Have a Good Life

Principal of South Heights Elementary in his 20th year. Rob doesn’t just look at his students currently, he has a much bigger vision of what they can accomplish and how they can make life better forever. Rob keeps in contact with kids who went to The 1199 many years ago and makes sure that they can still find ways to be successful.

• Special things you do during Christmas for your schools
• You can be an awesome combination of tradition and innovation.
• We celebrate all of our holidays.
• We take all of our kids to a movie.
• Santa’s Treasure Island Mall!
• Most schools going away from all this extra stuff, and it seems you are going toward it full steam ahead!
• Work hard, play hard, succeed!
• Neighborhood Christmas parade.
• Go big or go home.
• How has the community changed since you’ve been doing these things?
• This school not prison, so let’s make it enjoyable.
• Big ideas are going to happen. People are willing to go out and make it happen.
• People are willing to come in and do extra as well.
• Expensive endeavors require the community to buy in.
• People like to be part of something bigger than themselves.
• People look at their budget and try to see what they can do, and that is the wrong way, they need to find their ideas and make their budget work how they need it.
• We do lots of recruiting to find the right people.
• Non traditional interview methods.
• Kids interview them first.
• All about getting inside their head. Interested in what they think.
• We want people that want to be at South Heights.
• We can’t handle mediocre.
• There’s no better identifier of authenticity than the kids.
• Kids interview applicant, teacher support interviews kids to see what they think.
• If you can’t handle being interviewed by a bunch of kids, you might not be able to handle 30 kindergarteners.
• How to be a transformative principal? You’ve got to understand it is not about you, it is about them. It is about building people up.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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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

Rob Carroll

Principal of South Heights Elementary in his 20th year. Rob doesn’t just look at his students currently, he has a much bigger vision of what they can accomplish and how they can make life better forever. Rob keeps in contact with kids who went to The 1199 many years ago and makes sure that they can still find ways to be successful.

• Man cave show on home and garden channel gave them at

• Own version of Harlem Children’s Zone

• Timeline of success milestone

• From conception to career, how does every child succeed.

• Not just a K–5 school. We help them after they move on. Help them in high school. Help them for college applications.

• We really love our students.

• Circle of life sustains change.

• 11 years of doing college tours.

• Kids had an unrealistic expectation of college.

• K goes to local community college

• Each grade goes to a different college.

• Our 5th graders understand more about college than a lot of juniors and seniors.

• If it’s good enough for my biological kids, it’s good enough for all kids.

• Former kids of South Heights are the tour guides at the colleges.

• Everyone can lead. Ideas rule, not people.

• College tours are my baby, but everyone else leads something in our school.

• As long as the idea matches the vision and mission, we say go for it!

• What do our great people need to be inspired and successful?

• Failures recently?

• We love each other as a team.

• Thought we could build our own leadership curriculum ourselves, but it didn’t work out very well.

• Build, don’t copy.

• You’ve only got so many shots at the same idea as a leader.

• You can get a little full of yourself sometimes.

• Respect the awesomeness of the task.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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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

Brian Costello is in his 7th year of teaching in Southern New Jersey.  Brian started his career as an instructional aide before going on to teach Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grades.  He is an avid writer, blogger, and Twitter user that has published his first children’s novel: Will McGill and the Magic Hat.  Brian speaks at Educational conferences on topics including educational technology, leadership, communication, and professional development.  See Brian’s previous posts for CUE.  

Here is what we talked about today:

• Will McGill and the Magic Hat Independent Publisher
• CUE blog
• Classroom Community World Tour - helping kids see what happens in other places.
• Tour Builder - “Tour Builder is a new way to show people the places you’ve visited and the experiences you had along the way using Google Earth. It lets you pick the locations right on the map, add in photos, text, and video, and then share your creation.”
• The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
• You use this to show students what life is like in another place.
• Twitter: @btcostello05.
• Inspired by the realization that we are in a really small community, and if we can show kids more of what the world is really like, they will be more open to what is possible for them.
• How to be a transformative principal: Find ways to say Yes.
• People are more willing to do things when you don’t tell them no.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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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

Brian Costello is in his 7th year of teaching in Southern New Jersey.  Brian started his career as an instructional aide before going on to teach Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grades.  He is an avid writer, blogger, and Twitter user that has published his first children’s novel: Will McGill and the Magic Hat.  Brian speaks at Educational conferences on topics including educational technology, leadership, communication, and professional development.  See Brian’s previous posts for CUE.  

Here is what we talked about today:

• Working with the youngest kids provides you with some things that start to disappear as they get older. The light bulbs go off way more than when they are older.
• Rotating through content areas 1–4th grades.
• Give teachers a chance to focus more on a content area.
• Can be more difficult to build relationships with students.
• Works together with other teachers more on because of their transitions.
• How to deal with mean teachers.
• Confront them directly. State the appropriate professional response.
• How you treat people says a lot about you and how you feel.
• Projection
• How do I interact with this person after a confrontation?
• Continue to be professional towards that person.
• Need to model functional relationships for students - appropriate, nonviolent, non-angry problem solving solutions.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Today, Damon Hargraves, host of the WorkflowED podcast turned the mic on me and interviewed me for the 100th episode of the Transformative Principal Podcast. I can’t believe I have done 100 episodes of this podcast. Thank you so much for listening to this and helping me make it better.

• RTI idea was in place, but we needed a little kick in the pants.
• Value of getting away from the day-to-day issues at school.
• How to keep it going when you come back from conferences: hang up the poster.
• Reducing ELA from 90 minutes per day to 45 minutes per day, with students who need 90 minutes still getting that much time.
• How to get teachers to agree to reduce the number of minutes for their content area.
• Yolanda Westerberg
• We can always be better, so let’s always improve.
• There is a story written before you. Accept the story that has been there before your chapter 1 starts.
• How to have solid forward momentum as you make changes, and not get stalled.
• Meeting with the correct people so you don’t get stalled.
• Getting feedback and adjusting course.
• Schedules Explained for Teachers video
  Schedules Explained for Parents video
• Making sure that the right people had the information at the right time.
• The schedule we creating had a place for every student in the school.
• How to design software for your school when you don’t have what you need.
• Having plans in place even if it is going to be very difficult.
• Guru Technologies - the company we hired to develop the app for us.
• The app you can actually use yourself: Pickr App
• Teacher choice tutorial - kids know they aren’t performing and are eager to have the extra help.
• Be simple about what you’re trying to implement.
• MVP - minimum viable product
• Goals for moving forward: anticipate needs earlier.
• The book by Austin Buffum and Mike Mattos: It’s About Time

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Overview:  Woodson has been an all-day everyday Kindergarten Center for the past 11 years.  In the past 4 years enrollment has fluctuated between 360–425 students (currently about 385 with our preschool class).  51% of our students are students of color, and we have a 61% free and reduced lunch student population.  We have 16 sections of kindergarten this year–13 on the traditional school calendar and 3 on the modified (year long) calendar as they feed into the modified calendar elementary school.  We have been a PBIS school for the past 5 years and this year we were award a “School of Excellence” award by the State Department for our work in established strong tier one behavioral supports for all students.  This year we have implemented a behavior specialist position as well as being the second year in our bi-linguage reading pilot in which we have a spanish speaking paraprofessional front loading reading instruction in home languages of a sub section of our EL students.  Last year we tried a new venue for Parent Education via videos of local “celebrities” and teachers role playing activities that parents could do with their children to prepare for K.

Bio:  This is my 4th year as Principal of the Woodson Kindergarten Center.  Prior to this position I was an Assistant Principal, Supervisor of Special Education (all in Austin MN) and Special Education Teacher in Saint Paul MN.  Besides being the Principal at Woodson I am a facilitator for the Minnesota Principal Academy out of the University of Minnesota in units surrounding literacy, ethical leadership and RtI.   This year I am also a presenter for the Minnesota Department of Education in their P3 Principal Leadership Series.  I have started a blog.  

1. Provide appropriate staff development
   • Provide flipped PD
   • Teachers leading PD (play center activities)
2. Solid Understanding of developmental milestones
   • Become friends with the experts
   • Adjust schedule for success of students
   • School time: 8:30–2:05 with teacher prep time after school.
   • No specialists to reduce transitions for students
   • Teachers run everything
3. Parent Engagement
   • Connecting with Parents
   • Packers in Training
   • Being a partner
   • Community initiative for kids to be ready for Kindergarten, so local celebrities get in on the action for “Ready, Set, Go”
   • Make videos for parents
4. Be more knowledgable about preschool options in the community
   • Meet the pre-k providers and respect their work
   • Give parents information about Pre-K options.
   • Service learning opportunities for former students.

Principal’s academy

• Professional development for principals, in a cohort.
• Principal as an ethical leader: just, fair and caring
• How to deal with Social Media issues
• BIFF Brief, Informative, Friendly, Firm

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Doug Timm is the principal of Carrie Downie Elementary School

• First principalship - innovative technology, focus on standards.
• Modern Teacher, Instructional Rounds. Cognitive growth targets (Bloom’s taxonomy)
• Think beyond comprehension and recall.
• What is the teacher doing and assigning?
• 6 different centers, but all 6 focused on retrieving and comprehending.
• How can we focus on more than the two basic levels?
• Charlotte’s Web in the city takes it up a level.
• Not all we are looking at, but major focus on tasks.
• I need to change what I am asking them to do to get them where I want them to be.
• Importance of how kids think. Why we need to make sure our kids are thinking beyond comprehending.
• Have to practice those skills.
• I don’t make inferences in observations anymore.
• Talk to kids during the observation. Sitting at a desk with the kids.
• Coaches (2) and Doug are assigned to teachers
• Teacher Name, Task, Where it falls in blooms taxonomy.
• What can you do to be a transformative principal? Walk around the building and see what focus you want to have: technology, literacy, math, student ownership. What do we have and how do we get to where we want to be? Keep the focus. There’s no end game.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Amy Locke graduated from the University of North Florida with a BA in Special Education: Deaf Studies and an M.Ed in Special Education: Deaf Education. She has been working in the field of Deaf Education for 7 years, beginning her career as an itinerant teacher for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students in central Florida, then moving to Houston, TX to teach in a self-contained 3rd/4th grade class with DHH students. About 4 ½ years ago, she moved to Alabama to work as a reading teacher in the high school department at the Alabama School for the Deaf. In November 2014, she became the high school director.

The Alabama School for the Deaf currently has 178 students from all around our state, all of whom have a documented hearing loss. We have two academic departments here: Elementary serves students from age 3 through 6th grade and the High School department serves students in grades 7–12. We are a residential program and a little more half of them live on campus in our dorms. The rest are day students living within an hour of our school.

• Seats arranged in semi circles
• Classroom management
• Communication is very powerful among adults.
• Academic challenge is language.
• English is a second language.
• We can accidentally learn grammar and usage.
• Students become the teachers of the language when they surpass their parents in ability.
• Struggle showing knowledge on standardized test.
• Disconnect between scores they get and what they know.
• Transformation from advocate to getting what they need.
• IEP Meeting dad spent 30 minutes educating them on deaf education.
• Outsider because Amy is not hard of hearing.
• If you try, and give a valiant effort, the community will hear you.
• How to be a transformative principal: know your population: students, teachers, parents.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Amy Locke graduated from the University of North Florida with a BA in Special Education: Deaf Studies and an M.Ed in Special Education: Deaf Education. She has been working in the field of Deaf Education for 7 years, beginning her career as an itinerant teacher for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students in central Florida, then moving to Houston, TX to teach in a self-contained 3rd/4th grade class with DHH students. About 4 ½ years ago, she moved to Alabama to work as a reading teacher in the high school department at the Alabama School for the Deaf. In November 2014, she became the high school director.

The Alabama School for the Deaf currently has 178 students from all around our state, all of whom have a documented hearing loss. We have two academic departments here: Elementary serves students from age 3 through 6th grade and the High School department serves students in grades 7–12. We are a residential program and a little more half of them live on campus in our dorms. The rest are day students living within an hour of our school.  

• Wanted nothing to do with learning sign language.
• Small community, tightly knit.
• Culture is inviting.
• Switched at Birth
• There are always many opportunities to serve the hard of hearing students.
• Parental involvement is hard to come by because of logistics.
• IEPs over the phone.
• 16 teachers are deaf.
• Just started picture-in-picture with sign language interpreter.
• Huddle originated at a university for the deaf Galladette University.
• Travel to other deaf schools.
• Recruiting and hiring.
• Director for the high school
• Director for elementary
• Director for career teach
• Director for athletics
• Challenge to find other people to learn from.
• Applying learning from other principals to her school.
• Sending teachers to professional development.
• Bring more professional development to the school, rather than sending teachers out.
• Empowering teachers with technology.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

John Hope Bryant came to Alaska for the Alaska Principals Conference. He spoke to us about how he hopes to inspire corporations to partner with schools to prepare our students for the future. I bought both of his books mentioned below. I am excited to read them. 

John Hope Bryant on Twitter.
Learn more about Operation Hope.
Learn more about Global Dignity Day.

John has two books out. The first is Love Leadership: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World. “Summary from the publisher: Aimed at a new generation of leaders and extremely relevant for today’s economic climate, Love Leadership outlines Bryant’s five laws of love-based leadership-Loss Creates Leaders (there can be no strength without legitimate suffering), Fear Fails (only respect and love leads to success), Love Makes Money (love is at the core of true wealth), Vulnerability is Power (when you open up to people they open up to you), and Giving is Getting (the more you offer to others, the more they will give back to you).”

The second is How the Poor Can Save Capitalism: Rebuilding the Path to the Middle Class. “Summary from the publisher: Raised in poverty-stricken, gang-infested South Central Los Angeles, Bryant saw firsthand how our institutions have abandoned the poor. He details how business loans, home loans, and financial investments have vanished from their communities. After decades of deprivation, the poor lack bank accounts, decent credit scores, and any real firsthand experience of how a healthy free enterprise system functions.
Bryant radically redefines the meaning of poverty and wealth. (It’s not just a question of finances; it’s values too.) He exposes why attempts to aid the poor so far have fallen short and offers a way forward: the HOPE Plan, a series of straightforward, actionable steps to build financial literacy and expand opportunity so that the poor can join the middle class.”

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Ashley:  Ashley teaches 3rd grade in Plymouth, Minnesota at Greenwood Elementary School. She received her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education from Miami University in Ohio. She then completed her Masters of Arts in Education with an endorsement in   K - 8 writing from St. Mary University in Minnesota. 

Jamie: Jamie enjoys seeing students complete learning independently. Jamie teaches 3rd grade at Greenwood Elementary School in Plymouth, Minnesota. She received her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education from University of Iowa. She completed her Masters in Education from Hamline University in Minnesota. 

Both Jamie and Ashley feel that learning should be meaningful and authentic for their students.

PICE Learning is a new and improved way of teaching comprehension skills for our 21st century learners. The PICE approach gives students ownership in their learning while using the common core standards. Students are able to connect with each other and independently learn in our 21st century. PICE Learning was developed by Ashley and Jamie, they wanted to connect students’ learning to skills that they will use everyday and in their future. 

If you’d like more information check out: www.picelearning.com   * Learning then vs. now with PICE
* There is a little more work that goes into PICE.
* PICE Learning web site.
* Explain Everything App
* iMovie
* Notability
* Book Creator
* Pic Collage
* Mini Lessons on Monday to teach kids the apps.
* Email Learningpice@gmail.com Follow on Twitter @picelearning

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Just before the #AKPrincipals conference ended, I had a chance to catch up the minds behind it all, Mary MacMahon and Rod Morrison. They did a great job planning the event and will do an even better job next year. 

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Here is a little bonus episode with Principal Kafele. We talk about how to reach those that are hardest to reach.

Principal Kafele spoke at the Alaska Principals conference in Anchorage on October 18th. 

If this is your first time listening to Transformative Principal, please subscribe. 

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Jamie: Jamie enjoys seeing students complete learning independently. Jamie teaches 3rd grade at Greenwood Elementary School in Plymouth, Minnesota. She received her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education from University of Iowa. She completed her Masters in Education from Hamline University in Minnesota. 

Both Jamie and Ashley feel that learning should be meaningful and authentic for their students.

PICE Learning is a new and improved way of teaching comprehension skills for our 21st century learners. The PICE approach gives students ownership in their learning while using the common core standards. Students are able to connect with each other and independently learn in our 21st century. PICE Learning was developed by Ashley and Jamie, they wanted to connect students’ learning to skills that they will use everyday and in their future. 

If you’d like more information check out: www.picelearning.com  

• Gives Students an opportunity to be engaged learners.
• Started as coteachers
• Not 1:1 - 3:1 or 4:1
• Engaging our students.
• Kids were already eager learners
• Model with the students how to learn together
• Weekly Lessons - Project starts on a Monday, and they have all week to work on it.
• Not about using an app, it is about learning.
• Sequencing activities - visualizing.
• How they are presenting their learning is up to them.
• Students can listen to stories through the Moodle site.
• Two students have jobs of being the Tweeters.
• Kids are wanting to see themselves.
• Twitter papers teach kids about character limits.
• Twitter Mrs. Tewksbury
• Twitter Mrs. Drill
  

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Michael Shapiro is serving in his second year as the principal of Highland Tech Charter School in Anchorage School District. A recent transplant from the Chicago area, he previously served as principal of Shepard Middle School in Deerfield, Illinois for seven years, during which time the school earned a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award. Prior to that he served as an assistant principal for five years in two different schools. Mr. Shapiro began his educational career as a computer applications teacher and director of instructional technology. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Administration and Supervision at Loyola University in Chicago.

Highland Tech is a 6th–12th grade charter school that promotes personal mastery through student centered, individualized learning and varied assessment strategies. Student placement is based on academic ability, rather than chronological age, ensuring students are challenged each day. Students are encouraged to take an active role in their education and master core content and the skills necessary for success in the 21st Century. Technology integration and project-based assessments are critical components of Highland Tech’s rigorous model. 

• Professional Development - content expertise and deep understanding of the standards.
• Focus on building a curriculum that is standards-based.
• Planning meaningful activities that align with standards.
• Help teachers help students refine and revise work.
• Time is a huge barrier.
• Giving up control to students.
• Advisory - take this incredibly seriously.
• School visit in Michigan.
• In the traditional model, we don’t demand that they master, we demand that they pass with an average.
• Redos and Retakes
• Be present. Be in classrooms learning every day.
• Uncomfortable being called boss, because he is really a servant.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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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

Michael Shapiro is serving in his second year as the principal of Highland Tech Charter School in Anchorage School District. A recent transplant from the Chicago area, he previously served as principal of Shepard Middle School in Deerfield, Illinois for seven years, during which time the school earned a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award. Prior to that he served as an assistant principal for five years in two different schools. Mr. Shapiro began his educational career as a computer applications teacher and director of instructional technology. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Administration and Supervision at Loyola University in Chicago.

Highland Tech is a 6th–12th grade charter school that promotes personal mastery through student centered, individualized learning and varied assessment strategies. Student placement is based on academic ability, rather than chronological age, ensuring students are challenged each day. Students are encouraged to take an active role in their education and master core content and the skills necessary for success in the 21st Century. Technology integration and project-based assessments are critical components of Highland Tech’s rigorous model. 

• Not one and done approach, focused on student Mastery.
• Time bound, but a lot of flexibility.
• Real-world project based learning.
• Rubrics at every level.
• Takes some time for kids, teachers and principals even to get used to it.
• Lots of misperceptions in the community.
• Reinventing Schools Coalition RISC
• Different Levels - Standards and Rubrics
• Kids can be in 8th grade math and be in 10 grade ELA.
• Require up to Alg. II/Trig in math at Highland Tech.
• Integrate levels as much as possible.
• Paying attention to outliers.
• Variety of assessments qualify for standards. Not just the paper-pencil type.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Piper is the principal of Draper Elementary in Draper, UT. She has been a long-time friend and mentor to me, personally, and has helped me learn so much over the last few years.

• ELA in English and Math in target language
• Teachers more intentional in working together on content between languages.
• MobyMax to supplement schoolwork. Reflex Math to focus on computation skills.
• What she’s doing is working because Draper Elementary ranked 22 in the state in math.
• How you ensure good instruction is taking place when you don’t speak the target language?
• Anyone should be able to understand topic in the classroom when they are in the target language.
• Good instruction on Steroids.
• 9 tenets of instruction from State of Utah
• Listen.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Piper is the principal of Draper Elementary in Draper, UT. She has been a long-time friend and mentor to me, personally, and has helped me learn so much over the last few years.

• Dual immersion schools - what is the process, and what challenges are unique to you?
• 200 dual immersion schools in the state, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, French
• What barriers are there to having native speakers come teach in America?
• A/B schedule at elementary level.
• Teachers come from mainland China and local areas.
• Immersion teacher and non-immersion teachers and culture issues.
• Personalizing issues with culture.
• Specials to integrate the two cultures.
• Dragon Training
• Seeking input to learn what was important to the students, faculty, and parents.
• Blanket monkey.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Henry Turner is a fantastic principal doing some great things at Bedford High School outside Boston. He blogs at Leadingtolearn.

• Implementing iPad initiative.
• Focus on creating iPad content.
• Fundraising
• Upstander anti-bullying program. Facing History in Ourselves.
• Asking curious questions.
• Kids create public service announcements with their iPads.
• Achievement gap strategies.
• Data teams
• Putting kids in levels, but not tracking them.
• Conversations and district support.
• The Calculus Project.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Henry Turner - Principal of Bedford High School outside Boston.

• Site visits is where the interview teams comes to the school to meet with the teams that work with the principal.
• Tips to prepare.
• Choose a diverse group of people.
• Avoid some pitfalls: lack of preparation, only asking rockstars.
• How to prepare people for the visit: Announce early to community.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

This week Geri Parscale came to visit us in Kodiak and teach us about PLCs. The teachers walked away energized and excited. On Twitter she is @ParscaleG.

In this episode she talks about PLCs and culture. PLCs are a way of life, not a program, and that is what I have always enjoyed about the PLC approach.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

This week Geri Parscale came to visit us in Kodiak and teach us about PLCs. The teachers walked away energized and excited. On Twitter she is @ParscaleG.

In this episode she talks about PLCs and culture. PLCs are a way of life, not a program, and that is what I have always enjoyed about the PLC approach.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Mike Kelly - Principal Ire Middle School. East Penn School District.
Mike on Twitter: @principalmkelly
Mike’s Blog

• The importance of blogging and reflection, sharing learning.
• Personal growth mindset post.
• The end of marking periods.
• Starting removal of marking periods in 6th grade!
• Arbitrary dates to complete learning on certain topics.
• Extended learning program greatly reduces academic failures.
• Many additional clubs and activities are offered.
• “Required” extended learning program.
• Perception of ELP.
• Time and support are the variables and learning is the constant.
• How to prepare for big changes in schools.
• Parent concerns about end of marking periods.
• Start with small parent groups.
• How to gain teacher support for the end of marking periods.
• The case against 0
• The power of 0
• Retesting and redo
• How to be a transformative principal? Surround yourself with transformative people.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Today I am joined by Theresa Stager and Jessica Johnson who talk about their book “Breaking out of Isolation”.

• After the sad end of the Practical Principals podcast with Melinda Miller, Theresa and Jessica and Jethro all started a podcast at the same time.
• Being connected sometimes makes you feel isolated.
• On being a student again.
• Fixed vs. growth mindset.
• We are still in the middle of learning how to be connected.
• You must always watch what you are saying and be cautious of what you are saying.
• Connected Educator Series
• How you can break out of isolation:
  • Jump on Twitter
  • Join #principalPLN and create your own personal little mentors.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Bob Dillon Twitter Web Site is the Director of Technology and Innovation for Afton School District. He has been a middle school principal for 15 years in three different places and currently helps many other principals improve their practices.

• Join the PrincipalPLN Voxer group
• 1st order change - simple, fixit types of problems, typically exciting that help people feel good about things, but don’t really move the needle in improving a school.
• 2nd order change - moving from management to leadership. Changes that will last after you are gone. People start to feel like they are part of a special organization. Sometimes it is messy, people don’t know how things will play out.
• Doug Timm Principal in Delaware.
• Need to focus on what matters in the long term.
• 1st order change - painting over water stain on a house you just bought.
• 2nd order change - taking off the drywall and cleaning (or replacing) studs and insulation.
• Playing the short and the long game.
• Higher-level conversations
• Difficulty of dealing with minor problems.
• If you are working hard daily, people will be more likely to give you a break.
• Build up key communicators in the building.
• Trust your teachers to say things in a way that you know will be beneficial.
• People need to hear the same in multiple ways.
• How to help teachers be comfortable taking risks.
• Need to scaffold to the higher level of risk-taking.

Part 2

• Director of Innovation. My role is to keep the system lubricated.
• Keep technology systems moving at a fast rate. Jump technology ahead.
• Looking for other places that slow growth and inhibit innovation.
• Empower the teachers that are moving forward and working hard.
• Most of the rest of my career I will have jobs that don’t exist yet.
• Important to change mental model of where and how kids learn.
• Our teachers get better when they tell our story.
• If it is not your strength to share, allow it to be the power of your students and allow them to share.
• Give kids a voice.
• Authentic audience raises the quality of work.
• Book Ethic of Excellence
• How are you contributing to Education beyond this school?
• It is about being humble, and knowing you don’t have all the answers. If I want other people to help me, I need to help other people.
• What prevents teachers from contributing?
• Powerful connecting to other schools. Bettendorf High School and their partner school learning from each other. Doc Seacrist St. Joseph in Missouri(LINK)
• Why Jimmy Casas continues to be a principal.
• Leadership
• K–1–2 Makerspace about the philosophy of allowing kids to grow creativity and problem solving.
• Create, make, design for empowerment, engagement.
• Helping kids become solution makers.
• How you can be a transformative principal: Go read something that doesn’t have to do with education with your principal hat on. Lateral capacity building. Brendan Hufford
• Entreleadership Podcast
• Chris Locurto Show

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher. 

Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.

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

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal