Saturday, April 28, 2018

Episode 98: Apruary and Avid




In this episode, Jessica and Spike talk about the weather during this month of Apruary. After Jessica got her venting out about the weather our conversation moved into state testing and she shared her idea of using Bitmoji to make stickers for the back of student test tickets for motivation.





They also chatted about Snapchat and want to learn more about how teachers are using snapchat to engage students. Are you using snapchat as a student engagement tool? Please let us know.


Our conversation also touched on communication and how many different ways information needs to be shared.


Spike shared all about being an AVID school.




Saturday, April 21, 2018

Episode 97: Staff Meeting Ideas





All 3 of the PrincipalPLN crew were here today, so we started out catching up on Influenza recovery and post Spring break updates. We talked about our morning routines to start each day out on the right foot and the importance of having a gratitude habit.
In our random discussions, we mentioned the hot new games kids are playing: Fortnite and Prodigy. Why is Fortnight so popular? Here's an article that discusses this: TomsGuide

We talked about staff meeting ideas and building collective commitments together with our staff.  A couple of book recommendations that came out of today's discussion include:



       Lead with a Story















PrincipalPLN is a part of the Education Podcast Network



Saturday, April 14, 2018

Episode 96 - Planning for Next Year

In this episode, Jessica and Spike continue the conversation from Episode 95 regarding next year. Throughout the conversation, both shared the various plans for overcoming budgeting and staffing obstacles as well as how to stay positive with the additional requirements of being a Principal.

Spike discussed his recently published article in Innovate My School - Team Activities for Budget Planning. He also talked about the conference that he coordinated with local Millville City Commissioners, Millville Youth Empowerment Summit. The Summit was attended by about 60 students and 20 parents and featured area speakers helping students become empowered. They are already beginning the planning process for next year.

Jessica shared how her school staff is inspiring their elementary students to dream big, using March Madness to promote college awareness. Here's a blog post she wrote last year to share about this (although this year they added even more to what they do at her school): Promoting College Awareness in the Elementary with March Madness. 

At the end of the podcast, Jessica talked about our upcoming 100 episode of the PrincipalPLN. If you would like to share a few kind words or favorite aspects of the show, be sure to Tweet us or Vox us.

Thanks for your ongoing support!




Sunday, April 8, 2018

Episode 95 - Planning for next year

In this episode, Theresa and Spike discuss how each school is focusing on planning for next year. They begin by describing the specific schedules for their middle school and the high school. Theresa's school operates on a Trimester schedule and Spike's is on a block schedule.

As they plan for next year, both schools are looking at initiatives that will foster student learning and prepare students for the 21st century. How does this work in the confines of the school? How do you get buy-in? How much change is too much change? These are the questions that both ponder as they share their experiences.

In the podcast, Spike also referred to The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller. He learned about this last week when talking with Jethro Jones and it has already helped him as the school plans for next year.