Have a Good Life

 

Mary Wegner is the Superintendent of Sitka Schools 1250 students.

• League of Innovative Schools.
• Is there support for innovation at a district level? Is the superintendent someone who can contribute to the national pool of leaders.
• Make learning group, competency based education.
• Monthly meetings to share and collaborate together on what needs to be done well in the area of focus.
• How to narrow down and focus on initiatives as a leader.
• Empowering student voice and choice.
• Rather than figure out by trial, we figure out by expertise.
• You must be an excellent talent scout.
• What are the unique contributions each teacher has to support kids? Give them a microphone.
• Whole system.
• How to be a transformative leader? Listen. Put systems in place so things are working well.

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!

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

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

 

Mary Wegner is the Superintendent of Sitka Schools 1250 students.

• City school district
• Small community that knows excellence.
• Wonderful community partners.
• Great partnerships with local groups.
• Under 1/3 of staff are our graduates.
• 65% of elected officials are our graduates.
• Paris of the Pacific.
• They take a little bit of Sitka with them.
• Superintendent visits every single classroom.
• During the year, pick different areas of focus and visit those classrooms.
• Understand the K-12 curriculum in all areas.
• Superintendent’s Spotlight newsletter.
• There is great power in small school systems of being able to get close the work.
• 1:1 for each student is growing because the superintendent is in the schools
• How the work changes when you are focused on the classroom.
• Angst during budget time has decreased with more focus being put on the classrooms.
• Budget process which gives more transparency. See current budget

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!

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

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

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!

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

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Jerry Snow is a District Administrator and former high school and middle school principal. piedmont.k12.al.us contact information is there. jsnow@piedmont.k12.al.us

• Team time, class time, my time
• Class time - social studies, math, etc.
• Show mastery - what does that look like.
• My time - 3 days a week, you work on the lowest area. Souped up study hall.
• If you’re caught up on pace, work on what you want.
• 2 days a week you work on ILPs
• Team Time - looping with kids 6-8th grade. Goal setting, character education, team building activities, Student-led conferences.
• Kids come up with the ways they do better.
• Mastery looks like: mimic ACT aspire certain percentage of level 3 DOK.
• 2 types of grades
• A numeric grade (0-100, A-F)
• MasteryConnect - mastery report where students are at.
• Need to show mastery at 80% first time to get 100%.
• Teaching parents that mastery is what is really important, but still keep grades to make sense of it all.
• Pacing - kids can go as fast as they want, but they have to keep a minimum pace to keep kids up.
• Schedule 8 period day, science and math were paired up. Teachers can trade kids.
• How to be a transformative principal? Be a better listener.
• *

 

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!

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

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Schedule a call with Jethro

As a review for a year that has included a lot of changes for me professionally, I wanted to list some of the greatest events from the podcasts that I released this year. You can check out my current Top 10 podcasts here, but this list is going to talk about the top 10 things I implemented this year as a result of interviewing some amazing guests.

1. Improving the school scheduling nightmare with Adam Pisoni Transformative Principal 185 The most downloaded podcast released this year is my interview with Adam Pisoni, where we talked about improving the school scheduling nightmare. Here’s my big takeaway. Adam said (5:58–8:35) that he started asking instead of asking what was possible in schools, he asked what prevents traditional schools from iterating. This train of thought led me to make a decision to intentionally combat those things that prevent us from iterating, and make sure we can still iterate even with the struggles we will face.
2. Enjoy the Journey with Jethro Jones Transformative Principal 1035 - This one is a bit of a cheat, since the episode where I shared my 4 year plan for my school was really a culmination of so many things that I have learned from this podcast. But, here goes. (19:50–24:42) What’s cool is that instead of my plan starting next year, it is already starting this year. Advisory and flexible learning block with service learning. Teachers are coming to me asking for these things.
3. Don’t Try to Change People, Change Behavior with Tom Hierck Transformative Principal 188 - 18:55–19:29 In this episode, it was really about the powerful thing that Tom shared about how to be a transformative principal. He said, “Ensure that relationships are healthy and positive. Being positive doesn’t guarantee a good outcome, but being negative does guarantee a negative outcome.”
4. Rules turn students into classroom lawyers with Tom Hierck Transformative Principal 187 - In this episode, 5:00–7:26 I found that the most powerful statement from this was when Tom said, “I have yet to meet a kid who is connected who disappoints”. Since this interview, I have worked hard to make sure that kids are connected. I’ve found what he said is true, when kids are connected, they rarely disappoint. Last week, a student threw some trash across the cafeteria and he made a mess. He needed to clean it up. Because we had worked on a relationship, I put my arms out as if to say, “what are you doing?“ and then had to wait about 30 seconds before he decided to stand up and take care of his mess. He didn’t disappoint.
5. What I Wish I Knew as A First Year Principal with Jethro and Friends Transformative Principal Special - The thing that I have taken away from this one is from my friend Jessica Cabeen.3:40–4:08 She says, Take care of yourself. While I haven’t been exercising as much this year as I have in the past, my sleep has been much better and I am doing a much better job of not working from home and actually being home when I am home. That is really important to me.
6. End College and Career Readiness with Jethro Jones Transformative Principal 1040 - This podcast seems to have hit a nerve, as it was just released a couple months ago, and is already one of the most downloaded. In this, I basically argue that we need to focus on inspiring passion in our students rather than preparing them for something. One man I recently met is amazing. He said that he is a jack of all trades, master of one: learning. That really hit me. He didn’t learn how to do that from school, he says. He learned how to do that from his experience. He learned that learning is the most important thing he can have. In a recent Hack Learning episode, Mark Barnes said that learning can’t be measured. In our traditional system, you’re right, it can’t. But it can in our own lives, and we are the ones best suited to measure. I can’t measure all that I have learned from doing this podcast over the last four years in an easy-to-digest way. This post is an example of one way that I am trying to summarize my learning. One of my good friends Darren Draper posted on the Facebook post for this comment the question, “If everyone follows their passions, will society have the skilled workers it needs?” We had a little back and forth, that I encourage you to add your two cents to. My real point here is that if we teach kids how to learn on their own they will have more success in their life, regardless of what their passions or careers are. (1:48 –2:18)
7. Instructional Leadership Team with David Smith Transformative Principal 182 - David Smith’s advice on how to be a transformative was to decide that you’re going to spend time in every classroom. 17:21–20:15 I have made this my priority this year, even to the tune of spending each morning before lunch in classrooms. I’m not perfect at it, but it is helping me do a much better job.
8. Routines to Make Yourself More Successful with Karine Veldhoen Transformative Principal 160 - I have really gotten into routines this year and established some good ones. I’ve read the book she recommends and even went deep into The 1 Thing, about which I interviewed Geoff Woods. Look for that interview coming up soon. She talked about setting daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly practices. This is not easy. It really isn’t. It is actually kind of boring. In fact, Geoff Woods said that most people are unwilling to endure the monotony of success. Success is doing the right things at the right time. 8:26–9:46 - Self-care plans for her staff and for herself. One aspect of that that I have adopted is a habit to go to bed with my wife each night and not stay up late doing things for the podcast or other work, or playing games, or wasting time on Facebook. That is a small thing, but something that I think will really help me get to bed earlier, get rested, and spend quality time with my wife each night. With being so busy, it is easy to be distracted from the important things.
9. Kids Can’t Learn When They Don’t Trust with Zaretta Hammond Transformative Principal 157 - 4:00–6:08 Trust Generators to quickly build trust. This has been really powerful as I have started my new school in Fairbanks. I have tried to be vulnerable with teachers to help build that trust so they know who I am. It’s not perfect, but we have been moving quicker than I expected in some areas, as I mentioned before.
10. Where Jethro is interviewed for the Principal Matters Podcast with Will Parker - Bonus Episode 1033 21:45–22:53-The thing that sticks out from this interview is that 1, it was on Will Parker’s podcast, where he interviewed me. It was fun to release it at the same time. Number 2, Will asked me a big question, what do I want to achieve. My big goal is to impact 100 Million students over the next 10 years through my work on this podcast, my masterminds, speaking engagements, consulting, and everything else that I do. I had been thinking about setting a big goal before he asked me, but I wasn’t sure I could do it. So I took his challenge and set a goal. I’m tracking it here so please help me reach that goal by adding the impact this podcast has had on you to that survey. At the time of this writing, I am .021% of the way there. 21,412 kids have been impacted so far. WOW! That’s actually pretty amazing.

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!

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

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Jerry Snow is a District Administrator and former high school and middle school principal. piedmont.k12.al.us contact information is there. jsnow@piedmont.k12.al.us

• Part of a 1:1 initiative over 9 years ago.
• Many awards and recognitions.
• Trying to show kids that even though they are a small system, they can still do great things.
• NGLC planning grant
• Mastery based learning.
• Sometimes in a class you can only go as fast as your lowest student.
• Worked with Education Elements.
• “Embolden Piedmont”
• NWEA MAP into digital platforms to create ILPs (individual learning plans).
• Fill in gaps to build on those skills, rather than adapt around them.
• You’re curating the knowledge rather than giving the students everything.
• The myth of average - there is no average. If you’re teaching to the average, you’re teaching to nobody.
• Where a teacher will fall back into the old groove.
• You need to be honest and up front with them.
• We modify every year.
• Can’t go in with an iron fist.
• We want to make things better for the kids.
• Troubleshoot to help them do better.
• It’s a lot of pride, even though it is harder and more tiring.
• Making sure the information is a high enough DOK level.
• Harder for everyone, teachers and students alike.
• Took stuff from everyone and make it our own.

Click here to try out my new chatbot

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Joe Sanfelippo walks us through telling our own story. 

Schedule a call with Jethro about the Mastermind

Best Year Ever information.

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

 

Michael Horn is the co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute and author of Blended and Disrupting Class.

• 4 year plan
• Look at it through a design process.
• What do we want that student experience to look like?
• Design process.
• What is the narrative arc for the school.
• Ask lots of questions to map back from the dream.
• Start as a leadership team.
• What would we like to be known for?
• Where are the innovators?
• Roadmap for how this scales throughout the entire school?
• You want the whole group together to be aware of the process.
• Understanding the tools of change is important.
• What is the “right“ leadership style?
• X axis agreement among team about how the world works.
• Y axis agreement among team about goals
• Use summer!
• Use creative configurations to give teachers back the time.
• Create space for professional learning during the school day.
• How to communicate to parents and the broader community what you’re doing.
• How to be a transformative principal? 1. Stories are what really move people. Focus on the stories. 2. Tell the teachers you’ll get their back when they do something.

Click here to try out my new chatbot

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

http://transformativeprincipal.org/bestyearever

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Michael Horn is the co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute and author of Blended and Disrupting Class.

• Create educational options is to help kids find their potential.
• Personalize to meet the needs of every student.
• Organizations follow systems or processes that become engrained in cultures.
• You get really good at the thing you’ve been doing.
• We’re not going to see schools disappear.
• Disrupting class, not the whole system to start.
• If you want a system to change, you need a great leader.
• So many forces arrayed to shoot down the “new”.
• People are not being obstructionist because they’re bad people.
• They’re not stupid people, they’re people in stupid systems.
• We need a different system to match a new era.
• Leaders have to give very clear permission about what you are allowed to violate.
• “You’re allowed to do anything that doesn’t put kids in harm’s way.“
• Very aggressively and clearly document every policy at odds with what has been on the books.
• Competency-based learning
• Don’t force them out of their comfort zone.
• “The Dual Transformation” managing transformation A and B.
• Go slow to go fast.
• We don’t fully understand what everything will look like.
• Seeing teachers in other places can help them see how it works.
• Coalition of the willing.
• Couple years is a baseline.
• May not know all the details, but then you have a chance to celebrate
• *

 

Click here to try out my new chatbot

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Tell a student you are grateful for them. Tell a teacher you are grateful for them. 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Lucas Miller is the author of Beyond Brilliance: The Blueprint for Learning Anything.

• Engineer, then neuroscience at UC Berkley.
• Moonwalking with Einstein - How to remember everything.
• Using brains more effectively and efficiently.
• New research holed up in labs across the country.
• Much is based on the foundation of memory.
• Memorized learning is just important as it has ever been.
• Research available for K-12 educators.
• Growth Mindset
• Brain is remarkably elastic.
• Classrooms were quiet, now they are active
• It’s one thing to be able to answer something on a test, it’s a different thing to be able to teach it to a classmate.

 

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

Page 1 of 1 Zoom out Zoom in Page up Page down Fullscreen Print Comment on specific areas

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Dr. Drew Williams started teaching in Las Vegas and ended up as the principal of Tuacahn High School in Southern Utah, where he shares a facility with Tuacahn Center for the ArtsCreativity, Inc.

• A work or a text to land on so that it wasn’t personal.
• Lots of work to come up with core values of Collaborative Design, candid feedback, original work.
• Grading policies, attendance policies.
• Changes need to be based on evidence.
• Core values help us say no.
• Radical candor.
• Challenges in creating core values.
• Comfort in being comfortable.
• Disrupted status quo.
• Conversations that require a keen intellect to navigate.
• Awoke in our faculty a feeling of learning.
• Why Tuacahn? It’s through the uncertainty that you can drive to the question of why.
• Dropping a class because it doesn’t align to our core values.
• How to be a transformative Principal? Never stop learning. Go out of your box and seek learning.

 

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Dr. Drew Williams started teaching in Las Vegas and ended up as the principal of Tuacahn High School in Southern Utah, where he shares a facility with Tuacahn Center for the Arts

• First High School charter in the state of Utah - focused on the performing arts.
• Working to partner more with the Center for the Arts.
• Talking times - actors and actresses talking about their experience become actors and actresses.
• Professional actors asking, “How can we connect and teach classes?
• Compliance vs. deeper learning.
• Idea of moving past compliance and on task
• Idea of being joyful and passionate.
• When doing auditions can bring working professionals in to participate as well.
• Teachers are working outside of the classroom on their own careers to
• Collaborative Design, candid feedback, original work.
• Trevor McKinsey - Dive into inquiry
• Math exists in Art, dance, etc.
• Middle is messy, but it is where the magic happens.
• Everything is not defined.
• Don’t give out rules and such. Ask kids what they are curious about.
• Be mean until December doesn’t really cut it anymore.
• Belief that education does need to change.
• Kids are excited to be here.

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

• Owning vs. leading
• Pushed change a little too fast.
• Get teachers to drive initiatives.
• Can’t own it. The teachers have to.
• Biggest change - using grades for compliance
• It takes a lot of time to have the conversations relating to grading.
• Using alternative ways of assessing kids.
• NASSP’s mission and goals as a national support organization.
• Non-profit boards are struggling to have members.
• Mentor told Dan he needed to join NASSP for the insurance.
• Have to change the member benefit.
• We need to be more than just insurance.
• Advocacy - need to have someone there to advocate for the needs of schools and principals.
• Opportunities for advancing leadership. McKinsey Management Program for School Leaders
• 19,000 members in NASSP. 100% of Rhode Island principals are involved in NASSP
• Grading and assessment is the biggest conversation.
• NASSP Conference in Chicago
• How to be a transformative principal? Expand your network and get out of the little silos that we are in.

 

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

NASSP President Dan Kelley talks about school change and the need for NASSP to have a real impact in principals’ lives.

• Special education background.
• President of NASSP.
• Archaic way of teaching
• The role of the school needs to change.
• 5:45 minutes.
• Schools can become hubs.
• Changing schools structurally and philosophically.
• Get caught up in test scores and ranking.
• Great alternative to AP tests - early enrollment rather than AP.
• How to tell the story of the school?
• Start with where the parents are.
• Facebook, Blog, twitter
• Easy to use
• Money following students

 

 

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Justin Baeder, of the Principal Center

• As instructional leaders there is no better way to lead than to be in classrooms.

• It is tough to find time and make it into classrooms.

• Being in classrooms that much sounds ridiculous and impossible.

• Start small.

• Just show up.

* #everyclassroom challenge, be in every classroom within a 5-day period.
* Build up the practice over a period of cycles.
* Just keep track of the order you visit people in, and visit them
* Systems to keep track of visits.
* Write the date you visit on their note card.
* Repertoire - app for keeping track of visits.
* The way we schedule to get into our classrooms is important.
* The way of doing it must fit your style.
* Buy the Book: Now We’re Talking

Special Interview about writing a book. Get the interview here
* How long it took.
* What to get clear on.
* How to determine what belongs in this book and doesn’t.
* How to sell your idea to the readers and publishers.

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Prevailing, Not Relishing with Rebecca Coda and Rick Jetter Transformative Principal 195

Proactive paranoia is good paranoia Call people to the carpet in a professional way.

Rebecca Coda and Rick Jetter are the authors of Escaping the School Leaders Dunk Tank: How to Prevail When Others Want To See You Drown.

• How to prevail instead of getting bummed out.
• Depersonalize the situation.
• Some reason they have ego, fear, jealousy, etc.
• Didn’t start with you, started with someone or something else.
• Alignments - aligning to different people.
• How people gather allies.
• If you’ve got an army behind you.
• Moving on
• How to deal with politicking.
• Nonviolent communication
• Call people to the carpet in a professional way.
• 4 step process for nonviolent conversation.
• Script, rehearse, prepared for curveball reactions
• Said with care and patience.
• Don’t want to be alone without a witness.
• You’re not effective if you’re feeling this way.
• Teacher Bullies
• How to be a transformative principal? It comes down to being willing to do what is right.
• How to be a transformative principal? You’ve gotta try!

 

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Proactive paranoia is good paranoia.

Rebecca Coda and Rick Jetter are the authors of Escaping the School Leaders Dunk Tank: How to Prevail When Others Want To See You Drown.

• How to tell if you are being sabotaged.
• Proactive paranoia - inner voice where you know it is not right, but you
• It comes down to relationships.
• You notice the behavior changes.
• Exclusion.
• Emotional triggers that lead to tactics.
• Emotional driving forces - jealousy, skepticism, holding accountable.
• Leaving out information or leaving people out.
• What do we do when to handle it?
• Explicitly confront or leave it alone?

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

I have always felt so uninspired by the term “College and Career Ready!”

It seems so empty

George Martinez - chief of staff for anchorage mayor spoke at the African American Student Leadership conference

The term he used was Path to Passion.

That is much more inspiring.

Why passion?

Because we all need something more than a JOB!

We need our own personal mission statements.

Much of what I believe comes from my spiritual approach

I am a child of god. If I believe that I am a child of God, that must mean that I believe others are children of God as well. It makes it so much easier to be kind and nice to people.

It also makes it easier to have high expectations of people. Because they truly are more than they can ever believe.

I Discovered my passion at about 16 years old.

I learned that I had skills in teaching others, and leading others.

I could have chosen many other professions besides teaching and education, but because of my not-so-great educational experiences, I knew I could impact kids in a powerful way.

So, that’s what I do.

I inspire teachers and leaders to be their best. That’s why I do this podcast. Because I am living out my purpose for my life.

This is more than just me sitting in front of a microphone in my basement!

The mastermind is more than just me hanging out with some really cool leaders.

The TLS is more than just a Leadership Summit.

These are extensions of me fulfilling a purpose.

An educator could not have told me at sixteen that I would be doing this now.

But a visionary man helped me understand way back when I was 16, that right now, I am exactly where I need to be and that I am doing exactly what I need to be doing!

The real challenging part of understanding our passion is that it is admittedly pretty frufru as someone recently said.

I don’t think you’ll be able to find a guru that says “Find a deadend job, and stick with it until you retire, when you can finally do what you want.”

I think about some of the recent college grads that I know that are basically doing anything because they need money. I understand that, I’ve been there, but I was very much aware that that was not going to be my future.

They’re using the time after college to figure out what they love. How tragic for them.

In this day and age, with technology, I have a hard time believing that someone cannot make money from living their passion.

A career is something old people talk about. To the younger generation, it is just life.

But again, it is challenging, especially for educators, to inspire kids with an unknown. We like clear, specific answers. We don’t know what to do when we can’t predict the future. Which is funny, because we can’t.

So, how do we reconcile this? We understand that we can’t possibly know what the future holds for kids, and inspire them to find what they can do all day and love for their whole lives.

Some might say they love playing call of duty all day, but most of them don’t. Most of them prefer that to boring drudgery of getting college and career ready.

Let’s inspire them to something more noble than a JOB and help them find a fulfilled life by finding their purpose for being here.

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Naphtali Hoff is an executive coach, organizational consultant, trainer, writer & speaker.

• How to come back from making a mistake.
• Think big picture.
• If you don’t create the right foundation, then you will spend far less time helping kids than
• When elephants fight, it’s the grass that gets trampled. - Rick Lavoie
• Where you can support the vision
• Everything flows from the foundation.
• We make decisions based on the emotional connection.
• Trust shields you from other problems.
• How to be a transformative principal? Continue to invest in yourself. You can’t give what you don’t have.
• email: nhoff@impactfulcoaching.com becomingthenewboss.com 212-4706139

 

 

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Naphtali Hoff is an executive coach, organizational consultant, trainer, writer & speaker.

• Teacher and school leader.
• Support principals in a way that he had been supported.
• Get his book, “Becoming the New Boss”
• Leadership vs. Management
• You need to manage processes. Leadership is another dimension.
• What is your priority and what is your main focus?
• You can delegate management.
• Leadership is getting people moving in a direction
• Leadership belongs to everyone in the building.
• Be a good listener, especially at the beginning.
• Good leaders are listeners.
• Demonstrate a willingness to listen and accept a culture.
• Find ways to make low-stakes, high-success wins.
• Rick Lavoie, earning chips.
• Need to go through change strategically.
• Consensus vs. agreement
• Data should drive the process.
• Initiating the process is good, but don’t go down the path if you’re not going to make the actual change.

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Part time curriculum director in a rural school district and part time consultant.

• How to stay on top of so many content areas.
• Framework for quality curriculum
• Instructional priorities.
• Looking at research and finding what’s current.
• Best practices
• Nearly all PD was sit and get.
• Spiraling themes of professional development.
• Able to provide effective supports
• Gradual release of responsibility.
• I do, we do, y’all do, you do.
• Practice feedback reflection
• That’s what we’ve always done.
• Peer observation isn’t always received very well.
• Timeline of job-embedded PD.
• August 1/2 day with 60 teachers as a pilot on classroom questioning
• Cohorts of 4-6 teachers in each cohort - meet for 1/2 day with that cohort. Host teacher presents lesson. Facilitator asks questions.
• Review of data points that people collected after observing a lesson.
• Scripting - What did the teacher say, what did the kids say?
• Share data, review host teacher’s goals and visit a new one each month.
• Don’t invite administrators to take part in the process
• Walkthroughs at the end of the year. Leadership team looks for strengths and growths for that teacher.
• Need to make sure your professional development is making it to the classroom.
• Effective to have a coach position be able to support the group.
• Give principals patterns in aggregated data.
• Principals engage in final conversation in the year.
• How to be a transformative principal? Be intentional about supporting teacher’s growth.

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

I asked a bunch of awesome leaders one simple question: 

What did you wish you knew when you first became a principal? 

Here are their answers! 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Don’t Assume Anything

Nicholas A. Fischer is a school-management consultant and coach. He was the superintendent of the New London, Conn., school district from 2009 to 2014. Previously, he was the superintendent of schools in Fall River, Mass., and the Christina School District in Newark, Del.; the assistant superintendent in Fairfax County, Va.; and the associate commissioner for finance and accountability in the Massachusetts Department of Education.

• Leading a District Can Be Controversial, Embrace it

• Be clear to yourself about what your values are.

• Working in public schools is very important.

• Started working Florida as a principal when corporal punishment was still allowed.

• Telling kids what we wanted them to do instead of what we don’t want them to do.

• Problems in American Public education: Our expectations are too low.

• All of us have special abilities

• Every child can be expected to be out a maximum effort.

• What we expect in engagement is different than what kids are taught growing up.

• What are the ramifications of doing the right thing?

• What are the right questions to ask a supervisor?

• Are you mobile enough to find the right places to work?

• Know what you believe, and talk to your supervisor, let your spouse know the ups and downs you will face.

• That’s one way of doing it, but here’s a better way.

• You have to know what the stakes are going in, and be willing to live with them.

• Average tenure of Superintendent is 2-3 years. Average tenure of principals is a little longer.

• Reasons for moving vary.

• In some situations, leaving a situation can be a badge of honor.

• Why are you staying if you’re struggling?

• Get candid feedback about how you’re portraying yourself.

• Much better off being honest with those we are talking with.

• Don’t use the statement, “Don’t take this personally.”

• I’d like to hear your version of what you see yourself doing.

• Set up an active listening conversation.

• We too often end a statement with “You know what I mean?”

• Distinguish between what a person is doing and what you would like to see them doing.

• Tell me what you think I’m asking you to do.

• Sit down a couple weeks later and talking about what they have changed.

• I don’t assume anything.

• How to be a transformative principal? Transformative to do what? If you were to describe what you are trying to accomplish, define what is happening right now in your school. Think through how you frame things. Define what you perceive happening. Start to talk about what the difference is between what people are doing what you want them to do.

• If you’re going to have a safe school, everyone needs to be involved.

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Jethro goes solo and talks about the Savior complex that many have in education and gives three tips on how to overcome it: 

1. Don't judge parents

2. Lead with positive intentions

3. Recognize the good that people are doing

The truth is, our parents are awesome, and they are doing the best they can. 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

You Get what You Expect

Nicholas A. Fischer is a school-management consultant and coach. He was the superintendent of the New London, Conn., school district from 2009 to 2014. Previously, he was the superintendent of schools in Fall River, Mass., and the Christina School District in Newark, Del.; the assistant superintendent in Fairfax County, Va.; and the associate commissioner for finance and accountability in the Massachusetts Department of Education.

• Leading a District Can Be Controversial, Embrace it

• Be clear to yourself about what your values are.

• Working in public schools is very important.

• Started working Florida as a principal when corporal punishment was still allowed.

• Telling kids what we wanted them to do instead of what we don’t want them to do.

• Problems in American Public education: Our expectations are too low.

• All of us have special abilities

• Every child can be expected to be out a maximum effort.

• What we expect in engagement is different than what kids are taught growing up.

• What are the ramifications of doing the right thing?

• What are the right questions to ask a supervisor?

• Are you mobile enough to find the right places to work?

• Know what you believe, and talk to your supervisor, let your spouse know the ups and downs you will face.

• That’s one way of doing it, but here’s a better way.

• You have to know what the stakes are going in, and be willing to live with them.

• Average tenure of Superintendent is 2-3 years. Average tenure of principals is a little longer.

• Reasons for moving vary.

• In some situations, leaving a situation can be a badge of honor.

• Why are you staying if you’re struggling?

• Get candid feedback about how you’re portraying yourself.

• Much better off being honest with those we are talking with.

• Don’t use the statement, “Don’t take this personally.”

• I’d like to hear your version of what you see yourself doing.

• Set up an active listening conversation.

• We too often end a statement with “You know what I mean?”

• Distinguish between what a person is doing and what you would like to see them doing.

• Tell me what you think I’m asking you to do.

• Sit down a couple weeks later and talking about what they have changed.

• I don’t assume anything.

• How to be a transformative principal? Transformative to do what? If you were to describe what you are trying to accomplish, define what is happening right now in your school. Think through how you frame things. Define what you perceive happening. Start to talk about what the difference is between what people are doing what you want them to do.

• If you’re going to have a safe school, everyone needs to be involved.

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

This is my "practice" of my opening day remarks to my staff. I practiced it as though I was going to give it to the staff, so I didn't record when I was giving it to the staff. Here is the Powerpoint to go along with it if you are interested. 

The actual meeting with staff took an hour, so this is an abbreviated version. 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

We make time for what we really believe. Good collaboration takes time, but bad collaboration takes even more time.

Tom Hierck can be found at his web site.

• superintendent department of ed, 34 years in education.

• Great educators all over the place.

• Seven Keys to a Positive Learning Environment in Your Classroom

• I have yet to meet a kid who is connected who disappoints.

• If you build them, they will learn.

• Learn every kid’s DNA, Dreams, Needs, Abilities

• Start with something simple.

• Every kid wants adult time and we should make that positive.

• Focus on the kids

• Kids don’t get consequenced to better behavior.

• Don’t try to change people, try to change behavior.

• Have adult conversations about what we are going to do with kids.

• You can’t manage every classroom from your office.

• Be the “Judicious Parent”

• What is managed within and what is managed without the classroom.

• The difference between rules and expectations.

• What it looks like, feels, like, sounds like.

• If we don’t model what we expect, then we should expect what we model.

• How to work with challenging team members?

• If everyone is nodding their head in agreement, you know somebody is leaving in disagreement.

• Sometimes, we just follow someone and deal with what they left behind.

• Leadership Rule #1, whether you create it or condone it, you own it.

• How to deal with the comfortable, but not good.

• Get clarity on our purpose.

• Knowing the skills you have, how do you see that aligning with our purpose.

• When it gets tough, we will turn to each other when we have clarity of purpose.

• We do construction work in times of calm.

• Ineffective practices = easy.

• We have to get to the hard stuff and be willing to get messy to service 100 % of our kids.

• How to find time. We make time for what we really believe.

• Good collaboration takes time, but Bad collaborations takes even more time.

• Chase time doesn’t work

• How to be a transformative principal? Ensure that relationships are healthy and positive. Being positive doesn’t guarantee a good outcome, but being negative does guarantee a negative outcome.

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!

Join my group coaching program

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

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.  

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal