Oxygen for Educators cover art

Oxygen for Educators

Oxygen for Educators

By: Michelle Kinder M.Ed. LPC & Chris Kent Phelps | Produced By: Katie Worden
Listen for free

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 Oxygen for Educators explores the overwhelming demands placed on today's educators, often leading to burnout and emotional exhaustion. As anxiety, depression, and behavior incidents rise among students, kids need more, and the adults in the building are overextended and under-resourced. This podcast features inspiring interviews with educators, administrators and counselors making a difference in the lives of countless students. In each hopeful conversation, we acknowledge hard truths and real challenges while simultaneously mining for light-lift, high-impact ideas, practices, and solutions. *Oxygen for Educators is proudly sponsored by Tacky Box®. Follow on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/oxygen-for-educators/id1775510846 Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2i21QueuqVqmEPmI7gzFfQ?si=1bef3354bff2402c Follow on Audible: https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Oxygen-for-Educators/B0DKL68DLX?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEdbuPy-L7p4RZKZ_VWKCXwK_j8vbjZF2&si=7SHeSWZRllrseygs Website: https://www.tackybox.com/podcast Thank you to our sponsor, Tacky Box! Website: https://tackybox.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tacky_box/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTackyBox/ X: https://x.com/thetackybox Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thetackybox/2024 Personal Development Personal Success
Episodes
  • Oxygen Replay - Dr. Laura Lockhart

    Oxygen Replay - Dr. Laura Lockhart
    Jan 16 2026
    This episode offers a practical conversation with Dr. Laura Lockhart about how educators can manage stress, understand their triggers, and show up with more self-awareness and compassion in hard moments.

    ************************************************************************************************

    Follow on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/oxygen-for-educators/id1775510846

    Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2i21QueuqVqmEPmI7gzFfQ?si=1bef3354bff2402c

    Follow on Audible: https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Oxygen-for-Educators/B0DKL68DLX?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp

    Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEdbuPy-L7p4RZKZ_VWKCXwK_j8vbjZF2&si=7SHeSWZRllrseygs

    Website: https://www.tackybox.com/podcast

    Oxygen for Educators is proudly sponsored by Tacky Box.

    Website: https://tackybox.com/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tacky_box/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTackyBox/

    X: https://x.com/thetackybox

    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thetackybox/
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 26 mins
  • Nicholas Ditto

    Nicholas Ditto
    Dec 19 2025
    SUMMARY In this episode of Oxygen for Educators, Michelle Kinder sits down with Nicholas Ditto, founder and CEO of Fort Worth STEAM Academy, for an honest conversation about the unseen weight educators carry every day. Nicholas shares his journey into education, the thousands of decisions teachers make daily, and how leadership, culture, and community directly shape student outcomes. After the conversation, Michelle and Chris Kent Phelps return to break down the moments that mattered most, reflecting on what educators can take with them as they lead, teach, and serve their communities. CHAPTERS 00:00The Art of Teaching: Decision-Making in Education 02:52Nicholas Ditto: A Journey from Law to Education 05:56The Impact of Education on Justice and Opportunity 09:00Understanding the Role of Zip Codes in Education 12:00The Importance of School Choice and Options 14:56Building a Joyful Culture of High Expectations 17:59Mistakes as Learning Opportunities in Education 20:48The Residency Model: Supporting New Educators 23:57The Future of Fort Worth STEAM Academy 27:01Community Partnerships and Student Pathways 29:55Wellbeing Rituals and Staying Grounded 32:59The Life and Death Urgency of Education 35:57Elevating Educators and Their Impact ********************************************************************************************* Oxygen for Educators is proudly sponsored by Tacky Box. Follow on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/oxygen-for-educators/id1775510846 Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2i21QueuqVqmEPmI7gzFfQ?si=1bef3354bff2402c Follow on Audible: https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Oxygen-for-Educators/B0DKL68DLX?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEdbuPy-L7p4RZKZ_VWKCXwK_j8vbjZF2&si=7SHeSWZRllrseygs Website: https://www.tackybox.com/podcast Thank you to our sponsor, Tacky Box! Website: https://tackybox.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tacky_box/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTackyBox/ X: https://x.com/thetackybox Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thetackybox/
    Show More Show Less
    57 mins
  • Oxygen Replay - PART 2 Alex Vesely-Frankl, Viktor Frankl's Grandson

    Oxygen Replay - PART 2 Alex Vesely-Frankl, Viktor Frankl's Grandson
    Dec 12 2025

    Opt in HERE for your gifted copy of the Oxygen for Educators magazine!

    ( https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdj3tz0r6L2KIAJJ5dTnzx3CfXka2fqTHfUqHDlqtqo_96cCg/viewform?usp=header )

    SUMMARY

    In part two of our conversation with filmmaker and logotherapist Alex Vesely, grandson of Viktor Frankl, we explore what it really means to live a life of meaning as an educator. Alex unpacks burnout through a logotherapy lens, shares powerful stories about suicide and hope, and invites us to ask a different question, not "What is in it for me?" but "Who am I still here for?" This one is a North Star episode for anyone feeling overwhelmed, misaligned, or called to pick up the "right letter" on the conveyor belt of their life.

    CHAPTERS

    • 00:00 – What am I still here for?

    • 00:32 – Welcome back: Alex Vesely Part 2

    • 01:17 – Who is Alex? Grandson, filmmaker, logotherapist

    • 02:15 – More than mind and body: the noetic dimension

    • 06:21 – Self-transcendence, good teaching, and burnout

    • 15:02 – The "right seat" and picking up the right letter

    • 24:15 – Despair, suicide, and the question of meaning

    • 31:07 – The grandmother, two granddaughters, and a life-saving reframing

    • 39:18 – Making logotherapy accessible: Viktor Frankl Institute of the Americas

    • 43:26 – Educating toward responsibility and true conscience

    • 46:40 – Ellie Frankl's "abnormal integrity" and partnership with Viktor

    • 50:56 – What Viktor Frankl modeled for his grandson

    • 54:09 – New baby, late-night recording, and gratitude

    • 55:37 – Debrief: pianist and piano, meaning as North Star for educators

    ************************************************************************************************

    Oxygen for Educators is proudly sponsored by Tacky Box.

    Follow on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/oxygen-for-educators/id1775510846

    Follow on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2i21QueuqVqmEPmI7gzFfQ?si=1bef3354bff2402c

    Follow on Audible: https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Oxygen-for-Educators/B0DKL68DLX?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp

    Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEdbuPy-L7p4RZKZ_VWKCXwK_j8vbjZF2&si=7SHeSWZRllrseygs

    Website: https://www.tackybox.com/podcast

    Thank you to our sponsor, Tacky Box!

    Website: https://tackybox.com/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tacky_box/

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheTackyBox/

    X: https://x.com/thetackybox

    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thetackybox/
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 27 mins
No reviews yet