Mr. B on Breaking Patterns & Building Student Entrepreneurs

The Ruckus Report

Quick take: From middle school gum empire to innovative children’s author, Mr. B reveals how embracing uniqueness and real-world learning can transform education from standardized to remarkable.

Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker

Mr. B is a multi-faceted creative and entrepreneur, blending Hip-Hop music, live-streaming, and children’s storytelling into his unique brand. Known for his viral rhymes and as the creator of What Rhymes With Orange?, Mr. B brings fans into real-world experiences with his innovative ‘Find Me IRL’ live-streamed events and music concerts. He’s on a mission to connect people, both in-person and online, with a fresh mix of freestyle rap, humor, and creative flair.

Breaking Down the Old Rules

In this episode, Mr. B challenges traditional education paradigms:

Key Insight #1: Real-World Learning Beats Standardization

  • What’s broken: Schools focus on standardized formats and rigid rubrics
  • The shift: Enable students to engage in real-world business and creative projects
  • Impact: Mr. B’s middle school gum business generated over $1,000 in 2.5 months, teaching vital lessons about supply, demand, and credit

Key Insight #2: Pattern Breaking Creates Opportunities

  • What’s broken: Traditional teaching methods crush creativity and innovation
  • The shift: Encourage unique approaches and celebrate different ways of learning
  • Impact: Students develop confidence in their uniqueness and learn to innovate

Key Insight #3: Beauty, Innovation, and Respect Transform Learning

  • What’s broken: Sterile environments and hierarchical relationships
  • The shift: Create beautiful spaces and authentic connections between staff and students
  • Impact: Students take themselves more seriously and operate at a higher level

Quotable Ruckus

“Change is going to come from the kids, not the adults.”

– Mr. B

Your Do School Different Challenge

Ready to implement these ideas? Start here:

  1. Tomorrow: Sit with students at lunch and engage in genuine conversation
  2. This Month: Create opportunities for students to publish or monetize their school work
  3. This Semester: Design a program that lets students explore entrepreneurship within your school
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Get Mr. B’s book “What Rhymes With Orange?”: https://a.co/d/cPcq47B

Follow Mr. B on Instagram

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If education ain’t a bit disruptive, then what are your students really learning?

This show isn’t about doing school better.

It’s about Doing School Different — and joining a growing movement of bold, creative school leaders who reject legacy models and reimagine what’s possible.

Here are four ways we can help you on your Do School Different journey

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— An opportunity to Do School Different 3x a week. Tools, mindset shifts, and strategies that actually work: ruckusmakers.news

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Our private network + workshops, The Automatic School tools, AI Prompt Library, and more:
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Apply to the Mastermind

— Weekly coaching, peer mentorship, and our proven leadership system (The Ruckus Maker Flywheel) to help you transform your campus:
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Every tool, community, and coaching program we offer is built to help visionary school leaders play the new game — one where leadership is creative, tech-enabled, and unapologetically student-centered.

The podcast is your starting point. The movement is just getting started.

Today’s RUCKUScast in Partnership with:

Quest Food Management Services: Creating joyful learning environments starts in the cafeteria. Quest brings 40 years of expertise in crafting scratch-made meals that nurture both body and community spirit through innovative student engagement programs. 🔍 Learn more:www.questfms.com

IXL Meet your students where they are and take them where they need to go. Join over 1 million teachers who trust IXL to drive data-informed excellence in their classrooms. 🔍 Learn more: IXL.com/leaders

More Podcasts You’ll Love

If education ain’t a bit disruptive, then what are your students really learning?

This show isn’t about doing school better.

It’s about Doing School Different — and joining a growing movement of bold, creative school leaders who reject legacy models and reimagine what’s possible.

Here are four ways we can help you on your Do School Different journey

notebook

Subscribe to the Free Newsletter

— An opportunity to Do School Different 3x a week. Tools, mindset shifts, and strategies that actually work: ruckusmakers.news

Read Ruckus Makers

— Exclusive content on Substack. Premium leadership insights, AI prompts and custom GPTs, new books before the bookshelf: ruckusmakers.media

 

Join The Ruckus Maker Club

Our private network + workshops, The Automatic School tools, AI Prompt Library, and more:
The Ruckus Maker

 
 

Apply to the Mastermind

— Weekly coaching, peer mentorship, and our proven leadership system (The Ruckus Maker Flywheel) to help you transform your campus:
Apply Now

 
Every tool, community, and coaching program we offer is built to help visionary school leaders play the new game — one where leadership is creative, tech-enabled, and unapologetically student-centered.

The podcast is your starting point. The movement is just getting started.

Today’s RUCKUScast in Partnership with:

IXL: Meet your students where they are and take them where they need to go. Join over 1 million teachers who trust IXL to drive data-informed excellence in their classrooms.
🔍 Learn more: ixl.com/leaders

The Ruckus Maker Club Community beats compliance every single time. The Ruckus Maker Club is your on demand network of bold school leaders designing the future of education. Join today for $100 a month and get coaching on demand courses, AI prompts and custom GPTs and all our automatic school frameworks and tools within our private digital community.
🔍 Learn more: here

ODP Business Solutions®: Solutions “Our STEAM program is too complicated” = Code for “We’re doing it wrong.” Stop letting fear kill innovation. Some leaders are transforming STEAM with a three-part framework that’s not what you think.
🔍 Get the playbook: ODPbusiness.com/education

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Danny Bauer

Daniel Bauer

As a chronically late student, Danny Bauer once told his Chemistry teacher a fib about saving an entire girl scout troop from a burning building to get out of a tardy.

Danny is not sure if it was the very made up story, the very real cookie he offered his teacher, or a combination of both that got him out of a detention that day …

That experience taught him it pays to develop your storytelling skills.

Danny has been telling stories since then, most recently on the Better Leaders Better Schools podcast, ranked in the TOP 0.5% of 3 million global podcasts, and via his two bestselling books, Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader and Build Leadership Momentum: How to Create the Perfect Principal Entry Plan.

He also loves telling stories while facilitating in person leadership workshops at national conferences and for school districts.

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Soniya Trivedi

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Since 2022, Soniya has played an important role in supporting BLBS with her comprehensive website services.

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Dragan Ponjevic

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Dragan has been producing BLBS audio and video content since 2020.

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Christina

My passion for both baseball and literature was the initial catalyst that led me into education. Growing up as a softball player and a die-hard fan of the Chicago Cubs from the North Side of the city, I developed a profound appreciation for the South Side of Chicago, not enough to convert me into a White Sox fan. As a National Board certified teacher, with over 16 years of experience on Chicago’s South Side, my journey as an educator has taken me from my roots in the Windy City to Virginia, as an instructional coach.

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Paige has used this as the central driving force of her work ever since… a willingness to be part of the work, not just driving the work.

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