The Assistant Principal Podcast

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!Today’s shout out goes to… Krista8967 who wrote in a recent review:I absolutely love this podcast. Frederick Buskey gives helpful tips that you can put into action right away. This show has been a part of my weekly routine since my journey into educational leadership began.Thank you for the kind words Krista, I am so glad the show is helpful.Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 16-20, 2023. I was so excited after recording Tuesday’s podcast with Michele Matoon that I rearranged my content for the week and decided to pull five tips from the daily email to reinforce some sound meeting practices. The fifth tip was not on our show and I can’t believe I didn’t mention it as it transformed the way I view meetings.While there is significant overlap between today’s show and Tuesday’s, it might be a bit less overwhelming. I’ll prove Michele’s email address at the end of the show and include it in the show notes as she will send a meeting template to anyone who wants it. If you want better meetings, don’t reinvent the wheel, just email Michele!Five biggest takeaways:Have a clear, actionable goal, in an agenda, ahead of time.Allot time to each item and use a timer to signal the end.Write down who is responsible and what the deadline is.Put FYIs at the bottom and do not read or spend time on them.Calculate the cost of the meeting. The takeaway: Every minute of our day has a price. That price can and should be measured in money, but more importantly in time and attention. Of course, some meetings are necessary. IEP meetings are essential parts of identifying important strategies for working with a vulnerable group of students. However, the value of a meeting should never be measured on its own. It should always be measured against the alternative.Was this meeting as important as developing a support plan for a student in crisis? Was this meeting as important as investing 30 minutes with an early career teacher, listening to their story, and helping him thing through how they want to grow? Was this meeting as important as developing an SOP to help front office staff effectively manage unexpected visitors?In some cases, the answer will be yes and you should absolutely have the meeting. In other cases, it will be no, in which case maybe you should cancel of skip the meeting if at all possible.I know things are pretty hierarchical in most districts, but I can’t help but wonder what might happen, if, coming into a meeting 30-minutes late, you announced, “Sorry I’m late, but I have a third-year teacher who is considering leaving the profession and I needed to do some critical problem-solving with her.” What would be the response to that? Again, that may not be an option in your district, but maybe it is but you don’t know it? Might be worth a conversation. There is a great visual in an article in the Huffington Post in which they monitored brain activity in people attending back-to-back meetings. The increase in stress created by back-to-back meetings with no break is striking.Again, I’m not saying all meetings are bad, but if it isn’t worth have an agenda with a clear goal and actionable outcome, what’s the point?That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday… Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. As I record this, we have 19 ratings and 6 reviews – we are inching forward! Remember increasing those numbers helps others find the show and I really appreciate hearing from you.I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!Michele’s Links:Email: [email protected] Website: www.nsrfharmony.org X (Twitter) @TheNSRF: twitter.com/TheNSRF Instagram: @NSRFharmony: https://instagram.com/nsrfharmony Facebook: Facebook.com/NationalSchoolReformFaculty Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/NSRF/ Threads (logs in with FB): threads.net/@nsrfharmonyResources:The NSRF’s website: www.nsrfharmony.org (has libraries of many protocols and activities)Huffington Post article on stress: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/meetings-breaks-office-brain-study_l_638e4f82e4b06fdc9d907e03 Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Show Notes, Episode 169: The why and how of meetings with Michele Matoon About this show Have you ever been in a meeting that didn’t go well? I know, silly question. What about this – have you ever been in a meeting that DID go well? And why, if your experiences have been anything like mine, are the good meetings so much rarer than the bad ones? More importantly, what can we do to flip the script – to move meetings from being a waste of time to being powerful tools for organizational improvement? Today’s episode is going to help you do just that!Michele Mattoon is the executive director of the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF). She works with schools and educators across the country and around the world to implement Critical Friends Group Trainings, strategic planning sessions, and other work relating to collaborative learning. Michele is also the president and owner of Coltrain Group, a consulting firm that offers facilitation and mediation services, as well as tailored collaborative trainings to businesses and other organizations outside the education arena. Michele is obsessed with intentionally building healthy, productive communities through specific collaborative structures. As such, she is the primary editor of NSRF’s training handbooks and the author of many articles, protocols and activities dedicated to this topic.Michele and I talked briefly after the show and for our next recording we will dive into how to manage “those people” who can make meetings a nightmare. If there are specific examples or behaviors you would like us to address, please email them to me at fb.com so we can address them on the show. Have them to me by October 31, 2023 for inclusion on the show. Notable Quotes Michele:“That is two hours of my like I am never going to get back!”Bad meetings - “It’s a human being problem. It’d not an education problem, it’s a human being problem.”“Nothing breaks trust faster than a leader who says “we are going to make a decision”.. and then makes the decision themselves.”“The ramifications of not being clear are huge.”“If you are going to give a deadline, you need to keep the deadline” “We are so conditioned to a bell, that we will stop [when it rings].”“We need to know who’s responsible and when the deadline is.”“A big part of leadership is just being clear and organized and communicating just enough.”“If we have to make up a story, because no one told us, then it’s much more likely to be a negative story than a positive one.”“If you don’t have a system for it, it’s not going to get done.”Frederick:It seems like there are two kinds of meetings – one where there is an assumed purpose… and standing meetings, which can be some of the worst ones.“We need specific clarity so people know why they are coming.”“One of the most neglected parts of a meeting is assigning who is responsible and when the deadline is.”“It’s amazing how many people would talk something to death in a meeting, but when you ask them is it worth emailing me over this, they don’t, they are fine.”“When we had none items on the agenda, we just were covering things and not doing meaningful work.”Michele’s Links:Email: [email protected]: www.nsrfharmony.orgX (Twitter) @TheNSRF: twitter.com/TheNSRF Instagram: @NSRFharmony: https://instagram.com/nsrfharmonyFacebook: Facebook.com/NationalSchoolReformFacultyLinkedin: linkedin.com/company/NSRF/ Threads (logs in with FB): threads.net/@nsrfharmonyResources:The NSRF’s website: www.nsrfharmony.org (has libraries of many protocols and activities)Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!Today’s shout out goes to… IamBlandon who kindly reviewed the show on Apple Podcasts, saying the following…Thank you! I’m so close to completing my journey on becoming an administrator! Thank you so much for this treasure trove of valuable information! Keep up the good work!And thank you IamBlandon, your review and words mean a lot.Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 9-13. The emails: The three epiphaniesMonday: Urgent leaders:Put tasks before people.Prioritize what’s urgent over what’s important.Treat symptoms instead of identifying problems.Mistake action for progress.Tuesday: There is not enough time to do everything.Wednesday: If there is not enough time, I can choose what does and does not get done.Thursday: What I choose to do and not do reflects my values.Friday: Not being intentional dooms you to urgencyThe takeaway: Embracing the three epiphanies is a foundational step for moving from managing time to managing priorities. On the days you do not make intentional choices, like my day battling my computer, you are likely living in urgency.Making intentional choices does not guarantee you will be strategic, but it is a prerequisite.I’m including a simple visual in today’s message. If you find the 3 epiphanies compelling, consider printing it off and posting it somewhere as a reminder.Today’s intention: Reflect on your week. In retrospect, what is one to-do/not do choice you made intentionally and feel good about? What is something you reacted to, that got in the way of something you valued more? It is Friday, and I would love it if you share with me your biggest takeaway or story from this week!That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when we feature my interview with Michele Matoon. We take a practical look at how to run a meeting. This is one of those episodes you will want to follow up on because Michelle has some great tips and tools for you.Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. You can find out more about me at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/I love getting feedback, so please consider sending me an email or connecting with me on LinkedIn. Of course, all of those links are in the show notes.I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Show Notes Show Title: Tech as a tool for supporting teachers with Jessica Preisig Show Description:Talking about technology in education elicits a range of responses from enthusiastic embraces to gag reflexes, and on either end of the spectrum technology can be problematic. However, with some mindful planning and intention, technology can be a powerful took in helping you to facilitate teacher growth. Today’s wonderful guest is going to help us look at the role of technology being a partner for teacher growth. Guest BioJessica Preisig serves as the Assistant Superintendent for Technology Services in the School District of Pickens County. During her 20 years as an educator, Jessica has served as a classroom teacher, instructional technology coach, school administrator and district leader. Jessica earned her initial undergraduate and master's degrees from the University of South Carolina prior to moving to upstate South Carolina, where she obtained an EdS in Administration and Supervision from Clemson University – where I might had she had some amazing professors(!) – and she is now back at Clemson working on her doctorate. Quotes Jessica· “Every time technology is working it’s a celebration!”· “I got to see k-12 education with teachers through all the levels.”· “The way I approached evaluation was more as a growth opportunity.”· “Intentionally integrate instructional technology that teachers would use in their classrooms, in out instructional work with teachers.”· “People hear what they want to hear.”· “When you can link to the things they want to learn, they are more receptive to feedback.” Frederick· “How do we provide resources to teachers that help them have agency over their own learning?”· “We sometimes miss opportunities to piggy back onto that [formal evaluation] and ask, ‘How do we want to grow?’”· “Because you were asking the questions, you were listening.”· “You can feel like the processes are confining you, but you can leverage them.”· “If I know you are here to help me get better in the ways I want to get better, then I’m invested.” SummarizingAs we wrap up, I have two important questions for you. First, what part of your own leadership are you still trying to get better at? If listeners could take just one thing away from today’s podcast, what would it be? Before we go, is there anything else that you’d like to share with our listeners? Show Outro As the one big takeaway, Jessica pointed to “leaning in and walking beside people.” And if you think back to what you have heard throughout the episode, that was the constant theme. In a sense, this episode wasn’t about technology – it was about partnering with teachers and helping the grow. The technology is simply a tool to help us do that. I hope you’ll reflect more on that today and think critically about how technology can help you support and grow your teachers. Thanks for walking your leadership journey with me. You can learn more about the other ways I support APs and other school leaders on my website at fb.com I look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we play with the week’s daily leadership emails. Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the show helps others find it, and if you want to be a superfan, consider leaving a review. I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers! Jessica’s Links:Twitter: https://twitter.com/PreisigJessicaLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicapreisig/ Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!Today I’m celebrating fall! The leaves are beginning to turn color, the nights are getting crisp – which means better sleeping for those of us who like being buried under a mound of blankets – and everything is flavored with apple or pumpkin! Fall also means the end of my garden-grown cucumbers, but we can’t have everything, can we?Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of October 2-6, 2023. The emails:Sometimes you can have a bigger impact by working with the willing.Accepting that to be human is to be imperfect opens a world of possibilities.We should think about playing more. We should play more.Be mindful of over-investing in tasks you enjoy doing.Lack of presence leads to messes, with food and with humans.The takeaway:Another week of seemingly unrelated topics provides me with another opportunity to look for the bigger meaning. I didn’t plan it this way, but each post has an element of play to it:Working with competent people who trust you and want to get better can feel like play.Over-investing in things we are good at is a version of play.Accepting the imperfection of being human gives us permission to play.Playing helps cultivate presence.And of course, there was Wednesday’s message all about the need to play more.Play takes many forms. We can play physically – at the Buskey household one of our backyard favorites is CanJam. We can play games, like Horrify, a really cool strategy game in which the players collaborate to win. We can play with ideas, which I often do while journaling in the mornings. We can play in the kitchen – but maybe not with quesadillas.As I write this, it strikes me that the line between creativity and play is very thin, and maybe that’s a bit of insight into why play is so important.Let’s wrap this up with a call to action, and if you can’t guess what it is, you either don’t know me very well or you haven’t been fully present to the episode.This weekend, go play! Throw a football around, pull out your watercolors, scribble some poetry, walk in the woods. Do something for yourself, and I turn you’ll be better at serving others on Monday. Oh, and Legos. How did forget Legos?That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when we begin our October emphasis on building a positive classroom culture.Anyway, tune in on Tuesday for a great episode.Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. As I record this, we have 17 ratings and 4 reviews. Increasing those numbers helps others find the show. I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Being a human is being imperfect with Dr. Efraín Martínez, No. 165 Show Description:We all have stories about where we came from, how we grew up, and the people we’ve walked our journeys with. We have joys and traumas that inform how we see out world, and how we see others in our world. Today we’ll go beneath those stories and look at what it means to lead, as someone who has their own stories, and what it means to lead people who have their own stories. Guest BioDr. Efraín Martínez is a father, husband, principal, and podcaster, who is always in search of wisdom and he has found productivity, to be a great tool for success. He's the host of Wisdom & Productivity: The Podcast of an Imperfect Educator. And I will add, he is an incredibly deep and soulful human being. Highlights Efraín· “Everyday that I am on this earth I want to be grateful for what I have…”· “This is a web of stories... life only makes sense when you look back and connect the docks.”· “I am the adult who still thinks he is the kid who is trying to get the most out of life.” · “Build a monument with the rocks people throw at you.” (citing Siddharth Sood)· “When you run your school like a business, you are doomed to fail.”· “Connecting with the humanity of the people you are leading … is the best that we can do to move our schools forward.”· “When you tell people they need to do something they will want to do the opposite!”· “The best teacher in the building is not the principal.”· “Being human is being imperfect.”· “Teachers know their own answers, they just need someone to listen to them.”· “You can fool the world, but you cannot fool yourself.”· “Meditation is like a workout.. that is so unique.. but when you take a moment to focus only on your breath… you start realizing how powerless you are… you start focusing on listening to others.” Frederick· “In my arrogance, I thought if I just could mold people to be like me, would be good… because I thought I had all the answers.”· “When we truly care for other people, then we help them grow in the direction they want to grow in, not the direction we want them to grow in.” (citing Milton Mayeroff)· “You need to listen to people’s stories in order to know how to support them.”· “As soon as we understand that to be human is to be imperfect, we can let go of that idea of being perfect, and when we can do that… we stop talking so much and we listen more.”· “When we decide to give grace, a lot of judgment can roll off of us, and then I can be more present.. and then we can meet them where they are.” · “When we forgive others, the gift is to ourselves, because we give ourself permission to put all the crosses down.” Dr. Efraín Martínez’s Links:Email: [email protected]: wisdomandproductivity.com Linkedin: https://tinyurl.com/EMLink13YouTube: https://youtube.com/@WisdomAndProductivity?feature=shared Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!Today’s shout out goes to… Now + Next Cohort 2. Valori, Lisa, Paige, Gail, Jen, Kayla, Michelle, and Emily, thanks for making the program so wonderful. It is a testament to what can happen when inspired leaders prioritize working together, being vulnerable, and fostering interdependence. Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of September 25-29, 2023. Review the emailsTakeawayAs I’ve shared before, when the week’s messages aren’t specifically built around a theme, like this week’s, I’m always intrigued to come back after-the-fact and think about what the big takeaway is, and this week is no different.In fact, wow. There is a profound message here. It’s not me being profound, as this wasn’t purposeful, but it is right here in front of us. Here are the five MVPs for each day’s message:Sometimes making the same old thing better beats doing something new.Sometimes something BIG doesn’t actually matter.What makes one training more powerful than another?Together, transformation, vulnerability, and interdependence can create something specialBeing fully present is more valuable than having answers.Time and attention are the scarcest resources. While the urgent – quadrant 3 – tasks are a big consumer of these precious resources, so are change initiatives. And too often we focus on the initiatives instead of the people. Nothing against Salesforce or LETRS, but how many lives have the transformed? We can lose focus on people. Improvement can become about ”the thing” instead of about people. And the changes and improvements we are trying to make can actually stop us form impacting people. The busier we are, the harder it is to be fully present. The harder it is to be invested in helping people grow in the direction they want to grow in. The harder it is to be vulnerable. The harder it is to be interdependent.Do less, impact more. Create transformative moments by focusing on others as humans, not as cogs in a machine or rungs on a ladder.And then think about your own leadership and what being present does for you. Here’s the rest of the story about the group hug episode…I am not the perfect trainer, but sometimes I am able to help a group come together and do something magical, especially when I focus on serving them, not converting them into the leaders I think they should be. And when that happens, I am also rewarded in a way that cannot be measured.My wish for you next week is to go forward and be vigilant about finding opportunities to be present, to learn how others want to grow, and to then be able to create the opportunities for them to do that.That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when we feature my interview with Dr. Efrain Martinez on what it means to be a human leading humans. This is an inspiring and emotional episode and I’m so excited to share it with you.Anyway, tune in on Tuesday for a great episode.Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. As I record this, we have ZZ ratings and XX reviews. Increasing those numbers helps others find the show. I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Show Description:I will lead off this episode with a couple apologies:1. I’ve got a cold and am low energy, so I’m admittedly not bringing my A-game this week. Paraphrasing BB King…2. I know this episode’s title has a click-bait feel to it, but it is the best I could come up with today (see apology 1 above). The premise for today is that most of you are 4-8 weeks into your school year and should be falling into a routine at this point. It seems like a good time to do some poking around and get some vital signs for your school and your leadership, so we’ll discuss four things you can do to give you insights for your focus for the next month of school. Celebrations:I’m celebrating two things:1. Monday’s email about my mom’s new Porsche generated a lot of reaction, like “this is your best email ever!” Thanks everyone for letting me know, it helps me keep going on those days when I’m exhausted, overwhelmed, and have a cold.2. I’ve just been offered a publishing contract on my book! It has been a long road and I’m excited to be moving forward. Lest you’ve forgotten, the book is about the 6-steps to escaping urgency and becoming a people-centric leader. I imagine as a publication date gets closer I’ll be sharing more and more. The Big IdeaAt this point in the year it is easy to get into a groove. Now, grooves are good, but how do you stop that groove from becoming a rut? More specifically, how do you make sure you aren’t stuck in the urgent rut? Are you getting into classrooms like you promised yourself you would this year? Or are the discipline referrals already undermining your plans? Have you been there for your ECT’s? Or are you relying on mentor teachers to take care of them? Guess, what? Your mentor teachers are as busy as you are! Without further adieu, four things you should do this week:1. Check in with your ECTs2. Dig into your discipline data to look for patterns to tell you who, where, and when to focus on.3. Use the 5-minute coaching tool to conduct an informal culture check4. Reflect. Okay, that’s today’s episode of…. Just kidding. I get goofy when I’m feeling sick and overwhelmed so just laugh with me. Let’s go into a bit more depth:1. Check in with your ECTsa. Why ECTs and not just first-years?b. Why aren’t mentors enough?c. 3-point check in i. Relationships ii. Management iii. Curriculum2. Dig into your discipline data to look for patterns to tell you who, where, and when to focus on.a. Who are your high-flyers (you probably already know) and is there a flight pattern? Do you have a morning check-in set up for them?b. Where and when do you have spikes? E wing restroom at the beginning of 4th period? Then ask why?c. What teachers are sending the most referrals – check their classroom management.3. Use the 5-minute coaching tool to conduct an informal culture checka. Walk down the hall and catch people in or by their rooms, position yourself side-to-side to lessen power differential, go through the pattern: i. X-weeks into the school year, I can’t believe it! ii. What’s going well for you so far? iii. Have their been any surprises? iv. Is there anything you would do differently? You could also ask, “Is there anything WE should do differently?” to focus more on the building. v. I appreciate you sharing. I’m looking forward to all the great things you are going to do with kids this year!4. Reflect. a. Carve out an hour. Maybe Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon, or Friday night. Whatever works for you. Find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted, turn off your phone. Use an old-school paper notebook or journal and your favorite pen. If you are too techy, at least use a pad and stylus. The kinesthetic action will help in reflection.b. Just begin writing whatever comes into your mind. Be unfiltered. If you need an outline, you could do: i. Celebrations ii. Things you would do differently iii. Frustrations iv. Questions v. Answers vi. List actions that can have impact vii. Identify patterns for important things viii. Play with your priorities ...

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!Today’s shout out goes to… Mitchell Hall, Gifted and Talented Education Specialist, Garrett County Public Schools, Maryland who emailed me about the relationship matrix we featured on our August 30th daily email:Hi Frederick,I enjoy the relationship matrix! As I looked over the different categories on it, I realized why my most effective leaders have taken an interest in my life outside of school. I forwarded this email to three who have coached me, as opposed to simply advising or teaching me, and thanked them for making that investment. I just earned my administrator credential here in Maryland, and I really appreciate your podcast and online resources because they help me plan ahead for how I will lead when that opportunity arises. Thanks for sharing your experiences and your expertise! Mitchell, thank you for your encouraging words and I’m happy to be supporting the important work you do.Insert introToday’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of September 18-22, 2023. This week I’m sharing five strategies helping me be a better leader right now.Identify the next day’s priorities.Block off time in your calendar for important things and capture in your calendar what you do each day.Use a timer to create urgency and keep you laser focused.Morning routines are essential.Have strategies for ending your day.That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. As I record this, we have 17 ratings and 4 reviews. We seem stuck on those numbers so please help us move the needle! Increasing those numbers helps others find the show. I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

You make it what you want with Sean Olson Show Description:It would be a trope if there wasn’t so much truth to it – become an AP and spend countless hours “doing” discipline. It’s hard to support and grow your teachers if you are handling discipline all day. But what if we could change this narrative? Would if we could invest some front end time in order to spend less time doing discipline AND flip the script so the “doing “ discipline actually helped kids? Today’s guest is going to help us learn how to do just that! Today’s guest, Sean Olson, was born and raised in Southern New Jersey. He holds an undergraduate degree in Secondary Education (Mathematics) and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership, and Curriculum and Instruction. Sean is a husband, father, educator, coach and is always excited to learn and share new things. Currently, he’s the Assistant Principal at Cedar Creek High School in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, which is part of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District. Sean has been in education since February 2010. Key Quotes Sean· “You make it what you want – it’s about how you want to write your own story.”· “I want to understand where the problem is.”· “As a new AP, this wasn’t something I had to ask permission to do. I was just dining into data.”· “Now I feel like I can manage this goal because I’m looking at 2 ½% of the population.”· “It was important to clean up our own house before addressing problems that weren’t caused by us.”· “We wanted to get to the point where the punishment fitted the crime.”· “Ultimately you [the kid] are writing your own story and I can help you do that.” Frederick· “The real work happens afterwards.”· “Urgent leaders … deal with problems… taking the pause let’s us figure out the root problem.”· “Using the data is always a two-step process. Using quantitavie data we can see the connections and trends of what is happening. Gathering qualitative data we can understand the why behind the what.” Show Outro One thing we didn’t get to in our discussion was how to use data to identify other ways to get maximum gain with minimal pain. In addition to using your data to identify the students most in need of your support, you can use it to identify other variables related to discipline events. For example, maybe it is the boys’ restroom on the north hall at the beginning of 4th period, and by stationing someone outside the door, or talking with the three teachers who are releasing students to the bathroom, we can cut referrals. Alternatively, maybe it is one or two teachers, or a specific combination of students. Using the data is always a two-step process. Using quantitative data, we can see trends and connections in what is happening. Gathering qualitative data from teachers, students, and families, we can understand the why behind the what, and at that point we can move towards supporting our students instead of punishing them. I look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we recap the week’s daily emails. Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the show helps others find it, and if you want to be a superfan, consider leaving a review. Again, you’ll be helping others find the show and you’ll be making me smile. And maybe you will even find yourself getting a shoutout at the top of the episode. I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers! Sean Olson’s email: [email protected] Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!Today’s shout out goes to Caitlin and the whole team at EB Academics. Caitlin was kind enough to interview me on episode 243 of the Teaching Middle School ELA podcast. Caitlin is a wonderful interviewer, and we had a powerful conversation about the four essentials:Your support networkHealthy morning routineTransition from workReflectionI’ll put a link to the show in the notes. Again, Caitlin, thanks for a wonderful discussion.Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of September 11-15, 2023. After several weeks of themed messages, I was back to my more usual pattern of diverse thoughts. Maybe this is a good time to provide a peek into my processes. When I began the daily email in April 2020, and through 2021, I wrote a daily message whenever it came to me. In 2022 I began writing a week at a time, which led to an increased number of themed weeks. As this school year kicks off I’ve booked time every Monday to do the following week’s emails so that we can be further ahead in case something happens and to give Mara more time to schedule things as her schedule has become more intense.These changes have led to more themed weeks as it is easier to write five messages around a central theme. It also makes for an easier podcast episode, but I do miss capturing an idea that I get during the week and expanding it into a meaningful leadership lesson and intention.Over the past two weeks I had multiple things stimulate thoughts and I was able to plan ahead and come up with this week’s random thoughts. The fun thing about doing it this way is that when I record the podcast, I challenge myself to find some central them or message and often times there is something unexpected which pops up.Okay, let’s roll through this week’s messages…Is there a central theme in these messages? Remember, I didn’t plan a theme this week, but what emerges as I write this script is the importance of beginning with ourselves.It may sound selfish at first, especially as much as I advocate that people are the purpose, but you cannot take care of others without taking care of yourself. This week you received five lessons about caring for yourself:When breakdowns occur, pause and reflect.Check your purpose as a first step to checking your school culture.As part of working hard, attend to your own revery – that’s where you will nurture greatness.Tap your creativity and avoid the prescriptive, rut inducing approach to leadership.Clean out the mental clutter which takes up space without serving you.Take care of yourself this weekend. Engage in recovery and feed your soul.That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. You can learn more about what I do on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the show helps others find it, and if you want to be a superfan, consider leaving a review. Again, you’ll be helping others find the show and you’ll be making me smile. And maybe you will even find yourself getting a shoutout at the top of the episode.I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!Link to my interview on the Teaching Middle School ELA Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/teaching-middle-school-ela/id1458448897?i=1000626080589 Danny Bauer’s LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/danielevanbauer_fundamentals-education-blbs-activity-7100109406238830592-pGxN Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Assistant Principal Podcast Content Episode Outline Show title and release date: Presence Show Description:Ask 100 school leaders for their best piece of wisdom and the majority of respondents will likely tell you that it is all about relationships. That’s great, but how do you turn “its all about relationships” into a strategy you can execute every day? It is surprisingly simple, and if you are a regular listener, you may already know the answer. I’ll be sharing some experiences from my summer hiking trip and if you make it to the end you’ll hear three specific techniques for executing this simple strategy. Inset Show Intro Celebrations:A wonderful podcast with Efrain Martinez’s Wisdom and Productivity Podcast. Efrain asks some great questions, beginning with “Who are you?” which is one of those questions that is like an onion. The podcast episode isn’t out yet, but I’ll put a link to the YouTube broadcast in the show notes. The Big IdeaThe past week has been bumpy here at Strategic Leadership Consulting and I’ve had trouble choosing a topic for this week. I’m now recording this on Monday afternoon, which means I am way behind schedule, and so I have had to make a decision. I’m not sure if I made the best choice, but regardless of the timing this should be valuable. · Recap PW· Highlight that I keep sharing· Being fully present· Malham Cove· High Cup to Garrigil via Cross Fell, Great Dunn Fell, and Knock Fell, 20 miles, 3000 meters· The moors· Contentment· The power of presence:o See and hear what is thereo Appreciate the small beauties· When we can see and hear people… we can serve them· When we appreciate the small beauties… we can celebrate them· Without any other interventions, growing others, and celebrating the numerous wins we have every day, will have powerful positive impacts on teaching. Learning, and your building culture.· Simple, but hard· Practices to sustain presence:o Morning grounding and intentiono Asking the second questiono 5-minute coaching Show Outro Thank you for being present with me. You can learn more about walking your leadership journey with me at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ I look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we recap this week’s daily emails. Remember to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode. I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers! Wisdom and Productivity YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y717xIQNf0I Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast!Today’s shout out goes to AJ Bianco, Vice Principal at East Brook Middle School in Hillsdale, NJ. AJ also was a contribute rot last week’s episode on veteran teachers. You may recall at the end of that show that I asked for some feedback and AJ kindly responded with these words:I just wanted to let you know that I DID think your episode from last week was GREAT! Not only did I appreciate hearing from others, I thought you did a wonderful job breaking down the information into buckets and explaining what needs to be done to help veteran teachers. Well done my friend! Keep up the great work, and I will be checking out todays episode later tonight.Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of September 4-8, 2023. Guest introCelebrationsMy storyPam’s storyLessonsThat is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. You can learn more about what I do on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the show helps others find it, and if you want to be a superfan, consider leaving a review. Again, you’ll be helping others find the show and you’ll be making me smile. And maybe you will even find yourself getting a shoutout at the top of the episode.I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers!Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

We assume that being an educational leader revolves around making deposits. What I mean is that we invest our time supporting and growing others. When we help others, we are, usually, making deposits. There will come a time however, when we need to make a withdrawal – when we need to have someone do something they don’t want to do or have a conversation they don’t want to have. This pattern of making deposits and withdrawals applies to our interactions with parents, students, teachers, and likely other leaders. I’m getting ahead of myself because the actual topic of today’s show is supporting teachers in their 3-5 years. However, the theme that will emerge, is about banking.Notable Quotes Lisa Parry:“There is a lot school leaders can do to sand the rough edges of life for students and teachers” “It’s really hard to make a fundamental change… its way easier to take something that is a habit and refine it.”Frederick:So many gold nuggets today; apply to AP’s work with teachers, but also to our own work; consider holding onto one these:1. Four career stages2. Incremental changes add up (e.g. 11-second pause)3. Deposits before withdrawals4. It’s not about us! + we fill in the blanks – usually wrongly and based on how we see the world.5. Working with teachers: blank to coloring book.Lisa Parry Links:Email: [email protected]: www.principalparry.comLinked In: www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-parry-pk-12leader/ Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

TodHello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast! Today’s shout out goes to the instructional coaches of Lexington 4 school district in Gaston, SC. Emily, Mary Beth, Kari, Katie, and Amanda, I appreciate you taking time to give me critical feedback on the virtual leadership courses we’ve been talking about and helping me understand micro-credentials. The great thing about education is how willing people are to share their time and expertise – Thank you! Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of August 28-Sept. 1, 2023. A horse story and the three options for change:Go backPress onAdjust course That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. If you’d like to walk more with me, I have a couple simple ways to do so:Invest $9 a month and about 20 minutes of your time to become a supporting member of our community. You’ll get early and unfettered access to our free courses, a discussion area, a library of past content, and the occasional webinar. You will also be helping me to continue investing both time and money in producing this podcast, writing the daily email, and producing free content.Finally, you can become a full member of our APEx community and join me for monthly group coaching and lots of other perks. You can get the details and links for all of these on my website at https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday for my discussion with Lisa Parry, a principal of a K-12 school in rural South Dakota. Lisa works with the state’s support program for teachers in years 3-5 and we discussed what APs could to help those teachers grow. Tune in on Tuesday for a great episode. Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the show helps others find it, and if you want to be a superfan, consider leaving a review. Again, you’ll be helping others find the show and you’ll be making me smile. And maybe you will even find yourself getting a shoutout at the top of the episode. I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers! Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Last week’s show was about growing veteran teachers. I focused largely on the importance of relationships. At the end of the episode, I encouraged you to ask your veteran teachers three questions:o What is your teaching super-power?o What’s the biggest difference between who you are now as a teacher, and who you were when you began?o If you could get students to do one thing differently, what would it be? I recognize that some of you have been in school for several weeks while others still may have a week or so of summer left, but hopefully you have at the very least been able to reflect on those questions, and if you have not asked them of someone else, maybe you have asked them of yourself. I also stated, “next Tuesday I’ll offer some additional steps to build on what you find out.“ My intention was to provide some explicit “tips and tricks” but instead I decided to ask some of my connections on LinkedIn about their tips for working with veteran teachers. This group included administrators at all levels as well as veteran teachers. I’ve taken their feedback and put it into a tidy visual framework because… that’s what I do! Inset Show Intro Celebrations: My new truck! Apologies if that sounds a bit vain and materialistic, but I ordered a Ford Maverick – a minuscule size pickup, in Sept, 2022 and finally got it last week. It’s the perfect vehicle for me, able to haul mulch, lumber, and trash around our rural mountain roads and get 30 mpg on my trips to Columbia, Greensboro, and elsewhere. The Big Idea Today’s episode takes place in two acts. In Act I I’m going to smash the stereotype of the veteran teacher being a curmudgeon or burned-out resistor. Remember that change begins within, and the first step in working with experienced teachers is reframing how you perceive them. In Act II I’ll present a simple 4-stage framework for working with veteran teachers. Act I: You don’t know me Change… trauma… change Sure, it’s not all been bad, but if you have been in this profession very long you have experienced change, trauma, and more change. First the change… I began teaching in 1988, so I would be beginning my 35th year had I remained in p-12 education. You may be working with a few teachers who began teaching in that same year, or perhaps in the early 90’s, and education has changed dramatically. Here is a non-exhaustive list of things that weren’t around when I began my teaching career. No:· Standardized tests· Computers in classrooms· Laptops· Cell phones· Social media· Canned or structured teaching programs Principals were paid to manage things and instructional leadership was largely in the hands of teachers. There were far fewer grand initiatives, and teachers were largely expected to close their doors and teach. And although teachers were not above being questioned or criticized, it was nothing like what it is today. This might not be a universal experience, but it was my experience. So, point 1, veteran teacher possess a sense of history and have experienced profound – profound – changes over the course of their careers. For many of them, in many ways, the profession they find themselves in now is not the profession they entered. Now the trauma… I believe that teaching is the greatest profession in the world. Not necessarily in its current condition, but the ability to transform live and enrich the future is unparalleled. That said, teaching can be a traumatic endeavor. Trauma can occur in conflicts between teachers and the students and families they serve, the form of trauma that is most pertinent to our discussion is trauma with administration. Especially around the teacher observation and evaluation process. The average tenure of a middle school principal in the US is 3-5 years. As a 35-year veteran teacher, on average, I have had 7-12 principals, and countless assistant principals. Think about this… Seven times new “leaders” have come into my school, brought their vision, changed school culture, asked me to buy-in, and then they have left. More than likely, some of those principals have acted like this was their school, not my school. And in their quest to stamp their identity on the school, they may have erased part of my identity, even erased part of my school. In addition, with so many leaders cycling through, it is very likely that most experienced teachers have had at least one very negative – traumatizing – experience with an administrator. Imagine, having pride in your craft, having invested years in working with kids, receiving solid evaluations year after year, and then someone with half your experience comes in and tells you not only that you need to get better, but that they know better than you how your craft needs to improve! Seriously? And maybe things are very different today, but two decades ago is was not that uncommon to have administrators who yelled at teachers. Not a lot of them, but they were out there – and many experienced teachers have experienced a humiliating dressing down a

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast! Today’s shout out goes to…William D Parker, host of the Principal Matters Podcast and a kind, gentle, and caring human being who is quickly becoming a good friend. Will released his interview of me back on August 9. My biggest fan – my wife Pam – said it is the best I have done in an interview and Wil made it easy. That’s episode 356 of The Principal Matters Podcast. Will was also kind enough to leave a glowing review on Apple podcasts, so thank you Will!---Takeaway1. Relationships exist in two basic spheres2. When we understand how, in an individual’s life, their work and home lives influence each other, we can be confident that we have a collegial relationship3. The collegial relationship helps us to serve the person because:a. We know what they wantb. We have insight into how to help them get therec. We can coach them , which is one of the best ways to help people grow. That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. ---Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the show helps others find it, and if you want to be a superfan, consider leaving a review. Again, you’ll be helping others find the show and you’ll be making me smile. And maybe you will even find yourself getting a shoutout at the top of the episode. I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers! Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

I was a coach before I was a teacher. Literally, I volunteered as a football coach right after I graduated from high school. I played three years of high school and four years of college football, and I had position coaches, defensive coordinators, and head coaches all involved in my development as a player. Some of my coaches were good, some weren’t, but I was reliant on them in a way which is hard to explain. Today’s episode is about growing veteran teachers, but we are going to invest most of our time and attention into examining the coaching relationship rather than the technical aspects of coaching. Why? Why talk about the relationship instead of the actual nuts and bolts of working with veteran teachers? I think you already know the answer… Celebrations: New beginnings upon new beginnings Let me begin by clarifying some terms and connecting some dots:· Your two primary responsibilities:o Keeping people safeo Support and grow your teachers· Support and growth· The flywheel (e.g. coaching cycle)· The conundrum: how do we choose the first PD? This is the essential question, especially for veteran teachers.· Back to coaching:o As an athlete, § I was dependent on my coaches§ I assumed they knew more than I did§ I was highly motivated to get better§ The power differential was hugeo As a teacher§ The dependency was different§ I was not convinced my principal knew more than I did· Especially in PE· Perception v. reality· What I wanted my classroom to be like§ I was still highly motivated to get better, but…· I was not as dependent on my principal as I was on my coach· Asking my coach for extra reps was a plus, asking my admin for extra attention could be perceived as a negative§ The power differential was not as big – I could keep playing without his approval My own story:· My progression as a teacher (PE, SPED, SS => NBCT)o Unique challengeso I was reflectiveo I had blind spots· The “official” rubric and the process· My two real struggleso Boyso SPED Lessons from my own experience:· When we are competent, we can lose sight of how complex our craft is· We may or may not recognize our own pain points· We know what we want, even if what we want may not be the most important thing· In all likelihood, there are many elements of our teaching that we know better than someone who is trying to help us How do we grow veteran teachers?· Put them in the lead· Help them clarify their desires, needs, and goalso Example: Spending way to much time prepping lessons and taking care of a sick parent· Help them define what success looks likeo Example: Still have good lessons, but am able to focus on my mom instead of thinking about school· Help them identify resources and map a plan (e.g. Teaching Middle School ELA and EB academics)· Be the accountability partner, help gather the data, and then hold up the mirror that helps them to assess how they’ve done and what comes next· In short – become a servant A couple cautionary thoughts:· Trauma· Growth is a process, not an event. A single “I wonder” statement is not helpful if it isn’t a part of a larger process.· Focus on entering the process based on your capacity. It is better to engage in the process with fidelity with three people and ignore the rest than to do one-offs or be haphazard with 20. Know your capacity and choose appropriately. (see episode 8 Who Should I coach?) – link in show notes.· To care is to help people grow in the direction they want to grow, and to grow veteran teachers, you need to care.· You don’t know as much as you think you do. We all have biases and gaps which make our ability to determine the “one best thing” a teacher needs to work on an impossible task. The Big IdeaHold up the mirror for the veteran teacher. Get to know them, to understand them – their aspirations, triumphs, burdens, and fears. Help them clarify their own needs – the things that will allow them to gain more joy from teaching. Help them develop a plan for growth. Help them collect and analyze the data around their implementation of new strategies. Hold up the mirror, with caring and a servant’s heart. And if you can’t do that, don’t try and grow your veteran teachers. Show Outro So how do we put this into action? I encourage you to:· Check in with your veteran teachers this week and ask them three questions:o What is your teaching super-power?o What’s the biggest difference between who you are now as a teacher, and who you were when you began?o If you could get students to do one thing differently, what would it be?· Don’t respond to the answers, just listen and think. · Do this for a week, and next Tuesday I’ll offer some additional steps to build on what you find out. I look forward to seeing you again on Friday when we recap this week’s daily emails, which were all about the same theme underlying today’s episode – relationships! It was a fun week of emails, so I hope you will tune in. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. If you’d like to walk more with me, I

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast! Today’s shout out goes to… I don’t know. It’s been a quiet week at the podcast as everyone gears up for school. Please consider emailing me, DMing me on LinkedIn, or leaving a review of the podcast on Apple podcasts – so I can give someone a shout out – so I can give you a shout out! Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of August 14-18, 2023. New plus new = good! New teachers want close relationships with their administrators. In the end, we stay in organizations because of the relationships we have with leaders. TakeawayFriday’s email summarized it all. If your school culture isn’t where you want it to be, there are two critical things to look at:· First is the quality of the relationships you have with others. If those aren’t where you want them to be, go back to Friday’s email, print it off, and cut out the list of bullet points. Tape them to your computer, your door, mirror, everywhere. Just begin asking questions that help you learn about people.· Second, and this will be an upcoming episode, look at the alignment within your organization. The easiest thig to check is the demand you are putting on people’s static resources:o Resources come in two formso Time and attention are different (giving time to something when you are fried)o Backpack sizeo Lightening the load can improve culture That is this week’s Five for Friday rendition of The Assistant Principal Podcast. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. Thank you for including me on your leadership journey. If you’d like to walk more with me, I have a couple simple ways to do so:1. Invest no money but a little time and download our free checklist on building your support network.2. Invest $9 a month and about 20 minutes of your time to become a supporting member of our community. You’ll get early and unfettered access to our free courses, a discussion area, a library of past content, and the occasional webinar. You will also be helping me to continue investing both time and money in producing this podcast, writing the daily email, and producing free content.3. Finally, you can become a full member of our APEx community and join me for monthly group coaching and lots of other perks. You can get the details and links for all of these on my website at fb.com I look forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when we play with some ideas about how to support veteran teachers. Please remember to subscribe and rate this podcast. Rating the show helps others find it, and if you want to be a superfan, consider leaving a review. Again, you’ll be helping others find the show and you’ll be making me smile. And maybe you will even find yourself getting a shoutout at the top of the episode. I’m Frederick Buskey and thank you again for joining me on this episode of the Assistant Principal Podcast. Cheers! Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Today’s episode is packed full of amazing information, ideas, and inspiration. We are going to conclude today’s show with a simple technique for putting everything in the show into practice. It is simple, and you can become competent in the technique with almost no practice, and it will take you less than five minutes a day. The result will be profound. Please, walk with me through this episode and you can step out the other side refreshed, renewed, and ready.Notable Quotes Angela Maiers:“Every person has a sign on them saying, “do I matter to you?” This is not a hollow question… this is encoded in our DNA.”“The drive to matter affects everything from the moment we were born.”“We don’t have to guess anymore, these practices make the biggest difference with people.”“Mattering is the sense that you have significant to others… We need others around us to know we matter.”“We asked 500,000 thousand kids one question: what would make you run to school on your worst day? The results came back – they wanted to know someone was excited about their existence.”“Three behaviors: Noticing, naming, and meaning”“Your presence is what it takes to make a mattering moment, 2-20 seconds.”“When you go through the world feeling invisible, it changes your state.”“Connection before content.”“How you greet people and how you leave people are the two most important parts”2-5-2 (2-20 seconds, how you greet and how you leave):· 2: Pause, smile, look at them, (quadruple bonus points for slipping in their name)· 5: Five people a day to acknowledge· 2: Wow moments: 2 seconds to share something that made you smile“Every single day I pick 3-5 people and I share something I noticed about them.” Frederick:“The purpose gets distorted… people matter and we need to start there,”“Asking the second question, ‘no, really, how are you’ signals to you that I care.”Angela Maiers Links:Email: [email protected]: https://angelamaiers.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelamaiers/Free Resources: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u205KzVYNdkYnLrtqD-GrvUV7-mTyQQr/view Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Hello Colleagues and welcome to another 5 for Friday episode of The Assistant Principal Podcast! So much to celebrate today: · WOW! This is number 150 of The Assistant Principal Podcast!· We topped 4500 downloads in July – a new record!· I keep hearing from listeners telling me how the podcast has helped them land their first AP job, or work with a teacher, and more. Today’s shout out goes to… You my colleague. All of you, and most especially, · The 16 of you who have invested a minute in rating the podcast!· The numerous people who have emailed me or DMd me on LinkedIn to share how the show has helped them. I hope you understand how powerful that is, and how much it motivates me to get better. Honestly, talking into the void taps my courage every episode, but having feedback helps me remember that I’m not speaking into the void, that people are listening, and that this show matters.· The people who forward this show and recommend it to their colleagues. Very few listeners found this show in social media. Most of you either joined via my email list or heard about the show from someone else. Thank you for being a part of growing this show.Frederick’s Links:Email: [email protected]: https://www.frederickbuskey.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/strategicleadershipconsulting Daily Email subscribe: https://adept-experimenter-3588.ck.page/ff61713840

Congratulations! You finally have that brand new AP job! Or maybe you’re walking into adifferent new leadership position, or moving into a different school. Or maybe you aren’t goinganywhere... yet.Today my special guest and I are going to dig into the four essentials that many of the supportprograms for school leaders miss. These are four essentials to help you take care of you so youcan stay play the long game. Leadership isn’t a sprint. I’m not sure it’s a marathon wither –maybe more like my recent Pennine Way through hike of 270 miles, but... longer. The thing is,you can’t stay in the game if you’re injured – whether that’s physically, emotionally, orspiritually. Today’s podcast will help prevent those injuries and keep you in top form so you cancontinue supporting and growing others for years to come.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of July 31-August 4, 2023.

Passion!Remember when you were just starting out and you wanted to set the world on fire? I know, youare in school leadership, so you are still setting the world on fire – in a good way – but maybesome days it feels like your box of matches is running a bit low. Maybe? Today we have a veryspecial guest who is on the front end of her career, with matches to spare. Her passion andwisdom are contagious, and whether you have an abundance or dearth of matches, or aresomewhere in between, today’s guest will bring a smile to your face and a spark to your heart.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of July 24-28, 2023.

You can’t do it alone! Building a support network is essential to any leader’s success but is critical to first-year assistant principals. A good network consists of four roles which we will explore today.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of July 17-21, 2023.

Accountability is compassionate. Conflict builds trust. Switches influence our mindset. At first glance, none of these statement may seem to make a lot of sense, but 30 minutes from now you will probably be embracing the ideas behind them – ideas that lead us to powerful truths which will improve life and leadership. Today, we dig into compassionate accountability with a very special guest.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of July 10-14, 2023.

What if I could give you three strategies to magically prevent burnout? Do I have your attention?Full disclosure – I don’t have three strategies, because burnout isn’t about you. It’s aboutsomething bigger. And you can’t prevent burnout. It requires something greater. Sounds a bitconfusing? Playfulness aside, today we are looking at something essential to everyone listening.We are going to talk about burnout, but I promise you this will be a unique conversation andsomething different from the “walk away from work and get your exercise” that is typical ofburnout conversations. Yes, we will encourage you to get exercise, but today is more aboutreframing than rejuvenating.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of July 3-7, 2023.

One of my favorite books is Jim Collins’ Good to Great – a book about what separates great companies from good ones. Collins’ book focuses on organizations, so what about leaders? What separates a great assistant principal from a good one? If you aren’t at the level of leadership you’d like to be, how do you get to being awesome? Today’s guest will help us take a few important steps on that journey down the road to awesome!

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of June 26-30, 2023.

We are in an era where teacher and school lead autonomy is under a lot of pressure. It is becoming common practice, especially at the elementary level, for teachers to be handed a tightly structured curriculum and scripted teaching package and told “do this.” We even hear the term “teacher-proof” being used to refer to the idea that anyone, even a struggling teacher, can do this program.On the other end, we have mandatory evaluation processes that, while well-intentioned, concentrate time and attention on a summative process that actually detracts from the formative work that helps teachers to grow in their craft.Both of these situations put processes and purpose before people, so today Mike Anderson and I are going to help you think about how to be more strategic and to leverage these two phenomena to put people first and to help grow a better school.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of June 19-23, 2023.

In behavioral psychology, a punishment is defined as any change that reduces the likelihood of abehavior occurring again. Retribution is defined as legal revenge, with something being taken orinflicted upon someone else for a wrong.Let’s be honest, we mix these terms up a lot. Students can only act in the ways that they havelearned, and only cope using the strategies they have.What if there was another way to “do discipline”? One that didn’t chew up half your day andthat actually did decrease the likelihood that you would be dealing with the same kid and sameissue over and over? If your curiosity is piqued, stay tuned!

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of June 12-6, 2023.

One of the most common laments I hear from school leaders involves the lack of student engagement present in so many classrooms. What drives engagement isn’t activities, its learning – deeper learning. But what is deeper learning, and how do we help teachers learn about it and implement it? I hope you are ready as we go deep into deeper learning on today’s episode.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of June 4-9, 2023.

I’ve been hearing from a number of people who are getting ready to be brand new assistant principals in the fall and I have been thinking about the most critical things for them to do during the summer and the first few weeks of school. Of course, you need to build relationships and learn how your school does all the paperwork, and you need to get familiar with your policies. Your new principals and district leaders will help you with all of that.For my suggestions, I wanted to get away from the obvious, so I have 3 suggestions for you to get ready for the wildest ride of your life. And if you aren’t a new AP, I hope you will stay with me because all of these tips will be helpful for experienced leaders too!

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of May 29 – June 2, 2023. I’m going to go completely out of order today and just work through the overall theme which was about solving problems. In today’s episode we will touch on the six dimensions of organizations, the role of leadership, change processes, and an example of identifying root problems. This episode will tie together several of my key conceptual frameworks in more detail than the emails did, so be ready for a meaty episode that begins at 40,000 feet but takes us right down to ground level. The whole week was inspired by a training I did last week with a group of non-profit leaders. We worked through an example of the process of identifying problems and landed in a slightly unexpected space. I’ll share what happened at the end of this episode, so please stay with me.

Last fall I offered a five-page guide on ten activities to support new teachers during the first two-weeks of school. The activities were designed to achieve three goals:● Create a trusting relationship with the teacher● Lay the foundations for a well-managed classroom● Provide curricular guidanceToday’s guest has been doing some remarkable work using a high-quality teacher satisfactionsurvey to identify keys to teacher retention. What really stands out to me is that he can providedistricts with data that is most applicable to them, not to every other district in the state orcountry. That said, there are some common things that assistant principals and other schoolleaders can do to help increase teacher retention. So how do these rigorously researched factorscompare to my goals for APs of building the relationship, laying foundations for classroommanagement, and providing curricular guidance? We are about to find out, but I want to offeryou a challenge before we get any further – if you hear one or more simple actionable strategiesto increase teacher retention, will you actually implement them? I wonder...

Last Friday I began with a shoutout to Soupman2545 for leaving a review and helping me improve the show. It felt good to begin the show with a thank you so I’m going to begin doing this regularly on Fridays.Today I want to acknowledge the daily email readers and podcast listeners who responded to last week’s challenge to identify the band associated with the titles of each daily email’s subject line.

I know… you don’t have time to pause, you barely have time to breathe, and you are saving flourishing for summer. You are too busy with all the tasks, and taking care of everyone else. Except for being in this moment, and, right now, this is the only moment that matters because it is the only moment you have. And I am so glad you are here, and today’s very special guest is going to help both you and I make the time to pause, to breathe, and to flourish.

If you listened to Tuesday’s incredible show with Tequilla Lamar, you noticed something new – music!Mara and Collin have been suggesting for some time that we needed to add a few musical transitions, but I have been dragging my feet until I read a recent review of the show.Shout out to soupman2545, who left a review that began glowingly…“I am going to be an AP next year and have already begun using ideas from content in this podcast to improve my practice and increase my capacity in my current leadership position.”I love getting kudos, but it was the next think part of the review that was golden:“If I could offer one piece of feedback, it would be for show aesthetics… something so small as a jingle or catchy tune, might help hook others in and give them something to look forward to each week.”Soupman2545, THANK YOU. It takes time and effort to write a review, and it takes a bit more to offer thoughtful feedback in a way that helps make things better.”So, we are beginning this episode with a thank you to soupman2545- you have helped make us better.

Let’s face it, you aren’t cut out for this job. You are in over your head, and soon everyone will discover it! What were you even thinking? You can’t help your teachers grow. You should never have done this, and you will certainly never make it to the next level.Ouch – such terrible thoughts! There is a diagnosis for this kind of negative thinking and it is called imposter syndrome – the feeling that, despite everything you have achieved, you are somehow not fit to do the job you are doing.If you, like me, are one of those afflicted souls, stay tuned. We are going to turn imposter syndrome on its head! If you have never suffered from imposter syndrome, you need to listen to this episode because many of your colleagues do suffer from it.

Today’s episode of Five for Friday recaps the strategic leadership emails for the week of May 8-12, 2023.Celebrations: Garden planted out! New AP (1 & 2) mentoring program progress!

That my friends is a musical introduction to today’s theme – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.We aren’t talking about spaghetti westerns, but rather a valuable process to help school leadersget an honest snapshot of what is working, what’s not working, and most importantly what to doabout it. My guests are two incredible educational leaders and human beings and you’ll betapping into over 100 years of leadership experience in today’s show.

Today we will begin with the end. There are many big and complex problems we need to solve, but the process will be slow and require great effort.In contrast, there are small quality-of-life improvements we can make that are simple and yield immediate results.We looked at three this week:Get rid of things that aren’t essentialProduce a minimally viable version as quickly and simply as possibleLet your colleagues know how glad you are that they are here today!

Back in episode 44 I shared the story that drives me in which I talked about Kelli, an assistant principal who was overwhelmed with discipline. I visited her around 10:00 o'clock on a spring morning in her rural elementary school and she already had seven office referrals. When I asked Kelli how many of those referrals reflected teacher problems more than kid problems she said five.The bad news was that there were five kids getting in trouble who shouldn't be getting in trouble and that Kelli was being overwhelmed and prevented from doing her job of developing teachers. The good news was that if we could find a way to get Kelly into those teachers’ classrooms we could stop the cycle. The best news is there's a way to help those teachers with minimal cost, minimal training, and minimal effort.