I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.Ross Purdy Dean of Students at The Fay School in Houston. How can I best grab their hearts first? Want what’s best and care for them. 3rd year at Fay Being present asking questions, listening. Come in with a clean slate. I’m a goer and a a doer. Outdoor education program. With some students you have to earn the right to have their world opened up to you. 3.5 acres of forest that sits on the buffalo bayou. Start outdoor ed classes with team building. the power of the circle - inclusive Responsive classroom Everyone is seen. how to be a transformative principal? so easy to go down your checklist for the day and focus on your own stuff. Go out of your way to connect with kids. Take a time out from your personal agenda and be present 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 Just Right Reader Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your students learn how to read, with research-based strategies that are proven to be effective. Each grade level has over 100 books. Send books home in packs of ten, with video lessons accessible via QR codes on each book, with lessons in Spanish and English. Learn more at https://justrightreader.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.Michael D. Toth is founder and CEO of Learning Sciences International and leads LSI’s Applied Research Center. He is also the author of the multi-award-winning book The Power of Student Teams with David Sousa; author of Who Moved My Standards; and co-author with Robert Marzano of The Essentials of a Standards-Driven Classroom, School Leadership for Results, and Teacher Evaluation that Makes a Difference. Michael gives public presentations and advises leaders on the most critical issues in K–12 education today, including equity and access, academic rigor, and student agency. As a thought leader, Michael has moderated high-level events such as roundtable discussions between some of the nation’s top superintendents on topics like reimagining schools of the future. How Florida’s Lowest Performing School Improved from an “F” to an “A” After Partnering with LSI External operator. Overcorrection is not helpful ensure student agency after a year, nothing but love. Building All students are capable of student agency If we just control them, we can’t go to rigor. Developing persistence Academic teaming - structures and responsibilities. “My kids can’t do that” means “I don’t know how to do that” The promise of public schools is that it will break generational poverty. Photos going back to the beginning of photography. Core instruction has to move kids from compliant, dependent thinkers to independent thinkers. Give students strategies on how to have structures, norms, and codes of conduct. culturally responsive learning environment helps significantly. Granting grace to schools Kindergartners self-regulating in groups. Parents, especially college-educated parents, are constantly teaching If we are attempting to teach SEL but on it’s own we’re missing the point. Teaching and learning are two distinctive processes. The highest level is application. “I didn’t know my kids could that!” “My kids are learning without me, what do I do?” Kids are built for rigor. Teacher-led groups and then student-led groups student directed classrooms. Perverse effects If you get your kids to deeper learning, they do better on tests. National Demonstration School. Productive struggle - it’s actually fun. How to be a transformative principal? Who’s talking more? teacher 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 Just Right Reader Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your students learn how to read, with research-based strategies that are proven to be effective. Each grade level has over 100 books. Send books home in packs of ten, with video lessons accessible via QR codes on each book, with lessons in Spanish and English. Learn more at https://justrightreader.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.Dr. Susie Wise is a design leader with experience in the education, tech, and the social sectors. She coaches leaders in equity design and innovation practices. She teaches at the d.school at Stanford. Previously she founded and directed the K12 Lab at the d.school and co-created Liberatory Design. She is the author of the book Designing for Belonging. She was a previous guest on Transformative Principal Episode 121 Where we talked about #shadowastudent and Episode 122 where we talked about the design thinking process. I credit much of the work I did to write my book SchoolX to that conversation with Susie. One of four books that kick of a news series for d.school. - Equity vs. Equality - Belonging is the feeling we are going for when we talk about equity. - Work that I was doing with School principals. - Design cultures with their school. - John Powell work around othering and belonging. - using design tools differently. - Contributing is a powerful way to get to belonging. - Flow is one of the moments of belonging. - Creating a container of belonging. - We’re not just trying to get to one version of belonging. - Feel it, see it, shape it - Shape - create safe-to-fail experiments - Understanding comics with Scott McLoud - If people could only read one part of your book, what should they read? Exercise on page 137 - Design an activity to inspire belonging. Why is it so important for groups of any size to hope its members feel like they belong? When people feel like they belong, they are able to do their best and be their best. When we work toward belonging, we’re working toward creating a space where collaboration and cooperation can flourish. This is true for every kind of group, big and small. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, business manager, community organizer, or leader of any sort, your group is unlikely to thrive if the individuals don’t feel welcome, included, and valued for who they are.
 
 What is Design for Belonging? Sometimes when we hear the word design, we think it means visual design – like logos or web design. Design for Belonging provides tools that any group or organization can use to build inclusion. These might be rituals that bring us together, spaces that keep us calm, roles that create a sense of responsibility, and systems that make us feel respected. How do you use design tools to create a feeling like belonging? The tools in Design for Belonging help bridge the gap between the logistical planning of your office meeting or organizational restructure and the way you want people to feel when they participate. Here are some great examples from teachers and school leaders who have used them: Reimagining the kinds of assemblies hosted at school to be more culturally relevant. Creating new roles to support English language learners. Reinventing parent events to help parents build relationships instead of just sitting passively in an auditorium. We could quickly see how the kids benefitted by changes like this. However, we were most moved by the teachers. The redesign connected them to what they hoped to create for young people. They were able to care about their students in ways that related to their own understanding and feeling of belonging. They tapped into their own creativity and the reasons they wanted to teach in the first place. Your book describes what belonging and its opposite, othering, feel like. Can you summarize that? Belonging feels like you are seen and heard. You feel alive. You’ve been invited into any given group, and you know you can be honest with the people in it. Students I’ve worked with describe it as being in a good place and being with people they’re comfortable with. They feel validated. Othering feels like you’re not wanted or that you’re not welcome. Feeling like you have to hold back in order to fit in. Some people will have negative roles or assumptions unfairly projected upon them based on their race, outward appearance, or other aspects of their identity. My students have described it as feeling like they’re invisible or erasable. Being uncomfortable and disconnected from the group. Do you think this book about belonging will be received differently now than it would have before the Pandemic? Yes, the Pandemic has disrupted many of our rhythms, which gives us the opportunity to rethink how we do things. In addition, we’ve seen the reemergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has given us a greater awareness of the inequities embedded in our culture. Seeing the need for change is the place for design. Design for Belonging can help us redesign our schools, workplaces, and organizations to support people more effectively. It can also help us focus on belonging as the experience we are intentionally building. I have an exercise in the book: Assumption Storming. It’s a classic tool of design. This is a moment where we can ask: "What are all our assumptions about working in the office? What are all of our assumptions about working online?” We can then lay out our responses and see which ones we want to recreate and which ones we want to let go. My hope is that the book will help people see with a new lens and empower them to create change. What do you want people to understand about design for belonging? When you are working on diversity, equity, and inclusion, what you are really trying to get to is a feeling – the feeling of belonging. This book helps you use the tools of design to start building belonging and reducing othering in the places that matter to you. We all want to educate ourselves about racial equity and we want concrete changes in our worlds, but so many people are overwhelmed by the breadth of the problem and don’t know where to start. The book is designed to help people who are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion to get started. How do you define equity? Equity is important to distinguish from equality. In my work, the need for equity looks at how we each have different access to education and other resources because of history and all the cultural or systemic forces that we are (or aren’t) embedded in. Reaching equity means ensuring that one’s race or socioeconomic status does not predict the outcomes of their life and that everyone has what they need in order to evolve into their full potential. Belonging has become a hot-button topic lately. How do you feel about the current environment in the U.S. as your book comes out? I’m excited about the current focus on belonging. There are discussions everywhere. People from all walks of life–city leaders, businesses, transportation–are thinking about it. It will be interesting to see what happens as we come out of the social restrictions that were created during the pandemic. We have an opportunity here to look ahead and be intentional about how we rebuild. How can leaders and group organizers use this book? The possibilities are endless. The tools and levers in the book will help you recognize the opportunities you have in your context and to reimagine how people come together and are supported. Hosts of any space can experiment with how to create not just more welcoming environments, but ...

I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.Mark is the author of The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You. Educated at MIT, Mark has spent his career launching and fixing new ventures at startups, Fortune 500s, and academia. He’s developed new software languages, online marketplaces, new authentication systems, and tracked criminals and terrorists on the dark web. Mark helped create the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program, MIT’s “Career Success Accelerator”, where he’s taught for twenty years. Mark also serves on the boards of non-profits Techie Youth and Plant a Million Corals. Moving from linear to non-linear learning Nobody is going to open a flashcard app Jump to the chapter that matters most to you. We don’t do a good job in making content applicable to our students’ lives. Power of small group conversations. How to be a transformative principal? Engage your staff in peer learning techniques. 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 Just Right Reader Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your students learn how to read, with research-based strategies that are proven to be effective. Each grade level has over 100 books. Send books home in packs of ten, with video lessons accessible via QR codes on each book, with lessons in Spanish and English. Learn more at https://justrightreader.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.Social media: The Be Podcast Network: Shows that help you be the change you want to see! Summer of Super Cool Surprises! I’m so excited to be talking to you again today. So far, this summer has been full of surprises, but I have something else for you today! I’m super excited to announce the Be Podcast Network. I’m expanding what I offer here at Transformative Principal to include more podcasts for more educators. You can learn more and sign up when it officially launches at bepodcast.network. Launch day is August 1st. I’ve still got a lot to do to make this launch happen. We’re starting with 7 great shows that you are going to love. Today, I’ll talk about a just a few of them. First of all, because this podcast is so successful, over a million downloads, longest running podcast for school leaders out there, many people are reaching out to me to interview them, and I just can’t possibly put them all on this show. They wouldn’t be released for years! Also, I really love podcasting. It’s so much fun, and I love that I get to talk to all kinds of amazing people out there. I’ll tell you about the shows on the network in a minute, but I’m putting together an editorial board for the network. Here’s what I’m looking for (2 of the following): People who LOVE podcasts. Are you waiting in anticipation for your favorite show? Then this is you! Do you have too many podcasts that you could never actually listen to, like me? Then this is you. People who want education to be much better and want to change the status quo. We’re going to share stories about these changes on all the shows, so we want people who will want to listen to them. A list of great guests. Who should we be talking to for each of these shows? And these shows are not just the status quo. It’s called the Be Podcast Network for two reasons. Number 1, we want our listeners to be the change they want to see in Education. We know that educators have great power, but often feel hamstrung by district, state, school, and national policies. The reality is that we can do so much even within those confines. When times are tough, it’s helpful to have voices you trust talking through the challenges. I’ve been through a lot of tough times. And one thing that has always helped me is listening to inspiring podcasts. It’s powerful. The second meaning of the name BE Podcast Network is Beyond Education. While our main focus is still going to be educators, we are also going to include things are adjacent to education. We also want to think of impacting more than just the schools where we work and can be the change. We want to go beyond that. This network is going to be the best network for education-related podcasts out there. We are going to have the best content, the best hosts, and the best listeners. I’m so excited for this great opportunity. And I’m excited for you to be part of it too. I keep saying “we” because I’m partnering with Ross Romano of September Strategy to make this happen. Ross has been a huge supporter of Transformative Principal for years. He’s connected me with many great guests, helped me find awesome people to connect with, and even introduced me to the book publisher that finally published my first book. Ross is amazing, and he will be a great partner in this work. If you don’t know him, you certainly should. Reach out to him on Twitter if you aren’t already following him. Before I get to a highlight of the shows, I want to reiterate my call for members of our editorial board. We want to hear from you about what people want to hear about on these shows. So, if you meet two of the following criteria, please reach out: People who LOVE podcasts. People who want education to be much better and want to change the status quo. A list of great guests. So, let’s get into our shows. Of course, this show, Transformative Principal, will be part of the network. My other podcast, Cybertraps, will also be part of the network. The Cybertraps podcast is a collaboration with Fred Lane, who literally wrote the book Cybertraps for Educators, now in its 3rd edition. That book is all about the use and misuse of technology. Through that, we founded the Center for Cyberethics, which is dedicated to promoting the application of ethics in technology-related areas. In fact, Fred is going to Ghana to do more of this work as a Fulbright Specialist in September. I’m going to start a couple new shows that I have already done some interviews for: The Authority Podcast: One of the most common pitches I get on this podcast is for authors, but they don’t always fit with what I’m trying to do here, so this will be a great place to expose educators to great books. In my mastermind, we intentionally don’t read any education books together. We read books from outside education. It is my hope to help you have a great list of books to read every week because great educators are readers! Resilient Schools Podcast: This is a podcast focused specifically on evolving beyond Trauma-informed practices to becoming a resilient school. Resilient schools are led by resilient principals who support resilient teachers who teach resilient students. It’s a cycle, and everyone needs support there. My Bonus Money: A show about passive income for educators. I believe that educators sometimes make bad decisions because they are stuck in their jobs. One of the biggest challenges is that teachers lose so much financially when they move districts even if they could make so much more in other ways. So, teachers get stuck places. Financial independence is actually possible, and there are so many ways to do it. I’m going to talk about all of them, and interview people who are doing it. Not only that, I’m going to share my story of how I make passive income through my activities. I think I might be most excited about this one! The Teacher’s Lounge: This will be a fun weekly live podcast focused on current issues in education, and hosted by all the hosts on the network. Starting with me and Ross, and including other hosts who will be joining the network. Speaking of other hosts, we have a few in the works, and I’ll announce those in the future. Let me just say now, we’ve got some great shows that will be joining us. Look forward to this show next month to hear more about it. Finally, let me share with you again the link for the podcast network. bepodcast.network Go here and enter your email to get notified when the network launches. When it launches, we’ll have all the shows with ways for you to subscribe to just the shows you want. so go to bepodcast.network and sign up. I’m excited to have you join us on this really exciting journey. 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 Just Right Reader Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your student...

I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.Dr Briony Scott is an Australian educator and columnist, and the Principal of Wenona in North Sydney, an independent K–12 girls school. Dr Scott has a Masters and Doctorate in Education from the University of Sydney; specialising in girls’ education, technology and pedagogy, motivational theory, and choice in education. Prior to Wenona, Dr Scott was Principal of Roseville College. She has worked as a systems analyst for Italian computer firm Olivetti and spent time volunteering as an Emergency Technician with the Wheaton Rescue Squad in Maryland, US. Dr Scott speaks regularly on educational and parenting issues at community forums and conferences. It’s really fascinating to think about leading a school that is focused on one thing, like all girls. How do you see your role differently because of the way your school is structured as an all-girls school? Gap of about 2 months pay in gender gap in pay You have to be aware of stereotypes. How women finally got into colleges for medicine You can’t be what you can’t see! How can we do a better job of teaching mental health? Anything that reduces a person’s agency is an obstacle. Recognize what power looks like in a room. Mental health itself is neutral, but there are good and bad mental health. They’re not allowed to be sad anymore, they can only be depressed. Little people look to adults about cues about how to behave. Mental health - they’re actually fine, if we create a feeling of doom and gloom Pathologizing of adolescnce We do an extraordinary disservice when we write off an entire generation. Transactional Analysis Kids are clever but they’re not wise [[Wisdom]] Nous - wisdom We’re all just walking them home. Renaissance Women’s Network - connecting female education leaders to others. We create the world they can aspire to. It is massively disrespectful to people with real mental health issues. In the desire to listen respect and value people’s feelings, we forget that they have agency. We teach the feelings, but don’t teach agency and the power we have over them. How to be a transformative principal? Get some sleep. We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.In the world of education, no matter how confident, competent or experienced you are – pressure is a part of every process.  How well you handle those challenges, changes, and problems will often determine how successful you are going be. Michael Licenblat is a resilience expert who teaches people how to thrive in high pressure environments by bouncing back from pressures, challenges and setbacks. Drawing on his background in Psychology, Shiatsu therapy, and over 25 years of Martial Arts experience, Michael has helped countless companies and schools become ‘pressure proof’ and learn how to bounce back from the setbacks and challenges so they can out perform their competition. In Michael’s high energy, interactive and very practical presentations, he demystifies what people need to do to become resilient to pressure in today’s business world, and keep a clear head when dealing with difficult, demanding and stressful situations – without burning yourself out. The Resilient Principal - how to perform at your best without burning out Resilience means something different because our environment has changed. Resilience was more akin to how much you can take on. You’ve got what it takes to stretch and do more. Resilience that was required was how well you can adapt what you do to be relevant, useful and healthy. Not just coping, not just happy, but the best version of yourself High performance is not about comparison. High performance is a personal benchmark. Other misconceptions of resilience. Those who thrive are vulnerable are most resilient. Paradox within the school. We need to grade students People strive to be perfect, when they don’t really need to. The best you is about effort, not perfection. Self-management There’s no finish line - sustainability Self-awareness Empower and Inspire them to stand for something. I as the leader will stand in front. Create a destination worth chasing! Leaders need to be experts at igniting hope. How to be a transformative principal? Focus on Humanity. 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 Just Right Reader Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your students learn how to read, with research-based strategies that are proven to be effective. Each grade level has over 100 books. Send books home in packs of ten, with video lessons accessible via QR codes on each book, with lessons in Spanish and English. Learn more at https://justrightreader.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.Mr. Jorge Ruiz is the Head of School of the International School of Sosua. He has been in the field of education for 20+ years. Mr. Ruiz has been a teacher in the Primary, Secondary, and University levels; as well as an administrator for Primary and Secondary. Mr. Ruiz is an educational consultant, specialized in Project-Based Learning, Professional Learning Communities, and Shared Leadership. He received the National Merit Award for Contributions to Education of the Dominican Republic in 2018. Mr. Ruiz has also hosted and served on Cognia Engagement Reviews in several countries of Latin America. Northern area of Dominican Republic - North coast of expats Less than 250 students 27 nationalities Many different points of view. Accredited by US and DR Got rid of homework and semester exams Comparison with theater and sports - it’s about the practice Pandemic changed a lot of things, let’s make it for the better! Learning gaps always exist - good we’re talking more about SEL Rebuilding relationships - sports are not as intricate piece of schooling in international school. What’s your biggest priority? 1. relationships, 2. depth of knowledge Inquiry based to cover more ground and getting the things you really need. go beyond knowing all kids’ names! So much talk about learning gaps, but we always have them How to be a transformative principal? get out of your office and go be with kids. 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 Just Right Reader Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your students learn how to read, with research-based strategies that are proven to be effective. Each grade level has over 100 books. Send books home in packs of ten, with video lessons accessible via QR codes on each book, with lessons in Spanish and English. Learn more at https://justrightreader.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.Last month I talked about the TBD framework for making career decisions, and as I teased at the end of that episode, I was evaluating a current opportunity for myself. Today, I’m going to walk you through my thought process using the TBD framework. First, a little review, because maybe you don’t listen to every single episode! Gasp! TBD stands for Tribe, Brand, and Domain. I learned about it because a friend shared this article on LinkedIn with me called "[[Tribe, Brand, Domain (TBD)–How to Think about Building Career]] (link) It is written by David Boyce. This strategy is effective in evaluating where you currently are in your career, and can also be used to evaluate a specific position. The tribe part refers to the people that you are working with. Who are you surrounded by. I had a job just after I graduated high school, and I did not like the people that I was around. The owner seemed super shady, I never trusted my paychecks. My coworkers were very negative and vulgar. I knew that I didn’t want to be around them long term. In this new position I am looking at currently, I thought, who will be there? Who are the people that I’ll work closely with. Thankfully, I’ve known this company for almost 6 years and I have had many interactions so I could feel reasonably confident that I would be surrounded by great people. In fact, if I had to identify the people that I would want to work with, several of them would already be employed at this company. You know that’s a good sign right? I know people who have left this company, and I have seen how there is still respect for them. They weren’t tossed to the wind when they left. Articles and videos by these people are still up, still promoted and still relevant. In thinking of the kind of people that I want to be around, these seems like my tribe. Honestly, the hardest part of being out on my own for the last two years is that I haven’t really had a tribe. Well, it’s just been very small! I’ve been very fortunate to work with great districts and great principals, but those have not been working side-by-side with people on the same things. And, I’ve been extremely fortunate to work with Dr. Courtney Orr on some specific projects the last few months as well. I realized that one thing that was lacking in my current solopreneur efforts was a tribe. I’m part of a coaching program, so I have some peers, but they’re all working on their own stuff, and I’ve really missed working collaboratively on specific projects. Brand The next piece is Brand. It’s not just name brand recognition. It is really about do they align with my own personal brand. In the article, David Boyce asks if you would be excited to talk about this company at holiday parties and over the weekend hanging out with your friends. Are you excited to say that you work for this company? Well, the exciting part for this company is that I have been consistently positive in talking about them for the last several years. I’ve referred many people to them for resources and support. Furthermore, I have also seen how this company works first hand. I worked with them when I was up in Fairbanks, Alaska. I know their value, their work ethic, and their contribution. All of those things align with my brand. In fact, when I was talking with someone about this the other day, I said, “I can’t think of a company more aligned with who I am that isn’t my own company!” Honestly, when I left the principalship two years ago, I was pretty certain that I wouldn’t work for anybody besides myself ever again. But then, I found this TBD framework, and thought about things a little more strategically. Part of this brand piece is what kind of impact it enables. As you probably know, I want to impact the lives of 100 Million kids in the next 10 years. That’s a big task. I want to make a bigger impact than I currently am making. Could I make a bigger impact with a company that is already making a big impact? I think so. Another part of my brand is that I want to learn constantly. I have gaps in my capabilities, and I want to improve them. I’ve thought long and hard about how to improve them. I could spend more time and energy learning academically and through coaches, or I can work with someone and learn by doing. Which of those aligns with my personal brand? I’ve learned just about everything I know by doing. This podcast is a perfect example of that. I have learned so much by doing this that it is crazy. Ironically, this podcast is also an example of learning by seeking mentors and coaching as well. The interviews that I have done have always been about finding a solution to a problem that I or one of my clients was having. Basically, I felt that I could go either way: more private coaching or working with someone else. Either way, I could still make growth happen, which is exactly what I want. Domain That leads into the third part of the framework: Domain. What do I want to get good at? I want to get better at thinking strategically at a high level. I want to get better at looking at district level solutions, not just school level. This company really only operates at the district level. Furthermore, I want to know how a larger-than-me small business operates. This is not a one-man shop, but it is a lot bigger than I am on my own. What I would like to see is greater opportunity in understanding how to make things work at a bigger scale. It’s one thing for me to serve schools by myself, with no or little support. It’s another thing to serve districts with tens of thousands of students with a team behind you. I’ve been doing well in my entrepreneurial journey. I’ve been able to support my family, but I’m learning more and more that I don’t really want it to be just me. I want a team. I want a tribe. As I always do, I’m going to look back at this later and think how quaint I sound. But that’s just what happens when you grow! Before I get to my final decision, I want to share something that I am sponsoring: The Equity Awards. Transformative Principal is proud to sponsor the inaugural Excellence in Equity Awards, presented by the American Consortium for Equity in Education. This award program, designed to spotlight and celebrate high-impact work across K–12 education, features 27 different award categories covering all angles of equity – 10 categories for educators and support staff from every role in our schools, and 17 categories for companies and nonprofits.  Educators of all roles and backgrounds –including school and district leaders, technology leadership, teachers, mental health professionals, librarians and media specialists, and more – can self-nominate or nominate a colleague. All companies and nonprofits – including publishers and authors – can submit nominations as well. You can find all the information at ace-ed.org/awards. Get your nominations in before June 30! EdElements As you have probably guessed by now, this new position fills all the criteria using TBD. Naturally, I used other criteria as well. It’s remote, so I don’t have to move again. The compensation is fair, benefits are good and there is room for growth. Perhaps most importantly for me right now is the idea of making a bigger impact by working with whole districts. I love my work with principals who are in my mastermind, but as I have just completed spending a year with a district in Wisconsin, I can see how much more powerful it is to work with a whole system and s...

I'm excited to announce my Book Study. Get more info and join me here.Dr. Kyle Palmer is Author of the new book Parentships in a PLC He is an HR Administrator in Kansas City in Central school district. Kyle was on Episode 79 of Transformative Principal. Parents are so important Teachers who are afraid to reach out to If parents truly understood teachers roles. Education triangle - teachers and parents working together with students. For 2 years, we’ve put up a giant wall and closed doors to parents. Parent engagement vs parent enragement We want parents to be a voice, not just have a voice. Norms around parent engagement Parentship success team Strategies: Schoolwide norms How to be a transformative Principal? It begins and ends with how you treat people. 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 Just Right Reader Just Right Reader Decodables are a great way to help your students learn how to read, with research-based strategies that are proven to be effective. Each grade level has over 100 books. Send books home in packs of ten, with video lessons accessible via QR codes on each book, with lessons in Spanish and English. Learn more at https://justrightreader.com We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers’ timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.