
Transformative Principal
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.
Latest episodes

May 10, 2015 • 27min
Co Teaching with Anne Beninghof Transformative Principal 071
Today, I am honored to interview Anne Beninghof Twitter. Anne is an expert at coteaching and consults with districts about it.
In this episode, we talk about the following:
What is coteaching?
How little things become problematic
Paraprofessionals in the classroom
Resources on her web site
How to introduce teachers to the idea of coteaching
Choosing partners
Youtube Channel
Needs for teachers working together: Flexible personalities, common planning time, common philosophies about teaching and behavior management.
Expectation about actually using planning time.
Try to avoid a divorce in the coteaching relationship
Co teachers Need a coach.
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Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.
Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.
Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.
Buy Communication Cards
Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com
Download Paperless Principal.
Join the Transformative Mastermind Today and work on your school, not just in it. Apply today. 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.

May 3, 2015 • 33min
Personalized PD with Brad Gustafson Transformative Principal 070
Today, I am talking with Brad Gustafson @GustafsonBrad, principal of Greenwood Elementary School #GWGreats. I’ve been a follower of Brad’s blog for a long time. He is inspiring and helps me want to be a better principal. I hope you learn a ton from him, just like I have.
In this episode we talk about:
Mobile makerspaces
Sphero balls - Draw and Drive
Working on the Work (Buy the current book: Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work)
Passport to Passion
ClickToTweet: We are saying let’s celebrate creative genius!
Three goals: high student achievement, cultural relationships, meaningful technology integration
Constructive pushback
Keeping it simple
Part 2
Teachers are talented.
Failure - Moodle forums research
Monthly theme - optional vs. required.
Transparency builds trust
Teachers do great things no matter what, either openly and transparently or behind closed doors. *Invest in digital connections to deep your learning.
Educational malpractice to limit learning based on what we refuse to learn.
Loading...
Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.
Ready for a Modern Web Site for your school? Simple School Sites is the place to go for high quality Wordpress sites specially designed for schools.
Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.
Buy Communication Cards
Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com
Download Paperless Principal.
Join the Transformative Mastermind Today and work on your school, not just in it. Apply today. 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.

Apr 26, 2015 • 26min
Mobile Makerspaces with Brad Gustafson Transformative Principal 069
Today, I am talking with Brad Gustafson @GustafsonBrad, principal of Greenwood Elementary School #GWGreats. I’ve been a follower of Brad’s blog for a long time. He is inspiring and helps me want to be a better principal. I hope you learn a ton from him, just like I have.
In this episode we talk about:
Mobile makerspaces
Sphero balls - Draw and Drive
Working on the Work (Buy the current book: Engaging Students: The Next Level of Working on the Work)
Passport to Passion
ClickToTweet: We are saying let’s celebrate creative genius!
Three goals: high student achievement, cultural relationships, meaningful technology integration
Constructive pushback
Keeping it simple
Part 2
Teachers are talented.
Failure - Moodle forums research
Monthly theme - optional vs. required.
Transparency builds trust
Teachers do great things no matter what, either openly and transparently or behind closed doors. *Invest in digital connections to deep your learning.
Educational malpractice to limit learning based on what we refuse to learn.
WorkflowED podcast
Earning Freedom Podcast
Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.
Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.
Buy Communication Cards
Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com
Download Paperless Principal.
Join the Transformative Mastermind Today and work on your school, not just in it. Apply today. 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.

Apr 19, 2015 • 39min
Building a Better Life out of Prison with Michael Santos Transformative Principal 068
I had the great opportunity to interview Michael Santos this week. He is a former convict who spent 26 years in prison for running drugs. He says he never touched the drugs, but organized other people to do it. Pretty amazing story.
Michael has a podcast out, now as well. He pipes it into the prison system to help people learn to change. You can learn a little bit more about Michael here: • PBS NewsHour (7-minute profile) • NBC Bay Area Proud (5-minute profile) • San Francisco Chronicle (Front-page profile)
We talk about the following:
How Michael became incarcerated.
How he had a change of heart.
Philosophy and Socrates.
Tweet: I needed a string to lead me out of the labyrinth. via @MichaelGSantos @TrnFrmPrincipal http://ctt.ec/B0z64+
Our system of corrections is designed to extinguish hope.
Michael’s 3 pronged plan:
Educate myself
Contribute to Society
Build a Support Network
Tweet: Every human being has the potential to become something amazing.
Students may see you and tune out the message because you are an authority figure.
Tweet: People thought they were insulting me by saying I wasn’t hard enough.
Using the socratic method.
Define the values students need.
Tweet: If they can define success, we can ask what we do to get you there.
There’s a path to a better life and it doesn’t happen by accident. Click to Tweet
Establishing values vs. defining values
Straight A Guide: Attitude, Aspiration, Action, Accountability, Awareness, Achievement, Appreciation
When people feel like they have no control, they are less likely to become the best they can be.
The Scandinavian system provides a panel to help acclimate the offender to society after a prison sentence.
We need an innovative disruptive approach to change things.
People want a better life, but don’t know how to get there.
Join the Transformative Mastermind Today and work on your school, not just in it. Apply today. 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.

Apr 12, 2015 • 27min
26 Years in Prison with Michael Santos Transformative Principal 067
I had the great opportunity to interview Michael Santos this week. He is a former convict who spent 26 years in prison for running drugs. He says he never touched the drugs, but organized other people to do it. Pretty amazing story.
Michael has a podcast out, now as well. He pipes it into the prison system to help people learn to change. You can learn a little bit more about Michael here: • PBS NewsHour (7-minute profile) • NBC Bay Area Proud (5-minute profile) • San Francisco Chronicle (Front-page profile)
We talk about the following:
How Michael became incarcerated.
How he had a change of heart.
Philosophy and Socrates.
Tweet: I needed a string to lead me out of the labyrinth. via @MichaelGSantos @TrnFrmPrincipal http://ctt.ec/B0z64+
Our system of corrections is designed to extinguish hope.
Michael’s 3 pronged plan:
Educate myself
Contribute to Society
Build a Support Network
Tweet: Every human being has the potential to become something amazing.
Students may see you and tune out the message because you are an authority figure.
Tweet: People thought they were insulting me by saying I wasn’t hard enough.
Using the socratic method.
Define the values students need.
Tweet: If they can define success, we can ask what we do to get you there.
There’s a path to a better life and it doesn’t happen by accident. Click to Tweet
Establishing values vs. defining values
Straight A Guide: Attitude, Aspiration, Action, Accountability, Awareness, Achievement, Appreciation
When people feel like they have no control, they are less likely to become the best they can be.
The Scandinavian system provides a panel to help acclimate the offender to society after a prison sentence.
We need an innovative disruptive approach to change things.
People want a better life, but don’t know how to get there.
Join the Transformative Mastermind Today and work on your school, not just in it. Apply today. 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.

Apr 5, 2015 • 22min
Trust with Gregory Leavitt Transformative Principal 066
Mr. Gregory Leavitt is the principal of Draper Park Middle School in Draper, UT. Draper Park has experienced some great success recently as a top-scoring school in the state in Math, ELA, and Science. He was the 2013 Canyons District Administrator of the Year Award Winner.
In this episode we talk about the following:
Cross Curricular Teaming and PLCs.
Agenda consists of activities, common vocabulary, student problem solving, and team activities and celebrations
Vocabulary is a powerful way to connect content areas.
How he reviews all 9 PLC teams’ notes.
Consistency as key to long-term success.
How they use a Friday late start collaboration time.
Subject Area Teaming and PLCs
Large focus on data
Common Formative Assessments
Bringing everybody up, instead of comparing for comparison sake.
Easy to take big end-of-year test when you are assessing for mastery to the standards all throughout the year.
No need for a big push at the end.
Nothing fancy, just some Google Docs that are shared between the team.
Standards-Based Grading
100% of grades are based on assessments, what the kids can actually demonstrate as mastery.
Rick Wormeli - “Fair Isn’t Always Equal”
Objective Tracker, student-reported grades, and success.
How you can be a transformative principal:
Pick one thing that you can sustain for the next 5–7 years and stick with it.
Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.
Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.
Buy Communication Cards
Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com
Download Paperless Principal.
Join the Transformative Mastermind Today and work on your school, not just in it. Apply today. 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.

Mar 29, 2015 • 27min
Common Formative Assessments with Gregory Leavitt Transformative Principal 065
Mr. Gregory Leavitt is the principal of Draper Park Middle School in Draper, UT. Draper Park has experienced some great success recently as a top-scoring school in the state in Math, ELA, and Science. He was the 2013 Canyons District Administrator of the Year Award Winner.
In this episode we talk about the following:
Cross Curricular Teaming and PLCs.
Agenda consists of activities, common vocabulary, student problem solving, and team activities and celebrations
Vocabulary is a powerful way to connect content areas.
How he reviews all 9 PLC teams’ notes.
Consistency as key to long-term success.
How they use a Friday late start collaboration time.
Subject Area Teaming and PLCs
Large focus on data
Common Formative Assessments
Bringing everybody up, instead of comparing for comparison sake.
Easy to take big end-of-year test when you are assessing for mastery to the standards all throughout the year.
No need for a big push at the end.
Nothing fancy, just some Google Docs that are shared between the team.
Standards-Based Grading
100% of grades are based on assessments, what the kids can actually demonstrate as mastery.
Rick Wormeli - “Fair Isn’t Always Equal”
Objective Tracker, student-reported grades, and success.
How you can be a transformative principal:
Pick one thing that you can sustain for the next 5–7 years and stick with it.
Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.
Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.
Buy Communication Cards
Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com
Download Paperless Principal.
Join the Transformative Mastermind Today and work on your school, not just in it. Apply today. 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.

Mar 22, 2015 • 25min
Cross Curricular Teaming and PLCs with Gregory Leavitt Transformative Principal 064
Mr. Gregory Leavitt is the principal of Draper Park Middle School in Draper, UT. Draper Park has experienced some great success recently as a top-scoring school in the state in Math, ELA, and Science. He was the 2013 Canyons District Administrator of the Year Award Winner.
In this episode we talk about the following:
Cross Curricular Teaming and PLCs.
Agenda consists of activities, common vocabulary, student problem solving, and team activities and celebrations
Vocabulary is a powerful way to connect content areas.
How he reviews all 9 PLC teams’ notes.
Consistency as key to long-term success.
How they use a Friday late start collaboration time.
Subject Area Teaming and PLCs
Large focus on data
Common Formative Assessments
Bringing everybody up, instead of comparing for comparison sake.
Easy to take big end-of-year test when you are assessing for mastery to the standards all throughout the year.
No need for a big push at the end.
Nothing fancy, just some Google Docs that are shared between the team.
Standards-Based Grading
100% of grades are based on assessments, what the kids can actually demonstrate as mastery.
Rick Wormeli - “Fair Isn’t Always Equal”
Objective Tracker, student-reported grades, and success.
How you can be a transformative principal:
Pick one thing that you can sustain for the next 5–7 years and stick with it.
Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.
Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.
Buy Communication Cards
Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com
Download Paperless Principal.
Join the Transformative Mastermind Today and work on your school, not just in it. Apply today. 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.

Mar 12, 2015 • 6min
Special - How to automate social media for your school
This is a video podcast, on my feed. Just a little experiment to try something new. Send me a tweet to tell me what you think. @jethrojones
http://bit.ly/tp-socialmedia <- This is the post that the video references.
Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.
Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.
Buy Communication Cards
Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com
Download Paperless Principal.
Join the Transformative Mastermind Today and work on your school, not just in it. Apply today. 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.

Mar 1, 2015 • 28min
Being Silly with Jason Bodnar Transformative Principal 061
Tech Club at Jason's school.
You can never have enough clubs or strong electives at your school.
What kinds of activities can put kids out in front?
DJ-ing the school dance.
How to start clubs - Just ask the kids!
Staple clubs - tech, video announcements, music, Minecraft club, etc.
It is ok to have just a few kids at each club.
How to have clubs that are flexible (teaching chess vs playing chess).
About Jason Bodnar's podcast
Jeff Bradbury
Matt Miller and his appearance on Jason's Podcast
You are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time with.
Being on Twitter can get you jobs!
How to be a transformative principal. Open reflection and transparency.
Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher.
Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.
Buy Communication Cards
Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com
Download Paperless Principal.
Join the Transformative Mastermind Today and work on your school, not just in it. Apply today. 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.