Follow Jelly Bean on her exciting adventures as a fourth-grader facing challenges that resonate with children of her age. From navigating friendships and family dynamics to discovering the complexities of life, Jelly Bean’s journey is filled with valuable life lessons.

Amy Meislin Pollack, a retired teacher, parent and grandparent, highlights how to raise happy children, how to talk to them about difficult topics and how to help them face challenges like bullying, low-self esteem, friendship, popularity, death, race, drugs, alcohol, feeling neglected and family issues.

Ever since she was in fourth grade – back in 1960 – Amy was writing and telling stories about a character named Jelly Bean. She never stopped telling those stories, sharing them with her students over a teaching career that spanned 40+ years. She shared them with her three children when they were younger – and then with her seven grandchildren. Now her stories have been made available to everyone with the recent publishing of two coming-of-age books intended for middle-graders, The Adventures of Jelly Bean and The Further Adventures of Jelly Bean.

The Adventures of Jelly Bean and The Further Adventures of Jelly Bean are the stories of a fourth-grader who faces challenges that just about all children her age can recognize. Her parents don’t approve of her favorite friend in the whole world. She has trouble getting along with the brother who is closest in age to her. The uncle she loves so much is about to marry the most awful woman she could ever imagine, and the girl who used to be her best friend has turned on her. Jelly Bean faces these and other stumbling blocks, including: the difficulties in achieving and maintaining popularity and how important having certain friends should be to her; difficulties inherent in relationships with various friends and family members; and learning how to make decisions on her own. In these first two books of my middle-grade series, Jelly Bean comes to understand that much of life is trial and error, and that the only constant in life is that it is always changing.

Website

www.amypollack.com

Social Media Information

inkedin.com/in/amy-pollack-9b111882

twitter.com/AdvOfJellyBean

facebook.com/Author.AmyMeislinPollack

instagram.com/jellybeanthebookseries

Show Sponsor – National Association for Primary Education (NAPE) www.nape.org.uk

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Phyllis Leavitt has worked extensively with abuse and dysfunctional family dynamics, their aftermath, and some of the most important elements for healing. Her focus today is on her latest book, America in Therapy: A New Approach to Hope and Healing for a Nation in Crisis.

'When I became a psychotherapist, I never imagined I would one day be entering a “political” arena. But the more I worked with widespread family dysfunction and its horrifying legacy of pain and violence, the more I realized that the greatest threat to our survival as a country and as a species is our declining mental health.

I knew that what we have learned about healing family violence can and must be applied to healing America. I felt compelled to leave the confines of my office and speak to a broader audience. I wanted to share my message of urgency to get ourselves on a path of healing, and I wanted to share a message of Hope that we can restore ourselves to Safety, Peace, and Love by healing the wounds we have suffered and the wounds we have inflicted that keep a cycle of violence going. I wrote America in Therapy for all those hungry for this message.'

Website

www.phyllisleavitt.com

Social Media Information

www.facebook.com/phyllis.leavitt

www.youtube.com/channel/UCOdxqvDK9N421AZ5TTxqUgQ

www.linkedin.com/in/phyllis-leavitt-630179255/

www.instagram.com/pel2347/

twitter.com/PhyllisLeavitt2

substack.com/@phyllisleavitt1

Show Sponsor – National Association for Primary Education (NAPE) www.nape.org.uk

Support the show at www.educationonfire.com/support

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Rella B Books believes that childhood should be a magical journey filled with imagination, adventure, and valuable life lessons. Our store is the brainchild of the creative and playful alter ego, Rella B, who knows that growing up should never mean giving up on the joy of discovery and wonder. We're on a mission to bring the ultimate mashup of work and play to the lives of little ones and their families.

Discover this delightful collection of children's books, crafted with love and imagination.

Rella B's journey began with a shift from conventional adult aspirations to the joy of inspiring young minds. With a background in education, business, and technology, she realized the importance of merging work with play. Her platform is a manifestation of this philosophy, emphasizing values like self-confidence, self-expression, self-love, and self-care for littles. Rella B represents an advocate for creative thinking and cherishing childhood, encouraging kids to explore, learn, and grow in a fun and imaginative environment.

Website

www.rellabbooks.com

Social Media Information

youtube.com/@rellabbooks

pinterest.com/RellaBBooks

instagram.com/rellabbooks/

twitter.com/rellabbooks

facebook.com/rellabbooks

Show Sponsor – National Association for Primary Education (NAPE) www.nape.org.uk

Support the show at www.educationonfire.com/support

Have you seen our live shows on YouTube? www.EducationOnFire.com/youtube

Ally Sousa has worked in education for more than 16 years and has a longstanding interest in teachers’ CPD and supporting ECTs. She’s a former teacher and currently leads the content creation at BlueSky Education where she works with a wide range of teachers to create professional development resources.

Prior to joining BlueSky, Ally taught in secondary education. While teaching physical education at Gosport and Fareham MAT, she took on the role of Initial Teacher Training manager and professional mentor, supporting primary, secondary and special phase trainees across a range of training pathways, and developing continued professional development programmes for trainees, ECTs and experienced members of the school community.

Ally is keen to help teachers to have more constructive conversations about professional development with those who support them. She would love to discuss how teachers can take more ownership of professional development, how PD can happen throughout the year, the approaches early career teachers take to CPD, and why she is so pleased to see performance-related pay consigned to the education policy bin.

Website

www.blueskyeducation.co.uk

Social Media Information

@BlueSkyMatters -

twitter.com/BlueSkyMatters

facebook.com/blueskymatters

linkedin.com/company/bluesky-education

Resources

Schubert - Symphony No. 4

Parenting Hell Podcast

Show Sponsor – National Association for Primary Education (NAPE) www.nape.org.uk

Support the show at www.educationonfire.com/support

Have you seen our live shows on YouTube? www.EducationOnFire.com/youtube

Deaf Choices UK support parents of deaf children to make the best CHOICE(S) for Language, Literacy and Communication.

​They believe that every deaf child and every family has a unique set of needs and DCUK is here to help you navigate and explore the choices that are available to you, so that you can make an informed choice.

​Deaf Choices UK is the only charity in the UK that provide training in Cued Speech.

Kathy Kenny works as a family advisor for Deaf Choices UK. She has a background in education and has a Deaf daughter who is now in her 20s.

Website

www.deafchoicesuk.com

Social Media Information

Deaf Choices UK - FB & IG

Resources

Quote 'Don't compare.... The only person you should try to beat is the person you were yesterday'

The Kite Runner

Show Sponsor – National Association for Primary Education (NAPE) www.nape.org.uk

Support the show at www.educationonfire.com/support

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A kind of State of the Union episode with Mark looking back over the last 8 years and plans for the future of Education on Fire.

To find out more about Ecamm the software I use to record my podcasts, videos and live streams visit https://www.educationonfire.com/ecamm

You can use my affiliate link to get a 14 day free trials and they have a 30% discount during July 2024.

Have you seen the Education on Fire YouTube channel?

https://www.youtube.com/@educationonfire5530/

Mary Ruppenthal is a registered architect and an Associate Principal at HED, one of the oldest and largest architecture and engineering firms in the country, with 400+ employees and annual revenues above $100M.

They serve clients nationwide in a broad range of market sectors, including Healthcare, Higher Education, Mission Critical, Housing and Mixed-Use, Pre-K 12, Science, Manufacturing and Product Development, Workplace, Community, and Government.

With nearly 30 years of experience in public and private sector educational, civic, and cultural design, Mary oversees Pre K-12 and community education projects at HED and is a regular speaker at trade and industry events on the best practices of flexible and adaptive learning environments for tomorrow’s pedagogical needs and the needs of tomorrow’s workforce and incorporating wellness into educational space design.

She has devoted her career to collaborating with school districts in the design of innovative, high-performing educational facilities that enhance the user experience, maximize efficiency, and help shape the future for students of all ages.

Website

www.hed.design

Social Media Information

www.linkedin.com/in/mary-ruppenthal-6bab8713/

www.linkedin.com/company/hedadvances/

Resources Mentioned

Powers of Ten

Film on YouTube

Show Sponsor – National Association for Primary Education (NAPE) www.nape.org.uk

Support the show at www.educationonfire.com/support

Have you seen our live shows on YouTube? www.EducationOnFire.com/youtube

Jeffrey Benson has four decades of experience as a teacher, mentor, and administrator. His work and publications focus on conflict resolution, restorative discipline, learning theory, trauma, inclusive classes, and staff and leadership development.

He coaches principals, teachers, provides workshops, and facilitates school-change teams. He supports schools to be more successful with more students, rooted in understanding how people learn, the starting point for all we should do in schools. His latest book is Hacking School Discipline Together.

Website

www.jeffreybenson.org

Social Media Information

LinkedIn: Jeffreybenson61

Resources Mentioned

Jeffrey's book - Hacking School Discipline Together

Show Sponsor – National Association for Primary Education (NAPE) www.nape.org.uk

Support the show at www.educationonfire.com/support

Have you seen our live shows on YouTube? www.EducationOnFire.com/youtube