Podcasts about amle

En partenariat avec le fonds de dotation Nouveau Monde, on vous propose chaque mois un épisode exclusif. Ce mois-ci, on vous fait découvrir l'Association pour la Méditation Laïque dans l'Éducation (AMLE) - qui diffuse la méditation dans l'éducation pour renforcer les Compétences Psychosociales et la santé mentale des jeunes. Aujourd'hui, Candice Marro, psychothérapeute, prend le micro pour nous proposer une courte méditation, à pratiquer à tout moment. Belle écoute ! ☀️ ---Cette saison de podcasts est soutenue par Nouveau Monde, un fonds de dotation qui facilite l'accès à la méditation et à la pleine conscience, en France.Si tu as aimé cet épisode, tu peux le partager, écrire un commentaire dans la description et laisser des étoiles sur ta plateforme d'écoute ! Pour retrouver l'AMLE, qui fait découvrir la méditation en milieu éducatif.---

Recorded at AMLE 24 in Nashville, Marc sat down with five of the Sparkle Sisters, a group of innovative middle school educators from across the United States. Pull up a chair and catch P. Sloan Joseph, Katie Powell, Ruby Voss, Amber Benson, and Dr. Simone T. Lewis as they discuss topics, including: collaboration, AI, evolving classrooms, and the power of making connections. Show Notes: Guests' X handles: P. Sloan Joseph Katie Powell Ruby Voss/Amber Benson Dr. Simone T. Lewis   Check out Marc's new book, CAPTIVATE

I recently attended the AMLE Institute in San Diego, CA and am excited to share some insights from my experience as well introduce you to AMLE, if you've never heard of it before! Hear an overview of the Institute and takeaways from homebase and different sessions I attended. Head to Instagram and follow me @howtoteachmusicwithjessica! I'd love to connect with you! LINKS Association of Middle Level Educators (AMLE) Website The Successful Middle School: This We Believe Book The Successful Middle School pdf The Science of Mastering Life's Challenges book Untangled book

Explore trauma-responsive strategies for fostering empathy and love in schools with Matthew Bowerman. Discover the significance of origin-building and how individuals can find their purpose through personal assessment. Gain insights into providing social-emotional support to students and staff, and learn how to create trauma-sensitive spaces. Plus, learn about Matthew's transformative book, "HEARTLEADER: A Trauma Responsive Approach to Teaching, Leading, and Building Community." About Matthew J. Bowerman Matthew J. Bowerman is a husband and father of six, as well as an educator of twenty six years, Matthew currently serves as a school administrator. As well as an author/researcher, speaker and trainer with TeacherGoals, focusing on trauma-responsive teaching, leading, and school-family engagement. Much of Matthew's writing and training centers around trauma-responsive education operationalizing love and equity to empower students, uplift families, and engage and support school staff. An Emmy-award winning writer/director for his educational short "BusSTOP,' addressing the bullying crisis, Matthew has published nationally on trauma informed school care, building restorative practices, supporting school counselors, and amplifying instructional practices and leadership from a trauma-responsive lens. Matthew holds a Bachelors in Theatre, a Masters in Teaching, a Masters in Educational Leadership and is currently in his Doctoral program pursuing his PhD in Educational Leadership with a focus in Trauma-Responsive Teaching and Leading. Matthew has also worked as a medic, a police recruit, and a professional actor/singer/dancer/choreographer nationally and internationally in theatre. film, and television. Follow Matthew J. Bowerman Twitter/X: @MJBowerman Insta: mrmjbowerman Facebook group: Heartleader My site: www.matthewjbowerman.com  Linkedin: Matthew Bowerman Additional Resources TeacherGoals: https://www.edutopia.org/profile/matthew-j-bowerman Edutopia: https://www.edutopia.org/profile/matthew-j-bowerman AMLE: https://www.amle.org/navigating-the-gray-trauma-in-the-middle-grades/ ...

In this episode of Teaching Channel Talks, our host, Dr. Wendy Amato, welcomes Dr. Walter Lee, Assistant Professor of Middle/Secondary Education at the University of South Carolina Upstate, to discuss educator mindsets and the importance of positive self-concept. In this conversation, Dr. Lee shares his equity-focused approach for preparing the next generation of educators for the classroom, ensuring they are properly equipped to handle everything thrown at them—including parent-teacher conferences!Resources for Continued LearningIf you enjoyed this episode, you can learn more from Dr. Lee on his YouTube channel where he posts more information about the Call Me MiSTER program and tips for improving your mindset and wellbeing.Dr. Lee is a board member of the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE), an international organization specifically for middle school educators. As the go-to middle school resource for research, best practices, and professional development, AMLE is a community of over 350,000 middle-level educators connecting and supporting each other.Learn more and join the community!This episode focuses on self-concept and equity, learn more about the important role these factors play in education in Dr. Lee's article, Rising Tides, Sinking Boats – A Focus on Equitable Practices.

Jing Cox-Orrell (American Student Assistance) and Ashley Hemmy, Ed.D (NFTE) join Corey to dream big about what self-discovery and entrepreneurial education can look like for middle grade learners and beyond. Ashley and Jing demonstrate the power of empowering younger learners in profession-based learning. Plus, they give us the lowdown on all the resources that will help you take your classroom offerings to the next level.Some of the resources mentioned in the episode:AMLE's Career Exploration for Middle Grades PlaybookAmerican Student AssistanceNFTEASA's FuturescapeNFTE's Entrepreneurial MindsetThe Network is all about discovering the CAPS Model. The CAPS Network is a 501(c)3 supporting over 100 programs, in 21 states and 4 countries. CAPS reimagines education to be a learner centered, profession based experience that catapults young people into passion and purpose. CAPS is going where students lead.Find us!Twitter: @capsnetLinkedIn: CAPS NetworkFacebook: CAPS NetworkInstagram: @capsnetwork

Junior High. Middle School. No matter what the name on the sign outside says, what's important is the work happening on the inside. In this episode, Wendy welcomes Jack Berckemeyer of the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) for a candid conversation about the big changes happening in how educators approach middle school. Jack stresses the importance of middle school teachers connecting with their students during this crucial time in their academic careers and how staying up-to-date on the fads, fashion, and slang of this age group can help in student success.Resources for Continued LearningThe Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) is an international organization specifically for middle school educators. As the go-to resource for research, best practices, and professional development, AMLE is a community of over 350,000 middle level educators connecting and supporting each other. Learn more and join the community!Jack Berckemeyer is a successful author who has written several books focusing on middle level education. In this episode, Jack and Wendy talk about the following titles:Successful Middle School: This We BelieveSuccessful Middle Schools: TeamingManaging the Madness: A Practical Guide to Understanding Young Adolescents & Classroom ManagementDeliberate Optimism: Still Reclaiming the Joy in Education 2nd Ed

In this episode of Teaching Channel Talks, we're taking a closer look at the middle grades with Jennifer Rose, the Director for Professional Programs at the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE). From the importance of differentiated professional development to understanding the complex changes students go through during this phase of adolescence, Jennifer and Wendy's discussion centers around the niche of middle level education and how AMLE is working to support the teachers within it.Resources for Continued LearningThe Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) is an international organization specifically for middle school educators. As the go-to resource for research, best practices, and professional development, AMLE is a community of over 350,000 middle level educators connecting and supporting each other.Learn more and join the community!During this episode, Jennifer mentions AMLE's The Successful Middle School: This We Believe. Teaching Channel is proud to partner with the Association of Middle Level Education in upholding the 18 characteristics listed and offering professional development created specifically for middle school teachers.AMLE also offers several books focused on the education of young adolescents aged 10-15, which Jennifer mentions in the episode. AMLE members receive a 20% discount on all titles, but these texts are available to all educators.

This week, Scott talks about his experience going to the AMLE conference and running into Katie Powell (Twitter), Jamie talks about sketchnoting, and Fabian talks about connecting with a student who is very disruptive in his class. Finally, Fabian talks about how he has been trying to make the boardgame Pandemic: Fall of Rome work in his classroom in our ever popular segment “Whatcha' been playin'...?” Join @hofmannedu, @mrsjamiehalsey, and @findingmyaloha each week by subscribing to our podcast and rating and reviewing us on Apple Podcasts! Join our Discord on rebelteacheralliance.com Find us on Instagram @rebelteacheralliance, on Twitter @rebelteacherpod, and on TikTok @rebelteacheralliance. Leave us a message here! Things mentioned on the show: - Carrie Baughcum's book My Pencil made me do it - Pandemic: Fall of Rome --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rebel-teacher-alliance/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rebel-teacher-alliance/support

Join our host Dr. Wendy Amato and special guest, Katie Johnson, the principal of Belmont Ridge Middle School in Leesburg, Virginia, as they explore the nuances of middle school from a leadership lens. As a veteran middle-grade teacher now navigating the challenges of leadership, Katie's student-first approach has helped her create a thriving school culture and earned her school the recognition of AMLE as a School of Distinction. Resources for Continued LearningIn this episode, Katie and Wendy talk about AMLE's Schools of Distinction, an award given to Belmont Ridge Middle School under Katie's leadership. Learn more about this program, connect with other recognized schools, or nominate your own middle school for this prestigious recognition here. During the episode, Katie talks about the importance of professional learning and a student-first focus in her school. To see how your school aligns with these best practices, Katie has provided a best practices slide deck used at Belmont Ridge Middle School to plan professional learning.Curious about how the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) works to support and improve middle schools across the country? Check out AMLE's National Policy Agenda for the Middle Grades.

Join our host Dr. Wendy Amato and special guest, Katie Powell from the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE), as they explore the unique landscape of middle school. Both former middle grade educators, Katie and Wendy share valuable insights on the nuances of teaching in the middle levels and discuss how AMLE is undertaking initiatives to support and empower middle school teachers to make a lasting impact in these pivotal years of student development.Resources for Continued LearningDuring this conversation, Wendy and Katie talk about the characteristics of a successful middle school. Download AMLE's Successful Middle School Summary to see how your school stacks up and identify places for potential improvement!If you're a middle grade educator ready to "find your people" and better support your students, join the Association for Middle Level Education! Becoming a member of AMLE means joining thousands of fellow middle school educators in a collective movement to elevate the middle school profession and achieve excellence in our schools and our careers.Check out AMLE's Successful Middle School Assessment and learn how you can use this data-driven tool to help middle school educators create meaningful improvement.

Ever wondered how to voice your concerns without sparking conflict?Even though teachers have credentials to teach and work with students, it is a different skill set to talk effectively with adults.Effective communication with adults, colleagues, and administrators, allows educators to express their concerns without complaining and still maintain relationships, both personally and professionally. And that takes skill building, including naming their fears and hesitations and remembering that they are in a team.So joining us today is Jennifer Abrams, an international educational and communications consultant and a trainer for coaches, teachers, and administrators, to talk about empowering educators through effective communication and dealing with hard conversations.Jennifer also shares the need to balance one's personal development and professional growth, the future of education through a human-centered approach, and why teacher support is essential. There is power in your voice and the support systems around you. So, never shy away from asking for support because that's a path to growth. Here's to your journey as an empowered educator! Stay empowered,JenLet's keep the conversation going! Find me at:Jen Rafferty | Instagram, YouTube, Facebook | LinktreeInstagram: @jenrafferty_Facebook: Empowered Educator Faculty RoomAbout Jennifer:Jennifer Abrams is an international educational and communications consultant for public and independent schools, universities and non-profits. Jennifer trains and coaches teachers, administrators and others on new teacher/employee support, having hard conversations, collaboration skills and being your best adult self at work. In her over two decades at Palo Alto Unified School District (Palo Alto, CA, USA), Jennifer was a high school English teacher, new teacher coach, and professional development facilitator. She left PAUSD in 2012 to start her full time communications consultancy in which she works with schools and organizations around the globe.Jennifer presents at annual North American-based conferences such as Learning Forward, ASCD, NASSP, NAESP, AMLE, ISACS and the New Teacher Center Annual Symposium among others. Internationally, she facilitated with the Teachers' and Principals' Centers for International School Leadership (TTC and PTC) and presents with EARCOS, NESA, ECIS, AISA, AMISA, CEESA and Tri-Association, and consults with schools across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, South America and Canada. Jennifer's publications include Having Hard Conversations, The Multigenerational Workplace: Communicating, Collaborating & Creating Community and Hard Conversations Unpacked - the Whos, the Whens and the What Ifs, Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives, and her newest book, Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work. Jennifer has been recognized as one of "21 Women All K-12 Educators Need to Know" by Education Week's 'Finding Common Ground' blog. She considers herself a "voice coach," helping others learn how to best use their voices - be it collaborating on a team, presenting in front of a group, coaching a colleague, supervising an employee.  Connect with Jennifer:Website: www.jenniferabrams.comIG: @jenniferbethabramsX: @jenniferabramsLinkedIn

This week on Teaching Channel Talks, we are joined by Dr. Tim Schigur, a distinguished educator with a multifaceted career in school leadership. As a seasoned educational leader, Dr. Schigur brings a wealth of experience and insight to our discussion, centering on the intricate dynamics of school leadership, organizational strategies, and the nuanced decision-making processes that shape the educational landscape at the highest levels. Tune in as Dr. Schigur shares his wisdom and sheds light on the multifaceted challenges of educational leadership.Resources for Continued LearningDr. Tim Schigur is the co-author of the book, Successful Middle School Instructional Technology, a companion guide to The Successful Middle School that provides a framework to develop a common language and approach to instructional technology in middle school.Dr. Schigur's book is one of the many resources offered by the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE). AMLE is an international organization for middle school educators offering a strong community of over 3500 educators, and high-level content and resources for teachers and leaders working with young adolescents. Teaching Channel is offering special discounts and offers for AMLE members, learn more and become a part of AMLE here.

In September, I hosted a webinar called "How To Write A Great Story" where I talked about what a "story" really is, as well as how to use personal stories to help your writing. This episode addresses questions you asked in our Q&A session that we didn't have time to answer. There's lots of great info here, make sure you watch.Show NotesFree Writing Webinar - https://michaeljamin.com/op/webinar-registration/Michael's Online Screenwriting Course - https://michaeljamin.com/courseFree Screenwriting Lesson - https://michaeljamin.com/freeJoin My Watchlist - https://michaeljamin.com/watchlistAutogenerated TranscriptMichael Jamin:It's not that The stakes of rocky areas are not about will Rocky win the fight? Who caress? Will Rocky win the competition? The contest who caress? No one cares if he wins. The stakes are, will Rocky finally feel like he's not a loser? Will he finally feel like he's not a bum? And that's something something all of us can relate to. You're listening to, what the hell is Michael Jamin talking about? I'll tell you what I'm talking about. I'm talking about creativity, I'm talking about writing, and I'm talking about reinventing yourself through the arts. Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of, what the Hell is Michael Jamin talking about? Well, today I'm talking about, I'm answering questions. Phil, I'm back here with Phil Hudson. Hey Phil. What up? So why do these webinars every three weeks? And I try to answer questions during them and we don't have time to get to all of them. So I'm going to be answering them right now and Phil's going to feed 'em to me.Phil Hudson:That's right. He'sMichael Jamin:Going to baby bird them to me. He's going to chew them up and dip 'em into my mouth.Phil Hudson:I'm going to spit 'em into your mouth. Regurgitate 'em. Love it. Yeah. You guys know the thing. We've been doing this for two years now, so we've got plenty of these episodes in the Can questions came up. We're going to dive into 'em Again, some of these things that were asked, we're not going to go over Michael because we've talked about 'em a thousand times,Michael Jamin:ButPhil Hudson:There are always some of those things that are still being asked that worth talking about a bit. So we'll go through 'em. I've broken 'em up into kind of categories just to make sure that it's easy to get through. Just be more, there are a couple of questions about your course in this I thought were worth bringing up because that was a lot of the questions that came up in September.Michael Jamin:Let's do it.Phil Hudson:Alright, let's dive into craftMichael Jamin:Michael.Phil Hudson:Dr. Adam wants to know, and these are YouTube. YouTube usernames forMichael Jamin:Anybody interested? Yes. Doctor IPhil Hudson:Help you with Dr. Adam wants to know how important is it for someone else to edit your writing,Michael Jamin:Edit? Well, when we work in television, it's very collaborative, so your work will be rewritten often heavily by the showrunners or the writing staff. But it's a very collaborative process from the beginning. We all work together to break the story, meaning figuring out what the story is, and I teach this in the course, how to break a story, and then you get notes in the outline, the first draft, the second draft, and the table draft, blah, blah, blah. So it's very collaborative. But if you're talking about, I dunno if the doctor's talking about some other kind of work other than television writingPhil Hudson:The Good Doctor.Michael Jamin:Yeah, I don't know, doctor, I'm not really sure what you mean other than I hope I answered your questionPhil Hudson:To me. Either way.Michael Jamin:You're getting my bill.Phil Hudson:Yeah, if you're billing the doctor, I love it. For me, this is a question more about, it's a common question I've seen with people starting out, which is getting feedback or peer review, if you will on things. I had a couple of friends over Mike Rap who's a writer on Tacoma d and Kevin who will feature the podcast soon and is in the screenwriting course. There were football and we talked a lot about this kind of stuff in writer's room stuff. They both work in writer writer's rooms and getting notes from peers even outside of the writer's room at our level, Kevin and I have probably spent 40 or 50 hours on Zoom now giving each other notes onMichael Jamin:Writing.Phil Hudson:That's incredibly helpful, but it's not so much that they're editing my writing, it's more of them talking about This didn't work for me, or Hey, I got confused here. And that's the feedback that you always talk about, which is the valid feedback is someone gets lost, they don't understand. It's not compelling. It's not really on page three. You have this ticky tack note where you overcapitalize a word or something like that.Michael Jamin:Yeah, editing could be not so much getting answers from someone, but just getting questions. And the questions could be, if someone's reading your work, they could say, I, what were you going for here? I didn't get what you were going for. And then you get to decide whether you want to clarify or keep it muddy. And probably keeping it muddy is probably not the greatest choice. So you just want to make sure that your audience is along for the ride. And I was going to do a post about this soon where I think part of your responsibility as a writer is to make sure you're holding your audience's hand and taking them along for the ride and not letting go because you don't want them to get lost. If they get lost, they're going to find something else to do.Phil Hudson:Yeah, that's a great point. Yeah, it's an interesting too, when you work with people who know story structure and they've been in writer rooms and they're giving you these notes. There are times where this thing didn't make sense to me, but I understand what you're going for there. Or I would consider this doing a different way. But then you get a note from the other guy and they're like, I loved this part. And so that conflicting thing is like, okay, I can keep this one. That's a choice. But when they're both like, Hey, I got really bogged down in this piece, that's a clear sign. You've got to fix something.Michael Jamin:Yeah, right. Thank you DoctorPhil Hudson:Alex Kier, any tips on writing a story with multiple characters and stories like love? Actually?Michael Jamin:Oh, well, first of all, stories have multiple characters, but you're talking about multiple storylines. And so love actually is not that uncommon. It's a fun movie, but it's not that uncommon. You're basically just having multiple storylines and all the storylines are united by this one thread, which is love during Christmas. That's it. And there's different types of love. There's Brotherly Love. The way the Rock Star character had for his manager, what was that guy's name? But there's brand new love the way the two characters who met on the porn set. That's like an awkward way of meeting. And there's other romantic love between a couple that's been married for a long time, and that was Emmett Thompson's character with Alan Rickman's character. Then there's Love, new Love Upstairs, downstairs, love, which was, what's his name? Hugh? Hugh Grant, come on. Hugh Grant, thank Hugh Grant's character.I don't remember her name, but he was the prime minister and she was the lowly chambermaid or whatever she was supposed to be. And then you have another Love one character was a love where they can't communicate. So it was Colin Firth's character and I don't remember her name, but she didn't speak. She was the Portuguese maid and she didn't speak English. So you're just examining love over Christmas between different types of love and that's how they're all united. So that was the theme. And every story has to tell a version of that. Oh, then there's one of the love there was brand new love, like puppy love, right? There was a storyline between the kid and what's his name? He was like the young kid and his stepfather, Liam Neeson. And he's trying to coach him into, wasn't that in love actually, or is that somethingPhil Hudson:Else? I have never seen love actually.Michael Jamin:Oh, you got to watch it. So yeah. So those are my tips. So that's it. And you're just kind of integrating these very stories so each one can stand on its own. Each story can stand on its own. And you're probably, if I had to time it, I would imagine that most stories, so there was one other, there was unrequited love where the guy had a crush on his best friend's, new wife, Kira Knightly, and so all different kinds of love. And I imagine if you took a stopwatch and you timed out each storyline you'd get to, they, they're all approximately the same amount of weight in terms of screen time and that's it. And if they weren't, I imagine it's because some of the stories got cut down because we weren't quite as compelling on camera as they were in the script. But I talk about this a lot. Maybe I should do a breakdown in the course of love. Actually, I talk aboutPhil Hudson:This. People love that. And you brought love actually up in stuff in the courseMichael Jamin:I did. Okay. We already talked about it.Phil Hudson:Well, I don't think you've done a case study. And for those who are unfamiliar, Michael has these awesome case studies in where you'll talk about movies you love Amle, and you'll talk about, I think, did you do Rocky Ferris Bueller's Day Off Castaway, just looking at films and TV shows and kind of breaking 'em down for story structure and talking about what works, what doesn't. And then you also hypothesized this, I imagine got cut in editing becauseMichael Jamin:AsPhil Hudson:A writer, there's a thing here that could be here or was missing, that kindMichael Jamin:Of thing. Yeah, there was a scene that I think that was missing from love actually, that I imagine they shot, but they just cut it for the sake of time.Phil Hudson:But I think it would be worth doing that. I think the members in the course would be pumped to get another case study,Michael Jamin:But there you go. Take the course if you want to learn more. But that, it's a good question.Phil Hudson:You hit on something that you talk about in one of your webinars that we're going to be putting back into the cycle because people really liked it, which is how do professional writers create great characters? And there's this nuance you talked about in the September webinar thatMichael Jamin:BecamePhil Hudson:A full webinar, and it's about how you pick your characters. So I'll leave that a bit nebulous. So anybody's interested in that, come attend the nextMichael Jamin:Webinar. Yeah, please do. Because free in the next one, I'm talking about either character or story structure.Phil Hudson:So when this podcast drops, it'll be like tomorrow, literally tomorrow, that's going to be the podcast that we're talking, the webinar we're talking about. And you can sign up at michaeljamin.com/webinar to get notified.Michael Jamin:Yeah.Phil Hudson:Cool. Leanne Allen, how important is it for the goal to be broadly relatable?Michael Jamin:Well, it's very important. I mean, the goals should be hugely important to the character, and it should be something that we could all hopefully relate to. I mean, if the goal is redeeming yourself in your mother's eyes, that's very relatable. If the goal is, I know if the goal is winning first prize, first place in a contest, who caress, it has to be more than that. It has to be more relatable than that. To be honest, I don't really care about winning contests, so I don't really care if your character wins a contest, but if winning the contest is a way for this person to finally feel good about themselves and their lives because it's validation, because they're a loner and because no one's ever looked at them twice and win this contest as a way of them being able to hang their head up high publicly, that's a relatable goal. Understand. But winning a contest in itself, who cares?Phil Hudson:And that's the value of what you teach in these webinars and in the course is the difference between plot and story. Plot point would be they have to win this contest. The story is like, why does this matter? ToMichael Jamin:Why?Phil Hudson:How is this going to affect them? It's the internal need versus the external need. Winning the contest is the external, but the internal is the reason we watch it. And that's the relatable piece.Michael Jamin:Yeah. Yeah.Phil Hudson:Awesome. Desmond Bailey, how do you not front load the pipe?Michael Jamin:Oh, well, boy, I talked about this a lot. I wonder why they're askingPhil Hudson:This. And just to clarify for people, this will be helpful. These are questions directly coming from the chat in the webinar when people are asking questions and they're questions we didn't get to in the q and a portion of the webinar, so this is something you had related to, or they're setting something you set in the webinar, which was don't front load your pipe or don't be pipe. And so maybe explain pipe and expedition to people.Michael Jamin:So pipe is what we call in the business, we call it exposition. So it's all the stuff that you need to know. It's the background story. It's the story before the story begins. And generally it's boring. Pipe is just like something you need to hear, not you don't want to hear it. You need to know to the characters. And so generally, the faster you can get to the pipe, the better, or you have to be artful about the pipe. So here's a bad version. You'll watch a show and you'll say, Susie, you're my sister. Why would I ever do that with you? My sister? A character would never tell another character, you're my sister. That's pipe. Because that character, she knows her sisters, Frankie, we've been best friends for 18 years, Frankie knows this. And so there are ways to get through the pipe artfully so that your audience doesn't feel like, Ugh, why people don't talk like that. Often a way to do this is by introducing a third character. So when a third character comes on the screen, the person who are you just talking to? Ugh, I was just talking to my sister. Now we know who that person is. Right? Sis, anytime you hear someone, a character calling the character sis, you roll your eyes. I've never met anyone who called her sister Sis.Yeah, and I talk more about that in the course, but I just happened to watch, I was sent a short to potentially work with someone and they shot a miniature TV show. I guess it was sent to my agent or somebody. There was a lot of pipe in it. It was a lot of clunky pipe because they just didn't know how to do it Every time it just stops the story cold.Phil Hudson:So the question is, how do you not front load the pipe? Do you have any tips for how to do that? I mean,Michael Jamin:ObviouslyPhil Hudson:The character, but if I've got to get this stuff out, and maybe you don't need to get it out at the front, because I saw someone do this masterfully where a character was introduced very late in the film, and it added this beautiful plot point that tied back to something at the beginning and explained something. But it was intriguing enough that I got through two thirds of the film before this part mattered. But it's rare to see that. It seems like people are just, act one is laying down the pipe and getting you set in your wall.Michael Jamin:YouPhil Hudson:Understand? And I don'tMichael Jamin:ThinkPhil Hudson:What you teach us is that that's the wrong way to do that.Michael Jamin:Yeah, because pipe is so boring. All that exposition is boring and you think it's important. You think you need it, and I'm telling you, you better figure another way around it. No one wants to hear it. So you could drip it out slowly as the audience needs it, or you could burn through it fast or you could, there's just a number of ways of doing it, but giving me entire scenes of pipe is not the way to do it. That's going to bore the hell out of everybody. No one wants to watch pipe.Phil Hudson:Yeah, makes sense.Michael Jamin:Yeah.Phil Hudson:Awesome. So those are our craft questions for this episode or for this, but we've got breaking in one question on this, Kelli Art, what's the best way to get paid to learn writer's assistant? How do you get such a competitive job?Michael Jamin:Yeah. Well, so writer's assistant is a fantastic way, but it's not an entry level job because you have to know how to do it. I've talked about this before. I'm not qualified to be a writer's assistant. I don't really know the ins and outs of the job, even though I've been a showrunner several times. So the way you learn how to be a writer's assistant is you start off often as a production assistant and you hang out with the writer's assistant. You ingratiate yourself and you ask, Hey, can I watch you work? And then you learn how they do it. Then hopefully that writer's assistant falls deathly ill, and you take their job away from them, and that's how you do it. Then once you're in the writer's room, that's the best way to get paid to learn. You will learn so much that you'll get lost. And so it's a long process. But yeah, that's a wonderful way to do it.Phil Hudson:And if you're a writer's pa, we've talked about it on the podcast many times, you still get to learn. You're sitting outside of the room within ear, so if they need something, they call you. So you're sitting outside the room listening to them, break the story and tell jokes. And I had this moment where Kevin Heffernan walked in one time and he's just like, and I still really knew it was maybe a month into me being a writer's assistant. This is the showrunner for people who don't know. And he's like, how's it going? You watching a lot of shows? And I was like, Nope. He's like, man, why not? You're sitting here all day. And I was like, I'm just riding. He's good for you. And he just walked away because that's what most people do is they get in that room and they sit there and they just watch Netflix or they do something. But I treated it, and this is probably because of advice you gave me from what you did, is that is craft time. You're sittingMichael Jamin:Down,Phil Hudson:You are riding. So when they're breaking stories, I'm listening to how they're breaking stories. I'm listening to pitch things when they're not in or somebody's out, then I'm working on my stuff. It's just taking advantage of every moment.Michael Jamin:I learned this from my first roommate when I moved out here. I had one of these PA jobs and I was not happy with it. And he's said, just think of it like you're getting paid a lot of downtime. Think of it. You're getting paid to learn how to write. And I was like, okay, you're right. You're right about that. So in that downtime, I just started. And then of course you could read scripts, you could talk to writers, you could ask them, why did you make this change? You get to talk to people and they'll give you little tips hopefully.Phil Hudson:And by the way, Michael, this is advice. You kind of gave me the preamble to this advice really before I even got to la. But then there was a moment where you kind saw, it was two years in three years into doing this stuff, and you gave me that same advice. Just look at it as you're getting paid to learn. I dunno if you could see it in my face or something, but it was like,Michael Jamin:Well, it's hard. I know what it was. It's a souls. It can be so frustrating. You're so close to the job you want. Literally, you are three feet away from the job you want and you're there for years. And it's like, when do I get to move up to that other seat that I want to sit in? So it's very, how is it not frustrating? But it's just how it is.Phil Hudson:But it's not individual either. Like I said, I was just here with Mike Rapp and Kevin, and they're both worst. One has been a script coordinator. The other was a script coordinator who bumped and broken as a staff writer,Michael Jamin:AndPhil Hudson:They were talking, they'd never met each other, so they're just kind of giving each other the resume. And it's like, yeah, I moved here and I was at Disney working in the parks for four years, and then I met someone whose husband was an executive and AB, C, and he brought me in for the pilot season. And then I got hired as a writer's PA on the Muppets. And I was like, this is it. I'm in, because it's the Muppets, it'll never get canceled. And then it got canceled, and then it was hopping between show to show from different job to different job for seven years until he finally got the bump. And Mike rep was not really any different. He moved here and he was in a production company and always dangling the carrot of, we ever get a show, we'll get you into, be in the writer's room. And six years finally got a show and got the job.Michael Jamin:But you know what though? I've been on shows where PA has worked on the show and the PAs have gone to some of the PAs who worked for me. One is big in Chuck Laurie's world, so he's like a exec or, and he's directed several episodes of Sheldon or Big Bang, one or the other. And the other one has done a lot of, it's always Sunny in Philadelphia. And another one is co-executive producer of Bob's Burgers. And these are all people who started off as PAs underneath me. And so that's where they are. So it's like it'sPhil Hudson:Just a process.Michael Jamin:Yeah, it's a process. You got to hang in there.Phil Hudson:I was thinking on my drive today, I went out and had to get some stuff and I drove around and I was like, yeah, I think people just think that this stuff is beneath them, and you can't have that attitude. I came at it thinking, look, this is just the path. This is the apprenticeship model. I want to learn from these people. And you talk about this, people always want to jump further ahead in their careers and become a showrunner and sell their first thing and do that. And we all want that because the dream, but you're kind like, you kind of don't want that. What you want is to learn how to do the jobMichael Jamin:Because you'll get fired so fast if you don't have to do the job. I was going to answer a post like that on social media soon, but someone had a showrunner question. So I'll do a post about that soon.Phil Hudson:Awesome. Cool. Couple of questions about the course here. Tank a Soar. Do you have a lesson on how to write a French farce? And this is a topic that came up in theMichael Jamin:Webinar? Yes, goodPhil Hudson:Question. So maybe define what that is for people. I don't think that's a term many people know.Michael Jamin:A farce is three's company did a lot of Farces, Frazier did a lot of farces. So it's a lot of slamming doors, people overhearing things, misinterpreting things, and only hearing the conversation and assuming that this person wants this thing. And it's a lot of doors slamming and just people crossing and misinformation. It's a lot of fun. And I said in the webinar that I wrote for Joe Keenan, who was one of the Frazier writers, and he created with Chris Lloyd, a show called Out of Practice that I wrote on for a year. And Joe is brilliant, brilliant at writing FARs. I don't know anybody better. I watched a show, a famous episode of Frazier, just to study for this. What could I talk about FARs? I watched an episode, I think it was, I dunno what it's called, the Ski Cabin episode or something. It was very funny. In my opinion, FARs is a really, they're hard to do well and they're hard to sustain. The stakes are always, to me, they're hard to sustain because the stakes are always, it's always about a misunderstanding. And so it's always silly. And so very, very hard in my opinion, to really write a really good farce. And I wouldn't necessarily start there if that was what your goal is, I'd start writing something a little easier. I don't know.It is hard. And they're a little tortured, and that's okay. But yeah, I don't know. You're asking me how do I hit a grand slam? Well, let's talk about how they get on base first.Phil Hudson:Yeah. And the question was, do you have a lesson on how to write a French forest in the course?Michael Jamin:Yeah, there is no, and I thought about after I watched that episode of Frazier, I go, maybe I should do a lesson on that. And then I watched, I go, nah,Phil Hudson:I don't think I should. I think it personally, I just think it would be a mistake. You're going to send all the hundreds of people in your course down a rabbit hole of riding French farces, and they're going to get lost in that, I think.Michael Jamin:And there's no demand for it. Like I said, I think it's just don't start there. Don't start there.Phil Hudson:Shiny object syndrome. We find something new and that's what we want to do. And then the reality is you got to focus on the fundamentals. That'sMichael Jamin:All thatPhil Hudson:Matters.Michael Jamin:Yeah.Phil Hudson:Keith Shaw wants to know is the beat board, the unpacking of the crate? And for context, everybody, Michael has this story he's talked about on the podcast and brings up in the webinar occasionally about how to unpack a story. And there's this crate of parts, and then it's how you unpack that, and that's what a story is. I don't want to give too much away, but whatever you want to give away, Michael.Michael Jamin:Yeah, I mean, so every writer room I've ever been in has a big whiteboard, and the s showrunner will send the whiteboard and we'll start pitching the idea and then we'll figure out how to break it on the board, figuring out what the act break is. First act break is second, act break middle to two top, you lay it out all the parts, and you look at it as a whole and does it hold together? And then that could take a week, and then you start writing an outline off of the board. So when they say the analogy, I talked about unpacking a crate. Yeah. It's similar to what a board is. The whiteboard is. It's like what's the order in which we're going to unfold all the, unpack the elements of the crate to tell an engaging story.Phil Hudson:Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. James Moore, what's the difference between a log line and an outline?Michael Jamin:Oh, well, a log line is one or two sentences. And outline could be 10 pages if you're talking about a half hour TV show. So that's the difference.Phil Hudson:And line is you've alluded to, everyone needs a log line. If you don't understand it, you don't know what you're writing. And an outline is a step in the writing process. And it typically, it's a couple steps after you break a story.Michael Jamin:And the log line, a lot of people don't know if I ask you, what's your story about? And they go, well, it's about this and also about this, and also about this. It's like, okay, if you can't explain what your story is in one or two clear, succinct sentences, if you can't explain your story, then you don't understand your own story. And if you don't understand it, the audience isn't going to understand it. So it's really important to have a clear log line about what your story is about one or two sentences. That's it. Simple. Einstein said it. If you can't explain something simply, chances are you don't understand it.Phil Hudson:Yep. David Campbell asked a very similar question about the order. I think we answered that. So David, that should answer that question for you. JY Tau, does the course teach you how to get your work produced?Michael Jamin:Oh, no. And a matter of fact, that shouldn't be the goal. The goal, that course teaches you how to write a great script. And that's the only thing you have control over here. Most people want to skip that step. This guy's asking me, will the course teach me how to become a millionaire? No, the course doesn't teach you that. Does the course teach you how to give an acceptance speech at the Oscars? No. It won't teach you that. The course, all that is look, that comes later. Hopefully the course will teach you how to write a good script or hopefully a grade script. And everyone skips that step. They assume they already have it. And I'm here to tell you, you don't. And maybe you're the 1% that does great, but 99% of the people think they're in that 1%. And most people who go through the course say, oh, thank God, I wish I know. Now I have to go back and rewrite that script because I thought it was great. And now I'd realize it's not so.Phil Hudson:Amen. I'm one of those people. And this is a bit of the Dunning Kruger effect, which is this moment where you learn a little bit of something and you think you're an expert in it.Michael Jamin:AndPhil Hudson:Then the more you learn, you realize there's a lot to learn. And then there's a certain point where you know more than you think. And Michael, even at your level, I hear you say this, sometimes I'm not as good as that guy, or I'm not that. And that may be factually true in terms of talent, but it's also, that's the humility of being an expert is knowing how little in this space,Michael Jamin:That's another thing is if you were to ask almost any showrunner I've worked with or worked for, they'll all tell you, oh, writing is so hard. It's the people who are just starting out who will tell you, Hey, I'm good at this. And you don't know what you don't know yet. And the more you do it, and now I'm at the point where I'll look at something, I'm like, oh God, I'm starting to unravel and I have to trust myself because it's like, is this the best way to tell the story? Maybe there's a better way.Phil Hudson:That's no different than my career in digital marketing though. I'm at the point where I can say I'm an expert. I've been doing it for how many years? Over a decade. But there's plenty of time still where I'm like, oh man, I don't know. Is this going to work? And then you have toMichael Jamin:JustPhil Hudson:Go back and say, there is a pattern and a history here of results that back up what I think I need to do. And I just have to go with that because million different caveats and details you got to pay attention to in all of this. And Michael, by the way, this is a big thing you helped me with was just focusing on the detail. Stop being so, I don't want to call it lazy writing, so much time and energy that goes into it, but it's the passing over the detail and the detail is the devil. It's in theMichael Jamin:Detail. Yeah, the little things stand out.Hey, it's Michael Jamin. If you like my content And I know you do because You're listening to me, I will Email it to you for Free. Just join my watch list. Every Friday I send out my top three videos of the week. These are for writers, Actors, Creative types, people like you can Unsubscribe Whenever you want. I'm not going to spam you, and the price is free. You got no excuse to join. Go to michaeljamin.com/and now back to, what the hell is Michael Jamin talking about Mishu Pizza.Phil Hudson:So if we take the course, do we get certified?Michael Jamin:Phil has tried to convince me to offer certification.Phil Hudson:I think there's a good certification. I want to be clear.Michael Jamin:Its thePhil Hudson:Type of certification we'll explain after yours. SoMichael Jamin:Here's the thing, if I were, I have said over and over again that if you got a degree in screenwriting and MFA in screenwriting or certificate, whatever, the degree itself is worthless. You're not going to go into a meeting, you flash your degree. When I go into a meeting, I don't even talk about my college education. No one caress. No one caress where I went to college. It doesn't come up. All they care is, can I put words on the page that compel people to turn the pagePhil Hudson:And the fight you got into with your wife the previous day? That's the story.Michael Jamin:Oh, we'll talk about that. Yeah, the degree, if I offered a degree, I think I'd be hypocritical. Hey, I have a degree from Michael Jamin University, or whatever the hell it is. I know some people want that, but I feel like, again, it's that's not going to open doors. Your script's going to open doors. And if I can teach you how to write a great script, that's more important than a gold star for me,Phil Hudson:My pitch for everybody was that Michael put out a certificate. So when you complete the course, you get that says, congrats, here's your fancy certificate, it's worthless. Go write something good. You goMichael Jamin:Write something. Yeah, we could do something like thatPhil Hudson:That I thought would be kind of just chef'sMichael Jamin:OnPhil Hudson:The whole thing. Desmond Bailey question, do you build this story? I wonder if his name's Desmond Bailey question or if this is just Desmond Bailey has aMichael Jamin:Question.Phil Hudson:Do you build the story world first and then inject the characters or focus on characters and let the world procedurally generate as they navigate it?Michael Jamin:So I spoke about this though in the webinar, so I feel like he probably was jumping the gun. IPhil Hudson:Think it's a good question. I think it'sMichael Jamin:Worth, yeah. Well, I answered it and I basically say you do it at the same time. And I think about what the world is first and who are the best characters to put in this world, or as I've said in the webinar, who's the worst character to put in this situation? And if you want to know what I mean by that, you're going to have to come to the next webinar where I talk about character. But that's the way I look at it. Who's the worst person to put in this situation?Phil Hudson:Yeah, there you go. Alec Cuddle back. My stuff is usually story driven and people criticize preferring character driven. Why is that?Michael Jamin:Oh, because plot is boring. Okay, what's this person's name?Phil Hudson:Alec Cuttle.Michael Jamin:Alec, alright, Alec. Okay. So I dunno if you're young or old, but there's a movie called Rocky, starring Sylvester Stallone. The first Rocky was fantastic. It won the Oscar put Sylvester Stallone on the map after they did Rocky, they did eight more Rocky, eight more. I don't know how many Rockies they did, including Creed and Creed One and Creed two or whatever. They've made countless sequels to Rocky. Every single rocky has the same exact plot. You put someone in a boxing ring and they get the shit kicked out of them, and then maybe at the end they're alive. So the plot itself for Rocky and most of the Rockies are not considered great. Only one won the Oscar, and that was the first one, even though the plot is virtually identical. So the difference between Rocky won and Rocky a hundred is the story. One had a just amazingly compelling small story, and the other ones lacked that. And so what this guy's Alec is talking about is it sounds like he's just got, I got a lot of plot. Well, who caress the plot is not the good stuff. You got to have a good plot. But it's, the story is what makes people cry. And if you want to know the difference between plot and story, you have to come to my next free webinar because I talk. It's an hour long discussion.Phil Hudson:Excellent. Cameron Billingsley, how do you know you have drawn out the anticipation enough when you're building anticipation in yourMichael Jamin:Storytelling? Yeah. Well, I wonder if the person's talking about any kind of reveal or I guess we don't really know.Phil Hudson:I think this was specifically tying back to the crate, unpacking the crate.Michael Jamin:Oh, okay. Well, how do you know? It's like these moments have to be built to anytime you have a big reveal or a moment in Act three, whatever it is, the big fight scene, the fight scene in Rocky or whatever, you have to build to it. And it's literally putting the steps on a pyramid and then you get to the top. And then if you skip a step or if each step doesn't build, you're not going to get to the top of that pyramid. And the top is the view, the top is everything. And so how do you know? Well, that's the process of writing is taking your, how do you know when you've built the anticipation? That's all of it. So if I were to write Rocky, I'm thinking in my mind, I'm building to the moment when Rocky, at the end, when Rocky's getting the shit kicked out of him, boom, time after time again by Apollo.And he keeps getting up and he keeps getting up. And I want to build that last moment where they're both down on the mat, or I don't even remember which Rocky it was. But when Rocky, the fight's almost over and Rocky's on the mat and he stands up again, just this guy won't go down. And that is even thinking about it, I get chills, but you have to build to that. That's what you're building to, which is a guy who will not quit. And why is it so important? When we talked about earlier in this podcast, it's not that the stakes of Rocky are not about will Rocky win the fight? Who cares? Will Rocky win the competition? The contest? Who cares? No one caress. If he wins, the stakes are, will Rocky finally feel like he's not a loser? Will he finally feel like he's not a bum? And that's something all of us can relate to, is that feeling, that self-worth. And so you have to build to that. How do you know? Well, that's everything. That's what you focus on. And if does help, if you're seen does not add one step on that pyramid, then to build to that final moment, then why are you have it in there? Why is it in the script?Phil Hudson:The next question from Willow is how do you know the difference between true story that should be included versus minutia and unnecessary information? I think you just answered that.Michael Jamin:Yeah. Because if you don't need it, why is it in it? Why is it in there?Phil Hudson:So tying all this together for people who are newer, and good recap for me, because again, you got to remind yourself of the fundamentals every day. You even talk about how you have to remind yourself, oh yeah, this is hero, obstacle, goal, kind of that stuff. So we have a log line, and the log line helps me understand what I'm trying to accomplish with this story. But that's typically based off of a theme and that theme, my opinion generally included inside of that log line, so that I understand this is what I'm trying to accomplish with this. So the log line for Rocky is, can a bum from Philly go the distance with the champ? It's not even, can he beat the champ? It's can he go the distance? And so everyone tells him he can't think he can, and then at the end, there's that moment when he gets up, you're talking about, and Apollo creed's like, soul is taken. Are you kidding me? He'sMichael Jamin:StillPhil Hudson:Getting up. This guyMichael Jamin:Won't get down.Phil Hudson:And that's the moment where it's like, that's him getting up. And then he, Apollo wins and he's like, I did it. And it's like a victory for him because this guy won't stop and everyone's celebrating Rocky. And Rocky goes, Adrian, I did it. Right? Yeah.Michael Jamin:And I think the last line, Apollo says, there ain't going to be no rematch. And Rocky goes, don't want one. He doesn't want, he got what he wanted, and of course they made 10 more. But yeah, a beautifulPhil Hudson:Story. But they all stack and build all of these details build, like you said, you're building them to this and all of them play off the theme and the log line. And that's why all of these details, breaking the story, outlining the story, they all have to be there. Because if you're just, and we talk about how all these writers have different styles, and for some people it's making it up as you go. But professional writers, there's a process. You break the story and you do your thing, and then you do your outline, you do all these things, and then you do your rewrites and many rewrites because you're still figuring out those tiny details. But it's not like I'm going to make it up as I go because you need plant and payoff. You need these things and these symbols almost that allude to the theme and the theme plays throughout the whole thing. And if you're not structuring that like an architect, it's going to feel very hodgepodge Frankenstein. And that's a note you gave me Frankenstein together.Michael Jamin:Yeah. Yeah.Phil Hudson:So there you go. People are going to be pissed. I talked to you not long on your podcast, Michael,Michael Jamin:I'll tell you. No, no, no,Phil Hudson:No, no,Michael Jamin:No.Phil Hudson:Couple more questions here.Michael Jamin:Yeah.Phil Hudson:Justin had another question for short comedy films on YouTube. Max lengths is one minute. That's shorts.Michael Jamin:That's for shorts. Clarify.Phil Hudson:Yeah. Does short structure still apply to any length film? Curious how you would approach writing a story for a one minute film? This is a format question for people who are not in the know. YouTube stories are the equivalent of Instagram reels or Facebook reels,Michael Jamin:YouTube shorts.Phil Hudson:YouTube shorts,Michael Jamin:Right?Phil Hudson:And they are, excuse me. Yeah, so they're 60 seconds, and then IMichael Jamin:Think there's 90. You're saying there's 60,Phil Hudson:That's Instagram. Instagram is expanded to 90, but YouTube is 60. And that's what this is referring to, which is a medium on YouTube, not necessarily a cap on what you can put on YouTube.Michael Jamin:Yeah. So I would say it's really hard to tell a complete story in 60 seconds, but you could tell one part of a story in 60 seconds and then another part, another 60 seconds. You could stretch it out. You might be able to tell a compelling scene in 60 seconds and a scene should have a shape to it, but don't think, can it be done? Yeah. I don't think it could be done that well. I don't think anyone's going to be that satisfied. I think you need more time to get that plane up in the air and land it. But think a bit of it like this, if a story is a journey, how far can you go in 60 seconds on a journey? Not very far at all. You can go to the end of the block. The view at the end of the block is pretty much the same, the view from my house. So I think you need more time. That's just my opinion now.Phil Hudson:Yeah. To see good shorts that you've recommended to me was go back and watch the Broad City original shorts that were put on YouTube.Michael Jamin:Okay. How long are they?Phil Hudson:They can be 90 seconds to three minutes, but they're not full stories necessarily. They're more kind of skits and you introduce your characters and we learn more about them and more interactions in different episodes of,Michael Jamin:That's just really, I never saw those. I saw the TV show Broad, which I love, but I didn't watch the shorts. Got it.Phil Hudson:Someone had a question. Again, these are miscellaneous. Someone wanted to know when they could see your CNN interview. So the day we did this webinar, you had just gotten off with CNN and joined the thing. But yeah, you've been on CNNA couple times now, right?Michael Jamin:Yeah. I think you can go to my website, Phil, right? Isn't it upPhil Hudson:There? Yep. It'll be live is MichaelJamin.com And then you can just go to the About tab and you'll see it.Michael Jamin:Is it on the bound? I thought it was going to be on the pressPhil Hudson:Or something. It's press tab. Yeah, but we don't have the URL final right now, but by the time this comes out, it'll be out because we're doing some cleanup. We redesign on michaeljamin.com.Michael Jamin:Oh, it's Jill's doing a great job. It's going to be exciting. Appreciate that.Phil Hudson:AppreciateMichael Jamin:That.Phil Hudson:Jill Hargrave, she inMichael Jamin:The, oh, wait, hold on. If anybody wants their website redesigned, go check out Rook Digital, which is Phil's company. This is what he does.Phil Hudson:Yeah, Shannon was plugged. Thank you, Michael. Appreciate that. Jill Hargrave, she's in the course, right? Jill?Michael Jamin:I don't know.Phil Hudson:I believe she is. Yeah. If you're writing a biopic, does the story definition apply as the story is at least one event in the person's life and sometimes many more events than just one?Michael Jamin:So ifPhil Hudson:You're writing a biopic, does the story definition apply? I'm guessing is a biopic, is it the whole person's life, or is it a moment in this person's life?Michael Jamin:I don't know. It's kind of what you decide to write it about, I would assume. Yeah, it is what you want to decide. I've seen it both ways. You might write about JFK the early years, and maybe you're following his life in college in Harvard, I think, and that could be a whole thing. Or you could tell JFK's entire life story up until the moment he died. I mean, you could do that as well. But either way, you have to know how, and I talked about this as well. I spoke about, I really hope people come to this next webinar. I use an example of Amadeus, which is, in my opinion, the best biopic ever made. It's a beautiful movie. It's probably three hours long. There's an intermission. There's an intermission fucking movie. That's how long it is. It's myPhil Hudson:Amazing, my wife's favorite movie, by the way,Michael Jamin:Is it, isPhil Hudson:She wants me to name one of our children, Wolfgang. And I was like, come on, man. Wolfgang Hudson.Michael Jamin:I don't know Wolf. I don't know. I don't know. I'm Amm on her side.Phil Hudson:I'll let her know. She'll be pumped.Michael Jamin:Yeah. Yeah. So I spoke about that, about come listen to, I hope they come to the webinar. Well, she did. She heard it where I spoke about You're still just telling one aspect of his life of Wolfgang Mozart's life. You're not, there's a lot. They left out, the guy lived, I dunno how long he lived, but the movie's three hours and the guy lived longer than three hours. So there's a lot they left out. They only just filed this one thread of his life. And that's how you tell the story. So don't tell. In other words, don't tell. I feel like you don't want to tell the story. Someone's life story. You want to tell one story from their life.Phil Hudson:And Oppenheimer, I think is the very current version of that that did a great job. It is building up to help us understand why this person was uniquely put in this position, why it was taken from him, and then how ultimately he got justice with having to, because of his character.Michael Jamin:And there's a lot they left out, and I'm sure, I think it got some criticism for that, but what are you going to do? You can't tell everything. You have to pick a story.Phil Hudson:Yep. Yeah, adaptation. Right? It's a whole different segment of screenwriting. That is brutal. Absolutely brutal. Because you're just cutting things and combining things, and it's just a different part of the world. Helga G. How do you deal with the other characters in your life that might not be comfortable being in your story?Michael Jamin:You don't put 'em in. You don't put 'em in it. It's not your story to tell. I'm actually reading, I'm just about to finish a wonderful book by this Canadian author, Sheila Hetty, and it's called How Should a Person Be? And in this book, which is an auto fiction, so it's a true story. She uses some of her friends as characters in the story, and she talks about the blowback she got from that, which is so interesting. And I'm going to have her on my podcast soon, but I don't do it for that reason. I don't do it exactly for that reason, but I'll talk to her about it.Phil Hudson:Yeah. Awesome. Last question, Rob Kao, CAO might be C Chao, I don't know. Is that Italian? CAO? It's like CI. AoMichael Jamin:Would C-C-I-A-O.Phil Hudson:Yeah. Sorry, Rob, ruin in your name. Within the last year, I've had an idea of writing a script with two specific actresses in mind. What do you recommend that I do?Michael Jamin:Well, they're not going to do it. Just know that, right? I mean, I write for actors all the time. It's just for them having someone in my mind as a placeholder. But I don't think if they're famous, unless they're the people actors in your apartment complex, then that's fine. And they're going to be in your movie, that's fine. But if you think if it's a star, they're not going to do it. So use them as a placeholder, as a template to give you as a muse. I do that as well, but I don't think I've ever written a role for someone. And they actually wound up taking itPhil Hudson:In the Tacoma FD spec that I wrote. I alluded to a famous actor who plays this type of person. I was like, just think this person. And the comment I got back, I was, oh, that was so helpful. And I know you have to be a bit careful with that because you don't want to, it can derail your script a bit.Michael Jamin:Actually, I want to take that back. We wrote an episode of Marin that we wrote it with Chet Hanks in mind, who's Tom Hanks' son. And we reached out to him and he took it. I got to say the guy killed it. He killed it. He was perfect and a really good actor.Phil Hudson:That's awesome. If you guys haven't seen Marin, go watch Marin. That show's incredible.Michael Jamin:That show's fun. Yeah.Phil Hudson:Is there anywhere to go see The Hidden? Because they were two pilots, right? There was the first pilot and thenMichael Jamin:It was a presentation, so it was only a few scenes. Got it. I don't know if I have it.Phil Hudson:Yeah, I thought it was on Prime. I think I got it on Prime originally.Michael Jamin:Wow. Was part of what theyPhil Hudson:Were doing. I'll go check. I'll see if I still have it. But yeah, it was, it's just a great show. Just massive show. And I was at an influential time when I was just really learning this stuff at a deeper level. So just seeing it play out in really tight scenes with limited characters and justMichael Jamin:Amazing, amazing. That's what was so fun about that. And I tried, we wrote some one episode where there wasn't enough of a stakes, and it was the one on dead possum where he finds a dead possum.Phil Hudson:I love that episode. That's the one I think of every time.Michael Jamin:That was a good one. But the original draft didn't have the storyline of him apologizing to his dying stepfather, not stepfather, his dying. It was missing from that. And we turned that draft into the network, and they thought, she was like, there's nothing here. There's nothing. The story's not about anything. And I'm like, don't you get it? That's the whole thing. I was trying to pull a fast one on her. I was like, but it's like waiting for Gau. She's like, no, I'm not buying it. The studio exec. And she was right. And so we wound up talking, Seaver and I, pardon? We ended up talking about it. We came up with this storyline where when Mark was afraid to go under the house to get a dead possum, that's just enough. There's not enough there. There's not enough debate for a story. And so instead, we had a concurrent storyline where he was afraid to confront his dying Father-in-Law because Mark broke up with his daughter. And in so doing, he kind of destroyed, he, mark was a coward. He didn't want to apologize to his father-in-Law for that. And so it was really a symbol. So when Mark was afraid to go under the house to get the dead possum, but he was really afraid of, was apologizing to his father-in-Law, those stakes are much higher.And so those stories kind of work really nicely together, but that was not in the original draft. Yeah,Phil Hudson:That's a great episode. There's one of the biggest laughs I've ever had. I think it was like your, might've been your end of act two, your act two, bottom of Act two with the kid fromMichael Jamin:When he says,Phil Hudson:Yeah, I was molested himMichael Jamin:Some. I think that was Seavers line.Phil Hudson:It's just like,Michael Jamin:What?Phil Hudson:Not making light of that degree. It's just theMichael Jamin:Context ofPhil Hudson:It, the setting.Michael Jamin:Yeah. It was like, you shouldn't have said that. That'sPhil Hudson:Funny. Alright, Michael, there you go. There's a bonus episode for everybody.Michael Jamin:Yeah, we're not making light of it. It was just that the guy confessed to having been molested as good, but it was like, no, we weren't talking about any of this.Phil Hudson:And then they have to talk and he's having this breakdown where this realization of he's a coward, and then now he has to be a surrogate father and listen to this kid. He's talking about his assistant and it's just like, the timing is just excellent. You guys handled it well. It's not disparaging or mean-spirited at all. It's just great. That was aMichael Jamin:Funny one. Alright, everyone. Yeah. Come to my webinar. Go watch that episode of Marin Dead Possum.Phil Hudson:Awesome.Michael Jamin:If you can find it somewhere,Phil Hudson:Michael, anything you want these guys to do other than come to the webinar,Michael Jamin:There's that. I'll be dropping my book soon. A paper orchestra, if you want to know more about that, that'sPhil Hudson:Michaeljamin.com/book.Michael Jamin:Oh, is that what it is? It'll be book. Book. Okay. TherePhil Hudson:Are a couple pages. You got AP Orchestra touring, you've got an events page, you got this. So I figured that was the easiest way to get people to the page is michaelJamin.com/book.Michael Jamin:And so the book is a collection of personal essays. If you want to learn more about what it's like to actually be a writer in Hollywood, but that's not what it's about. It's really about the premise is what if the smallest, almost forgotten moments were the ones that shaped us most. And so in the end, I have a little bonus section of the book where I talk about, so I perform the book as well. And if you want to come see that seem, be on the road, go to michael jamin.com/upcoming. And at the end of every performance, I do a talk back where I talk to the audience and they ask questions. And so I decided at the end of the book, there should be something like that where I talk about, it's basically a virtual talk back, right? I'm preemptively answering questions that people have asked me that I think people found interesting about the writing process. So that'll be in the book as well. So a little bonus for those of you who are interested in learning about writing, that'll be the last chapter. Yeah,Phil Hudson:Great. And the live performance still great. It almost a year. I can't believe it was almost a year ago. And it still sits with me as a father. It still sits with me.Michael Jamin:Yeah. Thank you. I want to start performing again. That'll hopefully start in February or March or whatever. Once that book is out, we'll start performing again.Phil Hudson:Great. Cool. All right, Michael, anything else? Thank you.Michael Jamin:I think that's it. Get on the newsletter. We're rev revamping the newsletter. We've revamped the podcast so there's more stuff, but better,Phil Hudson:More better, better streamlined, a little bit easy to get around. It kind of outgrew itself. So we talked about that on episode 1 0 4. But yeah,Michael Jamin:We didn't know what this was going to turn into, so we had to evolve it.Phil Hudson:Yeah, it's a good spot. Great to be back on the podcast, Michael. Thanks for having me.Michael Jamin:Yeah, thank you Phil. Alright, until next time, keep writing everyone.So now we all know what The hell Michael Jamin's talking about. If you're interested in learning more about writing, make sure you register for my free monthly webinars@michaeljamin.com/webinar. And if you found this podcast Helpful or entertaining, please share it with a friend and consider leaving Us a five star Review on iTunes that really, really helps. For more of This, whatever the hell this is for Michael Jamin on social media @MichaelJaminwriter. And You can follow Phil Hudson on Social media @PhilAHudson. This podcast was produced by Phil Hudson. It Was Edited by Dallas Crane and music Was composed By Anthony Rizzo. And remember, you can have Excuses or you can have a Creative life, But you Can't have both. See you next Week.

This episode is sponsored by EverFi - check out there amazing, FREE resources for K-12 at https://everfi.com/edleadersKatie Powell is the Director for Middle Level Programs for AMLE and author of the books Boredom Busters and Frustration Busters. As part of her role with AMLE, Katie works closely with schools, districts, and affiliate organizations through the Successful Middle School book study, assessment, and Schools of Distinction programs as well as providing professional development and coaching on a variety of middle grades topics.Social Media: Twitter @beyond_the_deskInsta @teach_beyond_the_deskTikTok @teach_beyond_the_deskEmail/contact info: kpowell@amle.orgGet your autographed copy of Road to Awesome: The Journey of a Leader here or buy it on AmazonBook Darrin to speak at your school or conference contact us hereGrab your copy of Darrin's FREE e-book Walk in Your Purpose Check out Darrin's blog for great leadership tips and ideasSign up for the Road to Awesome email list and newsletterHave a book idea you'd like to submit to Road to Awesome? Click here

Carla Mayrink is the director and co-founder of The Community for Learning, an International School in the Dominican Republic. For the past 32 years she has worked as a secondary language arts teacher, an academic coach, and school director. She presents workshops on new initiatives in education including restorative practices, student-led learning, coaching, leadership skills, and professional development. Her work on inquiry based professional development has been highlighted in Edutopia. She has presented at AMLE 2020 the Virginia ASCD 2020 Annual Conference, the Equity and Anti bias Conference 2021, the FETC 2022, and others. Carla shares teaching strategies and innovations on her blog, the teaching experiment.Key Takeaways:It's very important to continually experiment and learn new things.Give students the opportunity to have their voice heard, research ideas, and implement them. They want to make their experience better.Give students the opportunity to not only work cross curricular, but also across different ages so they build a larger network of friendships instead of just their own age.Engaged and empowered students attend school and work harder than when they are conforming to a rule.You need to continuously learn everyday of your life. If you're going to keep up with the pace the world is changing. To do that you need to know how to effectively self assess to see how you're doing.Student think tanks.Insert half days for professional development into every week. Remember that you must model the instruction that you are asking teachers to perform in the PD you are offering.What if we didn't grade our teachers, but instead coach them and have them reflect on their success or progress as we ask students to do the same. Leaders have to teach teachers how to properly reflect.Writing letters for discipline. It's a process, but effective for stopping and improving behaviors. Never make a student apologize if they don't want to.Fear is faster when dealing with difficult behaviors.We need to give up control if we are truly going to improve others to the point where they are the best that they can be.Stay in Touch:TwitterBlogSEEing to Lead Extras!Like the content, want to be a guest, or know someone who would? Reach out to me on Twitter at @DrCSJonesHave you taken the time to order and read my latest book!Seeing to Lead is filled with practical resources and personal stories to help you support, engage, and empower those you lead no matter your position!Jimmy Casas said, "If you are a leader who is looking to support, engage and empower your staff, then SEEing to Lead, by Dr. Chris Jones, is a book you will want to pick up and read. Dr. Jones reminds us that building capacity and helping others achieve personal success is the key to elevating your organization and leaving a lasting impact."Get your copy here! Don't forget to leave a rating and review for others. I would appreciate it!Subscribe to My Newsletter!We are all busy, often unsupported, and struggle to stay engaged! Here is a weekly resource that has something to support, engage, and empower you. Not to mention it saves you time by getting to the point! Increase your focus and become a better leader; no matter your position. Check it out here!Get in touch to schedule me for a workshop or presentation!Don't forget to hit the subscribe button on this podcast and leave a rating so others can benefit!

We talk a lot about tips, strategies, frameworks, and components of project-based experiences, but we don't talk a lot about mindsets.   How do you develop the mindsets that allow for creativity, agility, uncertainty, and experiences that move in several directions? In this episode, Thompson Morrison and Kavita Tanna, Founders of Ustawi Movement Global expose us to a process that builds these mindsets in both students and teachers; changing them from compliant learners to creative geniuses. We peel back the layers of this process and speak with educator Linda Amici about the transformational results she has seen in her classroom. Through it, you will learn: Why agility and adaptability are the #1 future skills, and how to develop it in our learners A simple framework to transform compliant learners to creative powerhouses  How to make learning a continual conversation and not a didactic mode of delivery How to use a learning process developed in real world industries like tech/software to guide experiences in our classrooms How to help our learners reach their creative potential  Connect with Thompson Morrison: thompson@ustawimovement.global          Connect with Kavita Tanna: Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook        Connect with Linda Amici: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter Learn More about the DIG Framework: https://www.amazon.com/Dayton-Experiment-reimagined-education-unleashed/dp/0578634392  Thompson's Bio: Thompson Morrison is the co-author of The Dayton Experiment, a book that tells a story of a five-year journey of reimagining the learning culture of a small rural school in Dayton, Oregon. A software executive deeply versed in the fast, iterative learning cycles that underpin Agile methodologies, he partnered with Jami Fluke, the principal of Dayton Middle School and High School, to reimagine the learning culture in order to unleash the creative genius of every student. From that experience, a learning framework was developed, Designed InGenuity (DiG), which has now been introduced to hundreds of educators around the world, helping to inspire the transformation of schools now on five continents. His most recent book, The Joyful Sandbox, explores how this framework is being used by schools to bring learning alive. Kavita's Bio: Kavita is a facilitator of mission-driven work with communities around the world. Now pursuing her fourth career as a Global Education Coach, she brings the life experiences of business and classroom teaching to this work of transforming learning in communities. Kavita's mission is to connect with like-minded individuals who wish to empower all people through meaningful, interconnected, and globally-minded conversations. She is a graduate of the Brain-SET Environment Certificate, through which early childhood educators are empowered to design environments with the intention of children learning in calm spaces to support the development of their brains. As a lifelong learner, Kavita is completing a Master's degree with Antioch University, focusing on creating, sustaining and regenerating transformative learning communities using systems thinking. In regular one-to-one meetings, facilitation of team gatherings and large group workshops, Kavita coaches school leaders and classroom educators to recognise the roles they play in shaping the identities, attitudes and behaviours of all learners. By co-designing learning experiences, she offers practical ideas for global and intercultural-mindedness for all learners, including parents, educators and leaders. Through her work as a passionate advocate and mentor for social-emotional-ethical wellbeing integration in the lives of all people, Kavita's vision is to co-create a harmonious world in which all living systems can flourish. Linda's Bio: Linda Amici is an educator with a passion to empower future leaders to “be the change” the world needs. As a middle school instructional coach for the Westerville City School District and part-time faculty member for Otterbein University, she seeks to inspire those around her to embrace a growth mindset and take educational risks to innovate transformational practices. Changing the world has led Linda to opportunities that reach beyond the borders of the US. She has worked overseas on projects to bring health and clean water to remote locations in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Amazon river basin in Peru. Stateside, she supports international students on their exchange year as they share culture with US host families. She is energized by learning about new cultures and working with diverse teams to solve global issues. Linda graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor's degree in Education and holds a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has had the honor of presenting and collaborating with PBL Works, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), National Center for Urban School Transformation, and she currently serves as an AMLE Schools of Distinction Evaluator. Linda graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor's degree in Education and holds a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has had the honor of presenting and collaborating with PBL Works, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), National Center for Urban School Transformation, and she currently serves as an AMLE Schools of Distinction Evaluator. In 2019, Linda was selected as the Sanford Inspirational Award recipient by the National University System for the state of Ohio. She has been recognized as a Great Educational Mentor by her school district, and she was awarded a Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Deeper Learning Grant to awaken learner curiosity within her educational community. She currently serves as the National Teach Plus Fellow for Ohio and is a part of the AMLE support team. In 2019, Linda was selected as the Sanford Inspirational Award recipient by the National University System for the state of Ohio. She has been recognized as a Great Educational Mentor by her school district, and she was awarded a Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Deeper Learning Grant to awaken learner curiosity within her educational community. She currently serves as the National Teach Plus Fellow for Ohio and is a part of the AMLE support team. Linda is a mother to six children, one dog, and a small herd of guinea pigs. In her free time, she enjoys reading, biking, kayaking, and keeping herself and her community strong and healthy by teaching fitness classes to all ages. Connect with her on Twitter at @LindaAmici      

Opie Blackwell is the current principal of Ridgeview Charter Middle School in Atlanta, GA.  Ridgeview Charter Middle School is an inaugural recipient of the Association of Middle Level Education's (AMLE) prestigious Schools to Watch designation, a nationally recognized 2022-2025 elite "Lighthouse School to Watch" from the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, is a southeast recognized "Showcase School" for AVID, and is an International Baccalaureate program school.  His email address is blackwello@fultonschools.org.   On today's episode Opie describes the hard work surrounding interdisciplinary teaching and learning that his team has been prioritizing.  He lays out the entire journey and emphasizes why a focus of including student voice is so valuable to the success they've achieved at Ridgeview Charter Middle School.  Sponsors Pikmykid Improve your school dismissal and safety response with Pikmykid, the Schools Safety and Dismissal Platform. Help move your dismissal from chaos to calm, get kids to their families faster and safer.  Visit pikmykid.com/be to learn more Transformative Principal Mastermind Lead a school everyone can be proud of. Being a principal is tough work. You're pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do. I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.com

In this episode, I chat with Marlena Gross-Taylor, the founder of EduGladiators and a nationally recognized ed leader with a proven track record of improving educational and operational performance through vision, strategic planning, leadership, and team building. A Nashville transplant originally from southern Louisiana, Marlena's educational experience spans several states allowing her to have served K-12 students in both rural and urban districts. She has been recognized as a middle school master teacher and innovative administrator at the elementary, middle, high school and district levels. Because of her sound knowledge of both elementary and secondary education, Marlena has broad-based experience creating and implementing dynamic interactive programs to attain district goals while leveraging her flexibility, resourcefulness, and organizational and interpersonal skills to foster learning through a positive, encouraging environment. Marlena's professional development expertise has national attention and she serves as an AMLE middle school expert. She has also leveraged her past experience in corporate management to also include corporate training and leadership coaching in her repertoire of consulting services focused on culture, engagement and increased productivity. Marlena is a seasoned presenter keynoting conferences and delivering dynamic professional development sessions. As a proud Louisiana State University alumni, she is committed to excellence and believes all students can achieve. During our conversation, we explored both code switching and assimilation, recognizing our own roles as parents who contributed greatly to teaching our children to fit into the dominant culture as opposed to defying standardized norms that so often do not accept our own definitions of fashion, style, and beauty. Marlena points out that we are not alone in this mishap because we, like so many others, were not taught our history and thus were primed to regurgitate the same messages that we consumed while growing up in diverse deficient communities. All is not lost however, as we explore potential solutions including becoming knowledgeable about our ethnic journeys and sharing that information with as many people as possible. We must make as much noise, if not more, if we too want to be heard. Connect with Marlena Twitter Twitter - EduGladiators LinkedIn Facebook --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thecounternarrative/support

In his final conversation from AMLE 22, Marc sits down with the PBL Diva herself, Dr. Simone T. Lewis. They discuss all things PBL, gamification, sources of creative inspiration, and, of course, footwear!    Follow Marc on Twitter @marcisseks or online: marcisseks.com Guest: Dr. Simone T. Lewis For more on Dr. Lewis: Home Learning Support Website Instagram Twitter  

Shawn and Troy share some jokes, talk about AMLE, and more. Dave heads to space with Astonomer.  

In Part 2 of this conversation from AMLE 22, Rick Wormeli, acclaimed educator, speaker, and author, takes a deep dive into the legitimacy and ethics of grading.   Follow Marc on Twitter @marcisseks or online: marcisseks.com Guest: Rick Wormeli Ways to find/contact Rick: Website Email

Marc is joined by the one-and-only Rick Wormeli, acclaimed educator, speaker, and author of nine books. In Part I of this conversation, Rick discusses strategies for schools to rethink homework and cease using it in ways that are punitive or dissuade student interest and engagement in learning.  Follow Marc on Twitter @marcisseks or online: marcisseks.com Guest: Rick Wormeli Ways to find/contact Rick: Website Email

This is such a great episode! We might be biased, but Katie Powell is a force to be reckoned with. Not only did she clap with us in the beginning to help align the audio, but she also wrote two books called Boredom Busters and Frustration Busters. She talks about how she started her career as a SpEd teacher, landed in her chosen field of Middle School ELA instruction, and how her presenting led to two books and a job with AMLE. Follow her on Twitter @beyond_the_desk and check out her website www.teachbeyondthedesk.com. Join @hofmannedu, @mrsjamiehalsey, and @findingmyaloha each week by subscribing to our podcast and rating and reviewing us on Apple Podcasts! Leave a short review! Recommend us! Share us! Things mentioned on the show: Boredom Busters on Amazon.com Frustration Busters on Amazon.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/finding-our-tribe/support

Starting on the right foot On the first day or two of school, it can be tempting to want to lay the ground rules. You know, set the expectations about workload, go over the rules, and fill out the required forms. But Rick Wormeli wants to challenge educators to think differently. Wormeli, one of the first Nationally Board Certified Teachers in America, says that students want to know that you're going to transcend their current condition and help them aspire to something more than they are. “And when all they [students] get is more rules and regulations, they realize one more year where there's nothing here for me.” Wormeli recommends laying a foundation of meaningful relationships with students by mixing activities that allow you to get to know and understand where the students are coming from. Wormeli recently listed ways this can be accomplished in a recent article he penned for AMLE, and he elaborates on those ideas in Episode 224 of the Class Dismissed podcast. Wormeli's beginning of the year ideas “The Best Way for You to Learn” Cards Using index cards, teachers can ask students to describe how they best learn that particular subject. “Kids are candid,” says Wormeli. “They will say things like, look, if it's really important, write it on the board.” Or he says some students may ask you not to assign online assignments because their sibling always hogs the computer. “I've got a stack that I rubber band, and I look through that as I try to decide what I'm going to do next,” Wormeli says kids will say some really cool things and give him lots of examples. Letters to the Teacher from Students as their Parents When students write under a pseudonym, they feel freer to speak their mind, says Wormeli. “When I get what they say about themselves, and then I get what they think their parents would say about themselves, I'm getting a really fleshed version of the child,” says Wormeli. “When someone is fully dimensionalized, you really care a heck of a lot more. Six-Word Memoirs “I love six-word memoirs!” says Wormeli. They really make kids come out of their shells and say profound things. The brilliance of six-word memoirs is the brevity; teachers can use six-word memoirs as their students examine the content. “It really reveals a lot more about what the student is thinking.” Wormeli says he often has students continue to send six-word memoirs after class about sports or pop culture. To hear more from Rick Wormeli, listen to Episode 224 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes. All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2017-2022

Middle schoolers are undergoing an incredibly important and significant developmental phase meaning...they're going to make mistakes from time to time.  Phyllis and Joe talk about helping kids come back from mistakes and creating school structures that support students learning from them. They also talk about staff burnout and what administrators and teachers can do to boost morale as the school year ends and recharge over the summer. Finally, they talk about proactive strategies to cultivate a collaborative school community as we think about the year to come. Phyllis and Joe close out this season of Middle School Walk and Talk by invited listeners to join them in Orlando or San Diego for AMLE's Institute for Middle Level Leadership. Learn more: amle.org/leadership

This episode features a conversation with three authors of “Career Exploration in the Middle Grades: A Playbook for Educators,” which was developed in partnership between the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) and American Student Assistance (ASA). Stephanie Simpson is CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based AMLE, which represents tens of thousands of middle level educators across the country and offers a variety of resources, training and convenings for the field. Ashley Hemmy is manager of program engagement at Boston-based ASA, a 60 year-old national nonprofit and student loan guarantor organization which has expanded its mission to develop and invest in resources and tools to help students as early as middle school to explore their long-term career and educational goals. Julie DiPilato is a seventh grade science teacher in Barnstable, Massachusetts, where she developed an array of career exploration programming in her school. Stephanie, Ashley, Julie and Jason talk about the career exploration playbook, how it came about, why career exploration is a perfect match for young adolescents and where it fits within schools. They then paint a picture of what career exploration looks like in the middle grades, how educators can use it to enhance their teaching, the ways AMLE and ASA are promoting the larger scale adoption of this practice, and the opportunities for career exploration in the field of education long-term.Additional Readings and Resources“Career Exploration in the Middle Grades: A Playbook for Educators”Career Exploration Resource CenterAssociation for Middle Level EducationAmerican Student AssistanceMiddle School Exploration Program“Efficacy And Innovation In Middle School Career Exploration: Proven Models For Student Success”Remaking Middle School is launching a Middle School Listening Tour! If you are a parent, teacher, administrator, youth development professional, policy maker, or youth advocate of middle grade students, we would love to hear from you. Please visit http://RemakingMiddleSchool.org and click “Sign Up” for the Listening Tour.

Welcome to "Recess Duty"! This week we talk with Brian Lettinga, a Senior Search Associate joining after a 24-year career in international education. We talk about trends in overseas job applications and advice for new and veteran international educators and how to stand out amongst a crowd of candidates. We share stories about searching for jobs and looking for that school that we can connect with and what we need to be on the lookout for. Brian earned his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and International Relations from Western Michigan University. Following his undergraduate work, he earned his first Master's Degree in Education from Aquinas College and his teaching license from the state of Michigan. Later he earned his second Master's Degree from Lehigh University in Educational Leadership as well as his administrative licenses from the state of Michigan. Brian is active in international education, keeping close ties to CEESA, AMLE, ELMLE, and serving on accreditation teams for AdvancED. Brian and his wife, Annalisa, have two children, Miles and Posie. Brian also has a deep understanding of what it is like to raise a family overseas and commit to the upbringing of Third Culture Kids. After ten years teaching elementary school Brian moved into international school administration. Brian spent the next fourteen years in a wide variety of administrative positions. Brian returned to CIC as the Upper School Principal and IBDP Coordinator in 2006 and continued through 2011 as the Elementary and Middle School principal having opened the two-year-old and three-year-old programs as well as bringing the school closer to PYP authorization. Please connect with Brian with the following links! Twitter Facebook Linkedin If you are looking to go overseas please go and sign up with Search Associates, check it out here! Don't forget to subscribe and review so you don't miss any future episodes of "Recess Duty". Continue learning everyone! Levi Allison - https://linktr.ee/levi_allison --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/recessduty/message

Jonathan Doh is Associate Dean of Research and Global Engagement, Rammrath Chair in International Business, Co-Faculty Director of the Center for Global Leadership, and Professor of Management at the Villanova School of Business.  He teaches and does research at the intersection of international business, strategic management, and corporate sustainability.  He has been a visiting professor at numerous universities in Europe and Asia, and is an occasional executive faculty member at the Wharton School. Previously, he was on the faculty of American and Georgetown Universities and a trade official with the U.S. Department of Commerce, with responsibilities related to NAFTA. Jonathan has published more than 90 refereed articles, 40 chapters, a dozen teaching cases, and nine books. Recent articles appear in AMR, AMP, AMLE, BEQ, JIBS, JOM, JMS, MISQ, OS, and SMJ. His books include Globalization and NGOs (with Hildy Teegen, Praeger, 2003), Handbook on Responsible Leadership and Governance in Global Business (with Steve Stumpf, Elgar, 2005), Multinationals and Development (with Alan Rugman, Yale, 2007), NGOs and Corporations: Conflict and Collaboration (with Michael Yaziji, Cambridge, 2009), Aligning for Advantage: Competitive: Strategies for the Political and Social Arenas (with Thomas Lawton and Tazeeb Rajwani, Oxford, 2014), and he is co-author of International Management: Culture, Strategy, and Behavior (with Fred Luthans, McGraw-Hill/Irwin), now in its 11th edition. He has presented more than 100 papers at international conferences, and served AOM, AIB, and SMS in numerous capacities, including Chair of AOM's Organizations and the Natural Environment Division. He has served as Associate Editor and Special Issue Editor of several journals, including JIBS, was Editor- in-Chief of Journal of World Business from 2014-2018, and is currently General Editor of the Journal of Management Studies. He was ranked the 12th most prolific IB scholar for the period 2001-2009 (Lahiri & Kumar, 2012) and among the top one percent of scholars in business and management globally (325 out of 36,319). His cases, simulations, and articles are used at leading business schools. He holds a Ph.D. in strategic and international management from George Washington.  He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Management in 2021, only a handful of scholars to serve as both AOM and AIB Fellows. Visit https://www.aib.world/frontline-ib/jonathan-doh/ for the original video interview.  

Now in his seventh year as Principal of Uxbridge High School, Michael Rubin has successfully led Uxbridge High School's designation as a Commonwealth of Massachusetts Innovation Pathway school, one of the first four schools in the state to earn this distinction. He currently serves on the PLTW Networking Conference Planning Committee, is chair of the Blackstone Valley Ed Hub Board of Advisors, UHS has also been recognized as a member of the National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools and the CAPS Network, and Mr. Rubin has presented on the state and national level regarding UHS' commitment to authentic learning and building partnerships with local industry. Mike was also the 2020 Massachusetts School Administrator's Association (MSAA) High School Principal of the Year. Key Takeaways Provide people the latitude to make mistakes. Make sure the juice is worth the squeeze with new initiatives. One bad decision or action can ruin a lot of good decisions and actions. Front load information every opportunity for any initiatives Make the non-discussibles discussible. Make people believe in themselves. "Complacency is the hobgoblin of small minds"  -Emerson Contact Uhsprincipal.blogspot.com @UxbHSPrincipal featured in AMLE middle school career exploration handbook www.uxbridgeschools.com Contributed to The Teacher's Guide to Self-Care (book by Melanie Pellowski) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Now in his seventh year as Principal of Uxbridge High School, Michael Rubin has successfully led Uxbridge High School's designation as a Commonwealth of Massachusetts Innovation Pathway school, one of the first four schools in the state to earn this distinction. He currently serves on the PLTW Networking Conference Planning Committee, is chair of the Blackstone Valley Ed Hub Board of Advisors, UHS has also been recognized as a member of the National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools and the CAPS Network, and Mr. Rubin has presented on the state and national level regarding UHS' commitment to authentic learning and building partnerships with local industry. Mike was also the 2020 Massachusetts School Administrator's Association (MSAA) High School Principal of the Year. Key Takeaways Welcome the idea that every day brings new opportunity. It's important to help all people in the school system. Progression never happens in a straight line. Engaged teachers by adjusting their perception to that of support rather than endangerment. Ask and then highlight what teachers really believe in concerning education. Continuous support is key to teacher buy-in and success. Contact Uhsprincipal.blogspot.com @UxbHSPrincipal featured in AMLE middle school career exploration handbook www.uxbridgeschools.com Contributed to The Teacher's Guide to Self-Care (book by Melanie Pellowski) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Erica began her career in education over 15 years ago by substitute teaching as she worked through college. After she obtained her B.S., Erica took a job in Public Relations as the Customer Service Manager managing the customer experience. Due to a downturn in the economy, Erica found herself searching for a job due to downsizing, which led Erica back to the classroom as a substitute teacher as a temporary means to support her family. Through that second experience in the classroom, Erica found her love and passion for education and has not looked back.Throughout her tenure in education, Erica has been a classroom teacher, instructional specialist, teacher mentor, and Director of Literacy. Through those experiences, Erica realized that she not only had a love for teaching children, but she also had a passion for helping other educators realize their full potential. Erica left the traditional classroom setting in 2017 to begin consulting full-time. Throughout this time, Erica has had the opportunity to work with educators across the country. Erica has provided professional development in Rigorous and Relevant Instruction, Trauma-Informed Practices, Addressing the S.E.L. Needs of Students, Equitable Instructional Practices, and How to Use Data to Inform Practice. Erica has also given Keynote presentations on Acting for Impact, Addressing the S.E.L. Needs of Students, and Equity in Education for schools and organizations around the country.  Erica holds a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications from Tennessee State University, a M.A.T. from Trevecca Nazarene University, and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Lipscomb University.Erica has written and published an adolescent self-discovery book titled, Who Are You? A Guide to Help Adolescents Navigate Through the Social and Emotional Issues of Life.  Middle and high schools throughout the country are using Who Are You to cultivate authentic relationships within their schools.Erica currently consults full-time with schools and school districts throughout the country.  She provides services that focus on teaching and learning, cultivating relationships by addressing students' SEL needs, strategic planning, and customized services based on the organization's needs.She has presented at some of the most prominent educational conferences such as Model Schools, AMLE, and Beyond School Hours.  Erica has shared her expertise on countless podcasts, conducted radio and television interviews, and was featured in The New York Times.  

MSM 515: Here we go all caught in 4K! Summary: Shawn and Troy talk about COVID restrictions reopening school. What can you do? How do you handle group work? Dave colors our world with sunshine. Jokes: Eileen Award: Facebook: Jack Berckemeyer Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Reports from the Front Lines “Open House” DaVinci Resolve COVID Policies in the Classroom, Who takes the blame if the kid gets sick? Lunch Room Group Work Lockers Hall Passes Water fountains Building Relationships & Dealing with COVID Project Adventure Growth String Question to Leave And now for the “Maine Idea!” Advisory: Amazing Designs https://dailytimewaste.com/movies/fb/161878301/the-most-amazing-design-ideas-people-have-come-across/ The Twitterverse Shabana Basij-Rasikh @sbasijrasikh In March 2002, after the fall of Taliban, thousands of Afghan girls were invited to go to the nearest public school to participate in a placement test because the Taliban had burned all female students' records to erase their existence. I was one of those girls. Nearly 20 years later, as the founder of the only all-girls boarding school in Afghanistan, I'm burning my students' records not to erase them, but to protect them and their families. https://twitter.com/i/status/1428776691820908548 MiddleWeb @middleweb NEW TEACHERS! 25 Best Posts for New Teacher Mentors #mschat #middleschool @AMLE #ntchat #newteachers #mentoring #educoach #profdev #teachingtips https://middleweb.com/23435/25-of-mi Matt Miller @jmattmiller Why your students need a podcast: How to do it fast and free http://ditchthattextbook.com/2018/02/28/why-your-students-need-a-podcast-how-to-do-it-fast-and-free/ Cheryl Morris @guster4lovers Teacher friends, I wrote a MS/HS unit that can be taught in person, remote, or hybrid that covers #growthmindset, neuroplasticity, emotions, #sel and the science of happiness. Please use/share freely: https://bit.ly/gmselunit It would be a great way to start the year @jcorippo https://t.co/HWWlxIvFGg?amp=1 From a Facebook post: Write a scary story using *exactly* four words. There was this response: Shawn McGirr Elliott wrote a story one time when she was probably in second grade. The title was "The Teacher Without Coffee" #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” Strategies: Manual Water Pump for 5 Gallon Water Bottle Need to get around the water fountain/hall pass issue? Put a 5 gallon water jug on the table and insert the pump. Water bottle filler and your students don't have to ask for a hallway pass. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B087PCMSVV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Clean/Dirty Dishwasher Sign Use the Clean/Dirty dishwasher sign on your door to tell custodial if you've been in the room today. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B078MMXJPC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Mask Extenders - Save your ears! https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08K3RDC6H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Resources: 3D Periodic Table https://artsexperiments.withgoogle.com/periodic-table/#annotations:tQtVJACCEeyyWFfoKUYuiA Welcoming Staff Back to the Building Be mindful as you plan for return to school team-building activities. Consider your staff's comfort level. You can survey staff prior to the start of the school year. In this post, you will learn some suggestions on how to build school culture at the beginning of the year. https://www.teachbetter.com/blog/welcoming-staff-back-into-the-building/ 10 Secrets to Raising Good Listeners So my principal changed my schedule yesterday and I now have to take a project and interactive simulation based class and turn it into a lecture based class. They're going to have to learn differently. https://www.janetlansbury.com/2011/03/10-secrets-to-raising-good-listeners/ Web Spotlight: Can you fix middle school by getting rid of it? Proponents of K-8 schools, or “elemiddles” as they're sometimes called, say they promote strong relationships between not only teachers and students but also teachers and parents and offer stability to young teens during a tumultuous time in their lives. The research comparing outcomes of students at K-8 and middle schools remains inconclusive. ...many of the new middle schools had been built for pragmatic reasons, rather than ideological ones, they tended to resemble the junior highs they'd replaced. They were “middle schools in name only,” said Mary Beth Schaefer, https://hechingerreport.org/can-you-fix-middle-school-by-getting-rid-of-it/ LMS Showcase https://michiganvirtual.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LsMWNUV4SoKcsv05uqBSMQ Axis - The Culture Translator No Emoji is Safe What it is: Digital natives tend to use emoji less sincerely than their older counterparts, which makes for some confusion when it comes to the family group text. Why it's best to stick with words: As we've written about before, the “cry-laughing face” emoji has long been banned from the Gen Z-approved emoji lexicon. Now, as the Wall Street Journal reports, your emoji keyboard is practically a buffet of faux pas potential. That pained-looking frowny-face guy? He's what Gen Z uses to express desire, not frustration. And that smiley face emoji, once the most straightforward of fellows, is mostly interpreted by Gen Z as a passive-aggressive dig. (After all, nobody looks that happy in real life.) You might want to ask your teen if your emoji-vocabulary needs some brushing up. Slang of the Week Caught in 4K: Capturing someone's reaction on camera or catching someone “red-handed.” For Example: “You tried to pretend you were over that girl, but your face says it all! Caught in 4k!” Random Thoughts . . . Personal Web Site Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

In her over two decades at Palo Alto Unified School District (Palo Alto, CA, USA), Jennifer was a high school English teacher, new teacher coach, and professional development facilitator. She left PAUSD in 2012 to start her full-time communications consultancy in which she works with schools and organizations across the globe. Jennifer trains and coaches teachers, administrators, and others on new teacher/employee support, having hard conversations, collaboration skills, and being your best adult self at work. Jennifer presents at annual North American-based conferences such as Learning Forward, ASCD, NASSP, NAESP, AMLE, ISACS, and the New Teacher Center Annual Symposium among others. Internationally, she consults with schools across Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Canada. Jennifer's publications include Having Hard Conversations, The Multigenerational Workplace: Communicating, Collaborating & Creating Community and Hard Conversations Unpacked – the Whos, the Whens and the What Ifs, Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives, and her newest book, Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work. Jennifer has been recognized as one of “21 Women All K-12 Educators Need to Know” by Education Week's ‘Finding Common Ground' blog. She considers herself a “voice coach,” helping others learn how to best use their voices – be it collaborating on a team, presenting in front of a group, coaching a colleague, supervising an employee. Connect Twitter-@jenniferabrams Website- www.jenniferabrams.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bigedidea/message

Episode #90: Sandeep Dutt in conversation with Jennifer Abrams, an international educational and communications consultant for public and independent schools, universities, and non-profits. Jennifer trains and coaches teachers, administrators, and others on new teacher/employee support, having hard conversations, collaboration skills, and being your best adult self at work. In her over two decades at Palo Alto Unified School District (Palo Alto, CA, USA), Jennifer was a high school English teacher, new teacher coach, and professional development facilitator. She left PAUSD in 2012 to start her full-time communications consultancy, in which she works with schools and organizations across the globe. Jennifer presents at annual North American-based conferences such as Learning Forward, ASCD, NASSP, NAESP, AMLE, ISACS, and the New Teacher Center Annual Symposium. Internationally, she facilitated with the Teachers' and Principals' Centers for International School Leadership (TTC and PTC) and presented with EARCOS, NESA, ECIS, AISA, AASSA, CEESA, and Tri-Association, and consults with schools across Asia, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Canada. Jennifer's publications include Having Hard Conversations, The Multigenerational Workplace: Communicating, Collaborating & Creating Community and Hard Conversations Unpacked – the Whos, the Whens and the What Ifs, Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives, and her newest book, Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work. Jennifer has been recognized as one of “21 Women All K-12 Educators Need to Know” by Education Week's ‘Finding Common Ground' blog. She considers herself a “voice coach,” helping others learn how to best use their voices – be it collaborating on a team, presenting in front of a group, coaching a colleague, supervising an employee. Her website is www.jenniferabrams.com. Her new book, Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work, is at www.miravia.com. Follow @jenniferabrams on Twitter and @jenniferbethabrams on Instagram. In the show, she shares how she set out to be a grammar teacher and evolved to a Coach for adult learning. She had in her the inherent credentials for communicating efficaciously. Building humane relationships, her work syncs with what Learning Forward India delivers with their Joy Of Learning Program, focusing on self-confidence, resilience, and a happy teacher. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/learningforward/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/learningforward/support

This episode features a conversation with Lisa Harrison, associate professor of middle childhood education at the Patton School of Education at Ohio University. Lisa is a teacher of teachers, preparing professionals for middle school classrooms. She is also a researcher, with a core area of focus on young adolescent black girls, a somewhat under-addressed topic in the research literature. She has examined the influences of social context on their identity development, including common negative images of black girls compared to their white young adolescent girl peers, as well as the experiences they have in school, often affected by adult perceptions of them that are embedded in some fundamental inequities.Lisa and Jason talk about her research that extends into the inequitable experiences young adolescent black girls have with school discipline policies; how the national dialog around race over the past several months has impacted the way she thinks about preparing her teachers-in-training, including the importance for them to engage young adolescents in racial dialog more routinely, rather than just around big moments; the latest update of the position paper from the Association for Middle Level Education, or AMLE, called the Successful Middle School, which Lisa co-authored, that outlines core attributes and characteristics for middle schools; and how educators, as well as parents and families and other caring adults in the community can use the book to improve the learning and development experience for young adolescents. Additional Readings and ResourcesThe Successful Middle School: This We Believe, Penny A. Bishop and Lisa M. Harrison, Association for Middle Level Education, 2020. “Redefining Intersectionality Theory through the Lens of African American Young Adolescent Girls' Racialized Experiences,” by Lisa Harrison in Youth & Society, Volume 49, Number 8, Pages 1023-1039, November 2017.“Call Me Worthy: Utilizing Storytelling to Reclaim Narratives about Black Middle School Girls Experiencing Inequitable School Discipline,” by ThedaMarie D. Gibbs Grey & Lisa M. Harrison in Equity & Excellence in Education, Volume 53, Number 3, Pages 325-341, 2020.“Synthesizing Middle Grades Research on Cultural Responsiveness: The Importance of a Shared Conceptual Framework,” by Brianna L. Kennedy, Kathleen Brinegar, Ellis Hurd and Lisa Harrison in Middle Grades Review, Volume 2, Number 3, Article 2, December 2016.Push Out: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, by Monique W. Morris, The New Press, 2018.Association for Middle Level EducationPatton School of Education at Ohio University

ClassCast Podcast Episode 042 features Joe Pizzo, the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) 2020 National Educator of the Year, sharing his thoughts about education, progress, project-based learning, classroom dynamics, and much, much more as he begins his remarkable 47th year teaching middle school English in Chester, New Jersey. Joe talks with host Ryan Tibbens about adjusting to pandemic conditions, supporting young teachers, creating "real world" and project-based opportunities for students, publishing, and more -- including why he hasn't retired yet! Joe is one of the busiest people we've met on the ClassCast Podcast, from winning multiple state and national level awards to serving on professional organizations' boards, from teaching middle school and college to volunteering with the Boy Scouts of America and at his local church. In this wide-ranging, intimate conversation, Joe shares what keeps him motivated, how to connect with students, and even why a comfort note or sincere consolation can help someone through personal tragedy and loss. Given that 50% of teachers leave the profession within five years and that the national average career length is currently around 14 years (and dropping steadily in recent decades), Joe Pizzo offers a refreshing look at what makes teaching great and why great teachers stick around. Table of Contents0:00 - 7:40 -- Intro/Why Not Retire?7:46 - 17:39 -- Changes during 47 Year Career?17:40 - 24:15 -- Pandemics & Tough Discussions in School24:30 - 32:25 -- Joseph Pizzo: the Student & Young Teacher32:26 - 36:15 -- Advice for Young Teachers (continued below)36:16 - 43:57 -- A Case Study in Patient, Persistent Education44:07 - 53:44 -- Pizzo's Ideal School (plus Standardized Testing & Accountability)53:45 - 1:01:12 -- 9/11 Ceremony & Project-Based Learning1:01:13 - 1:02:33 -- Advice for Young Teachers (continued)1:02:33 - 1:04:06 -- PBL & Real World Opportunities1:04:15 - 1:07:23 -- AMLE 2020 Educator of the Year1:07:24 - 1:11:54 -- Power Skills, Soft Skills, & Personal Development1:11:54 - 1:25:00 -- Book & Movie Recommendations1:25:00 - 1:32:18 -- Writing Can Change Everything & Comfort Notes1:32:18 - 1:39:40 -- Final ThoughtsBe sure to like, share, follow, subscribe, and leave a positive review wherever you get your podcasts. The ClassCast Podcast streams on all major services and aims to improve education by hosting thoughtful, critical discussions about how we can do school (and life) better -- an education podcast for everyone, not just teachers. Be sure to leave a comment or review and let us know what you think. Support the show (http://paypal.me/TibbensEST)

Marlena Gross-Taylor is the founder of EduGladiators and a nationally recognized edleader with a proven track record of improving educational and operational performance through vision, strategic planning, leadership, and team building. A Nashville transplant originally from southern Louisiana, Marlena’s educational experience spans several states allowing her to have served K-12 students in both rural and urban districts. She has been recognized as a middle school master teacher and innovative administrator at the elementary, middle, high school and district levels. Marlena’s professional development expertise has national attention and she serves as an AMLE middle school expert. She has also leveraged her past experience in corporate management to also include corporate training and leadership coaching in her repertoire of consulting services focused on culture, engagement and increased productivity. Marlena is a seasoned presenter keynoting conferences and delivering dynamic professional development sessions. As a proud Louisiana State University alumni, she is committed to excellence and believes all students can achieve. In today’s episode, we get to hear the incredible story of Marlena’s journey into education as well as into becoming a leader among leaders. Her focus on amplifying excellence and building a community to grow the profession as well as amplify voices is deeply inspiring to me. Marlena is a treasure, and I think you will be able to tell from our conversation how much I enjoyed talking with her. You are going to love this leader, friends. I am deeply honored to share with you Marlena Gross-Taylor’s Amplifer story. Connect with Marlena: www.marlenataylor.com Marlena on Twitter Marlena on IG; Edugladiators on Twitter https://www.edugladiators.com/ Join Sarah’s Free Five-Day Going Beyond Balance Challenge on Facebook! Join Sarah’s Newsletter --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/inawepodcast/message

Jennifer Abrams is an international educational and communications consultant for public and independent schools, hospitals, universities and non-profits. Jennifer trains and coaches teachers, administrators, nurses, hospital personnel, and others on new employee support, supervision, being generationally savvy, having hard conversations and collaboration skills.In Palo Alto USD (Palo Alto, CA), Jennifer led professional development sessions on topics from equity and elements of effective instruction to teacher leadership and peer coaching and provided new teacher and administrator trainings at both the elementary and secondary level. From 2000-2011, Jennifer was lead coach for the Palo Alto-Mountain View-Los Altos-Saratoga-Los Gatos Consortium's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program.In her educational consulting work, Jennifer has presented at annual conferences such as Learning Forward, ASCD, NASSP, NAESP, AMLE, ISACS and the New Teacher Center Annual Symposium, as well as at the Teachers' and Principals' Centers for International School Leadership. Jennifer's communications consulting in the health care sector includes training and coaching work at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and Stanford Hospital.Jennifer's publications include Having Hard Conversations, The Multigenerational Workplace: Communicating, Collaborating & Creating Community and Hard Conversations Unpacked – the Whos, the Whens and the What Ifs. Her upcoming book, Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives, will be out March of 2019. Other publications include her chapter, “Habits of Mind for the School Savvy Leader” in Art Costa's and Bena Kallick's book, Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: 16 Essential Characteristics for Success, and her contribution to the book, Mentors in the Making: Developing New Leaders for New Teachers published by Teachers College Press. Jennifer writes a monthly newsletter, Voice Lessons, available for reading at and subscribing to on her website, www.jenniferabrams.com and is a featured columnist, writing about personal development at www.eschoolnews.com.Jennifer has been recognized as one of “21 Women All K-12 Educators Need to Know” by Education Week's ‘Finding Common Ground' blog, and the International Academy of Educational Entrepreneurship. She has been a featured interviewee on the topic of professionalism for ASCD's video series, Master Class, hosted by National Public Radio's Claudio Sanchez, and in the lead article, “Finding Your Voice in Facilitating Productive Conversations” for Learning Forward's The Leading Teacher, Summer 2013 newsletter; as a generational expert for “Tune in to What the New Generation of Teachers Can Do,” published in Phi Delta Kappan, (May 2011), and by the Ontario Ministry of Education for their Leadership Matters: Supporting Open-to-Learning Conversations video series.Jennifer considers herself a “voice coach,” helping others learn how to best use their voices – be it collaborating on a team, presenting in front of an audience, coaching a colleague, supervising an employee and in her role as an advisor for Reach Capital, an early stage educational technology fund. Jennifer holds a Master's degree in Education from Stanford University and a Bachelor's degree in English from Tufts University. She lives in Palo Alto, California. Jennifer can be reached at jennifer@jenniferabrams.com, www.jenniferabrams.com, and on Twitter @jenniferabrams.

Dive into the network designed specifically for Middle School Teachers, as co-hosts Mike, Jeannine, and Matt share a conversation with Joy Rosser and Bruce Vosburgh. With more than 50 years of combined school experience, Joy and Bruce give insights into the Association for Middle Level Educations (AMLE) and more specifically its Pennsylvania affiliate PAMLE. Lots of plugs in this episode, including: Joy's recent book Sharing Mindsets, AMLE's National Schools to Watch, Ted Dintersmith's book What School Could Be, Online Voice Recorder, and Education Reimagined. Music by Ketsa.

If the playbook for grading and assessment went out the window a couple of weeks ago, what do we do in its place?  Rick Wormeli, National Board Certified Teacher and author of Fair Isn't Always Equal, talked with Stenhouse’s Faye LaCasse about what matters most in student assessment.  Several times throughout the conversation, Rick and Faye refer to his AMLE webinar "COVID 19: Assessment and Grading Concerns  During Remote Learning" which you can sign up for at https://www.amle.com .  Follow Rick at https://www.rickwormeli.com and @rickwormeli2.

Have you ever wondered WTF is going on when you've been so excited about something in your life and suddenly, everything changes? You thought things were going 'up' but now they seem to be going 'down' or side-ways or... however they go! We've been there too - that's why I am so excited to have Malin Amle on the show today talking about navigating the ebb and flow cycles of life with greater ease, self compassion, and understanding. Malin & I discuss on the show what we thought the process of traveling and creating our businesses and lives was going to be like.... and what the process has actually been like along the way (the 'awesome' and the 'ugly'). We talk about honoring the natural cycles and rhythms of life. The ups and the downs, the light and the dark, the victories and the challenges.. and how it's all here to guide you on the inward journey of your own evolutionary process. I hope that this episode finds exactly who needs to hear it today. Wherever you are, whatever challenges you may be facing or if you're riding the waves of excitement, life is meeting you exactly where you need to be. Be sure to head over to www.malinamle.thinkific.com to access Malin's courses and enter "myjesscoupon" to receive 30% off! Connect with Malin on Instagram @malinamle or on Facebook Be sure to connect with me on Instagram or head over to my website to book your reading! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Episode 27 - We talked about how fabulous this woman was when we returned from AMLE, so we feel so lucky to have teacher, Dean of Students, and speaker Kim Campbell as a guest on the podcast. We talk about the importance of movement, engaging boys, building relationships, and a little on how to reach "mean girls." Kim Campbell's website: https://www.motivatingthemiddle.org/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/from-the-middle-podcast/support

Episode 26 - We could not be more excited than to welcome New York Times Best Selling Author Jessica Lahey on the podcast. Jessica has articles written in The Atlantic and the New York Times, and we have her on the podcast to discuss her New York Times best selling book The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed. We had the joy of seeing her at AMLE in Nashville this past November and knew we had to ask her to come on the podcast. We hope you enjoy this great discussion on our love for middle schoolers, the importance of giving children of any age autonomy and intrinsic motivation to succeed. Jessica Lahey http://www.jessicalahey.com Buy The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Failure-Parents-Children-Succeed-ebook/dp/B00GLS00LY/?tag=jessicalcom-20 Gift of Failure Frequently Asked Questions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJvu5en3L6M&list=PLWc_BZJdVWKLk7yIgkofPUNfhUi4bVEKj&disable_polymer=true 
Jessica's Bibliography https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51d5b70de4b07e30233ade36/t/5bc4ace8c83025dddf3f2adc/1539615976178/Bibliography.pdf Balanced and barefoot by Angela J. Hanscom https://www.amazon.com/Balanced-Barefoot-Unrestricted-Confident-Children/dp/1626253730 “Drive” Daniel H. Pink https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Surprising-Truth-About-Motivates/dp/1594484805 Middle School Matters by Phyllis L. Fagell https://www.amazon.com/Middle-School-Matters-Beyond-Parents/dp/0738235083 The Happiness Project with Gretchen Rubin https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happier-with-gretchen-rubin/id969519520 Happier in Hollywood with Liz Craft and Sarah Fain https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happier-in-hollywood/id1236845161 --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/from-the-middle-podcast/support

Episode 23 - featuring Katie Powell- We were very fortunate to meet Katie in person at this year's AMLE conference in Nashville, as well as attend many of her featured sessions. We asked her if she'd come on the podcast, and she's here to discuss her amazing book and her ideas of helping educators to create engaging and meaningful experiences for students. Boredom Busters by Katie Powell https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1949595684?pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8&pf_rd_r=3X9PH5Y6JPR4179WYQMS Katie's website https://www.teachbeyondthedesk.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/from-the-middle-podcast/support

Talking with the author of Bold Humility, David Schmittou. This is a fantastic episode and one that is a fun one to listen to. This is the last of the AMLE podcasts. I hope you enjoy!

Episode 22 - Part 2 of AMLE talks. This time we're back in Atlanta. We talk to more colleagues, and we've put some things into practice. We talk about what we've tried and what else we learned the rest of the conference. AMLE http://www.amle.org Katie Powell https://www.teachbeyondthedesk.com Katie Anderson https://www.consciousteaching.com/ Kim Campbell https://www.motivatingthemiddle.org Marcia Tate http://developingmindsinc.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/from-the-middle-podcast/support

Episode 21 - We recorded from AMLE in Nashville. We decompress after our first day of the conference discussing our favorite sessions and our takeaways with items that we are hoping to start implementing in our classrooms. AMLE http://www.amle.org Katie Powell https://www.teachbeyondthedesk.com Katie Anderson https://www.consciousteaching.com/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/from-the-middle-podcast/support

This episode comes from my time at AMLE. I was fortunate to record three podcast when I was there. This one is with Brad Weinstein and Nathan Maynard about their recent book Hacking School Discipline. Both great guys and a wonderful discussion. There are plenty of well played moments in here. Have a listen. Guests: Brad Weinstein: @WeinsteinEdu Nathan Maynard: @NmaynardEdu

Episode 20 After an unintentional hiatus, we are back with episode 20! We chat about college football, shows we've been watching and Melissa's feelings about Twitter chats. We also discuss our upcoming trip to the AMLE conference. As always, thanks for listening! Modern Love https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8543390/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1 Dickinson https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8518136/?ref_=nv_sr_2?ref_=nv_sr_2 The Morning Show https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7203552/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 AMLE http://www.amle.org --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/from-the-middle-podcast/support

Malin is a professional kiteboarder gone conscious creatrix on a mission to empower people to design the life of their wildest dreams and live in Divine flow. This is Malin’s second appearance on the podcast, previously appearing on episode 119 where we talked a lot more about her kiteboarding career and what she learned through that. In THIS episode we dive in more what life looks like as she transitions from a career in kiteboarding and dives fully into the spiritual awakening she’s experienced and the sense of divine flow she now allows to guide her.

Supporting identity development and underscoring the importance of affinity groups.Phyllis is the school counselor at Sheridan School in Washington, D.C., a therapist at The Chrysalis Group, an author of Middle School Matters: The 10 Key Skills Kids Need to Thrive in Middle School and Beyond--- and How Parents Can Help. Phyllis is alsoa journalist who writes columns for The Washington Post, PDK, Intl. and AMLE.

Episode 15 - We catch up! Bahamas, Lysa TerKeurst, AMLE, and just what's happening in our lives. As always please rate and review. It's Not Supposed To Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB5R38P/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 I Declare War by Levi Lusko https://www.amazon.com/Declare-War-Winning-Battle-Yourself/dp/0785220860/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1550702801&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=i+declare+war+levi+lusko&psc=1 Weighted Blanket https://www.amazon.com/YnM-Weighted-Blanket-Material-Insomnia/dp/B073429DV2/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?s=bedbath&ie=UTF8&qid=1537402764&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=weighted+blanket&psc=1&smid=A18IAX87FBBJR5 Socials: Website www.fromthemiddlepodcast.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fromthemiddlepodcast/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/from_middle Contact us at fromthemiddlepodcast@gmail.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/from-the-middle-podcast/support

Some thought from AMLE conference

Show Notes: During today's show, we discuss how the push for grit and growth mindset in schools could lead to deficit thinking in teachers and communities. We reference the article: "Grit and Growth Mindset: Deficit Thinking? Examining the cultural narrative around these ideologies" by Rick Wormeli: http://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/DiversityandSocialEquity/DivDet/TabId/185/ArtMID/791/ArticleID/937/Grit-and-Growth-Mindset-Deficit-Thinking.aspx#.W2r3jf644kp.twitter And during our first ever Teacher Tips segment, Robby, Peter, and Casey share their "go to" tips for beginning the school year on the right foot.

Dr. Neil Gupta, Director of Secondary Education at the Worthington City Schools, shares about the Shadow a Student Dr. Gupta is an AMLE Faculty Member and the Moderator of #LeadUpChat Follow Neil on Twitter at @drneilgupta Check out Neil's website at https://drneilgupta.wordpress.com 

MSM 358:  Glasses, we don’t need no stinking glasses! Oops, yes we do. Jokes You Can Use: Advisory: Complainers https://www.healthspiritbody.com/complaining-causes-depression-anxiety/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Eclipse 2017: Safety This is the second in a multipart series on Eclipse 2017 utilizing the resources from NASA that can be found at: http://eclipse2017.nasa.gov Three questions are asked and answered regarding Eclipse Safety. They include: 1. Why is it not safe to look at the sun even when only a small part of it is visible? 2. Where can I get the right kind of solar filter to view the eclipse? 3. Isn't this safety issue about eclipse viewing, a bit overblown? For information on how to safely watch the eclipse, please visit: http://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety From the Twitterverse: Susan Zanti‏ @SusZanti5 Getting more teachers connected to Twitter as a means of personalized professional learning-growing PLN #bfc530 Rat-hole: https://mastodon.social/about Dru Tomlin‏ @DruTomlin Dru Tomlin Retweeted AMLE Big ups 2 all #middleschool Ts making marvelous/magnificent things happen in the critical middle grades! @AMLE #mschat #thankateacher Dru Tomlin added, AMLE @AMLE We love our teachers! Happy Teacher Appreciation Day! AMLE‏ @AMLE Is it working in your middle school? Perspectives for educ & business guide you through sch initiatives http://bit.ly/1Y39J7d @nikkiwoodson Rat Hole #2: Paperless classroom Jay Billy‏ @JayBilly2 Join me for a discussion on "Reflecting on This Year" on #satchatwc at 10:30 EST or you figure out the time in the other time zones #satchat Bailey‏ @MissGooderlBGCS 6th graders taking a gallery walk & leaving positive comments on their peers Math 6 Projects!@KaraffaAlyssa @B_IckesBGCS @ERadabaughBGCS Mary Gambrel‏ @MarGambrel OMG! This is going to be a game changer for me. Positive, Not Punitive, Class-Mgmt Tips @Larryferlazzo: http://edut.to/2dVVezw @edutopia #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” Strategies: Teachers Going Gradeless https://medium.com/@hhschiaravalli/teachers-going-gradeless-50d621c14cad Resources: Cornell Notes How to take Cornell Notes (5 minutes, 26 seconds) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtW9IyE04OQ XPMath Games Free Math games. http://www.xpmath.com/ Free Vocab Words http://www.hilotutor.com/index.html http://www.hilotutor.com/archives.html Coded Messages for Safety http://www.inspiremore.com/sons-coded-text-message/

MSM 356: AMLE, Poetry, Blended Sixth Graders. Jokes You Can Use: Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Best STEM Books -- Part 2 http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2017/4/12_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Best_STEM_Books_Part_2.html From the Twitterverse: #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!” Strategies: http://www.gettingsmart.com/2017/04/6-best-practices-for-expanding-a-blended-learning-initiative/ Homework Alternatives http://www.teachthought.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/alternatives-to-homework.jpg http://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/alternatives-to-homework-a-chart-for-teachers/ Resources: College-Ready Sixth Graders http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2017/04/college-ready-sixth-graders.html Interactive Word Wall http://classtechtips.com/2016/11/09/create-interactive-word-wall-scannabletech%EF%BB%BF/ Young Adult Novels That Teach a Growth Mindset https://www.edutopia.org/article/young-adult-novels-teach-growth-mindset-robert-ward Web Spotlight: https://longreads.com/2017/04/10/the-2017-pulitzer-prize-winners/ Random Thoughts . . . Personal Web Site

Malin is a professional kiteboarder who hails from Oslo, Norway. She also works as a digital marketing strategist for an online IT company. Malin travels the world and is on a journey to living life boldly. "I want to get to the core of how I want to live my life and what I want to embody." In everything she does, Malin makes sure that they are aligned with what she wants to happen in her life, with how she wants to feel. She emphasizes on being an inspiration, instead of being viewed as competition. "I'd rather be inspiring people than competing with them." Malin plans on launching her own podcast because she wants to learn more from people who are living their life with passion and those who have found happiness by following their hearts' desires. On this episode, she tells me about her experiences and how she is constantly living her life with curiosity. "My game is to explore and expand."

Lynn Howard joins Justin Baeder to discuss her book, Supporting New Teachers: A How-To Guide for Leaders.Interview Notes, Resources, & Links Purchase Lynn's book,Supporting New Teachers: A How-To Guide for Leaders.See Lynn at AMLE in Columbus, OH on Thursday, Oct 16 from 12:45 - 3:45See Lynn at Learning Forward in Washington, DC Dec 7 from 2:15 - 4:15 (session C39)About Lynn HowardLynn Howard is an independent consultant and author of five books. She spent more than 30 years with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System as a classroom teacher and as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction.

AMLE talks with Angela Falter Thomas about her article entitled, "Dealing with Death: The Toughest Lesson" from the May 2015 edition of AMLE Magazine. We discuss how to support our young adolescents and ourselves when tragedies happen inside and outside of the school house. Listen in on this impactful interview and continue to reach every student, grow professionally, and create great schools.

AMLE talks with Ashley Butler about "Lead2Feed" from her January 2015 AMLE Magazine Partner Spotlight article. We talk about the Lead2Feed program and how we can grow service-learning and community engagement in our middle schools. Listen in, reach every student, grow professionally and create great schools!

Listen as AMLE talks with Melinda, a third year principal, about the hopes she has for her school, her students, and herself as the school year begins. Continue to follow Melinda's journey as we keep the conversation going throughout the school year.

Listen in as AMLE talks to Abbey, a first year teacher, about the hopes she has for herself and her students as the school year begins. Continue to follow Abbey's journey as we keep the conversation going throughout the school year.

AMLE: MID LEVEL EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL LEARNING  with AMLE's Dr. Dru Tomlin giving us the how and why!! Presented by Zaner Bloser www.zaner-bloser.com  @zanerbloser

Frank Buck joins Justin Baeder to discuss his book, Get Organized: Time Management for School Leaders.Interview Notes, Resources, & Links Purchase Dr. Buck's book, Get Organized: Time Management for School Leaders.Follow @DrFrankBuck on TwitterFacebookVisit the website at FrankBuck.org (sign up for the newsletter)BlogFollow on InstagramFollow on PinterestAbout Frank BuckFrank Buck is an education consultant and friend of The Principal Center. Dr. Buck has served as a central office administrator, principal, assistant principal, and band director during a career in education spanning almost 30 years. Dr. Buck writes a weekly newspaper column, maintains an active blog, and regularly presents at national conferences, including ASCD, Learning Forward, AMLE, NAESP, and Staff Development for Educators.

AMLE; THE ASSOCIATION FOR MID LEVEL EDUCATION MARCH IS MID LEVEL EDUCATION MONTH I could make a joke and say its only from the 4th to the 8th....but I won't Our good friend Dru Tomlin, AMLE Director of Mid Level Services is our guest. Time to celebrate  as the TV show says, "The Middle". Presented by Zaner Bloser  www.zaner-bloser.com. One of  the leading publishers of Education Materials for K-8...and a good Ohio neighbor of AMLE

  CONNECTED EDUCATORS: THE JOYS OF TEACHING MIDDLE SCHOOL WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SOCIAL STUDIES My new best frind, Dr Hilary Copnklin of DePaul University was just named the Smartbrief's Editor's Choice Award Winner for her excellent article about what Middle School teaching is about. She teaches future social studies teachers specifically and she laughs at all my jokes.You'll love this show

The Association for Mid Level Education , AMLE, just finsished their annual conference. Dru Tomlin wil represent them on the show with a review of the high energy Minneapolis conference.

MSM 261: Tynkar, “Waver”, Heartbreaker, Spy (Where’s Waldo?) Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Jokes You Can Use: Eileen Award: Twitter: Marc Prensky Advisory: Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Wave Warnings I was recently reading the October, 2013 issue of Science Scope, a magazine written for Middle School Science Teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. In this issue, I came upon an article entitled, "Wave Warnings," written by Ken Roy, director of environmental health and safety for Glastonbury Public Schools in Glastonbury, CT. Within the article, he shares ideas on safety when doing hands-on activities in the study of energy and waves. He recommends providing safety awareness when students use: Slinkys Lenses Mirrors Light Sources (laser, lightbulb, etc) Tuning Forks Drinking Glasses Wave Tank Sink Student Designed Sound Generators/Musical Instruments http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2013/10/24_Middle_School_Science_Minute-Wave_Warnings.html From the Twitterverse: #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Strategies: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2013/11/response_there_is_no_such_thing_as_an_unmotivated_student.html Resources: Tynkar What it is: Tynker is about the coolest way for kids to learn how to computer program- absolutely NO prior programming experience is needed! Tynker leads kids through design thinking through interactive courses where kids can learn how to program at their own pace. http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=5183 Web Spotlight: How Benoit Mandelbrot Discovered Fractals: A Short Film by Errol Morris Even if you know little of mathematics, you probably have some awareness of fractals. You’ve almost certainly heard them invoked, correctly or otherwise, to describe things that look or act the same at the large scale as they do at the small. http://www.openculture.com/2013/11/how-benoit-mandelbrot-discovered-fractals-a-short-film-by-errol-morris.html http://twentytwowords.com/2013/11/22/mathematically-inaccurate-6-year-old-gets-self-confidence/ AMLE 2013 Annual Conference Our Thanks . . . Dave Bydlowski Ron King Dr. Monte Tatom Our listeners

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Jokes You Can Use: Eileen Award: Advisory: Ashton Kutcher Acceptance Speech - Teen Choice Awards 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuBSRC1zpHw What If Superheroes Had Part-Time Jobs Have students pick a SuperHero (or create one). Then have them decide upon a part time job (or alternate) job. Students could draw or write the story about the SuperHero. http://laughingsquid.com/what-if-superheroes-had-part-time-jobs/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE MINUTE-SCIENCE SONGS I was recently reading the September, 2013 issue of Science Scope, a magazine written for Middle School Science Teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association. In this issue, I came upon an article entitled, "Songs in Service of Science," written by Kathryn Hoffman. Within the article, she explains how science songs can be beneficial to students. At the end of the podcast, I sing two of the songs from the article. They are: The Linnaean Levels of Classification Cellular Respiration. http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2013/10/18_Middle_School_Science_Minute-Science_Songs.html From the Twitterverse: #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Strategies: Learn the Address http://www.learntheaddress.org/ Grade Table http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2013/11/everything-thats-wrong-with-traditional-grading-in-one-table.html?utm_source=feedburner&IP=10.38.97.3&CAT=WEBLOG&USER=IPGROUP&CE=0 Bruno: Achievement Gaps Have Closed More Than You Think One of the subtlest pitfalls, however, concerns the apparent persistence of achievement gaps between different groups of students. http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2013/11/bruno-achievement-gaps-are-closing-faster-than-you-think.html Resources: History in Color Take black and white photographs from the past and add a splash of color. The impact is different. https://www.facebook.com/HistoryInColor Similar: Some Lincoln and WWII pictures. Click through the slider at the top of the page. http://lightbox.time.com/2012/10/25/a-vibrant-past-colorizing-the-archives-of-history/#3 Optical Illusions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UelJZG_bF98#t=19 eQuiz Show http://equizshow.com/ How to participate in a Twitter Chat http://www.coolcatteacher.com/videos/participate-twitter-chat-txeduchat/ Web Spotlight: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2013/11/as_the_final_public_comment.html 8 Universal Secrets of Motivated Learners http://www.personalizelearning.com/2013/11/8-universal-secrets-of-motivated.html#! UDACITY'S SEBASTIAN THRUN, GODFATHER OF FREE ONLINE EDUCATION, CHANGES COURSE http://www.fastcompany.com/3021473/udacity-sebastian-thrun-uphill-climb AMLE 2013 Annual Conference Executive Director’s Meeting: Membership focused on Teachers and resources for educators, backburner Administrators and Universities. Free membership option has been a HUGE hit: 10,000 new members in the first month. Half-Baked Ideas . . . On the go recording.

Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. Jokes You Can Use: Eileen Award: Twitter: Tricia Fuglestad, Tara Kuty Advisory: Myers-Briggs Introduction to the Cognitive Style Inventory This modest self-scoring inventory is Not a substitute for taking an MBTI ®. It is simply an introduction to personality type or psychological type. We hope it whets your appetite for learning more about the Myers and Briggs model of personality development and its message of increased human understanding. The Style Inventory will allow you to approximate what are your MBTI Type preferences. After determining your 4 Type letters, you can jump to a number of links we have provided to help you get acquainted with the characteristics and indicators of the 16 types and verify if your type, as determined by this "unscientific" survey, seems to "fit" or not. http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html Does Being Rich make you Different? Science can explain a lot of things that I've always wondered about (go, science!). In this case, it explains what I've known for a long time but been unable to quite understand: Why do some folks who have a lot more money than others seem to be less nice and more evil to everyone around them? At 0:50, someone actually takes candy from babies. No, really. At 3:00, we start to see the science unfold before our eyes. Entire management courses could — and should — be taught with the bit starting at 4:40. http://www.whydontyoutrythis.com/2013/07/take-two-normal-people-add-money-to-just-one-of-them-and-watch-what-happens-next.html Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) Petri Plate Disposal I was recently reading "The NSTA Ready Reference Guide to Safer Science," written by Ken Roy of the Glastonbury Public Schools. In this book, Key answers questions that have been submitted by middle school science teachers. In this podcast, Ken answers the following question: "What is a safe way to dispose of Petri Plates used to grow mold and bacteria?" If you would like to order Ken's book, please visit the NSTA bookstore at: http://nsta.org/store http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2013/10/11_Middle_School_Science_Minute-Petri_Plate_Disposal.html From the Twitterverse: #mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. Strategies: Resources: http://ayearofproductivity.com/10-things-learned-productivity-watching-70-hours-ted-talks-last-week/ SwipeSpeare Shakespeare has all the ingredients of a big budget movie—if you can understand him. SwipeSpeare puts the words of the Bard into plain and simple English with a Swipe of a finger! Unlike other apps that put the original and modern side-by-side in a way that is distracting and hard to read, SwipeSpeare only shows you the modern text when you want to see it. Simply swipe your finger over the text, and the text will change; swipe it again and it will change back. Romeo & Juliet is free. http://www.swipespeare.com/features.html Web Spotlight: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/10/18/what-poor-children-need-in-school/ Half-Baked Ideas . . . If you’re at AMLE, say, “Hi!” A couple of observations about AMLE this year. 1. It’s going to be colder than usual. 2. No conference App this year. Yea, verily. There is much sadness . . . 3. If you see a person wearing a Middle School Matters podcast shirt, be sure to say hello. Hope to see you there! (If I have MSM pencils, you can have one for free!)

THE ASSOCIATION FOR MID-LEVEL EDUCATION (AMLE) IS OUR GUEST DR DRU TOMLIN ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOU, YOUR CLASS, AND THEIR PARENTS AT THIS EXCEPTIONAL AGE FOR YOUR STUDENTS.

AMLE PRESIDENT JEFF LA ROUX RETURNS. HE HAS WORKED IT AND HE WILL GIVE US HIS INSIGHTS.   BTW WE HAVE ASCD AUTHOR MARK BARNES ON THE SAME SUBJECT, STUDENT CENTERED CURRICULUM, ON THURSDAY

AMLE PRESIDENT JEFF LE ROUX TALKS ABOUT THIS INTERESTING CONCEPT IN MID LEVEL EDUCATION

JEFF LA ROUX , PRESIDENT OF AMLE SPEAKS ON THE ROLE OF THE ADVISOR  AND IPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAMS  THAT BENEFIT STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

AMLE and hosts Shawn McGirr and Troy Patterson of Middle School Matters speak with Dr. Kristina Doubet, associate professor of middle and secondary education at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Dr. Doubet shares how formative assessment is a critical first step in differentiating instruction, itemizes misconceptions about the concept, and includes tips on effectively using formative assessment in the classroom. With more than 10 years of experience teaching middle and secondary English, Dr. Doubet prepares future middle and high school teachers for careers in the classroom. She completed her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction at the University of Virginia where she studied the impact of differentiated instruction on student performance in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. Dr. Doubet works regularly with practicing teachers from all grade levels and content areas as a staff developer for schools and districts implementing initiatives in the areas of Common Core State Standards, formative assessment, and differentiated instruction.

AMLE Feature: Interview with Dr. Kristina Doubet “Dr. Kristina Doubet is an Associate Professor of Middle and Secondary Education at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. With over ten years of experience teaching middle and secondary English, she now prepares future middle and high school teachers for careers in the classroom. Dr Doubet completed her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at The University of Virginia where she studied the impact of differentiated instruction on student performance in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. Her publications also focus on assessment and differentiated instruction and include AMLE’s, Smart in the Middle: Classrooms that Work for Bright Middle Schoolers (co-authored with Carol Tomlinson). Dr. Doubet works regularly with practicing teachers from all grade levels and content areas as a staff developer for schools/districts implementing initiatives in the areas of Common Core Standards, formative assessment and differentiated instruction.” Dr. Doubet is cited here: Differentiation You can get more of Dr. Doubet from Amazon.com. Contact info: doubetkj@jmu.edu Some Resources: https://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/file/view/doubet.pdf Jokes You Can Use: “The speed of time is one second per second.” - Monsieur Loach Kulula Airlines. Real airplane. Real paint job. Real funny. :-) On Our Mind: Eileen Award: Eric Huff Scoopit: Twitter: Todd Bloch, Jennifer McFarlane, #mschat, Deanna @ldgermany312, Brian Tonniges @BTonniges, Stephen Davis. Facebook: Google+: Ciera Robinson, Jennifer Fox, iTunes: eMail: Patti Kinney (NASSP), Dr. Monte Tatom, Advisory: Dollar Artist Sculptures Challenge your students. http://dollarartist.com/sculptures.html SPARK YOUR FUTURE Discover a career and find the right education. http://www.insidejobs.com/ Who’s Reading What? http://mashable.com/2012/08/26/reading-stats-infographic/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE MINUTE-MATH, SCIENCE AND THE NGSS This podcast is based on the editorial column of Science Scope Magazine, September, 2012, published by the National Science Teachers Association. The editor of Science Scope is Inez Liftig. Her column is entitled, "Editor's Roundtable." Her editorial focused on finding the common ground between math and science. She cited the commonalities between the eight Practices of Science and Engineering, from the Next Generation Science Standards and the eight Practices of Mathematics outlined in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. From the Twitterverse: Resources: TimeMaps http://www.timemaps.com/ myHistro http://www.myhistro.com/ The Parent Rap A little fun for teachers who are parents. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N_NspDWssIY#! For Those Who Want to Lead, Read ISTE: Combining Social Studies and Language Arts Sandra Wozniak Share Resources: livebinders.com and search: ISTE 2012 tregoED Limits to Time on Task http://www.joebower.org/2012/08/limits-of-time-on-task.html Web Spotlight: Teacher’s Ultimate Digital Kit Online PD for teachers who are learning to teach with technology. There’s a great one on using QR codes in the classroom . . . Events & Happenings:

On Our Mind: ISTE: After conference thoughts Preparing for AMLE in November Eileen Award: Twitter: Rich Kiker, Steve Chen, Chris Sousa, Gina Gallo, Pora Ora, IAIB Network, Michael Richardson, Charles Perry, Mary Clark, Elana Leoni, Riaz Abdulla, Michael Cohen, Vilia Reinsalu, Ann-Caryn Cleveland, Jason Eifling, Diethild, ViewARcom, Valencio Cardoso, Schoology, Jeff Bradbury, TeacherCast, Sandra Wozniak, @Lilylauren, DonFriesen, Tori McMurray, Ellie Dix, “Teenage Whisperer”, Jazz Caine, Epic Limo Bus (which we didn’t use . . . ), and Emil Ahangarzadeh (Director of the Calif. Tech Statewide Education Tech Service). Facebook: Kyle Paul If I had to guess what was the ISTE PLN vehicle of choice, I’d guess . . . Advisory: Book Club. Here is one example: http://2busybrunettes.com/2012/03/23/25-series-to-read-if-you-love-the-hunger-games/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) In the Summer, 2012 issue of Science Scope, a publication of the National Science Teachers Association, the safety question of the month was "After lab work, should students use antibacterial hand wipes or just plain soap and water to clean their hands?" Ken Roy, director of environmental health and safety for Glastonbury Public Schools in Glastonbury, Connecticut provides a great answer. If you would like more information on science safety, you can purchase Ken's book, "The NSTA Ready-Reference Guide to Safer Science," through the NSTA bookstore. From the Twitterverse: ISTE News: Guest Post: “Four ISTE Challenges” July 1, 2012 by Larry Ferlazzo GUEST POST by Ben Curran Less Tools, More Teaching The End of the Echo Chamber Diversity is Lacking The End of Excess http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2012/07/01/guest-post-four-iste-challenges/ ISTE Keynote: What were they thinking? Posted by Brad Flickinger on Jun 26, 2012 in school technology As I have said before in this blog, I attend edtech conferences to be inspired and to steal ideas to take back to my own school. But when I left the keynote that opened this year’s ISTE 2012 Conference, I was scratching my head wondering what was the purpose of what I had just witnessed. I felt embarrassed to be an educator. Did ISTE really just do this to me? Did they sell out? Did they take inspiring me too far? http://www.schooltechnology.org/2012/06/26/iste-keynote-what-were-they-thinking/ ISTE Resources: All of my notes can be found here. ISTE Web Spotlight: TIMMS/PISA vs. Entrepreneural Spirit: http://zhaolearning.com/2012/06/06/test-scores-vs-entrepreneurship-pisa-timss-and-confidence/ Events & Happenings:

MSM 209: AMLE Feature Presentation . . . Popcorn Please! AMLE Feature Kick off...Tech in 20, we take longer. Presented in collaboration with the Association for Middle Level Education. AMLE Feature: Today, join us for a interview with Todd Williamson. Director of Technology and Science for Carteret County Schools, MiddleTalk contributor, and NCMSA Technology Specialist. ●Science Experiment ●Tech-in-20 Series ●Math and Science Portal ●ISTE? Jokes You Can Use: Sign in a business: We understand that your phone call is important. So, we will not interrupt by serving you when you are on the phone. RUTH BUZZI ‏@Ruth_A_Buzzi Cats inherently dislike water. That explains why so many turn to alcohol. #HappyCATurday On Our Mind: ●The power of crowdsourcing: Jerry Blumengarten goes to ISTE12. ●Death of MiJEC . . . ? ●Edmodo finally tips its hand: http://www.hackeducation.com/2012/03/06/edmodo-makes-the-move-from-social-networ k-to-education-platform/ Eileen Award: ●Facebook: Julie Smith Flack ●Twitter: John Winsor, US School Counselors, Microsoft TeachTec ●Special Guest: Todd Williamson Advisory: How big is your city? http://twentytwowords.com/2012/06/07/how-big-is-l-a-at-least-8-other-major-u-s-cities-could-fit-in side-it/ Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) In the Spring Edition of "Green Teacher," Emily Harris wrote an article entitled, "Fostering Students' Water Wisdom." The purpose of the article was to bring water awareness into the classroom and contribute to a better global future. She says that teachers play a vital role in helping foster an early appreciation of this most precious resource. For this reason, WaterCan developed curriculum resources in both English and French which can be freely downloaded from the "Water Wisdom Portal" at: http://www.watercan.com/students She then goes on to share one of her favorite lesson plans for 5th - 6th grade students, entitled "Water Alive!" This is a research based activity designed to help generate an understanding about the universal dependence on water, through the "eyes" of an African animal. From the Twitterverse: News: Teacher tenure: a Fairfax schools firing case http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teacher-tenure-a-fairfax-schools-firing-case/201 2/06/02/gJQAVt4l9U_story.html Resources: KanBan2Go https://kanban2go.com/ ScrollKit A website builder that works more like drawing. No coding required. https://www.scrollkit.com/ Web Spotlight: The Greatest Teacher I Had in College by Vicki Davis http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2012/06/greatest-teacher-i-had-in-college.html BookType http://www.sourcefabric.org/en/booktype/ 4 Great & Free Museum Apps to Teach your Students (or to simply enjoy!) http://www.edukwest.com/4-great-free-museum-apps-to-teach-your-students-or-to-simply-enjoy / Events & Happenings:

AMLE's Will Waidelich and Nancy Poliseno are our guests

Jokes You Can Use: Overheard: Husband: Janice, when I see you in that hat, I laugh. Wife: Good, I’ll put it on when the bill comes. Person 1: “You are the slowest person I’ve ever seen. Do you do anything quickly!” Person 2: “I get tired real fast”. Person 1: “Have any big men been born in this town?” Person 2: “Nope. Just babies.” On Our Mind: This episode is brought to you in conjunction with AMLE. We need your feedback. What would you like us to focus on in conjunction with AMLE? Please send us suggestions and feedback. Pick any of the contact methods to the right on the web page. Eileen Award: Tim Purcell Natasha Kardos Janet Herr Marchelle Lynn Ron King: AMLE suggestions Advisory: Advice to Girls by Kate Elizabeth Conner http://kateelizabethconner.com/ten-things-i-want-to-tell-teenage-girls/ and the counter-point for boys http://juntoboys.blogspot.com/2012/03/ten-things-i-wish-i-could-tell-every.html Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) This middle school science minute is about rocketry safety. In the February 2012 issue of Science Scope (NSTA publication) Ken Roy wrote an article entitled: "Question of the Month - Rocket Safety." In the article you will learn about the safety expectations when using model rockets and how you can learn more about the National Association of Rocketry's Model Rocket Safety Code at: http://www.nar.org/NARmrsc.html From the Twitterverse: News: 5 Vimeo Videos Every School Leader Should Bookmark Vimeo is chock full of fun, artistic, and inspiring videos. Below are five videos that anyone leading professional development could find inspiring. http://edreach.us/2012/03/29/5-vimeo-videos-every-school-leader-should-bookmark/ Resources: 35 Useful and Free E-books for Web Designers These could be useful resources for some students. http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2012/01/free-e-books-for-web-designers.html Wild Animals Smithsonian Wild Animals http://siwild.si.edu/ Web Spotlight: If The Test Wasn't Coming... Instead of allowing students to build sound evidence-based arguments on real issues, I am giving them practice choosing the best of someone else's answers to someone else's questions on a text with no context. http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/shoulders_of_giants/2012/03/if-the-test-wasnt-coming.html Fear And Self-Loathing In The Classroom by William Johnson, at 12:43 pm http://gothamschools.org/2012/03/19/fear-and-self-loathing-in-the-classroom/#more-79685 Events & Happenings:

with AMLE's executive director Will Waidelich and AMLE President Nancy Piliseno (www.amle.org)

Jokes You Can Use: 1. What time of day was Adam born? A little before Eve. Why was Adam a famous runner? He was first in the human race. 2. On our way home from visiting family we stopped at a Culver’s to grab some breakfast. Sitting in the booth across the way was Santa. He had ordered the Eggs Benedict and when the nice Culver’s chap brought out his order he set down a hubcap in front of the jolly old elf. As he passed me I stopped him and asked about the hubcap. He said, “Oh, well, there’s no plate like chrome for the Hollondaise …” On Our Mind: Holidays. Eileen Award: Luke Rakoczy Craig Cadman Michael Palmer Lynda Gonzalez-Napier Advisory: Middle School Science Minute by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com) This one is about using Gummi Bears in the Science Classroom. From the Twitterverse: Don’t forget to join the conversation on MiddleTalk and Twitter at #midleved this Friday at 8:00 pm EST. News: TED Presentation: On-line Charters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L_wfX3MzRE Can We Really Learn Online? Response to NYTimes on Wall Street's Digital Learning Enterprises http://hastac.org/blogs/cathy-davidson/2011/12/13/can-we-really-learn-online-response-nytimes-wall-streets-digital-lea Resources: Snag Films National Geographic Channel: *Thanks to Richard Byrne at Free Tech for Teachers - http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/12/watch-75-full-length-national.html http://www.snagfilms.com/films/browse/category/national_geographic Web Spotlight: Overcoming the Divide Between Curriculum and Technology Leaders The digital revolution is changing how many U.S. school districts create ­engaging learning environments, with collaboration between the ­curriculum and technology ­departments slowly becoming the norm rather than the exception. By ­developing a common language around how students learn best, these leaders are fostering a shared vision for effective 21st century learning. Unfortunately, there remains a striking gap between this vision and the day-to-day strategic work these leaders are doing. http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2011/12/overcoming-divide-between-curriculum-and-technology-leaders iPad App listing by Dan Callahan on Pinterest iPad apps categorized by subject. http://pinterest.com/dancallahan/ Try these 10th-grade quizzes created from Florida’s standardized test We decided to do this because of the enormous popularity of a guest post I published last week by educator Marion Brady about a school board member in Florida who decided to take the state standardized test. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/try-these-10th-grade-quizzes-created-from-floridas-standardized-test/2011/12/13/gIQABBR6rO_blog.html?wprss=answer-sheet A superintendent calls school reformers’ bluff By John Kuhn As a public school administrator, I have been a steadfast critic of the legacy of No Child Left Behind. But I’ve recently figured out a way that school reformers can get me on their side. It’s very simple. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/a-superintendent-calls-school-reformers-bluff/2011/12/11/gIQABKBXoO_blog.html?wprss=answer-sheet Phishing Quiz Ever wonder how good you are at telling the difference between a legitimate website and one that's a phishing attempt? Take this quiz to find out. http://www.opendns.com/phishing-quiz/ Strategies: An Interactive Strategy for Reading Assignments in All Content Areas http://www.amle.org/Publications/MiddleLeveliNSIDER/Articles/ReadingAssignments/tabid/2532/Default.aspx AMLE 2011: Classroom Management & Student Motivation "The Keys to Raising Student Achievement" Events & Happenings: Calendar of Events:

THE ASSOCIATION FOR MID LEVEL EDUCATION (FORMERLY NMSA) IS WITH US WITH PRESIDENT NANCY POLISENO AND EXEC DIRECTOR WILL WAIDELICH