The Balancing Act

In this episode of the Balancing Act podcast, Jamie Wanko and Joe Vitale engage in a candid discussion that merges personal anecdotes with educational reflections. They kick off by celebrating Joe's milestone birthday, sharing humorous insights on aging and societal perceptions shaped by social media. 

As seasoned educators, they delve into frustrations surrounding classroom management and the challenges of maintaining student engagement amidst distractions. Highlighting their experiences, Jamie and Joe unpack various pet peeves, from snow removal to driving etiquette, while sharing relatable stories about school drop-off dilemmas. 

Season 3 is brought to you by our principal sponsor, Teachers' Insurance Plan. Check out their website below for more information and to get a quote.

http://bit.ly/4mQC27G⁠

Teachers' Insurance Plan: auto insurance that brings exclusive educator savings and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

Select Episodes from Season 3 sponsored by:

For more information about NJSchoolJobs.com check out their website for up-to-date job postings for teaching, admin, support staff and coaching opportunities.

Interested in Giving Lesson Launchpad a try?  Don’t forget to use our code “Balance” for $5 off a yearly subscription.  Lesson Launchpad - Plan. Present. Automate.  www.lessonlaunchpad.com

We want to hear from you! Shoot over an email and say hi: [email protected]

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Part of the Human Content Podcast Network

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Jamie Ruffner breaks down the reasons she has decided to step away from the classroom, all while keeping her mind on education and how to make things better for all classroom teachers and students. Executive functioning tips for parents and teachers come through during each and every segment of this week's chat. Follow Jamie Ruffner's hysterical take on teaching, and empathize with her real world struggles to balance motherhood and teaching. 

Season 3 is brought to you by our principal sponsor, Teachers' Insurance Plan. Check out their website below for more information and to get a quote.

http://bit.ly/4mQC27G⁠

Teachers' Insurance Plan: auto insurance that brings exclusive educator savings and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

Select Episodes from Season 3 sponsored by:

For more information about NJSchoolJobs.com check out their website for up-to-date job postings for teaching, admin, support staff and coaching opportunities.

Interested in Giving Lesson Launchpad a try?  Don’t forget to use our code “Balance” for $5 off a yearly subscription.  Lesson Launchpad - Plan. Present. Automate.  www.lessonlaunchpad.com

We want to hear from you! Shoot over an email and say hi: [email protected]

Don’t forget to subscribe! Leave us a comment! 

Follow 

Facebook - podbalact JoeandJamie

Instagram - @podthebalancingact

TikTok - @thebalancingactpodcast

Twitter - @podbalact

Youtube Channel - The Balancing Act - YouTube
Part of the Human Content Podcast Network

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our hosts are siding with other teachers on the issues that seem to be shared with teachers across America. Teachers have collectively been scratching their heads with students' lack of common developmental norms. Kids are not coming to school on time, not able to complete basic tasks like cutting, coloring or following multi step directions, and everyone wants to know why.

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Meeting Morgan and Nicole at the NJEA convention in the fall meant that our hosts just widened their New Jersey teacher friend group, and in the meantime basked in the glow of that newer teacher energy they so desperately seek. “The Math Girls” as they have affectionately come to be called, are giving our hosts a refresher course on how to tackle middle school teaching and why teacher- friends make all the difference. 

Season 3 is brought to you by our principal sponsor, Teachers' Insurance Plan. Check out their website below for more information and to get a quote.

http://bit.ly/4mQC27G⁠

Teachers' Insurance Plan: auto insurance that brings exclusive educator savings and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

Select Episodes from Season 3 sponsored by:

For more information about NJSchoolJobs.com check out their website for up-to-date job postings for teaching, admin, support staff and coaching opportunities.

Interested in Giving Lesson Launchpad a try?  Don’t forget to use our code “Balance” for $5 off a yearly subscription.  Lesson Launchpad - Plan. Present. Automate.  www.lessonlaunchpad.com

We want to hear from you! Shoot over an email and say hi: [email protected]

Don’t forget to subscribe! Leave us a comment! 

Follow 

Facebook - podbalact JoeandJamie

Instagram - @podthebalancingact

TikTok - @thebalancingactpodcast

Twitter - @podbalact

Youtube Channel - The Balancing Act - YouTube

Part of the Human Content Podcast Network

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Having a high school senior can be an overwhelming process, and our hosts have three of them between them. How do you pay for college? How do you apply to college? How do you choose a college? How can we balance the stress of parenting senior students through this process? Questions parents ask themselves all the time. Listen as they navigate the mid year college update for their own kids in real time. 

Season 3 is brought to you by our principal sponsor, Teachers' Insurance Plan. Check out their website below for more information and to get a quote.

http://bit.ly/4mQC27G⁠

Teachers' Insurance Plan: auto insurance that brings exclusive educator savings and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

Looking for a job in education?  Teacher, principal, school support or coaching?  

Check out https://www.njschooljobs.com/ for up to date job postings.  

Build Brighter Futures with NJSchoolJobs.com

We want to hear from you! Shoot over an email and say hi: [email protected]

Don’t forget to subscribe! Leave us a comment! 

Follow 

Facebook - podbalact JoeandJamie

Instagram - @podthebalancingact

TikTok - @thebalancingactpodcast

Twitter - @podbalact

Youtube Channel - The Balancing Act - YouTube

Part of the Human Content Podcast Network

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a classroom teacher for nearly 30 years, Melissa Antinoff has experience and boots on the ground with every type of student, and she has a brilliant point of view on education and learned helplessness. Questioning her experience and background was thrilling and beyond eye opening for the hosts and the listener needs to hear more of her perfect brand of wisdom and practical applications in the present day classroom.

Season 3 is brought to you by our principal sponsor, Teachers' Insurance Plan. Check out their website below for more information and to get a quote.

http://bit.ly/4mQC27G⁠

Teachers' Insurance Plan: auto insurance that brings exclusive educator savings and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

We want to hear from you! Shoot over an email and say hi: [email protected]

Don’t forget to subscribe! Leave us a comment! 

Follow 

Facebook - podbalact JoeandJamie

Instagram - @podthebalancingact

TikTok - @thebalancingactpodcast

Twitter - @podbalact

Youtube Channel - The Balancing Act - YouTube

Part of the Human Content Podcast Network

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jamie and Joe discuss their personal experience with S.A.D or seasonal affective disorder and mental health issues that arise in the winter months and how to combat them. Both long time teachers try to rely on their humorous levity to get through some tough times together. Join them to celebrate Joe’s big win in his 2025 fantasy  football league and look to the future for some sweet action. 

Season 3 is brought to you by our principal sponsor, Teachers' Insurance Plan. Check out their website below for more information and to get a quote.

http://bit.ly/4mQC27G⁠

Teachers' Insurance Plan: auto insurance that brings exclusive educator savings and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

We want to hear from you! Shoot over an email and say hi: [email protected]

Don’t forget to subscribe! Leave us a comment! 

Follow 

Facebook - podbalact JoeandJamie

Instagram - @podthebalancingact

TikTok - @thebalancingactpodcast

Twitter - @podbalact

Youtube Channel - The Balancing Act - YouTube

Part of the Human Content Podcast Network

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stand up and clap for the amazing New Jersey educator, Stefanie Lachenauer. Winner of the 2025 NJ State Teacher of the Year award, mindfulness expert, passionate published author of Let the Glitter Settle, and current middle school teacher Lachenauer joins the pod to share her wisdom, experience, and positive energy setting the bar way up high for the second half of season 3 guests.

Season 3 is brought to you by our principal sponsor, Teachers' Insurance Plan. Check out their website below for more information and to get a quote.

http://bit.ly/4mQC27G⁠

Teachers' Insurance Plan: auto insurance that brings exclusive educator savings and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

Check out the links below for all things Stefanie!

Instagram:

@2025NJSTOY

@LetTheGlitterSettle

Facebook:

Stefanie Lachenauer, 2025 NJ State Teacher of the Year

Linked In:

Stefanie Lachenauer

Link to Purchase Let the Glitter Settle: Mindfulness for Teens

NJDOE Mindfulness Resources

My website- free resources

StefanieLachenauer.com

We want to hear from you! Shoot over an email and say hi: [email protected]

Don’t forget to subscribe! Leave us a comment! 

Follow 

Facebook - podbalact JoeandJamie

Instagram - @podthebalancingact

TikTok - @thebalancingactpodcast

Twitter - @podbalact

Youtube Channel - The Balancing Act - YouTube

Part of the Human Content Podcast Network

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first episode of 2026, our hosts will explore their podcasting year in review as they look back on all the highlights from the past year, like interviews with Nick Ferroni, Tyler Tarver, Noelle Santorelli, Mo Lapus, Courtney Varner and Courtney White. Listen for their 2026 words of the year and how choosing intention can set up the year for success. 

Season 3 is brought to you by our principal sponsor, Teachers' Insurance Plan. Check out their website below for more information and to get a quote.

http://bit.ly/4mQC27G⁠ 

Teachers' Insurance Plan: auto insurance that brings exclusive educator savings and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

We want to hear from you! Shoot over an email and say hi: [email protected]

Don’t forget to subscribe! Leave us a comment! 

Follow 

Facebook - podbalact JoeandJamie

Instagram - @podthebalancingact

TikTok - @thebalancingactpodcast

Twitter - @podbalact

Youtube Channel - The Balancing Act - YouTube

Part of the Human Content Podcast Network

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our hosts as the talk all things executive functioning with Dr. Lethco, an expert in the field of research and daily applications of researched tools that can improve executive functioning for those individuals that are  neurodivergent and really so many of those that are just trying to make their way through the daily chore of existing.

Season 3 is brought to you by our principal sponsor, Teachers' Insurance Plan. Check out their website below for more information and to get a quote.

http://bit.ly/4mQC27G⁠

Teachers' Insurance Plan: auto insurance that brings exclusive educator savings and exceptional customer care to New Jersey and Pennsylvania educational employees.

We want to hear from you! Shoot over an email and say hi: [email protected]

Don’t forget to subscribe! Leave us a comment! 

Follow 

Facebook - podbalact JoeandJamie

Instagram - @podthebalancingact

TikTok - @thebalancingactpodcast

Twitter - @podbalact

Youtube Channel - The Balancing Act - YouTube

Part of the Human Content Podcast Network

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices