Have a Good Life

In this second part of the interview with Bernardo Villar, we will learn about the following:

• How Dr. Villar communicates with parents enough that they miss his communication when he leaves a school.
• Twitter and Facebook
• How Dr. Villar acknowledges the positve in every teacher and every student...
• ...which leads to improved student behavior. 
• What you can do to be a transformative principal, according to Dr. Villar
• A focus on making sure every student feels comfortable in his school. 

Thanks to our sponsor: Paperless Principal

Check out this episode!

This great interview with Bernardo Villar is broken up over two episodes. I hope you enjoy it. It was a great interview for me. 

Bernardo Villar is the principal of the Title I school Vae View Elementary in Layton, UT. In this interview, you will learn about the following ways Dr. Villar is a transformative principal:

• Word of the year: rigor
• How to get teachers to ask for help
• How to not be defensive
• How to ask for help and thus generate buy-in
• How to run data team meetings
• How to create an environment that invites students and parents to be a part of the school community. 

Thanks again to my sponsor: Paperless Principal

Check out this episode!

Jethro interviews Sondra Jolovich-Motes, principal of Dee Elementary in Ogden School District. 

Here is some background information about Dee Elementary: 

Dee Elementary, formerly dead last, sees huge gains in reading scores

Ogden schools see dramatic spike in student proficiency scores

Dee Elementary school grade

Links that JM talks about:

 Teaching Channel is one way JM helps teachers identify where they can use some help. 

 Annette Brinkman did some work with JM and Dee Elementary.

 University of Virginia Turnaround School Program. 

Books: 

Driven by Data: A Practical Guide to Improve Instruction

Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools

Sponsor: 

http://paperlessprincipal.com learn how to be a paperless principal. Remove clutter, streamline your processes. 

Check out this episode!

Do you know someone who is a transformative principal? Please let me know who you think I should interview next!

Jethro interviews Sondra Jolovich-Motes, principal of Dee Elementary in Ogden School District. 

Here is some background information about Dee Elementary: 

Dee Elementary, formerly dead last, sees huge gains in reading scores

Ogden schools see dramatic spike in student proficiency scores

Dee Elementary school grade

Links that JM talks about:

 Teaching Channel is one way JM helps teachers identify where they can use some help. 

 Annette Brinkman did some work with JM and Dee Elementary.

 University of Virginia Turnaround School Program. 

Books: 

Driven by Data: A Practical Guide to Improve Instruction

Leverage Leadership: A Practical Guide to Building Exceptional Schools

Sponsor: 

http://paperlessprincipal.com learn how to be a paperless principal. Remove clutter, streamline your processes. 

Check out this episode!

After much contemplation, I have decided to start doing a podcast. It is called Transformative Principal. Each month, I will interview a principal that is making a real difference in students' lives. I hope that you enjoy it. First episode is embedded below. This is the RSS feed: http://transformativeprincipal.libsyn.com/rss

My wife takes some pretty cool Instagram pictures. I helped her get them ready to print on 4x6 so that they turn out to be 4x4 pictures. Print Instagram I did it using Automator, AppleScript, and Hazel.


Have a Good Life.

The other day I walked into a teacher's room and found he was supplementing Reading Street with a great video on YouTube. Though not in his case, there can be times when ads or related videos may not be appropriate for our kids, so here is YouTube's acknowledgement and help for that problem:
http://www.youtube.com/schools

Videos are a powerful way to supplement your curriculum and, if correctly implemented, are an excellent way to build some background knowledge quickly.

Here are two tips for making videos successful in your classroom

1. Load the video before kids are in the classroom (avoid searching for a video in the moment, as you will likely find many inappropriate videos on your way to that video you want).

2. Ask the students questions that cause them to relate it to your objective. Obviously, it should be tied into your curriculum, but also find a way to ensure that the kids really are getting something positive from it.

There were a lot of really great things that happened at work today. I love days like this. The amazing thing is that these triumphs were born out of adversity and struggle. There is no happy beginning to any of these stories. But the character of the people at my school shows that I work with some of the best people on earth.

First, yesterday some kids ruined a fort that our Playworks coach was building with about 30 kids. She was really sad about the hard work that the kids lost because of some insensitive people. Well, this morning, one boy who did it came and apologized to her. She has done such a good job of building a great relationship with all our students that the boy felt genuinely sad. That is great. He apologized and Coach Vee was on cloud nine. She completely and totally forgave him. She is the exemplification of why we do PBIS.

Next, a student was crying in the hallway. Balling her eyes out and she could be heard from quite a ways away. I was called to help her and I went to see what I could do. I asked her if she needed to calm down and take a break. She said she did. I told her we needed her teacher's permission. We went to ask him if she could come with me. He asked her where she was supposed to be and reminded her she was supposed to be in REACH, with the teacher next door. So we went in there. The class was already at work on a project, and I commented that it looked like fun. That teacher said simply, "Are you ready to join us?" The girl apparently decided that this was better than a break, so she said yes. The teacher was completely accepting and welcomed her into the classroom. She asked just the right question that invited the student perfectly. It inspired me to watch.

Finally, a teacher had a student that was especially difficult and mean today. The teacher needed to intervene in his behavior, and that made him more mean. He started to cry, then she started to cry from the continual problems she has had with this little boy that she loves so much. She obviously needed a break, and one our behavior specialist swooped in to help her. She came out of the room just as another teacher was walking down the hall. The teacher in the hall saw the upset teacher and grabbed her in a warm embrace. There was no judgment, just the recognition that someone was hurting and there should be love and concern for that person. I was down the hall and headed that way to see what was the matter and uncoils almost feel the love and concern the teacher had for the one who was hurting.

When you work in a school where this level of support exists, it is easy to come to work and face the difficult challenges that inevitably exist. I am so fortunate to work here.