Teaching Learning Leading K-12

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Episode 63: Ava Kofke-The Financial Angel

July 29, 2015

Ava is an amazing young lady. She has figured out that there is a difference between wants and needs. She knows the difference between debit and credit cards (There are many adults who need to listen to her.). She advises others that if you don’t have the money- well, then…you shouldn’t spend it.

Ava doesn’t just offer this advice by talking about it, she has written a book called The Financial Angel. The book is filled with powerful suggestions about dealing with money and activities to help the reader practice having and using money.

All of this and –wait for it-she is going into the 6^th grade!

As I talked with Ava, I knew that she must really be a 45-year-old financial planner.

Enjoy the talk. I hope that you will share with your children and adults who need help with understanding the good and the bad of money.

Thanks Ava for sharing your great thoughts about managing money.

Length: 27:10

Episode 62: Fighting for Who is on Your Team-Team Building Tip #2

July 19, 2015

Just a few weeks ago, I began a 5 part series of short podcasts that are focused on team building.

Check out the first team building tip episode here.

Today, I am focused on fighting for who you want on your team.

As the leader, it is important that you have a say in who gets to be on your team. Too often there are forces at work that would like to fill the openings on your team with their picks.This practices flys in the face of what it takes to build a quality team. The team has to work together to achieve its mission and goals.

When the leader interviews potential new members, he is looking for the right fit. He is looking for someone who is driven and a self-starter. He is looking for someone who makes things happen.

The candidate is also interviewing the team leader. The potential team member wants to know if the team and the organization are a good fit, as well.

The team is important to the well-being of the organization, therefore it is important to take ownership. This can't happen if others who are outside the team place new members in the group.

Who is on your team is worth fighting for.

Hopefully, this is good food for thought as you get ready to start the new school year.

Length: 6:15

Episode 61: Preparing For Backup

July 9, 2015

If you work with computers and computer files on a regular basis, the most important thing you can do is backup your files. The odds are that at some point you will experience a hard drive crash or a virus/malware infection that could possibly destroy all of your files.

This tip is unique in that, we are not going to talk about how to backup your files, instead we will be discussing how to prepare for a successful backup. These tips will make your backup thorough, complete, and trouble free.

David's 5 Tips for Preparing for a Successful Backup

1. Before you start a backup, you need to clean up your file folders.

2. Make a backup of all of your Browser Bookmarks.

3. make sure all of your files are located in a specific location.

4. Determine the size of your files.

5. Determine your backup medium.

Important stuff:

If you don't know how to backup files, find a youtube video, instructional web page, ask a friend or pay someone to set up and show you how. It's that important!
Even if you work in an environment that does backups, make your own! Remember, it is your data, you are responsible for it, and you will be the one crying if everything is lost!
Test your backups. A backup isn't any good if you can't use it.
Periodically review your backup policies. You might need/want to tweak them. Update your bookmark backups, etc. You might have old files that can be archived on CD/DVD and deleted from the hard drive.

Great advice to take to heart!

So what are you waiting for?

Time to prepare for that backup!

Length: 16:00

Episode 60: Vicki Davis-The Cool Cat Teacher

July 1, 2015

Vicki is a teacher and an IT Director in a small school system in Camilla, Georgia, but she is connected through her writing, speaking, podcast, and social media content throughout the world!

This is her 13th year teaching.

She writes regularly for the website Edutopia and Vicki can frequently be found as a national keynote speaker presenting on a multitude of topics.

She is a published author and has her own podcast on the BAM Radio Network called Every Classroom Matters

I subscribe to her podcast on iTunes and look forward to every episode.

Her books are Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds: Move to Global Collaboration One Step At A Time and Reinventing Writing: The 9 Tools that are Changing Writing, Teaching, and Learning Forever

She has an amazing blog, http://www.coolcatteacher.com/, where she expresses her thoughts about many different areas associated with teaching from technology to classroom management and many topics in between. She also connects the readers to many resources for helping with better teaching and school leading.