

Transformative Principal
Jethro Jones
Jethro Jones interviews instructional leaders from around the nation to learn and teach what it takes to become a transformative principal. Episodes address topics like Response to Intervention (RTI), Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), the latest advances in educational research, standards-based grading, and interviews with industry leaders like Bill Daggett, Rick Wormeli, Todd Whitaker and even people outside the education like Seth Godin, JeVon McCormick, Liz Wiseman, and more.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 1, 2020 • 35min
Obstatunity with Nancy Conrad Transformative Principal 357
Nancy Conrad is the founder of the Conrad Challenge, a global competition to help kids learn without limitations. Global competition for teams of students 13–18. Students are invited to combine innovation, education, and entrepreneurship to create something new. Students form teams and ind a coach. Summit hosted at Kennedy Space Center. As students are looking for unique opportunities for competition - kids can work across all possible barriers. We’ve been doing online education for 15 years. How to work on a team? Pushing education vs pulling education We believe in “pull” education Obstatunity They get engaged in their learning. Each of them has achieved extraordinary things. We gave kids the passion for learning. four years to get to the finals and they finally won. Always wanted it to be a community. It becomes family. Kids get talked at quite enough. Cosmic chat. Battelle - story about networking. It’s not snooty and it’s not about money. We facilitate collaboration. Any company is a conglomeration of really great people doing really great work. Hire amazing people and let them do their thing. Nobox toolbox. Today’s Sponsors TeachFX Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.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: Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard 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
LinkedLeaders: You need support. Get just-in-time mentoring at LinkedLeaders.comWe’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.

Oct 31, 2020 • 39min
School is a Verb with Amy Valentine Transformative Principal 356
Amy Valentine, Leader at Future of School has been called a social rabble rouser, a turnaround strategist and a fighter of the status quo in K–12 education. She has served as a teacher, school leader and executive director. Gives scholarships to students and grants to teachers. National Non-profit to support the changing of schools. Why parents seek alternative methods of education. Why wasn’t emergency learning effective in spring 2020? We haven’t reached a tipping point. COVID 19 taught us that school is verb. How to demonstrate learning differently? It doesn’t take a lot of money. Fixed mindsets can be damaging. Education is a personal thing for everyone. Whatever it takes, all hands on deck. Seeing education from a different perspective. Role of teacher was elevated during pandemic. buzzword - student-centered learning. Crisis schooling - is not remote learning. You need to listen to that voice inside you. You’ve got all this education figured out. How to be a transformative principal? Bring your community together through 1 or 2 different mediums. Stay connected even if you don’t know your plan. Some data: American public perception of the K–12 education system has been remained steadily low over the last 20 years According to the most recent Gallup Poll, 47% of Americans expressed dissatisfaction with the K–12 education system (2019) According to the 2018 Gallup Poll, 71% of parents expressed satisfaction with the K–12 education system (2018) Americans’ Satisfaction With U.S. Education at 15-Year High [Gallup Satisfaction Surveys on Education]
(https://news.gallup.com/poll/1612/education.aspx) Seven in 10 Parents Satisfied With Their Child’s Education Why the discrepancy? Not all “Americans” are parents; some are older and do not resonate with that title, others do not have children but own businesses; everyone pays taxes that go to schools; Not all “Americans” are parents; some are older and do not resonate with that title, others do not have children but own businesses; everyone pays taxes that go to fund and support schools Education is a third-rail political issue– nobody wants to touch it– highly charged
* Why have things stayed the same in our K–12 schools? the rate and pace of change in public schools not mirroring that of all other social institutions, policy constraints (which differ by state), limited school choice options (which differ by state), budget cuts (federal, state and local), a changing workforce, and nearly no alignment between the needs of businesses and what is being taught as part of required content/curriculum, lack of empowerment at the local level, fear of technology catalyzing the much needed change Not all “Americans” are parents; some are older and do not resonate with the role, others do not have children, others are business owners; BUT everyone pays taxes that go to fund schools A four-year degree is not the golden ticket that majestically ensures skills development to enter into the workforce Why is this? If Americans are generally dissatisfied, why have schools remained the same, in large part? Reasons for parental dissatisfaction with district/school/the K–12 education system? Parent has a child who struggles in the school (academically, socially, personally, emotionally, other…), life-changing event (family moves, job change, terminal illness, medical condition, etc…) or another personal crisis (denoted as a small “c” or big/small “t” in their life) Of the 3.3 million families who chose to homeschool their child(ren) in 2016, the top reason (34%) indicated by families “concern about the school environment” such as bullying, drugs, negative peer pressure; second on the list of reasons dissatisfaction with academic instruction, with only 16% of families indicating the reason was for religious reasons. According to NCES, In 1999, 38% of families indicated religious reasons as the primary driver in choosing homeschooling
* Since 1999, the number of homeschool families in America has nearly doubled (1999- 1.7 million; 2016- 3.3 million; NC) A Fresh Look at Homeschooling in the U.S. Parents’ Reasons for Homeschooling Today’s Sponsors Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com 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: Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard 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 – ...

Oct 27, 2020 • 30min
Building Resilient Students with JC Pohl Transformative Principal 355
JC Pohl is the co-founder and CEO of TeenTruth.net Resilience is about taking the hits and moving forward. Hear about bad things with kids. Bouncing back. It was really in the hard times in our life that we grew. 5 keys to mental health. Why is it harder for teenagers? This is developmentally appropriate. To them it really does feel like it is the end of the world. Charismatic Adults - A developmental structure to support them. They need a touchpoint when they need it. All adults around out children have the ability to speak into their lives. Dr. Robert Brooks - charismatic adult is the single most important influence. Anybody can do this. Some people aren’t invited. Connect with students where they are. Kids form common bonds. Get free chapters: teentruth.net/resilientstudents Discount code relationships to get a discount on the book. How to be a transformative principal? Be vulnerable about a challenge you’re dealing with. Today’s Sponsors Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com 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: Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard 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
LinkedLeaders: You need support. Get just-in-time mentoring at LinkedLeaders.comWe’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.

Oct 25, 2020 • 25min
Online and Hybrid Engagement with Mariana Aguilar Transformative Principal 354
Mariana Aguilar did some field research to determine what causes students to be engaged in online and hybrid learning environments. How to define student engagement in online and hybrid environments. Hard to define engagement, but we all say we can feel it! You can feel it. Emotionally connected Manifests differently in hybrid environment Hard to read people’s language. How to turn on engagement for students, especially in an online space? You can use similar tactics that you. May do in in person learning as you do in virtual learning. Relationships! Teacher and principal relationships with families! Having a successful relationship requires connection between students, teachers and families. Instructional practices: smaller groups. Checks for understanding. Technology doesn’t have to be complex. Giving kids opportunities to engage in community based learning. Lead and health outcomes Students want to feel like they are having an impact on the world. How to be a transformative principal? Look for opportunities everywhere. Today’s Sponsors Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com 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: Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard 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
LinkedLeaders: You need support. Get just-in-time mentoring at LinkedLeaders.comWe’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.

Oct 18, 2020 • 25min
Seeing Everyone's Story through Mindfulness with Danielle Nuhfer Transformative Principal 353
Danielle Nuhfer is a teacher and you can find more information about her at TeachingWell.Life Bringing Awareness to the present moment without judgment. Taking a step back and trying to think about how to proceed. The benefits of mindfulness in self-care and resilient person in our students’ lives. How to be mindful in talking about the coronavirus situation. Take a breath, think, and respond. Mindfulness allows us to see that everyone has their own story. Would you rather be right or happy? Take time for yourself to just breathe! Create moments where you do those checkins. It’s not about more, it is about changing how you do what you’re already doing. How to prepare for each day. Some kind of morning routine - quiet time. It can be more than five minutes, or it can be much shorter. How to be a transformative principal? Try to do something in regard to mindfulness. Today’s Sponsors Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com 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: Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard 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
LinkedLeaders: You need support. Get just-in-time mentoring at LinkedLeaders.comWe’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.

Oct 11, 2020 • 39min
Redesigning School for Equity with Crystal Xu and Purvi Patel Transformative Principal 352
Crystal Xu and Purvi Patel recently wrote a paper on how to Redesign School Level Systems For Equity. How systems work together. Started with redesign systems work. We actually have a lot more autonomy than we think. Expand our self-confidence around the structures we can control. How we define engagement in school. How do we deal with criticism that we face when we try to implement equitable practices. It comes with the self work. Power Struggle within a classroom. You’re good about making a decision when you know it is true to who you are. Privilege is not about good or bad. Fellowship learning experiences. How do we create more opportunities for Fellowship learning experiences. Making sure people have opportunities that didn’t usually have it before. Ceding power vs. Distributed leadership - Giving more ownership to others. All of those decisions can come with biases and other barriers. How to support people who may have an idea of what they want, but they don’t really have ideas of what they need. How do we really change school so we are serving our families, not so they are serving us? A sense of false choice. Take off the choices that are not possible for most marginalized families. How to be a transformative principal? Listen deeply and “Ring the bells that still can ring” quote. Identify a crack and see it as a light. Today’s Sponsors Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com 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: Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard 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
LinkedLeaders: You need support. Get just-in-time mentoring at LinkedLeaders.comWe’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.

Oct 4, 2020 • 43min
The Learner Agency Model with James Anderson Transformative Principal 351
James Anderson is a educator, author, and speaker and a master of mindset work. Today we are talking about Learner Agency. Anders Ericson - purposeful practice. Agile Learner - capable of growth, but also knows how to go about achieving the growth. What it means to achieve the growth in life. Growth mindset is how much you see yourself as a learner. How do I get really good at achieving that growth. What it looks like to be a good learner. Five areas: challenge, habits of mind, mistakes, feedback, time and energy. We don’t talk a lot about being a skillful learner. Seeks to find out what students can do rather than defining their abilities. Performance learners avoid going to their best level. Stay in performance zone, but don’t go beyond their best. Challenges will come and go, but behaviors stay with them. Agile learner is proactive. What does it mean to be fragile. Anti-Fragile means drop me, it helps. VUCA World Post traumatic growth Black Swan Events - you cannot predict the future, but you can prepare for it. Look to the shite space in between. How to be a transformative principal? Ask yourself what are you currently doing that is deliberately focused on helping students become better learners. We don’t get Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com 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: Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard 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
LinkedLeaders: You need support. Get just-in-time mentoring at LinkedLeaders.comWe’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.

Sep 27, 2020 • 47min
In Teaching You Learn with Tiersa McQueen Transformative Principal 350
Tiersa McQueen is an unschooling mom and has a great story to tell. Follow her insightful comments on Twitter. You can learn a lot of math through cooking. What about math? Math is everywhere. Homeschooling vs unschooling vs public school Many different styles. You can relax a little bit with homeschooling. Ask your child what they want to learn. More of a family interaction. When you have choices, it totally changes the experiences. How do you know they’re progressing? Black holes - 4th dimension We live in a digital age with lots of social media. It’s never been easier to find your tribe. Our educational approach is really about having experiences. You have to get out of the mindset of being just your age group. How are you adapting with everything being closed? Libraries, etc? advice for a mind shift from being in school to home schooling? Three biggest mind shifts needed. We don’t have a schedule of everything that needs to happen every single day. Children do need structure. It comes from the family, not from following a bell schedule. Children need a lot of sleep. I had a lot of unlearning that I had to do. I always had this idea of children as people. The first thing I did was buy some curriculum. The things they were starting to learn were not coming from the curriculum. They were coming from the things they wanted to learn. How long it took for the mindshift to happen to her kids? Started to read John Holt What if we didn’t buy curriculum? You go as far as your interest goes. You have them in an environment that stimulates some learning. They don’t think of things in a linear school-based fashion. What her favorite tools non tech with kids? The tools of the home. They talk to each other. Socially involved? Finds ways for her kids to interact with other kids outside the home. Recommendations for learning more. How to be a transformative principal? Give kids some free time to learn something on their own. Not every second Today’s Sponsors Innovative school leaders across the country have started tracking online student participation using TeachFX because it’s one of the most powerful ways to improve student outcomes during COVID — especially for English Learners and students of color. Learn more about TeachFX and get a special offer at TeachFX.com 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: Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard 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
LinkedLeaders: You need support. Get just-in-time mentoring at LinkedLeaders.comWe’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.

Sep 20, 2020 • 24min
Entrepreneur-Focused High School with Cory Henwood Transformative Principal 349
Cory Henwood is the Innovation Coordinator for Iron County Schools, founder of Launch HS. What Launch HS is? How students demonstrate mastery. There are systemic barriers that prevent people from taking this leap. Lots of groundwork laid for this. Partnerships are really important. How is your partnership with SUU designed? How Launch HS got started. What skills do kids need to be successful? Start with 8 innovative skills for students to learn. State grants that support innovative approaches. One way to meet students where they’re at is to do competency based education. Design challenges that integrate curricular content and highlight entrepreneurial skills. Work with local businesses. 50% or more of time is dedicated to design challenges. Authentic Work How to be a transformative principal? use design thinking to help people know how to make decisions.
LinkedLeaders: You need support. Get just-in-time mentoring at LinkedLeaders.comWe’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.

Sep 13, 2020 • 36min
Different and Complex Instead of More with Tania Lyon and Marti Sievek Transformative Principal 348
Marti Sievek is Assistant Principal of East High School. Tania Lyon is the talent Talent Development Coordinator. Both are in Mankato Area Public Schools Mankato Area Public Schools. District from a GT program to a more inclusive program. Professional development coordinator interim director of teaching and learning. Helping students have access to high quality instruction with no ceiling. Increase complexity of work that is being done Selecting resources that will help kids. Different and complex instead of more Start with what those needs are for your community. Start with Why, come back to How. The How can’t just be adding more to the teacher’s plate. Teachers needed a deep understanding of their academic standards. Taking away things from teachers - take away the idea of being a sage on the stage. What becomes electrifying for kids is the ability to collaborate with their peers. Beast Academy and Mentor Networks Gifted and talented is push-in instead of pull out. NWEA scores improved Able to connect with her friends that way. “Tickles your brain” It’s not just access, it’s the approach as well. It gives permission to not have a right or wrong answer. Strengths-based approach. How to be a transformative principal? Help teachers to have a mindset shift from sage on the stage to a relinquishment of control AND ask, ”If ti couldn’t look like that, what could it look like?” 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: Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard 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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