Bridging the Dugout and the Classroom: Total Faculty Buy-in with Dr. Shawn Oliver

Why do school districts invest massive budgets into top-tier digital tools, only to watch them turn into digital shelfware by Thanksgiving? In this episode of GaETC: The Podcast, Dr. Lee Green sits down with Dr. Sean Oliver, high school academic support educator, head varsity baseball coach, and girls flag football coach at Fellowship Christian School in Roswell, Georgia.

Drawing on four Region Coach of the Year honors, over 200 baseball victories, and doctoral research in professional development, Sean breaks down the parallels between coaching athletic teams and leading school-wide instructional change. He explains why single "sit-and-get" compliance workshops in August fail without continuous follow-up, how to set an unwavering cultural standard across veteran and new teachers alike, and practical strategies for rolling out Canvas and AI walled gardens like Flint AI and Gemini Notebook.

Sean also unpacks his philosophy on diagnosing educator pushback, sharing why leaders must assume exhaustion before labeling someone defiant. Plus, Lee and Sean face off in the signature podcast game, "How Well Does Gemini Know You?", testing AI's takes on coaching culture, assistive tech, and the North Georgia food scene.

Dr. Oliver will present his session, Total Faculty Buy-In: Getting Teachers to Actually Use New Tech Tools, on Friday morning, November 6 at 9:45 AM at GaETC 2026.

Explore Sean's leadership writing at https://coachseanoliverandleadership.com/ and plan your conference schedule at https://conference.gaetc.org/!