Hey, this is Jennifer Gonzalez,

welcoming you to episode 72 of the Cult of Pedagogy Podcast.

In this episode, we're going to learn about educator mastermind groups,

and how joining one can have a big impact on your professional growth and your happiness.

One of the crazy ironies of working in education is that we spend so much time surrounded by other human beings, but still work in isolation.

That's because the other human beings who fill up our days are mostly students.

Only a fraction of that time is spent with our colleagues, other professionals who do the same work we do.

If you're an administrator, that isolation is even more acute.

Because our days are so full, we rarely have time to talk deeply about our goals with our peers, to troubleshoot and problem solve,

or to explore some of the big picture stuff that could really push our work to the next level.

To do that, we need to be more intentional.

We need to find a group of like-minded peers and set aside time on a regular basis for these kinds of conversations.

People in other fields like the business world call these groups masterminds.

Now, the mastermind model is making its way into education.

My guest today is Daniel Bauer, who hosts the Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast.

Daniel started his first school leader mastermind over a year ago.

Since then, he's created a few more that also include teachers and instructional coaches.

In our interview, we talk about how his masterminds work, how they have benefited the members, and how you can start a mastermind of your own.

Before we get started, I'd like to thank KIDM for sponsoring this episode.

KIDM is a collaborative learning platform that enables teachers to plan, assess, and analyze learning all in one place.

With KIDM's new student dashboard, teachers can empower students to take ownership of their learning.

Students have the ability to track their own progress on skills, access and submit work, and communicate with teachers on assignments.

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