#PrincipalPLN

In this episode, we warm up with hot coffee and blankets to stay warm in this frigid winter. Spike talks about the Bomb Cyclone in New Jersey, which caused his school to close for two days, we compared temperatures and talked about indoor recess/school closure decision making. A fun app share to enjoy your weather is: WTForecast - Caution, the profanity can be offensive in this app, but you can change the setting.

 

We also talked about what happens when staff have a countdown or stir up excitement for a snow day...what message does that send our students and families? Thank you Tom Murray for this tweet:

 

 

Spike talked about "One word 2018." Have you picked "One word?" Spike's is Gratitude, Theresa's is Aware, and finally Jessica agreed to one word… Balance

We talked about pop news and how a youtube video caused quite a stir for students when a famous youtuber recorded a video from the suicide forest in Japan:  http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/03/health/japan-suicide-forest-intl/index.html

 

On a much more positive note we celebrated Adam Welcome, our crazy running principal friend, for completing 103 miles in 24 hours!

 

Jessica shared a discussion activity she used in a recent staff meeting with the purpose of building shared understanding and then brought up an issue that happens in staff meetings...do you have this issue?

In this special end of the year episode, Theresa, Jessica and Spike discuss their Winter Break.

 

Spike talked about his floating experience. He will be posting a blog about what he learned from the time in the sensory deprivation tank. Click here for the blog post on floating. 

 

Jess talked about her trip to the North Pole (aka Minnesota).

 

Theresa talked about couch time (SO important!)

 

We then got into a discussion about screen time. Jessica shared an app called (OffTime) and Theresa shared the app RealizD. Do you have a favorite app to keep track of the usage on your phone and what is taking up too much time in your day? Another recommendation on this topic included the book Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zambrodi, who is also the host of the podcast Note to Self.

 

We chatted about New Year's Resolutions and goals for balance. A podcast recommendation shared by Jessica included Lead to Win by Michael Hyatt.

In this episode, Theresa and Spike share their final week leading up to the Winter Break. It is clear from the discussion that no matter the school you work in or the area of the country, that it can be a very stressful time. Spike and Theresa shared some ideas for student and staff recognition.

 

What do Principals do over the break? Theresa, who has a two-week break, plans to read, relax and disconnect. She talked about the book Culturize, by Jimmy Casas and the Twitter group that is going along with that. In addition, she has some plans for writing and maybe even organizing her office.

 

Spike's goals for the break are very similar. He recently purchased, Brene Brown's new book Braving the Wilderness and plans to read it. In addition, he might try to do a Float session, yoga and or a hike in the woods to decompress.

 

Tell us what you are doing over the break. Tweet us @drspikecook, @principalstager, @principalj and use the #principalpln.

Episode 85: Breaking Out Of Isolation

 

In this episode, Theresa, Spike and Jessica catch up after about a year hiatus from the podcast. It is clear that everyone needed a break to work on other projects, focus on family, and work/life balance.

 

 

Where our thumbs are going:

 

Flipgrid vs Recap

Brene Brown Braving the Wilderness

Snow Day Calculator

Lucy Calkins Reading/Writing

Melinda Miller's Blog Post - Progressive PD

Culturize - Jimmy Casas

Coherence - Michael Fullan

@DGriffin3 Flipgrid Fever

• Introduce parents to teachers over summer/new semester/trimester
• Conferences
• Foreign Language students

Episode 84: Happy New Year #PrincipalPLN by Dr. Spike Cook, Jessica Johnson, Theresa Stager

Episode 83: Support for New Administrators by Dr. Spike Cook, Jessica Johnson, Theresa Stager

Episode 82: Random Thoughts in the August 'Crunch Time' by Dr. Spike Cook, Jessica Johnson, Theresa Stager

In this episode, we are joined by Ann Smart (@annsmart17), an Ed Tech Consultant from Michigan to have her answer our question: What is BreakoutEdu? Listen to find out how you can use this for team building/collaboration in a staff meeting/PD to model taking risks and then let your teachers brainstorm how they could use this in their classrooms. There are many ways teachers are already using BreakoutEdu in their classes to make learning tons of fun! If you are excited to get going with BreakoutEdu then here are some links to help you get started: (live links at principalpln.com) http://www.breakoutedu.com/ Follow BreakoutEdu on Twitter Check the hashtag #breakoutedu Join the Facebook Group to network with others for ideas Lock App Pinterest Page of BreakoutEdu ideas

In this episode we chat with Melissa Emler, a former principal and now Director of Innovations, about using Facebook as your tool to communicate with your parents and community. While we thought we were great at using Facebook to communicate with our parents/community, Melissa blew our minds with awesome ideas and better ways to tell our story and engage our families! Listen to learn how Melissa used social media interns to help manage her school Facebook page, which also helped her high school students learn digital citizenship and great communication skills. Did you know that Faceook's algorithm has changed, so unless you're posting something every day, your community is likely not seeing your school posts showing up in their feed! Melissa teaches us how to change this and how to inform your families of this change. She talks about the use of Facebook analytics, how to make posting easier with a content calendar and then blew our minds about utilizing Facebook live. Melissa hosts the podcast, On the Vendor Floor, and has a few episodes that you can listen to about managing your school Facebook page. You follow her on Twitter: @MelissaEmler Some other great links to learn from (live links available at http://principalpln.blogspot.com/2016/07/episode-80-leveling-up-your-school.html): Melissa's podcast series on Facebook for School Leaders 5 Mistakes You Are Already Making On Your School's Facebook Page Social Media Intern Objectives and Expectations Presentation Slides from one of Melissa's Conference Sessions

Episode 78: When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time? with Dr. Tony Sinanis by Dr. Spike Cook, Jessica Johnson, Theresa Stager