To start out, a little review of highlights for the last year.
We released 86 episodes on the podcast. Because I left being a principal, I had more time to produce content. And so I did 3 to four interviews per week! It’s been great.
We also broke 1,000,000 downloads total with more than 200,000 thousand just this year.
I’d like to share some highlights from the top 5 episodes this year.

Also, I’m doing things a bit differently this year. The mastermind is amazing, but many need an asynchronous option, so that’s why I’m introducing something new today. It’s called How To Be a Transformative Principal and it is all about providing support to principals to help them become transformative principals.

This year, I’ll be releasing a new book, in about a quarter, and it’s called How to be a transformative principal. It’s been a labor of love doing this podcast for the last several years, and I’m honored to have John Catt Publish this book, as well. They are a sponsor of this podcast, and I’m very grateful for them.
I’ll share the highlights from this year at the end of the podcast. First, I’d like to share some of my thinking around support, which is our theme for how2be this month. how2be is a new offering that I’ve created to help principals.
Over the last five years, I’ve had a lot of people interested in the mastermind, but just couldn’t make work because of the time commitment of the meetings, or because they weren’t principals yet. The Mastermind is amazing for principals who have been in the position at least 3 years. I haven’t had a way to support people who are assistant principals, aspiring principals, or principals in their first three years. This program is just for you. It teaches you how to be a transformative principal, based on the many things I’ve learned from doing 461 episodes of this podcast.

Many have said they needed something asynchronous. So, that’s what I’m offering. here’s what you get as part of the How2Be a Transformative Principal program.
The first week is a teaching newsletter that explains the theme, based on a monthly theme from my upcoming book.
The second week is a coaching call with me about the same topic.
The third week, you’ll get a summary of the coaching call in your email, and if you join the tier that has an extra coaching call, you’ll have another coaching call.
Finally, during the fourth week, we’ll have a webinar with an expert on the topic for that month. You get all of this for less than a hundred bucks a month.
All of these events are exclusive to you as members. And there are some other bonuses I’m working as well. For example, a free copy of my book when it comes out later this year.
Now, if you’re listening to this podcast, but you haven’t joined the mastermind, this is for you! You can learn more at jethrojones.com/how2be.
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Support

The theme this month is support. Today, I’m going to talk about you getting support, and in the coaching calls this month, I’ll take questions about you supporting teachers. Looking forward to having you join us!
Today I want to talk about the three kinds of support that you can seek out.
There are three sources of support, crowd-sourced, expert-sourced, professional-sourced.
Picture these as a 3-circle Venn Diagram.
Crowd-sourced support is what a PLN is and what this podcast is. It’s something that you don’t pay for but just search out.
Expert-sourced is where you get support from an expert, and it probably costs you something, either in money or some exchange of value.
Professional-sourced means that you are going to someone who is really going to focus specifically on you and help you be get the support you really need.

Bathroom fan example

Let’s look at an example here to help it make sense:
let’s say you need to repair something in your house, like I did, a fan in the bathroom.
First, I crowd-sourced it by looking up how to do it on youtube.
Second, I asked my buddy Casey to help me, and he did, so I bought him dinner.
What I should have done is hired someone to do it professionally, because it would have been done more effectively.

My wife’s example

If I can make this a little more personal, I’d like to share my wife’s story. A little over 10 years ago, my wife’s mom tragically passed away. She got some help from me and her friends to help, but as you know grief hits in different ways. That was crowd-sourced support. So, after about 5 years, we realized she needed more help. So we got her an appointment with a counselor. (professional-sourced support).
Then, after a few sessions, it was working. And she was doing much better. She didn’t think she needed counseling like that anymore, but still thought she needed support. So, she turned to an expert-sourced support: a life coach. The life coach still costs money, but the value my wife is getting in dealing with past emotions is way more than the financial investment she is paying.

Caveat

I’m not here to say that a life coach is better than a therapist, but I am here to emphatically say that you need to choose what works best for you and how to get that. In some instances, crowd-sourced is the way to go. This podcast is an amazing resource. I tell people all the time you can get a PhD in ed leadership by listening to all 460+ episodes of this podcast.
In other instances, you need more support and it’s worth it to invest something in it.
Sometimes you need a little more support, so you find an expert. That’s what the How2be program is for: It’s an expert source to help you learn how to be a transformative principal.
Finally, maybe you need the mastermind or 1 on 1 coaching for you.

investment

Whatever kind of support you end up going with, you have to invest in that support. Support is not you finding someone to solve your problem for you. It is getting help to solve your own problem.
Sometimes that investment is low, as it is in PLNs, blogs, podcasts, youtube videos, and books.
Sometimes it is higher, as in life coaches, conferences, and courses.
Finally, sometimes you need to invest more like in 1 to 1 coaching, masterminds, or or more.
I intentionally offer something for everyone.
How long have you been listening to this podcast? Has it been a good level of support for you? If you’re listening today, I’m going to say that answer is yes.
Could you benefit from more support? Come check out jethrojones.com/how2be, or https://transformativeprincipal.com for the mastermind.

Highlights from the top 5 podcasts in 2021!

Where Teacher Evaluation Fails with PJ Caposey Transformative Principal 377
Let’s Put The C in PLC with Chad Dumas Transformative Principal 425
High Expectations vs Purposeful Expectations with Marisa Thompson Transformative Principal 376
Helping Kids Transition to College with Jen Sullivan Transformative Principal 421
Trust Based Observations with Craig Randall Transformative Principal 386

Sponsors

Transformative Principal Mastermind

Lead a school everyone can be proud of.

Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do.

I help you stop putting out fires and start leading.

Learn more at https://transformativeprincipal.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: - The Coach’s Guide to Teaching by Doug Lemov

• The Feedback Pendulum: A manifesto for enhancing feedback in education by Michael Chiles

• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley

• 10 Things Schools Get Wrong (And How We Can Get Them Right) by Jared Cooney Horvath and David Bott

• Let’s Talk About Flex: Flipping the flexible working narrative for education by Emma Turner

• A Parent’s Guide to Powerful Teaching by Patrice Bain

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

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