Transformative Principal

Here is a little bonus episode with Principal Kafele. We talk about how to reach those that are hardest to reach. Principal Kafele spoke at the Alaska Principals conference in Anchorage on October 18th.  If this is your first time listening to Transformative Principal, please subscribe.    Loading… Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.   Sponsor: Sanebox Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycles based on their own needs. The virtual coach guides teachers to reflect on their

Jamie: Jamie enjoys seeing students complete learning independently. Jamie teaches 3rd grade at Greenwood Elementary School in Plymouth, Minnesota. She received her undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education from University of Iowa. She completed her Masters in Education from Hamline University in Minnesota.  Both Jamie and Ashley feel that learning should be meaningful and authentic for their students. PICE Learning is a new and improved way of teaching comprehension skills for our 21st century learners. The PICE approach gives students ownership in their learning while using the common core standards. Students are able to connect with each other and independently learn in our 21st century. PICE Learning was developed by Ashley and Jamie, they wanted to connect students’ learning to skills that they will use everyday and in their future.  If you’d like more information check out: www.picelearning.com   Gives Students an opportunity to be engaged learners. Started as coteachers Not 1:1 - 3:1 or 4:1 En

Michael Shapiro is serving in his second year as the principal of Highland Tech Charter School in Anchorage School District. A recent transplant from the Chicago area, he previously served as principal of Shepard Middle School in Deerfield, Illinois for seven years, during which time the school earned a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award. Prior to that he served as an assistant principal for five years in two different schools. Mr. Shapiro began his educational career as a computer applications teacher and director of instructional technology. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Administration and Supervision at Loyola University in Chicago. Highland Tech is a 6th–12th grade charter school that promotes personal mastery through student centered, individualized learning and varied assessment strategies. Student placement is based on academic ability, rather than chronological age, ensuring students are challenged each day. Students are encouraged to take an active role in their education and ma

Michael Shapiro is serving in his second year as the principal of Highland Tech Charter School in Anchorage School District. A recent transplant from the Chicago area, he previously served as principal of Shepard Middle School in Deerfield, Illinois for seven years, during which time the school earned a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Award. Prior to that he served as an assistant principal for five years in two different schools. Mr. Shapiro began his educational career as a computer applications teacher and director of instructional technology. He is currently a doctoral candidate in Administration and Supervision at Loyola University in Chicago. Highland Tech is a 6th–12th grade charter school that promotes personal mastery through student centered, individualized learning and varied assessment strategies. Student placement is based on academic ability, rather than chronological age, ensuring students are challenged each day. Students are encouraged to take an active role in their education and ma

Piper is the principal of Draper Elementary in Draper, UT. She has been a long-time friend and mentor to me, personally, and has helped me learn so much over the last few years. ELA in English and Math in target language Teachers more intentional in working together on content between languages. MobyMax to supplement schoolwork. Reflex Math to focus on computation skills. What she’s doing is working because Draper Elementary ranked 22 in the state in math. How you ensure good instruction is taking place when you don’t speak the target language? Anyone should be able to understand topic in the classroom when they are in the target language. Good instruction on Steroids. 9 tenets of instruction from State of Utah Listen. Loading… Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnF

Piper is the principal of Draper Elementary in Draper, UT. She has been a long-time friend and mentor to me, personally, and has helped me learn so much over the last few years. Dual immersion schools - what is the process, and what challenges are unique to you? 200 dual immersion schools in the state, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, French What barriers are there to having native speakers come teach in America? A/B schedule at elementary level. Teachers come from mainland China and local areas. Immersion teacher and non-immersion teachers and culture issues. Personalizing issues with culture. Specials to integrate the two cultures. Dragon Training Seeking input to learn what was important to the students, faculty, and parents. Blanket monkey. Loading… Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones

Henry Turner is a fantastic principal doing some great things at Bedford High School outside Boston. He blogs at Leadingtolearn. Implementing iPad initiative. Focus on creating iPad content. Fundraising Upstander anti-bullying program. Facing History in Ourselves. Asking curious questions. Kids create public service announcements with their iPads. Achievement gap strategies. Data teams Putting kids in levels, but not tracking them. Conversations and district support. The Calculus Project. Loading… Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycl

Henry Turner - Principal of Bedford High School outside Boston. Site visits is where the interview teams comes to the school to meet with the teams that work with the principal. Tips to prepare. Choose a diverse group of people. Avoid some pitfalls: lack of preparation, only asking rockstars. How to prepare people for the visit: Announce early to community. Loading… Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycles based on their own needs. The virtual coach guides teachers to reflect on their teaching, set a goal, and create an action plan… al

This week Geri Parscale came to visit us in Kodiak and teach us about PLCs. The teachers walked away energized and excited. On Twitter she is @ParscaleG. In this episode she talks about PLCs and culture. PLCs are a way of life, not a program, and that is what I have always enjoyed about the PLC approach. Loading… Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycles based on their own needs. The virtual coach guides teachers to reflect on their teaching, set a goal, and create an action plan… all based on gathering classroom evidence. It gives suppor

Mike Kelly - Principal Eyer Middle School. East Penn School District. Mike on Twitter: @principalmkelly Mike’s Blog The importance of blogging and reflection, sharing learning. Personal growth mindset post. The end of marking periods. Starting removal of marking periods in 6th grade! Arbitrary dates to complete learning on certain topics. Extended learning program greatly reduces academic failures. Many additional clubs and activities are offered. “Required” extended learning program. Perception of ELP. Time and support are the variables and learning is the constant. How to prepare for big changes in schools. Parent concerns about end of marking periods. Start with small parent groups. How to gain teacher support for the end of marking periods. The case against 0 The power of 0 Retesting and redo How to be a transformative principal? Surround yourself with transformative people. Loading… Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simpl

Today I am joined by Theresa Stager and Jessica Johnson who talk about their book “Breaking out of Isolation”. After the sad end of the Practical Principals podcast with Melinda Miller, Theresa and Jessica and Jethro all started a podcast at the same time. Being connected sometimes makes you feel isolated. On being a student again. Fixed vs. growth mindset. We are still in the middle of learning how to be connected. You must always watch what you are saying and be cautious of what you are saying. Connected Educator Series How you can break out of isolation: Jump on Twitter Join #principalPLN and create your own personal little mentors. Loading… Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show. Buy Communication Cards Show notes on TransformativePrinc

Bob Dillon Twitter Web Site is the Director of Technology and Innovation for Afton School District. He has been a middle school principal for 15 years in three different places and currently helps many other principals improve their practices. Join the PrincipalPLN Voxer group 1st order change - simple, fixit types of problems, typically exciting that help people feel good about things, but don’t really move the needle in improving a school. 2nd order change - moving from management to leadership. Changes that will last after you are gone. People start to feel like they are part of a special organization. Sometimes it is messy, people don’t know how things will play out. Doug Timm Principal in Delaware. Need to focus on what matters in the long term. 1st order change - painting over water stain on a house you just bought. 2nd order change - taking off the drywall and cleaning (or replacing) studs and insulation. Playing the short and the long game. Higher-level conversations Difficulty of dealing with mino

Bob Dillon Twitter Web Site is the Director of Technology and Innovation for Afton School District. He has been a middle school principal for 15 years in three different places and currently helps many other principals improve their practices. Join the PrincipalPLN Voxer group 1st order change - simple, fixit types of problems, typically exciting that help people feel good about things, but don’t really move the needle in improving a school. 2nd order change - moving from management to leadership. Changes that will last after you are gone. People start to feel like they are part of a special organization. Sometimes it is messy, people don’t know how things will play out. Doug Timm Principal in Delaware. Need to focus on what matters in the long term. 1st order change - painting over water stain on a house you just bought. 2nd order change - taking off the drywall and cleaning (or replacing) studs and insulation. Playing the short and the long game. Higher-level conversations Difficulty of dealing with mino

David Long, CEO of My Employees. Started the company from Author of Built to Lead: 7 Management R.E.W.A.R.D.S Principles for Becoming a Top 10% Manager.. This book is amazing, and I learned a ton from talking to David. He is a businessman, and not an educator, but he is really on point here. Top 1% in all three industries he has participated in, so topics relatable to all industries. Employee recognition programs. It’s not just plaques for employee recognition. It is normal to procrastinate, forget, or otherwise delay awards and recognition for employees. Great intentions last only 3 months. Recognize 2 people from each department. 20% or higher growth per year because of this employee recognition. Employee recognition is the greatest way to get people to buy into your vision for the school. Teachers will only be successful if the kids are successful, so we need to make our teachers and kids successful. Metrics for schools: Don’t want it to be a popularity contest! Measure what you are already using. Recogni

David Long, CEO of My Employees. Started the company from Author of Built to Lead: 7 Management R.E.W.A.R.D.S Principles for Becoming a Top 10% Manager.. This book is amazing, and I learned a ton from talking to David. He is a businessman, and not an educator, but he is really on point here. Top 1% in all three industries he has participated in, so topics relatable to all industries. Employee recognition programs. It’s not just plaques for employee recognition. It is normal to procrastinate, forget, or otherwise delay awards and recognition for employees. Great intentions last only 3 months. Recognize 2 people from each department. 20% or higher growth per year because of this employee recognition. Employee recognition is the greatest way to get people to buy into your vision for the school. Teachers will only be successful if the kids are successful, so we need to make our teachers and kids successful. Metrics for schools: Don’t want it to be a popularity contest! Measure what you are already using. Recogni

Brian Edmister is the principal of Genesee Valley Elementary School in Genesee Valley New York. Brian was a fellow participant of the Model Schools Conference. Attended many different colleges to complete his degree. Design your own session. Standards based grading. Must create your culture before you change anything. When you create a grade, you create a label. Giving the kids a chance to be in charge of their own learning. Schools Attuned Giving teachers permission to fail at something. 1 page of all academic, 1 page of social development on report card. Levels of access can be unlocked with badges for showing digital citizenship. Robot Farm Allowing kids to demonstrate proficiency. Communication build trust. How to be a transformative principal: Build culture. Loading… Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools. Please follow me on

Kyle Palmer is the principal of Lewis and Clark Elementary School in Liberty, MO. Kyle was a presenter at the Model Schools Conference in Atlanta, GA. Here are the handouts from his session: Presentation and PDF It’s about relationships, not programs. Transformed school in last year. Competition with others helps him be better. Let’s not change the world, let’s just do our best. Fostering belief in staff. Growth mindset. Katie Lawson, principal extraordinaire. Need to know the “why” behind everything. The Art and Science of Teaching Angela Rosheim - Genius hour in the library, received grant of $8,000 of $10,000 of available resources, makerspace. Focusing on being ready for the future. Project Lead the Way - STEM Solution for schools. Moving away from the sage on the stage mentality. How to be a transformative principal: Looking into yourself first, before looking at others. Loading… Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.  Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple S

Today I am speaking with Ron Fortunato, President of Trillium Learning and employee of NASA AMES research center. Listen to learn how you can get more information about to get your students more engaged in REAL projects! Project-based vs activity-based projects. Coupling students with real-life working projects. If students are able to keep up with the real-world work, they are given an opportunity to be at the table. Relationships with NOAA, NASA, and other institutions. Identify real problems, and get students involved in those projects. How Ron got involved with NASA. Winning a proposal with NASA: Pick a project they would have done. Meeting with the scientists that put Viking on Mars. How predicting earthquakes works. First earthquake sensor ever created installed in Kodiak. Real world projects cross many disciplines. “We don’t learn a darn thing when we do something right!” Rapid prototyping process - iterate and learn piece by piece. How students have actually discovered that earthquakes were coming wi

Today I am speaking with Ron Fortunato, President of Trillium Learning and employee of NASA AMES research center. Listen to learn how you can get more information about to get your students more engaged in REAL projects! Project-based vs activity-based projects. Coupling students with real-life working projects. If students are able to keep up with the real-world work, they are given an opportunity to be at the table. Relationships with NOAA, NASA, and other institutions. Identify real problems, and get students involved in those projects. How Ron got involved with NASA. Winning a proposal with NASA: Pick a project they would have done. Meeting with the scientists that put Viking on Mars. How predicting earthquakes works. First earthquake sensor ever created installed in Kodiak. Real world projects cross many disciplines. “We don’t learn a darn thing when we do something right!” Rapid prototyping process - iterate and learn piece by piece. How students have actually discovered that earthquakes were coming wi

This is my second interview with Will Parker. Will wrote a book called Principal Matters: the motivation, courage, action, and teamwork needed for school leadership, and so we talk about his wisdom that is contained therein. Go ahead and buy it. I interviewed Will in Episode 24 of Transformative Principal. A little discussion about technology. Some information on his book. How to make decisions. Write things down when they are still fresh so you know how to do it next time. Write processes down now so that you have them next time. Make a list and prioritize. How to delegate effectively. Importance of taking time off to recharge. The power of good mentors. Writing a letter of resignation. How to live without putting out fires all the time! Give instruction on the front end to make expectations more effective. Great teachers teach with both sides of their brains at once. More about KRAs (which we spoke about in Episode 24). Part 2 Dealing with difficult people. Make sure you are not the difficult person. Se