Leadership is strongest when it stays close to classroom practice.
Lauren Kaufman frames leadership as work that stays close to the classroom: listen first, then act with the realities of educator practice in view.

Dr. Jorge Valenzuela
84 episodes listed below
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Lifelong Learning Defined Podcast with Dr. Jorge Valenzuela is a show aimed at educators and school leaders who want to improve their personal and professional growth by incorporating innovative and evidence-based practices. Each episode features a guest who offers practical tips and inspiring advice to help you transform your classroom, school environment or personal life. Tune in today to start defining your unique success path!
Based on 4 episodes we listened to · September 2026
George Valenzuela connects educator self-reflection with practical choices about teaching, leadership, communication, and keeping STEM learning responsive.
Lifelong Learning Defined turns professional growth into candid guest conversations about what educators do when plans, people, and institutions resist tidy answers.
The lesson plan changes mid-class; George Valenzuela lets you hear why that's teaching.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Leadership is strongest when it stays close to classroom practice.
Lauren Kaufman frames leadership as work that stays close to the classroom: listen first, then act with the realities of educator practice in view.
A reflective conversation about self-knowledge, alignment, and becoming more real with oneself.
The conversation treats healing as a matter of self-knowledge and alignment: once someone knows themselves more clearly, other people's opinions carry less weight, and change feels possible.
A practical case for teaching AI mindset before chasing AI tools.
The episode treats AI in schools as a shift in habits, not another app to showcase. Steven Iglesias keeps the focus on a simple idea: teachers and leaders need more than tool training if they want young people ready for a fast-changing world.
A practical case for coaching students to self-regulate, self-reflect, and advocate for themselves.
George Valenzuela and Rochelle Wilson make a strong case for coaching students to name what they feel, reflect on where they stand, and ask for what they need.
A grounded STEM conversation about growth, feedback, and what students need from adults.
This episode looks at how STEM teaching can stay useful instead of getting stuck in place. George Valenzuela and Stephanie Lugo keep the focus on classroom reality: static curriculum has limits, feedback is more useful than pushback, and robotics, drones, and aviation can widen…
Healing here starts with accountability and changed patterns.
This conversation stays with heartbreak, accountability, and the slower work of changing habits after a relationship that felt hard to steer. George Valenzuela keeps it grounded in educator-to-educator reflection, while Michelle Moore speaks directly about anxiety, trauma, body…
A grounded conversation about flexible teaching, empathy, and using social media to build real community.
The segment centers on George Valenzuela introducing Cabrina Dixon as a middle school teacher, lifestyle influencer, mom of four, and Atlanta-based creator, then moving into a steady message about planning without becoming rigid.
A practical look at educational leadership, audience focus, and staying authentic.
This episode treats leadership as a communication problem first. The point is straightforward: leaders have to make vision and goals clear to superintendents, instructional coaches, janitors, and teachers if they want people to buy into growth and change.

Range trade talk for firearm instructors.




Clinical CE for busy veterinary teams.

George Valenzuela sits down with Alexa to talk about healing as alignment.
Danelle Almaraz, an InnovateEd leader with about 15 years of coaching experience, tells George Valenzuela that schools should lead "from the middle" instead of waiting on federal, state or district directives.
Jonathan Alsheimer, a 16-year educator, tells host George Valenzuela that classroom engagement has two parts, instructional and relational, and that the guiding rule is 'teach like it's your kid in the front row.' He describes using Disney music and the movie Wonder to teach theme, and playing games like 'grudge ball' and 'human bingo' as a hook before 15 minutes of text analysis.
Host George Valenzuela interviews educator and influencer Cabrinha Dixon about balancing teaching, motherhood, and content creation with authenticity and faith.
Education coach George Valenzuela interviews STEM educator Stephanie Lugo (Ms.
Dr.
George Valenzuela sits down with Rochelle Wilson, founder of Mrs.
Leadership starts near classrooms.
George Valenzuela sits down with Michelle Moore for a candid conversation about heartbreak and healing.
George opens by asking how schools can make technology feel real for kids.
George Valenzuela says project-based learning has a 0.78 effect size on John Hattie's scale, making effective implementation central to his PBL Plus framework.
Vernon Wright argues that people-first leadership starts with making people feel “seen, heard, and understood.” He says people join organizations but leave jobs because of people, making leadership and workplace relationships central concerns.
Jean Darnell says school librarians should evaluate generative AI for copyright, representation, transparency, and student-data privacy.