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PODCAST

A Slice with "Dice

Corey Alderdice

ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice shares personal reflections, lessons learned, and insights from the ever-evolving world of education in Arkansas and beyond.

education personal journals

All Episodes

9:16

Rest, Reflect, Recalibrate: A Winter Break Blueprint...

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/12/31

Winter break offers juniors something they rarely get during the school year: breathing room. Amid the quiet, students can take their first meaningful steps toward understanding who they are and what they want from the college journey ahead. Corey Alderdice, a national voice on talent and transformation, explores how reflection, early exploration, and intentional rest can help juniors align their interests with future opportunities. He discusses how taking stock of extracurriculars, surveyi...

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6:39

ENCORE: The Semester Debrief - Family Conversations...

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/12/26

Some conversations age well because the need behind them never really goes away. As students and schools end the fall semester gear up for a new semester in 2026, this encore episode arrives at exactly the right moment. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the deeper dynamics of student well-being, academic pressure, and school culture in this revisit from Season One. This timely rebroadcast examines the forces that shape how students experience rigor, rest, identity, and expecta...

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9:29

The Catalytic Agency Model of Talent Development in...

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/12/22

Gifted students don’t disengage because they don’t care—they disengage because they’re ready for more than their environment is offering. When we learn to interpret dissatisfaction as a signal instead of a problem, everything about how we see gifted learners begins to shift. In this bonus episode, Corey Alderdice explores the full arc of the Catalytic Agency Model of Talent Development—from the satisfaction gap and the intentionalities of Eclipse, Evolve, and Escape to the student paradigms,...

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6:46

Why Bacon Belongs on the Christmas Tree

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/12/20

The smell of bacon has a way of pulling people out of their rooms and into the same shared space, no invitation required. In this special, Christmas-themed episode, a glitter-covered strip of bacon hanging on a tree becomes a surprisingly fitting symbol for what the season is really about. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how a family joke about ribbon-candy ornaments evolved into the “Christmas bacon,” the final ornament placed on the tree each year, and why bacon itself mak...

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11:26

The Work That Outlasts Us

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/12/17

Some stories don’t end; they simply turn the page. And sometimes the chapters that shape us most are the ones we never expected to write. For the last time this season, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the winding path that led him into gifted education, the challenges and triumphs of thirteen and a half years at the helm of one of the nation’s top STEM schools, and the lessons learned along the way. This reflective episode traces his journey from an accidental summer job tha...

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8:01

One Notch to the Left

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/12/10

Some days it only takes one email, one phone call, or one weird surprise to knock your whole mood off track—but what if the real power lies in how you respond, not what you face? What if the difference between burnout and balance is just a tiny shift in your default setting? ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how school leaders—and really anyone—can redirect their automatic reactions from irritation to curiosity, trading energy drain for emotional sustainability. Drawing on met...

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8:03

Inquiry, Integrity, and the Future of AI in Schools

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/12/03

Generative AI isn’t on the horizon anymore—it’s already reshaping the academic landscape. The challenge now isn’t avoiding it, but deciding how we respond with purpose and integrity. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the school’s recent survey findings, the community’s wide-ranging concerns, and how ASMSA’s partnership with Challenge Success positions the institution to lead in developing ethical, mission-aligned approaches to AI. He reframes the conversation away from fear a...

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9:51

Vision Is the Dream. Accountability Is the Delivery.

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/11/26

Some leadership debates feel theoretical—until someone throws your own words back at you months later. This episode unpacks what happens when a simple remark becomes a mirror for how we understand responsibility, vision, and the work leaders are actually called to do. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the tension between vision and accountability, how a casual comment resurfaced with unexpected weight, and why the best leadership isn’t about choosing one over the other but lea...

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8:46

Astrology for the LinkedIn Crowd

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/11/19

The end of the Farmer’s Almanac marks more than the close of a quirky American tradition—it symbolizes our timeless need to find patterns in the unpredictable. From zodiac signs to personality tests, we keep searching for order in life’s chaos. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how the human desire to forecast meaning connects everything from the Farmer’s Almanac to modern leadership frameworks. Drawing from his own rural upbringing, he reflects on why we lean on systems—both ...

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8:08

Do Schools Accidentally Make Anxiety Worse?

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/11/12

We’ve reached the point where comfort has become the new currency in education—and it’s bankrupting student resilience. What if the accommodations we’re offering aren’t helping students cope, but quietly teaching them to avoid life itself? ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores how well-intentioned supports can turn into permanent crutches, why scaffolding should be temporary, and how educators can help students build real, lasting structures of confidence and capability instead o...

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6:30

The Real Reason Gifted Kids Freak People Out

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/11/05

Some people call gifted kids “weird,” but maybe that’s just what it looks like when someone’s brain refuses to color inside the lines. What if the thing that makes them different is exactly what the world needs more of? ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores why gifted students are so often misunderstood, how divergent thinking shapes their perception of the world, and why curiosity and intensity should be seen as creative assets—not social oddities. For additional thoughts from ...

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11:12

Catalytic Agency Ep. 6 - Equity, Policy, and the Call...

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/11/01

Equity in gifted education requires more than resources — it begins with listening carefully to dissatisfaction across all student groups. Policies and practices must ensure that every intentionality is met with the right opportunities. In episode six of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice draws the series to a close by connecting the Catalytic Agency Model to equity and policy. He argues that while Transitional students are often visible, Transformational, Typical, a...

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12:09

Catalytic Agency Ep. 5 - The Heart of the Model

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/10/29

Some students demand more than piecemeal solutions — their dissatisfaction is comprehensive, spanning rigor, belonging, and context. These Catalytic students are rare, but when matched with the right environments, they can transform themselves and their schools. In episode five of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the concept of Catalytic Agency in depth, positioning it as the heart of the model and a new way of thinking about gifted education. He explains ...

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11:25

Catalytic Agency Ep. 4 - The Levers of Practice:...

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/10/25

Recognizing dissatisfaction is only half the work; the other half is knowing how to act on it. Schools can respond with three core levers — but only when sequenced wisely do these interventions close satisfaction gaps. In episode four of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the three levers of practice — acceleration, elevation, and separation — that educators can use to respond to dissatisfaction. Drawing from classroom and program examples, he explains how a...

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12:30

Catalytic Agency Ep. 3 - Paradigms of Gifted Student...

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/10/22

When intentionalities blend, they form distinct paradigms of student experience — each carrying its own risks and opportunities. Understanding these blends can help educators design responses that truly match students’ needs. In episode three of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice examines the three main paradigms of student experience — Transitional, Transformational, and Typical — before introducing Catalytic Agency as the integrative force at the center. He illustr...

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10:39

Catalytic Agency Ep. 2 - Eclipse, Evolve, and Escape

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/10/18

Students express dissatisfaction in different ways — some want more rigor, others long for belonging, while still others need a whole new context. Recognizing these intentionalities helps educators respond with precision rather than guesswork. In episode two of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the three intentionalities that shape student dissatisfaction: Eclipse, Evolve, and Escape. Through vivid examples, he shows how Eclipse students hunger for harder c...

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8:28

Catalytic Agency Ep. 1 - The Signal of Dissatisfaction

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/10/15

Every student has moments of restlessness in school, but what if that dissatisfaction isn’t a problem to solve — what if it’s the clearest sign of readiness to grow? By reframing dissatisfaction as a signal, educators can uncover hidden pathways of student agency. In episode one of a six-part series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores the idea of the “satisfaction gap” — the distance between what students are experiencing and what they believe they need to thrive. Rather than s...

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5:08

PSAT = Practice? Nope. Here’s Why It Matters.

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/10/11

For many juniors, the PSAT feels like a dress rehearsal for the SAT—a low-stakes warm-up that doesn’t really matter. But hidden behind that “practice” label is one of the biggest scholarship opportunities in high school. ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice explores why students shouldn’t blow off the PSAT this October, unpacking how it serves as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and why that distinction matters. He explains how the National Merit Index Score differs from the...

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7:37

What Training with a World Arm Wrestling Champion...

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/10/08

In school, failure is often treated as something to be avoided at all costs. But what if failure is actually the very thing that unlocks growth? ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice reflects on his recent training journey with former world champion arm wrestler Monster Michael Todd, drawing parallels between strength training and the growth mindset educators seek to instill in students. Along the way, he explores how small, incremental progress matters more than sweeping changes, why fail...

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2:42

Coming Soon: The Catalytic Agency Model of Talent...

A Slice with "Dice ·

2025/10/04

Why do gifted, talented, and motivated students leave behind the comfort of home, their local schools, and the friends and teachers they’ve known for years to take on something more demanding and more challenging? The answer, at its heart, comes down to dissatisfaction. In this six-part special series, ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice introduces the Catalytic Agency Model of Talent Development, a new framework shaped by two decades of working with gifted learners. Across the episodes,...

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122 results

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