Episode 77: EdCamp Leader

While catching up on what we've been up to Theresa talked about the upcoming NAESP convention and we had to mention that Jessica Cabeen (Principal that was featured in this episode) will be receiving the NAESP award for Digital Leader of Early Learning. You can see all of the great things her school is doing to integrate technology in her Kindergarten center in this video.

 Jessica and Theresa talk about the upcoming EdCamp Leader (#edcampldr).  EdCamp is a great way to learn about what you want, following the rule  of 2 feet (if you don't like the session, then walk out and go to another). EdCamp is such a great way to connect with others, expand your PLN and just have conversations about what you want to learn more about for your own professional learning.  Check out the EdCamp Leader site to find out where your closest #edcampldr is.


Last year Theresa and Jessica finally got to meet in person for the first time. Yes, after podcasting for two years and writing a book together (along with Spike), they never met in person until this...

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Episode 76: Principal Voice

Source: ledgerwood.wordpress.com

In this week's episode, Spike and Theresa talk about their recent article for Corwin Connect titled, "6 Ways for Principals to Use Their Voice."

As the discussion ensues, Spike and Theresa talk about the collaborative writing piece that is so crucial to today's connected world. Spike, Theresa and Jessica have written countless blog posts, articles and even a book without ever sitting down together in the same room. Sometimes it goes well and other times it takes several revisions. In addition to collaborative writing, they discuss the importance of transparency, branding, and being the lead story teller for the school.

Please be sure to support our friends Tony Sinanis and Joe Sanfelippo's new book Hacking Leadership as well as their popular book Power of Branding.

Look for upcoming shows as we explore what Principals do in the summer.

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A PLN-Sourced Podcast: "This is what my week has been like"

PrincipalPLN is doing a "Voxer podcast" format we are trying out this weekend. I want to do a different one - one to help new administrators understand what the end of the year is like. I want them to know that we are ALL going through the same struggles. Every. single. one of us. 

We asked principals, teachers and other administrators to answer the following prompt:

"This is what my last week has been like:"

(If you're wondering how mine was, be sure to check my last post: http://bit.ly/206eYlj)

Here are the results. Thank you to Brian Costello, Heather Leonard, Jessica Cabeen, Julie Vincentsen, Doug Timm, Michael Kelly and Brad Gustafson for their contributions.

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Episode 75: Voxer Style Podcast

Just like any educator at this time of the year, we've been too busy to get together at the same time to record a podcast, but we want you to know that we are still alive and surviving this hectic time of the year. So we're trying something new! We have been voxing to one another for a week and a half, Theresa worked some podcast magic and voila...we have a podcast for you!

One topic discussed was reflecting on our own professional work through survey feedback of our staff.  Here is one example of a survey that Jessica has used in the past: Principal Survey.






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Episode 74: Starting the Final Quarter

In this episode, Theresa and Jessica chat about the long list of to-do’s principals have during this final quarter of the school year: calendar, budgeting, evaluations, staffing, etc.

Jessica also talks about using March Madness week as an opportunity to promote college awareness at the elementary level (and keep teachers happy wearing jeans!). We would love to hear from our listeners what other things you are doing to promote college/careers.

Poster Jessica created for her school during March Madness week

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Episode 73: Spike's New Adventure

In this podcast, Theresa talks about having to literally close their school down to bleach the germs off. Jessica talks about being so far behind on everything and Spike shares the exciting news about his brand new position!

Here’s a great article on Spike’s new position: Lakeside has New Principal

We also talked about having a life outside of work and one of our inspiring PLN members, Jay Posick featured in this great article: Runners Like Us. Jay joined us on the PrincipalPLN for Episode 66 Running Away from Isolation.

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Episode 72: Seeking Work Life Balance

In this episode Spike talks about his school’s journey to get healthier, which includes the recent grant of a NutriBullet for each of his 4th graders and his staff’s Biggest Loser Challenge.

We talked about Work Life Balance for principals and had @PrincipalGarden join us to share some tips.  We also announced that the PrincipalPLN crew are at it again...we’re working on another book to try to help principals learn how to achieve that balance between work and life.  We would like to hear from YOU to help us gather data on administrators. Please take a few minutes to fill out THIS SURVEY. If you’re interested in being included in our book as a vignette you can share your info with us on the survey about that possibility.

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