Episode 71: Getting Back into the Swing of Things

In episode 71 Jessica and Theresa catch up on their holiday break and how hard it is to get back into the swing of things (for adults and kids)! They talk about finding balance, New Years Resolutions and Jessica's Reading Resolutions.
This was their first time using Blab to record, so they were also learning how to use this new online tool to be able to connect with listeners during the live podcast.

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Episode 70 - Chris Nesi

You can find more information about Mr. Chris Nesi at http://www.chrisnesi.com/

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Episode 69: Spike is back from China

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This episode is longer than normal, but completely worth it. We start out to catch up  and hear about the Thanksgiving feast at Theresa's school and the writing celebrations at Jessica's school.

A snapshot of students giving feedback during their writing celebration.

Then we spend the entire time hearing all about Spike's experience in China and how life and school is SO different than ours in the United States.

Here is Spike's video tour of his China experience:

Want to know more about the China/USA educational experience? Check out Who is Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon? By Young Zhao 

Spike and the rest of the NJ Educator's crew will be working on an e-publication on their trip to China. Stay tuned for more!

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Episode 68: Random Musings about Balance with Principals

In this episode we just catch up on what we are each up to. Find out what country Spike is traveling to, how many half-marathons Theresa has run, and Jessica’s struggle with lunch. We talk about the challenges principals face in making time for themselves.

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Episode 67: Out of Isolation into a Groove

source: beerandjoysticks.com

In this episode, Jessica and Spike discuss aspects of their new book Breaking Out of Isolation: Becoming a Connected School Leader available through Corwin Press. They start off with a big congratulations to their co-host Theresa Stager who recently finished the Chicago Half Marathon!

Jessica and Spike had a focused discussion about the aspects of isolation that lead them to write the book. Basically, the more you become connected, you increase your chance of becoming isolated... it is a modern day conundrum.

The PrincipalPLN crew talked about how they really began to encourage each other to establish, and more importantly, maintain a work/life balance. They are really eager to discuss this because they are currently working on ideas to expand this concept (stay tuned).

A couple of great articles to read (in addition to our book) on isolation include:

• Eric Sheninger’s blog post “Excellence Should Not be Isolated”
• Forbes article “Do You Feel Lonely As A Leader? Study Says You Are Not Alone”

We also mentioned the book ‘Mindful School Leader ‘by Kirstin Olson and Valerie Brown.

Be sure to check out the companion website to the book for all of their resources.

Thanks for tuning in and connecting!

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Episode 66: Running Away From Isolation with Jay Posick

In this episode, Jay Posick joins us to talk about being a middle school principal, being a connected educator, and leading a balanced life as a principal/family man/runner.  Book titles shared during our discussion: Beyond the Bake Sale  and  How to Walk to School.

You'll have to listen to the podcast to find out why this happened:

Great start to the day. #principalsinaction pic.twitter.com/2EFnEkq7fh

— Jay Posick (@posickj) September 11, 2015

If you'd like to read more about Jay and other administrators breaking out of isolation, then it's time to buy our book that is finally out, just click on the image to order it from Amazon.

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Purchase "Breaking Out of Isolation" today!

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If you have read our book, we'd love to hear your thoughts on it or better yet...please leave us a rating/review on amazon! 

Episode 65: Exploring Multi Aged Classrooms

In this episode, Theresa Stager shared a fascinating solution to a problem.... As her school faced declining enrollment, they used it as an opportunity to try something new. In preparation for this, she reached out to her PLN and was able to gather resources to help her teacher establish Multi-Aged Classrooms. Even though they are only 8 days into the new format, the feedback has been positive.

Here are some resources for establishing Multi-Aged Classrooms:

https://multiagejourney.wordpress.com/

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/instrctn/in500.htm

http://www.cu-portland.edu/coe/thesis/documents/matt%20kemmis%20thesis.pdf

http://www.multiage-education.com/multiagen-b/themulticlass.html

http://www.sdccs.org/ourpages/auto/2011/10/2/41474490/TheMultiageClassroom.pdf

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev184.shtml


At the conclusion of the episode, Spike and Theresa talked about how exited they were to receive their new book Breaking Out of Isolation: Becoming a Connected School Leader through Corwin Press. The next few podcasts they will review the book and invite contributors to share their story of overcoming isolation.

#PrincipalPLN is a part of the Education Podcast Network

Purchase "Breaking Out of Isolation" today!

Subscribe on iTunes