Transformative Principal

Show notes at  http://transformativeprincipal.com We’re proud 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...

Show notes at  http://transformativeprincipal.com We’re proud 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...

Mike is a principal of a pre-K–8 school. He is a great principal and also really great at using technology in unique ways. You can follow him on Twitter ( @Techedvance ). Spending a few minutes on his web site will teach you a ton about how to use technology to improve your professional practice. Turning off the red badge for email notifications. Blog Post Classroom Walkthroughs with Drafts The Dr...

  Mike is a principal of a pre-K–8 school. He is a great principal and also really great at using technology in unique ways. You can follow him on Twitter ( @Techedvance ). Spending a few minutes on his web site will teach you a ton about how to use technology to improve your professional practice. How Mike got into administration. The difference between public schools and private (religious) scho...

Part 2 of my interview with Colin Andrews. How Colin hires great teachers Colin doesn’t ask any interview questions, he just listens to his VPs ask all the questions. An online form for parents to fill out student’s absences. How Colin inspires people to be the best they can be and ensure students have global, authentic connections. Sister schools in China, Korea, Japan, mainland USA and Kodiak, A...

This week I interview Colin Andrews, principal of Blockhouse Bay Intermediate School in Auckland, New Zealand. Mr. Andrews is inspiring. He is doing so much cool stuff, we didn’t have time to get to everything. We start by talking about the learning fellowship that Mr. Andrews did many years ago. A four way study looking at transition from elementary to middle and then to high school. Forest, outd...

In part two of my interview with Jordan Collier, we dive into his plan for observations. Really informative stuff, and a good plan for any administrator. Observations - daily schedule. Jordan focuses on helping teachers when doing observations. Attempting to alleviate fears of observations by building relationships. How to facilitate a role-play to help teachers see what it is like to do an observ...

Jordan Collier, the principal of Central Arkansas Secondary School is an amazing principal. We barely scratch the surface of what he is doing in this first part of the interview! Jordan shares how powerful this podcast has been for him, especially the interview with Sam LeDeaux How it is different at a religious school compared to a public school. Discipline issues at a private christian school. U...

Part two of my interview with Sam LeDeaux . You’re going to love it. Here is his blog How to balance the need for caring about the teacher with meeting the demands of the state and evaluation system. Evaluation in two simple steps Perspective of evaluation “your performance” vs. “service to kids”. I want teachers to invite me in for lessons that could go any way and possibly be really different. L...

Sam LeDeaux is a principal at a K–5 school in metropolitan Chicago. His forté is working well with his parents and staff. 62 staff members and 869 parents working together to make things happen! Learning that people “somewhere” doing things were actually people who were doing these things right around him. Twitter and Social networking have been incredibly transformative and empowering. [#mannscho...

Shawn is a principal in British Columbia and is doing some amazing things with technology at his school, including having kindergartners use iPads to create amazing projects. In this interview, we discuss the following: What Shawn is most excited about relating to technology in his school. Why do we use technology in schools? Learning as scaffolding and focusing on learning first, and technology s...

The second half of my interview with Dr. Briscoe, the new superintendent of Canyons District. The strengths of Canyons school district. The importance of the involvement of families. We should try to do what we are doing even better. Teacher and principal input needs to be truly valued. Making sure everyone in the organization feels valued. Honoring the past before you build for the future. Princi...

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...

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!  We’re proud 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. Lov...

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...

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: b...

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-d...

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 wit...

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...

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....

Sponsor: Sanebox Web 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...

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 wit...

William D. Parker is the principal of Skiatook High School. His web site and Twitter . He has also done some amazing interviews himself . I have learned a ton from reading those, and I am sure you will, as well. Due to technical difficulties, we recorded our phone conversation, so the quality is a little old school. But, I almost felt like a radio DJ with a call-in show. What he learned as the Ass...

Sponsor: Sanebox Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal Doug Robertson (Twitter) teaches 3rd grade in Southern Oregon. Here’s his blog or media empire homepage. Youtube Channel Facebook Fan page He is the author of “He’s the Weird Teacher” (paperback) (Kindle edition) . I interviewed Doug because I read his book and was really fascinated by it. I have learned that not ever...

  Sponsor: Sanebox Web Site Transformative Principal on Stitcher Refer A Principal In this second part of my interview with the amazing Chris Wejr, we go deeper into the ideas of student discipline and learning. We also discuss some other cool things that are happening at his school. Punishment. How to approach it correctly. How do we help students with disabilities. How to deal with parents of vi...