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Providing ideas and resources for K-12 teachers and school-based administrators.
Episodes
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
Thursday Jul 24, 2014
Thursday Jul 24, 2014
Every organization should have a way to support new staff members.
Induction programs are great but they are just one part of supporting new staff.
Everyone needs a coach.
It can’t be left to chance.
In this podcast I talk about the #1 reason for having a coaching program and the 5 components the coaching program should address.
I discuss why most coaching programs in schools fail and what can be done to make them work.
I hope that you will listen and take a look at your school. Do you have a program for coaching your new teachers or other staff? How about at the system level? Do you have a program in place where coaches work with your principals and others throughout the district? If not, why not? If not then get started! A good coaching program will help you keep good…no... great staff members!!!
As always, I hope that you will share with family, friends, and colleagues.
Here are links to articles that I talked about in the show.
Shaping School Culture: The Heart of Leadership by Terrence E. Deal and Kent Petterson
Making Sense of Social Networks in Schools by Terrence E. Deal
Get the Most Out of Executive Coaching by Steven Berglas
So What is Executive Coaching by Dr. Woody
The Coaching of Teaching by Bruce Joyce and Beverly Showers
Teaching How to Teach: Coaching Tips from a Former Principal by Shane Safir
In Search of a Metaphor for Coaching by Elena Aguilar
Enjoy!
Length 36:30
Wednesday Jul 02, 2014
Wednesday Jul 02, 2014
Join us as Mike talks with me about education in Georgia and tells us some things about what makes Mike…Mike.
Mike has served the families of Georgia through public education over 31 years.
He has been a teacher, administrator, high school principal, assistant superintendent and now the Chief Academic Officer for the State of Georgia.
We talked about the responsibilities of the Chief Academic Officer (basically, I asked him what he does…)
Listen to hear Mike explain that his greatest lesson learned as the Chief Academic Officer was... “I didn’t know... what I didn’t know.”
Mike reflected on the initiative called Career Pathways and the positive role it will play for the children of Georgia in their future planning.
I asked Mike what challenges he thought teachers faced today that are different than from when he was a high school principal…
One of his comments was …Time. Check out where we go with this topic.
Mike is the child of a soldier who moved with his career. This meant that Mike had to learn to make friends and to get along with others who were different than him. Mike talks about his love for diversity.
Mike is running for the State Superintendent of Schools of Georgia. He shared his thoughts about the race and what he would bring to the role if he was elected.
Mike is a fan of Jim Collins and John Maxwell as leadership writers and the lessons of life found in the Bible. Currently, he is reading a book called Praying Circles around Your Children by Mark Batterson. He says that he sees the greatest leadership challenge as that of being a parent and raising children. He reflected on a couple of thoughts from the book that have had a huge impact on his interactions with his children and how he lives his life:
· Teaching your own kids how to say and mean…please, thank you, and I’m sorry.
· I try to live my life in such a way that those who know me best respect me the most.
You can find out more about Mike at his website www.buckforsuperintendent.com
Thanks for listening. Please share with your friends, family, and colleagues!
Enjoy!
Length: 26:29
Friday Jun 20, 2014
Friday Jun 20, 2014
This episode is quite a bit different than our others. This time you will hear many different people share their thoughts about a teacher who made a difference in their lives. You will hear recollections of good deeds, of persistence, of faith, of inspiration, and of encouragement. You will hear commonalities in most cases. You will hear sincerity and even though you can't see those telling their stories you will feel their tears and sense their smiles.
What about you? Do you have a teacher from your days in K-12, that if you could, you would say thank you? If so, what would you say?
If its not too late...why not reach out and take the time to say thank you...you made a difference in my life!
I hope that this episode ignites memories and that it entices you to go find that special teacher and say...Thank You!
Enjoy!
Thursday May 15, 2014
Thursday May 15, 2014
Allen is currently the superintendent of schools in Quitman County, Georgia. He has 39 years of total education experience. He was a teacher, a coach, an assistant principal, a principal, and worked for five years as a GA Department of Education School Improvement and Redesign Specialist.
He feels that he is very fortunate for his opportunities to travel across the state and get to know educators in many different regions of Georgia.
Allen is familiar with the needs of the rural school systems. He has created a rural school system learning group that is comprised of educators from rural systems. He sees this group as providing an opportunity for the different systems to learn from each other on how best to use their limited resources.
As a principal he instituted one of the first ninth grade academies in the state. We talk about his thoughts and lessons learned.
We also talk a little about the challenge of teachers working with kids who have access to incredible amounts of information through Google and other web based solutions. We talk about how when we were kids the teachers had the information or it was in books that they could direct us to, whereas today, the kids can study beforehand and actually know more than the teacher about some topics. This becomes a challenge in that the teacher is often trying to keep up with the kids, but another challenge is that all kids don’t have access. It is quite possible that in the same class there will be those who can and those who can’t access web based information.
I enjoyed talking with Allen and I think that you will enjoy your time listening!
You can find out more information about Allen at www.allenfortga.com
Length 33:27