The Balancing Act

To homework or not to homework, that is the question. But why is it always the question?  Teachers across America face this ongoing dispute and data of whether homework is good, bad or does little to improve students' understanding of the material covered in class. Our hosts give their input on homework and a few other things along the way too.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...

Left coast sensation and inspirational speaker Dee Hankins wows the hosts with his life experiences and optimistic approach to each day. Dee talks about parenting, challenges, and the ever changing students in the United States. Mr. Hankins uses his sass and humor to inspire, enthrall, and educate on how we can all do better for our kids from an emotional, spiritual and ethical way. Please check o...

Joe and Jamie talk about the new school year and the ongoing use of technology in their classrooms. Tune in for the continued debate on exactly how to be relevant, how to be fun, and just when exactly gamification in the classroom goes too far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part Two: The AI Guy, Jonathan Mast  In Part Two, the AI guy talks classroom usage and real world applications of AI with our hosts, while offering numerous AI suggestions. Join Jamie and Joe as they learn tons of new and applicable techniques and processes for searching and understanding how to use AI with their students in an ethical and practical manner.    Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

Part One: The AI Guy, Jonathan Mast AI and all of its newness is a hot topic for everyone, whether in education or not. Our hosts agree to start slowly to understand the moral implications of its use along with some of the ideology behind AI from the point of view of the self proclaimed “AI Guy,” Jonathan Mast.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Drumroll please… we are now a weekly podcast! Joe and Jamie are back with big news… they are now dropping weekly episodes. Summer has come to a close, and the hosts are ready to explore new topics with fantastic guests. Join the Balancing Act hosts for an exciting new season filled with opportunities to live, learn, and of course, balance.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adc...

In our final best of episode of the summer, we look back at the important topics that we discussed during season 1.  These 4 clips speak to our passion, our life, and what drives us as educators.  Get a glimpse of some of the struggles that we deal with as well.   Season 2 drops the first week fo September!  Big things are coming.... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this best of episode from Season 1, let’s look back with our hosts as they listen to some of Season One's top guests as they talk about how to parent, how to help parents, and how they strive to guide their own children in this ever changing world that challenges parents and kids alike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 26 Best of Season One Let’s rewind the year and check out bits and pieces of the best of the best with Jessica Hawk, Tyler Tarver and Andrea Forcum.  Our episode will highight some of the great advice they have for first year teachers.  Our best of episodes are great to share with new listeners!  Please feel free to share our message and thanks as always for being a Balancing Act listener!...

Let’s talk about how to recharge the batteries, because teachers are solar powered! Listen as Joe and Jamie reflect on the first season of The Balancing Act podcast, and how much the discussions informed and influenced the hosts' lives. Special thanks to all of the wonderful guests who stopped by to share a slice of their lives with the pod. The hosts look forward to Season 2, coming this August....

Steps away from her final year of teaching we meet to talk to the formidable and beloved bestie-buddy of our co-host Jamie. Call her Reckie, Reckless, MC Reckognize, or Phyllis, the long time “student favorite” language arts teacher sits with us and happily shares wisdom, laughter and much needed perspective on how NOT to become bitter and tainted by this challenging profession. Learn more about y...

Let’s look back at the good, the bad, and the “skibbidy” of the 23-24 school year. Self reflection, exit surveys, and a giant thumbs up from students means that the summer is heading this way. Join in and hear what worked, what didn’t and what the “gyat” might mean. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pod is back to update listeners about some of the ongoing family struggles that have continued throughout the course of the school year. In this heart to heart listen as our hosts share the ongoing difficulties that led to the development of the podcast. The hosts share how they continue to work on their approach to balancing family, health and teaching. Join is for what has helped, what conti...

On this episode of The Balancing Act, we happily welcome influencer Jessica Hawk as she shares her 32 years of wisdom and experience inside and out of her New Jersey classroom. On her self proclaimed victory tour, Jessica is approaching retirement with bittersweet memories of her years as a high school teacher. Listen as the one and only “My Teacher Face” gives us her refreshing perspective on the...

Credited with inspiring the New York Giants towards their winning season, former teacher and current motivational speaker, Gian Paul Gonzalez, sits down with us for an end of the school year pep talk. Hailing from Union City, New Jersey, Gian Paul is here to talk us through the muddled end of the year where finding balance can be extra tough to achieve. Don’t miss the tips and special moments brou...

We welcome teacher and author Katie Schneider this week to discuss her extremely potent and thought provoking “viral” letter written to parents. Shared by so many across the country over many social media platforms, Katie brings her point of view to the discussion on how to help teachers balance parents' reactions, and what other daily concerns we all share as current educators across the country....

Spring Break is heading our way and the hosts are ready to party like it's 1999 in Cancun, Mexico. Or maybe they are just ready for some couch time. Listen for an honest discussion about what is lacking from the real partners in education, the parents. Why is there such a disconnect with students these days, and how can all parties work together to make things better for everyone? Raid the kids ca...

Viral Instagram and Tik Tok wonder Educator_Andrea joins this week to discuss how to properly support and retain the “good ones”, the teachers who are meant to be in the game for a long time, and how we as seasoned veterans can show them all how to make the journey “a good time”. Andrea discusses the best ways she has learned to support and develop the new generation of educators, while taking a n...

Can teachers really do their jobs effectively without parental support? Where is the team? Where is the backup system? Where is the empowerment? Join us as we discuss the ever popular and deeply controversial topic that plagues the American education system: Can we do our jobs effectively without the support and efforts by the parents? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Local hero and beloved business owner Eric LeGrand joins us for a trip down memory lane. Listen as we laugh, learn and enjoy a cup of bELieve, as Eric takes us through his morning routine, nightly pleasures and tips for taking each day as it comes. We can’t wait for you to indulge in this hilarious and heartfelt chat with #52 himself, Mr. Eric LeGrand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...

If Mrs. Brady had Alice, how are we supposed to tackle all of this on our own? Today your hosts tackle the never ending subject of how to flip the switch from teacher to parent and back again. Whether it is helping at homework time with your own kids, driving them all over the place, dealing with their emotions while handling your own, or even drowning out the literal and figurative noise coming a...

Our hosts are back in action and ready to focus on the new year ahead. Listen for their words of the year and how they plan to put these words to good use in 2024. Jamie and Joe discuss the modern learner and how to attempt to adapt their classrooms to what students seem to need in their everyday struggles to learn efficiently and effectively.  How do teachers keep up with the modern learners' nee...

Join us as we excitedly talk to Nick Ferroni, a teacher advocate working at Union High in Union, New Jersey. Nick was gracious enough to meet with us for a cup of coffee and talk about our favorite topic: teachers. Nick is working with various news outlets to highlight the positive influence of teachers as he advocates for his peers. As a teacher for over 20 years himself, he believes in order to...

Jamie and Joe are singing their way towards the New Year with a lighthearted walk through their Christmas favorites. Join the Balancing Act podcast hosts as they share a holiday Would You Rather, discuss their opinions about Snow Days, and recount their personal “peach and pit” of 2023. Warning ahead: Merriment and lightheartedness are coming your way as the pod hosts wish you all a very happy and...

   Join us as we take the pod on the road with our first live recording at EdCamp NJ. Our early November morning began with amazing guests who shared with us their first hand experiences in the field of education. Listen as they share how they lean on their fellow teachers not just for pedagogical support but emotional support as well.  Proudly in its tenth year at New Brunswick High School, EdCam...