Welcome to the Classroom Narratives Healing and Education Podcast. The space for Education Meets Arauilience. I'm Dr. Joey Weisler, and in each episode we dive deep into the personal stories of educators, students, leaders, and frontline advocates who are navigating the complexities within modern education.
Whether you're just starting your teaching journey or are a seasoned professional looking for inspiration, we'll explore how to foster meaningful change, prevent burnout, and build trauma-informed communities within our schools. Now, let's take a seat at the front of the classroom as we get started.
Welcome back to the Classroom Narratives podcast, our two part conversation with Dr. Matthew Arau. In part one, we left off with Dr. Arau reminding us that the work of teaching begins from within through our mindset, our inner peace, and the joy we create for ourselves.
Here in part two, we're going to continue by looking outward, how those inner choices that we make can shape our classrooms, our leadership, [00:01:00] and even entire school communities. Let's go ahead and get started.
 
Welcome back to part two of our conversation with Dr. Matthew Arau, where we shift from the personal side of joy and mindset into the practices that keep those ideas alive.
And Matthew shares how simple shifts like rearranging classrooms, reframing how we see leadership and embracing his power of get can change the culture of schools , and together we'll explore how gratitude, enthusiasm, and treasuring ourselves can ripple outward into authentic leadership and stronger communities.
I was illustrating an example of my own as to how I feel community works within my own classroom.
And when it comes to community building,
Joey: it should go beyond student teacher partnerships, where it really needs to go into student student partnerships where they need to put their [00:02:00] voices at the front.
I always, starting from day one, they have to come in, sit in the circle, the circle is validating, they can see each other, and every day is a conversation. I join the circle just like they would , if somebody were to walk by our classroom and they would looked in the window, they would have no idea who was actually leading it, because in truth, no one really is leading it.
We're all leaders in that classroom space. And every day is just all about putting voices at the center. and I think that's what keeps teaching fresh for me and that hopefully any age groups. Teachers can see that, that they can walk in and say, what can I learn from my students today or this term or this year?
And I think that really makes it become this two-way relational streets to help them grow. 
Matthew: Yeah. And , that's a beautiful thing. And uh, I love that you mentioned circles because changing the setup of our classroom environments is magical. And , when the teacher sits in the circle and takes the role of listener, and maybe every once in a while facilitating , a [00:03:00] question, but mostly just what I do.
Uh, and it sounds like you might do the same kind of thing, but I'll start off with something I call communication circles, where you have an inner circle, outer circle, and there's 
mm-hmm. And 
each student has a partner and we give a topic of discussion, and then the inner circle shifts to the left. And then there's a new partner and, and somebody takes the role of the listener, somebody takes the role of the speaker, and then they switch roles.
But then after we go through this experience, I have the student sit in a giant circle and then just share what this experience was like for them. And I'll say like, Hey, I know in school a lot of the time, the teacher will call on you, like you'll raise your hand and the teacher calls on you, but I want you to use your intuition today.
Exactly. And I'm not going to call on anyone. And you just share. And sometimes I'd be, I've had 50 students. We had 50 students just last week, two weeks ago, we had 150 students in this giant circle. Imagine that. And I'll share with 'em. I said, imagine that there's a hundred of you just at a dinner table.
Yeah, yeah. Not gonna raise your hand. You're just gonna share. And I said, if two people speak at the same time, that's okay. [00:04:00] Just, make a connection with that person. And one of you kind of just like senses who's gonna go first and then, then you can go after them. But just feel the room, feel the space and share what's on your heart.
And then I just step back. And then it's so organic and the students now feel empowered to share their voice. And it changes, the whole feeling, the whole culture of the space and invites this curiosity and creativity. And students are no longer thinking, what can I say to impress the teacher?
Or what is the teacher looking for? Instead they discover their own voice and they also discover that what they have to say matters. 
Joey: Absolutely. And they come to terms pretty quickly with, we're just looking for anything that helps 'em feel like they belong in the conversation, whatever that sounds like.
Whatever that looks like. Can I tell 'em that I said. Share something with me that makes you feel like you belong in this conversation right now on a Tuesday at 10 o'clock in the morning, [00:05:00] whatever that may look like. Just join it. And it makes me think about a student I spoke with last week for the podcast.
She was saying, yeah, she was in one of my college classes just like that. She's on a different, I call them a Weisler alumni panel series coming up in November. She was like, she's like, yeah, I love that we sat in circles in your class because she said the term before you, she says, great class, lovely discussions.
I spent 16 weeks staring at somebody's neck. And that did not engage me like it was when we sat in the circle. 
Matthew: That's a great reminder to all of us. Yeah. But you could just change the set of what, and it can be one giant circle. It could be students, I call it get in chamber groups, so mm-hmm. As a musician, I'll say, make chamber groups with the students around you and make like quintet, sextet, stets, make groups.
And then the, so there'll be all these little circles in the classroom having conversation and those circles will share out. So circles are great. 
Definitely. And it just makes us realize that in order for voices to elevate, it has to include the whole, [00:06:00] not just parts, but the whole, everybody in the room has to be involved in that process to move everyone forward towards finding their upbeat.
Absolutely. 
Joey: And what would you say then is the difference, because I'm thinking now of the different , labels I've heard for the people who are in charge of the departments I work under, what would you say then is the difference between the leadership team, the administration, and the management?
Matthew: And are you thinking of like school districts when you ask that question or just in general? 
Joey: Generally, but I've only seen it from the perspective of someone in academia. 
Matthew: Sure. So I'll, yeah, I guess I, I would speak from my, experience at high school where I was a department chair and 
Joey: mm-hmm.
Matthew: The university where I'm also, the department chair , and so the leadership team and that kind of structure, those are folks that are what we'll say on the frontline. They're doing the work every day and then they're coming together, with other team leaders to help support each other [00:07:00] and make decisions , that will impact students.
And it might be decisions about curriculum, it might also be decisions about student wellbeing. , Which matters so much. And then the administration is, , guiding the team leaders and , all the teachers, if we're talking about the academic, school system, right? And they might be enforcing, policies, but they're also creating a vision for the school, hopefully, right?
And the direction for where we headed, what's, what are important goals. And then the team that's overseeing, those folks in your situation would probably be the superintendent, is what you're thinking. Right? And the superintendent is of course also beholden to a board, which is really interesting.
We think of the superintendent maybe as the pinnacle, but also it's actually the school board, that hires and fires the superintendents. So, the superintendent is really important, I think though, in terms of being the vision for the school, but also being that connection to the community because the school is ultimately connected to the community, and, it belongs to the community.
[00:08:00] Public school belongs to the community and the taxpayers. So everybody is part of the system. And hopefully we keep the focus on what matters the most, which is our students academic growth and personal growth and wellbeing. And I know sometimes we get lost in the weeds in other areas, but that needs to be, number one is our students' wellbeing.
Joey: I love so much how you mentioned that, because I mentioned it at some points on my podcast, but it's certainly not enough. And I brought it up in my first year freshman seminar once, like what? We have the power more than you like. Okay, well don't spread that around, but yes, you kind of do. The way that the hierarchy of education works, as you know, Matt, was that it, we are the customer service representatives, if you will, for rather, we are the representatives for the students as the educators, but above us is the principal who in a narrow vision we might think is the pinnacle.
But above them is, like you said, the superintendent who is managed by the school board, who is voted in by the community, which our parents and even the [00:09:00] students. So essentially, yes, the students are the ones who truly hold the keys to how the school really functions. And I love that because we don't emphasize that enough.
So in essence, when it comes to spreading that upbeat mindset, it also starts with the students as well and making sure that we, as the role models, enable them to, like we said, continue flourishing those peer-to-peer connections. I was just speaking with someone recently who was like, wow, like that high school culture can be really, really cliquey and sometimes even toxic.
And she's like, you notice if you were to sit in the school faculty lounge, why that can come to be. You can see how teachers treat each other and it breeds the students that you see. And that was such a fascinating revelation. And it starts with us, it starts as the teachers role modeling how to treat the [00:10:00] students and how the students can then treat each other to make that upbeat, transparent throughout the whole community.
Mm-hmm. 
Matthew: Yeah. And that's, that is the impact of leadership because, truly a principal can, cultivate a supportive and encouraging, culture where that connects the teachers to one another or creates disparate groups where they're in silos. And you have the athletics over here and the sciences here, and the arts are sequestered way over here.
Yeah , or we can find ways to support one another and the same kind of thing in the classroom. We can allow the cliques to happen or we can really work to create a connected , web of connections amongst the students , by how we interact, and how we help the students connect with one another.
And, I'm really glad that you brought that up because it is true that schools are often reflective of how the teachers act, how the teachers treat each other, and ultimately also how the leader of the school treats the teacher. So yes, it's all [00:11:00] connected and, I do share , that like upbeat does begin with the letter U, but, the cultures we create, in our classroom also begin with you, the teacher.
And I think that's really important to remember that. And just like the conductor chooses the upbeat when they inhale and they raise their hands, and they're actually hear the music in their head before it's created. Right. And I always share, music's always created twice, first in the mind and then in reality, on the downbeat and by the musicians, that then perform it.
And if we think about this, if we take this analogy into life, our thoughts are the upbeats to our actions. Yes. And our attitude is our upbeat to any situation. And we choose our thoughts and our attitude. We choose our upbeat. 
Joey: Absolutely. 
Matthew: And it's so empowering for the person, to remember this, that every day it's up to me, to [00:12:00] decide the upbeat that I'm gonna approach the day.
Because every day is a new opportunity. Yes, we may have had a really hard day the day before. Yes, we may have made mistakes, but today is a new day. And today I can choose differently and I can decide, when I arrive at school, I can set my intention. I can take some deep breaths when I'm in my car before I get out of the car and just let it go and say, you know what?
I'm just gonna be there to care for kids today. And we have choices. We can either say like, oh, here we go again another day. And we all know teachers like that. And what a drag, what a miserable way to live. Or we could change our mindset and be like, let's go. Mm-hmm. This is a new day, I can't wait.
I'm so excited to get to share this with my students, and , we're gonna create this together. I can't wait to see what my students are gonna create and what they're gonna share and what we're gonna learn from each other today. Today's gonna be a magical day. And it just think about how that just feels differently. I'll share a [00:13:00] mindset switch that , I started doing about five or six years ago, , and it's in the book, it's chapter two. It's called The Power of Get. 
Joey: Yes. 
Matthew: And I go into, like the day it happened, that where I created it and in my mind where it came to me, but I'll just share with the listeners.
It's a real simple switch of living life. The, it's changing our life from living in a four letter word world to a three letter word world. What are those worlds I speak of? I'll tell you, so many people live their lives thinking that everything that they're doing is a have to do . I have to get up, I have to turn the alarm off. I have to drive to work, I have to teach my classes. I have to go home, I have to pick up the kids. It just goes on and on and on. Just think about the energy that creates.
When we say I have to, like the shoulders sag. We mentally like bring [00:14:00] ourselves down with just the words we use and words are powerful and we know as a teacher, the words we use can absolutely transform the culture one way or another. But. Just don't think about this. Power when you change from realizing that your life is in a series of have to dos is actually truly a series of get to dos.
Joey: Mm-hmm. 
Matthew: Everything changes. I get to wake up this morning, I get to have this breath, I get to have breakfast. I get to sit my coffee, I get to get in a car to drive to school or take public transportation., I get to go to work. I get to impact children. What's more important than that? When you start to realize that everything in your life is a get to, I get to do the dishes
and I call it the power of get, and I added meaning to those three letters just to take it a step further. And G is for gratitude. And I thought, how many [00:15:00] times have I felt appreciation for somebody, but I kept it to myself. I said, I'm not gonna do that anymore. I'm gonna share gratitude openly. And then e is for enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm's a choice. I choose to live my life with enthusiasm. And t is for treasure. It's a decision to treasure the people in my life, but to also never forget what I consider the lost or the hidden treasure, which many of us often forget about us, especially us as teachers, right? We're givers. We serve others, and we know that we can give, give, give, give.
And sometimes we forget to replenish ourselves, right? Or we don't pause for that. And then we're expended. So we work so hard all day and we get home. We're absolutely exhausted. We feel like we don't have anything left to give, right? That feeling of overwhelm, and that, that taste of burnout.
And that's why treasure to me, truly means to remember [00:16:00] that you are a treasure. That you truly are a treasure, and to treat yourself as such, and that you have a beautiful light, a golden light within to shine brightly. And when you can remember that, shining your light brightly
ends up shining a spotlight on others. And that's true leadership. That's a mic drop. 
Joey: Yeah. So what was that moment like where you were able to switch that mindset? 
Matthew: Wait, it was so powerful. It was literally happened on September 12th . 2020, . I woke up that morning and, I was looking forward to going for a swim in, in our pool that morning.
And I got up early, but when I looked outside, it was dark, dreary, cold. It was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and it was cold, and, it was windy, but it was also raining that, that morning it was raining really, really hard.
, And because of [00:17:00] September 12th, , after I had some tea or coffee, I, instead of going for a swim, I got out, a notebook and I started journaling. And because of September 12th, I thought about the day before, which is September 11. But I didn't journal about the day before. I journaled about nine 11.
And on nine 11 I was a middle school band director. September 11th, 2001. I was a middle school band director in Loveland, Colorado. As I drove to school that day, I had no idea that my life was about to change. Our lives were about to change forever. And when I arrived at school, I went into the teacher's office to check my mailbox to see if I had any mail, and the principal was there and he said, Matthew, I just heard the strangest thing on the radio.
I heard somebody flew a plane into the towers , in New York City, and that's all they knew. And in, and, unless you were in New York or nearby, a lot of people had no idea what was going on right away. 'cause news didn't travel the way it does now instantaneously. [00:18:00] So I went into my band room and I turned the TV on.
It was over the whiteboard , and it went straight to the news. And I could see that it wasn't, a little tiny plane that by accident flew into a skyscraper that it was much worse than that. In fact, it was the most traumatic, most tragic thing I'd ever seen in my life. And about 10 minutes later, my first students started coming into the band room.
Sixth graders, 11-year-old students. And, we didn't get our instruments out that morning. We just set 'em down on the ground , and we watched in silence. We, at the end of that first class, we saw the first tower crumble in flames. Then the second class of sixth graders came in and we didn't get our instruments out.
We just watched in silence and watched the news happen in real time. And at the end of that second class, we saw the second tower crumble in flames. Then I had a plan period in lunch, followed by two seventh grade bands and two eighth grade bands. Well, the seventh graders started coming in and one of the students she saw the TV was on and she said, can we turn the TV off?
We've been watching [00:19:00] the news in every class and, it's really hard. Can we get our instruments out? Can we play today? And I said, you know, that's a great idea. So I turned the TV off. We got our instruments out. We started warming up, and we got out our band method book. And we were just at the beginning of this band method book, because it was the beginning of the school year.
It was the beginning of their second year of playing an instrument. , And the piece that's in this book number, it was number six in the book. It's titled America, and it sounds like this, just three or six measures. Da.
And we played America over and over and over again. That's how we played the entire class. And when the eighth graders came in, we got our instruments out for them too. And after we warmed up, we had a piece of music in their folder. It was an arrangement of a piece that was so appropriate for that day.
It was [00:20:00] amazing Grace. We played amazing grace over and over and over and over again. On that day. My students and I came to understand the true superpower of music in a way that none of us had ever experienced before. And I, I think I fully understood what it's meant when it said, when words fail, music speaks.
'cause on that day we had music to express how we felt in our hearts. And, as I was reflecting on that day and journaling about it, I, I started making a to-do list for the day. Like I often would do in the morning after journaling. And I always think about to-do list as like this checklist, like, you just gotta get through the day, right?
It's like survival. How many things can I check off? Like it really felt like I have to do. But on that morning, something in me switched something about being in the middle of the, a global pandemic and being much more introspective, but also [00:21:00] reflecting on nine 11. And I just added one new word to my to-do list.
And that word was get, and now my to-do list read something like this. Like I get to email Sarah, I get to call Mark, I get to prepare to teach my classes, I get to study my music. And then I wrote, I get to dance in the rain and I get to go for a swim. That's what I did. I, I went outside in my swim shorts and it was freezing cold and I just did like, a brief, like three second little jig.
'cause I said I would, before I dove into the pools, I dove into the pool. I started thinking about all I get to do, I get to have this breath, I get to have this life. And as I was thinking about this word get, which is like really had me on fire, like I started thinking about another powerful three letter word.
And that word is yet, and it made me think of Carol Dweck and her research in the areas of growth mindset and even her Ted talk on the power of yet. So I thought, well, why is yet so powerful? Well, yet is about [00:22:00] hope. When a student says, oh, I I can't do it, we can respond and say, no, you can't do it yet. See yet is offers hope.
Says, I'm gonna be there alongside you. I believe in you. I'm gonna help you get there. We're gonna, we're gonna work together. I believe in you. We're gonna make it happen. See yet is about hope, yet is about the future. But why was I so jazzed about get, because get is about the present moment. 
Joey: Yes. 
Matthew: Get is about right now, which is the only moment in life that's ever guaranteed.
Mm-hmm. Right now, Joey and I, we get to be together. For this magical moment, this conversation today. Yes. And , it's a very special moment when you recognize that, that every moment is a get moment. I got out of the pool and that's when I, I, I leapt out of the pool and I went inside and, I thought, what if I added meaning?
And that's when G became gratitude. E became enthusiasm, T became treasure. And that's when I started sharing the power of get with people , on webinars and [00:23:00] podcasts and speaking engagements and the, and through my book Upbeat. And since then, the power of GET has created this ripple effect across the United States and, and around the world.
And , there's school districts now that are adopting upbeat wholesale for the entire school district, much in the same way that school districts have become, a leader in ME schools adopting the seven habits. They're now adopting , the principles and philosophy of upbeat for their school and bringing in, mindful practices , and the philosophy of get , and the idea that we can choose our upbeat in life.
And so what began is just a journaling session , and , a pivot point in my own life to reflect that every moment is a get. It's been amazing to see how that's impacted people, people that have been burnt out, people that have been overwhelmed, people that have felt stuck, people that said, I've lost my drive of why am I doing this?
Does it really matter? And when I've been able to share with people that yes, what you do matters. [00:24:00] That actually what we do is a get, and then they brought that into their classroom 'cause they realized their students needed that too. And , they would ask their students to share what they were grateful for and to share with one another and create, get walls and gratitude walls.
It started making a difference. And I've had parents share with me, it changed the way I parent.
'cause I used to think about like, even reading a bedtime story to my daughter was so exhausted, but I would think like, I have to, to put her to bed. And after learning the power I've got, she realized now I get to, I get to read a bedtime story to my 5-year-old daughter. 'cause in a few short years she's not gonna want me to anymore.
Yeah. And, those stories have moved me so much. And, , yeah, so you asked how did that come to me? , That's how it came. And , it's changed my life ever since. 
Joey: Love it. And it's changing my life as well, just listening to it. So thank you so much. And it makes me think about the way that upbeat is set up in [00:25:00] terms of its formatting.
We talk about ignite, which starts with ourselves and our mindset. But I'm looking to see if you can distinguish for us the difference between working to inspire, for example, culture and then you say lead, such as working to empower others by leading from within. So what is that difference that you distinguish between working to inspire and lead others?
Matthew: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So the book, upbeat is divided into three parts. So ignite is about igniting our inner spark, right? And we do this through, chapter one, choose our upbeat chapter two. The power of get chapter three is supercharge your Morning. It's just filled with ideas and strategies , to really jumpstart your day, whether you're a morning person or not.
And then chapter four, sustain your upbeat all day, right? With little things we can do in setting attention, breathing techniques to really help us personally throughout the day. Then you roll into part two, which is titled Inspire, and this is about bringing what you've learned, how you've [00:26:00] grown through part one into your classroom.
So now you're chapter five is creating an upbeat, a mindset classroom. Chapter six is mindfulness in the classroom, right? So now we're bringing the mindful practices that we've integrated into our personal life. Now, we're teaching them to our students to create, a much more centered, grounded classroom that invites listening and creativity.
And then, chapter seven is creating an upbeat culture. And that's all about collaborating with our students to create a positive culture rather than culture top down. It's now from the grassroots together we create this culture together. And so that's why part two, is really focusing on bringing a lot of part one into part two.
Now, part three takes it to the next level , with lead, and it begins with, up upbeat leadership. And what is that? And upbeat leadership , comes from this, philosophy that there's four C's, and there the four C's of upbeat leadership are character, competence, [00:27:00] connection, and clarity. And so chapter nine, is all focused, on our character and how we can grow our character and how we can teach character, and lift others up.
And I'll share that even that the meaning of the word character is within the word itself. So , this is a lot of fun. The word character, if we break it down, could be care. Actor. Mm-hmm. Isn't that interesting? 
Joey: Yes. So when 
Matthew: I saw that as a care actor, I thought, well, what a character actually means to act with care.
Joey: Yes. 
Matthew: Love that. Isn't that neat? And the book goes much deeper into the ideas of character, and then the next one is competence. Because, and of course the character is the foundation of being a great leader, but we have to be able to lead by example. And so we want to grow our competence in whatever area we're leading.
And the beautiful thing about character and competence, that they can both be developed, they can both be grown. We're not born with a certain character. We're not born with a certain level of competence. But that's truly competence is truly skills and abilities which can [00:28:00] be grown. And then part three is connection.
Because in order to lead, we need to be able to connect with others. You can have, a wonderful character, be highly competent, but if we can't really connect with others, people aren't gonna wanna listen with us or collaborate or work alongside us. Right? So how can we communicate to bring people along with us?
Right. And then, the fourth C is clarity. Which is all about having a clear vision. Yeah. And I also am a big believer in not only having a clear vision ourselves, but working with our team or working with our students to create that vision together. And then it's about taking action. So everything about upbeat yes, begins with our mindset and our thoughts or the upbeats to where actions, but remember, action is what it's all about.
So I share upbeat goals are actually unwavering, positive belief, energizes, actionable thoughts. And if you write that out, you'll see that the first letter of each of those sp literally spells upbeat, [00:29:00] unwavering, positive belief, energizes actionable thoughts. So it begins with that unwavering positive belief that will then energize taking action on those thoughts.
And that's how we begin to , transform our own lives and then be able to positively influence other people. 
Joey: Gorgeous. Thank you so much for that. And so I think my last question to bring us to a close for today is to think about in terms of what we spoke about in terms of positive mindset, if we could rebuild just one area from scratch and society in terms of our own professional development, IE centering on mindsets, even emotional safety, perhaps even identity, what would that look like and who should be in the room to help us find our own upbeat?
And also, what would you say could also be on top of that one major takeaway that our listeners can walk away from? Today's conversation. Mm-hmm. 
Matthew: Yeah. Beautiful. [00:30:00] Well , it's kinda apropos that you ask about professional development because, I love getting to, to lead professional development.
What I like to share is that when we can find congruence in our life, when our values and priorities are in alignment with what we do, then we can have true joy and fulfillment.
But when, what we do feels incongruent with who we are, that's when it leads to burnout and dissatisfaction and unhappiness, and overwhelm. And, I think our goal is to, discover strategies to elevate our mindset into the positivity realm, which has so many benefits. So when we focus on, rather than focus on what is wrong, focus on what you want to create.
And I'll say that one more time. Rather than focus on what is wrong, focus on what you want to create. Now notice how that feels in your body. There's, it's not that there's not anything wrong with focusing on what is wrong. That's how we make the world better. We need to be able to identify problems.
[00:31:00] There's also nothing wrong with focusing on what is right. That's a great mental shift, right, to shift from what's wrong to right. We can always find something's going right, okay. But when you focus on what you want to create, you put your mind in the solution finding realm, you start to see a realm of possibilities that your narrow focus didn't see before.
And so when I lead professional development for teachers, I wanna shatter their limiting beliefs because the longer we're in the teaching profession, it seems to me that we end up becoming more jaded. Yes. And so when we were younger, we think, oh, I wanna do this, I wanna do that. And then something happens that we start to have these negative voices, or even from colleagues that start to, and say, oh no, I don't know about that.
I dunno about that. The real dangerous word is a three letter word called, but mm-hmm. It's BUT. But I, oh, I think we could do this this year. But that'll never happen. We won't have the funding, we won't have the support. I say I, what I [00:32:00] share with teachers, I say, what would you create if you, if there were no limits?
What if there was unlimited funding? What if your administration was fully supported? What if the community was fully backed? And what if your students, were ready to go? What would you create at that point? I need to show that sometimes teachers haven't thought this way in years. So I wanna free them up to think again with that kind of positive hope, because, it begins with a thought.
And then when you start to think creatively, you start to find ways around those challenges. And you will stop at nothing to achieve what you truly wanna create when you get back in touch with your big dreams. But so many of us have lost the dreaming that we had when we were kids, when we thought anything was possible.
I'll share with you, I do believe that anything is possible still,, and that's because I focus on what I want to create and that makes the difference. And so mindset is huge. We can choose to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer, right? And create our own [00:33:00] weather, right? We don't need to go through life and just accepting things the way they are.
We truly can make that change., And , I was thinking about your early career, about how there were teachers that, that were, pretty down and , they created a ripple effect around them. It was contagious, right? It was, yeah. And it was, I call that ripple effect of negativity. But the opposite can be true.
We can create a ripple effect of positivity. That's the kind of classroom that I strive to create. It's also an authentic and real classroom where we acknowledge there are challenges , and we feel all emotions and all are valid and that,, like be you, be you, and life isn't perfect, right?
And we're not always gonna be at a hundred percent be your best at your 60%, right. Be that, that you can be today., And so acknowledge our humanity and honor and celebrate our humanity,, our shared humanity. But even though life is hard, we have a [00:34:00] choice. We can either wallow in it or we can find a positive path forward.
And I think that's where mindset matters so much. And then you asked about, emotional regulation and how important that is. Well, it begins with the teacher and students will model what they see. And unfortunately, a lot of students don't get to be around adults who, regulate their emotions. Well, they might snap first or yell first, as opposed to pause and breathe deeply.
It's amazing what, a deep breath can do to change how we feel. Our feelings are actually attached to our breathing. Scientists can measure how we breathe and tell us what we feel, right, which is mind blowing. So you can actually intentionally change your breathing to begin to change your feeling, and that's super powerful.
So it begins with teachers modeling that, but then of course, sharing these strategies with students. There's solutions, to help [00:35:00] ourselves and to help our students. And students are craving this. They do really wanna find a way to, to be centered and to lower the stress and overwhelm in their life. And I'll share breaths that can help them focus, and actually perform at a higher level in exams, but also just center themselves.
I call it the focus breath. It's in your nose for four counts and out your nose for four counts. And you just do that repeatedly, but with a real focus on your breath and it changes everything. And then the last thing, you, I think you mentioned, was, the role of identity. And I think, how we feel about ourselves, how we see ourselves in the world,, matters so much.
It goes back to what you're sharing with me about a teacher, who felt that in what I is, what I'm doing doesn't make a difference. Does it really matter? And, when that becomes part of your identity that I don't matter , that, that can be really, really challenging. And I think it's, IM really important to remember that you matter.
You matter because you're here [00:36:00] and, you make a difference. You make a difference by being you, not by being somebody else, but by being you. There's only one. You shine your light brightly. And so I think that it's important to remember who we were yesterday does not predetermine who we are today or who we can become tomorrow.
Every day is a chance to choose our, the best version of ourself. And I think it's important for us to let our students know that too. 'cause our students are so hard on themselves. They're so hard on themselves. The research says that on average,, on average, this is all human beings. 80% of our self-talk is negative.
But it doesn't have to be that way. It doesn't have to be that way. And we can help our students learn to treat themselves like they are their own best friend. And we can help teachers learn to treat themselves that way too. And the only person we can ever change in this world [00:37:00] is ourselves. And so that's why it's so important to begin with you.
Joey: Thank you so much for that. And one more question, Matthew. Where can we go to learn more about your work and the trainings and outreach that you're a part of? 
Matthew: Oh, thanks for asking. Yeah, I'd love to stay connected with folks. Get Connected and I encourage you to go to power of get.com and, you listen to the Power of Get story today.
And when you go to power of get.com, you will be able to have free access to the get leadership quiz, which has been developed to help elevate. Everyone's leadership style and ability. There's only four questions and the responses will be tailored to you. And there's three different leadership types based on get, and I'm really excited for you to discover yours.
Are you a grower and energizer or a trailblazer? And that's gonna allow us to stay connected. So, I [00:38:00] encourage you to go to power of get.com. If you only do one thing, go there. If you're interested in checking out,, my, my books, I've written the first book, which is Upbeat Mindset, mindfulness, and Leadership, and Music Education and Beyond.
And even if you're not a music educator folks from all walks of life have read this book, and they've shared that it's been, life changing. We also have the upbeat Daily Journal, personal Reflections for inspiration and transformation. And, this book is for everyone. It's not written for music teachers.
Same thing with all the other upbeat products since the original book. So, the third option is the Upbeat Daily Planner, the ultimate organizer for your get to-dos. And, lastly, the Upbeat Leadership Workbook, the Definitive Guide to Developing Leaders from the Inside Out. And you can get those first three books on Amazon, but you can get all four of them at the following site.
Gia [00:39:00] music.com/upbeat. If you go to that set, you can even get a bundle pricing, which is really cool to get discounts. And,, if you would like to check out my website, it's upbeat global.com. And if you're interested in really going deep, and moving from the feelings of overwhelm and burnout and feeling stuck and moving into the realm of feeling re-energized and in alignment with your purpose, I invite you to consider joining the Upbeat Leadership Academy Membership group, and you can find out more at offer dot power of get.com.
And then lastly, I just wanna share that I am on all the social media. Would love for you to, follow me on Facebook at Matthew Arau. I also have, a group I'd like to you to join. So it's a Facebook group to join. It's called Upbeat Leaders, and there's thousands of teachers, and folks outside of education that are part of this.
And it's, [00:40:00] a very uplifting, authentic group, and, real and vulnerable. So just a beautiful space, a safe space, for all of us to be energized. And, yeah, so LinkedIn and Instagram, Facebook. So everywhere you can think of, you can find me. My email is matthew@upbeatglobal.com and I'd love to have a conversation.
Joey: Perfect. Well that was a wonderful conversation. Thank you again to Dr. Matthew Arao, who invites us to see classrooms as ensembles and educators, as conductors of culture who get to lead with gratitude, clarity, and belief, and allowing transformation to truly follow.
And thank you for showing us also how mindset, mindfulness and emotional intelligence can turn any educational space into a place of both harmony and inspiration. And Dr. Arau's core message is that as an educator, what we do, how we do it, and [00:41:00] why we do it truly matters to both the heart of our students as well as the system as a whole.
So thank you for listening. 
Hmmm: Thanks Joey.
Thank you for joining us on the Classroom Narratives Healing and Education podcast. If today's episode inspired you or made you think differently, I'd love to hear from you. Drop a comment or review wherever you listen to podcasts and stay connected with us on the at Classroom Narratives podcast over Instagram and Facebook.
Remember, together we can transform our scars into stars and education, one conversation at a time