Episodes
Tuesday Oct 14, 2014
Episode 36: Growing Up in Poverty and Lessons Learned with Dr. Hayward Cordy
Tuesday Oct 14, 2014
Tuesday Oct 14, 2014
Dr. Hayward Cordy is the Executive Director of the Oconee RESA.
Hayward grew up in Wrightsville, Ga-Johnson County…the son of sharecroppers. As you listen to Hayward talk, think about the ultimate lessons that his family taught him. He could have complained and wanted someone to save him. He could have bemoaned his station in life. Instead, he focused on succeeding. He didn't let others derail his focus, he stayed the course and earned college degrees and eventually became the superintendent of the same school system where he had once attended class.
Listen for Hayward to explain … Damaged Goods, Choices and Consequences, The Greatest Lesson Taught to him by His Family, and An Improbable Dream Became Reality.
There are many lessons to be gleaned from Hayward’s memories.
I hope that you will come back and listen, again and again and share with others.
In a world where it is easy to be negative about all of life experiences…Hayward’s recollections make you realize that hard work and determination do pay off!
Thanks for listening! I hope that you will take his words to heart!
To discover more about the Oconee RESA or to connect with Dr. Cordy use the link or address blow.
http://www.ciclt.net/sn/clt/oconee/default.aspx?ClientCode=oconee
Dr. Hayward Cordy
Executive Director
Oconee RESA
206 South Main Street
Tennille, Georgia 31089
Phone: 478-552-5178
Length: 52:12
Sunday Oct 05, 2014
Episode 35: The Law of the Inner Circle and Team Building
Sunday Oct 05, 2014
Sunday Oct 05, 2014
According to John Maxwell, "A leader's potential is determined by those closest to him."
John notes, "When you have the right staff, potential skyrockets."
The team or organization leader needs team members he/she chooses. Many times they can inherit and/or have someone from higher up in the organization want to add people to the team. This is unfortunate and can cause issues of with results orientation and effectiveness. When given the opportunity to select his/her own team mates the leader needs to take advantage of this to select the best and the brightest that will bring their special attributes to the team.
It is important for the leader to recognize that he/she wants to select those individuals who address the weaknesses of the leader not clones of the leader.
( Patrick Lencioni )
The leader has to take time to support and develop that team that will become his inner circle. This is the group that will connect with each other and will develop a deep sense of trust to the organization, the leader and accomplishing the mission. Check out Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of the Team.
This does not happen overnight it requires the leader spending time developing his team.
This means interacting with each other not just in meetings and eating together. It means having an opportunity to laugh and play together and to experience turmoil and difficulty together.
Check out my thoughts about playing soccer, racing cars, the fluer-di-lis, and the lightening bolt.
It also means that the leader needs to find out what training and coaching they need and insure that they get it.
As a note, it is possible that you will make a bad selection for the team, the leader has to be willing to address that because it is a weakness for the team that will disrupt success.
I hope that you enjoy this episode and I challenge you to take the time to examine your organization and ask yourself …
Do you have an inner circle?
Do you support them?
Does someone not need to be on that team?
Some words of wisdom from John Maxwell:
"One of the mistakes I often made early in my career as a team leader was that I thought everyone who was on my team should remain on my team."-John Maxwell
"Hire the best staff you can find, develop them as much as you can, and hand off everything you possibly can to them."-John Maxwell
Recommended Reading:
John Maxwell's:
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork
Patrick Lencioni's:
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Also, you can subscribe to John Maxwell's Minute with Maxwell.
A daily dose of leadership advice from John at no cost to you.
Enjoy!
Length: 31:21
Wednesday Sep 17, 2014
Episode 33: Six Apps for the Classroom with David Lockhart
Wednesday Sep 17, 2014
Wednesday Sep 17, 2014
David is a high school teacher at North Atlanta High. This summer we met at the Georgia Virtual School Symposium in Athens, Georgia where I had the chance to attend his awesome class titled,
…30 Apps in 30 Minutes.
David has always had an interest in Tech… he says, “I found something that I was good at…”
In our interview we focus on four points…
1) His 6 favorite apps
2) The cost of apps (In a word…cheap!)
3) Engaging!
4) Ease of use…
David advises…in looking for apps, “Find what works in your classroom…and then find an app that will help you. If it doesn't work…then adjust.”
Most importantly…David comments, “Don’t be afraid!”
He has amazing advice for apps to use and why as well as how to find the best apps.
I know that you will find this episode brain food!
Here are the 6 Apps that we talk about and their websites.
1) TouchCast http://www.touchcast.com/
2)
Google Drive https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2424384?hl=en
3) Symbaloo http://www.symbaloo.com/home/mix/13eOcK1fiV
4) Weebly https://education.weebly.com/
5) Tackk https://tackk.com
6) 81dash http://81dash.com/
Follow David on Twitter @ld112265
And read his blog at www.edtechspeeddating.com
Seasame Street Song, “There’s An App for That! Find it at www.sesamestreet.org or on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhkxDIr0y2U
Enjoy!
Length 30:37
Wednesday Aug 27, 2014
Episode 31: Trust- The Key to Team Building
Wednesday Aug 27, 2014
Wednesday Aug 27, 2014
When a leader is assigned to an organization…success or stumbling is determined by the individual's plans for making change.
Is it... I am here to save the day and we will proceed according to my plans or is there an attempt at creating a team mentality which means that the leader is working to create trust?
Leadership requires more than a plan but time spent purposefully building trust.
As Seth Godin, in Tribes, comments... “Leadership is not management.”
This means that you have to get others on board…you have to spend time building a team…and creating a trusting organization…avoiding…It’s my way or the highway…Not just thinking that I only have to tell people what to do and they will do it.
Throughout this episode I reflect on comments from the works of Dan Pink, P. Lencioni, and J. Maxwell.
After listening, I hope that you will spend some time evaluating your team direction and decide whether you have created real trust. Ask yourself…Do your members really interact with each other or are they simply complying for fear of retribution or being wrong?
Enjoy!
Listed below are the links to books that I mentioned as well as the opening YouTube clip. I hope that you will take time to explore these wonderful tools for developing your teams.
Patrick Lencioni YouTube Clip from Opening
Winning With People by John Maxwell
The 17 Indisputable laws of Team Work by John Maxwell
To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink
Length 28:30
Wednesday Aug 13, 2014
Episode 30: Twitter in the Classroom with Leslie Houck
Wednesday Aug 13, 2014
Wednesday Aug 13, 2014
Like most people I taught myself how to do Twitter… but I wanted to make sure that I did it right! I had the chance to take a class titled Twitter 101 and many of my questions were answered.
Leslie Houck is a Social Media Specialist with the Georgia Department of Education who has a background in communication and journalism and says , “I kind of fell into social media as a job.”
Leslie gives advice for educators who might be afraid of using Twitter primarily because they only hear about the bad situations that have happened.
Leslie comments that Digital Citizenship 101 should be taught in every class to all kids and to the staff. She noted that New York City Schools, Facebook, and Edutopia have recently released examples of these guidelines for schools to use.
No matter what, she emphasizes that it is important to “be smart with our on-line reputation.” Make sure that you pay extra close attention to this part of the interview as she makes many points that help to address the use of social media in the classroom and as a professional educator.
We also talk about Twitter etiquette, RTs, MTs, follows, Favoriting, the restriction of 140 characters, creating a handle, the list function, and of course the # Hashtag!
I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to learn about Twitter from Leslie and I know you will, too!
Check out the links below to some of the resources she referenced.
Enjoy!
Length 55:58