coaching can work even when you’re not “job-alike,” and how curiosity can be more powerful than expertise when the goal is growth. You’ll also get clear details on the GAEL leadership coaching micro-credential, including the virtual option on June 1 (Teams, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.) and the in-person option on June 16 in Athens (8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.). We explain the full pathway, from the training day to three follow-up virtual check-ins in August, September, and October, when you earn the badge. We also share what ongoing monthly coaching connections will look like so your coaching skills keep getting sharper long after the training ends. If you’re building a leadership pipeline or trying to “grow your own” leaders, trained internal coaches can be a game changer. Subscribe for more practical leadership learning, share this with a colleague who coaches others, and leave a review with your biggest coaching challenge so we can tackle it next.

  8. May 11

    GAEL UnscriptED S2:E17 | Teacher Retention Starts With Leaders

    Teacher retention is often treated like a staffing puzzle, but we keep coming back to a tougher truth: educators stay or leave based on the daily experience of working in a school. That experience is shaped, minute by minute, by leadership. We sit down with Jennie Welch and Leslie Hazel Bussey from GLISI to unpack Retain (Restoring Teacher Aspiration and Innovation), a leadership development program designed to improve educator retention by changing working conditions at the source.  Jeffrey O’Neal, an assistant principal at Marietta City High School, brings the real-world view from the building. He shares how his leadership mindset shifted from pure performance mode to human centered leadership that still gets results. We dig into teacher voice as a practical strategy for belonging, trust, and instructional risk-taking, plus what it looks like to listen well without carrying everyone’s stress home. Jeffrey also names something many school leaders feel but rarely have language for: secondary traumatic stress, and how simply naming it can be a turning point.  We also get concrete about the tools: somatic awareness, short breathing practices, five minutes of silence, being present where your feet are, and setting boundaries so the job does not swallow your entire life. Retain treats these as elite leadership skills tied to clarity, decision making, and resilience. You’ll also hear why “quick fixes” like jeans days miss the point, and how sustained investment in people connects to measurable retention results over time.  Subscribe for more conversations with education leaders, share this with a principal or AP who needs it, and leave a review so more educators can find the show. What is one leadership habit you think would most improve teacher retention where you work?

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About

GAEL UnscriptED, the podcast that goes beyond the headlines and handbooks to bring you unfiltered insights from Georgia’s top educational leaders, innovators, and changemakers. Hosted by Ben Wiggins, Executive Director of GAEL, this show dives deep into the challenges, opportunities, and unexpected twists that shape education today. From leadership strategies to policy discussions—and everything in between—GAEL UnscriptED is your go-to source for candid conversations that make an impact. No scripts. No fluff. Just real talk from those leading the way in Georgia’s schools.

Information

  • Creator
    Georgia Association of Educational Leaders
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    45
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 GAEL UnscriptED
  • Show Website
    GAEL UnscriptED