Transformative Principal

Tom Hoerr retired after leading the New City School in St. Louis, Missouri, for 34 years and is now the emeritus head of school. He teaches at the University of Missouri St. Louis and holds a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis he has written four books more than 100 articles including the “Principal Connection” column in ASCD’s Educational Leadership.

• Multiple intelligences school
• Formative five as interpersonal and intrapersonal.
• Developing it within themselves.
• The schoolhouse at midnight
• Trophy case - Plaque, most improved attendance.
• How does what you have on your wall recognize all the students in your school?
• Jethro’s attendance improvement TED talk
• Multiple levels of recognition.
• Level 1: Talk about it. Joyful Learning.
• Level 2: Ask kids about how they used these skills over the weekend.
• Level 3: Create rubrics by which we can measure kids’ success skills.
• Teachers choose their own groups. Teachers can quickly create rubrics for measuring these success skills.
• It helps kids reflect on the varying levels of performance.
• Help kids take ownership of their learning.
• Interview with Michael Shapiro about his school where they use PSS skills
• How to be a transformative principal? We need a dialogue with our faculty. Don’t do the formative five to kids, do it with kids!
• by the time we move forward, every teacher believes as fervently as I do.
• [email protected]

Schedule a call with Jethro

Are you feeling like you are always behind at school? Do you feel like you need about 2 more hours each day to accomplish everything? Here’s how I help principals work manageable hours: Create your ideal week, so that you can leave work at work and enjoy your life!

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.  

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Transformative Principal on Stitcher

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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.

@AllysonApsey is the author of the book “The Path To Serendipity”

• This book is my heart poured out onto paper.
• Embracing all of the things we go through.
• Stumbling on the fortunes of all the experiences we go through.
• William Glasser’s Choice theory
• Need language to figure out how to communicate about that.
• This book for all people.
• Serendipity - The three princes of serendip
• There are beautiful things in every experience we go through.
• How to be a transformative principal? Be right where you are.

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.

Tom Hoerr retired after leading the New City School in St. Louis, Missouri, for 34 years and is now the emeritus head of school. He teaches at the University of Missouri St. Louis and holds a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis he has written four books more than 100 articles including the “Principal Connection” column in ASCD’s Educational Leadership.

• 14 years principal connection column in Educational Leadership.
• The principal job is so hard.
• There’s always more to be done, no matter how good we do it.
• Who you are is more important than what you know.
• Prepare kids for success in life, not just success in school.
• Been a principal long enough to see who kids became as adults
• There are five qualities we need to develop in students: Empathy, Self-control, integrity, embracing diversity, and grit.
• But how am I going to get my students’ kids to embrace this?
• At back to school nights and parent meetings throughout the year.
• 8:20: Write down the initials of people you know who you consider to be successful.
• Turn to your neighbors in groups of three or four.
• Remind parents of what is truly a success.
• Strategy for focusing teachers on what we want them to pursue.
• 3x5 card, write down the initials of 2 or 3 teachers you’ve had that are most important in your life. What did they do to make you love them?
• What can you do with your class that will encourage your kids to put your name down in 30 or 40 years?

Schedule a call with Jethro

Are you feeling like you are always behind at school? Do you feel like you need about 2 more hours each day to accomplish everything? Here’s how I help principals work manageable hours: Create your ideal week, so that you can leave work at work and enjoy your life!

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

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.

I’ve got three big announcements this week!

1. My AP is moving away! So sad. That means there is a job opening at my school to be an Assistant Principal! Check it out here! The post closes May 6th.
2. Transformative Leadership Summit 2018! Get your ticket here! Tons of interviews! Our focus is empowerment.
3. Announcing the research of a K–12 magnet. If you want more information and want to be part of the conversation, enter your email here.

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.

Brad Shreffler is the host of Planning Period Podcast, Teacher, and Tech Coach in Orlando, Florida. He is also an author and his web site is here.

Thanks to our sponsor: candou.us/jethro

• Planning period podcast - How do we fix problems?
• What is the biggest problem facing education today?
• Truly a challenge to answer, and many different answers.
• Recognize that it could be better, but still work in what it is.
• What teachers need in professional development.
• Modeling.
• Why is modeling so difficult for leaders of professional development?
• Leaders haven’t been in the classroom for many years, so they are out of practice.
• Different skill set to do the same strategies.
• PD has become a dirty word.
• The first time you do an innovative model, it will fail miserably.
• Classroom management vs. engaging learners.
• I refuse to lecture to my teachers about the importance of not lecturing to kids.
• Flipped PD model - record what you need to tell them, then meet face-to-face.
• “This is the next thing and it will be gone.”
• Inherent resistance to new things.
• Struggle through the challenge.
• It didn’t work yet.
• Crisp meetings
• Stomach through the fear of failure.
• Have an administrator who is willing to give the feedback.
• You have to push for the feedback.
• I just don’t take myself seriously enough to get offended.
• How to teach someone to have an overinflated ego.
• Build them up.
• Education is fundamentally broken.
• If people aren’t annoyed by what I’m doing, then I’m probably not doing something worthwhile.
• How to be a transformative principal? Find the person who wants to change the world and give them the freedom to do it.

Schedule a call with Jethro

Are you feeling like you are always behind at school? Do you feel like you need about 2 more hours each day to accomplish everything? Here’s how I help principals work manageable hours: Create your ideal week, so that you can leave work at work and enjoy your life!

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

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.

Leslie Goodrum is the principal of General Tommy Franks Elementary in Midland, Texas. Her school is a pilot school for the Midland Values project, where they are attempting to improve their culture by adopting values based on authenticity, service, awareness, purpose, vision, enthusiasm, perseverance, courage, faith, focus, leadership, integrity. This is through Joe Tye’s Values Coach System

• Brand new campus and so setting the culture from the beginning.
• Crockett elementary - having accountability issues, so they were shut down.
• It’s not the building that makes kids successful.
• District wide initiative for adults, but General Tommy Franks Elementary is the first one doing it with kids as well.
• Every morning doing announcements, self-empowerment pledge. Pickle pledge. Each student gets a bracelet for the value of the month.
• Vision is the core value for January, so they try to pull it in everywhere.
• Encouraging parents to attend trainings as well.
• Pickle Pledge.
• Authenticity is the first value and kids are using it all throughout the year. What is the thing you have done that is the authentic you?
• Integrity - you’ve got to do the right thing, no matter who is watching.
• Pickle Pledge - our pickles are happy pickles.
• Did you say it or did you mean it?
• Until you are ready to live it, you need to stop saying it.
• The Values give you a framework each month.
• Faith and purpose are needed conversations.
• Foundation and a framework for helping kids set goals.
• Parents are very supportive of what we are doing.
• Discipline problems are very few.
• Biggest challenge is making sure the value of the month is big throughout the month.
• As the leader, I have to set the tone, because whatever I do, everyone will follow.
• It’s not a program, it’s a way of life.
• How to be a transformative principal? Get into your classrooms, be with your kids and teachers and be a great role model.

Schedule a call with Jethro

Are you feeling like you are always behind at school? Do you feel like you need about 2 more hours each day to accomplish everything? Here’s how I help principals work manageable hours: Create your ideal week, so that you can leave work at work and enjoy your life!

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

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.

Melissa Emler is the Director of Community at Modern Learning

• Online media company to help schools change and be better. Really powerful conversations are happening regularly.

• The Testing Emperor Finally has no Clothes

• Modernlearners.com/jethro

• All of the onus for learning is placed on the teacher.

• It is the responsibility of teachers to create the conditions for learning to happen.

• Communication beats compliance, every time.

• Learning happens through feedback and questioning.

• It is the student to communicate questions and understanding.

• Going gradeless or standards based grading doesn’t really communicate learning.

• We haven’t really had a conversation about what we mean by “learning”.

• Seymour Sarason’s “What do you mean by learning?“

• People are learning when they want to learn more.

• It requires co-creating the curriculum

• Our practices do not match our beliefs.

• The amount of time we spend thinking, talking, planning for standardized tests.

• Giving prizes for testing= :(

• Beliefs must drive assessment.

• Challenge assumptions, biases and orthodoxies that influence assessment practice.

• Communication beats compliance, every time.

• Explore status quo-busting assessment solutions to provide more authentic and real-world choices.

• Let students learn about how they learn.

• Measure what matters.

• Invest in TRUST.

• So important to trust teachers to create the conditions for learning to happen.

• If we get to a common set of beliefs then we don’t need to pressure teachers to do well on a test.

• Standards and tests change based on political issues.

• how to be a transformative leader? Be strong in your individual beliefs.

Schedule a call with Jethro

Are you feeling like you are always behind at school? Do you feel like you need about 2 more hours each day to accomplish everything? Here’s how I help principals work manageable hours: Create your ideal week, so that you can leave work at work and enjoy your life!

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

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.

Dr. Will Deyamport Instructional technologist, consultant, and podcaster.

Click here to learn how to be a social media ninja

• Everyone has a brand. Jeff Bezos “Your personal brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.“
• You can’t control what other people think about you, but you can control what people see when they search for you.
• If someone googles you and they don’t see you, you don’t exist.
• Creating content can enrich your current life and your future.
• Twitter connects you in powerful ways.
• It’s about the learning, and the network you can learn from.
• It’s also about the building a network of people who know you and know what you can do.
• How to do well on Twitter:
• Upload a profile picture.
• Know your why and your what for being on social media.
• Be intentional with the people you follow.
• Use your hashtags.
• Share what’s going on in your world.
• obvious to you, amazing to others
• Don’t take it personally.
• Don’t be afraid to unfollow.
• Dr. Will does some courses as well, so you can get CEUs for your credits, lot of support for edtech issues.
• We no longer live in a world with gatekeepers.
• You don’t have to ask permission to do your thing.
• How to be a transformative Principal? Let go of the small stuff.

Schedule a call with Jethro

Are you feeling like you are always behind at school? Do you feel like you need about 2 more hours each day to accomplish everything? Here’s how I help principals work manageable hours: Create your ideal week, so that you can leave work at work and enjoy your life!

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

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.

Spike Cook is the principal at Lakeside Middle School in New Jersey. We are going to talk about Developing a leadership platform with Mindfulness, Gratitude, and Balance.

• Blogging, Twitter, and all that.
• Spike took a break, and now he is coming back in gently.
• Social media can be a time and energy suck.
• Mindful school leader - Kirsten Olsen and Valerie Brown
• Brene Brown - Braving the Wilderness
• The road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom.
• Resonant Leadership Book
• Cycle of Sacrifice and cycle of renewal
• Inbox zero and the challenges associated with that.
• Ideal Week - Sign up to transform your week.
• SAMs Time Trackers: How you use your time.
• Find an accountability partner for your most important work
• Daily perspective of gratitude.
• The Magic Book
• Transformative Mastermind - Schedule a call with Jethro today!
• How to be a transformative principal? Start your day focusing on three things you are thankful for in your work.
• *

Schedule a call with Jethro

Are you feeling like you are always behind at school? Do you feel like you need about 2 more hours each day to accomplish everything? Here’s how I help principals work manageable hours: Create your ideal week, so that you can leave work at work and enjoy your life!

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

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.

Jeff Sandefer started his first business at 16 and has run 5 successful companies since then. Now, most of his time is spent developing innovate educational curriculum for the Acton Academy and My Entrepreneurial Journey and teaching at the Acton School of Business.

• The Courage to Grow - By Laura Sandefer, about the journey of creating Acton Academy
• How Acton started, powerful story.
• Socratic teacher at the graduate level for 20 years.
• Confident that we could pull off pieces
• Sugata Mitra -
• Not in the school reform business, just trying to do our own little thing.
• Frankenstinian mashup of pieces.
• Montessori, socratic methods, game-based method.
• Pods of 36 students interacting with each other throughout the day.
• Multi-age campus.
• Age levels tend to disappear.
• Middle schoolers who may have finished calculus.
• Self-management and self-government.
• We are like game makers.
• We are not allowed to utter a declarative statement.
• There is an entropy among human beings to do nothing and waste time.
• Auto-didacts are fairly rare. Most people want to hang out with their friends and have fun.
• To stay in this fun place, you have to work hard.
• Competitive personally, but also
• Freedom and responsibility are tied together.
• Feedback loops: Would you recommend Acton to a friend?
• The harder you work and the kinder you are, the more freedom you get.
• 360 peer satisfaction surveys once per session - warm hearted and tough-minded.
• Entirely enforced by the peers. The council has the right to adopt something different.
• Parents retain ultimately responsible for students.
• Mission of the school: Each person will find a calling that will change the world. The Hero’s journey.
• It’s about transformation.
• The heroes are the ones that call against the entropy of mankind.
• Entire community can fall apart from time to time.
• Allow Lord of the Flies from time to time.
• Pure democracy, democratic republic or benevolent dictator.
• Creating challenges -
• Half come from the top, and half come from the bottom.
• They’ll be fine. I don’t want them to be fine. I want them to be better.
• Heroes don’t always win but they do always get up.
• Most difficult thing is the parents.
• Parents have to be on a heroes journey also.
• Parent badges as well as badges for students.
• How do you keep track of your badges?
• LMS to keep track of the badges.
• Laszlo Bock
• Give templates and the kids go do the work for
• How to be a transformative principal? Every young child deserves to find a calling to change the world. Every child is a genius.

Schedule a call with Jethro

Are you feeling like you are always behind at school? Do you feel like you need about 2 more hours each day to accomplish everything? Here’s how I help principals work manageable hours: Create your ideal week, so that you can leave work at work and enjoy your life!

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.  

Take Control of your email

Web Site

Transformative Principal on Stitcher

Refer A Principal

Best Tools for Busy Administrators Survey

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.