Teaching Learning Leading K-12

Episode 26: Mike Buck and Public Education in Georgia

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

Episode 25: Do You Have a Teacher You Would Like to Thank?

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!

Episode 24: Teaching First Grade with Tonya Hair

Mrs. Tonya Hair teaches first grade at Pulaski County Elementary School located in Hawkinsville, Georgia. This is her 11^th year of teaching. Mrs. Hair grew up in Hawkinsville and is now a teacher at Pulaski County Elementary School where she attended as a child. She is working with some colleagues who were teachers when she was a student. How cool is that?!

Mrs. Hair has some amazing routines and practices. Her kids know them and it is obvious. They transition between activities and different locations in the classroom with no down time or disruption to the learning. I asked Mrs. Hair to explain how she is able to accomplish this.  She commented, “Practicing routines. If you set it up in the beginning then it is not that hard as the year goes on.” Tonya also noted, “Organization and planning are keys to being successful, as well as learning from your mistakes.”

Tonya uses groups quite successfully. She says that she is looking to find the best fit for the child. She uses these groups to help her address the individual needs of her students.

As you listen to us talk teaching and learning you will hear us touch on…

·         reading and math stations

·         problem solving

·         showing numbers in different ways

·         starting class with an activity

·         formative assessments

·         charts that she uses to make notes on student progress (she uses this information to adjust her instruction)

·         using mini-white boards

·         engaging kids

·         organizational skills

Her favorite resource for her classes is her SMART board and if she could have anything for her classroom where money wasn't an option it would be a parapro and a set of laptops.

If she had a chance to give advice to 30 brand new elementary teachers she would tell them, “Always be prepared and forward thinking. Be flexible.”

At the very end you will hear Tonya express her thoughts about a teacher who made a difference in her life… She says that she was like… Wonder Woman.

Mrs. Hair has much to share!

Enjoy!

Length 31:24

Episode 23: Teaching Kindergarten with Jean Mixon

Jean Mixon has been teaching for 32 years all as a kindergarten teacher. She teaches at Pulaski County Elementary School in Hawkinsville, GA. This year she is retiring. She says that kindergarten has changed over the years. I hope that you will take time to listen and learn from her many nuggets of awesome teaching practices!

I had the pleasure of watching her work with her kids. As you listen, you will hear us talk about classroom management techniques like becoming consistent in what you do, developing procedures and routines, and practicing what you want the kids to do in class. Mrs. Mixon reflects, “We have to practice… The first two weeks in Kindergarten are so important…they are learning procedures and routines.” She also talks about the importance of using their names to connect... “You have to build that personal relationship.”

By the way, she has this very cool rug that helps her establish that consistency…I think that you will find that discussion very illuminating and also just cool.

We also talk about instructional strategies and her use of formative assessment, modelling and getting the kids to doing.

She always is with kids… “Just part of good teaching, be right there with them…”

Her favorite resource is the SMART board!

She was fun to watch and is an amazing teacher!

I am sure that you will learn much from her!

Enjoy!

Length: 33:01

Episode 22: Technology and Classroom Routines with High School Science Teacher...Dana Niblett

Dana is a high school science teacher at Dodge County High School in Eastman, Georgia.

She has been teaching for 7 years and even though she is a science teacher she started out teaching middle school math. Mrs. Niblett comes from a tradition of teachers as both of her parents were teachers.

I had the wonderful experience of observing Dana teach her environmental science classes. From the outset it was apparent that she was very organized. She had tardy boxes, places for work to be turned in, places to look when the student is absent and so much more.

Her students understood the routines and procedures of the class. This was very noticeable when she shifted from the bell ringer (Science Question of the Day) to the general instructions to the lab groups and back to their seats to work with the technology. There was no down time. The students knew what was expected of them. She did not have to threaten or shush them. They went right to work.

Dana and I talk about how all of this is possible. She reflects on the days when she first started teaching and struggled with classroom management. Then she found Harry Wong and studied his comments about managing the classroom. She then “stole ideas” from colleagues who were very good at creating the routines and procedures that helped the students get right to work and focus on the content.

Her biggest secret is “PRACTICE with the kids.”

Mrs. Niblett is a tech guru…or at least not afraid to try to use many different technology applications and tools to help her engage the kids. She uses tablets, laptops, QR codes, Weebly.com, Padlet.com, Prezi, SMART board applications and tools, Google searches, youtube clips, voicethread.com and follows Tony Vincent on Pinterest (He is a teacher who is constantly providing information about cool tech apps for the classroom). Her kids are creating digital portfolios on weebly.com and recording their labs and daily activities in this website. They use padlet.com to respond to questions.

My head was swimming with the amazing about of free technology being used by the kids to help them learn their content! Dana says that she once was made to go to the Georgia Technology Conference and now she knows that it is awesome!!!! She reflects, “It’s the best conference I have ever gone to! There are classroom teachers showing what they use and what works for them!”

I hope that you will take a look at some of her ideas for classroom management and technology uses. Her kids were focused on learning and having fun. Try these out! I dare you!

As Dana says, “We have to get out of our comfort zone and get with the times!”

Enjoy!

www.weebly.com

www.voicethread.com

www.padlet.com

www.prezi.com

Length 38:45