Run Your Life Show With Andy Vasily

Send us a textThis podcast series is devoted to sharing good teaching practice at Gardens Elementary School which is located on the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology campus in Saudi Arabia. At GES, our student population is multi-cultural, diverse, enthusiastic, engaging and confident. They are also fun loving and happy.Through the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) we provide opportunities for students to develop an understanding of essential concepts, skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will enable them to be lifelong learners. Our students are actively involved in authentic inquiry-based learning across all the curriculum areas. They develop confidence in their abilities, think for themselves, question, express their opinions and respect the opinions of others. As students learn to reflect on their learning, they become critical thinkers. We encourage students to voice their ideas and to take action to improve the school and the community. Student achievement and progress is shared through regular assemblies, parent conferences, open houses and activities aimed at making the school a stimulating center for the community.Episode Two is with Brad TraynorBrad’s Bio:Brad Traynor is an international educator in his 15th year of education. Brad has held positions ranging from JK through to high school and has worked in several classroom settings including alternative learning spaces for behavioural concerns. Brad is currently working as a grade 4 teacher and team leader at Gardens Elementary School in Saudi Arabia. Teaching has taken Brad from his roots of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada to Thailand, China, Switzerland and now Saudi Arabia. Brad continues to demonstrate an ongoing passion for teaching and learning by taking every opportunity possible to learn through collaboration with his colleagues at TKS and other educators around the world. He has also begun his leadership training at the Principal’s Training Center and takes IB online courses whenever he can. Brad and his wife, Leigh Ann, are in the 4th year at Gardens Elementary School and are soon expecting their first child.Fostering Student AgencyIn this episode, Brad dives into the role that critical self-reflection has played in helping him to not only refine his own teaching practice but to also examine how he can better design his own learning space in an effort to honor the unique ways that his students learn. Brad shares his own journey and how he came to the realization that he needed to give up control and traditional ways of that he had been teaching. Handing over trust to his students has helped to deepen agency and ownership over his students’ learning journeys in Brad’s class. Brad offers advice and insight into how anyone can change the learning space in which they teach. Every educator can benefit from hearing Brad’s story. Connect With BradTwitter: @traynorbrad1980 Connect With Gardens Elementary SchoolTwitter: @GESatKAUSTWebsite: http://tks.kaust.edu.sa/Message-from-the-Principal-GESThemes Discussed:Student Agency, Autonomy, The Role of Self-Reflection, Redesigning Learning Space, Trust, Extending The Perimeters of Learning, Group Decision Making

Send us a textRegardless of our profession, we must remain open and receptive to new learning as it’s this new learning that not only helps us excel within our chosen field, but also makes a genuine difference in the work that we do. In this episode, I interview, Gary Nicol, a golf coach who worked on the European tour coaching some of Europe’s finest professional golfers for 16 years. Great coaching has many parallels to great teaching. We dig deep into Gary’s fundamental teaching philosophy identifying specific principles that he has put into action in his personal and professional life that help him to constantly refine his craft and raise the performance of those around him. Gary shares a number of different strategies and approaches that he uses in order to better understand each golfer that he coaches. In better understanding them, he is able to differentiate his instruction in order to maximize the impact he has on helping them improve their games. There are many gems of insight that he shares that easily transfer over into the world of education. Whether you are a golfer or not, you are sure to learn some valuable takeaways in this episode that are applicable to the work that you do. About GaryCo-Founder and Coaching Director of Tour Pro Experience Golf Schools, Gary has been coaching golf since the late 1980's. Since then he has helped thousands of golfers around the world including over 30 European Tour Professionals and numerous Ryder Cup players, amassing 10 wins as a coach. He has coached at all the Majors and loves to share the knowledge and expertise gained from these experiences with visitors to TPEGS in his own inimitable style. Gary combines his personal experience with the latest, V1 video analysis, SAM Putt Lab and Trackman precision swing and ball flight analysis to help golfers unleash their true potential. Gary works closely with TrackMan co-hosting training seminars and workshops and is a certified TrackMan University Master as well as a Certified Mind Factor coach. Look out for Gary's instruction in Today's Golfer magazine.Connect with GaryTwitter: @garynicol67, @archerfieldgolf, @tpegsgolfLinks to Gary’s Work: http://www.tpegs.com/Themes Discussed: Self-Directed Learning, The Power of Questioning, The Importance of Listening, Intention and Purpose, Singular Point of Attention, Visualization, Data Informed Learning, Mindset

Send us a textThis podcast series is devoted to sharing good teaching practice at Gardens Elementary School which is located on the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology campus in Saudi Arabia. At GES, our student population is multi-cultural, diverse, enthusiastic, engaging and confident. They are also fun loving and happy.Through the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) we provide opportunities for students to develop an understanding of essential concepts, skills, knowledge and attitudes that will enable them to be lifelong learners. Our students are actively involved in authentic inquiry-based learning across all the curriculum areas. They develop confidence in their abilities, think for themselves, question, express their opinions and respect the opinions of others. As students learn to reflect on their learning, they become critical thinkers. We encourage students to voice their ideas and to take action to improve the school and the community. Student achievement and progress is shared through regular assemblies, parent conferences, open houses and activities aimed at making the school a stimulating center for the community.Episode One is with Adam ReidAdam’s Bio:Adam Reid is an international educator and learner, originally from Canada and currently working at TKS in Saudi Arabia. He has worked with the PYP curriculum for the last 8 years and has taught in many countries, including Angola, Egypt, Canada and the Czech Republic. While Adam continually works to improve as an educator, two areas he is particularly passionate about are mathematical learning and the construction of positive learning environments.Establishing The Importance of a Growth MindsetIn today’s episode, Adam shares how he has started the year off by focusing on creating a classroom culture that embraces a growth mindset. Adam walks us through the first few lessons of the year and how he had his students co-construct what a growth mindset means and how they can support each other by understanding that failure and mistakes are a critical part of each student’s learning journey. Adam also shares specific ways that he and his students have established norms related to better supporting one another with their learning throughout the year. Connect With AdamTwitter: @adamreid905Connect With Gardens Elementary SchoolTwitter: @GESatKAUSTWebsite: http://tks.kaust.edu.sa/Message-from-the-Principal-GESThemes Discussed:Growth Mindset, Learning From Failure, The Learning Pit, Identifying Obstacles, Inner Voice, Classroom Culture, Students As Co-Constructors of Learning

Send us a textIn today’s episode, my guest, Jorge Rodriguez, shares his story and the major life lessons learned that he has been able to transfer into his career as an educator. Jorge is a self-initiator who has taken charge of his own personal and professional learning. He has done this through embracing the challenge, connecting with others, and developing his own unique style of teaching that has had a very positive impact on student learning in his program. Jorge shares the strategies and approaches that have allowed him to develop and deepen his teaching practice. Any educator listening to this episode with Jorge Rodriguez is sure to find some valuable take away that they can apply in their own life and teaching. Hope you enjoy my conversation with Jorge Rodriguez. Jorge’s Bio:Jorge Rodriguez is originally from McAllen, Texas and now lives in Houston. He attended the University of Houston where he was a high jumper on the track team and earned his Bachelors degree in Kinesiology with a minor in health. Jorge later went to receive his Masters degree in Educational Leadership from American College of Education. He is currently a physical education teacher at Harvard Elementary (an IB and STEM magnet school) in the Houston Independent School District, and is a Lead Teacher and the KEY teacher for physical education for the district. He is also an active member in Texas AHPERD, and sits on the recreation and social media committees and chairs the diversity section. Jorge absolutely loves his profession and is dedicated to do all he can to make it better!Connect with Jorge:Website: http://www.physednow.com/Twitter: @PhysedNow Themes Discussed: Restorative Justice, Critical Feedback, Social Media, Joy of Movement, Student Empowerment, Teacher Growth, Obstacles and Failure

Send us a textIn today’s episode, my guest, Jeff Woodcock, shares his major life lessons learned in education that has helped to guide his journey and acsent into leadership. Jeff’s philosophical stance is that quality leadership is all about unlocking excellence within others and it’s through this process that we continually put ourselves in a position to grow and develop our own skills. In our conversation, we delve into the powerful role that sport and physical activity have played in his life and the core values gained from these areas that transcend sport itself and apply to his current leadership position and the work that he does. In this conversation, we unpack what critical self-reflection means and share valuable tools and strategies that any educator can put into practice in order to ensure constant growth. Jeff is wise beyond his years and has many gems of insight that he shares in today’s episode. About JeffJeff Woodcock is the Elementary School Assistant Principal at the KAUST School in Saudi Arabia. He is in his tenth year as an educator at international schools, previously working at Bonn International School in Germany. He has received a Certificate of International School Teaching from his participation in the TTC and completed a Master’s of Science through the TTC and Buffalo State University. Jeff has served in the role of chair for his school's accreditation process with the Primary Years Programme and CIS/NEASC. Other previous roles include Activities Director and Professional Development Coordinator. He is dedicated to facilitating learning through an inquiry-based and student-centered approach. He is the administrator and a contributor to the inquiry blog inquiringminds.me.Connect with JeffTwitter: @jdotwdot Themes Discussed:Quiet Leadership, Self-Reflection, Empowerment, Physical Activity & Sport, Core Values, Gratitude, Self-Awareness, Purpose & Meaning

Send us a textHow do you inspire your students to take action on being physically active? How do you structure your physical education program in a way that allows them to find value, joy, and delight in movement? What role does physical literacy play in this process? In today’s episode, I had the chance to dig deep into these questions with the well-known researcher, Scott Kretchmar. Scott has devoted his life to helping physical educators understand the tremendous impact that they can have on helping young people embrace physical activity for life. Scott not only shares his educational philosophy and his research, he delves deep into the major life lessons that he has learned that have given him a strong sense of purpose and direction. Although Scott is now retired, he still goes to his office every day at Penn State to continue his journey of learning. Without question, Scott has committed himself to his cause and made a life of inspiring thousands of professionals from the field of physical education and health to be genuine difference-makers in the work that they do. It was an honor to be able to interview Scott and to learn more about him. There are sure to be many gems of insight that you will be able to apply to your own work in this episode. Thanks for listening. Scott’s BioProfessor R. Scott Kretchmar is one of the leading sports philosophers in the country.  He has taught philosophy of sport for over three decades and played a key role in making it a legitimate field of scholarship and study.  He is one of the founding members of the Philosophic Society for the Study of Sport and served as its president.  He has also served as the president of the Philosophic Academy of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.  He is a retired professor at Pennsylvania State University in the Exercise and Sports Science department, where he has served as department chair. He was elected as the president of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education and is leading the way to making the subject of sports philosophy an important facet of the study of Kinesiology. Scott has received numerous awards over the course of his career and the impact that he has on the field of physical and health has been felt around the world. His bio can be found here: http://hhd.psu.edu/directory/documents/Kretchmar-RScott-FID-299-Vitae.pdfConnect with ScottScott asked me to share his email address and invited people to reach out to him at: rsk1@psu.edu Themes Discussed: The Joy of Movement, Physical Literacy, Purpose, Sports Philosophy, Relevant & Meaningful PE, Resilience

Send us a textHow do you recognize your limitations and work toward developing these areas? What transformative moments have shaped your journey in education? What role does service to others play in your personal and professional life? How do you open yourself up to being a lifelong learner? How can we empower our own narratives in order to live a more fulfilled existence? In today’s episode, Rick Wormeli shares his insight and wisdom based on nearly 40 years of experience in the field of education. As an educational leader, author, teacher, speaker, and presenter, Rick brings a multitude of different perspectives into today’s discussion that resulted in opening up the dialogue related to what it means to be an educator. Rick has put loads of time and energy into developing himself as an educator in order to better understand the keys to success in regards to helping students to achieve their very best. Although my original intention in this discussion was to dive into the work he has done on sharing best practice related to formative and summative assessment, the conversation channelled off into the areas of service to others, teacher empowerment, the importance of unlearning and relearning, and how to create the best conditions possible for young people to thrive in the classroom. There are sure to be many gems of insight that can be extracted from this discussion with Rick Wormeli that can be applied to your own teaching practice. Rick’s Bio:One of the first Nationally Board Certified teachers in America, Rick brings innovation, energy, validity and high standards to both his presentations, and his instructional practice, which includes 38 years teaching math, science, English, physical education, health, and history, and coaching teachers and principals.  Rick’s work has been reported in numerous media, including ABC’s “Good Morning America,” “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” National Geographic and Good Housekeeping magazines, What Matters Most: Teaching for the 21st Century, and the Washington Post.  He is a columnist for AMLE Magazine, and a frequent contributor to ASCD’s Education Leadership magazine.  He is the author of the award-winning book, Meet Me in the Middle, as well as the best-selling books, Day One and Beyond, Fair Isn’t Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom, Differentiation: From Planning to Practice, Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching any Subject, all five from Stenhouse Publishers, as well as Summarization in any Subject, published by ASCD.  His book, The Collected Writings (So Far) of Rick Wormeli: Crazy Good Stuff I Learned about Teaching Along the Way, is a collection of his published articles, guest bloggings, and more through 2013.  His classroom practice is a showcase for ASCD’s best-selling series, “At Work in the Differentiated Classroom.”With his substantive presentations, sense of humor, and unconventional approaches, he’s been asked to present to teachers and administrators in all 50 states, Canada, China, Europe, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Australia, the Middle East, and at the White House.   He is a seasoned veteran of many international Web casts, and he is Disney’s American Teacher Awards 1996 Outstanding English Teacher of the Nation.  He won the 2008 James P. Garvin award from the New England League of Middle Schools for Teaching Excellence, Service, and Leadership, and he has been a consultant for National Public Radio, USA Today, Court TV, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Natural Partners Program and their search for the Giant Squid. In June 2012, Rick was the graduation commencement speaker for the highest performing, public high school in the Washington, D.C. area.  He lives in Herndon, Virginia with his wife, and both of them are now celebrating the post-college launch of their two children into the adult, working world.  Rick is c

Send us a textFor the 50th Run Your Life podcast, host Andy Vasily turned the hosting reins over to yours truly - author/educator/Captain America wannabe -  Frank Stepnowski, and allowed me to interview HIM. Together, with the help of a very special guest, we made some radio magic to start 2017 with an inspired bang.The program starts with a shout out to mutual friend and all around good guy Ross Halliday, which led into a discussion of kindred spirits and the “inner voice’ that called Andy to start the Run Your Life podcast. The initial days of the podcasts are discussed, and how it evolved into an exploration of personal excellence, with Andy using it as a vehicle to inspire educators to self-reflect.Drawing on his myriad travels around the globe, Andy offers, as a student of the World, some insight into our current state of divisiveness and how the presence of religion and faith grew and metamorphized in his life and led to his promotion of the recognition of goodness in others as a means to “oneness.” This is a message that needs to be heard, and I am thrilled to have facilitated getting this on record.In a must listen segment, Andy’s wife, the beautiful and talented Neila Steele, joins us with some personal reflection on how their family used their Christmas vacation in Europe to practice mindfulness, and extend their already daily practice of gratefulness.Andy can’t help being the host, (and it is his show after all,) so he gets me rolling on the delicate dance between satisfying BS educational mandates and connecting to very human students. As mindfulness was on the table, we discussed love and loss of family, and how Andy’s commitment to their memories informs his daily decisions, and how he initially found his way through grief through sports and physicality.Brightening the mood a bit, I asked Andy to elaborate on what makes him a good teacher, his ability to be “in the moment,” and why connection takes precedent over curriculum. Of course, this being a pre-Christmas show, we had to talk holiday movies and such, and I’m pretty sure I got compared to the Grinch at some point.Before he let me wrap up, Neila Steele flipped the script and put the guest host on the hot seat with a discussion of how I plan to carry mindfulness into the new year; I must have given a good answer because I get rewarded with a spiritual blessing and virtual hug that is guaranteed to make everyone listening feel good.I teased you with some tidbits from our extended conversation, but trust me, Andy’s (and Nelia’s) observations and insights provide a calming influence that we could all use in this day and age, do yourself a favor and listen.I, for one, cannot wait for episode 51.-Frank StepnowskiConnect with Frank and AndyFrank: Twitter (@frankstep1)Andy: Twitter (@andyvasily)Website: www.pyppewithandy.comThemes Discussed:Empowerment, Human Connection, Mindfulness, Ross Halliday, Personal & Professional Growth, Teacher Impact, Excellence 

Send us a textIn today’s Run Your Life podcast, special guest Andy Dutton from the United Nations School of Hanoi, joins Andy Vasily and Neila Steele for the 16th episode of their ‘4 X Mindfulness’ series which was recorded live in Bucharest, Romania. As always, the main goal of ‘4 X Mindfulness’ is to share seeds of inspiration related to living a more mindful personal and professional life.The first seed of mindfulness was shared by Andy Dutton and had to do with the importance of connecting at an emotional level with the students that we teach day in and day out in the work that we do. This emotional connection is not possible if we are not present and focused on developing relationships first. Andy shares his belief that creating strong emotional connections with others changes lives and that we must never forget this.In moving into the second seed of mindfulness, Neila discusses how critical it is to know the triggers in our life that have the potential to cause us to act in ungraceful ways when dealing with others. In knowing these triggers we can bring more mindfulness into the way we choose to respond to others who will challenge us.For the third seed of mindfulness, Andy Vasily shares how he was recently inspired by the work of singer/songwriter Jewel and her belief that mastery is all about showing up day after day and continually refining what we do in order to be our personal best. That being our personal best means that we can give more and when we give more, we impact others.Andy Dutton closed off today’s episode by speaking about the work of Mike Kuczala and how Mike inspired him to understand that meaning making is state dependent. When we deal with others in the work that we do, it is the human connection, at an emotional level, that brings out the best in us. When we are present and in the moment, we are more receptive to these emotional connections.As always, Neila Steele and Andy Vasily would like to thank you for listening and hope that with each episode comes new learning and gems that you can apply in the work that you do.BioNeila Steele and Andy Vasily are international educators who have worked at fully authorized IB schools in 4 different countries over the past 16 years (Japan, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, and China). Andy is a consultant, workshop leader, presenter, and speaker. Neila presents and leads multiple workshops in the area of mindfulness. They have devoted themselves to sharing the powerful effects that mindfulness has on promoting greater mental, social, emotional, and physical well-being.Connect With Neila, Andy Vasily and Andy DuttonNeila SteeleTwitter: @neilasteeleWebsite: www.mindfulandpresent.comAndy VasilyTwitter: @andyvasilyWebsite: www.pyppewithandy.comAndy DuttonTwitter: @PEAndyDThemes Discussed:Gratitude, Reflection, Ferran Adrià, Meaning Making, Mike Kuczala, Aaron Beighle, Physical Education, Student Relationships, The Power of Emotional Connection

Send us a textIt today’s episode of ‘4 X Mindfulness’ the themes of happiness, fear, vulnerability, and inner criticism are explored. Can happiness be tracked in an effort to understand important patterns in our lives? How can quiet reflection help us to identify whether the fears we experience in our lives are genuine or irrational? Does being vulnerable and sharing our authentic self open the door for others to do the same? How can we tame the inner critic within us?Neila delves into a recent party that she organized called a Shakti Circle and the main purpose of this evening. She goes into detail about the types of mindfulness activities that were focused on and the impact that this night had on her. As well, Neila shares some great strategies for being more aware of the self-critic within us and how this inner critic voice can be tamed. Andy shares his thoughts related to fear and how quiet reflection can play an important role in assessing to what degree our fears are genuine or not. We often create irrational fears in our lives that can rob us of our talent and our happiness. He references both Jamie Foxx and singer/songwriter Jewel and their perspectives on overcoming irrational fears in our lives. As well, Andy dives into the theme of happiness and references the work that the greats minds at trackyourhappiness.org are doing in an effort to help people better understand what brings them genuine happiness. BiosNeila Steele and Andy Vasily are international educators who have worked at fully authorized IB schools in 4 different countries over the past 16 years (Japan, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, and China). Andy is a consultant, workshop leader, presenter, and speaker. Neila presents and leads multiple workshops in the area of mindfulness. They have devoted themselves to sharing the powerful effects that mindfulness has on promoting greater mental, social, emotional, and physical well-being.Connect With Neila, Andy, and MikeNeilaTwitter: @neilasteeleWebsite: www.mindfulandpresent.comAndyTwitter: @andyvasilyWebsite: www.pyppewithandy.comThemes Discussed:Shakti Circles, Fear, Vulnerability, Happiness, Reflection, Inner Criticism