Links I talk about: Join the Mastermind How to Be a Transformative Principal Cybertraps Podcast Webinar this month will be with Julia King Pool around communication

• Where I’m at now.
  • Consulting - mastermind leadership team trainings, cybertraps.
• Talk about student driven learning academy
  • Kids wanting schedules for themselves (and unique)
• Center for Cyberethics
  • Cybertraps podcast
• Mastermind - single best Pd for principals.
• Links to other podcasts about it.
  • Got some stuff in the hopper.

Episode 400

This is that special time where I give some updates about what is going on in my life. As you may know, several of my podcast episodes are recorded ahead of time. So, I like to give these updates at around the 50-show mark.

First things first, last June, I left being a principal to focus entirely on serving principals and schools through consulting.

It’s been awesome. I’m really enjoying it, although I was a little nervous to leave education when Coronavirus hit and there was time to do things so differently. But, thankfully, I’ve been able to help others through this challenge this last year.

Consulting

So, what does my consulting look like? Well, first and foremost, the mastermind has doubled in size since last year. It’s the best professional development out there for principals. We have talked so much about all the powerful stuff that people have learned during the pandemic and it has really been good. In fact, Bill Clouse, who you may remember said this, just last week in our mastermind.

The mastermind is the best professional development out there. Period. It’s amazing.

We help leaders overcome imposter syndrome, make better decisions, have more empathy, and so much more. Oh, and by the way, they are happier at work than ever before.

If you’re listening to this, you’ve probably thought about the mastermind, and you’ve probably had some trepidation about whether or not you should join it. Maybe the times haven’t worked out, maybe the cost seemed too high.

Well, I have just the thing for you. You see, I’m in the process of writing my next book, How to be a Transformative Principal, and I’ve discovered through the 399 previous episodes of this podcast that there are some key strategies that all transformative principals have in common.

It’s quite fascinating, actually. There are 12 things that all transformative principals have in place, and each month, I teach one of these four things in my “How to be a Transformative Principal” group. If you’re not quite ready for the mastermind. Maybe you’re an aspiring principal, maybe you’re an AP. or maybe you’re working on your doctorate! This is the program to help you get there.

On the shownotes for this podcast, jethrojones.com/400! you can find the links for this.

Here’s what comes in that: 1. 1 Monthly coaching call with me and all the other participants (including mastermind members, who get this for free) 2. A newsletter describing each strategy and what you action items you can take to make it better. 3. A monthly webinar about the topic we are studying.

For March, we were focusing on our people, and Dr. Greg Gardner gave a wonderful webinar about how he has removed obstacles for his people during Coronavirus.

For April, we are talking about Communication. Communication is HUGE, right? Our coaching call will be all about improving communication. Our webinar this month will be with Julia King Pool around communication. She is the founder at burninmindset.com, so you’ll definitely want to register for that session!

Then, in May, oh, my goodness, I am so excited! Cassandra Williams actually does teacher observations for a living. Like, that’s her whole job. She comes into your school and works specifically with your teachers to help them improve. it’s like having an instant instructional coach. So, she’s going to talk about what you need to focus on with observations. And we’re doing that at the end of the year to help you set a good intention for next school year.

I’m also doing consulting and speaking around the topics of Trauma-informed practicies and Leadership team development. If you’d like to get in touch with me about those opportunities, please reach out at jethrojones.com/speaking and I’ll be happy to plan something with you. I already have two weeks in August booked out, so get in touch soon.

Student Driven Learning

You know also, that I am very interested in student driven learning. Well, this year, when we moved to washington, we knew that online school for my three younger kids wouldn’t be great. Kids just went back hybrid this last week. So, we did something a little different. I started a micro school for just my kids, called student driven learning academy.

It’s been amazing to see my three youngest really strive in different ways there.

Is it perfect, you know it’s not!

But, after a couple months, we thought it would be beneficial for them to have some other support, so we hired a learning consultant to help them. That’s been great.

Her name is Hannah Costello, and you heard her on this podcast. In fact, when she said, on that podcast, “I don’t want to teach a class, I want to facilitate learning,” I was sold. That’s exactly what I was looking for. She’s done a great job sharing resources with my kids, but letting them own their learning.

A couple things that have been great about my kids doing homeschool like this:

1. They are developing their own personalities and learning interests. Each one of them has said they enjoy being in charge of what they are learning.
2. They are learning the power they have to determine their destiny. This is a little esoteric, but I think it is so important. They are starting to understand more and more that the course their life takes is up to them. This is a really important skill that I know will help them more and more as life goes on for them. It’s something I hope they never forget.

What’s that going to look like in the future? I’m not sure, but I’m excited about where it can go!

Center for Cyberethics

You have probably also heard that I have another podcast I started called Cybertraps. That’s with my friend Frederick Lane, author of the Cybertraps books.

I’ve always loved technology, but I got tired of teaching how to use google docs pretty quickly. I want to talk about big ideas in technology and that’s what we do on that podcast. We’ve delved into a bunch of amazing discussions and I have really enjoyed it.

We’ve had some amazing guests on there, and I’ll share a few of the favorite things we’ve heard here.

First up is an excert from Tony Anscombe, an evangelist at technology company ESET, who provides cybersecurity support. where he talked about parents believing that there child is not one who is going to be doing something inappropriate online.

Tony Anscombe 1

Another interview that was just amazing was with Dr. Jeff Temple, and he does research on preventing sexual violence. He’s out of the Univeristy of Texas Medical Branch, and he has some really great information to share. He talks about the real problem with sexting is the coersion that happens when kids sext.

[Jeff Temple 7]

Also, Dr. Eric Stephens talked about what critical thinking is. What is amazing about his story is that he wanted to help prison population...