Mosaic Days: An Educational Leadership Podcast

Mosaic Days

Mosaic Days is hosted by Allison Smith and Leonard Martinez. With over forty years of experience in education combined, they discuss leadership, advocacy and personal and professional development as well as share tips for educators and families to support the growth of all of our children.

  1. Mar 30

    Lights, Cameras in Our Classrooms?

    In the next episode of Mosaic Days, Allison and Leonard review the new legislation that has hit some states requiring schools to install surveillance cameras in classrooms with students with special needs. Is it an invasion of student privacy or does it provide additional safety and protections for some of our most vulnerable students? Tune in to hear our thoughts on this new requirement in some states.

    25 min

  2. Feb 18

    Begun the Math Wars has. How Should We Be Teaching Math in Schools?

    “The Great Math Divide! Are we looking at inquiry based learning? Or are we looking at explicit direct instruction in math? Or perhaps we need to have both in the classroom.” Join us on this episode of Mosaic Days as Allison and Leonard have a discussion on the great math debate! What is the best way to instruct students in math? Do we need to focus on just direct explicit instruction, or could students successfully show growth through learning that is based on inquiry tasks and developing problem solving skills? Tune in to hear our thoughts.

    33 min

  3. Feb 12

    Special Education Mini-Series, Part 3 of 3: Providing Support for Staff After an IEP Meeting

    “Follow up! Follow up! Follow up! In many ways, this is the most overlooked. We do our planning and hold the meeting but there is still some follow up and if we don’t do it appropriately, this can get us in a lot of legal trouble.” Now that the meeting is over, Allison and Leonard discuss what should be done after the meeting, including post-meeting debrief to review strengths and concerns, creating a follow up list with who is responsible as well as Alternative Dispute Resolution.

    35 min

  4. Feb 10

    Special Education Mini-Series, Part 2 of 3: Providing Support for Staff During an IEP Meeting

    “We have to remember that our families are advocates for their children, even when the advocacy manifests as antagonistic. Keeping the focus on the student and the data are integral to a successful meeting.” Now that we have prepared for our meeting, it is the big day! Join us as we give teams tips on how to navigate those difficult IEP meetings, including managing paperwork, dealing with conflict and maintaining relationships with families.

    34 min

  5. Jan 26

    Special Education Mini-Series, Part 1 of 3: Providing Support for Staff Before an IEP Meeting

    “The better prepared you are as a team, the better supported the parent is and the smoother the process is going to be as we navigate the IEP.” Planning and preparation should always be at the forefront when teams are tasked with challenging meetings. Join us on Mosaic Days where we discuss how administrators can provide additional support and training to prepare for meetings so that we can meaningfully engage in informed decision making.

    34 min

  6. Jan 20

    Hot Topic Alert: Funding for schools- should it be based on ADA or Enrollment?

    While in office, former California State Senate Member Portantino introduced SB 98, which requested the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) to research the change in student count methodology of California’s funding formula from average daily attendance (ADA) to student enrollment. With this change, would California schools benefit or would they lose out on key fiscal resources for students? Join us on the next episode of Mosaic Days where we review the LAO report, debate the challenges of the current ADA model for funding, and discuss the overall impact that enrollment based funding would have on California schools.

    31 min

  7. Jan 12

    Hot Topic Alert - The Proposed Change in Leadership for the California Department of Education

    With a new budget proposal released for California, Governor Newsom has made a recommendation to change the structure of governance of education in the state, moving control of the department of education under his watch. While most education advocacy groups support the recommendation, Tony Thurmond, the current Superintendent of Public Instruction, is in opposition of this new plan as he feels it will take power away from voters. Join us as we discuss the impact that this update will have on the state of education in California and whether or not there will be an impact on our current work at the district or school site level.

    23 min

  8. Jan 7

    Winter Break and Wellness

    “With all the stressors at work and home, it is vital for staff to identify what re-energizes them and make explicit connections to understand that these activities are restorative, lest we see staff burnout that may impact staff retention.” On Episode 20, in celebration of the New Year, Allison and Leonard discuss staff mental health and the importance of identifying ways to recharge.

    33 min
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Ratings & Reviews

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2 Ratings

About

Mosaic Days is hosted by Allison Smith and Leonard Martinez. With over forty years of experience in education combined, they discuss leadership, advocacy and personal and professional development as well as share tips for educators and families to support the growth of all of our children.

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