Schools of Excellence: The No. 1 ECE & Private School Leadership Podcast

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From the Archive: Teacher Appreciation Week Apr 20, 2022

Show notes

Gratitude and appreciation need to be a habit - a constant in your life. And having a week in a year that is focused on key stakeholders that drive success in your school, is really special. It shows that you value them, and reinforces a culture you'd want to see in a school of excellence.

While we may not remember every single detail of what happens in our lives, we will always remember specific moments of experiences. In this week’s episode, I share ideas on how you can make your teachers feel valued and appreciated this Teachers Appreciation Week. Tune in and get ideas on how you can be intentional with your appreciation this coming week!

In a nutshell, I speak about:

Why I love teacher appreciation week so much, and its similarities with mothers day
Why your calendar is part of your identity
The 3 things that teachers need now more than ever
The 5 questions you should ask yourself before choosing any fun or creative ideas

No matter the situation your school is in right now, there is still room to be creative. As you think about all the work you will be doing in order to make this week special for your teachers, what moments do you hope stays in their brains forever?

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Get your FREE workbook for the Teacher Appreciation Week HERE.

This workshop is ideal for you if you are looking to:

Know what the next stage of growth looks like for your school
Learn how to build out a calendar that serves your lifestyle and stage of life that you're in
Identify the top priorities that you need to focus on to move your school in the right direction
Learn what is working for other high achieving school owners in their stage of growth in the season that they're in right now
Stop doing diffuse energy in a bunch of different directions that aren’t moving your school forward

If you are ready to take your school to the next level of growth and are looking for support, community and accountability to make that happen - then would love for you to apply for our directors inner circle or owners HQ program.

Apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner's HQ

More about the show:

If you are an Early Childhood director or owner, prepare to transform your school and life with the Schools of Excellence podcast. Tune in each week to learn from Chanie Wilschanski, the founder and host of the Schools of Excellence Podcast and a mom of 4 little kids. Each episode will be packed with tools and strategies – equipping you to build schools with higher staff retention, teacher motivation, parent partnership, collaborative culture, and a beautiful quality of life.

79. Build to Last: How to Build a Culture of Excellence Apr 18, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to part 3 of the 4-part series, the Build to Last workshop series. During each episode in this series, we’re going to be digging into specific areas that will uplevel and give you the confidence, decision-making skills, and practical strategies and mindsets for your center from the field of play.

In today's episode, I'm joined by Sara Schreiner and Susan Sholar, members of our inner circle who are from Sunshine Academy in Montana. They share with us their specific habits and routines of how they built a culture of excellence. As a school owner or director, understanding that school culture is not a project but an effect of your daily behavior, actions, and routines is a salient leadership drill. The strategies that work today, don't necessarily work tomorrow, so you need to constantly work on your culture. The moment you turn away from this foundational skill, your school becomes toxic, there's gossip, there's backtalk, there's complacency, and there's resistance.

In a nutshell, we talk about:

The foundation of building a beautiful culture of excellence
Why culture is an effect of the leader's daily routine, behavior, and actions
Showing up as the leader - the habits you need to adapt to create this amazing culture
The culture of innovation and risk-taking - how you feel, and what you need to hear to know that you have achieved it
Culture revolving around values, difficult conversations, and boundary setting
The biggest challenge school leaders have about their culture
Today's challenge: the Gratitude challenge!

…and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Download the workbook to get tons of resources and 10 freeways on how to build a culture of excellence here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mzS7qxZksrvGkDlAI7ji58nPwakPEZlk/view?usp=sharing

The Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ is the #1 community & training program specifically designed for early childhood school leaders and owners who are committed to building schools of excellence. You get 24/7 access to exclusive templates & training to help you motivate your staff and build a collaborative culture that positively impacts the lives of children. Plus the support & accountability you need to create massive momentum.

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make every day which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve every day.

78. Build to Last: How to Manage your Time with Theme Days and Time Blocking Apr 11, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to part 2 of the 4-part series, the Build to Last workshop series. During each episode in this series, we’re going to be digging into specific areas that will uplevel and give you the confidence, decision-making skills, and practical strategies and mindsets for your center from the field of play.

In today's episode, I'm joined by Jo David, a director who is a member of the Director’s Inner Circle and is a time blocking practitioner. Jo shares with us strategies of how to work on calendars that serve us. As leaders, understanding where our time goes is a sensitive leadership drill and when we believe that we must always be available, we underperform, we over-index, we get overwhelmed, and we feel stressed out. Stay tuned for a mind-boggling session as we discuss stimulating information on building a calendar that serves us and helps us to design priorities that we need to continue building our legacy with our school culture.

In a nutshell, we talk about:

The 3 myths of the school leaders' time - why they're myths and busting them
Drafting out your theme days
Unmuting rejection to unmute helping hands
The skill of time blocking and theme days
Delegating out things that aren't helping your center
Investing time to train your staff to avoid survival mode

…and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Download the Build to Last workbook here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mzS7qxZksrvGkDlAI7ji58nPwakPEZlk/view?usp=sharing

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

77. Build to Last: How to Improve your Mindset with Vision Casting and Decision Making Apr 04, 2022

Show notes

Welcome to part 1 of the 4-part series, the Build to Last workshop. Every single week, over the next four weeks, we're going to be digging into specific areas that will uplevel and give you the confidence, the decision-making skills, and practical strategies for your center.

In this episode, I am joined by Sharon Hopson. She is the owner of the Bella Vita Montessori in Omaha, Nebraska. We share tips on understanding what you tell yourself, the thoughts that you believe in, and how these create your reality. As a school director, equipping yourself with the pragmatic leadership drills we walk through today will help you uplevel your mindset, and get better, smarter, faster, stronger, and wiser. With a positive mindset, you can acknowledge and tackle every challenge without it affecting your own mental and emotional well-being, your staff, or the school's culture.

In a nutshell, we talk about

Leveling up your mindset and approaching things with positivity
How to manage your time more efficiently
Creating, embracing, and practicing your boundaries and knowing when to violate them
Releasing stress and inviting calm and rest
Inviting someone into what you are thinking, given that you are not a machine and can't do everything by yourself

…and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

You get 24/7 access to exclusive templates & training to help you motivate your staff and build a collaborative culture that positively impacts the lives of children.

Plus the support & accountability you need to create massive momentum.

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner's HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

76. How to Mentor Veteran Staff Mar 28, 2022

Show notes

We all need a sense of belonging. And when new teachers come in, they come with this innate human need to belong to a community. So how do you, as a school leader, facilitate this?

In this episode, I share tips on how you can create a culture of belonging at your school. Remember, just because your new teachers are on the payroll, and they have a spot in the teacher's room, doesn't mean they belong. They are still trying to fit in. Connecting them with people who've walked this path before will create a culture that will look dramatically different. Because creating a culture of belonging is powerful. This all begins with mentoring your veteran staff.

In a nutshell, I talk about:

How to design an environment where both veteran and new teachers are part of leveling up and raising the bar of excellence within the organization.
The 4 common struggles that new staff have.
Strategies on how your veteran staff can model and create a community for new staff.

… and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

The Director’s Inner Circle & Owner’s HQ are the #1 community & training programs specifically designed for early childhood school leaders and owners who are committed to building schools of excellence

You get 24/7 access to exclusive templates & training to help you motivate your staff and build a collaborative culture that positively impacts the lives of children.

Plus the support & accountability you need to create massive momentum.

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner's HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make everyday which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve everyday.

75. The Importance of Celebrating Milestones and Reflecting on our 1 Year Anniversary Mar 21, 2022

Show notes

It’s the 1 year anniversary of the Schools of Excellence podcast! What a perfect time to reflect on how far this show has come, because this is a huge milestone at the Schools of Excellence. We just wrapped and returned from the Summit of Excellence which was held at the beginning of March. As I unpack and process everything that happened over the 2-day in-person event, I find myself reflecting and am so grateful for so many of the things that happened at the event. This inspired me further to make this episode where I can officially celebrate the achievement of the 1st anniversary of the podcast.

In today's episode, I talk about:

The initial drive as to why I started the Schools of Excellence podcast a year ago.
Insights into how I create the show's content and choose the topics I talk about.
The growth we've seen in the show over the last year.
How and why we need to celebrate milestones.
Some of our goals as we enter the second year of the Schools of Excellence podcast.

... and so much more!

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

You get 24/7 access to exclusive templates & training to help you motivate your staff and build a collaborative culture that positively impacts the lives of children.

Plus the support & accountability you need to create massive momentum.

Learn more and apply for the Director’s Inner Circle & Owner's HQ: http://Chanie.me/jointhedic

More about the show:

Every week, Chanie shares the truth about the journey to excellence, the strategies that are working TODAY, and the mindset about the critical decisions and choices that you make everyday which impact yourself, your teachers, parents, family, and children who you serve everyday.

74. The Myth of The Open Door Policy Mar 14, 2022

Show notes

You pride yourself on how freely your staff can come to talk to you, right?

As a school leader, you always want to be seen as an approachable and available director or owner that makes your staff feel heard.

The “open door policy” has trickled into our school culture, because we think that it makes our staff feel valued and appreciated since they know they can come to talk to us at any time, for anything.

In corporate, the open door policy means that all employees can bring their concerns, desires, or problems to company leaders at any time. This was intended to show that the leaders and executives care about what their employees have to say.

The intention here is GREAT. The end result isn’t

You want to be available and approachable.
You want your staff to feel heard and seen.
You want your teachers to feel appreciated and valued.

But know this: “The leader who is always available, isn’t truly listening.”

This podcast episode is a reair of one of the first and most important topics where I speak about:

The myth of the open door policy
How the application of this myth is likely to negatively impact your school
What you should be doing instead

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Access the School of Excellence Time Management Bundle for only $47 here: http://chanie.me/time

Access the Scripts Workbook here: https://discovered.thrivecart.com/script-workbook/

Download the free door sign here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IXZpXOMoNNnedkkUyfAZWSoLIfBkGtFt/view?usp=sharing

More about the show:

73. The 5 Signs of a Thriving Leader and School Mar 07, 2022

Show notes

This is a re-air of one of the most downloaded episodes in my special summer series that originally aired last year. I wanted to bring this back for those who are newer listeners.

This summer series was all about the different ways that you can prepare yourselves for an upcoming school year. After nearly two decades in this field and speaking with hundreds of school owners and directors. There are very specific patterns of behavior I have noticed in successful school leaders.

In this episode, I share the top 5 signs of a thriving school leader and how you can incorporate them as you continue to build your school of excellence and leave your legacy.

In a nutshell, I speak about:

Communication and how a thriving leader is one that builds time into their calendar to speak to their teams.
The importance of celebrating wins and success even though it is very easy to get pulled into hardships and what is and isn't working.
The biggest mindset shift that school leaders need to make by investing in their people.
How strategy can be likened to planning a trip and how it plays a key role in successful school leadership.
How radical self-awareness will change your entire life.

… and so much more!

To listen to the other episodes in the 2021 Summer Series listen to episodes #39 - #44.

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Access the Reflective Questions Workbook for only $9 here: http://chanie.me/reflectivequestions

More about the show:

72. Difficult Conversations: Blame Feb 28, 2022

Show notes

This is a re-air of one of our most downloaded episodes in the Schools of Excellence Podcast. As one of the first episodes I ever released, I wanted to bring this back for those who are newer listeners. I hope you enjoy and get value out of this episode.

Like it or not, schools are home to a number of difficult conversations. Discussing topics such as...

Pay and benefits
Inappropriate behavior
Underperformance

These can be uncomfortable. But having successful one-on-one conversations is what separates great school leaders from ineffective ones. Difficult conversations may not be fun, but school leaders who navigate them successfully can build stronger relationships with their staff and provide needed guidance and correction on workplace performance or behavior - which fosters staff engagement.

Today’s episode is on one of the four shields of difficult conversations: Blame. As a leader, it is your responsibility to take note of when your team is using these shields and take the necessary steps towards having those difficult conversations. It is only by doing this that your team will feel heard, supported, and held accountable.

In this episode, I talk about...

The concept of self-protection and how it shows up in our day-to-day life.
The 3 strategies for removing blame from your school’s culture.
The questions to ask yourself when your staff start blaming each other
Identifying the 4 shields that school leaders and teachers bring up in conversations when difficult conversations come up

When there is blame, there is no learning. You can create a friendly school environment for your staff to thrive where finger-pointing won’t become the name of the game.

To listen to the other episodes in the Difficult Conversations series listen to episodes 15, 18 & 20.

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

The Four Shields of Difficult Conversations - BLAME: https://schoolsofexcellence.com/blame?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=soe&utm_campaign=podcast&utm_content=blame

School Leadership Toolkit: chanie.me/toolkit

More about the show:

71. The Gratitude Matrix: Achieve Higher Retention & Collaborative Culture for Your School Feb 21, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, I discuss how by implementing the Gratitude Matrix, you can achieve higher retention and a more collaborative culture for your school. After 30 days of implementing the Gratitude Matrix, one of the executive directors in our Membership Program, Kerstin, went from 17 callouts in September to 4 callouts in August. What did she do? She implemented the Gratitude Matrix in her school, and saw an almost immediate shift because her staff felt valued and appreciated. This is why I am so excited to share the Gratitude Matrix with you; a very powerful, yet very simple system, that I teach to all of the owners and directors that I work with.

This is a re-air of one of our most downloaded episodes for the Schools of Excellence Podcast.

As I mentioned in the last episode, during this time I am committed to creating valuable content for the upcoming Summit of Excellence that will be taking place on March 1-2, 2022 in Boca, Florida. While I do that, I’d love to bring back some important conversations and also practice what we preach: focusing on our priorities, creating margin for things that come up, and creating space to do what matters most.

Resources and links mentioned in this episode:

Schools in Transition: https://discovered.thrivecart.com/schools-in-transition/

The Summit of Excellence is a two-day in-person experience on March 1-2, 2022 in Boca, Florida. Learn how to master interpersonal dynamics, foster kindness, and establish your school as a beacon of light in your community.

If you want to…

Drive more impact in your community.

Be inspired by a network of peers.

Deliver higher quality care.

Or build a team of leaders.

Imagine your team…

Doing and thinking “outside the box,” and trying new methods.
Pushing out of their comfort zones without anxiety.
Feeling a sense of community and connection at work.
Treating conflict and change as an opportunity for growth.

… all so you can be equipped to tackle any challenging situation that comes your center’s way.

Let’s be honest: To truly impact our kids and create a healthy, engaged, and successful next generation, we need to be better leaders.

And that requires real collaboration—moments where we come together to share our wisdom in order to create healthy, productive learning communities.

If you would like to have a conversation about if the Summit of Excellence is right for you, your team, and your center, please email me at cw@chanie.me.

More about the show:

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