Transformative Principal Jethro Jones

Dr. Robert Feirsen is currently associate professor and coordinator of the Educational Leadership Program at Manhattanville College. Previously, he was assistant professor and chair of the Education Department at New York Institute of Technology. A former SAANYS member,  Dr. Feirsen enjoyed a distinguished career in P-12 schools. As a school building leader in Westchester and Nassau Counties, he served as an elementary school principal, a middle school assistant principal, and a middle school principal. At the central office level, he served as an assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, deputy superintendent, and superintendent of schools. Dr. Feirsen taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels as a social studies and special education teacher in schools in New York City before moving into supervisory roles. Dr. Feirsen holds an Ed.D. from Fordham University.
Dr. Feirsen’s research interests include addressing organizational conflict, the school principal-school counselor relationship, principal and teacher retention, the relationship between psychological ownership and professional learning, college readiness, and the applications of design thinking. His research and other articles have been published in a number of academic journals, as well as Educational Leadership and Education Week. Dr. Feirsen has led workshops at such venues as ASCD, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). With Seth Weitzman, he has presented at national and statewide conferences including ASCD, the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS), and the New York Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NYACTE). Seth Weitzman, he is also the co-author of From Conflict to Collaboration: A School Leader’s Guide to Unleashing Conflict’s Problem-Solving Power and How to Get the Teaching Job You Want.
Dr. Seth Weitzman sat in a middle school principal’s chair for 27 years in Nassau and Westchester counties. Leadership positions included co-president of the Mamaroneck administrators’ union, president of the Nassau County, and later, the Westchester County Middle School Principals’ Association, and a New York State Middle Level Liaison (a working group of principals representing every county and BOCES in New York State meeting with NYSED officials). Together with Dr. Robert Feirsen, he is co-author of two books: How to Get the Teaching Job You Want and From Conflict to Collaboration: A School Leader’s Guide to Unleashing Conflict’s Problem Solving Power. He is either author or co-author of a number of articles published in national education journals including Educational Leadership and American Middle Level Education Magazine.
Drs. Feirsen and Weitzman have presented in numerous professional association conferences at the county, state and local levels (e.g. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, American Association of School Personnel Administrators, New York State Middle School Association, New York State Association of Teacher Educators) and graduate-level classes (Teachers College, Bank Street College of Education). He is currently a Senior Instructor in the Mercy College Educational Leadership Department. His 40-year education career began teaching elementary school and middle school in Connecticut and New York City. He holds an EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Questions to ask:

 Why did you write this book?
Why is there conflict in schools?
What is the impact of conflict in schools?
Your book suggests leaning into conflict. Can you explain?
How do school leaders typically respond to conflict? 
What strategies do you suggest to deal with conflict?
Can you give us some examples of how this might work?
Your book makes a connection with design thinking, which comes from the field of engineering. Can you explain?
We’re

Maxwell Roach is the founder of JonAyves Learning Club. He’s toured the world as a musician sharing stages with artists such as Beyoncé and the Rolling Stones, directed operations for a multi-million dollar tech company, created and sold health products into grocery stores, and was the  CEO of a child care organization with over 250 children across 4 centres.


In today’s episode, we discuss the role of tutoring, the negative connotation it can carry with students and families, and how it can fit the current need of addressing post pandemic learning across the world.  His experiences with his own children learning to master the Rubik's cube and Abacus help illustrate the power of harnessing technology and welcoming those outside of the classroom to help achieve the mission of all students learning at high levels.

Max can be reached by going to jonayveslearningclub.com

Dr. John Schembari is an Improvement Coach through which he supports teachers and school leaders by performing on site evaluations, identifying data informed trends, reviewing curriculum/assessment materials, creating improvement plans, coaching individuals one-on-one, developing and delivering group training to educators, and implementing evidence-based instructional strategies that improve teaching practices and increase student learning.
 
JOHN SCHEMBARI 
Senior Education Executive 
 
In today’s episode, we discuss everything curriculum.  John shares his answer when teachers say “I’m just going to hurry up and teach all of the curriculum” and  “I’m done with the curriculum work”.  Instead of teaching the curriculum, John explains how we should be focused on student learning, and he describes the importance of curriculum review cycles.  We also explore the role textbooks play and what teachers need if they are going to be tasked with developing their own curriculum and assessments.
 
Best way for listeners to reach out to John Schembari:

908-442-6636 
johnaschembari@msn.com
John Schembari | LinkedIn 

Matt Chaussee is the CEO of Be More Colorful, a Midwest-based immersive media production studio whose platform, CareerViewXR, is rapidly gaining national attention. Matt, along with his wife (and company owner) Katie, lead an innovative team of creatives who are laser focused on making career exploration affordable, accessible, and fun! CareerViewXR provides students and adult career seekers across the country with an unprecedented opportunity to experience real-world careers through virtual reality technology. Recently selected from a field of over 2,000 applicants to be one of 33 Semifinalists for the prestigious Yass Prize, Matt will discuss the significance of the award, and how he sees tools like CareerViewXR transforming how we guide students on their educational journey.

Please add questions that we would ask here, and you can add anything that you would like to add as well. 

STOP Principles of the Yass Prize
Help us connect with students in new and different ways. 
How do we use tried and true strategies to help us change things
True transformation is going beyond the books. 
How do we all learn best? 
Transformation is change with a purpose. 
Yass Prize celebrates innovation in education, with over 2000 applicants
Career Exploration - CareerViewXR - How do we challenge others to become better? 
Vote in the Yass Prize
Other companies as the 32 semi-finalists: are ASU Preparatory Global, Burbella Learning Academy, CompSci High, Create Conservatory, Indi ED, Sora Schools, Verdi EcoSchool, and VictoryXR.
CareerViewXR - Our focus is really on taking that tried and true real job experience to help kids have real-life experiences - immersive media, showing what that real work is like. Virtual reality and virtual tours. 
Bricklayer’s experience - I wanna try that bricklayer’s experience in 4th grade. 
Most of the time an adult’s pathways really never gave them an opportunity on which pathway they could choose. 
There are so many careers out there. 
It doesn’t have to be interesting or exciting, it has to be authentic to someone at the right time. 
Helping kids see the excitement of what jobs could be.

James Anderson is an Australian-based international speaker, author, and educator who is passionate about helping us become better learners. His Mindset Continuum builds on Carol Dweck's work on Growth Mindsets to give us practical tools to nurture a deeper understanding of ourselves as learners. His description of  Learnership - the skill of learning, then gives us a powerful way to understand and improve how we engage in the learning process.  The result: we get better at getting better!
Originally a teacher and school leader, for the past 20 years, James has been working with schools to make classrooms more thoughtful places. He challenges teachers to think deeply about their own Mindsets and how their beliefs are communicated to students in often subtle and unintended ways. His Growth Mindset Style Guide takes us beyond catchphrases and cliches to provide practical and easily implemented strategies that change learners' mindsets. 
 
In today’s episode, we discuss leadership.  Although James made the word up, he defines it as the skill of learning.  His work connects the habits of mind and Dweck’s Fixed vs Growth Mindset, but he’s developed ways to take these concepts further and make them applicable to students and schools.  It was a refreshing perspective instead of discussing the traditional focus of teaching and achievement.  James describes the role of the student, teacher, administrator, and even the parent in developing skilled learners.
 
The best way for listeners to reach out to James Anderson: 
jamesanderson.com.au

Andrea Gribble is the master of all things social media for schools.  Her first book recently launched: Social Media for Schools: Proven Storytelling Strategies & Ideas to Celebrate Your Students & Staff - Without Losing Your Sanity  and she is the host of a podcast called Mastering Social Media for Schools

In today’s episode, Andrea shares where staff can start when they are handed the social media duties for the school or district.  She describes the systems she uses to schedule content and keep followers engaged, how to keep the content going during the summer months, and how to keep it positive.

Andrea can be reached by going to https://socialschool4edu.com/