Have a Good Life

Justin Thomas, Ed.D., is an elementary school principal serving students, faculty, and community near Nashville, TN. Prior to his work in school administration, he enjoyed 8 years as a middle school and high school band director.

During his 6-year tenure as principal, his school team has been recognized multiple times by the Tennessee Department of Education for outstanding student growth and achievement gap closure. Dr. Thomas believes that the keys to success revolve around growth and gratitude - the ideas that all members of a school can ‘get better’, and that a spirit of thankfulness is key to strong culture.

Dr. Thomas is the author of “The Principal’s Toolbox: Real Talk on Tackling School Leadership” (2020). Noticing an abundance of philosophical books about leadership, his purpose in writing The Principal’s Toolbox was to take an honest look at many of the practical aspects of the principalship. Aspiring and new principals will find this title especially helpful.

Dr. Thomas is married (Susan) and they enjoy their busy life with 3 daughters in Nashville.

• What is your policy on (some obscure thing)?
• How to balance things you are passionate about with what people
• The moment you think you have it figured out you learn more.
• You can tell a lot about how people act when they
• Are we frustrated that we
• Cannibalize - we can’t eat each other alive over things both of us dislike
• Too often we blame someone when we are frustrated with a situation.
• How to overcome your frustrations.
• Sit down and talk through the challenges that we are facing.
• Relationships are central to finding change.
• You can push through initiatives, but if you want spiritual believers, it has to be something that they feel like they had a hand in.
• I don’t help them become anything.
• It’s not what we do, it’s who we are.
• There’s nothing that we can do or say that means anything in comparison with the little interactions on a daily basis.
• How to be a transformative principal? Say thank you to someone who no longer hears it.

Sponsors

TeachFX

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/.
Learn more about some of the newest titles:

• Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
• Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
• The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
• Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves
Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Dr. Jeff Temple is a Professor, Licensed Psychologist, and Founding Director of the Center for Violence Prevention at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

His research focuses on the prevention of interpersonal, community, and structural violence, and has been funded through the National Institute of Justice, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
He has over 200 scholarly publications in a variety of high impact journals including JAMA, JAMA Pediatrics, The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, Pediatrics, and the Journal of Adolescent Health.
He recently co-edited a book on adolescent dating violence, is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Primary Prevention, and is on the editorial boards of five other scientific journals.
Dr. Temple recently co-chaired the Texas Task Force on Domestic Violence and served on the Board of Directors of the Texas Psychological Association.
Locally, he served as the Vice President of the Galveston Independent School District Board of Trustees. His work has been featured on CNN, New York Times, TIME Magazine, Washington Post, and even the satirical website, The Onion.

Questions / Discussion Topics
- Relationships among teens and how they interact, how they develop, and what helps them go good and bad.
- Kids who had sexted were twice as likely to engage in physical sexual behaviors
- Marion Underwood study.
- Smartphones make the things kids have always done more public.
- When did you begin researching the prevalence of sexting among teens?
- Teach kids how to be in a relationship.
- Electronic Sexual Assault vs. Revenge Porn.
- What types of adolescent dating violence did you research write about?
- Did you find a significant gender divide? What other demographic factors come into play
- What links are there, if any, between technology and dating violence among adolescents?
- What are the key steps that schools can take to prevent adolescent dating violence and provide support to victims?
- What can parents do to protect their children?
- How can adolescents protect themselves or their peers?

Check out this episode!

Nicole Colter became an instant mom, when she married a single dad with three children aged 5, 6 and 7.

If that wasn’t enough, over the next 12 years she also built three different businesses without any prior knowledge of, or training in, those industries.

<< Be sure to check out my DISC personality Training>> 

These combined experiences taught her the value of creativity and self-direction. Nicole is now on a mission to cultivate these skills so that all people can thrive in these changing times.

Her shift to education started with her role as a high school service-learning coordinator while completing her Master of Science in Creativity and Change Leadership. She now teaches management at a community college and facilitates workshops to reawaken inborn creativity.

Nicole is currently co-creating an online learning community workshop called Create Your Own School with a team of other educators and teens.

• Studying creativity and self-directed education in 2015.
• How are you going to be a change leader?
• The 21st Century Visionary Podcast.
• What’s stopping you and vision statement workshop.
• The average person buys into the idea that someone else knows better. That’s just not true
• Kids learn more by watching you inside the home than anywhere else.
• You are likely the best person to educate your children.
• Social Learning Environment - prompts and guides.
• If you spend every day knowing you’re looking for something new and different then you will notice something new and different.
• 5 year olds are at the peak of their creativity
• How to be a transformative principal? Support creativity.

Sponsors

TeachFX

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/.
Learn more about some of the newest titles:

• Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
• Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
• The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
• Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves
Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Today we are talking with Genie Siedler, Executive Director of Alaska Society for Technology in Education, and how ASTE has been there for students in Alaska well before the pandemic hit and lessons learned from the pandemic. 

She also shares some insights learned from allowing technology to get out in front of what people are prepared for when they adopt that technology. 

Check out this episode!

Joellen Killion is a senior advisor to Learning Forward and served for many years as the association’s deputy executive director. As senior advisor, she leads initiatives related to the link between professional development and student learning. She led the most recent revision of the Standards for Professional Learning, and has extensive experience in planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of professional learning at the school, system, and state/provincial levels. She works with coaches, principals, district and state leaders to support understanding and embedding standards-based professional learning in a system. The author or co-author of numerous books, her most recent book, published in 2015, is The Feedback Process: Transforming Feedback for Professional Learning. Her other books include Coaching Matters (with Cindy Harrison, Chris Bryan, and Heather Clifton); Assessing Impact: Evaluating Staff Development; Taking the Lead: New Roles for Teachers and School-Based Coaches (with Cindy Harrison); Becoming a Learning School (with Patricia Roy), and others.

• Coaching in this crazy time.
• Constant change - primary focus helping people stay positive
• We have turned on a dime—making remarkable transformations overnight.
• Learning themselves.
• Helping people take care of themselves.
• How to stay positive when it is really challenging.
• Being truthful
• acknowledging emotional distress is one of the most positive things we can do.
• what do we mean by a coach.
• Consulting vs coach vs collaborator
• A good coach is someone who helps a person define the problem seek possibilities, and guides that person in decision-making by helping the person sort out options.
• It’s not about getting it right, but forming a hypothesis.
• Trying to get to the root.
• Find appropriate solution that gets to the
• help people search for and identify their own means.
• knowing who I am as a coach
• My primary mission as a coach is to lead them to discover their own best approach.
• helping someone facilitate and mediate their own thinking.
• Empower another by doing that.
• It’s our identity as a teacher.
• We have learned over the last decade that more engagement in problem-based learning and opportunities for kids to solve their own problems, it solves so many problems.
• Dialectic approach to feedback
• When we give people information, that information is discounted
• The person giving the feedback is doing all the work!
• I do not allow people to use the words give and receive in talking about feedback.
• Holding myself superior to you.
• Starts with what did you know? What did you discover?
• The feedback process starts with two steps:
• 1. Get clear about what they are intending to learn?
• 1. Establish jointly a clear set of success criteria
• If I know what I’m looking for and I don’t engage you in cearly
• The Coaching Habit
• Helping students have a voice in their process.
• How to be a transformative principal? 1. Take a moment to identify three things they are proud of in their leadership practice. 2. Taking enough time to be with their families to have time for non-work related relationships to be renewing.

Sponsors

TeachFX

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/.
Learn more about some of the newest titles:

• Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
• Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
• The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
• Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves
Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Angela Mahoney is currently the principal at Eastland Elementary School, which is part of a high-achieving, small, rural school district in the Northwest corner of Illinois. Prior to working in education, she spent many years working in the private sector. As an educator, Angela taught kindergarten, 4th, 6th and 7th grades before getting her degree in administration. During that time, she became passionate about the social-emotional needs of her students and created a course to specifically address the need for students to develop life-long success skills. 

As an administrator, she believes that the most important building block of a school is the culture and relationships created within the walls of the building, while still maintaining high academic standards. Eastland Elementary School has continued to be one of the highest achieving schools in the area on state standardized test scores. 

Angela is active in her professional community, serving on the board of the Northwest Region Illinois Principals Association, and presenting on a variety of topics at both the regional and state levels. Presentations have included innovative SEL practices, data-driven instruction, effective professional development, as well as leadership during a crisis.

She and her husband, Tom, currently live in Northern Illinois and have two daughters. Maisie, 26, leads a special projects team for a health technology company in Boston and Delaney, 23, is finishing her graduate degree in Occupational Therapy in Georgia. 

• Started school year with kids in building.
• The biggest block to a building is the culture.
• When you walk in you can just tell what the culture is like.
• Having a theme each year.
• The hardest thing is the lack of control
• Vulnerability it important.
• If they’re doing great, how are they doing it?
• How do you support a healthy culture, especially during coronavirus where there is so much challenge? 
• The positive affirmation won’t allow us to live in the problem.
• How do you focus on your vision for your school?
• We focused on a positive affirmation.
• How do you ensure that you and your staff have balance?
• Being as healthy as you can.
• Once a month going and doing something.
• We need to be connected
• Having a PLN outside your own environment.
• How do you have those hard conversations with people who may not be thriving.
• Be vulnerable and honest.
• Our school feels normal because we are here every day.
• There’s no judgment here.
• We’re going to get through this together.
• You have to honor however they are feeling.
• You have to take it hour by hour and day by day.
• What can we take away from these situations that we can apply to our leadership.
• We want to have fun again.
• How to be a transformative principal? Focus on what you can control. It’s time to not focus on our problems and things we can’t control. 1 thing to support the staff.

Sponsors

TeachFX

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/.
Learn more about some of the newest titles:

• Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
• Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
• The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
• Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves
Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Akunna was born and raised in New York but has declared California home for the past 6 years. She has lived in South Los Angeles. She teaches middle and high school Speech and Debate at New Roads School in Santa Monica, CA. Her school was founded about 25 years ago as a response to the racial and socio-economic segregation plaguing schools in the Los Angeles area. In 2019, Akunna completed her masters in Education at UCLA while teaching full time. She studied political science and educational studies at Swarthmore College and is a 2013 New York Truman Scholar.

In this episode we discuss how youth are using technology and how to be critical thinkers. 

 

Check out this episode!

In this episode, Jethro and Frederick discuss the history of radicalization, challenges, and give advice for what parents can do to help their children.

Brief History

• 1978 Invention of Bulletin Boards
• 1979 Neo*Nazi Bulletin Board Set Up in West Virginia; attracted kids from area
• Quickly followed by numerous others
• In the mid*1990s, with the development and growth of the Web, these BBSs moved onto the Internet
• Every online resource, from niche forums to wildly popular platforms like Facebook and YouTube, are used to spread hate speech and groom children
• The problem intensified with the creation of social media in the late 2000s and early 2010s, along with growing child access to mobile devices
• The combination of pandemic and lockdown is intensifying the problem

Some of the radicalizing groups that use technology to target kids

• Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists
• ISIS
• QAnon

Social / Tech Problems

• The cost of distributing speech is virtually “free”. some important social equity issues but also gives a platform for the fringes
• It’s the World Wide Web, which makes it easier for fringe elements to coalesce online
• Algorithms and hyperlinks are radicalizing all of us but especially our children. We’ve invented dark and dangerous rabbit holes
• Stark contrast with books as an information technology
• Overwhelmingly, the Internet is fueled by advertising. Controversy attracts eyeballs and clicks
• Tech speech companies are torn between need to operate in a functioning, decent society and the need to make money

Legal Issues

• Speech, even hate speech, is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which provides that “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech”
• Corporations are not bound by the First Amendment; it applies only to governments and governmental agents
• Services like Twitter and Facebook look like “public spaces” but they are not; they are private services regulated by terms and conditions.
• Corporations are not required to do business with other companies, even if the primary function of one business is speech (so Amazon can stop hosting Parler
• US law does not apply overseas (8chan, 8kun)
• “Free” speech does not mean “free from consequences”

What can parents do?

• Context, context, context. Many and persistent conversations with children about prejudice and the hate speech it can cause. Common Sense Media “Where Kids Find Hate Online”
• As much as practical, limit unsupervised time spent online. Kids don’t radicalize over night but a lot of radicalization does take place after bedtime!!!
• Particularly for younger children, consider the installation of filtering software. Use every parental control available
• Pay attention to kid behaviors, attitudes, media interests, hobbies, etc. What games are they playing? Are they developing a surprising interest in chemistry or wiring?

Check out this episode!

Michelle Mann has been in higher education for over 20 years. She focuses her work on working with disadvantaged students, especially students who have dropped out of high school. She currently resides in St. Petersburg, Florida. She is also a former police officer.

• A problem at home becomes a problem in the community.
• They were just trying to figure it out.
• Jennifer Morse-Roebuck Parents or Prisons
• Prison becomes the parent.
• Power of home visits.
• Being there with them means a lot.
• They’re just trying to survive.
• Letting someone know you’re on the same team makes a big difference.
• Letting them know that you care.
• Empathy is empathizing with their current conditions, and not looking down on them.
• Wherever they are, respecting that.
• In order to get someone where they need to be you need to meet them where they are.
• I may not have the same experience, but I can validate your experience.
• Gather some wisdom and knowledge from anyone.
• Kids don’t understand their leadership potential or how to be a leader.
• They’re influencing someone, somewhere.
• What do they see, what do you see?
• What do you want them to see?
• Focus on the person.
• Vocational Education Center - All of my kids were kicked out of school: drug, sex, or weapons.
• We never know a person’s potential.
• They just need an opportunity to see the light.
• How to be a transformative principal? It’s a process. Trust the process. Walk in the process. Walk in authority. There may be some detours.

Sponsors

TeachFX

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/.
Learn more about some of the newest titles:

• Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
• Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
• The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
• Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves
Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

It’s what my community Needed with Dr. Tiawan Giles Transformative Principal 378

Dr. Tiawana Giles is the proud principal of George W. Carver Elementary School!! She is also a contributing author the Women Who Lead Anthology.

• In the age of coronavirus.
• Lead by example. Setting a great example hat people want to support.
• We are better than what they say we are!
• If I give you this shirt, you are part of Carver Nation!
• Our community at large supported it as well.
• How to make yourself stand out with tons of other schools around you.
• We became part of the community that we serve because we wanted Carver to the center of the community
• We had the heart to get to where we wanted to be.
• Started with faith-based groups and ways they could be part of Carver Nation in ways they were comfortable with.
• Warm welcome from us at the door and a Carver T Shirt.
• I can’t do this work by myself - I need the help of the community.
• Kiwanas - Reading books on tape and sending links to families.
• Community helps clean the building, helped distribute different activities.
• Quarterly parent breakfast.
• Community started a foundation started with affluent community in Richmond. $107,000 raised
• You do have to make far more deposits before you can make any withdrawals.
• Building relationships - If you make people feel welcome, they will welcome you.
• We come together for the sake of the kids.
• Opportunities to build authentic relationships.
• It’s what my community needed!
• I asked everyone what they needed
• If it will benefit our scholars, that’s what we will do!
• You have to model this work with them.
• Look at it from all lenses, but bring people along with you.
• Making sure that people are prepared for leadership roles.
• People are in Carver Gear whenever we talk about our school.
• You need a variety of people on panels to help you figure things out.
• You get to ask folks to come even if you don’t have the people you want there.
• Inviting people builds their confidence.
• Your word means a lot, use it wisely.
• I have to do a lot of the work to help them be successful. Checking in and checking on your people.
• how to be a transformative principal? Find something positive to tell every single person on your team.

Sponsors

TeachFX

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/.
Learn more about some of the newest titles:

• Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
• Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
• The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
• Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves
Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Dr. Eric Stephen’s dissertation research was all about how researchers fall into traps using datasets they don't curate themselves. They adopt the assumptions of the database design and the methodology. Stephens discusses how social justice researchers employ the doctrine of double effect to justify unintentional exploitation of their subjects, and proposes a big data research method to counter those exploitations by focusing on data created by institutions and not users.

• Bias and unbias: 
• Where they go to do research is already showing their bias.
• We could also talk about questions schools should ask before adding their information to big data sets. 
• Bag of words method
• What is the doctrine of double effect? (Stanford Dictionary of Philosophy Link)
• Explain the research method for big data
• Institutional genre analysis - study what an institutions’ goal is across time. 

Check out this episode!

In this episode, we talk with renowned producer Ed Gray about his most recent NOVA special "Secrets in our DNA." Tune in to this fascinating discussion about DNA testing and its place in our society. 

Check out this episode!

PJ Caposey is a dynamic speaker and a transformational leader and educator. PJ began his career as an award-winning teacher in the inner-city of Chicago and has subsequently led significant change in every administrative post he has held. PJ became a principal at 28 and within three years was able to lead a small-town/rural school historically achieving near the bottom of its county to multiple national recognitions. After four years, PJ moved to his current district, Meridian CUSD 223, where he is in his eighth year as superintendent and has led a similar turnaround leading to multiple national recognitions for multiple different efforts.
PJ has written 8 books for various publishers and his work has been published online for sites such as ASCD, Edutopia, NPR, the Washington Post, and the Huffington Post. He works in the Education Department of two universities and in a myriad of capacities with the Illinois Principal’s Association including Principal Coach and author of the first complete stack of MicroCredentials offered in Illinois.

• Why did you go into Education
• Diagnosed with cancer at 17.
• Teachers weren’t vital to me being successful until they were!
  Why (almost) everyone does teacher evaluation wrong and why it is one of the worst ROI processes in schools!
• I l love teacher evaluation when I am performing it.
• Resource intensive - seldom leads to
• Teachers growth and success wasn’t dependent on the evaluation process
• Second thing it does is sort teachers.
* Total waste of time because almost everyone is proficient. The process is too long to get rid of someone (Hire slow, fire fast is how the business world recommends. Education is hire fast (usually 1 interview) and fire slow. Evaluation process can take easily a full calendar year to fire someone). 
• Veteran Teachers are more often insubordinate than ineffective.
• unwilling to change at the macro, then we can do something to change at the micro
• If we are waiting holistically to have the conversation during the evaluation process, we’ve lost the opportunity.
• Evaluation audit and assessment.
• Suggestions for improvement are too often copy and pasted.
• That indicates a depth of knowledge on an evaluator’s part.
• Pre-conference is the most effective way to focus on growth.
• Pre-conference should be focused on the why questions.
• If we don’t get to the why level, then our feedback will never lead to growth.
• Ken Scott driver’s ed teacher
• What is the objective
• how will they show mastery
• why should they know it.
• It’s really hard to bring teachers to observe each other.
• Instructional coaching.
• Any feedback that is trusted and is about growth is more valuable than feedback that is about raking and sorting.
• If we don’t create
• How to be a transformative principal? Shawn Achor - moving the goalposts - what does success look like? Encourage teachers to give themselves grace. You’re playing a game that doesn’t end in 2021! 
* Since everyone is already proficient, we might as well let teachers make their own goals and be in charge of their evaluation (much like we want kids to be in charge of their learning). 
* Principals observing teachers is fine, but the emphasis should be on teachers observing each other. Knowledge of instruction gets much better when you can see what other teachers are doing. 


Sponsors

TeachFX

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/.
Learn more about some of the newest titles:

• Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
• Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
• The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
• Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves
Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Marisa Thompson (M.A. Teacher Education) has fourteen years of experience teaching various levels of English including advanced and support classes.  District’s first Innovation Support coach. 

She is a designated cooperating teacher for several credential programs and a Professional Development instructor for University of San Diego. 

Her experiences culminate in a pedagogy she calls “Instruction-less Teaching,” which includes her TQE Method, currently in classrooms around the world from kindergarten to graduate school. 

Marisa appears on many podcasts including Cult of Pedagogy, writes for her own UnlimitedTeacher blog and others, and speaks regularly at districts’ professional development, universities’ credential programs, and education conferences. 

She recently won the 2019 Ed Innovate Live Pitch competition and was named CUE’s 2019 San Diego Innovative Educator of the Year.

• What is instruction-less teaching?
• So many expectations from everyone.
• Students are experts in their educational experience.
• So much on teacher’s plates
• High expectations vs purposeful expectations.
• I don’t need training, I need brain space
• How much time and brain space are we taking up in our kids?
• Get rid of your rubrics
• Figure out what skills your kids need to learn.
• Discussion based classroom
• Tasks are related to the skills they need to learn
• This is the ultimate year for reflection and adjustment not only for documentation but also for reflection and growth.
• Subversion - permission & protection to be creative
• Dr. Laura Spencer the genesis of subversive teaching
• Principals: Protect your teachers from the status quo
• How to be a transformative principal? Be in cahoots with the teachers and students. It’s ok if it doesn’t work!

Sponsors

TeachFX

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/.
Learn more about some of the newest titles:

• Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
• Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
• The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
• Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves
Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Professor Anthony Kimpson, or Mr. K as he is known by his students is on a mission to positively impact the lives of every young person he touches and to help them aspire to change the direction of their lives through the power of education. He is a dynamic coach, teacher, leader, and speaker with a passion to encourage, empower, mentor, motivate, and educate young people. He believes in breaking down the barriers and excuses often used within his community towards the pursuit of education and higher learning. His philosophy is there is NO substitute for education and he strongly believes the cliché, “when you know better, you do better.” Finally, Anthony’s story is one of courage, determination, and perseverance as he is a 14 year conqueror of cancer. He has the courage to take a stand for what he believes in, the determination to make a difference, and the perseverance to see it through no matter the obstacle.

Professor at Ultimate Medical Academy and Hillsborough Community College.

• Diversity Panel recordings:
• Panel 1 - Diversity: Essential Truths
• Panel 2 - Diversity: Getting Personal
• Panel 3 - Diversity: The Bigger Picture
• Within the black community there is a stigma to education.
• There is a mindset that our interest goes off into other areas.
• Education is the equalizer.
• The pursuit of knowledge is really education.
• A goal of mine is to use the triangle offense mindset
• How to support those who think they can’t get out of their current situation because they are
• There’s only one race in this world, that’s the human race.
• Why is there a box? A box suggests limits!
• There are filters in our society.
• Get rid of the limits, and what do you aspire to be?
• I don’t answer questions.
• I’m a facilitator of learning
• When you have questions, you seek knowledge.
• Life skills class.
• There’s no book for life.
• We don’t deal in absolutes in my class
• Use your experiences to make sense of the situation.
• I become less and less involved as the course goes on.
• Learning happens through your experiences
• The story of Kayla.
• I can’t stay in the back of the class all my life.
• How to be a transformative principal? Do something unexpected - show them that you are one of them.

Sponsors

TeachFX

Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com

John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/.
Learn more about some of the newest titles:

• Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
• Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
• The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
• Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves
Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors

New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal