Transformative Principal

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Robert Feirsen and Dr. Seth Weitzman about their new book From Conflict to Collaboration: A School Leader’s Guide to Unleashing Conflict’s Problem-Solving Power.

We talk about how to avoid conflict, the three A’s to approach conflict, and much more.

About the Guests
Dr. Robert Feirsen is currently an associate professor and coordinator of the Educational Leadership Program at Manhattanville College. Previously, he was assistant professor and chair of the Education Department at the New York Institute of Technology. A former SAANYS member, Dr. Feirsen enjoyed a distinguished career in P-12 schools. As a school building leader in Westchester and Nassau Counties, he served as an elementary school principal, a middle school assistant principal, and a middle school principal. At the central office level, he served as an assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, deputy superintendent, and superintendent of schools. Dr. Feirsen taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels as a social studies and special education teacher in schools in New York City before moving into supervisory roles. Dr. Feirsen holds an Ed.D. from Fordham University. Dr. Feirsen’s research interests include addressing organizational conflict, the school principal-school counselor relationship, principal and teacher retention, the relationship between psychological ownership and professional learning, college readiness, and the applications of design thinking. His research and other articles have been published in a number of academic journals, as well as Educational Leadership and Education Week. Dr. Feirsen has led workshops at such venues as ASCD, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). With Seth Weitzman, he has presented at national and statewide conferences including ASCD, the New York State Council of School Superintendents (NYSCOSS), and the New York Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (NYACTE). Seth Weitzman is also the co-author of From Conflict to Collaboration: A School Leader’s Guide to Unleashing Conflict’s Problem-Solving Power and How to Get the Teaching Job You Want.

Dr. Seth Weitzman sat in a middle school principal’s chair for 27 years in Nassau and Westchester counties. Leadership positions included co-president of the Mamaroneck administrators’ union, president of the Nassau County, and later, the Westchester County Middle School Principals’ Association, and a New York State Middle-Level Liaison (a working group of principals representing every county and BOCES in New York State meeting with NYSED officials). Together with Dr. Robert Feirsen, he is the co-author of two books: How to Get the Teaching Job You Want and From Conflict to Collaboration: A School Leader’s Guide to Unleashing Conflict’s Problem-Solving Power. He is either author or co-author of a number of articles published in national education journals including Educational Leadership and American Middle-Level Education Magazine. Drs. Feirsen and Weitzman have presented in numerous professional association conferences at the county, state, and local levels (e.g. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, American Association of School Personnel Administrators, New York State Middle School Association, New York State Association of Teacher Educators) and graduate-level classes (Teachers College, Bank Street College of Education). He is currently Senior Instructor in the Mercy College Educational Leadership Department. His 40-year education career began teaching elementary school and middle school in Connecticut and New York City. He holds an EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University.

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 and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

Shelley Groves is an assistant superintendent of a Career Technical Education Planning District in Ohio. In this podcast, she shares her experiences with CTE, work-based learning experiences, how she keeps kids from failing, and how she has changed the curriculum to give students more choice while still focusing on the standards. She also talks about the collaboration between the two campuses and the Focus Friday pilot program that has helped to build more effective relationships.

• In Ohio, CTE can be delivered several different ways: career technical planning district
• One exceptional experience. 2 campuses, Fairfield and Franklin Counties
• Only juniors and seniors.
• From career exploration to workforce development.
• How far do kids have to travel. 1 hour bus ride for some.
• Perkins funding comes with CTE.
• Required to have work-based learning experiences.
• Failure is not an option.
• My students don’t fail, because I don’t give them an option.
• Kids are leaving and working on the job.
• AASA last year - listening to one of the speakers. Why are we afraid to ask for student feedback.
• What are we afraid they are going to say?
• Looking at our curriculum, students who come here are hands-on, but over the past years, our academic model didn’t reflect what’s happening in our CTE labs.
• How do we help students love the academic model?
• Gave students Children’s literature class and Inquiry passion projects based on their own interests.
• Some students don’t report to campus at all.
• Stopped doing English 11 and started giving kids more choice so they could focus on the standards.
• Scary thing for teachers because they have to learn with the students.
• The teacher already knows the standards.
• Are you getting what you need from this class?
• Two campuses - struggling with collaboration.
• Two schools working independently of each other.
• Teachers wondering if they are going to go through it every year?
• How do we make classes sufficient so that kids can do things in any section or period?
• Applied academics - kids who are in construction go to each of their classes together.
• Students’ concerns are that they don’t want to be identified by just their program.
• Pilot Program - Focus Fridays - no classes on those days, different sessions you can attend.
• How different classes have helped teachers build more effective relationships.
• Kids really feel like the school is committed to them as an individual.
• Passion for learning, what better way to model this than to give kids opportunities to do what classes they want.
• Applications are up by 300 students.
• Lots of communication behind the “Why”
• How can you fix the academic part of it?
• Why are we teaching what we’re teaching and how are we teaching it?
• How to be a transformative Principal? Try something new. Model something new for your staff and don’t give up.

About our Guest

Shelley Groves has been in education for 25 years, started as teacher of math and now overseeing curriculum as assistant superintendent of a CTE Planning District. They serve 16 schools districts 

About our Host

Jethro Jones, 2017 Digital Principal of the Year, is a former principal and founder of the BE Podcast Network. He is also the author of the books How to be a Transformative Principal and SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves! Jethro currently speaks around the country on a variety of subjects from principal leadership to student driven learning. Jethro has worked as a principal at all K–12 levels, including a prison school, a district coach, distance learning team lead, and English teacher.

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 and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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 is a continuation of our coaching calls with Eric Makelky. Please check in our previous episodes 527, 523, 519, 514, 510, 506, and 501

In this episode we talk about dealing with difficult parents. - Celebration - Just calling someone who applied. - Someone applying - Reaching out immediately - Making it personal. - Parents - How to get them on your team? - 25–30 parents now on the advisory council. - Challenges with parents - Being a successful principal is about being popular and making everyone happy. - Parents can be really challenging. - Education is the parents’ responsibility and we are here to help out. - What about when there isn’t a reason? - I’m recording this conversation…Me, too. - Would you like me to send a copy to you? - Intimidation approaches - Next time: so many things to learn that I didn’t have things in place for helping new staff. How do I help new staff transition in? Sponsors 

Transformative Principal Mastermind

Lead a school everyone can be proud of.

Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do.

I help you stop putting out fires and start leading.

Learn more at https://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 and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

Jack Arend joined the AWSP team in July 2019. He has served in education since 1989 as an elementary, middle and high school music teacher. He began his building leadership career in the fall of 2006 as the principal of Peter G. Schmidt Elementary in the Tumwater School District. After eleven years in the principalship, he served two years at the Central Office level overseeing multiple content areas and mentoring first year teachers.

Jack and his wife are both graduates of Washington State University. Jack received his Masters Degree from Western Washington University and his Administrative credentials from Seattle Pacific University.

Jack and his wife Brenda enjoy living in the Olympia area and love spending time with their three children, Amanda, Emily, and Thomas.

The Move Up Workshop online version is now closed, but if you are interested, you can join the waitlist at my web site

• Move Up workshop
• Do you see your school vision in your classroom observations
• Professional Learning is self-care for the school leader.
• Self-care is how you get your power back.
• From aspiring to retiring
• School Leadership matters
• Are there systems set up that allow you to leave?
• Can you schedule an in-person event and not feel guilty.
• Distributive leadership
• Saddened when people can’t go
• There’s no “coverage for my building” so I can’t go.
• Learning is a part of our job.
• Schools are big machines to keep running.
• It’s no small job that schools run efficiently every day.
• Every moving part is not contingent on moving the wheel.
• It doesn’t always have to be the school leader.
• I thought I was there to take things off their plates.
• Delegation
• Giving people opportunities for others enables me to do other things
• Trust can take so long to develop and take split second to break
• Trust is like walking on a glass tabletop.
• Start with honesty and clarity
• Not taking things off my plate that should be on my plate.
• Let it happen, and don’t micromanage.
• “How’d it go?”
• Drafting a master schedule example
• What are their parameters, and what is out of bounds?
• Importance of understanding the task.
• People want to have a voice
• How to be a transformative principal? Get to know your people. It’s 100% relational.

Lead a school everyone can be proud of.

Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do.

I help you stop putting out fires and start leading.

Learn more at https://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 and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

Ryan Henton is the Assistant Principal at 450-student Castle Rock High School. He’s in his 15th year as an educator and his first year as an administrator. Previous to administration, he was an English teacher teaching everything from 6th grade to English AP, in California and now in Castle Rock.

In this episode, we talk about Ryan’s experience at the Move Up workshop which you can join virtually starting next week!

• Worksheet hanging on his wall.
• Helped me focus more learning on the job is so fast and furious.
• Show up Lead Up, Level Up
• Ryan’s one thing is “How to make today a WIN.”
• Moving from Prevention to Promotion mindset.
• Focusing on his destination.
• Did I make the right move?
• So many hats to wear and so many things to do.
• I always went home feeling not successful.
• The workshop helped me see things in a different way.
• Connecting with other assistant principals.
• Format | Calendar | popped up | | ———– | ———————- | | Podcast | bullying investigation | | JV Practice | Meet with parents |
• This workshop was an upgrade in my thinking!
• Making me think and reflect day-to-day
• Forces me to reassess my goals for that day.
• How the one thing has impacted his leadership
• The principal has seen it, but he isn’t sure if the staff sees it.
• My world was my classroom
• Your classroom is your priority. I’ve become more attentive, more focused
• Important to you, but not important to the whole
• How to be a transformative principal? Lean into your strengths!

Lead a school everyone can be proud of.

Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do.

I help you stop putting out fires and start leading.

Learn more at https://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 and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

In this interview, Jethro talks with Lynn Hardin about the Move Up Workshop. 

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 and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

On this episode we talk about the Move Up Workshop, where you will learn how to show up, lead up and level up so you can move up. Are you ready to move up? Take the 2-minute assessment here and see for yourself.

Shaun Cornwall is a seasoned educator and administrator dedicated to delivering top-notch education to all learners. Shaun embraces a well-rounded approach to education, focusing on academic, engineering, artistic, wellness, and social-emotional aspects. With a 20-year background in education, he has served as an Assistant Principal, Dean of Students, and elementary-level classroom teacher. He is currently serving as an assistant principal in the issaquah school district.

Shaun has a knack for incorporating technology into learning environments and has successfully developed STEM programs during his career. With a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and a principal’s license, he is also an active member of ASCD and AWSEP, and has contributed to STEM conferences and the NSTA’s Science Scope journal.

Apart from his professional life, Shaun is a devoted husband and father to four wonderful children, aged between 7 and 17. In his spare time, he loves designing and playing board games, crafting delicious sourdough bread, and catching the latest films at the movies.

• Most valuable from the workshop was around evaluations and aligning myself around her values
• Our staff will be intervention experts is our vision.
• Rubric-based observations vs. a conversational approach
• Robotic and not super focused or helpful for teachers?
• Feedback is more authentic
• Teachers want to be better teachers and my feedback actually helps them now.
• One thing: going to be in one lunch every day.
• Put it on the calendar and told people they can expect to see me.
• Having a paraprofessional out there with me observing how I was handling it.
• Why you should attend the workshop.
• You are in charge of your own professional growth.
• What has made Shaun a great principal? Other principals.
• A great principal: Mary Kay Summers
• More about being intervention experts: meeting students where they need and what they need
• How to support teachers in that realm.
• How to be a transformative principal? Get out of your office. Be with kids. Connect with kids that don’t see you as much.

Lead a school everyone can be proud of.

Being a principal is tough work. You’re pulled in all kinds of directions. You never have the time to do the work that really matters. Join me as I help school leaders find the time to do the work they became principals to do.

I help you stop putting out fires and start leading.

Learn more at https://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 and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

Ben Ziegler started his teaching career in SW Washington back in 2009. For a decade now, he has been a part of the Battle Ground School District, and for the past four years, he has been serving as an administrator. Throughout his tenure, Ben has held various positions, including a Dean for Students at the high school level, three years as an elementary AP, and currently, he is an AP at the middle school level.

On this episode we talk about the Move Up Workshop, where you will learn how to show up, lead up and level up so you can move up. Are you ready to move up? Take the 2-minute assessment here and see for yourself.

• What was most valuable from the workshop you attended with Jethro? 
• Getting our mission/vision statements into our observations.
• How we are aligning in our vision and mission
• Coherence - aligning academics and social emotional. TPEP
• What is your one thing? Being aware 2x a day, ask myself if I’m aware.
• Helping teachers be more willing to try new things and do different things.
• How has your one thing impacted you in ways you didn’t expect?
• Had a really good conversation with a staff member here and made some suggestions to a staff member.
• Believe in myself more and slow down in moments in dealing with people.
• Strategic vs. Tactical approaches.
• Perspective
• Surprised in a good way with how much it aligned with what I already believe.
• Inventory of gratitude
• If someone is considering attending this workshop, what advice would you give them? 
• What is your vision for your career? 
• Started coaching middle school sports at 19 years old. Loved teaching and coaching.
• Be the head coach of a school.
• You work with people to improve their schools but help them be the best they can be.
• Knowing when to pull back and when to push.
• It comes down to relationships.
• It often comes down to the right question at the right time.
• Let people sit there.
• How to be a transformative Principal? Figure out your one thing for yourself - go out and observe and listen.

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 and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

Take our free quiz to see if you’re ready to become a principal! Get personalized feedback and actionable steps for improvement. Start your journey to educational leadership success today!

In this episode, we are continuing our coaching conversations with Eric. Please check in our previous episodes 523 519 514, 510, 506, and 501

We are talking about how we finally met in person! We have known each other for years, but haven't met yet! Here's the outline of the rest of what we talk about: 

• Schoolai.com

• Chapter on hiring from How to be a Transformative Principal

• Recruiting and hiring

• What do we need to do differently to be more flexible

• Knowing how few applicants there are, how can we recruit differently? 

• What is good?

• Easy to fill out applications

• Vacancies open sooner

• Early for traditional 

• What do you not feel good about?

• Don’t know how much difference teacher fairs make or not

• Like having a presence at a job fair. 

• Very few graduates in programs

• Internet has changed the application process

• How much schools social media helps?

• Suggestions for Improving

• Attract people to come to your school.

• Get on the phone and talk to them about what you offer at the school. 

• “We need a body”

• Worried to non-renew a teacher because they’re not going to get any applicants.

• Always be recruiting

• Look for talent everywhere

• Build a pipeline and keep in touch. 

• Letter of intent for returning to their home district and get a bonus. 

• Build a longer district pipeline.

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 and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.

In this episode, we’re bringing you a conversation from The Authority Podcast, part of the Be Podcast Network. 

Today’s guest is international best-selling author and business leader Mark Miller, Vice President of High Performance Leadership for Chick-Fil-A. 

Culture Rules: The Leader's Guide to Creating the Ultimate Competitive Advantage is Mark’s 11th book. He currently has over one million books in print in more than twenty-five languages.

Ross and Mark discuss:

• 71% of U.S. leaders believe culture is their #1 most powerful tool to drive performance, but enhancing culture ranks low on their priority list — why the gap?
• First move: decide and declare what you're trying to create. Culture needs to be explicit. 
• The 3 Culture Rules: Aspire, Amplify, Adapt
• What does culture mean to your customers?
• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wanted to shift the company from being “know-it-alls” to “learn-it-alls” — what did Mark learn while working on the book?
• The “magic circle” of game design and how it explains culture. 
• What Mark learned about innovation and purpose. 
• Measuring culture

Culture Rules is now available for purchase, with a number of bonuses available for individual and bulk orders. Learn about them here: https://www.leadeveryday.com 

The Authority is a weekly podcast featuring interviews with leading authors from the education world and beyond. Host Ross Romano, a leadership coach, storytelling strategist and edtech advisor, draws out their invaluable insights on leadership, culture-building, transformation, and student & educator success.

Subscribe to The Authority:

• Apple: https://apple.co/3ePnTea 
• Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3JxkyeX 
• RSS: https://feeds.libsyn.com/425789/rss 

Connect on social media:

Mark Miller is a business leader, best-selling author, and communicator. He began writing almost twenty years ago, and with over one million books in print in more than twenty-five languages, Mark’s global impact continues to grow. Connect with him:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/highperformanceleaders/ 
• https://twitter.com/MarkMillerLeads 

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies, a consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education

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 and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve 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.