Description:

How are you? I confess to having mixed emotions about how to respond to this question. On the one hand, I’m having fun in my business and everyone around me is healthy. On the other hand, I have a lot of friends worried about losing their jobs to anti-DEI policies, my favorite national forests are less safe because of ranger firings, and there are people in my community worried about being deported. I felt this similar mix of emotions during COVID. Today, my guest and I will dig into how to lead yourself and others in this fragmented and disconcerting time.

Sponsor Spot 1:
Before we get started, I would like to thank Summer Pops Math Workbooks for sponsoring today’s show. The team at Summer Pops are educators with a passion for preventing the backwards summer slide in math, and Summer Pops is a unique and engaging approach to summer enrichment. I encourage you to connect with Summer Pops for free workbook samples. Go to https://summerpopsworkbooks.com/sample-request-page/ to get your free copy and of course, the link is in the show notes.

Guest Bio:

Dr. Alford-Keith is a central services leader at one of the nation's largest school districts. Her areas of expertise are in strategic planning, innovation, equity, and family engagement. She's joining me today to talk about what it's like right now to be navigating our latest round of "uncertain" times as public schools leaders.

Warmup questions:

• We always like to start with a celebration. What are you celebrating today?
• How are you?

Questions/Topics/Prompts

• Pre-question: What’s the range of impact on leaders’ emotional states based on the uncertainties out there?
• It’s a wild time to be an educational leader. We preach about self-care, now more than ever, but it is easy for those suggestions to ring hollow. I’d like to talk about the ways we nurture our own resilience. I want to break this down into a couple areas:
  • What we do for ourselves outside of the work.
  • How we build intellectual and technical resilience
  • How we nurture our own resilience in collaboration with others.

Sponsor Spot 4:
Before we wrap, I’d like to thank Kaleidoscope Adventures for sponsoring today’s show. Lots of companies can help you organize class trips, but Kaleidoscope helps you organize adventures – because isn’t that what student trips should be? Kaleidscope is a full-service tour company offering a range of adventure opportunities and they excel at customizing trips based on your unique context, needs, and goals. Kaleidoscope offers exceptional travel experiences for students (and their group leaders). Thinking about student travel? Reach out to Kaleidoscope using the link in the show notes.

Closing thoughts:

• Connection and community sustain resilience
• Focus on what you control and ignore the noise
• You can’t do everything – take time to invest in your well-being
• The mode of your response dictates the mode of access

Sponsorship:

I want to thank IXL for sponsoring this podcast…

Everyone talks about the power of data-driven instruction. But what does that actually look like? Look no further than IXL, the ultimate online learning and teaching platform for K to 12. 

IXL gives you meaningful insights that drive real progress, and research can prove it. Studies across 45 states show that schools who use IXL outperform other schools on state tests. Educators who use IXL love that they can easily see how their school is performing in real-time to make better instructional decisions. 

And IXL doesn’t stop at just data. IXL also brings an entire ecosystem of resources for your teachers, with a complete curriculum, personalized learning plans, and so much more. 

It’s no wonder that IXL is used in 95 of the top 100 school districts. Ready to join them? Visit http://ixl.com/assistant to get started.

Thank you to our sponsors!

• IXL: https://www.ixl.com/assistant 
• SummerPops: https://summerpopsworkbooks.com/sample-request-page/ 
• Kaleidoscope Adventures: https://www.kaleidoscopeadventures.com/the-assistant-principal-podcast-kaleidoscope-adventures/
• digiCOACH: https://digicoach.com/ 

Leigh Ann’s LinkedIn 

Frederick’s Links:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ 

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting 

Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/fdf37cbf3a 

The Strategic Leader’s Guide to Reclaiming Purpose: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWRS2F6N?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520