Using Technology to Build Relationships And Help Kids Love Reading with Brandon Cardet-Hernandez

In this episode of Transformative Principal, Brandon Cardet-Hernandez shares his journey from being a principal to advising the NYC Mayor, and now serving as President of Mrs. Wordsmith, a company dedicated to improving children's literacy through innovative tools like books and video games. Brandon dives into the urgent need for solutions in education, particularly addressing the missed "dosage" in phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary instruction that many students experience. He explores the role of video games in education, emphasizing that while games can't replace teachers, they can enhance the learning process through engaging, spaced-repetition techniques, like the popular game Word Tag.

Brandon discusses how joy and mastery of language can transform a student's understanding and emotional connection to words. He also highlights the challenges many students face in developing strong reading skills, especially in middle and high school, and how increasing practice time is essential.

• Leaving the principalship to do advising to NYC Mayor. 
• Solutions that I was hungry for. 
• President of Mrs. Wordsmith
• Efficacy of video games
• Sub-literate
• Games don’t replace teachers and instruction
• Missed dosage that kids need: phonemic awareness and phonics & vocabulary
• How much time they get practicing. 
• How do we give teachers the right data?
• Word tag - spaced repetition.
• Joy of words, master of phrasing. 
• How many kids don’t have the command of the language?
• Happiness makes more sense when you have word associations with it. 
• Increase dosage of reading skills. 
• How challenging it is to learn reading in middle and high school.
• How to be a transformative principal? Be ok that their experience looks different than ours: take a beat, pause, and play a video game.

About Brandon Cardet-Hernandez

Brandon Cardet-Hernandez is the President of Mrs Wordsmith, an innovative children's education media company that creates award-winning books, card games, and video games to help radically improve literacy outcomes for kids. A recognized leader and changemaker, Brandon has spent his career working to reimagine the systems, structures, and tools that accelerate opportunity and close achievement gaps. Brandon previously served as the Senior Education Advisor to former New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio and as the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the NYC Department of Education. A former special education teacher, Brandon has sat at the helm of two high schools, leading both institutions through transformational change. Brandon was appointed to the Boston School Board in 2022 by Mayor Michelle Wu and the Massachusetts Council for Latino Empowerment in 2023 by Governor Maura Healy. He serves on the board of EdVestors. His work has garnered national recognition, featured in publications like The Atlantic, People en Espanol, Essence Magazine, EdWeek, Commonwealth Magazine, and the Netflix documentary, “Teach Us All.”

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks, IXL, and Renaissance Learning:

As a global leader in education technology operating in more than 110 countries, Renaissance is committed to providing educators with insights and resources to accelerate growth and help all students build a strong foundation for success. We believe that technology can unlock a more effective learning experience, ensure that students get the personalized teaching they need to thrive, and help educators and administrators to truly, fully, See Every Student. Learn more at renaissance.com.

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation.

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.