We wonder through a conversation about the holiday season. We reminisce about our holidays of the past and we also discussed what holiday celebrations look like in our school and classrooms.

We spoke with:

• Alfonso Mendoza, host of the My EdTech Life Podcast
• Mel Aveling, avid Twitter user and friend of the podcast!

Chris: This American Life - Lights, Camera, Christmas! (2012) - This holiday season, we bring you a show filled with stories of people going to great lengths to throw a special Christmas for their families, including: tales of Luna the guinea pig, Bambi the reindeer, and Jeko the super-powerful (and somewhat-scary) Christmas elf.

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The COVID-19 Pandemic taught educators many valuable lessons. Teachers all over the world were forced to change how they taught students almost overnight. For months educators implemented new strategies and refined old ones to maximize our time with students in a variety of situations.

But now, as the world and education begin to return to "normal" we find ourselves faced with the decision of what to do with our new learning as teachers or what place these new skills have in our face-to-face classrooms.

Topics Discussed:

• What did you do during the pandemic that worked and you're still doing or you've adapted to in-person learning?

Stacey - Planet Money: Origins of a Superhero - Comic book publishers like Marvel and DC sit on a treasure trove: thousands and thousands of comic book characters. Pieces of intellectual property. You know the big ones--Superman, Ironman, Captain America. They each make millions off of movies and merchandise. But for every marquee character, there are hundreds of others sitting unused.

We can't abide by that. Superheroes are meant to save the day, not be stowed away. So we thought: why not convince Marvel to sell us one?

Miss any of the Micro-Face madness?

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Quinlan Van Es is pursuing a career in education as a social studies teacher. He is earning his teaching credentials through the Rutgers Graduate School of Education and his completing is student teaching with Chris as his cooperating teacher during the Fall 2021 semester.

At the time of the recording, Quinn is a new teacher on Twitter and you can follow him @Mr_QVanEs

Topics Discussed:

• What it's like to have Chris as a Cooperating Teacher
• How has your teacher preparation program prepared you or underserved you?
• How to make the most of student teaching to prepare for your career as an educator

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After catching up Stacey, AJ, and Chris talk about doing innovative things in the classroom as teachers and administrators.

Stacey shares a great story of how she's working with her co-teacher, Molly, through a program in their district to secure funding and items that will be innovative in their classroom. The discussion hits on technology, seating, and other items that could potentially arrive in Stacey's classroom this year.

Stacey - This Land (Crooked Media) The award-winning documentary podcast This Land is back for season 2. Rebecca Nagle reports on how the far right is using Native children to attack American Indian tribes and advance a conservative agenda.

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Daniel Bauer helps school leaders fight isolation and frustration via a leadership community in order to gain clarity and find solutions to their greatest challenges. He is the founder and host of the Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast and the author of The Better Leaders Better Schools Roadmap: Small Ideas That Lead to Big Impact (2018).

Daniel recently released his latest book, Mastermind: Unlocking Talent Within Every School Leader. In this book, Daniel discusses how a lack of mentorship and coaching is a leading reason for leader attrition in education, but it doesn’t have to be this way. If it’s true that "Everyone wins when the leader gets better," then your community is counting on you to prioritize your own professional growth – so that YOU get better.

Daniel - Better Leaders Better Schools Podcast - created for RUCKUS MAKERS in education -- those out-of-the-box school leaders making change happen. Launched in 2015, this category-defining podcast in educational leadership has helped over 1 MILLION leaders LEVEL UP. Each week host DANIEL BAUER has a conversation with a leadership expert and invites you to listen in. Turn your commute, chores, or workout into professional development, and then GO MAKE A RUCKUS!

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In this episode, Chris, AJ, and Stacey talk about teachers' desire to still perform some job functions from home vs having to return completely to the way things were.

Other topics included:

• More lunch protocols
• Chris has another students teacher

Kevin Carroll called in to weigh in on the topic as well.

Chris - Throughline - The Shadows of the Constitution (2020) - The Constitution is like America's secular bible, our sacred founding document. In her play, What the Constitution Means to Me, Heidi Schreck goes through a process of discovering what the document is really about – who wrote it, who it was for, who it protected and who it didn't. Through Heidi's personal story, we learn how the Constitution and how it has been interpreted have affected not just her family but generations of Americans.

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In this episode, we candidly discuss some of our routines and AJ gets into the weeds about school lunch which leads us down a path of COVID protocols and procedures.

We were also joined on-air by Alfonso Mendoza, host of the My EdTech Life Podcast.

Chris - Zack to the Future - Mark-Paul Gosselaar (aka Zack Morris) has not watched an episode of Saved by the Bell since he walked off the set over 25 years ago. Partnered with Dashiell Driscoll – who is currently writing for the series reboot and who wrote the Funny or Die series “Zack Morris is Trash” - the duo revisits the show and recaps the most epic moments for the audience to relive the incredible series. So grab a burger and shake from The Max, get so excited for some special guests and don’t let the dog eat your homework, because Zack Morris is back.

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In this episode, we candidly discuss and reflect on our first days of school for the 2021-2022 school year.

Stacey is entering 3rd year as a 5th-grade teacher after spending many years as an instructional technology coach.

Chris is entering his 14th year as a Social Studies teacher.

AJ is entering his 2nd year as a middle school Assistant Principal.

How have your first days/weeks of school been this year? Comment below or send us a voice message that we play in a future episode.

Stacey - Unlocking Us Brene Brown and Jason Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt

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We continue the conversation to help the new, first-year, teacher. We’re going to share more tips and tricks.

Also check out episode 102

Topics Discussed:

• Relationships

1. with Colleagues
2. with Admin
3. with Students
4. with Parents

• Relationships with KEY building personnel

1. Custodians
2. Secretaries/Administrative Assistants
3. Site or district technology specialist

Tips & Tricks from Social Media:

• Ruth Replogle (@ruthreplogle) - Gather good ideas. I listen to podcasts while I'm doing housework at night, and I listen to audiobooks while I walk to and from school.
• Shea Smith (@EDUlonggame) - Get to know your site or district technology specialist. They can make your life in the classroom much easier!
• Lisa Dabbs (@itslisadabbs) - 1. Reach out to parents via phone, email or an app and make positive connections with them long before you need to contact them due to an issue with their child. 2. Set up a private digital community on FB or IG where parents can see & share in the day to day activities. 3. Do seek out a mentor that can be that sounding board and guide on the side! This is critical!
• Kristin Edwards (@kedwards51) - I wish that someone had told me that I should join prof. Organizations and Twitter for support. I also wish that I understood what knowledge I would gain with experience. During your first year, you don’t know what you don’t know…but you will get there in time. 
• gotLearning (@GrowthOverTime) - #1 All students can learn. #2 Your classroom should be as much like life beyond the classroom as possible. #3 The best classroom management program is a good instructional program.
• Ryan Gutsch (@BBTtrivia) - 1. Get to know the custodians and office secretaries. They truly run things. 2. Never work during your lunch break. Take that time for yourself.
• Kathy Iwanicki (@kathyiwanicki) - Listen more...usually there is a reason behind why things are done the way they are.  Sometimes it is for a good reason!

Alfonso Mendoza:

• My EdTech Life

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Teaching is not an easy job. You will hear this from most teachers no matter how much experience they have. For many who enter this profession the first year is the toughest and most challenging. Think about it. You're fresh out of school perhaps your only meaningful teaching experience was during your student teaching experience which was probably 14-16 weeks.

In this episode, we discuss and share tips and tricks for the first-year teacher with the hope that your first year might go just a little bit smoother.

And don't worry...episode 103 will contain part two!

Topics Discussed:

• Classroom Management
• Time Management

Tips & Tricks from Social Media:

• Sean Scanlon (@polonerd) - Don’t hesitate to ask questions from veteran teachers and don’t try to do too much.  You can’t do everything the first year.
• Jessica Verrault (@JessicaVerrault) - Don’t hesitate to ask questions or to ask someone to teach you to do or use something that could really benefit your students.  Also, don’t be afraid to share your own ideas.
• Dr. Kim Ramadan (@KimRamadan) - Find positive educators to be your “people”. Practice self-care. Ask for help.
• Ruth Replogle (@ruthreplogle) - 1. Find a mentor. If your school does not assign you one, find somebody who will answer your questions, show you where to get supplies, and navigate the school's culture. 2. Get plenty of sleep. You can't get too much.
• Shanna Martin (@smartinwi) - Be yourself! Kids can see right through you if you are not genuine.
• Rafranz Davis (@RafranzDavis) - It’s ok to put your own mental health first. It’s ok to prioritize yourself once you leave that campus. In other words, don’t take your work home with you.
• Tim Belmont (@tbelmontedu) - 1. Go easy on yourself. It’s not going to be perfect. 2. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice. 3. Keep your life outside of school a priority.
• Ryan Gutsch (@BBTtrivia) - Try your best to separate work and home. Leave school mail off your phone.
• Dan Whalen (@whalen) - 1. Take care of yourself: sleep, hydrate, eat as best as you can. 2. Be kind to yourself if you don’t follow rule 1. 3 hours of sleep and a piece of cake from the lounge for lunch will happen. Just reset tomorrow 3. Smile and have fun w your kids. The rest will come with time.
• Cindy Assini (@cindyAssini) - You can be effective while having work-life boundaries! Lean on colleagues and prioritize. More work at the expense of healthy habits is not better; part of our jobs is teaching/leading through example by being a healthy, whole human. Nurture yourself physically, emotionally, socially, financially, and spiritually. In addition to doing what you enjoy, self-care looks like setting boundaries, getting a financial planner, and eating nourishing food.
• Rich Czyz (@RACzyz) - Find the person that will support U, motivate U, and help U through year 1! It may not be ur grade level or dept colleagues or even someone in ur own school. Don’t be afraid to connect w/ others outside your school. And always take charge of your own PD! 12 days of Secret Sauce tips
• Oona Abrams (@oonziela) - Don’t be like I was in 1996. SMILE EVERY DAY AND OFTEN!

AJ:

• The Rewatchables - a film podcast from the Ringer Podcast Network, features The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and a roundtable of people from the Ringer universe discussing movies they can’t seem to stop watching. Listen to the complete archives of 150-plus movies, including 'The Hangover,' 'Godfather 2,' 'Dunkirk,' 'Creed,' and many more classics.
• 60 Songs That Explain The 90s

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