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

🧰 The Ruckus Report
Quick take:
This episode flips the script on school culture and student motivation. Adrian Ireland shows why most engagement issues aren't about effort — they're about environment — and what to do instead.
🫂 Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker
Adrian Ireland is an international educator, systems thinker, and author who reimagines the architecture of learning by challenging traditional, standardized education models. With experience leading across Asia and Europe, he champions learner-centered approaches that elevate curiosity, individuality, and creativity.

🔨 Breaking Down the Old Rules
😎 Key Insight #1: Schools don't have effort problems — they have architecture problems
What's broken: We blame students and teachers for being unmotivated.
The shift: Redesign the system so motivation is the natural outcome, not a constant battle.
Impact: Transforms passive learners into engaged problem-solvers without more effort.
📌 Key Insight #2: Culture isn't spoken into existence — it's built by design
What's broken: Leaders treat culture like a vibe or vision statement.
The shift: Treat culture as the emergent result of your systems, structures, and incentives.
Impact: A culture of belonging and excellence that sustains itself beyond PD days and posters.
🧰 Key Insight #3: Startup Week proves a different architecture delivers better results
What's broken: End-of-year burnout and throwaway lessons.
The shift: Reclaim that time with a high-agency, high-authenticity program rooted in design thinking.
Impact: Students work harder, retain more, and surprise themselves — even in the last week of school.
💬 Quotable Ruckus
"Culture is really system architecture in disguise." – Adrian Ireland
🧗‍♂️ Your Do School Different Challenge
Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:
Tomorrow: Audit your current systems. Where are students swimming upstream?
This Month: Start planning a low-stakes sandbox where your staff can test new structures.
This Semester: Launch a Startup Week-style program to unlock student agency and authentic learning.
🔗 Connect & Continue
🎯 Get the full episode transcript here
👩🏻‍💻  Follow Adrian Ireland:
Website: https://designingdifferent.carrd.co/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adrian-ireland-413191278
📕 Book: Designing different
📌 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.
🧠 Here are 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: ruckusmakers.news
🗞 Read Ruckus Maker Media — Exclusive content on Substack. Premium leadership insights, AI prompts and custom GPTs, new books before the bookshelf. ruckusmakers.media
💥 Join The Ruckus Maker Club — Our private network + workshops, The Automatic School tools, AI Prompt Library, and more: 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: Apply Now
🎙 Today's RUCKUS cast in Partnership With:
Play Piper
Every student starts with curiosity — Piper keeps it alive. Our hands-on STEM kits turn gaming passion into real engineering skills.
🔍 Spark confidence in your students at playpiper.com/ruckus.
ODP Business Solutions®
Still scrambling for supplies like it's 1999? ODP streamlines everything from pencils to projectors so you can focus on what matters — making an impact.
🔍 Visit odpbusiness.com/education to learn more.
IXL
If you could differentiate instruction in 20 minutes or less, would you do it? Over 1 million teachers use IXL to make data-informed instruction effortless.
🔍 Start today at ixl.com/leaders.
© 2026 Twelve Practices LLC | If Education Ain't a Bit Disruptive, Then What Are Your Students Learning?

📕 The Ruckus Report
Quick take: Danny tells the brutal story of a "worst first day of school ever" moment — when half the students had no schedules — and uses it to make the case for a 90-day entry plan that builds trust fast, reduces stress, and keeps your campus from spiralling into avoidable chaos.
🔨 Breaking Down the Old Rules
In this episode, Danny challenges the "vibes-only leadership" approach and lays out why leaders need a real plan — what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how you'll execute — especially in the first 90 days.
🧨 Key Insight #1 — The real "first day" starts months earlier
What's broken: Treating the first day of school like a one-day event you can "wing."
The shift: Build and execute a time-based entry plan with clear milestones and check-ins.
Impact: Fewer fires, fewer surprises, and a campus experience worth showing up for. — starting day one.
📌 Key Insight #2 — Chaos is often a systems failure, not a people problem
What's broken: Blaming individuals when a breakdown happens (or silently absorbing it alone).
The shift: Own the outcome, stabilize the system, then fix the root cause with a plan you can communicate.
Impact: Faster recovery when things go wrong — and fewer repeat disasters.
🎯 Key Insight #3 — Close the "Belief Gap" at 3 levels
What's broken: Strategy that sounds good but doesn't create confidence.
The shift: Close belief gaps for: You (internal confidence),
Your team (shared belief + clarity),
Stakeholders (parents/ board/ community buy-in).

Impact: More trust, more autonomy, and more momentum — because people believe the plan is real.
🎙️ Quotable Ruckus
"As school leaders, we make a promise to our community — and it's important that you deliver on that promise, especially in the first 90 days."
— Danny Bauer.
🧩 Your Do School Different Challenge
Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:
Tomorrow: Identify the one predictable breakdown that could derail your next "first day" (schedules, transportation, staffing, supervision, etc.) and write the prevent-it list.
This Month: Draft a 90-day entry plan with milestone check-ins (what success looks like by week 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12).
This Semester: Share the plan in a format your team can repeat back — then measure whether belief is rising across you/team/stakeholders.
🔗 Connect & Continue
🎯 Get the full episode transcript here
👉Apply to The Entry Plan Intensive: https://entryplanintensive.com/
Applications close March 20th at 11:59:59 pm ET.
📌 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.
🧠 Here are 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/subscribe
🗞 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/join
🧨 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 RUCKUS cast in Partnership With:
ODP Business Solutions®
For over 30 years, ODP Business Solutions® has helped schools transform from whiteboards to smartboards. Why? Because when you get the right tools, everyone wins.
🔍 Visit odpbusiness.com/education to revolutionize your school's learning spaces.
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.
🔍 Get started today at ixl.com/leaders
PLAY PIPER
This episode is brought to you by Play Piper. At Piper, we believe STEM doesn't have to feel out of reach. Too many kids love gaming but give up on science and engineering because school doesn't spark their interest. That's where Piper comes in - They have hands-on STEM kits designed to turn curiosity into confidence and keep the pipeline of future innovators flowing strong.
🔍 Learn more at playpiper.com/ruckus
© 2026 Twelve Practices LLC | If Education Ain't a Bit Disruptive, Then What Are Your Students Learning?

🧨 The Ruckus Report
Quick take: Most leaders say they want innovation… then rebuild the same dusty campus experience with newer paint. Will Campbell shows what happens when you press reset, redesign the human experience of school, and trust students to build the culture while teachers get time to grow inside the workday.
Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker
Will Campbell is redefining what's possible with modern education. As the Founding Head of Franklin School in Jersey City, named the The Most Innovative School in the World by T4 Education,
Will has built a learning ecosystem that fuses timeless educational wisdom with breakthrough innovation. His work challenges the traditional playbook, empowering students and educators to think boldly, act with purpose, and lead with vision.

🔨 Breaking Down the Old Rules
In this episode, Will Campbell challenges traditional education paradigms:
🧰 Key Insight #1: Building from scratch isn't freedom, It's leadership under uncertainty
What's broken: Leaders wait for the perfect plan, perfect clarity, perfect conditions… and then wonder why nothing changes.
The shift: Get comfortable "building the bridge while you're walking on it," with feedback loops, iteration, and a team that can handle a little wobble.
Impact: Faster learning, better decisions, and a school design that improves because it's alive — not because it's locked in.
🧠 Key Insight #2: Student voice isn't a survey. It's shared ownership of culture
What's broken: Adults control the experience, then blame kids for not buying in.
The shift: Trust students to lead earlier — then coach them with guardrails: "Not everything can be a yes, but everything doesn't have to be a no."
Impact: Students build real leadership skill through reps, culture becomes self-sustaining, and the building stops depending on one adult to hold it all together.
🧰 Key Insight #3: Partnerships beat "exposure." Bring the real world into the building
What's broken: Schools talk internships and career pathways, but keep professionals at arm's length — so students stay stuck in fantasies and assumptions.
The shift: Build partnerships that put experts in front of students now (micro-courses, real conversations, real constraints, real options).
Impact: Students pivot earlier, choose pathways with eyes open, and develop the confidence that comes from proximity to real work.
🎙️ Quotable Ruckus
"Not everything can be a yes, but everything doesn't have to be a no." – Will Campbell
🧗‍♂️ Your Do School Different Challenge
Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:
Tomorrow: Pick one decision you're still hoarding "because it's faster." Give it away — with clear guardrails — and let someone lead.
This Month: Create one student-led culture move (advisory, house system, rituals, onboarding, peer mentorship). Make it real. Make it visible.
This Semester: Build a partnership pipeline: 10 professionals, 10 micro-sessions, 10 career reality checks — inside your building, not just on a poster.
📌 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.
🧠 Here are 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/subscribe
🗞 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/join
🧨 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 RUCKUS cast in Partnership With:
ODP Business Solutions®
For over 30 years, ODP Business Solutions® has helped schools transform from whiteboards to smartboards. Why? Because when you get the right tools, everyone wins.
🔍 Visit odpbusiness.com/education to revolutionize your school's learning spaces.
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.
🔍 Get started today at ixl.com/leaders
PLAY PIPER
This episode is brought to you by Play Piper. At Piper, we believe STEM doesn't have to feel out of reach. Too many kids love gaming but give up on science and engineering because school doesn't spark their interest. That's where Piper comes in - They have hands-on STEM kits designed to turn curiosity into confidence and keep the pipeline of future innovators flowing strong.
🔍 Learn more at playpiper.com/ruckus
© 2026 Twelve Practices LLC | If Education Ain't a Bit Disruptive, Then What Are Your Students Learning?

🎯 The Ruckus Report
Quick take:
Kim Strobel's been attacked for teaching differently — and still chose joy. In this episode, she shows school leaders how happiness isn't fluff — it's the foundation. Learn how to fight for your fire, rewire your brain, and lead a school worth showing up for.
🎓 Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker
Kim Strobel is a former teacher and administrator turned global speaker, author, and happiness coach. After battling a debilitating panic disorder, she transformed her pain into purpose — helping educators reclaim joy, build resilience, and spark cultures of well-being in their schools. She's the author of Teach Happy: Small Steps to Big Joy and speaks on stages around the world, including events for the FBI and thousands of educators each year.
🔨 Breaking Down the Old Rules
🧨 Key Insight #1: You have to play it safe to survive school culture
What's broken: Educators who do school different often get bullied or iced out.
The shift: Kim modeled courage by refusing to dim her light — and found her people.
Impact: Students got more than standards — they got voice, agency, and purpose through passion-driven projects like dog adoption campaigns.
🧰 Key Insight #2: Productivity means grinding, not growing
What's broken: School leaders wear burnout as a badge and equate rest with weakness.
The shift: Kim reframes happiness as a performance strategy, not a luxury.
Impact: When teachers practice happiness habits, productivity rises 31% and engagement 10x.
🚀 Key Insight #3: You can't lead culture — you're not responsible for staff happiness
What's broken: Leaders think culture is out of their hands.
The shift: Kim teaches that school-wide joy starts with modeling and micro-habits.
Impact: Schools that bake happiness into the fabric see better retention, morale, and results.
💬 Quotable Ruckus
"If your classroom doesn't have joy, curiosity, or risk, then what exactly are you preparing kids for?" – Kim Strobel
📈 Your Do School Different Challenge
Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:
Tomorrow: Ask yourself and your staff: Are we choosing activities that drain us — or fuel us?
This Month: Lead by example — commit to one daily happiness habit (movement, gratitude, meditation, social connection, or kindness)
This Semester: Create a culture audit. Identify one system or meeting that could be redesigned for joy, not just compliance
🔗 Connect & Continue
🎯 Get the full episode transcript here
👩🏻‍💻 Follow Kim Strobel:
Website: http://www.strobeleducation.com, https://strobeleducation.com/teach-happy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kim-strobel/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimstrobeljoy/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1798779396858380
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/she-finds-joy/id1487739752
📌 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.
🧠 Here are 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/subscribe
🗞 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/join
🧨 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 RUCKUS cast in Partnership With:
ODP Business Solutions®
For over 30 years, ODP Business Solutions® has helped schools transform from whiteboards to smartboards. Why? Because when you get the right tools, everyone wins.
🔍 Visit odpbusiness.com/education to revolutionize your school's learning spaces.
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.
🔍 Get started today at ixl.com/leaders
PLAY PIPER
This episode is brought to you by Play Piper. At Piper, we believe STEM doesn't have to feel out of reach. Too many kids love gaming but give up on science and engineering because school doesn't spark their interest. That's where Piper comes in - They have hands-on STEM kits designed to turn curiosity into confidence and keep the pipeline of future innovators flowing strong.
🔍 Learn more at playpiper.com/ruckus
© 2026 Twelve Practices LLC | If Education Ain't a Bit Disruptive, Then What Are Your Students Learning?

📣 The Ruckus Report
Quick take:
What if the cure for disengagement isn't better apps, but real tools in real hands? In this episode, Kris Rockwell challenges the one-way screen model that dominates modern classrooms — and makes a powerful case for hands-on learning that sparks joy, confidence, and curiosity.
🤝 Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker
Kris Rockwell works at the intersection of venture capital, technology, and non-profit initiatives. After spending over fifteen years in the eLearning field, he went on to lead the S. Kent Rockwell Foundation, supporting initiatives in conservation, entrepreneurship, and addiction recovery.
He currently serves as Head of Product Development at Play Piper Inc. an edtech company based in San Francisco, the founder of AoS Ventures, a Pittsburgh-based venture capital group, and the co-founder of Praxis Science, a company that focuses on blockchain applications for decentralized science.

🔨 Breaking Down the Old Rules
In this episode, Kris Rockwell challenges traditional education paradigms:
🧠 Key Insight #1: The Tyranny of the One-Way Screen
What's broken: One-way screens that keep kids passive and addicted.
The shift: From screen consumption to hands-on creation and feedback loops.
Impact: Students build confidence and competence through real-world tinkering and tech.
🧰 Key Insight #2: Tools Aren't Enough Without Freedom to Try
What's broken: Classrooms full of unused tech due to lack of support or fear.
The shift: Providing kids with approachable tools, open-ended projects, and the psychological safety to fail forward.
Impact: One student went from bullied and silent to proudly presenting her own 3D-printed dragon — and finding her voice.
🚀 Key Insight #3: Preparing Kids for the Jobs That Don't Exist Yet
What's broken: Teaching only for predictable answers and standardized tests.
The shift: Making infotech and digital literacy foundational, just like math.
Impact: Students learn coding, robotics, and cybersecurity by building their own devices — laying the groundwork for creative, tech-enabled futures.
💬 Quotable Ruckus
"Confidence doesn't come from clicking — it comes from building." – Kris Rockwell
🧗‍♂️ Your Do School Different Challenge
👉 Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:
Tomorrow: Ask one student what they'd build if they could learn anything. Then listen.
This Month: Introduce one hands-on STEM project that doesn't require a final grade.
This Semester: Reframe screen time — swap passive clicks for real-world tinkering.
🔗 Connect & Continue
📌 Get the full episode transcript here
👩🏻‍💻  Follow Kris Rockwell:
Website: www.playpiper.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/krisrockwell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StartWithPiper
X: https://x.com/StartWithPiper
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startwithpiper
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PlayPiperLLC
TikTok: @play.piper
📌 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.
🧠 Here are four ways we can help you on your Do School Different journey:
📬 Subscribe to the Free Newsletter — Tools, mindset shifts, and strategies that actually work: https://ruckusmakers.news
🗞 Read Ruckus Maker Media — Premium insights and early book drops: https://ruckusmakers.media
💥 Join The Ruckus Maker Club — Private network, AI Prompt Library, and more: https://ruckusmakers.club/join
🧨 Apply to the Mastermind — Coaching + The Ruckus Maker Flywheel: https://betterleadersbetterschools.com/mastermind
🎙 Today's RUCKUS cast in Partnership With:
ODP Business Solutions®
For over 30 years, ODP Business Solutions® has helped schools transform from whiteboards to smartboards. Why? Because when you get the right tools, everyone wins.
🔍 Visit odpbusiness.com/education to revolutionize your school's learning spaces.
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.
🔍 Get started today at ixl.com/leaders
PLAY PIPER
This episode is brought to you by Play Piper. At Piper, we believe STEM doesn't have to feel out of reach. Too many kids love gaming but give up on science and engineering because school doesn't spark their interest. That's where Piper comes in - They have hands-on STEM kits designed to turn curiosity into confidence and keep the pipeline of future innovators flowing strong.
🔍 Learn more at playpiper.com/ruckus
© 2026 Twelve Practices LLC | If Education Ain't a Bit Disruptive, Then What Are Your Students Learning?