Transformative Principal

In this podcast conversation, Tiffany Caouette discusses the role and importance of play-based learning in education. Tiffany Caouette, currently working with the Connecticut Association of Schools, shares her insights on Connecticut being one of the first US states to acknowledge the significance of play-based learning through legislation. She talks about her experiences as an administrator, and her push for the inclusion of play-based learning in schools. She emphasizes the benefits of this learning approach, which not only includes improved executive functioning skills and critical thinking abilities among children, but also incorporates real-world applications into their learning process. The conversation delves into issues such as teacher autonomy, utilizing current resources, and balancing the use of electronics in classrooms. The podcast concludes with a discussion on the role of professional development for teachers and administrators in the successful implementation of play-based learning.We all struggle with executive functioning skills, and play based learning is a way to help instill those at the youngest ages. Play-based Learning - Second state in the countryLegislation about play-based learningBrought all kinds of organizations to the table to bring legislation to law. PreK and Kindergarten based classrooms should be using Play based learning, can’t be penalized for using play-based learningWhat does it look like to have play-based learning?How do you prevent play from being academized and boring? When kids are learning, it’s messy. How electronic devices play into it. What PD looks like. Play! Fiscal implementations, scheduling, etc. Organizing cohorts around the work. Grouping people together. Theme-based cohorting. How to help people get out of their own way and try some different things. If we want kids to change, we need to change as adults as well. Start small and expand your network. How to be a transformative principal? Focus on the 1 or 2 things that will make a change. About Tiffany CaoutteTiffany Caoutte was an administrator for 18 years, urban and suburban, elementary and high school. Been at CAS for a year and a half Tiffany Caoutte is a highly experienced administrator with over 18 years of experience in both urban and suburban school districts. She has served as an administrator at both the elementary and high school levels, and has a proven track record of success in leading and improving schools.Tiffany is currently the Assistant executive director at Connecticut Association for Schools, where she has been for a year and a half. CAS represents about a thousand schools.Tiffany is a strong advocate for equity and access in education. She believes that all students, regardless of their background, deserve a chance to succeed. She is committed to creating a school environment where all students feel safe, supported, and challenged.Tiffany is a passionate educator who is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of students.

In this episode, Jethro is joined by Paul Thiessen and we talk about a broad range of topics from Podcasting for the school community to AI and Personalized Learning. The Daily - One topic, condensed in a short amount of time.Talking about events or different topics in our school (purple up and science of reading)Conversations with teachers about perceptions in the beginning, middle, and end of career. Why focus on his specific community - parent coffees, video calls, etc. 20-30 people ended up showing up. Gave more flexibilityThe Puma PawdUse DescriptJethro’s TEDxTalk about Attendance.Personalized LearningWorking with Education Elements32/40 educators really wanted to dive in to personalized learning. Synergy Podcast episodes on Transformative PrincipalIt’s about mindsetChange in education What impact can I make? How does AI tie into personalized learning?Embracing AI in educationStill need to have critical thinking to determine what is good information. AI can mark students’ progress in academic standards. It’s never going to be getting the students on board, it’s always about getting the adults on board. It’s not always easy to be successful. The unknown creates more anxiety than the known. The longer we push off the future, the less connected we will be with our kids. How to be a transformative principal? Get into the classrooms. About Paul ThiessenPaul is a passionate educator who is committed to providing students with a high-quality education. He is also a strong advocate for STEM education and believes that it is essential for students to be prepared for the 21st century workforce.Paul Thiessen is a 25-year veteran of the education field. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Waynesburg University in Southwest Pennsylvania, which he earned in 1999. Thiessen began his career as a third-grade teacher at Rachel Carson Elementary in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where he taught for three years as part of Montgomery County Public Schools. In 2002, Thiessen moved to Loudoun County, Virginia, where he opened Hutchison Farm Elementary as a third-grade teacher. He later served as the Elementary Dean for LCPS at Hutchison Farm Elementary, which was his first administrator role. In 2008, Thiessen opened Liberty Elementary (South Riding, VA) as Assistant Principal. He was part of the team that started the STEM work at that school. In 2018, the school was named National STEM School of the year. In 2012, Thiessen became Principal of Pinebrook Elementary in Aldie, VA, where they have become a Personalized Learning School.Thiessen is a passionate educator who is committed to providing students with a high-quality education. He is also a strong advocate for STEM education and believes that it is essential for students to be prepared for the 21st century workforce.

Today's episode is super fascinating. Rick Meyer shared his dashboard, and you might want to check out the YouTube video for this episode because it is incredible what he’s doing with teacher data. The power of the data hubVery reactive in MTSS to startDidn’t know how to do formulas to startData entry comes from Google formsMain test scores entered by admin/instructional coachProgress monitoring is done by paraprofessionalsStudents enter dataTeachers don’t put any data in. Daily: Checkin/attendance dataWeekly: Sonday Phonics Progress monitoring - Color coding based on their MAP Scores. Monthly or as needed: Raider badges & Freckle Intervention program Behavior data - Ownership roomsProtecting the data: hLookup Query and other formulasWiping out the old data.How to be a transformative principal? Identify what you want to collect! About Rick MeyerRick Meyer is an elementary principal in Sidney, NE. He has been in education for 19 years, the first 7 as a kindergarten teacher. He then transitioned to a technology coordinator for his district for the next 5 years, where he helped implement technology and taught K-5th grade technology integration. He then moved into administration and is in his 7th year as a principal. Meyer is married to another elementary principal in Sidney and they have two children, a daughter, 16, and a son, 12. He holds a master's degree in administration and is currently working towards his specialist degree to become a superintendent. Meyer has been passionate about technology in education since he entered teaching.

How she stays at the same place for so long. RelationshipsStreet cred and reputation exist, but they don’t know me personally. Each family is a new relationshipHonesty and transparencyPeople don’t always love the news I give them, but they do appreciate the honesty and directnessDon’t need to sugarcoat things because it doesn’t actually help. Call and connect with new families. Calling to share good news. Our students deserve our A game every dayDeveloping teachers when you have a good relationship. Be a good listener, open the door for reflection. Work together, rather than against each other. 90% of teachers want to be here for the right reason. Seeing brillianceThe meat of your work is not in doing observations. Small moments of walkthroughs are where the growth really happens.Keep a sense of humorWeird, hard, and funny happens every day. Don’t make rash decisions - Somebody else thought I should make a decision quickly. Don’t let anyone rush your decisions.How to be a transformative principal? Think about students you’re worried about and make a phone call to the family. Please add your bio here: Marianne Lescher is a life-long educator. Her 40 years in public education span Massachusetts and Arizona.  Dr. Lescher started as an elementary and special education teacher and Assistant Principal in Westwood, Massachusetts and eventually moved to Arizona, where she has been in the Kyrene Elementary District for over 26 years.  In Kyrene, Marianne started at the District Office as a Specialist and Director in Curriculum.  Marianne’s heart is with children and families, so she moved to an elementary school and has been a K-5 and K-8 principal for 25 years.  Over these years, Marianne’s schools have achieved the A+ School of Excellence Award from the Arizona Educational Foundation four times and her current school was honored with the National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Recognition in 2015.  This is the highest honor a school can achieve from the Department of Education in Washington DC.  A highlight of Marianne’s career as a Principal has been her work to envision and bring to life the goal of a K-8 campus for Kyrene Traditional Academy.  Marianne was charged with not only developing and training a staff in new curriculum and instructional strategies, but also to work with architects and construction crews to add two new buildings to campus and overseeing the renovation of the existing school building, all on an active school campus!   With her staff, students and community, Marianne’s school has almost doubled in enrollment and continues to achieve amazing results and has been recognized with numerous awards.  Marianne is a life-long learner as well, and received her undergraduate degrees from Boston College in elementary and special education, her M.Ed. from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and her Ph. D. from Boston College in Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation. She is a proud Double Eagle from BC!  Marianne continues her own professional development and study through her work with the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) where she trains and mentors new and aspiring school leaders. She also works closely with the Arizona Educational Foundation in supporting school leaders and is an adjunct with Grand Canyon University.

In this episode, Dr. Erin Bailey joins Jethro Jones to talk about how to engage families in inspiring the joy of reading in children. Making reading backed by research, powered by joyConcerns in children’s reading - not teaching it correctlyTeaching teachers to be culturally responsiveTrain teachers in getting to know their students. Things we should do to teach kids reading: phonological awareness (hearing and manipulating sounds), phonics, vocabulary, fluency (rate, accuracy, expression), and comprehension.Typically science of reading stops at the first two.There’s no one way to teach readingMotivation to readGiving children access to books that they own and chooseLink between motivation and reading, and motivation and comprehensionBookmobile, printed, SkybraryGetting joy from the experienceParents are the primary educatorsYou can’t out-teach the culture of the home.Teacher PD about family engagement systemsFamily engagement vs. family involvementFamily engagement is the family system and the school system working together Power of storyFamily Literacy Evening - bring families on board to plan the event, rather than just having the school do everything, involve food, childcare (or activities) for other siblings, and give away books. Outreach is important, reach out to see why people didn’t attend. The location where you have your events is important - where else could you have the event? RIF coordinators getting books to kids during the pandemic.How to be a transformative principal? Listen to your families and make a connection. About Erin Bailey, Director, Literacy & Content, Reading Is FundamentalErin Bailey, Ed.D., joined Reading Is Fundamental in 2021 and currently serves as the Director of Literacy and Content. Her role includes serving as the subject matter expert and developing, curating, and managing content and professional learning for educators and families on literacy. Dr. Bailey has been an educator in U.S. and international classrooms. Her teaching experience spans from PreK-8 including roles as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, English language learning specialist, and university instructor. Her interests include professional learning for teachers on family and community engagement, instructional strategies for multilingual learners, and literacy instruction. She is interested in the ways that partnering with families and communities, particularly for children from historically marginalized communities, can transform literacy instruction. Additionally, she designs curriculum and professional development for utilizing play-based learning to teach language and literacy to young children.Dr. Bailey has a robust and interdisciplinary research repertoire including learning through informal spaces such as public gardens, art museums, and social movements. She takes up art processes such as film, photography, and sound mixing to expand approaches to qualitative inquiry. She has presented her work at several major conferences including the American Education Research Association (AERA) and the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP) and has published in academic journals including Qualitative Inquiry, Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, and Journal of Literacy Research.

In this episode, Matthew Ebert joins Jethro to discuss how to actively and intentionally create the space for educators to be their authentic selves at work and how that impacts a greater school community.Ongoing, authentic, and messy1:1 meetings with all the staff.Slack as a schoolwide communication tool - How to implement without teachers feeling like they need to be in the Avoid performative care6 staff meetings in one year. Use Slack as you need it - AutonomyPower of muting channelsHilarious communitiesThe power of continuous meetings. All development is personal. (The Personal is Professional)Must have holistic approaches to all things. Try, fail, cry, and try again. 6 staff meetingsThe Art of GatheringInitiatives came from the teachers, not from the administration. Grades were not an accurate reflection of what kids really could do. Care vs. accountability Schools are not families, they’re teams. How to be a transformative principal? Stop going to meetings and start going to classrooms. About Matthew EbertMatthew Ebert is a human-centered leader with 20+ years of experience in education, primarily focused on school leadership in urban settings. Matthew's consulting is grounded in his experiences as a teacher, director of academic innovation, academy leader, and a decade of successful leadership as a public charter school principal. Throughout his leadership tenure, Matthew has developed teams that exceed expectations, consistently achieving strong results. He is committed to cultivating healthy work and learning environments in which individuals feel seen, heard, and valued. In addition to helping team members consistently attain their personal and professional goals, Matthew has facilitated dramatic and consistent growth in student achievement in both Baltimore and Boston, in metrics focused on academic achievement and school climate. Matthew's leadership is based in the idea that we are all here to take care of one another.

Jethro sits down with David Bryan to talk about how to make school more worthwhile. The difference between public and private schoolsMore freedom in a private school to address issues in their schools.How to manage high tuition.All students paid tuition.Why he started New Roads to connect people. The richness of a diverse population leads to amazing environments.Schools that are worthwhile are flexible, nimble, and messy. What does the future of education look like? Schools have to invest in those areas where kids are interested.Improving the conversation by being together.Every human being has been learning from the time they were aware. “Getting Credit” for their learning.Kids learning skateboarding tricks. Fan the flames that are there. Grade school teachers David Bolton - Educational ActivistCuriosity Invited PodcastHow to be a transformative principal? Pause before you say no. About David BryanThrough a decades-long career in the trade, business, and education spaces, Dr. David Bryan has garnered the skills to be a curious and eager student of many fields. Having taught at middle school, high school, and university levels throughout the United States, Dr. Bryan gained the experience to spearhead his own venture, co-founding  New Roads School, a unique independent school in Southern California that devoted between 40 to 50 percent of its annual budget to need-based financial aid. That allowed New Roads to create a private school population that was ethnically, racially, and socioeconomically diverse.Bryan served as a faculty member, Founding Head of School, and President from 1995 until his departure in 2013. Following this, he founded his own consulting business and lectured in economics at UC Santa Cruz.In 2020, Dr. Bryan relocated to rural Wyoming, and for the first time in years found himself outside of the classroom. The podcasting space has been steadily growing, allowing people all over the world to connect. Leveraging the podcasting format and fortified by his “enduring belief that a person can learn a great deal about the world and other people by simply being curious about what folks do”, Dr. Bryan launched his largest “classroom” yet, the CURIOSITY INVITED podcast. Between the podcast, participating on several boards, and spending time with his wife, Shelly Graham, exploring the many splendors of Wyoming terrain, his calendar and inbox are both pretty full.

How to converse with Chatbots using other toolsBackground in ELA teachingThinking of the tool as a reading assistantWhat is a reading assistant?Getting an executive summary Get an idea if I should really dive into this idea. Process - find the text, ask what it is, then zoom in, Zoom out as neededHallucinations exist, but they are reduced when the text is there. AI For the rest of us - AugmentationHow does this make Rod a better learner?Focuses my time better and helps me know what I should spend my time on. How leaders talk to one another. Finding a gap in the research - hard to discern the landscape. Reading more scholarly research because I have a tool that helps me know I’m going to get something from it. Science Direct and Google Scholar to find resources.Like the autonomy of interacting directly with the source. @rodjnaquin everywhere but check out the substack.

This is a trailer for a new show I just started called A Vision for Learning. In it, we focus on the Apple Vision Pro, AR, VR, XR, AI, and the future of learning. I've already released some great episodes, including two interviews with people who have been using AR in schools for years already!Click here to subscribe and get my learning-focused review of the Apple Vision Pro this weekend!If you listen to Transformative Principal, you'll love A Vision for Learning. 

What we teach and how we teachPK-8th grade over a quarter million devoted to studentsSmall class sizes, 2 teachers in a class of 20. Started at 85 studentsIncredible amount of individual supportTransportation is 7% of the budget. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner every dayWraparound servicesOn-site partnership with Dayton’s Children's Hospital - full-time mental health, doctor, and other services for kids.Startup year - be naive about what starting a school entails. Temporary site - Fire marshallWorking with a local Medicaid provider30% higher in every category than every other child on MedicaidLooking at lots of data for whole-child outcomes51% at grade level at the start, and 85% at grade level at the end of the year.Not all roses and sunshineScreenings for character, mental health, etc. Age 27 goals. How they teach - Tried finding instructional strategies that really moved the needle. Influenced by Hattie’s work - prioritized by effect size.Teacher quality mattersBenjamin Bloom’s Research - Acton AcademyUsing personalized tools in a smart way. Zearn math program - typically used as supplementalThrown the idea out the windowMixed-age classrooms. Start teaching at the instructional level, not the age or grade level.Personality and character benefitsLooking at Age 27, and how that reflects in 1 year. Hire in the top 10% of teachers. About AJ StichAdam J. Stich (A.J.) is the founding principal of The Greater Dayton School.  Prior to starting in this role, he spent nearly seven years as a principal in Chicago Public Schools, where he drove strong outcomes for students and teachers.  You can hear his first interview on Transformative Principal at this link.