Episode Details

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

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

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

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

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

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

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.