The Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast | The #1 Downloaded School Leadership Show

Ten years of school leadership podcasting reveals one consistent truth: most principals are doing it alone when they don't have to. In this special anniversary episode, Danny Bauer sits down with co-host Dan Watt to trace the arc from isolated AP to category-defining podcast host — and what he's learned coaching hundreds of school leaders along the way.
Dan Watt is a school principal, leadership coach, and Mastermind coach for Better Leaders Better Schools, based in northern British Columbia, Canada. He joined the Ruckus Maker community as a member before stepping into a coaching role, and now co-writes the weekly Ruckus Makers newsletter. He brings a practitioner's lens to every conversation — someone still in the building, still doing the work. Find him through the Ruckus Makers community at ruckusmakers.news.
☑️ What You'll Learn
Why Danny started the podcast and what leadership gap drove the decision
How the Ruckus Maker Mastermind was built to fill a void no one else in education had addressed
The mindset shift that separates thriving principals from burned-out ones
What patterns Danny sees repeatedly in the leaders he coaches today
Where the Ruckus Maker brand is heading — and why it's bigger than school leadership
🔨 Breaking Down the Old Rules
🧰 Key Insight #1: Working More Hours Is Not a Leadership Strategy
What's broken: Districts treat effort and visibility as the measure of a leader's worth — the longer you're on campus, the more you're seen as committed.
The shift: Value created and culture built are the real metrics — not hours logged or sleeves rolled up.
Impact: Mastermind member Justin stopped seeing more hours as the solution to feeling overwhelmed, found his North Star, and called it transformative.
🧰 Key Insight #2: Isolation Is a Choice, Not a Condition
What's broken: Most school leaders wait for the district to provide mentorship, community, or coaching — and the district almost never delivers.
The shift: Choosing yourself means actively seeking a community, a coach, and the tools to grow on a weekly basis — not waiting for permission.
Impact: When Danny built the Mastermind in 2016, he introduced peer coaching to an industry that had nothing like it; leaders who join stop leading alone.
🧰 Key Insight #3: You Become What You Think About
What's broken: Leaders absorb a deficit mindset — kids are broken post-COVID, resources are disappearing, the system is against them — and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The shift: The Beautiful Constraint mindset asks: given this reality, what needs to be true to accomplish what we want?
Impact: Principals who reframe obstacles as constraints to work within — rather than walls to hide behind — lead higher-engagement campuses regardless of what the district hands them.
🗣️ DANNY BAUER QUOTES FROM THE RUCKUS-CAST
"The strangest secret is we become what we think about."
— Danny Bauer
"I no longer see putting in more hours as a solution to this feeling. I very much feel like I'm failing forward with this approach, but I feel like I've found a North Star."
— Danny Bauer (quoting Mastermind member Justin)
"You can work in isolation and get bumps and bruises and learn from sparring in real life — or you could join a community and hear about everybody else's war wounds and scars, and learn from that without having to go through it yourself."
— Danny Bauer
"I don't want it to be like a cult of personality. I have an expiration date. And also, I'm only one guy with one perspective, and it's not always the best."
— Danny BaueR
"Every school leader that wants to grow and meet their potential should join our Mastermind. If you don't want to do that, don't join."
— Danny Bauer
🧗‍♂️ Your Do School Different Challenge
Ready to implement? Start here:
Tomorrow: Identify one place you're measuring your leadership worth in hours instead of value — and write down what the actual result looks like instead.
This Month: Audit your professional development diet: if a conference once a year is your only growth structure, find one weekly or monthly touchpoint — a book, a community, a coach — and commit to it.
This Semester: Build or join a peer learning structure where you're both giving and receiving feedback on real leadership challenges, not just sitting in a room listening to a presenter.
⌚️ Episode Timestamps
00:00 - Why Danny started the podcast 10 years ago
04:35 - Danny's early leadership gaps as an AP
08:49 - The public feedback mistake and what it cost
13:38 - Why principals always learn even off the hot seat
20:12 - What were the real stakes 10 years ago
29:54 - How the Mastermind started from a void in education
34:11 - Justin's email: stop measuring worth in hours
40:46 - The Beautiful Constraint mindset for today's climate
48:56 - How Danny lives "you're worth it" daily
55:32 - Where the Ruckus Maker brand is going next
🎧 Listen & Subscribe
Listen to Better Leaders Better Schools on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube or wherever you get your podcasts. If today's episode moved you, leave a review — it helps more Ruckus Makers find the show.
🧔🏻‍♂️ Your Self-Mentorship Guide
Meet Digital Danny — your self-mentorship guide. Always available, never forgets, and evolves with you. Think through your next leadership move at myprincipalcoach.com.
🤝 Today's Ruckus-Cast Partners
ODP Business Solutions has been a trusted partner for schools for 30 years — helping districts move from whiteboards to smart boards, static classrooms to collaboration zones, and single-vendor chaos to streamlined cooperative contract ordering. If you're trying to design a learning environment students actually want to show up to,
🔍 visit ODPbusiness.com/education.
Frontline Education's 2026 K12 Lens Report found that districts using software to automate professional growth are nearly twice as likely to report easier hiring than those that don't. If staffing and retention are keeping you up at night,
🔍 Download the full report at frontlineeducation.com/leaders — it shows exactly what high performing districts are doing differently.
IXL's diagnostic identifies every student's knowledge gaps and delivers a personalized growth plan — so teachers stop guessing and start teaching to what students actually need. Close the gaps, accelerate learning, and
🔍 Get started today at ixl.com/leaders.
META DESCRIPTION: 10 years of school leadership coaching distilled into one conversation. What Danny Bauer learned building the top 1% podcast for principals who do school different.

🧰 The Ruckus Report
Quick take: This episode is a masterclass in what happens when a teacher stops delivering lessons — and starts creating life-changing experiences.
🙋‍♂️ Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker
Jesus Huerta is an educator and innovation coach who transforms classrooms into launchpads for curiosity, creativity, and future careers. From 3D printing to robotics, his work centers on one mission: give students access, spark possibility, and let them build what's next.
🔨 Breaking Down the Old Rules
In this episode, Jesus Huerta challenges traditional education paradigms:
🎯 Key Insight #1: Engagement Comes from Compliance
What's broken: "Sit down, listen, and learn" instruction that assumes students will care.
The shift: Design experiences students want to engage in through hands-on learning and real-world tools.
Impact: Students move from passive to fully alive — creating, building, and owning their learning.
🎯 Key Insight #2: Teach the Same Lesson Every Year
What's broken: Repeating "greatest hits" lessons while the world (and kids) evolve rapidly.
The shift: Use the engineering design process to constantly iterate, improve, and adapt instruction.
Impact: Lessons stay fresh, relevant, and aligned with how students actually experience the world.
🎯 Key Insight #3: Technology is Extra (or Too Hard)
What's broken: Fear, overwhelm, or waiting for the "perfect time" to try something new.
The shift: Start small, pick one tool, and adopt a "Why not today?" mindset.
Impact: Teachers build confidence, students gain exposure, and classrooms transform over time — not overnight.
🎙️ Quotable Ruckus
"If I'm bored teaching the lesson, the kids are definitely bored learning it." – Jesus Huerta
🏋️‍♂️ Your Do School Different Challenge
Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:
Tomorrow: Pick ONE new tool or strategy — even Play-Doh counts — and try it with your students
This Month: Redesign one existing lesson using the engineering design process (build → test → improve)
This Semester: Create at least one "can't miss" learning experience that students will talk about years later
🔗 Connect & Continue
🎯 Get the full episode transcript here
👩🏻‍💻 Follow Jesus Huerta:
Website: https://mrhuertasclass.weebly.com/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jesus-huerta-750375141
📌 Ruckus Makers Don't Just Listen — They Act
If education ain't a bit disruptive, then what are your students really learning?
This show isn't about doing school better.
It's about Doing School Different — and joining a growing movement of bold, creative school leaders who reject legacy models and reimagine what's possible.
🧠 Four Ways We Can Help You on Your Do School Different Journey
📬 Subscribe to the Free Newsletter — An opportunity to Do School Different 3x a week. Tools, mindset shifts, and strategies that actually work:
https://ruckusmakers.news
🗞 Read Ruckus Maker Media — Exclusive content on Substack. Premium leadership insights, AI prompts and custom GPTs, new books before the bookshelf.
https://ruckusmakers.media
💥 Join The Ruckus Maker Club — Our private network + workshops, The Automatic School tools, AI Prompt Library, and more:
https://ruckusmakers.club
🧨 Apply to the Mastermind — Weekly coaching, peer mentorship, and our proven leadership system (The Ruckus Maker Flywheel) to help you transform your campus:
https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/mastermind
Every tool, community, and coaching program we offer is built to help visionary school leaders play the new game — one where leadership is creative, tech-enabled, and unapologetically student-centered.
🎙 The podcast is your starting point. The movement is just getting started.
🤝 Today's RUCKUScast in Partnership with:
ODP Business Solutions®: Looking to create the kind of campus experience students never forget? ODP Business Solutions® transforms ordinary spaces into extraordinary learning environments.
🔍 Learn more: https://odpbusiness.com/education
IXL: Over 1 million teachers rely on IXL because it is empowering, it helps them make better decisions with reliable data, and it adapts instruction based on student performance.
🔍 Learn more: https://ixl.com/leaders
Frontline Education: 1,000+ school leaders just weighed in on staffing, absenteeism, AI, and funding shifts. The 2026 K-12 Lens Survey Report gives you a national view of where the pressure is — and where momentum is building.
🔍 Learn more: https://frontlineeducation.com/leaders
Twelve Practices LLC © 2026 | Create a Campus Experience Worth Showing Up For

📋 The Ruckus Report
Quick take: Most principals accept their school building as a fixed constraint. Anne Seeley proves it's actually your most under-utilized leadership tool — and you don't need a construction budget to start.
🎓 Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker
Anne Seeley, a Senior Associate Project Manager, NCARB, LEED, AP, AIA is an accomplished architect with a distinct blend of expertise.
For over 20 years, she has focused on educational architecture, creating everything from visionary master plans and engaging student Centers to complex campus renovations.
Anne doesn't just design buildings; she creates thoughtful environments that reflect the goals and ideas of the people she works with. Anne's commitment to improving the user experience makes her a leading figure in educational design.
🔨 Breaking Down the Old Rules
In this episode, Anne Seeley challenges how school leaders think about physical space:
🧰 Key Insight #1: Space is named, not designed for purpose
What's broken: Rooms are labeled — classroom, corridor, cafeteria — and that label locks in every expectation about how the space gets used.
The shift: Name the activity, not the room. A "peer-to-peer instruction zone" unlocks possibilities a "hallway" never will.
Impact: Ravenscroft School opened a reimagined student center and students claimed full ownership within the first week — filling it from 7am to 7pm daily.
🧰 Key Insight #2: Bus riders get the back door
What's broken: Car drop-off gets the front entrance. Students who ride the bus — often from lower-income households — enter through a secondary, less welcoming entry.
The shift: Hilltop Needmore Road Elementary redesigned both entries with equal prominence, a canopy, and a shared convergence point so every student arrives feeling welcomed.
Impact: Equity gets built into the physical infrastructure of the school day — not just the curriculum.
🧰 Key Insight #3: Underused spaces sit idle most of the day
What's broken: A school stage gets used once or twice daily for music and theater, then goes dark.
The shift: Design the stage with a folding wall so it opens to the cafeteria for dining, closes for performances, and opens the back side to the corridor as a teaching space and after-care zone.
Impact: A single space now serves three distinct functions across the full school day instead of one.
🎙️ Quotable Ruckus
"Rather than giving a name to something — this is a classroom, this is a corridor — what if the space is a space for engagement? – Anne Seeley
What if it's a zone for peer-to-peer instruction? When you start naming the activity, it breaks down our association of what the space looks like and starts to give us opportunities to reimagine it." – Anne Seeley
🧩 Your Do School Different Challenge
Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:
Tomorrow: Walk your building and identify one underused or unnamed space — a wide corridor, an empty stage, a forgotten corner — and ask: what activity could happen here?
This Month: Remove or repurpose a row of unused lockers in one hallway and add a marker board and two chairs to create a visible collaboration moment.
This Semester: Convene students and staff to co-design one shared space on your campus — name the activity, not the room, and give students the ability to reserve and own it.
🔗 Connect & Continue
👩🏻‍💻 Follow Anne Seeley:
Website: Littleonline.com | Blog | LinkedIn | Instagram | Vimeo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-seeley
📌 Ruckus Makers Don't Just Listen — They Act
If education ain't a bit disruptive, then what are your students really learning?
This show isn't about doing school better.
It's about Doing School Different — and joining a growing movement of bold, creative school leaders who reject legacy models and reimagine what's possible.
🧠 Four Ways We Can Help You on Your Do School Different Journey
📬 Subscribe to the Free Newsletter — An opportunity to Do School Different 3x a week. Tools, mindset shifts, and strategies that actually work:
https://ruckusmakers.news
🗞 Read Ruckus Maker Media — Exclusive content on Substack. Premium leadership insights, AI prompts and custom GPTs, new books before the bookshelf.
https://ruckusmakers.media
💥 Join The Ruckus Maker Club — Our private network + workshops, The Automatic School tools, AI Prompt Library, and more:
https://ruckusmakers.club
🧨 Apply to the Mastermind — Weekly coaching, peer mentorship, and our proven leadership system (The Ruckus Maker Flywheel) to help you transform your campus:
https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/mastermind
🤝 Today's RUCKUScast in Partnership with:
ODP Business Solutions®: Looking to create the kind of campus experience students never forget? ODP Business Solutions® transforms ordinary spaces into extraordinary learning environments.
🔍 Learn more: odpbusiness.com/education
IXL: Over 1 million teachers rely on IXL because it empowers better decisions with reliable data and adapts instruction based on student performance.
🔍 Learn more: ixl.com/leaders
Frontline Education: Strong school culture doesn't happen by accident — it's built through meaningful support and growth. Frontline Education's 2026 K-12 Lens Report shows how districts are connecting professional development to stronger staffing outcomes.
🔍 Get the full report: frontlineeducation.com/leaders
Twelve Practices LLC © 2026 | Create a Campus Experience Worth Showing Up For

Principal leadership development is broken — 3 out of 4 school leaders have no coach, no mentor, no one to think it through with.
Principal coaching and self-mentorship are the difference between leaders who wait for answers and leaders who generate their own. Corey, a Chicago principal, logged 910 conversations with Digital Danny over one school year — not for generic advice, but to think through the hardest decisions he faced: a staff situation, a career crossroads, a coaching conversation he needed to get right. He called it "almost like your self mentor." That's the category. That's what this is.
This sprint on April 30 gives you one hour to experience the framework, watch a live Digital Danny session, and work through something real you're carrying right now. $100 gets you in — and that includes 30 days of Digital Danny access.
Register for the sprint here: https://ruckusmakers.news/sprint 
⌚️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - 3 out of 4 principals lead without a mentor
00:46 - Corey's first Digital Danny conversation
01:38 - The basketball coach situation and the shift
02:25 - Corey's career question and interview prep
03:13 - Digital Danny retrains — Corey accelerates
04:14 - What self-mentorship actually means
05:12 - The Self-Mentorship Sprint: April 30 details

📋 The Ruckus Report
Quick take: Schools didn't gradually adopt tech — they surrendered to it. This episode is a wake-up call for leaders ready to reclaim learning, relationships, and childhood from screens.
🎓Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker
Emily Cherkin, M.Ed., The Screentime Consultant, is leading the fight for a Tech-IntentionalTM childhood. Emily works with schools, families, policymakers, and advocacy organizations to ensure the future of education prioritizes skills, safety, and relationships over screens, EdTech, and A.I.
Emily is an author, speaker, consultant, and associate professor of public policy at the University of Washington. She is also co-chair of Fairplay's Screens in Schools Action Network and the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against one of the largest EdTech companies in the world. Emily is also the creator of the UnPlug EdTech Toolkit.
🌱 Breaking Down the Old Rules
In this episode, Emily Cherkin challenges traditional education paradigms:
🧰 Key Insight #1: EdTech = Innovation
What's broken: Schools assume more devices = better learning.
The shift: Question the role of Tech through a child development lens.
Impact: Leaders prioritize cognition, focus, and real engagement over screen time.
🧰 Key Insight #2: Convenience Over Relationships
What's broken: Grade portals, emails, and AI replace human conversations.
The shift: Bring back friction — phone calls, dialogue, real connection.
Impact: Stronger trust with families and deeper student-teacher relationships.
🧰 Key Insight #3: Teach Tech Early and Often
What's broken: Giving young kids constant access to devices in the name of "preparation."
The shift: Later is better. Less is more. Skills before screens..
Impact: Students build communication, resilience, and critical thinking first.
🗣️ Quotable Ruckus
"If Tech is doing the thinking, your students aren't!" – Emily Cherkin
🧩 Your Do School Different Challenge
Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:
Tomorrow: Audit one tech tool on your campus — ask: Is it effective, safe, and necessary?
This Month: Reintroduce one human-centered practice (phone calls, in-person feedback, discussion-based learning)
This Semester: Build a campus-wide "tech intentional" philosophy rooted in relationships and skill development
🔗 Connect & Continue
🎯 Get the full episode transcript here
👩🏻‍💻 Follow Emily Cherkin:
💻 Website: https://thescreentimeconsultant.com
😎 The Unplug EdTech ToolKit https://thescreentimeconsultant.com/resources/unplug-edtech-toolkit
🤝 Emily speaking to UK Parliament: https://firstfish.substack.com/p/testimony-to-uk-parliament?r=250yb9
📕 Book: https://www.amazon.com/Screentime- Solution-Judgment-Free-Becoming- Tech-Intentional/dp/B0CB9JS5KB
Instagram: @thescreentimeconsultant
LinkedIn: @emily-cherkin
Facebook: @thescreentimeconsultant
Youtube: @thescreentimeconsultantllc6072
BlueSky: @emilycherkin.bsky.social
First Fish Chronicles: Unplug EdTech, Save Democracy http://firstfish.substack.com
📌 Ruckus Makers Don't Just Listen — They Act
If education ain't a bit disruptive, then what are your students really learning?
This show isn't about doing school better.
It's about Doing School Different — and joining a growing movement of bold, creative school leaders who reject legacy models and reimagine what's possible.
🧠 Four Ways We Can Help You on Your Do School Different Journey
📬 Subscribe to the Free Newsletter — An opportunity to Do School Different 3x a week. Tools, mindset shifts, and strategies that actually work:
https://ruckusmakers.news
🗞 Read Ruckus Maker Media — Exclusive content on Substack. Premium leadership insights, AI prompts and custom GPTs, new books before the bookshelf.
https://ruckusmakers.media
💥 Join The Ruckus Maker Club — Our private network + workshops, The Automatic School tools, AI Prompt Library, and more:
https://ruckusmakers.club
🧨 Apply to the Mastermind — Weekly coaching, peer mentorship, and our proven leadership system (The Ruckus Maker Flywheel) to help you transform your campus:
https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/mastermind
✅  Every tool, community, and coaching program we offer is built to help visionary school leaders play the new game — one where leadership is creative, tech-enabled, and unapologetically student-centered.
The podcast is your starting point. The movement is just getting started.
🎙️ Today's RUCKUScast in Partnership with:
ODP Business Solutions®: Looking to create the kind of campus experience students never forget? ODP Business Solutions® transforms ordinary spaces into extraordinary learning environments.
🔍 Learn more: https://odpbusiness.com/education
IXL: Over 1 million teachers rely on IXL because it is empowering, it helps them make better decisions with reliable data, and it adapts instruction based on student performance.
🔍 Learn more: https://ixl.com/leaders
Frontline Education: 1,000+ school leaders just weighed in on staffing, absenteeism, AI, and funding shifts. The 2026 K-12 Lens Survey Report gives you a national view of where the pressure is — and where momentum is building.
🔍 Learn more: https://frontlineeducation.com/leaders
Twelve Practices LLC © 2026 | Create a Campus Experience Worth Showing Up For