The School Leadership Show

Latest Episodes:

Stop wasting your time on ineffective coaching practices - strategies for making the most of your work with teachers Mar 20, 2017

Show notes

Jenn David-Lang makes her fourth appearance on the show. She now holds the record. And there's a reason I keep talking to Jenn - I always learn so much. Jenn produces The Main Idea (http://www.themainidea.net/), a monthly summary of a current education book. Jenn has over 30,000 subscribers and has an incredible perspective on all things education. We talk about Paul Bambrick-Santoyo's new book Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers. We get into Paul's model for coaching and how he recommends setting up an entire system. The part about real-time, in-the-moment feedback is really cool.

You can reach Jenn at her website for The Main Idea (www.themainidea.net). I'm a happy subscriber of The Main Idea and a big fan of Jenn's work. She's offered to send listeners of the show some free book summaries if you send her an email at J.David-Lang@TheMainIdea.net. It's definitely worth the time. Enjoy this interview with Jenn David-Lang.

Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you would like to support the show, visit www.patreon.com/leadership.

Are you organized yet? Feb 16, 2017

Show notes

My favorite Professional Office Organizer, Kacy Paide, and I go a second round on getting and staying organized. Kacy shares many strategies and tips to help us all get our acts together. From the perils of too many systems to the power of structures, we get into lots of areas of organization and productivity. Kacy and I talked about the following resources during the interview:

Evernote software to organize and retrieve your stuff electronically: www.evernote.com
Podcast Recommendations:
- Debbie Millman's Design Matters
- Asian Efficiency
- Mike Vardy's The Productivityist
- The Leverage Podcast by Ari Meisel

You can learn more about Kacy and her work at www.theinspiredoffice.com. I can't say enough about her work and how much she has helped me become more organized, efficient, and effective at work and at home. Enjoy this follow up interview with Kacy Paide.

Enough with the Eye-Rolling - Educating and Parenting Teenage Girls Aug 13, 2016

Show notes

Parenting and educating teenagers can be challenging. Teenage girls can take that challenge to a whole new level. In this episode Jenn David-Lang and her Husband Tim David-Lang and I discuss Lisa Damour's 2016 book Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood. Not many books have had the impact on my thinking, my work, and my parenting that this one has had. Jenn, Tim, and I have a lively conversation about what we learned from the book and our own experiences putting the information into practice at work and at home. You'll remember Jenn from two previous podcast appearances. She produces The Main Idea (http://www.themainidea.net/), a monthly summary of a current education book and has a ton of experience in education. Tim David-Lang is a guidance counselor for the New York City Department of Education and has worked with teenagers for many years. And like me, Jenn and Tim are the parents of teenage girls. Enjoy this conversation about a great book. Jenn has graciously agreed to share discussion questions and a summary of helpful language from the book. You can email her directly at j.davidlang@gmail.com, and she'll send them to you.

Support The School Leadership Show by becoming a patron: https://www.patreon.com/leadership. Help mae the show even better!

As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.

If you'd like help improving your productivity and leadership skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on Twitter @doughtymike.

Winter Horseshoes and School Improvement May 16, 2016

Show notes

In this episode I interview Brad and Genevieve Ermeling, two experienced educators who have collaborated on the bestselling book Teaching Better: Igniting and Sustaining Instructional Improvement. I loved talking with this husband and wife team about everything from what works in changing practice to mistakes and pitfalls administrators can avoid. The depth of their collective experience in teaching, learning, research, and school improvement is impressive. Information about Brad and Genevieve and their book can be found at their website www.teachingbetter.com (And why didn't I register that domain name?). You can also follow them on Twitter @BradErmeling and @Graff_Ermeling. I hope you enjoy this interview with Brad and Genevieve Ermeling.

Brad and Genevieve will be hosting a free webinar on June 6, featuring more information on many of the topics discussed in this interview. You can learn more and register at www.Corwin.com. Choose online learning from the menu and click on webinars.

Social Emotional Learning - The Other Side of the Report Card Apr 19, 2016

Show notes

In this episode I interview Dr. Maurice Elias, an accomplished author and professor of clinical psychology and clinical health at Rutgers University. He is also the director of the Rutgers Social-Emotional Learning Lab, and Academic Director of The Collaborative, Rutgers' Center for Community-Based Research and Service. Maurice and I talk about the importance of social emotional learning and character development, particularly when it comes to adolescents. We get into emotional intelligence, misconceptions about SEL, what's most important for school leaders to know, trauma-informed care, fostering a supportive climate, and mistakes to avoid. Maurice mentions several helpful links during the interview including the following:

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (http://www.casel.org/)
http://character.org/
The National School Climate Center (http://www.schoolclimate.org/)

He also blogs at edutopia.org: http://www.edutopia.org/user/67. And I encourage you to check out his book The Other Side of the Report Card: Assessing Students' Social, Emotional, and Character Development. I found it on Amazon.com. You can learn more about Maurice and his work at http://www.secdlab.org/.

Why Critical Thinking Matters Apr 03, 2016

Show notes

Dr. Rebecca Stobaugh is an experienced teacher and principal who is now an author, consultant, and college professor. Early in her career as a middle school principal, Beckie saw the need to improve the critical thinking skills of her students. We talk about what she learned during that process including the five misconceptions about critical thinking. While we focus primarily on supporting teachers as they support students developing critical thinking skills, the conversation transcends the specific content and hits many important leadership concepts - the importance of mentors, achieving critical mass for change, focusing initiatives. This was a great conversation, and you can learn more about Beckie and her work at the Mentoring Minds website: https://www.mentoringminds.com/meet-us. You can also follow Beckie on Twitter @RebeccaStobaugh.

The Productivityist Talks Directly to School Leaders Mar 26, 2016

Show notes

Mike Vardy is the host of the wildly popular Productivityist Podcast (http://productivityist.com/). He is also a writer, speaker, and productivity strategist. He's also great to talk to. Mike and I have a lively discussion about all things productivity. What's cool is that we start with the big picture: task centric vs. time centric thinking, mode-based theming for your days, and Mike's own NOW Year Method. Then we move into specific skill and techniques including approaches to scheduling and setting up anchors. Mike generously provided a link for School Leadership Show listeners to download his NOW Year Method Basic Workflow (https://productivityist.com/doughty).

You can learn more about Mike and his work you can visit the Productivityist website or Mike's personal site at http://mikevardy.com/. And make sure you subscribe to The Productivityist Podcast in iTunes and other podcast outlets.

As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.

How to Get Good at Things Faster Mar 20, 2016

Show notes

In this episode I interview Erika Andersen, an author, trainer, consultant, and executive coach. The time flew by. Erika shares her recent work on how to become a better learner (from her new book Be Bad First - Get Good at Things FAST to Stay Ready for the Future). This might sound simple, but it's hard work. Her insightful model (ANEW) is a simple and practical approach to learning new things in all aspects of our lives. I also tap into Erika's more than 30 years of coaching high-performing leaders to identify common mistakes that leaders must avoid. Erika promised a part two where we will get deeper into her work around the traits of great leaders.

You can learn more about Erika Andersen and her work at the website of her company - Proteus: http://www.proteus-international.com/. Erika's personal website is http://erikaandersen.com/.

If you'd like help improving your productivity and leadership skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on Twitter @doughtymike.

High-leverage Strategies for Helping Teachers Improve their Craft Feb 27, 2016

Show notes

In this episode I interview Tim Bowman, a teacher, author, and entrepreneur from Australia. In addition to having the best accent of anyone I've interviewed yet, Tim has a great deal to share from a teacher's perspective. His book Forget Being the Favourite: 88 Ideas on Teaching Differently is destined to become one of the most important and useful books for helping teachers improve their craft. We talk about some of the highest leverage strategies teachers can use and how to support that work from an administrator's perspective. I learned a ton from Tim and really enjoyed our conversation.

Tim is also the founder of Class Creator, a software program designed to help schools with one of the most unpleasant tasks that leaders face - creating balanced class lists. You can learn more about Class Creator and Tim's work at www.classcreator.io. You can reach Tim directly by email at Tim@classcreator.io.

If you'd like help improving your productivity and leadership skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on Twitter @doughtymike.

Why are we all so bad at giving and receiving feedback? Feb 06, 2016

Show notes

In this episode I interview Doug Stone, one of the authors (along with Sheila Heen) of the book Thanks for the Feedback and Jenn David-Lang who summarized the book for her Main Idea publication. We have a spirited discussion about the different types of feedback, why giving and receiving feedback can be so difficult, and how to get better at both sides of the process. You can reach Jenn at her website for The Main Idea (www.themainidea.net) or on Twitter @The_Mainidea. I'm a happy subscriber of The Main Idea, and a big fan of Jenn's work. Doug can be reached through his consulting group's website at triadconsultinggroup.com/. After you read Thanks for the Feedback, check out one of Doug's other books: Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most.

If you'd like help improving your productivity and leadership skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on Twitter @doughtymike.