Have a Good Life: July 2019

Taking Care of Teachers with Danielle Nuhfer Transformative Principal 289

Sunday, July 28, 2019 by jethrojones

Danielle Nuhfer is a teacher who helps other teachers focus on self-care and you can find more information about her at teachingwell.life

Teacher for 16 years.
Not sure she was going to go back to teaching.
Second burnout at year 10.
Sabbatical in 2015 and 2016.
What led to the second burnout.
Lots of additional work responsibilities being taken on.
Hard saying no to things.
Reframe the No. “Let me say no for now.”
Summer of Self-Care. - Deep dives into self-care
What teachers need to start doing:
Burnout and stress is common, but it doesn’t have to be normal.
How we feel begins with us.
Nothing needs to change, but everything can change when we change.
How to be a transformative principal? Start with yourself. What can you do to take care of yourself?
Back to School Bundle - Stress care solutions, how to get a 40-hour workweek, and more!

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

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How My Son Overcame Social Anxiety Without Medication Transformative Principal 288

Sunday, July 21, 2019 by jethrojones

My wife told me she just couldn't do it anymore. "It's too hard," she said. "Every time I drop him off, the tears, the yelling, and the crying. I just can't take him to school anymore. We've got to figure something out."

We had talked about different things, from counseling to medication to other options.

For the time being, our solution was that I would drop him off at school. For some reason, his reactions to his anxiety seemed to be less when dad dropped him off.

Any parent who has experienced this knows how difficult it is to deal with the intensity of the emotions on a daily basis.

This was especially challenging for me, because I struggled with this as well. All the way until I was 19, any new change was especially difficult. My heart broke for him every day, because I knew how powerless he felt.

When he started kindergarten, we were living on a small island in the gulf of Alaska, and the community didn’t have the resources to offer a lot of help.

We did all kinds of things to try and help, meditation apps, calming techniques, praying, blessings, and more, and nothing really seemed to work.

When we moved to Fairbanks, we were ready to get more serious, but then he took care of this himself.

Before I get to what actually happened, let me back up a bit.

I read a book when I was 21 called “Write it down. Make it Happen.” Actually, I think I just read the first chapter or so. That was all I needed. It talks about the power of writing things down to make them come to fruition.

Well, I wrote down a bunch of goals that I wanted to accomplish when I turned 30, and guess what? I accomplished them all.

I’ve been a big believer in goals for a long time, and this really solidified what I knew.

So, I decided to start setting goals with my family each week. My four kids would set their own goals every week, and my wife and I would set our goals. We share them with each other and track them on a piece of paper.

Eventually, that has now grown into yearly and monthly goals we set with each other, and help hold each other accountable.

Back to my son. We had set goals as a family for a couple years, and after we moved to Fairbanks, he started taking an interest in setting meaningful goals for himself.

It started with little goals.

We are pretty strict that we don’t tell the kids what goals they should set, but rather help them set their own goals.

So, my son spent some time setting little goals like play with certain toys each day, or do his chores when he first got up, or play Minecraft.

Then, one day, it happened.

“My goal this week is to go to school without complaining.”

My wife and I looked at each other in stunned silence. For over two years, this had been a battle, and now, he was saying he wasn’t going to complain.

We played it cool, and said, “Good goal. Let’s see how it goes.”

Honestly, we didn’t think he would do it.

But sure enough, he got out of the car on Monday, without a single complaint. And each day after that, he has done the same.

I’m not going to lie, having some AMAZING teachers who really cared about him and helped him has been a really powerful experience. But the thing that really made the difference has been him setting his own goal to be in control of his life.

Get our goal sheet from OurFamilyCoach.com

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

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A Four Day School Week with Kip Motta Transformative Principal 287

Sunday, July 14, 2019 by jethrojones

Kip Motta is a principal in Rich Utah.

You have to deal with people.
Everything is about relationships.
Doing what’s best for the team.
Everyone is different, and you need to adapt your leadership to that person.
A history of four-day school weeks.
Change based on school district transportation costs.
Waiver to reduce day requirement (152 vs 182) and still meet 990 hour requirement (now meet over 1000 hours)
Start school at 8 am, out at 3:30.
Parent teacher conferences count as
Very few breaks - Labor Day, thanksgiving, Christmas for 1 week.
Student and staff attendance increased.
Ask staff and community to do personal appointments on Fridays
4 day school week is much more difficult for elementary school.
Helped us go down the road of standards-based instruction.
Struggles with 4 day school week
Finding coaches is difficult
Daycare for Friday’s with no school.
You have to do everything through the lens of what is best for the most children.
Kids are more recharged after a 3-day weekend every week!
March and April can be long months with no break.
Restorative practices, mindfulness to help kids cope with added pressure.
How to be a transformative principal? Find someplace to go and learn!
Contact kmotta@kipmotta.com

Schedule a call with Jethro

Are you feeling like you are always behind at school? Do you feel like you need about 2 more hours each day to accomplish everything? Here’s how I help principals work manageable hours: Create your ideal week, so that you can leave work at work and enjoy your life!

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Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

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Revolutions Start with Relationships with Darren Ellwein Transformative Principal 286

Saturday, July 6, 2019 by jethrojones

Revolutions Start with Relationships with Darren Ellwein Transformative Principal 286

Social media: Tailor everything to the learner - via @dellwein

Darren Ellwein is my dessert bro and principal at the middle level in South Dakota!

Revolution is about a group of people.
From a staff culture standpoint: there was some kickback.
It’s so much fun!
Personalizing learning - what small steps do you need to take?
Tailor everything to the learner.
Mastery projects - success criteria
You have to give up control.
Relationships “it feels like my family.”
Let the kids decide the norms.
Waiting on content for 2-3 weeks.
Done with our standards before we get to the standardized tests.
personalizedlearningtools.com
Personalized Learning is not about sitting in front of a computer all day.
Starts with a relationship, then goes on to flexible content.
Those kids broke in adults every year!
Hannah and Alex - there was a pace set for everyone, even though it didn’t match.
She would tell you she wouldn’t go back to the way it was.
How to be a transformative principal? Be your own person. Hold on to your beliefs. Have the mindset of serving kids.