Transformative Principal

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Latest Episodes:

Redesigning School for Equity with Crystal Xu and Purvi Patel Transformative Principal 352 Oct 10, 2020

Show notes

Crystal Xu and Purvi Patel recently wrote a paper on how to Redesign School Level Systems For Equity.

How systems work together.
Started with redesign systems work.
We actually have a lot more autonomy than we think.
Expand our self-confidence around the structures we can control.
How we define engagement in school.
How do we deal with criticism that we face when we try to implement equitable practices.
It comes with the self work.
Power Struggle within a classroom.
You’re good about making a decision when you know it is true to who you are.
Privilege is not about good or bad.
Fellowship learning experiences.
How do we create more opportunities for Fellowship learning experiences.
Making sure people have opportunities that didn’t usually have it before.
Ceding power vs. Distributed leadership - Giving more ownership to others.
All of those decisions can come with biases and other barriers.
How to support people who may have an idea of what they want, but they don’t really have ideas of what they need.
How do we really change school so we are serving our families, not so they are serving us?
A sense of false choice.
Take off the choices that are not possible for most marginalized families.
How to be a transformative principal? Listen deeply and “Ring the bells that still can ring” quote. Identify a crack and see it as a light.

Today’s Sponsors

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/. Learn more about some of the newest titles:

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL.

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

The Learner Agency Model with James Anderson Transformative Principal 351 Oct 03, 2020

Show notes

James Anderson is a educator, author, and speaker and a master of mindset work. Today we are talking about Learner Agency.

Anders Ericson - purposeful practice.
Agile Learner - capable of growth, but also knows how to go about achieving the growth.
What it means to achieve the growth in life.
Growth mindset is how much you see yourself as a learner.
How do I get really good at achieving that growth.
What it looks like to be a good learner.
Five areas: challenge, habits of mind, mistakes, feedback, time and energy.
We don’t talk a lot about being a skillful learner.
Seeks to find out what students can do rather than defining their abilities.
Performance learners avoid going to their best level. Stay in performance zone, but don’t go beyond their best.
Challenges will come and go, but behaviors stay with them.
Agile learner is proactive.
What does it mean to be fragile.
Anti-Fragile means drop me, it helps.
VUCA World
Post traumatic growth
Black Swan Events - you cannot predict the future, but you can prepare for it.
Look to the shite space in between.
How to be a transformative principal? Ask yourself what are you currently doing that is deliberately focused on helping students become better learners. We don’t get

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In Teaching You Learn with Tiersa McQueen Transformative Principal 350 Sep 26, 2020

Show notes

Tiersa McQueen is an unschooling mom and has a great story to tell. Follow her insightful comments on Twitter.

You can learn a lot of math through cooking.
What about math?
Math is everywhere.
Homeschooling vs unschooling vs public school
Many different styles.
You can relax a little bit with homeschooling. Ask your child what they want to learn. More of a family interaction.
When you have choices, it totally changes the experiences.
How do you know they’re progressing?
Black holes - 4th dimension
We live in a digital age with lots of social media. It’s never been easier to find your tribe.
Our educational approach is really about having experiences.
You have to get out of the mindset of being just your age group.
How are you adapting with everything being closed? Libraries, etc?
advice for a mind shift from being in school to home schooling? Three biggest mind shifts needed.
We don’t have a schedule of everything that needs to happen every single day.
Children do need structure. It comes from the family, not from following a bell schedule.
Children need a lot of sleep.
I had a lot of unlearning that I had to do. I always had this idea of children as people.
The first thing I did was buy some curriculum.
The things they were starting to learn were not coming from the curriculum. They were coming from the things they wanted to learn.
How long it took for the mindshift to happen to her kids?
Started to read John Holt
What if we didn’t buy curriculum?
You go as far as your interest goes.
You have them in an environment that stimulates some learning.
They don’t think of things in a linear school-based fashion.
What her favorite tools non tech with kids? The tools of the home. They talk to each other.
Socially involved? Finds ways for her kids to interact with other kids outside the home.
Recommendations for learning more.
How to be a transformative principal? Give kids some free time to learn something on their own. Not every second

Today’s Sponsors

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Entrepreneur-Focused High School with Cory Henwood Transformative Principal 349 Sep 19, 2020

Show notes

Cory Henwood is the Innovation Coordinator for Iron County Schools, founder of Launch HS.

What Launch HS is? How students demonstrate mastery.
There are systemic barriers that prevent people from taking this leap.
Lots of groundwork laid for this.
Partnerships are really important.
How is your partnership with SUU designed?
How Launch HS got started.
What skills do kids need to be successful?
Start with 8 innovative skills for students to learn.
State grants that support innovative approaches.
One way to meet students where they’re at is to do competency based education.
Design challenges that integrate curricular content and highlight entrepreneurial skills.
Work with local businesses.
50% or more of time is dedicated to design challenges.
Authentic Work
How to be a transformative principal? use design thinking to help people know how to make decisions.

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Different and Complex Instead of More with Tania Lyon and Marti Sievek Transformative Principal 348 Sep 12, 2020

Show notes

Marti Sievek is Assistant Principal of East High School. Tania Lyon is the talent Talent Development Coordinator. Both are in Mankato Area Public Schools Mankato Area Public Schools.

District from a GT program to a more inclusive program.
Professional development coordinator interim director of teaching and learning.
Helping students have access to high quality instruction with no ceiling.
Increase complexity of work that is being done
Selecting resources that will help kids.
Different and complex instead of more
Start with what those needs are for your community.
Start with Why, come back to How.
The How can’t just be adding more to the teacher’s plate.
Teachers needed a deep understanding of their academic standards.
Taking away things from teachers - take away the idea of being a sage on the stage.
What becomes electrifying for kids is the ability to collaborate with their peers.
Beast Academy and Mentor Networks
Gifted and talented is push-in instead of pull out.
NWEA scores improved
Able to connect with her friends that way.
“Tickles your brain”
It’s not just access, it’s the approach as well.
It gives permission to not have a right or wrong answer.
Strengths-based approach.
How to be a transformative principal? Help teachers to have a mindset shift from sage on the stage to a relinquishment of control AND ask, ”If ti couldn’t look like that, what could it look like?”

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

#SchoolX is here! Get your Copy today! Sep 09, 2020

Show notes

Click the title or long-press the album art to get to the book. or go to http://schoolx.me

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Encourage Focus with Derek Sivers Transformative Principal 347 Sep 05, 2020

Show notes

Derek Sivers is an entrepreneur who founded CDBaby, and is now writing and doing cool things in New Zealand. Check out his Now page for more information. This episode is about the importance of focus and how to not be distracted all the time.

Moved to Oxford for the schools.
He grew up outside and that really shaped him.
want him to be really focused on whatever he is interested in.
If you’re focused, you can do anything.
Now he continues to do it.
He’s thriving more than ever without school.
anki flashcard software
So distracted when doing something for school.
Mastery path to anything is great.
In wanting to be great at it, it caused me to focus.
To be driven is the best thing we can help someone to be.
No connection from school to my interests.
applicable
If you don’t have a problem to solve.
How to be transformative principal. Listen.

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Strategies to deal with the Coronavirus Trauma with Karen Gross Transformative Principal 346 Aug 29, 2020

Show notes

Karen Gross is an author and educator, as well as an advisor and consultant to nonprofit schools, organizations, and governments; instructor of continuing education at Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work; visiting professor at Bennington College; former president of Southern Vermont College; former senior policy advisor to the United States Department of Education; and author of the sidequel, Breakaway Learners: Strategies for Post-Secondary Success with At-Risk Students and the trauma-sensitive children’s book series, Lady Lucy’s Quest. Visit Karen’s website at www.karengrosseducation.com.

Name it - start by recognizing that it exists. What is traumatic for one may not be traumatic for another.
Tame it - Strategies to deal with those. Invisible and it never goes away.
Fight, flight, freeze, faint, fawn.
activities that activate the senses allows the brain to reset.
Example of strategies - stand on one leg.
All of the senses have activities that are tied to them.
Frame it
Gotta do something to activate the brain.
Triphasic - disregulated, isolated, over regulated.
long term strategies.
Instead of blaming, seek to find what caused the behavior?
Processing in place.
Kimochis - https://www.kimochis.com
Fidget boxes
Play table.
how to be a transformative principal? Assuming schools haven’t reopened - reach out to everyone and provide support.

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

Using Your Vision To Guide Your Culture With Bryan Brockett Transformative Principal 345 Aug 22, 2020

Show notes

Dr. Bryan Brockett is a principal of the Lancers in Carlsbad, CA.

Principal experience in middle and high school.
Are high school kids completely indifferent or focused or somewhere in between?
You see transformation take place.
Expecting conversation
The more we treat students like they’re equally human like us, the more they’re going to join us.
Campus supervisors really know the kids.
A comprehensive high school should feel like an exciting place for learning.
Model the approach, be explicit, look for opportunities.
Honor the feedback of your students.
Instead of a dress code, we established a dress culture.
The more we cultivate that environment, the more we share it back with students.
Soliciting input from students and teachers.
Starting around what your vision is for your school!
Some schools were well positioned to do that, others, not so much.
Building a positive and supportive environment.
Honor the work our teachers do to live out our vision.
Instructional rounds formula - never found an effective way to get that process going.
District mission, school vision, and culture committee (including students), Profile of a Lancer,
Look for evidence of “Profile of a Lancer” in classroom observations.
Feedback to teachers is vital.
George Couros - make the positive so loud you can’t hear the negative.
Be explicit about what you’re after, and reinforcing when you see it.
So important to have students as part of the conversation.
Gaps that students recognized.
“I Matter”
How to be a transformative principal? Be present!

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

How to combine SEL and Virtual learning with Tamara Fyke Transformative Principal 344 Aug 15, 2020

Show notes

Tamara Fyke is the founder of Love in a Big World, which provides SEL support for families all over the world.

SEL is related to their emotional, mental, and physical health.
Kids may have experienced more trauma at home during closures than they ever have.
Maslow before Blooms.
The need that kids have is for connect.
The pace of learning is different at home.
We have to acknowledge what is most important.
The system we’ve been using isn’t actually working.
The learning council it’s time to let go of control
Being a compass instead of a sage
Self-awareness is knowing our strengths and weaknesses.
What’s it like to have a deliverable that’s due at a certain time?
How to be a transformative principal? Take a cue from youth culture - tiktok, instagram, YouTube, twitch, etc. What do we need to change to show that kids aren’t really lazy!

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL.

Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

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