Transformative Principal

My (former) school district recently hired a new superintendent, and I was able to sit down and chat with him. I think he is just what the district needs and I am really excited for what he will bring to the table. We talked about the following: Where Dr. Briscoe got his start in education and in administration His diverse experience as a leader of schools that were from incredibly high-achieving to greatly struggling. Engaging in the community by being involved in community issues (building new police station, hospital, etc.) The political struggles that lead Dr. Briscoe to retirement from his school district. Why he felt like Canyons School District was a good match for him. Why it is so important to be out and about and seen. How to build trust. Time. What happened in the past, is in the past. Let’s not worry about it. The culture he wants to create: Trust & Collaboration. Honoring the past. How he measures the success of his superintendency, not to be confused with his job description. Why that measure of success is so important. Sponsor: Sanebox Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey 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.

My wife and I decided that we wanted an adventure a few months ago, and so we started looking around for principal positions that would be new and different for us.    We found one!  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.

This second interview with Bob Sonju is really great. You will enjoy every minute of it! We talk about the following: How to deal with cynical stakeholders. Why people need to be ready to change to make things better. How to make a good school even better. Why you wake up with panic attacks in the middle of the night as a transformative principal. The best time to change education was 20 years ago, the second best time to change education is today! The excuses we make to not make changes. There is no such thing as an optimal time to make changes, but we need to have a sense of urgency. The state of Utah lost 19% of students (that didn’t graduate with a diploma). That is 1 in 5 kids! Unacceptable! If you don’t find a better way… You fall back to how you did it before. We need to focus on using research-based best practices to help our students. The importance of the Professional Learning Communities and Response to Intervention. We don’t need to find new things, we just need to get good at PLCs and RTI. There is no quick fix for schools. We need to remove the things that A super quick overview of PLCs and RTI in case you aren’t familiar with them. Based mostly on the work of DuFour and Eaker in Learning by Doing What a principal can do to be a transformative principal today: Identify the research that drives your day-to-day work and recognize the sense of urgency we have to ensure that learning is not optional. What he has in his office or a story: Simplify and focus. Story about teacher telling him that he is right in pushing forward. How to get ahold of him (He is not on the Twitter, but he is willing to help you by giving his email address. Bob [dot] sonju at wash.k12.ut.us) Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey Sponsor: Sanebox 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.

Bob Sonju is the Director of K–12 Learning in Washington School District in Southern Utah. In this first part of the interview, we discuss the following: A little about Bob’s history and what he learned to help him become prepared for being a transformative principal. Bob focuses on making sure all students are doing their best, not just particular subgroups. What prepared Bob to be a principal: being a coach and a special education teacher. What barriers prevent a school from being ready for change. Three fundamentals that are needed to change: Why do we exist Describing a perfect school What are we going to do to make sure we get there! Conversations about structural change take time and informal and formal conversations with teachers, students, parents, and other stakeholders. All the voices have to be in the room! Establishment of norms are critical for the success of our school, and while we want to hear everyone’s concerns, we will move forward with the will of the group. The norms for Bob’s schools. The need for “critical friends”. How he deals with the fact of hearing that he is doing something wrong. One of the best interview questions: “Anticipate a mistake you are going to make, and how you will resolve that!” Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey Sponsor: Sanebox 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.

This second part of the interview with Tom Whitford delves deeper into the great things he is doing. We discuss the following: Working with 3 different schools How he manages dealing with all that they have going on. Dealing with the new teacher evaluation system using the Danielson model What he has been focusing on as a leader in the three schools: PBIS and RTI. What RTI looks like on a day-to-day basis in his school(s). What ICE looks like at his school(s). What data they use, and how fluid their groups are. Why some students might get less support by entering Special Education than if they stay in their intervention groups. How to create opportunities for fluid movement and appropriate support between groups to meet the needs of the students. WADITW (We’ve Always Done it this Way) What advice would he give to principals? Relationships How being out in the hallways is beneficial (even during parent teacher conferences). What is in his office to motivate him? Great sayings in his office and his kids. Voxer usage helping him communicate with other principals. Shoutout to @gcouros and @mmiller Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey Sponsor: Sanebox 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.

This week’s interview is with Tom Whitford, an amazing principal of 3(!) schools in Wisconsin. His mentor that taught him a lot about how to be a leader and how to push yourself and others to be better, book reads, and more. Professional Learning Communities in Tom’s ideal world. PLCs require a whole philosophy change to be effective. How to set the stage to be successful in having discussions with teachers. Power of change comes from stories. Create opportunities for conversation. How can administrators tell stories? Start with true stories. (Don’t make things up.) Provide opportunities for real conversation. What can we do to make this work, and what will prevent us from being successful? It is too easy for things to get said behind closed doors, and we need to address challenges early on, and then address issues as they arise. Focus the conversations on continuous improvement on faculty meeting time. “Jumpstart Fridays” - aides and others work with kids so they can do collaboration times. How Tom gets teachers to feel comfortable sharing their stories with Tom and the other teachers. “Speed of Trust” By Stephen M.R. Covey We don’t get better, unless we can talk about the mistakes that we made. How Tom figured out that his faculty did not like his strategy for getting them to have fun with his emails. (Background blog post - “Learning with your mistakes”) Sponsor: Sanebox Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal 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.

My second part interview with the great Alice Peck. In this episode we focus on her new assignment as a principal of a Title I school in our district. What is Alice going to take with her to her new Title I school? What is Alice anxious about in going to her new school? Why Alice is excited about change. “If you’re not nervous, you probably shouldn’t be doing this!” How Alice is going to overcome her fears. “The greatest way to overcome fear is to face it and address it!” How Alice will deal with building trust as fast as she can. Hint: you can’t speed up trust. The importance of visibility as a school leader. Modeling the kind of work ethic she wants her staff to have. What advice does Alice have to be a transformative principal? Surround yourself with smart people. What helps Alice focus on what is most important? (I forgot to take a picture before I left her office! I’ll see if you can send me one.) Sponsor: Sanebox Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal 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.

Today, I have the pleasure of introducing you to Alice Peck, one of the best principals I have ever worked with. You’ll love to get to know her in this episode. How she came to be where she is at. What she noticed coming from Texas to Utah. What she really enjoys about how things have changed since she came to her current position. How she got her staff on board right from the beginning with PBIS. The art program at Oakdale. The process of starting PBIS at her school. Practical advice of how to get things going. How important it is to have the whole staff involved in school-wide initiatives (speaking of PBIS specifically). Why an actual form for Office Discipline Referral form is important. Where to go when processes are established and ready to maintain. Sponsor: Sanebox Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal 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.

Sponsor: SaneboxWeb Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey How to manage time on social media with being a principal, doctoral student, etc. How to connect with others. It is about connections that is most beneficial. Connecting with Bill Ferriter and John Pederson It isn’t about the tech itself, it is about the real. Technology just helps you connect with others. What Curt is most proud of that is happening at his school right now. Remodeling his school thanks to a funding referendum his community. Student-produced newscast. (Led by Crystal Brunelle) His school’s Facebook page Going out in the school and snapping pictures. International Happy Day “Wouldn’t this be cool to do?” - said a teacher at his school. People make stuff up on the Internet Humility - Curt is constantly deferring praise to others and deflecting praise and comments to his staff and other people around him. Strengths-Based Leadership Great book! Great leaders need to be excellent listeners. How Curt grew to learn about himself. Evaluating others. Giving feedback that is based on what is seen in other classrooms, rather than, “When I was a teacher…” We have to notice others around us. Spend time to get to know people. Make sure you’re winning hearts and minds before you try to do anything. We aren’t a bunch of independent contractor. Techlandia podcast. And on Twitter - If you listen to this on Sunday, you’ll find something that you can put to use on Monday. How to be a Transformative Principal: Be well read. What motivates him: Nice notes from teachers, parents, students. “You are responsible for the energy you bring into this space.” Shoutouts: Bill Ferriter Solution tree Crystal brunelle 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.

Sponsor: Sanebox Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal Curt Rees Twitter is a tech-minded principal at Northern Hills Elementary School in Onalaska, WI. He is also one of the hosts of the Techlandia Podcast, a great education podcast. Experience as a principal and a teacher around the country. Why he has moved around so much. Doctoral Program and how he balances that with being a principal and what he hopes to get out of it. Clay Shirky Cognitive Surplus Every single day I learn something about being a school leader. The 4 C’s: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity Ninja video by his kids. (And the Harlem Shake) Technology as a tool that supports the kind of learning we want for our kids. Voxer App. Sharing things a little more privately and allowing for a little more emotion. 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.