Have a Good Life

Jeff Sandefer started his first business at 16 and has run 5 successful companies since then. Now, most of his time is spent developing innovate educational curriculum for the Acton Academy and My Entrepreneurial Journey and teaching at the Acton School of Business.

• The Courage to Grow - By Laura Sandefer, about the journey of creating Acton Academy
• How Acton started, powerful story.
• Socratic teacher at the graduate level for 20 years.
• Confident that we could pull off pieces
• Sugata Mitra -
• Not in the school reform business, just trying to do our own little thing.
• Frankenstinian mashup of pieces.
• Montessori, socratic methods, game-based method.
• Pods of 36 students interacting with each other throughout the day.
• Multi-age campus.
• Age levels tend to disappear.
• Middle schoolers who may have finished calculus.
• Self-management and self-government.
• We are like game makers.
• We are not allowed to utter a declarative statement.
• There is an entropy among human beings to do nothing and waste time.
• Auto-didacts are fairly rare. Most people want to hang out with their friends and have fun.
• To stay in this fun place, you have to work hard.
• Competitive personally, but also
• Freedom and responsibility are tied together.
• Feedback loops: Would you recommend Acton to a friend?
• The harder you work and the kinder you are, the more freedom you get.
• 360 peer satisfaction surveys once per session - warm hearted and tough-minded.
• Entirely enforced by the peers. The council has the right to adopt something different.
• Parents retain ultimately responsible for students.
• Mission of the school: Each person will find a calling that will change the world. The Hero’s journey.
• It’s about transformation.
• The heroes are the ones that call against the entropy of mankind.
• Entire community can fall apart from time to time.
• Allow Lord of the Flies from time to time.
• Pure democracy, democratic republic or benevolent dictator.
• Creating challenges -
• Half come from the top, and half come from the bottom.
• They’ll be fine. I don’t want them to be fine. I want them to be better.
• Heroes don’t always win but they do always get up.
• Most difficult thing is the parents.
• Parents have to be on a heroes journey also.
• Parent badges as well as badges for students.
• How do you keep track of your badges?
• LMS to keep track of the badges.
• Laszlo Bock
• Give templates and the kids go do the work for
• How to be a transformative principal? Every young child deserves to find a calling to change the world. Every child is a genius.

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.

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New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Jeff Zoul and Anthony McConnell are the authors of The Principled Principal: 10 Principles for Leading Exceptional Schools.

• Anthony followed in Jeff’s role as assistant superintendent and is now going to be the superintendent of the district.
• Being part of the development process for four years set Anthony on the right course.
• How Jeff helped prepare Anthony for success in moving into his new role.
• I believe in always being innovative and always getting better.
• The Harmony principle.
• Some people think they thrive when they are in crisis mode, but their schools do not.
• Thinking I was supporting the teacher, I was equally elevated with the teacher.
• How to stay calm when inside you are seething.
• You get better with practice. Focus on the real issue.
• Don’t come with the answer already decided on in your head.
• How can I help? Ask this question often.
• What you have to leave the conversation with is integrity.
• It’s not about the nail.
• Trust - if you don’t have trust, you don’t have a whole lot.
• Address underperformance: It isn’t fun, but the best principals do that.
• Doing what you say you’re going to do.
• When the leadership does it, other people feel comfortable holding people accountable.
• What sort of actions do you take so that people know you care about them?
• 5 faculty values statements: “We will…”
• I’m going to lead the way by asking you to hold me accountable.
• How to be a transformative principal? Anthony - make your school more welcoming. Take a walk around.
• How to be a transformative principal? Jeff - be super visible in the school. I’m not trying to be right, I’m trying to the right thing.

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

 

Dan Kreiness is an aspiring administrator who hosts the Leader of Learning podcast. He focuses on educational leadership. dan@leaderoflearning.com.

• Challenges with becoming a principal.
• There is a lot of good to be done.
• What is your number 1 strength that you bring to a school leadership position?
• How did you find that strength out?
• Disrupting, changing, going away from the status quo.
• Our students are ready to move and change faster than we are.
• Looking to be resourceful.
• The power of connecting with Twitter.
• How to be a transformative principal? Really be present.

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

 

Dan Kreiness is an aspiring administrator who hosts the Leader of Learning podcast. He focuses on educational leadership. dan@leaderoflearning.com.

• Aspiring administrator
• Mark Crowley Lead from the Heart
• Instructional coach is the sweetest gig in all of education.
• Tricky position to be a coach.
• Really hone in on the things they identify as what they need to be working on.
• How to get teachers to jump on a technology bandwagon.
• The power of reflection.
• The Edumatch 2017 book

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

This is a cross-post for the PrincipalPLN podcast that I was on last week. I talked a lot about masterminds. Get started on that today. Give me a call!

Here are the podcasts that I have been on lately:

Planning Period Podcast with Brad Shreffler

“Jethro and Brad talk about the importance of leaders being in classrooms and coaching teachers, that we need to ask “why” way more often, being reflective and outwardly recognizing your mistakes, the power of MasterMind groups, and unlocking the genius in all of our students.
It is a really great conversation, and you’ll notice a few times in there that I am literally left speechless by what he says.
So, sit back and enjoy episode 37 of the Planning Period Podcast, my interview with Jethro Jones.”

Leaders of Learning with Dan Kreiness

“In this episode, I talk to principal and host of the Transformative Principal podcast Jethro Jones and talk to him about making the transition into the role of a school administrator, how to create buy-in with followers, and how to empower others.”

 

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

 

Richard Kincaid Twitter is EcoRise’s Chief Innovation Officer and is the lead designer for project-based learning professional development program, which integrates sustainability & design thinking methodologies into the Buck Institute's PBL framework. Richard has extensive experienced in K-12 public education, as a former CTE director, campus leader, and teacher in Texas. Richard's linked in profile is here: Linkedin

• Hill elementary eco-audit
• Green building and performance measures. Aikens high school action plan.
• Ongoing improvements to make sustainable projects.
• How to teach kids to get in touch with the right people.
• Design studio - helps teachers facilitate conversations in their classroom.
• Empower students to seek out the right people.
• Microgrants for kids.
• Up to $500 per student project.
• Small enough that kids can actually do something.
• Looking for every reason possible to fund an application.
• The average project funded is about $470. Average return on investment is about $4500 of bottom-line savings.
• At the end of the day, we want kids to be engaged.
• Put budgets together and then put it out to a group of people who can do something.
• how to be Create a Culture where you give people permissions to fail.

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