Transformative Principal

Latest Episodes:

In Awe with Sarah Johnson Transformative Principal 305 Nov 17, 2019

Show notes

In this Jolt episode, Sarah Johnson shares about the transformative power of practicing gratitude for ourselves as well a those around us. She shares research alignment, stories, and illustrates points from stories features during the month of November on the In AWE Podcast.

Check out the The In AWE Podcast or In AWE Website Engage with Sarah at Sarah’s Website

Resources for Gratitude: The Transformative Power of Gratitude Huffington Post Four Gratitude Strategies Berkeley The It’s Worth It Box

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Candid Compassionate Feedback with TJ Vari and Joe Jones Transformative Principal 304 Nov 09, 2019

Show notes

TJ Vari and Joe Jones are practicing Superintendents and coauthors of the book “Candid and Compassionate Feedback“.

Result of fear of offending people is that it becomes offensive anyway.
Ask questions to get them to see what they need to improve.
The lack of candor can be what people are offended by.
The candor is actually what is compassionate! TJ
Turning the corner so your empathy is backed with concrete evidence backed with what to do better.
Consistency is key.
People are given that advice when they go into schools.
Direct, sincere, accurate feedback.
Identified the problem.
Gave evidence.
Provided a solution.
Being clear does work.
Learning walks are like formative assessments.
Are the teachers using the “Goal” in their classroom?
As teachers are teaching they’re often not aware of what they’re doing. Joe
No way will a teacher ever grow through the formal observation process.
We really should be getting into the mindset work among the staff.
How to be a transformative principal? TJ: spend your time in the most important spaces in your school Joe: Disrupt your day. Speak to someone tomorrow that you haven’t spoken with this year.
Bonus question: how to keep principals in the building?

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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.

Creating Psychological Safety with Keara Mascareñaz Transformative Principal 303 Nov 02, 2019

Show notes

Keara Mascareñaz Managing Partner, Organizational Design at Education Elements. She helps schools and districts focuses build and scale a culture of innovation through leadership development, team habits, and human-centered organizational design.

Learning, meeting, projects
How do you create the environment of psychological safety?
the team that is more effective would be making less mistakes.
more comfort to talk about mistakes
Amy Edmondson TED talk
I didn’t say “I don’t know what I’m doing!“
It can feel high stakes, even though it is not.
Two types of leaders: one best ideas should strive - leaders are smarter and make fewer mistakes.
Interrogating archetypes.
Two books: Multipliers with Liz Wiseman As soon as a speaker starts speaking, everyone stops talking.
Here’s my interview with Liz Wiseman.
Talking about Failure is crucial for Growth
Noticing it is the first step to change.
It’s hard to make big shifts.
What foundation have I laid and signal have I given to my team about this?
“I’ve had good ideas before that haven’t worked out!”
So much deference made to people in power and authority.
Habit of talking about mistakes.
The more people in power can model talking about mistakes the more you can model and give more power to your people.
How to be a transformative principal? Next time you’re in front of your staff think about 1. Learning challenge, vulnerability, asking for advice.

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.

A Story about Fish with Danny Bauer and Dr. Kelly Crane Transformative Principal 302 Oct 27, 2019

Show notes

A Story about Fish with Danny Bauer and Dr. Kelly Crane Transformative Principal 302

Social media: All of us are better than any of us.

Danny Bauer and Kelly Crane are co-conspirators of Better Leaders Better Schools

What do principals need to know about being a superintendent.
Legal, politics, finance.
Network.
How to start acting as if.
All of us are better than any of us.
When you’re so close to the situation, it is really hard to see.
Instructional leadership knowledge.
Following through.
Being authentic.
Empathy when visiting
Vulnerability.
Radical listening.
The mastermind is a sacred space.
You gotta learn from the mistakes of others.
How to be a transformative principal? Danny: Join a PLN! Kelly: be vulnerable when it is necessary. We don’t know it all and we have to reach out to others.

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Making Inquiry Less Messy with Adam Fachler Transformative Principal 301 Oct 20, 2019

Show notes

Adam Fachler has a proven process for planning amazing lessons. Take the

EMPOWER Method for planning amazing lessons.
We are all searching!
Little quality control

Making inquiry method a little less messy.
Envision - see the end in mind.
Map - simplifies a complex process.
Prime - prior knowledge, emotional aspect of learning
Orient
Walkthrough
Explore
Reflect
Teachers’ time to plan is too little. Yes this does take time.
Whether you win in your classroom is decided well before you enter the classroom.
Do this at the unit level - a time investment.
Crystalize your learning outcome in a GEM: goal, evidence, measure of success.
You are envisioning a destination for them.
Mapping the path to mastery.
School in the Square
How to be a transformative principal? Start from the beginning, what’s the GEM for your upcoming unit?

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

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Episode 300 A Tricentennial Milestone with Jethro Jones Transformative Principal 300 Oct 13, 2019

Show notes

Here's some excitement: Episode 300! I give updates on my professional life, the podcast, and more! Tune in!

Link to my speaking page

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.

Identity with Grayson Maas Transformative Principal 299 Oct 06, 2019

Show notes

Dr. Grayson Maas is the Director of Communications for the Art of Problem Solving, a unique solution to teaching math anytime, anywhere.

Talking about dissertation - how we create scientific knowledge as a society - who can become a scientist and who cannot.
Scientific knowledge and how it gets created.
It’s no secret that there’s underrepresentation in science.
What is funneling certain groups towards science and what is not?
Science for all
Tests measure what we value.
Tests can be an unreliable indicator.
It’s a common experience that the scores you got on classes and tests to tell you if you’re smart.
All those tests are telling you, “are you good at that instrument on that day?”
Extremely difficult to identify high-ability kids from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Ability grouping is not a bad thing for the kids in the high group.
Kids know who is in different groups.
We need to reconfigure the labels we use.
For us to lose sight of kids that don’t get extra opportunities is not working for those kids.
It’s incumbent on us as a society to meet these kids where they’re at.
Providing the “right” amount of challenge.
We’re going to set the bar right above where you grasp it and help them reach the next level.
You deserve to be challenged and we’re going to make sure you get that.
Learning about the water cycle.
Their version of learning about the water cycle was a youtube water cycle rap song.
The kids in the low group developed low self-perception.
Constantly reinforce these students and tell them they are capable and can accomplish the work before them.

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.

A Special Q&A with Will Parker Transformative Principal 298 Sep 29, 2019

Show notes

I am super excited whenever I get to talk with Will Parker, and today is no different.

Today we are tackling three questions that principal listeners have shared with us from our podcasts, covering these topics:

What to do if or when your teachers give you the cold shoulder about learning something new.
How to manage student dynamics in competency-based instruction.
Ways to measuring student growth in Social Emotional Learning settings.

Listen-in for the complete conversation.

Questions for Jethro and Will:

1. My teachers give me the cold shoulder when I try to introduce them to new ways of teaching. What should I do?

Jethro and I discuss the following:
Modeling for teachers
Observation of other teachers
What is he/she doing well already? Praise first, then instruct.
Lead with the question, “Where do you want to grow?”
Creating an enviornment where teachers ask for help
Celebrating innovative teaching
Learning to say yes before saying no

2. How do you make sure that students who struggle don't feel embarrassed or ashamed that they aren't working with their peers? When competency-based, what happens?...

We discuss this question with suggestions about:

Defining expecations so that students measure against standards, not other students
They are already in different places! Your expectations matter in their perceptions...
Help them identify where they are good. And celebrate!
It’s not about competition with peers, but competition with themselves.

3. How can Social Emotional Learning success be measured?

We respond with the following:

Discover the importantce of self-reflection. It’s okay to embrace different standards for everyone.

Resilient students don’t really need more resiliency training. They need something else.

A student with trauma needs different things than a student without.

Creat an environment where you want your own chidren

You can measure the indicators like discipline, attendance and graduation/completion rates

We share examples of SEL through FOMO -- karaoke cafeteria -- from Principal Kim Coody’s High School in Okahoma and Amy Fast’s emotional learning practices in Oregon

Recource recommended: Barb Sorrels - http://transformativeprincipal.org/episode269

Now It’s Your Turn

What is one new method or strategy you could model for your teachers or team? How can you instll in others the freedom to believe it’s okay to try and fail and in learning? And how can you celebrate the wins along the way?

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.

The Conrad Challenge Changed My Life with Akhil Jariwala Transformative Principal 297 Sep 22, 2019

Show notes

Akhil is the business development manager at ChargePoint, a fast-growing start-up in the San Francisco Bay Area that provides electric vehicle charging solutions to businesses. Prior to ChargePoint, he spent 5 years in the clean tech and consumer mobile app spaces. Akhil is an alumnus from the 2010 Conrad Challenge, where his finalist team from the North Carolina School of Science and Math designed a latticed pod system that generated electricity from wave energy using internally-housed piezoelectric ceramics.

* North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics * Didn’t know what I wanted to do. * Always wanted to be a doctor and ended up doing a ton of work in environmental areas. * Starting out with very little information. * Students start from two different places. * 1. Technology they are really excited about. * 2. We have a group of students really passionate about a specific problem and start to ideate about how to solve that problem. * We knew we wanted to build a wave energy device. * Knew nothing about piezoelectric ceramics. * Spent hours learning about the physics behind the technology. * Chemistry professor - her job was keeping us accountable. * What has changed since you did Conrad Challenge? * Shifted from focus on medicine to product management. * Conrad in college admissions process. * Spoke about the spirit of creativity. * most capable people I’ve ever known. Still in touch with many of them today. * I discovered my purpose. It challenged me to be a change-maker! * Group of students created a device to put out fires by sound waves in forests. * We champion no-box thinking. * How to be a transformative principal? Embrace divergent thinking.

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.

Mentoring Millennials with Jayme Hull Transformative Principal 296 Sep 15, 2019

Show notes

Jayme Hull helps schools and churches make millennial friendly environments. She also mentors millennials so that they can be successful. Check out her free resource for principals at her web site.

They want to be connected and work somewhere they can make an impact.
They have heard their parents talk about how bored or angry they are at work.
Very few parents and grandparents were actually happy.
The fear of change is strong!
Millennials don’t even have the choices like they had in the past.
More than 50% cannot stay where they grew up to find work.
Completely consumed with staying up on the digital happenings are.
They have to be learning or they’ll lose their jobs.
You give and you receive. Build a relationship first.
Mentorships are really beneficial for millennials.
Care about the person first, not what you can get from them.
We’ve forgotten how to encourage our new teachers.
Make sure they have downtime
Their deepest heart’s desire is to have a desire.
The millennial are a gift to us. They are demanding that we get back to what we used to do.
We have forgotten how to teach what is essential.
Mentoring program - The older generation will be blessed. Don’t tack on any more paperwork or extra hours.
2 kinds of mentors - someone on staff willing to pour into the next generation. Group of retired teachers. Never more than 30 minutes for 6–12 weeks.
Their words and encouragement.
Millennials are so tired of being on a checklist.
It’s not about the nail
How to be a transformative leader? Look three teachers in the eyes and tell them thanks!
Face to face mentoring podcast.

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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