Class Dismissed

Help!

* The first bell has rung, but parents are still hanging out in the halls and classrooms.

* I gave my PLC a principal performance survey, and the feedback was more negative than I was expecting.

* Why won't my boss give me positive feedback?

If you're a principal, you can probably relate with one of these challenges. These learning opportunities are the driving force behind the Principal Hotline, an advice column on School Leaders Now.

In Episode 64 of Class Dismissed we talked with Amy Lynn Tompkins, the author of the Principal Hotline. Tompkins tells us what you can do if your parents are pulling a "Never-ending morning drop off." You know, the involved parents that hang out well after the bell has rung. As Tompkins acknowledges, you don't want to discourage parental involvement, but you also don't want parents disrupting the learning environment. How do you find that happy medium?

Listen to Episode 64 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

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The Cutting Edge Pencil

Have you ever considered that a pencil is a piece of technology? It once was considered cutting-edge technology. Michael Cohen, who's also known as "The Tech Rabbi" says that there was a time where some philosophers felt that a pencil could destroy academia. There was concern that a pencil could disrupt the teacher-student bond and hinder learning.

It's this big picture perspective and deep thought that has helped propel Cohen to being considered one of the upcoming thought leaders in K-12 education. Over the past few years, The Tech Rabbi has been a featured speaker at ISTE, SXSW EDU, and Apple Education events.

The Educated By Design Project

Cohen's message to educators focuses on creativity and design. Before he jumped into the world of education ten years ago, he was a designer. He helped create marketable content for businesses. Now that Cohen is an educator, he assists schools in leveraging creative thinking and technology.

In Episode 63 of the Class Dismissed podcast, we talk to Cohen about how he motivates teachers and students to find their creative side and why he treats empathy like a currency.

Listen to Episode 63 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

Other Show Notes

A 1985 Texas law requires high schools to help students register to vote. But most don't.

Colleges ask for a share of future salary in lieu of loans

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PledgeCents: Where Every Cent Counts

For decades, teachers have reached into their own pockets to purchase new technology and supplies for their classrooms. However, over the past few years, fundraising tools online like DonorsChoose and GoFundme have helped ease the burden for educators by connecting donors to teachers.

PledgeCents has emerged as a fast-growing alternative DonorsChoose, that educators should consider before selecting a crowdfunding platform. The Texas-based company has already helped fund over $2 million in projects for educators, churches, youth sports a, d non-profits.

AndyShea Saberioon is the CEO and Co-Founder of PledgeCents and he says what separates them from other crowdfunding platforms is that they don't charge a platform fee.

Saberioon says PledgeCents also doesn't refund the money if the project goal is not met.

"Other sites, if you have a goal of $1000 and you raise $999 they'll refund the $999 to everyone who donated. As with us, you still keep that money," says Saberioon.

Saberioon says it allows the teachers to have more flexibility and not be afraid to set a higher goal.

To hear more about PledgeCents, and to get a preview of Saberioon's new Teachers Are Professionals Project, listen to Episode 62 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

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Heading back to public school

It's the first week in August, and thousands of students and teachers are heading back to school today. One of those teachers is Class Dismissed co-host, Lissa Pruett. Lissa has been teaching children for over 16 years, but this school year, things are different. She's signed on with a new public school district after spending six years teaching at a private school.

Consequently, Lissa is now somewhat of a "non-traditional teacher." Much like someone in their mid-30s returning to college, Lissa has spent the past few weeks in new-teacher orientations. Surrounded by educators teachers fresh out of college, her new district has been bringing her up to speed on their new policies, procedures, and software.

So what's it like being the new kid on the block with a masters degree in education and more than a decade and half of experience in the classroom?

Tune in to hear Lissa walk us through her story as the "non-traditional teacher."

The Summer Slide

Also in this episode, we have a rebroadcast about educators in Charlottesville Virginia that have come up with a creative way to prevent the “summer slide.”

A group of teachers and librarians outfitted several bikes with individual cargo carriers, and they now deliver books in neighborhoods when the school libraries are closed. ‘Books on Bikes’ uses creative methods to draw students away from the video games and towards reading.

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What if the hit tv show "The Office" took place at a school? That's what you may think as you read Roxanna Elden's book, "Adequate Yearly Progress".

Elden's new book, which will release August 1, tells the story of educators in a struggling urban high school in Texas. The novel is an honest and humorous portrayal of the day to day life of teachers and administrators.

Many teachers are familiar with Elden's first book, "See Me After Class" which was published back in 2013. Elden wrote "See Me After Class" about her teaching challenges, with the hopes of inspiring other educators to push through some of the obstacles they encounter. One hurdle Elden says teachers struggle with is the disillusionment phase, which usually hits teachers head-on in October.

"Adequate Yearly Progress" is different from "See Me After Class" in that it's a novel. Since writing "See Me After Class," Elden had been challenging her students to write a draft for their own novel. But those same students turned the table and challenged her to accomplish the same. The ultimate result is "Adequate Yearly Progress".

Elden, currently lives in Miami but decided to set the book in Texas. A setting that was inspired by the fact that Elden started her teaching career in Houston.

"There's something about Texas that has really stuck with me. I'm originally from Chicago, so there were a lot of things that I noticed about the culture there and the way that people interacted with each other, that I was seeing that as a newcomer," says Elden. "It just has a place in my heart to this day."

To hear more about Elden's new book, listen to Episode 60 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

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In 2015, when Kristina Pollard took over as principal at Earl Travillion Attendance Center in Forrest County Mississippi, she was well aware of the challenge she was facing.

"It is an extremely high poverty area. My school has consistently been a low performing school," said Pollard. "Economic status is pretty desolate, so we needed to do something outside of the box in order to make some significant changes in this area."

Pollard says she spent the first couple of years focused on changing the culture of Earl Travillion and they also expanded tutoring and summer programs, but the tutoring wasn't making the impact that they needed.

So Pollard began thinking bigger. She wanted to extend the school day. Pollard knew that by adding two hours of school three days a week, they could address the whole child. Pollard believed they could provide extra time for remediation and enrichment. Plus, they could offer a safe location for children in the afternoons and give students an additional meal.

It was a weekend, and Pollard had just read about a federally funded school improvement grant. She thought the grant may be a way to fund the extra hours.

She so excited about the idea, she called her Superintendent, Brian Freeman, on the weekend to see if he would support her with her application.

"I called him on a Saturday morning and I said, Mr. Freeman, this a huge opportunity, I'd like to try," said Pollard.

Freeman gave Pollard the backing and resources she needed.

Pollard says her application for the grant ended up being over 200 pages and Earl Travillion was ultimately awarded 2.1 million dollars.

But the challenge was just beginning. Pollard needed to calculate logistics with transportation, and she needed to convince her teachers to work six extra hours each week.

To hear how Pollard pulled it off, listen to Episode 59 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

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Should we be worried about our students' gaming?

Fortnite, Minecraft, Battlefield 5, there's a good chance that at least half of your students are spending a lot of time gaming. Back in the 1990s, there was a pretty steady chorus of criticism about the practice. There were and still are concerns about too much screen time and worries about viewing too much violence.

Kim Bevill says when you play games or even watch movies, your brain goes from a beta to an alpha state. "It's a relaxation state where we're highly suggestible," says Bevill. "When your brain is in alpha it's almost like your brain is in receive mode."

Bevill helps train educators to understand how the brain works so educators can get better results in the classroom. She was also a guest on Episode 57 of the Class Dismissed Podcast where she talked about the impacts of exercise on the brain.

Bevill says there is research that suggests your brain can emphasize with what it's seeing, but there's no significant research that says playing a violent video game will lead to violent acts. Bevill says another side effect is that we sit when we play a lot of video games, so that's less time being up and active.

However, students playing games is not all bad news. In fact, research indicates that there are some positive benefits. Video games can increase cognitive processing and can encourage neuroplasty.

Bevill says real-time strategy games can train the brain to learn faster and there's a significant amount of evidence since 2009 that indicates gamers learn more quickly.

To hear our full conversation with Bevill, listen to Episode 58 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

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Should we be worried about our students' gaming?

Fortnite, Minecraft, Battlefield 5, there's a good chance that at least half of your students are spending a lot of time gaming. Back in the 1990s, there was a pretty steady chorus of criticism about the practice. There were and still are concerns about too much screen time and worries about viewing too much violence.

Kim Bevill says when you play games or even watch movies, your brain goes from a beta to an alpha state. "It's a relaxation state where we're highly suggestible," says Bevill. "When your brain is in alpha it's almost like your brain is in receive mode."

Bevill helps train educators to understand how the brain works so educators can get better results in the classroom. She was also a guest on Episode 57 of the Class Dismissed Podcast where she talked about the impacts of exercise on the brain.

Bevill says there is research that suggests your brain can emphasize with what it's seeing, but there's no significant research that says playing a violent video game will lead to violent acts. Bevill says another side effect is that we sit when we play a lot of video games, so that's less time being up and active.

However, students playing games is not all bad news. In fact, research indicates that there are some positive benefits. Video games can increase cognitive processing and can encourage neuroplasty.

Bevill says real-time strategy games can train the brain to learn faster and there's a significant amount of evidence since 2009 that indicates gamers learn more quickly.

To hear our full conversation with Bevill, listen to Episode 58 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

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Over the past several decades we've learned about all the health benefits that come with exercise. There are the obvious benefits like increased energy, weight loss, and strengthening of muscles and bones. But activity also has a positive effect on brain health and memory and educators should use that to their advantage.

Movement can help people think, focus, and process better. The change increases your blood flow and bathes your prefrontal cortex with your learning chemicals and increases neural connections in our prefrontal cortex.

Kim Bevill was a high school history and psychology teacher for 14 years before diving into the world of neuroscience. Now, Kim helps train educators to understand how the brain works so educators can get better results in the classroom.

Bevill advocates for students to get up and move at least every 20 minutes.

Bevill says that as a society we except that movement is essential, but often well-intentioned educators feel like keeping students in one place  is the best practice.

"If every single school, no matter what age we're educating, did 30 minutes of activity every day to get their heart rate up. At least to a 70% maximum heart rate. What they're going to see is an increase in math skills and second an increase in reading and processing," says Bevill.

Bevill says her clients often come back to her and say that requiring movement every 20 minutes changed attitudes in the classroom from lethargic to attentive.

"You can almost feel it in a room at 20minutes," says Bevill. "You can feel the energy start to subside."

To hear more from Bevill about the positive effects of exercise can have on learning, listen to Episode 57 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

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Navigate the negative energy

Often, someone in our lives may be surrounded by a negative energy. It may be a family member, a colleague, or maybe just a stranger on social media?

Allyson Apsey has been in education for 20 years and she’s currently a principal for the Zeeland Public School district in Michigan. For years she's been sharing personal stories on her blog and researching strategies for understanding the source of negative energy. Much of her work is now included in her new book, The Path To Serendipity, which is a guide for living a meaningful life.

Understanding Basic Needs

In an interview on the Class Dismissed Podcast, Apsey shares the need for understanding  Glasser's Five Basic Needs. Understanding the basic needs of others can lead to healthier relationships with friends, family, and colleagues.

Apsey says that behavior is information, so often we want to personalize someone else's behavior and make it about us, but 99% of the time, their behavior has nothing to do with us.

To hear more from Apsey on "The Path to Serendipity" listen to Episode 56 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

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