Engage in authentic conversation and reflection with experienced educators

Reflection in Action: Listening to Our Inner Voice

Guest(s): Joe Schmidt and Laura Garrison-Brook
Date: 05/07/2025
Run time: 47:38
Season 4, Episode 7

Our guests for episode 7 are Joe Schmidt and Laura Garrison-Brook. Their conversation with Carol focuses on the need for intentionality both in being a mentor and in being a mentee. Together, they share unexpected ideas, tools, and tips to make mentorship relationships and reflection positive and productive. They also discuss how reflection requires both curiosity and courage, and how to make it a habit that is built into your life and practice.

Interested in Podcast PD?
Check out Carol's blogpost Podcast PD: A Professional Learning Strategy to Earn District Credit!

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Episode Audio

Joe Schmidt

Joe Schmidt is proud of his work that spans from teaching in the classroom to district, state, and national level leadership where he supports educators that teach grades PK-20. He strives to connect social studies educators regardless of grade level, content area, geographic location, or political leanings. He has worked for and with the National Council for the Social Studies, Bill of Rights Institute, Learning for Justice, the National Council for Geographic Education, ThinkerAnalytix, the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Finance, iCivics, National Geographic, the University of Maine.

Laura Garrison-Brook

Laura Garrison-Brook is passionate about helping young people flourish. A positive psychology practitioner with a master’s from University of Pennsylvania, she established a nonprofit organization called Discovering My Purpose in 2016. Her program blends evidence-based concepts such as strengths-based self-exploration and helps empower teens to become change agents within their own lives.

Carol Pelletier Radford

Carol Pelletier Radford is the founder of Mentoring in Action, an organization dedicated to the success of novice teachers and their mentors. She received her doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she focused her studies on mentoring and teacher leadership. Carol is an experienced classroom teacher, university education administrator, and certified yoga instructor. She is the author of bestselling Corwin books Mentoring in Action: Guiding, Sharing, and Reflecting With Novice Teachers; The First Years Matter: Becoming an Effective Teacher; Teaching With Light: Ten Lessons for Finding Wisdom, Balance, and Inspiration; and "When I Started Teaching, I Wish I Had Known..." Weekly Wisdom for Beginning Teachers.

Visit https://mentoringinaction.com/ to learn more about her books and access free podcasts, videos, and courses. You can find her near the beach in Falmouth, Massachusetts and Venice, Florida.