H2H: A Quick Guide to Leading Educators and Making a Difference

Personal presence is a quality that leaders of all stripes desire. It's often associated with credibility and charisma, but what is presence really? Do education leaders really need it and how can anyone develop it? Hear the answers just ahead in this week's segment.

Muriel Maignan Wilkins is managing partner aof Isis Associates and the co-author of OWN THE ROOM. Belle Linda Halpern, Ariel Group Founding Partner, is Co-author of "Leadership Presence: Dramatic Techniques to Reach Out, Motivate, and Inspire". Lyn Hilt is an elementary instructional technology integrator and coach from Pennsylvania. Michael Smith is Superintendent of Tuscola Community Unit School District #301 in Tuscola, Illinois.

In this segment we face the fact that most of your staff hates meetings, especially "ho-hum" meetings. Today our guests offer suggestions on how to kick boring meetings to the curb and host meetings that your staff will actually appreciate and enjoy.

Carson Tate, MS O.D. is Founder and Principal of Working Simply. Carson also serves as a consultant, coach and trainer to executives at Fortune 500 companies. Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the author of "The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success With Less Stress." She is also the founder & CEO of Real Life E Time Coaching & Training. Brian Nichols is currently the Executive Director of School Leadership for Newport News Public Schools, (Virginia) and previously the principal of two award winning Title I K-5 schools. Chris Lehmann is Founding principal of Science Leadership Academy, a progressive science and technology high school in Philadelphia, PA.

Twitter has become a popular tool among many education leaders who say it's invaluable on many levels. Yet many education leaders are not connected to this vibrant community. In this segment our guests make the case for why you should give a twit about Twitter.

Steven Weber is the principal at Hillsborough Elementary School located in Hillsborough, NC. George Couros, Principal at Forest Green School and creator and author of the "Connected Principals" collaborative. Jo-Ann Spence has been the Executive Director of Lowell Day Nursery for 25 years, taught for 10 years, on the Advisory Board of Middlesex Community College and the Early Ed. Dept. of the Vocational School and National Director of the year and Bammy Award winning Director of the Year. Nancy Blair is a school improvement consultant who frequently worked with the High Schools That Work and Making Middle Grades Work initiatives.

Where does the gender fluid child fit at your school? Do they feel safe? Are they protected? Better still, are they accepted and validated? How do you deal with those who still believe that boys should be boys and girls should be girls? Our guests today offer some guidance.

Ritch C. Savin-Williams is author of The New Gay Teenager. Robin Fox is chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Her areas of research are families that are LGBT headed and children who are gender fluid. David Bloomfield, author of American Public Education Law. Peter DeWitt Ed.D has been a principal and author of Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students.

Progressive discipline can be good for staff, bad for children and either an asset or a liability for education leaders. Our guests walk us through what we need to know about progressive discipline and when and how to abandon it.

Chris Hawthorne is an attorney at Ronald V. McGuckin and Associates, the nation's foremost resource for legal, business, and administrative support for the early care and education industries, (Bristol, Pennsylvania). David Bloomfield is Professor of Education Leadership, Law, and Policy at Brooklyn College and the City University, and author of American Public Education Law. Michael Smith is Superintendent of Tuscola Community Unit School District #301 in Tuscola, Illinois. He has more than 17 years of education experience as a teacher, coach, K-12 Principal, Assistant Superintendent, and Superintendent.

When education leaders have to terminate an employee there are often multiple layers of issues that must be considered. In this segment our guests provide practical tips for avoiding the big mistakes when showing an employee the door.

Chris Hawthorne is an attorney at Ronald V. McGuckin and Associates, the nation's foremost resource for legal, business, and administrative support for the early care and education industries. David Bloomfield is Professor of Education Leadership, Law, and Policy at Brooklyn College and the City University. Peter DeWitt Ed.D has been a principal in Upstate, NY since 2006.

Lying, conniving, manipulative behind the scenes, informal, maneuvers for power are found in education communities as well. It would be naive for any education leader to believe that these dynamics are not in play in their organization. Today our guests talk candidly about playing politics without being eaten alive or losing your soul.

While teaching journalism at DePaul University, Marilyn Moats Kennedy founded Career strategies. Author of 6 books and writer of several articles. Michael Smith is Superintendent of Tuscola Community Unit School District #301 in Tuscola, Illinois. Sam Chaltain is a DC-based writer and education activist, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Democratic Education in America (IDEA). The author or co-author of six books, Sam is also a regular contributor to Huffington Post and CNN.

Education leaders are increasingly finding that technology is a double edged sword. On one hand, it offers the promise of unlimited ways to transform our lives and our mission to educate children. On the other hand, technology can be overwhelming, frustrating and even addictive. In this segment we ask three experts on the subject of technology in education to help us find the balance.

Dr. Larry Rosen is a research psychologist, recognized as an international expert in the “Psychology of Technology.”Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Co-founder and CEO, Powerful Learning Practice, LLC and author: The Connected Educator - Learning and leading in a digital age. Jason Flom is the Director of Learning Platforms at Q.E.D. Foundation where he works to cultivate, inspire and build learning communities dedicated to transformational learning practices.

Let's face it. There are a lot of expectations that come along with the holiday season. Will your organization have a party, exchange gifts, or allow alcohol on the premises? These and other similar decisions often land on your door step this time of year. Our guests offer some sober perspective and guidance to help you do the holidays right.

While teaching journalism at DePaul University, Marilyn Moats Kennedy is author of Office Politics: The 10 Miseries of the Christmas Season. Joyce Kinney is Director of Renaissance Children's Center, CO Coalition for the Homeless. Joe Mazza is lead learner at Knapp Elementary School in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He's a doctoral learner at the University of Pennsylvania studying social media's impact on home-school partnerships.

Too much to do, too little time. It's an old problem that just keeps getting bigger as more demands are placed on education leaders. But our guests say they have found extra time in some unexpected places and share their discoveries with us in this segment.

Zoë Chance is a postdoctoral researcher at Yale School of Management specializing in decision making and social welfare. Lisa Dabbs spent 19 years as an education administrator. Jessica Johnson has been an elementary school teacher in Minnesota, Arizona and is now an Elementary School Principal in Wisconsin.