Transformative Principal

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. 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 TransformativePrinc

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 l

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 l

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 yo

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 yo

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. Stand

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. Stand

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. Stand

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.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycles based on their own needs. The virtual coach guides teachers to reflect on their teaching, set a goal, and create an action plan… all based on gathering classroom evidence. It gives support between PD days  and other coaching cycles.Get a free trial for your teachers here.

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.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through

Jason is an assistant principal at a middle school who taught for 9 years as a science teacher at the high school level. After working with Assistant Superintendent on 1:1 initiative and creating his own classroom, he realized that he was able to see education in a different light, and chose to go into administration. Having a say in what is going on in your classroom can only lead to good things. How he gives teachers autonomy in what they are doing. Helping teaching find a way to try something new without fear of failure. No matter how old you are, there are people older and younger that are smarter than you. It’s not that you don’t like science, it is that the instruction you have had has not reached you. What makes people great is having a knack for giving students a strong voice. Differences between working with high school and middle school students and staff. If you’re trying new things and doing what’s best for students, you’re going to be successful. Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTu

Sue Szachowicz was a student, teacher, assistant principal, and principal at Brockton High School. Article about the success of Brockton High School. New York Times article. Letters to the Editor. State Tests started in 1993 in Massachusetts and the school was living in denial of whether or not the state would deny a diploma based on the state test. Why would a student continue going to school if they know they are not going to get a diploma? How to create a sense of urgency when it doesn’t seem like there is one. Front page of the Boston Globe in 1999, failing our kids. Is this the best we can be? Creating a restructuring committee - meeting over the summer. Looked at the released test questions. Major Fail - Shakespeare Focus It can’t be about a test. What are the skills kids need to be successful on this test AND what are the skills kids need to be successful in their classes AND what are the skills kids need to be successful in their lives? Answer to these questions led to a school-wide literacy initiati

Bill Daggett is the founder and Chairman of the International Center for Leadership in Education. He has worked all over the world helping schools improve and currently hosts the model school conference which showcases the 40 top performing schools in the country. Other nations were doing some things better than us, but not everything. One thing we do much better is educating ALL students. No nation in the world that would do what public education was doing for my family. Spoke in 29 nations in 2 years. Pulled company back to focus on America. Carefully interviews people who need help, and mentor the schools to help them. 5,000 - 8,000 people at Model Schools Conference in June. Teaming is important. We have created artificial silos that don’t help students learn in real-life situations. School Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships for ALL students Schools are organized for ease of the teachers, not students. Schools are organized for the top 1/3 of the students. Want to motivate kids? Better make it relevant

There is a little audio issue at about 2:15 (and at the end) from my new microphone that I used for this. I couldn’t remove it without removing the whole piece. Please forgive me. ;) Randy Barron Kennedy Center Teaching Artist. More info here Kennedy Center teaching artists integrate arts into the curriculum. Much more focused on students creatively solving problems. Arts integration is an approach to teaching where students create an art form to solve a problem. Still want to have art taught as an art form, Find ways to make kids guilty of learning. Find ways to show movement with content areas. Science and Poetry are areas that naturally relate to movement. Math is a little more difficult, so it may not connect with skills, but it does still connect with concepts. Kids solve problems. Kids make water cycle through dance. First drafts are not all that they do, it is just the beginning. Integrating close reading of text and other strategies to make sure students understand content, as well as dance. Playin

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 Use code TRANSFORMATIVE to save $10 Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycles based on their own needs. The virtual coach guides teachers to reflect on their teaching, set a goal, and create an action plan… all based on gathering classroom evidence. It gives support between PD days  and other coaching cycles.Get a free trial for your teachers here.

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 Use code TRANSFORMATIVE to save $10! Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycles based on their own needs. The virtual coach guides teachers to reflect on their teaching, set a goal, and create an action plan… all based on gathering classroom evidence. It gives support between PD days  and other coaching cycles.Get a free trial for your teachers here.

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.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycles based on their own needs. The virtual coach guides teachers to reflect on their teaching, set a goal, and create an action plan… all based on gathering classroom evidence. It gives support between PD days  and other coaching cycles.Get a free trial for your teachers here.

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.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycles based on their own needs. The virtual coach guides teachers to reflect on their teaching, set a goal, and create an action plan… all based on gathering classroom evidence. It gives support between PD days  and other coaching cycles.Get a free trial for your teachers here.

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. Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycles based on their own needs. The virtual coach guides teachers to reflect on their teaching, set a goal, and create an action plan… all based on gathering classroom evidence. It gives support between PD days  and other coaching cycles.Get a free trial for your teachers here.

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. Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com Download Paperless Principal.   We're so grateful to our sponsor AI Coach by Edthena. AI Coach enables your teachers to go through coaching cycles based on their own needs. The virtual coach guides teachers to reflect on their teaching, set a goal, and create an action plan… all based on gathering classroom evidence. It gives support between PD days  and other coaching cycles.Get a free trial for your teachers here.