Transformative Principal

Latest Episodes:

Being Positive with Jordan Collier Transformative Principal 038 Sep 07, 2014

Show notes

Jordan Collier, the principal of Central Arkansas Secondary School is an amazing principal. We barely scratch the surface of what he is doing in this first part of the interview!

Jordan shares how powerful this podcast has been for him, especially the interview with Sam LeDeaux
How it is different at a religious school compared to a public school.
Discipline issues at a private christian school.
Using Bible study time to work on issues with students.
Telling the story of @CACMustangs. How the students get in on telling the story.
Mustang Missions. - Helping kids serve others, love them, and be there for others.

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Evaluation with Caring with Sam LeDeaux Transformative Principal 037 Aug 31, 2014

Show notes

Part two of my interview with Sam LeDeaux. You’re going to love it. Here is his blog

How to balance the need for caring about the teacher with meeting the demands of the state and evaluation system. Evaluation in two simple steps
Perspective of evaluation “your performance” vs. “service to kids”.
I want teachers to invite me in for lessons that could go any way and possibly be really different.
Leaders, strive to be the weak link
How Twitter has changed his practice. Parents want to observe the classroom to ensure they like what is happening only when you are not transparent.
Dedicating entire days to being in classrooms, while still managing requirements of his job. The more I am out and about, the less things there will be that pin me in my office. Goal: 8 full days in the class per month.
Sharing what he learns and fails at with the staff.
Inspiring Twitterers: @gcouros @justintarte @8amber8, chats, and anyone who is willing to share something is really inspiring.
How to be a transformative principal: be patiently perseverant.
What inspires him: his son, is he meeting his son’s expectations for school, because all his students are his sons and daughters!

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Simplify and streamline technology
Save teachers’ time
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Transparency through Social Media with Sam LeDeaux Transformative Principal 036 Aug 24, 2014

Show notes

Sam LeDeaux is a principal at a K–5 school in metropolitan Chicago. His forté is working well with his parents and staff.

62 staff members and 869 parents working together to make things happen!
Learning that people “somewhere” doing things were actually people who were doing these things right around him.
Twitter and Social networking have been incredibly transformative and empowering. [#mannschool](https://twitter.com/MsKCairns/status/497443796661960704)
Transparency is what makes him effective.
Parents suggest and respond to ways to make his school better through social media.
We can grow in ways that we never before thought was possible.
Continuous sharing and positive collaboration makes technology transformative.
You don’t need to have common planning periods to have time to collaborate.
How to balance the difficult issues with being transparent.
It is not about personal performance, it is about service to kids.
When it is seen as a personal attack, you shut down when you are evaluated. When you see it as improving service to kids, you don’t get upset.
Peer observations - invite and show the value.
We do not let schedules get in our way of improving and service to students.
What is the purpose of peer observations?
Evaluations should be about growth.

Sponsor: Sanebox

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Transformative Principal on Stitcher

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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.

5 Things to ROAR about with Shawn Davids Transformative Principal 035 Aug 17, 2014

Show notes

Shawn is a principal in British Columbia and is doing some amazing things with technology at his school, including having kindergartners use iPads to create amazing projects. In this interview, we discuss the following:

What Shawn is most excited about relating to technology in his school.
Why do we use technology in schools?
Learning as scaffolding and focusing on learning first, and technology second.
Blended learning as having digital and physical tools in front of the student at the same time.
Powerful for learning are situations that capture what a student is thinking.
Shawn’s role as principal to teachers regarding technology in the school: Permission to try, permission to fail.
How to gain trust from your faculty. We are in a relationship business.
They need me to support them when they need support and challenge them when they need to be challenged.
Reflecting in front of your teachers and being vulnerable in front of them.
H/T to @ChrisWejr about 5 things to roar about blog posts.
Positive blog posts went from no big deal to students finding those positive events in the school.
Key elements to 5 things to roar about posts: celebrate success (student and staff successes) and give parents an idea of what learning looks like in our school.
What can we do to be a transformative principal? Mindset, tell the story of your school and do it wherever you are comfortable.
What reminds him about why he is doing this great work? For his own kids.

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Transformative Principal on Stitcher

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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.

Building on the Past with James Briscoe Transformative Principal 034 Aug 03, 2014

Show notes

The second half of my interview with Dr. Briscoe, the new superintendent of Canyons District.

The strengths of Canyons school district.
The importance of the involvement of families.
We should try to do what we are doing even better. Teacher and principal input needs to be truly valued.
Making sure everyone in the organization feels valued.
Honoring the past before you build for the future.
Principal qualities Dr. Briscoe is looking for: having a vision compared to implementing a vision. Humility. Accessible and visible. Patience. Admit mistakes. Regardless of the other person’s opinion, you need to respect the person and take their opinion or concern seriously.
Focus on the vision and goal of your school, just take the time to meet with people and explain your rationale.
Most of the time, if you explain what you’re thinking, the people who disagree are OK with your decision, even if they don’t agree with it.
Don’t ask people for their input if you have already made your decision.
How to deal with taking the hits: exercise, without your health, you can’t do anything.
The importance of being recognizable. Walk up and introduce yourself to people out and about, and ask them if they have school-age kids.
A school leader is a leader in the community. You must get out and meet with local clubs and groups.
The benefit of being from a small district and being involved in every department in the district.
How to be a transformative principal: Take a risk!
What is in his office to keep him motivated? A poster that says, “If you don’t climb the mountain, you can’t enjoy the view.”

Sponsor: Sanebox

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Transformative Principal on Stitcher

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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.

The Measure of Success with Dr. James Briscoe Transformative Principal 033 Jul 28, 2014

Show notes

My (former) school district recently hired a new superintendent, and I was able to sit down and chat with him. I think he is just what the district needs and I am really excited for what he will bring to the table. We talked about the following:

Where Dr. Briscoe got his start in education and in administration
His diverse experience as a leader of schools that were from incredibly high-achieving to greatly struggling.
Engaging in the community by being involved in community issues (building new police station, hospital, etc.)
The political struggles that lead Dr. Briscoe to retirement from his school district.
Why he felt like Canyons School District was a good match for him.
Why it is so important to be out and about and seen.
How to build trust. Time.
What happened in the past, is in the past. Let’s not worry about it.
The culture he wants to create: Trust & Collaboration.
Honoring the past.
How he measures the success of his superintendency, not to be confused with his job description.
Why that measure of success is so important.

Sponsor: Sanebox

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Transformative Principal on Stitcher

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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.

An Exciting Announcement with Jethro Jones Transformative Principal 033 Jul 20, 2014

Show notes

My wife and I decided that we wanted an adventure a few months ago, and so we started looking around for principal positions that would be new and different for us.

We found one!

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.

PLCs and RtI with Bob Sonju Transformative Principal 032 Jul 13, 2014

Show notes

This second interview with Bob Sonju is really great. You will enjoy every minute of it! We talk about the following:

How to deal with cynical stakeholders.
Why people need to be ready to change to make things better.
How to make a good school even better.
Why you wake up with panic attacks in the middle of the night as a transformative principal.
The best time to change education was 20 years ago, the second best time to change education is today!
The excuses we make to not make changes.
There is no such thing as an optimal time to make changes, but we need to have a sense of urgency.
The state of Utah lost 19% of students (that didn’t graduate with a diploma). That is 1 in 5 kids! Unacceptable!
If you don’t find a better way… You fall back to how you did it before. We need to focus on using research-based best practices to help our students.
The importance of the Professional Learning Communities and Response to Intervention.
We don’t need to find new things, we just need to get good at PLCs and RTI.
There is no quick fix for schools.
We need to remove the things that
A super quick overview of PLCs and RTI in case you aren’t familiar with them. Based mostly on the work of DuFour and Eaker in Learning by Doing
What a principal can do to be a transformative principal today: Identify the research that drives your day-to-day work and recognize the sense of urgency we have to ensure that learning is not optional.
What he has in his office or a story: Simplify and focus. Story about teacher telling him that he is right in pushing forward.
How to get ahold of him (He is not on the Twitter, but he is willing to help you by giving his email address. Bob [dot] sonju at wash.k12.ut.us)

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Transformative Principal on Stitcher

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Sponsor: Sanebox

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.

Three Fundamentals for Change with Bob Sonju Transformative Principal 031 Jul 06, 2014

Show notes

Bob Sonju is the Director of K–12 Learning in Washington School District in Southern Utah.

In this first part of the interview, we discuss the following:

A little about Bob’s history and what he learned to help him become prepared for being a transformative principal.
Bob focuses on making sure all students are doing their best, not just particular subgroups.
What prepared Bob to be a principal: being a coach and a special education teacher.
What barriers prevent a school from being ready for change.
Three fundamentals that are needed to change:
1. Why do we exist
2. Describing a perfect school
3. What are we going to do to make sure we get there!
Conversations about structural change take time and informal and formal conversations with teachers, students, parents, and other stakeholders.
All the voices have to be in the room!
Establishment of norms are critical for the success of our school, and while we want to hear everyone’s concerns, we will move forward with the will of the group.
The norms for Bob’s schools.
The need for “critical friends”.
How he deals with the fact of hearing that he is doing something wrong.
One of the best interview questions: “Anticipate a mistake you are going to make, and how you will resolve that!”

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

Sponsor: Sanebox

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.

Daily RTI Process with Tom Whitford Transformative Principal 030 Jun 29, 2014

Show notes

This second part of the interview with Tom Whitford delves deeper into the great things he is doing. We discuss the following:

Working with 3 different schools
How he manages dealing with all that they have going on.
Dealing with the new teacher evaluation system using the Danielson model
What he has been focusing on as a leader in the three schools: PBIS and RTI.
What RTI looks like on a day-to-day basis in his school(s).
What ICE looks like at his school(s). What data they use, and how fluid their groups are.
Why some students might get less support by entering Special Education than if they stay in their intervention groups.
How to create opportunities for fluid movement and appropriate support between groups to meet the needs of the students.
WADITW (We’ve Always Done it this Way)
What advice would he give to principals? Relationships
How being out in the hallways is beneficial (even during parent teacher conferences).
What is in his office to motivate him? Great sayings in his office and his kids.
Voxer usage helping him communicate with other principals.
Shoutout to @gcouros and @mmiller

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

Sponsor: Sanebox

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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