Teacher Friday Workbox® Playlist
Lisa Woodruff is a home organization expert, productivity specialist, and author of multiple books including The Paper Solution and How ADHD Affects Home Organization. As a former teacher, Lisa understands how the executive functions of the brain process tasks and help or hinder your attempts to “get organized”. The truth is, we all need an external brain to support our complex and fast-paced lives. Lisa will guide you by first identifying your thoughts as information that is composed of ideas, to-dos, and routine tasks. All the thoughts are captured in written form so they can be sorted and containerized. These podcast episodes originally aired on the Organize 365® podcast and are curated here for easy access and sharing. Lisa believes organization is not a skill you are born with. It is a skill that is developed over time and changes with each season of life. Lisa has helped thousands of women reclaim their homes and finally get organized with her practical tips, encouragement, and humor through her blog and podcast at Organize365.com.
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Teacher Podcast #14 - Annie's Pilot
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #14 - Annie's Pilot
Now that you know all about Annie, it’s time to learn about her Teacher Pilot. Annie was part of the Teacher Friday Workbox® Mastermind. And she had lots of ideas. So when I put feelers out to see who wanted to run a pilot, Annie raised her hand high. Annie had been using the Teacher Friday Workbox® and she wasn’t shy about it. When Annie’s school hosted a “choose your own adventure” personal development day, Annie offered to teach about organization and the Teacher Friday Workbox®. From there, interest grew and we were able to narrow down our pilot participants. I think everyone is in agreement that while massages are nice, to give yourself peace of mind and ease at work feels more like self care! I went on a little sidebar about self care. Self care is such a buzz word among Annie and her peers. But what actually provides long lasting self care? You know, child care and elder care is noted because someone else has to administer that care. But self care, you are the one administering it and it too needs to be done daily. But it’s invisible. Self care is not “in addition to,” but it should be baseline - like we all need daily self care! The lucky kindergarten and 5th grade teachers would be the grades piloting implementing the Teacher Friday Workbox®. And one of Annie’s 4th grade teachers got to sneak into the program too. At the beginning of the pilot, Annie asked each participant to give 10 sentences about how they felt about their current organization and hopes of the program. They got training on how to set up the box and systems. Annie offered additional training throughout the year and during one of their personal development days, she offered for them to see how she had her Teacher Friday Workbox® set up. Annie asked for feedback in February too so she could see their progress. They all said that was extremely helpful. As we saw in Jayme’s pilot, each teacher implemented the Teacher Friday Workbox® in different ways. The teachers all want to stay in the pilot and continue to report their wins. Annie noticed it took her three years to hit that sweet spot and she assumes it will for her colleagues too. The overall feedback though was gratitude for this solution. They are excited, even asking for training over summer. Annie agreed and reminded them they also get to attend Teacher Camp coming up in July!! Let’s face it: Teachers are not digital and we need to offer non-digital solutions to promote teacher retention. I know this is a big ask. But at the end of the day when we meet the needs of our teachers, they will meet the needs of our students. When you move forward with the Teacher Friday Workbox® for your teachers, make sure to provide time for them to effectively learn how to use the Teacher Friday Workbox® and customize it for their classrooms. EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #13 - Meet Annie
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #13 - Meet Annie
I’m so excited to share another educator that is helping other teachers learn about organization for retention and enjoyment in their educational careers. Annie discovered Organize 365® in 2019 through the podcast. Annie comes from a long line of paper pilers. She prides herself on how organized she was in college but once she got married and settled an estate, she too started paper piles everywhere. She loved the idea of the Sunday Basket® and made one of her own; that lasted 8 weeks. And 2 short weeks later, she was all access! What we noted from her listening to the podcast before having the products, it’s like you have the time to let the information sink in. You build the habit before making any purchases. This is so common with our podcast listeners. Annie and I agreed how the paper can get out of control when you add others into your life. She spoke to the passing of her mom. Her mom knew where stuff was, but once she had passed her father did not. And the great man that her father was, he too was a fan of paper. He never owned a computer during the time of running his business so you can imagine all the paper Annie got to organize! Annie spoke to the benefits of the Financial Binder and while we agree it’s a little morbid to put together, it’s an act of love you can give to someone who may have to settle your affairs once you are gone. If you too struggle with asking, you can use my famous line “100 years from now, If I needed this…” Annie is thankful for the time she has gotten to focus on her side career. She is a professional organizer, too. A lot of times people learn to organize for themselves and can’t help but to want to share it with others. Annie was perfectly content in her teaching career and life but couldn’t help organizing people on the side. She is so rewarded seeing other adults gain confidence through organization. She can also see how all the small changes she’s made over the years have added up to big changes in her marriage and home. She can remember when she got down to just one junk drawer and got rid of bags of her clothes. Now when she goes into her closet, all of her clothes feel good to her. That was when she realized she was organized! She wishes she would have implemented progress over perfection from the beginning. Annie likes things to be perfect, but she now has an appreciation for moving forward instead of being stuck in analysis paralysis. We talked about what seems to be 3 year blocks of time; about 3 years to get organized, about 3 years to focus on your health, and about 3 years to set goals and understand how to tackle them. And then watch out world - they become unstoppable! Organization and your next project are waiting for you, too. If you are hesitant, I want you to ask yourself, “If not me, then who?” And “If not now, then when?” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #12 - The Teacher Workbox Graduate Level Course
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #12 - The Teacher Workbox Graduate Level Course
Anna feels so strongly that the Teacher Friday Workbox® is the solution to ease the overwhelm and increase teacher retention, she created a course in the formal setting of a university. She’s here today to give a peek inside the course. She knew based on her previous life in the education world that not all courses qualify to be reimbursed. There needs to be a focus on how the student would benefit from the teacher completing this course. Proactively, she knew to include SEL (social and emotional learning) standards. SEL being included makes the course even more attractive to those that would be approving reimbursement because schools are starting to require these skills to be taught, but there isn’t a lot of material out there for teachers yet. AND in this course, Anna provides lesson plans for the teachers enrolled in this course. We alluded to schools having funds that were for personal development. And they are Region 10 from Covid funds and in schools that have innovation as one of their core objectives; you can access funds earmarked for innovation workforce readiness in either essential or soft skills. Schools will reimburse for 60%-100% once you produce your transcript. Anna took time in this episode to read the course description. She was sure to stress the importance of learning organizational systems to support executive function. It explains how teachers will learn how to streamline their administrative tasks. And then she went over the modules. Module 1 is getting started and an introduction from yours truly. In Module 2, there will be a focus on ADHD for students and teachers and you get to listen to the ADHD podcast. Module 3 is so much fun as you set up your workbox, label your slash pockets, and dive into the app. Module 4 is learning how to support students' organizational skills and learn about the Lisa Binder; this is the module with the lesson plans helping students to develop SEL standards like self management competency. The last module will reiterate the importance of practicing all the skills and systems you have been taught. Curious? We tried to anticipate some questions you may be having and we want to put your curious mind at ease. I can’t recap them all so you will definitely want to listen to the full episode. Yes, you can take advantage of this course if you have the Teacher Friday Workbox® already. You’ll be lucky enough to have two workboxes AND the graduate credits plus all the other goodies. You can simply take just this one course through Ashland University. If you have existing products with Organize 365®, all products will be consolidated in one account. This is a work at your own pace course so you can be creative as to how and when you complete course work. This will be an evergreen course offered multiple times during the year. Anna is conducting surveys before and after the course. We cannot wait to see the results, share them with you, and continue to improve the course. Now go get registered! Managing Executive Functions with the Teacher Workbox Course $900 3 graduate credits once you complete the course and transcript Teacher Workbox to set up and keep Lifetime Access to online community Weekly Co Working Sessions 5 Day Teacher Camp (there is a replay) Last day to register for this specific course is 7/1/2024 EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #11 - Academic Research Support for the Needs of Teachers
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #11 - Academic Research Support for the Needs of Teachers
Anna is back and we’re talking all about the white paper Anna created for the Teacher Friday Workbox®. When Anna came to me with this pink sparkly box of Teacher Friday Workbox® opportunities, I wanted to talk shop. Anna was almost done with her EED and I am still very much tied up with the PhD. So it was a win-win to have Anna complete a white paper. It is so interesting that there is literature and media supporting what I have been saying all along. Anna’s supportive data came from her EED education and mine is coming from my PhD education. Anna shared that for the school year 2023-24, Tennessee reported 3.900 teacher vacancies and Virginia reported 3.9% of teacher positions were not filled. There is a real teacher retention problem and with the help of Anna (and don’t forget Jayme!), we are out to shine light on the issues and increase teacher retention. There IS Money There is personal development money schools can be using that is not earmarked for the operations of or in the buildings. Schools have these funds and aren’t always sure how or where to spend them. Yes, you can offer self care like maybe a massage day for the teachers, but it’s a temporary fix. Give the teachers a raise! But that is costly to an already dwindling budget. An easy answer will be the Friday Workbox® or the course from Ashland University that rewards them with CEU’s. How Does The Teacher Friday Workbox® Actually Help Educators So how is the Teacher Friday Workbox® like self care? Most of you have heard on the podcast that a lot of teachers have purchased the Teacher Friday Workbox® on their own. They were looking for a solution and treated themselves to organization. As the number of tasks go up, so does the teacher's burnout level. A person needs to see the work before they can start to strategize a solution. The Teacher Friday Workbox® helps to identify all the invisible tasks. Then teachers can decide if they need to eliminate, delegate, or plan for each task. Task Switching We have all heard the stats about how costly in time it is to constantly be switching between tasks. The Teacher Friday Workbox® helps you to identify tasks in similar categories (the task specific slash pockets). When you pull out an IEP for a specific student, you can focus on all the tasks needed to be completed for that one student. Our brain likes this focus on one task and stress is reduced. Reduce Cognitive Load on Working Memory Color coding is so productive for our brains. And I know I have nerded out about the connection in the brain when we write things down. That activity of pen to paper is so impactful on our brains and with recall. Cue the index cards. You write everything down. You don’t stress over remembering what you are trying to remember. The Teacher Friday Workbox® allows you to use your brain as a brain and not a filing cabinet. Community When Anna really stopped to think about what teachers needed in a resource that could decrease burnout …it was the Teacher Friday Workbox®! She also pointed out the value of community that you get. It's nice to have positive voices outside of your building. It’s nice to see what others are struggling with as well as celebrating wins. AND it’s private from parents and students. It’s a safe space for all things teaching. What is included in the Teacher Friday Workbox®? Red Workbox (roughly the size of a watermelon) One Set of Rainbow Slash Pockets Sets of 5 of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Purple, and Pink Online Dashboard Online Private Community Teacher Camp (first two weeks of July) During the Summer - Thursday night coworking time with replays Lifetime Access EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #10 - Meet Anna
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #10 - Meet Anna
I want to introduce you to another educator that is embracing the Teacher Friday Workbox® and values the benefits teachers experience when using it. Anna found Organize 365® through podcast interviews I’d done on other shows. Anna knows the transformation that results from the physical products and the blitzes from Organize 365®. Turns out, I could have known Anna many years ago when her mom was a Creative Memories consultant. Her mother's innovation with power layouts in scrapbooking helped me to create many scrapbooks in very short amounts of time. Anna always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She shared memories of teaching her younger brother after an enriching day at kindergarten herself. Anna, now in education in a supporting role outside the school buildings (NOT how you may imagine), values the Teacher Friday Workbox® so much that she created a college course for educators that she will be facilitating that results in 3 college credits at Ashland University. Anna did go to college to be a teacher, but got pulled in a different path. As she “created her own degree,” Anna got to experience emerging adulthood first hand. This is yet another point of connection for Anna and me. After completing her graduate degree at University of Maryland, she moved back to Ohio. While starting her new life she started a small sewing business. She took a substitute teacher position which turned into a Family and Consumer Science (AKA Home Economics) teaching position for the next 6 years. During the pandemic, she created virtual/visual teaching materials for teachers. All of the teachers were looking for help and Anna was right there supporting them. Her next move? She was experiencing a golden window, what better time is there to explore? Over the past year, Anna has had the freedom to explore many opportunities. During her exploration she took courses from Ashland University. She was so impressed with her experience that she approached them and said “Hey, how about I come work for you?” Anna's transition from being a classroom teacher to becoming an adjunct professor at Ashland University in Ohio is a testament to her dedication to education. Equally, her involvement with Organize 365® highlights her ongoing commitment to addressing teacher overwhelm and burnout through practical, curriculum-aligned support. Anna has been very intrigued with the flow theory. She explained it as a task that challenges you enough to stay engaged. And also not so challenging that your desire to stay engaged dwindles. She wants to keep exploring this in her efforts to support teachers. This initiative, along with the new course she created, embodies her belief in equipping teachers with tools to manage their workloads effectively, thereby extending their careers and enriching student learning experiences. Next week we’ll be talking about the white paper Anna has created for Organize 365® and explore even more ways to support teachers in their essential work. EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #9 - How to Implement the Teacher Workbox in Your School
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #9 - How to Implement the Teacher Workbox in Your School
This is our final episode about the Teacher Friday Worbox® Pilot with principal Jayme. We talked about how Jayme suggests getting started in your school and our hopes for all schools to be using the Teacher Friday Workbox® in the future. What Would Jayme Suggest? We have received a lot of feedback saying everyone is so interested, but they’d like to talk to Jayme. So what does Jayme have to say about this teacher pilot that she implemented in her school? Jayme appreciates all of the resources that come with the Organize 365® company as a whole. The podcast is an endless source of information for home and work organization. But when you add in the Teacher Friday Workbox® for staff, well…The teacher not only gains lifetime access to their dashboard with Organize 365® but they get the community. Jayme loves how supportive the community is as they all share their best practices and encourage each other. They also get Teacher Camp in July. You know, the one month all educators are available? Jayme stressed the principal’s excitement over the Teacher Friday Workbox® is important for the staff to get on board. Each school will implement differently as each teacher will. She suggests for there to be one person “championing” the efforts to get staff on board with the Teacher Friday Workbox®. This person understands and can filter questions about implementation. We can agree there is no budget line for the Teacher Friday Workbox® so Jayme suggested a “phase in plan.” Choose a category of teachers, like first year, or a grade that would most benefit from the Teacher Friday Workbox® and start there. Of course, the best course of action would be for the whole building to start together but we are well aware of budgets. Another segment of teachers that you could prioritize is those that would have had an IEP in school. Let’s meet people where they are, support them in their roles as best as we can, so they stay in those roles longer! Speaking of staying in their roles longer…You say “Yes, this is great but there is a time and financial cost associated with each person who gets the Teacher FridayWorkbox®.” Yes, and there is a time and financial cost associated with new hires. The goal for Jayme and I in all of this is to better support teachers so they will stay in their roles longer and the schools don’t have to hire and train new employees. The community starts to scratch their heads when there is too much turnover in staff. Let’s get everyone settled in, lessen their cognitive load, and be at peace with work and home responsibilities. School Train Stops and Stations I have previously proposed driving in cars versus driving a train; if you don’t know what I mean check out podcast episodes 570 and 571. And that sparked an idea for Jayme about a school train. Trains have quick stops and then they have larger stations that they stop at and spend a little more time at before taking off again. Jayme pointed out the importance of using times like winter/summer break and possibly spring break as your station time. During this time, you can really go through your Teacher Friday Workbox® and reset yourself and your work. We want to see all educators on a train where communication can flow from leadership to the teachers and back to leadership. This program opens communication. Let’s get everyone a ticket on smooth traveling locomotives. Choo choo! For $349 (one time) Teacher Friday Workbox® includes: Teacher Camp Teacher Workbox Slash Pockets Lifetime Access to the Online Community EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #8 - Lawrenceburg Middle School Pilot Second Training
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #8 - Lawrenceburg Middle School Pilot Second Training
Jayme and I were caught off guard by our nerves for this second in person workshop day. I think the reality was that we were using technology we were super familiar with running ourselves to promote more transparency and we weren’t in control. Two type A’s like to be in control! It was so good though and I think our biggest takeaways from this day and this pilot are: We individualize so much for our students, why don’t we do the same for our teachers? Allow real vulnerable conversations and be open to suggestions for improvement When the teachers saw improvement in their main teaching role, they wanted it for their classrooms or personal life next. Jayme had 65% of her staff participate and we were looking for their feedback. I noticed in these responses they are the ones I get from the Organize 356® community. Accomplishment is the number one response I get when I ask people “How does it feel to be organized?” And this group of teachers were no different. This was after only 6 months of use too!! We used the Mentimeter app so that they could submit their answers via their phones so they could be open and vulnerable. We asked “What have you noticed about using the index cards?” Here were a few of the responses: Get things out of my head My ideas are organized I remember things better I can prioritize tasks Less stress Saves time Visibly see what I wanted to do but haven't yet. So the second question we asked them was if they were taking work home. I was shocked that more teachers didn’t say yes. I really thought that was going to be higher until Jayme explained her expectations. Jayme has communicated with her staff how to effectively use their time. Just because it’s called the Friday Workbox® AKA Teacher Workbox, you don’t have to do it on Fridays. She explained to them that she stays late on most Thursdays for games. Since the games don’t start until 6, she has 3 hours to process her workbox. This is helping them not bring work home. Here were the results to that second question. No (9) Yes (15) Sometimes (9) I was also curious to see how many teachers were using digital organization and to what extent. I was shocked that paper was the highest. I thought for sure because of all the buzz that it would be higher digital or hybrid, but nope. In the society of America, a capitalist country, we have our own rules within each organization, so there is not this one, main digital stream. This leads to paper!! And by the way, index cards are paper. I’ve been challenged on this. Think about it...would you rather have your teachers write something down quickly on an index card and continue instruction OR would you like them to pull out their phones? I would hope if you choose the latter there would be an expectation that it not be in the middle of instruction. But then two things happen, the teacher is trying to remember to put it in their phones later AND all the rabbit trails with all their shiny pathways distract the teachers and who knows how long that quick task of entering the idea or task will take! So what were the results of this question? … All Paper (17) All Digital (3) Hybrid of both (13) And lastly I was feeling like, what else do they want? I had taken the time to teach the system of the Teacher Friday Workbox®. I had spent time with the Special Education team, getting them set. It was no surprise with success in their teacher role, now they wanted it in their classrooms and at home. Each teacher was invited to planning day. They got to plan in their personal life. There is so much invisible work required from teachers and they were getting relief from all those responsibilities. And that is why Jayme and I wanted to do this. We want educators to be fulfilled in home and work life, we want teacher retention and this is one way to achieve that! EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #7 - Special Ed Off Site Deep Dive Day
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #7 - Special Ed Off Site Deep Dive Day
Now I want to share a bit of a deep dive about refinement of the Teacher Friday Workbox®. I find it ironic that we basically made up IEPs for the workboxes for teachers that create IEPs for students. Each teacher used their workbox differently due to their teaching knowledge, the way they learn and work, and the work they were responsible for. Jayme decided to purchase a red slash pocket for each student to help the teachers. This way each student had a designated spot for all the documentation each teacher needed for meetings and to qualify for the IEPs. It was also a great place to file away documentation of the student when they were caught being good. It is refreshing to sprinkle in a little positivity during the meetings! Jayme was pleasantly surprised with the teacher’s transparency in their struggles. Some of these teachers were new to the school and all of them were new to special education. They were being very vulnerable with the principal in the room. Just because a training is mandated didn’t mean the teachers were going to talk or be as transparent! We discovered some teachers felt they were touching their red slash pockets too much while other teachers felt overwhelmed by the sea of red, like a glaring light of responsibility begging for their attention. I offered the solution to organize by frequency and quantity of intervention. We took this one step further and gave less frequent weekly interacting students different colors. Jayme added to file them according to the due date. This was a huge relief of stress for the teachers. The Teacher Friday Workbox® Is an Investment In the Teacher Not The Physical Workbox We also uncovered that it would be beneficial for special education teachers to have an additional (portable) Teacher Friday Workbox®. These are a durable box and the school will likely not have to replace it. Invest in your staff or not, it will not cancel out the complexity of work a special education teacher carries or their cognitive load. These workboxes are there to provide organization for IEPs that the teachers are held accountable to the transformation of each individual student. There’s a lot to organize, ok? While yes, there is a physical box that goes with this personal development (and Jayme explained giving PGP’s; we call them CEU’s in Ohio), I see this as training, an investment in the person, the human. Some “powers that be” have questioned ownership of these teacher workboxes once the school or district/corporation purchases them. Yes, a teacher could quit and lots of times items the school has purchased for them get left in the classroom on the teacher’s last day. Jayme explained she could see it as an investment in the teacher and how some would see it as a physical product to be left behind. But the incoming teacher would have no knowledge of how to utilize the workbox. The training is like intellectual property now. And if the last scenario played out, the teacher could invest in a new workbox. There are teachers out there already purchasing their own workbox. But they can’t make the building or district change. The principal or superintendent - now that is someone who can encourage change in the building or on a larger scale! Jayme’s building has noticed better communication across the board. Communication has improved due to transparency, work being made visible, teachers not feeling isolated, and work getting accomplished by dividing and conquering. EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #6 - Special Ed Teachers Started Underwater and Were Drowning
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #6 - Special Ed Teachers Started Underwater and Were Drowning
I just knew in my heart of hearts that the Special Education staff was going to need support. Jayme’s building has ⅓ of the student population that qualifies for special education!! How was I going to give that support? Did the staff have the time? So I called Jayme and we decided on a Zoom class and I invited them to be my guest at my upcoming paper organizing retreat. The staff was excited to learn together and Jayme was creative in carving out time for them to complete the training. On Zoom The Zoom training kind of turned into a Q&A. The teachers felt prepared for the IEP meetings until Jayme pointed out that if you have to leave during the meeting (which happened often), then they weren’t prepared. So they all threw out challenges and reasons why that happened. It was impactful for me to understand the variables and complexities involved in the IEP process. It was a non judgmental conversation rather quite productive in preparing them, Jayme and staff, and me, for the paper organizing retreat. The Paper Organizing Retreat I enjoyed getting to meet Jayme’s Special Education staff and understanding their challenges. It was interesting to learn how much traveling they do and how many entities they are responsible for due to creating IEPs. And not to mention that all of the IEPs have legal implications...at a Federal level. There are timelines and if one “i” doesn’t get dotted, the whole thing is invalid. I have been on both sides of this process and I know that the IEP meetings are emotionally volatile and the teachers need to be prepared with all the proper documentation. Not having a document or needing to get keys to access a document show unpreparedness and the teacher is perceived to be unorganized and unengaged. Jayme had a unique challenge that in the past her Special Education team had always been experienced and confident in “processing” IEP’s. That was not the case going into this school year. Jayme needed to know just as much as her staff going into this school year. This brought a spotlight on the checklist she THOUGHT everyone had seen and was planning on using. Turned out there were multiple copies, some outdated, and some teachers had not seen the checklists. So there was a new digitally optimized checklist that was created initially in analog as they conversed. They identified tasks that needed to be completed (with dates) before, during, and after the IEP meetings to keep everything legal and moving forward. This was brilliant for Jayme because she had the master and will have it now for her career. The teachers could get access to it and edit it to their process and responsibilities, AND it was all on one page!! Creating Individualized Teacher Workboxes for Those Who Create IEP’s Each teacher embraced the Teacher Friday Workbox®, but they realized they needed to customize it for the student population that they served as well as what felt good to them in an organizational sense. Also, it became obvious how much these teachers are on the move. Traveling between classrooms, meetings, and outside the building. Jayme invested in portable workboxes for the Special Education teachers. **Can’t wait to find out why Jayme got red slash pockets for each student?? EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #5 - Teacher Pilot Launch Day
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #5 - Teacher Pilot Launch Day
This is the recap of Day 1. I was driving to Jayme to teach the first workshop for her teachers about the Teacher Friday Workbox®. I’d been having conversations with other schools about implementing the Teacher Program in their schools. I was shocked by the one thing holding them back. The honest feedback I was receiving was that they were afraid they’d be shedding light on how overworked the teachers were and they knew the staff was resentful and considering quitting. They were afraid that making visible all of the invisible work they do would give them reason to submit their resignation! You’re Not Alone And You’re Not Crazy I shared this feedback with Jayme who laughed. “They already know they are overworked!” Jayme’s staff had two reactions to the Teacher Friday Workbox®. Some (especially new faculty) were afraid to do it wrong. Jayme assured them if they were just doing something they were doing it right. And the others had epiphanies saying, “I’m not crazy, and I’m not alone.” Those teachers discovered through the Teacher Friday Workbox® that other teachers felt the same as them. And it was cathartic to visualize all they really did and it was no longer a mystery why they felt overwhelmed. Jayme encourages other schools to understand that each teacher will embrace it at their own level and that’s ok. At one point too, Jayme did the time circles with the teachers once again reinforcing that their time was spread pretty thin. The First Workshop There I was with Jayme the principal, the assistant superintendent, and a room full of teachers. I couldn’t wait to hear all their feedback and realizations. But something interesting happened. I encouraged them to bring to light any issue within the building. This was another time they realized they weren’t alone in noticing the same issues. They were learning from each other. “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” Maya Angelou. We discussed the different colored slash pockets and their use in the Teacher Friday Workbox®. The mental wellness of the staff providing for the students is so important. Now teachers had a designated place to place important documents. Red for behavioral matters like IEP’s, 504’s, things with possible legal implications Orange for calendars and computers - maybe they wanted to print off something actionable from a parent Yellow out of the classroom; like field trips or projects for parents who help Green reimbursement but some use it for grading or lesson plans Blue teams; grade level, building level, parent, IEP, meetings (record questions for next meeting) Purple attendance Pink THE TEACHER! PD, peer reviews, or maybe just happy mail to remind you that you are a good teacher and the kids love you. Jayme noticed two awesome unexpected side effects. The teachers were now task stacking due to accomplishing tasks of the same color. And there was a trickle down of sorts where teachers could offer similar solutions to students to tackle their assignments. I Almost Turned Around As I drove away recounting the workshop, all I could think of was the Special Education Team. They had no checklists and they were all new. They were new to the building, and most of them new to the Special Education Department. I knew they were going to need more support, so I arranged more time for the Special Education teachers. I do all of this in the name of teacher wellness, communication, and teacher retention! EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #4 - The Lawrenceburg Middle School Pilot - Getting Permission Our July 1 Conversation
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #4 - The Lawrenceburg Middle School Pilot - Getting Permission Our July 1 Conversation
By now I’m guessing most of you have heard the evolution of the Sunday Basket®. The Sunday Basket® organizes the invisible tasks of home life, right? And with a teaching background, I also know there is a lot of burnout. The Teacher Friday Workbox® is designed to organize the invisible tasks of teaching. So what if, just what if, an entire school would launch a pilot with Organize 365® and they could feel supported and organized? Jayme was the principal who raised her hand and said I want to try this with my building for my teachers. A Spark of a Conversation Normally on the 4th of July people are spending time with their families and celebrating the holiday, right? Not go getters like Jayme and I; we were chatting about the opportunity of a Teacher Friday Workbox® pilot. Much to my surprise when I proposed a call, Jayme agreed. Our excitement for this pilot was ignited and put into action immediately. Jayme showed up in her minivan and we loaded it with workboxes for her building. She had 13 teachers come immediately to pick them up. There were teachers who knew what Jayme had been doing with her Teacher Friday Workbox® so they knew it worked and wanted to get started. More grabbed their workboxes after a meeting, and then more after the first training. Too Much New to NOT Do The Pilot Jayme was explaining to me some of the things she was expecting about the new school year which included new teachers (most of whom were new to special education), a new assistant principal, and more responsibility for her needing to be involved in student behavioral correction. I chuckled and knew with all that change and newness, the Teacher Friday Workbox® was going to save her 2023-2024 school year. Are Your Teachers Ducks? Have you heard the analogy of ducks looking calm on top of the water, but paddling like crazy under? Think of your teachers. Most are doing the same and that’s what leads to burnout. They don’t want you to see they are paddling so fast under water. The real trouble is when you see it - they are headed for burnout for sure. These are teachers who do not have an organizational solution in place. It would be ideal that the teacher understood the Sunday Basket® before embarking on the Teacher Friday Workbox®. But this time, we had to light the fuse due to the time of year. We initially found some of the teachers were overwhelmed with being new to the Organize 365® ecosystem, making visible the administrative tasks of a teacher on index cards (or some did a hybrid with sticky notes), and learning how to color code their work. When you clean up their mental chaos - you get teachers that will stay in their positions longer. We Owe It To Our Teachers I understand that the pressing question with all expenditures within the education budget boils down to “How does this affect the student?” Let me just say, a teacher with less anxiety, more mental bandwidth, and one that feels supported is best for the students! There is a school supply list for students; this should be on the school supply list for teachers. But there is no line item for organization, honestly, at home or in the workplace. I want to see all educators free up time and mental space for employment retention and a happy home life. EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #3 - School Leadership
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #3 - School Leadership
Now that you know a little bit about Jayme and her background in educational instruction, let’s move on to the responsibilities she’s had in different roles. Jayme has gone from assistant principal, where she barely left the building, to being the principal, where she was off campus frequently for personal development. But she has yet to be the superintendent! Assistant Principal First thing Jayme pointed out that was so interesting is, in different states, different geographical sections of school are called corporations or districts. And because we have previously learned that Jayme was a counselor, she added that not all schools have counselors. Did you know that it is common for each counselor to have 250-300 students assigned to them? I know Abby and Joey really valued counselors in their schools. It’s her previous title as counselor that makes it a natural strength as the assistant principal to be the liaison between the parents and staff. As assistant principal, Jayme was used to doing whatever her principal needed as well as overseeing special education needs within the school, IEP’s, RIT, attendance, behavior and other miscellaneous responsibilities. Principal Jayme never had to worry about a budget as an assistant principal. Once she stepped into the role of principal, she found the magical money tree…not so magical now that she was in charge of it! She also found herself out of the building frequently for personal development. Thankfully her superintendent is great at communicating educational opportunities for her. Jayme is also the initiator of activities and signs off on them. One of the things that really impressed me upon a visit to her school during the pilot was Movie Day. This is the day before school breaks for Christmas. Jayme and I really talked in detail about the actual details of the day. I was so impressed with her organization and the fact that the students expect and understand the system of that day! If you want to sit with your friend who chose to drink Sprite then you better put a request in for Sprite too! A great takeaway from this conversation is that planning leads to expectation. Expectations are kind of like structure in this situation and that makes people feel safe knowing the next thing that will happen. And because of this organization and planning, her parents trust her to organize annual trips to DC and NYC. Superintendent This is the top dog, if you will, the CEO! We talk about invisible work. When you do it no one really notices until you don’t! And the public facing role of superintendent is very much like this. No one notices until they don’t attend an event. This person also faces the budget that Jayme has become familiar with multiplied by the number of schools they’re in charge of. When Jayme’s school had a massive renovation, it wasn’t the groundskeeper that was reporting to the educational community what the progress and funding was, it was the superintendent! Sure, there are people supporting him in large projects, but ultimately he reports the good and the bad. When a superintendent makes a decision, there are multiple factors they are considering not just the population from one building. This is a very public, almost political, position due to reporting to the faculty, public, board, even the state!. Enough background information… Next episode, we’re going to share how this whole pilot got started with a bang over the 4th of July weekend! EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #2 - Personal Organizing & Planning
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #2 - Personal Organizing & Planning
Jayme was a self proclaimed organized hoarder. She’s always been a naturally organized person. In 2017, she hit rock bottom knowing she just had too much. It wasn’t until the windows were replaced in her house. You see when you have new windows installed, you have to move everything away from the windows so the installers have enough room. For about two weeks, all that stuff was in the middle of her room. THAT was chaos, but it shined a light on the fact that all the mess or hoarding at home was causing Jayme mental chaos. This is when Jayme found Organize 365® and cleaned up her personal space, her home. Cleaning Up Mental Chaos at Work Jayme was used to pouring herself into work as a principal Monday through Friday and cleaned house on Saturdays. Jayme would stay as late as she needed to on Friday nights just to have peace of mind that she was prepared to walk back into school on Monday. If we are honest with ourselves, as educators, the one planning period you get is not ample planning time. When you plan as a teacher, you are able to deal with any distractions during instructional time. Jayme found the Education Friday Workbox® (now the Teacher Friday Workbox®) and was able to get organized at work. The Friday Workbox® allows her to plan and feel prepared, and that’s what she wants for her staff. She wants them to continue having a passion for teaching and not feeling burnt out. Cleaning Up Mental Chaos at Home This cleaning up of mental chaos is why Jayme was so excited to share the Education Friday Workbox® with her teachers. If she could just show them how to get organized in the classroom, they would see the benefit of having home organized, too. At Organize 365®, we want to bring light to the invisible work you are doing and have a better plan to tackle it. It took Jayme about 18 months to get her home “done” and longer for work. Jayme encourages her staff to know it will take time. A first grader can’t read a book and write a full report, but after a few years of learning and doing, in 3rd grade maybe they can. And I never mix words about this, it will take time. Jayme finds herself still listening to the older podcasts and learning. She recognizes that the information lands differently now when she hears it based on her progress. She still hears new things she can add to what she’s already used to doing. You have learned a lot about Jayme and next Jayme is going to help us understand the structure of schools and responsibilities of staff in the state of Indiana, specifically Greendale Middle School in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Teacher Podcast #1 - Meet Jayme
07/05/2024
Teacher Podcast #1 - Meet Jayme
I hope you all remember Jayme from the Teacher Pilot that I shared with you in previous episodes. Jayme found the Organize 365® systems effective for home and then implemented them at work. Jayme was open to the idea of using her school as a pilot to see how the Teacher Workbox® could impact an entire building. In this series, we’ll discuss everything from the idea to implementation and to the feedback. Meet Jayme: Principal at Greendale Middle School in Lawrenceburg, Indiana First off, I want you to know exactly who Jayme is and her background. The funniest request we have received is that people want to know Jayme’s thoughts. Never mind that I too was a teacher and founded this organizational system. Just kidding! But I was surprised by it nonetheless. Jayme shared that she always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She remembers playing school even as a child. As I learned more about Jayme, I was surprised how much we had in common when it came to our childhood aspirations. It was also reinforced through this episode that teachers are cut from the same cloth; that of passion for teaching and hearts of service. School came pretty easy to Jayme with a floating B. She loved math, history, science, and to read. But to spell? That is a different story to this day! Before she even completed college, she was happy to keep her Fridays open so she could sub. She knew there would always be work on Fridays. Soon she met her husband Joe and decided to move to Indiana with Joe so they could live happily ever after together. “I’m not a workaholic, I’m passionate about teaching.” Jayme completed her degree in 1998 in elementary education and middle school certifications for social studies and science. She graduated to teach elementary, but ended up in middle school. She worked in the classroom for about 7 years until she got the desire to counsel the students. She went for her Masters for counseling and finished while she was pregnant with her first child, Pierce. Most of her experience has been with middle grades 6-8 in science and as a guidance counselor. Starting in 2000, Jayme was a school counselor for 4-½ years. This is when she decided she needed another Masters for being a Principal and added another child to her life, Kennedy. Jayme shared she has always had a long commute, but appreciates the time to digest what is currently going on in life and work. With all this driving, education advancement, and growing - you could easily call her a workaholic but she prefers to identify it as her passion. But where does that passion go for some educators? We want to help educators retain that passion and put systems in place to prevent burnout. When the Principal Gets Organized Now that she had her Admin Masters, Jayme could be an assistant principal which allowed her to help students and teachers alike. In 2013, she became an assistant principal only to take over being a principal 1-1/2 years later when her friend and boss had to step down. Jayme thought, “I’m basically already doing her job because she had to miss a lot of work.” Jayme’s eyes were opened as to all the actual responsibilities once she was doing the role of principal for real. Jayme likes to delegate tasks with her assistant principal based on strengths. Jayme was all too excited to share with her staff what had been working to keep her organized and kept burnout at bay. I can’t wait to share with you how this pilot played out!! On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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