Episodes
Sunday Mar 26, 2017
137: Michael Miller-Tutoring, Test Prep, and Photography
Sunday Mar 26, 2017
Sunday Mar 26, 2017
Today, I'm talking with Michael Miller of Michael Miller Solutions. He is an entrepreneur, tutor, and photographer.
Michael and I go way back. I was an assistant principal at his high school. By the way, he never was in trouble just in case you were thinking that ... nope, he was a focused student and swimmer.
Michael now is an academic tutor who helps kids understand math and standardized tests.
He almost was a college student forever and he wants to help kids not make the mistakes he made.
You will hear about the number of years, number of universities and the missing of a point to where he was going. He has a mission and that is to help students not follow his path.
Michael, also has started selling photographs. Wait till you see his amazing photos. He has quite an eye and knack for capturing nature and the outdoors. Go to his Esty page and his Instagram account to check out his pictures.
Michael says that he helps kids learn how to think not what to think. He focuses on thought processes not just getting answers.
Michael also has written a book on leadership that is in the process of being edited. The book includes his thoughts about everything he wished he knew or advice that he should have followed. Look for that coming out soon.
Michael also reflects on what it is like being in charge of his own business.
Thanks for listening.
Get in touch with Michael and find out more information:
Mike the Mathman (Instagram)
Michael Miller (YouTube)
MiketheMathman (Twitter)
Length- 27:21
Monday Mar 20, 2017
136: Visitors, Customers, and Guests, part 2
Monday Mar 20, 2017
Monday Mar 20, 2017
This is part 2 of Visitors , Customers, and Guests.
Today, I am talking about our schools not other organizations.
Have you ever taken a close look at your school to observe how people are greeted and treated?
We have people who help people. We have people who greet people. We have people who talk with people. This means that there is the potential for a huge problem to be ignited by one little interaction or spark.
Does your staff think of visitors as problems to get rid of as quickly as possible or do they make people feel good about stepping through your front door or calling? Well, do you know? If not, you need to make time to figure this out. It is necessary to make sure that they know what you want them to say and do. Don't assume that it is understood.
I hope that you will take my pledge and seek to make sure that your staff understands their role when they meet and greet guests. You will love that you did and your community will be thankful.
Length: 18:03
Monday Mar 13, 2017
135: Does Your Organization Treat Visitors as Guests?
Monday Mar 13, 2017
Monday Mar 13, 2017
Do you treat your visitors like guests? Do you pay attention to how your staff answer the phones or treat people as they walk through the door?
You should.
Today, I am talking about several bad experiences which I had at a local spot that I like to visit with my laptop to get some work done. On several occassions, more than I share, the staff fail to greet customers and not only that talk behind what must be an invisible wall, because while the number in line is growing the staff are standing, laughing,and not paying attention to the people with the money. This drives me nuts in businesses and places that I am visiting.
We need to care about how visitors are teated when they enter or call our building.
Visitors need to be acknowledged with a friendly smile and a warm hello.
Unfortunately, our visitors or callers are not treated like guests. Instead they are often ignored or made to feel like they have done something wrong.
Thanks for listening and I hope that you will become that fly on a wall and watch and listen to how your staff interact with visitors. Make this a priority and soon your visitors will know that they are welcomed as guests.
Don't wait!
Links to the books I mentioned:
Pink, Daniel. To Sell is Human.
Length: 17:17
Monday Mar 06, 2017
134: Jake Collins Talks PLC's and On-Line Support Tools
Monday Mar 06, 2017
Monday Mar 06, 2017
Mr. Jake Collins is a high school math teacher from Statesboro, Georgia. He likes "being in the classroom and seeing the light come on when the kids enjoy the mental exercise of mathematics." Additionally, he knows that the kids don't always come to math classes excited about the content. It becomes his job to figure out how to make things engaging and to excite the kids about learning math.
Jake knows that it is important to give the kids different activities to choose from. He believes that this technique encourages more ownership by the kids of their learning. He also is a huge proponent of using PLCs to help teachers understand what the data is showing them about the needs of the kids they teach. Jake talks about the power of teacher collaboration.
Mr. Collins uses his YouTube channel to help him reach his kids and to help others with outside of the school day help. Originally, he did this to help kids get caught up who had missed class. Eventually, he discovered that all of his students wanted to use the videos to help them understand the concepts, not just those kids who had been absent from school. He creates clips of himself so that the kids can watch their teacher do the explanations.
He and another teacher developed what they called Enhanced Learning Targets. He realized that the information that he was producing was becoming too cumbersome, so he needed a way to organize the resources, standards, and targets to help the kids. Out of this need, came the Enhanced Learning Targets which made it easier to connect the standards with explanations and videos as well as other resources. All of these are listed by date. Jake explains that these have become his pacing guides, curriculum maps, and learning targets.
Think about how you could follow Jakes' lead and do similar activities for helping your kids better understand your content.
Jake is happy to talk with you so reach out to him at his email listed below.
Connect with Jake or find out more information:
jcollins@bullochschools.org
Here is the link to the case study.
This link takes you to the Enhanced Learning Target sample.
His YouTube Channel. Jake Collins or MrCoachCollins
Length: 39:19