A conversation with The Main Idea’s Jenn David-Lang and Justin Baeder, the author of Now We’re Talking! 21 Days to High-Performance Instructional Leadership
Jenn David-Lang of The Main Idea returns to the show and we talk with Justin Baeder, the author of Now We’re Talking! 21 Days to High-Performance Instructional Leadership. Justin discusses his model for turning daily classroom visits into a powerful habit for instructional improvement. He offers a practical approach to mastering this high-leverage technique for helping teachers reflect on their practice and grow as professionals.
Now We’re Talking! is available everywhere, and you can learn more about Justin and his work at http://www.instructionalleadershipchallenge.com/.
You can reach Jenn through her website for The Main Idea (www.themainidea.net). She’s offered to send listeners of this episode a free summary of Now We’re Talking! if you send her an email at J.David-Lang@TheMainIdea.net.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you or someone you know would like to sponsor the show, send me an email at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com.
Dr. Stephanie Evergreen's books, Presenting Data Effectively and Effective Data Visualization, are must-haves for any leader who uses data (and what leader doesn’t use data?). Stephanie and I talk about trends she’s seeing in the world of presentations and data visualization. We also get into her 1-3-25 report format, creating better handouts, qualitative data, and so much more.
Below are a couple of the links that Stephanie mentions during the interview:
You can learn more about Stephanie and her work at her website: http://stephanieevergreen.com/
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you or someone you know would like to sponsor the show, send me an email at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com.
During this conversation, Jenn and I talk about Shane Safir’s 2017 book Listening Leader: Creating the Conditions for Equitable School Transformation. At the intersection of neuroscience, mindfulness, and equity is the need to be a listening leader. Safir creates a framework and makes a case for the transformative power of listening. As with all of the books that Jenn selects for The Main Idea, The Listening Leader has the perfect balance of the theoretical and the practical.
You can reach Jenn through her website for The Main Idea (www.themainidea.net). I’m a happy subscriber of The Main Idea and a big fan of Jenn’s work. She’s offered to send listeners of this episode a free summary of The Listening Leader if you send her an email at J.David-Lang@TheMainIdea.net. It’s definitely worth the time. Enjoy this interview with Jenn David-Lang.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you or someone you know would like to sponsor the show, send me an email at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com.
During this conversation, Jenn and I talk with teacher and author Jessica Lahey about her 2016 book The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So their Children Can Succeed. This is a wide-ranging discussion where we talk about so many topics like motivation and executive functioning, the critical time that is middle school, implications for teacher training, what school administrators can do to change mindsets about failure, the power of school culture, and so much more.
The best way to find Jess is to start at her website: http://www.jessicalahey.com/. You can reach Jenn at her website for The Main Idea (www.themainidea.net). I’m a happy subscriber of The Main Idea and a big fan of Jenn’s work. She’s offered to send listeners of this episode a free summary of The Gift of Failure if you send her an email at J.David-Lang@TheMainIdea.net. It’s definitely worth the time. Enjoy this interview with Jess Lahey and Jenn David-Lang.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you or someone you know would like to sponsor the show, send me an email at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com.
A conversation with Jenn David-Lang about The Art of Coaching Teams: Building Resilient Communities That Transform Schools, a book by Elena Aguilar.
During this conversation, Jenn and I talk about her summary of the book The Art of Coaching Teams: Building Resilient Communities That Transform Schools, a book by Elena Aguilar. This book is packed with practical strategies for helping all of the teams you work with improve their effectiveness. It’s a great conversation, and as always, I’m smarter for having talked with Jenn.
You can reach Jenn at her website for The Main Idea (www.themainidea.net). I’m a happy subscriber of The Main Idea and a big fan of Jenn’s work. She’s offered to send listeners of this episode a free summary of The Art of Coaching Teams if you send her an email at J.David-Lang@TheMainIdea.net. It’s definitely worth the time. Enjoy this interview with Jenn David-Lang.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you or someone you know would like to sponsor the show, send me an email at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com.
During this conversation, Jenn and I talk about her summary of the book The Mindful School Leader: Practices to Transform Your Leadership and School, a book by Valerie Brown and Kirsten Olson. We both make a case for the need for school administrators to develop their own mindfulness practices. Science, stories, and strategies. It’s all here. And if you don’t think you have time for mindfulness practices, then you need them more than anyone.
You can reach Jenn at her website for The Main Idea (www.themainidea.net). I’m a happy subscriber of The Main Idea and a big fan of Jenn’s work. She’s offered to send listeners of this episode a free summary of The Mindful School Leader if you send her an email at J.David-Lang@TheMainIdea.net. It’s definitely worth the time. Enjoy this interview with Jenn David-Lang.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you would like to support the show, visit www.patreon.com/leadership.
In this episode veteran superintendent Dan White and I have a wide-ranging conversation about context-based leadership. Much of what we talk about is drawn from our many years of working with school leaders on the state, regional, and national levels. This is the first in a series of episodes with Dan related to the nuts and bolts of leadership in general and school leadership specifically based on our popular workshop Liquid Gold for Leaders: 30 Rules No One Has the Guts to Tell You. Enjoy this conversation with Dan White.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you would like to support the show, visit www.patreon.com/leadership.
Jenn David-Lang makes her fifth appearance on the show. She still holds the record. And there’s a reason I keep talking to Jenn - I always learn so much. Jenn produces The Main Idea (http://www.themainidea.net/), a monthly summary of a current education book. Jenn has over 30,000 subscribers and has an incredible perspective on all things education. We talk about David Allen’s updated edition of his classic Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. We get into Allen’s organizational system to help “people with too much to do and too little time,” Jenn’s words.
You can reach Jenn at her website for The Main Idea (www.themainidea.net). I’m a happy subscriber of The Main Idea and a big fan of Jenn’s work. She’s offered to send listeners of this episode a free summaries of Getting Things Done if you send her an email at J.David-Lang@TheMainIdea.net. It’s definitely worth the time. Enjoy this interview with Jenn David-Lang.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you would like to support the show, visit www.patreon.com/leadership.
Jenn David-Lang makes her fourth appearance on the show. She now holds the record. And there’s a reason I keep talking to Jenn - I always learn so much. Jenn produces The Main Idea (http://www.themainidea.net/), a monthly summary of a current education book. Jenn has over 30,000 subscribers and has an incredible perspective on all things education. We talk about Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s new book Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers. We get into Paul’s model for coaching and how he recommends setting up an entire system. The part about real-time, in-the-moment feedback is really cool.
You can reach Jenn at her website for The Main Idea (www.themainidea.net). I’m a happy subscriber of The Main Idea and a big fan of Jenn’s work. She’s offered to send listeners of the show some free book summaries if you send her an email at J.David-Lang@TheMainIdea.net. It’s definitely worth the time. Enjoy this interview with Jenn David-Lang.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you would like to support the show, visit www.patreon.com/leadership.
My favorite Professional Office Organizer, Kacy Paide, and I go a second round on getting and staying organized. Kacy shares many strategies and tips to help us all get our acts together. From the perils of too many systems to the power of structures, we get into lots of areas of organization and productivity. Kacy and I talked about the following resources during the interview:
You can learn more about Kacy and her work at www.theinspiredoffice.com. I can’t say enough about her work and how much she has helped me become more organized, efficient, and effective at work and at home. Enjoy this follow up interview with Kacy Paide.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues. If you would like to support the show, visit www.patreon.com/leadership.
Parenting and educating teenagers can be challenging. Teenage girls can take that challenge to a whole new level. In this episode Jenn David-Lang and her Husband Tim David-Lang and I discuss Lisa Damour’s 2016 book Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood. Not many books have had the impact on my thinking, my work, and my parenting that this one has had. Jenn, Tim, and I have a lively conversation about what we learned from the book and our own experiences putting the information into practice at work and at home. You’ll remember Jenn from two previous podcast appearances. She produces The Main Idea (http://www.themainidea.net/), a monthly summary of a current education book and has a ton of experience in education. Tim David-Lang is a guidance counselor for the New York City Department of Education and has worked with teenagers for many years. And like me, Jenn and Tim are the parents of teenage girls. Enjoy this conversation about a great book. Jenn has graciously agreed to share discussion questions and a summary of helpful language from the book. You can email her directly at j.davidlang@gmail.com, and she’ll send them to you.
Support The School Leadership Show by becoming a patron: https://www.patreon.com/leadership. Help mae the show even better!
As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
If you’d like help improving your productivity and leadership skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on Twitter @doughtymike.
In this episode I interview Brad and Genevieve Ermeling, two experienced educators who have collaborated on the bestselling book Teaching Better: Igniting and Sustaining Instructional Improvement. I loved talking with this husband and wife team about everything from what works in changing practice to mistakes and pitfalls administrators can avoid. The depth of their collective experience in teaching, learning, research, and school improvement is impressive. Information about Brad and Genevieve and their book can be found at their website www.teachingbetter.com (And why didn’t I register that domain name?). You can also follow them on Twitter @BradErmeling and @Graff_Ermeling. I hope you enjoy this interview with Brad and Genevieve Ermeling.
Brad and Genevieve will be hosting a free webinar on June 6, featuring more information on many of the topics discussed in this interview. You can learn more and register at www.Corwin.com. Choose online learning from the menu and click on webinars.
As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
In this episode I interview Dr. Maurice Elias, an accomplished author and professor of clinical psychology and clinical health at Rutgers University. He is also the director of the Rutgers Social-Emotional Learning Lab, and Academic Director of The Collaborative, Rutgers' Center for Community-Based Research and Service. Maurice and I talk about the importance of social emotional learning and character development, particularly when it comes to adolescents. We get into emotional intelligence, misconceptions about SEL, what’s most important for school leaders to know, trauma-informed care, fostering a supportive climate, and mistakes to avoid. Maurice mentions several helpful links during the interview including the following:
He also blogs at edutopia.org: http://www.edutopia.org/user/67. And I encourage you to check out his book The Other Side of the Report Card: Assessing Students' Social, Emotional, and Character Development. I found it on Amazon.com. You can learn more about Maurice and his work at http://www.secdlab.org/.
As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
Dr. Rebecca Stobaugh is an experienced teacher and principal who is now an author, consultant, and college professor. Early in her career as a middle school principal, Beckie saw the need to improve the critical thinking skills of her students. We talk about what she learned during that process including the five misconceptions about critical thinking. While we focus primarily on supporting teachers as they support students developing critical thinking skills, the conversation transcends the specific content and hits many important leadership concepts - the importance of mentors, achieving critical mass for change, focusing initiatives. This was a great conversation, and you can learn more about Beckie and her work at the Mentoring Minds website: https://www.mentoringminds.com/meet-us. You can also follow Beckie on Twitter @RebeccaStobaugh.
As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
Mike Vardy is the host of the wildly popular Productivityist Podcast (http://productivityist.com/). He is also a writer, speaker, and productivity strategist. He’s also great to talk to. Mike and I have a lively discussion about all things productivity. What’s cool is that we start with the big picture: task centric vs. time centric thinking, mode-based theming for your days, and Mike’s own NOW Year Method. Then we move into specific skill and techniques including approaches to scheduling and setting up anchors. Mike generously provided a link for School Leadership Show listeners to download his NOW Year Method Basic Workflow (https://productivityist.com/
You can learn more about Mike and his work you can visit the Productivityist website or Mike’s personal site at http://mikevardy.com/. And make sure you subscribe to The Productivityist Podcast in iTunes and other podcast outlets.
As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
In this episode I interview Erika Andersen, an author, trainer, consultant, and executive coach. The time flew by. Erika shares her recent work on how to become a better learner (from her new book Be Bad First - Get Good at Things FAST to Stay Ready for the Future). This might sound simple, but it’s hard work. Her insightful model (ANEW) is a simple and practical approach to learning new things in all aspects of our lives. I also tap into Erika’s more than 30 years of coaching high-performing leaders to identify common mistakes that leaders must avoid. Erika promised a part two where we will get deeper into her work around the traits of great leaders.
You can learn more about Erika Andersen and her work at the website of her company - Proteus: http://www.proteus-international.com/. Erika’s personal website is http://erikaandersen.com/.
As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
If you’d like help improving your productivity and leadership skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on Twitter @doughtymike.
In this episode I interview Tim Bowman, a teacher, author, and entrepreneur from Australia. In addition to having the best accent of anyone I’ve interviewed yet, Tim has a great deal to share from a teacher’s perspective. His book Forget Being the Favourite: 88 Ideas on Teaching Differently is destined to become one of the most important and useful books for helping teachers improve their craft. We talk about some of the highest leverage strategies teachers can use and how to support that work from an administrator’s perspective. I learned a ton from Tim and really enjoyed our conversation.
Tim is also the founder of Class Creator, a software program designed to help schools with one of the most unpleasant tasks that leaders face - creating balanced class lists. You can learn more about Class Creator and Tim’s work at www.classcreator.io. You can reach Tim directly by email at Tim@classcreator.io.
As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
If you’d like help improving your productivity and leadership skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on Twitter @doughtymike.
In this episode I interview Doug Stone, one of the authors (along with Sheila Heen) of the book Thanks for the Feedback and Jenn David-Lang who summarized the book for her Main Idea publication. We have a spirited discussion about the different types of feedback, why giving and receiving feedback can be so difficult, and how to get better at both sides of the process. You can reach Jenn at her website for The Main Idea (www.themainidea.net) or on Twitter @The_Mainidea. I’m a happy subscriber of The Main Idea, and a big fan of Jenn’s work. Doug can be reached through his consulting group’s website at triadconsultinggroup.com/. After you read Thanks for the Feedback, check out one of Doug’s other books: Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most.
As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
If you’d like help improving your productivity and leadership skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on Twitter @doughtymike.
In this episode I interview Andrew Sykes of Habits at Work (www.habitsatwork.com and www.bratlab.com). His company helps organizations of all kinds tap their greatest source of competitive advantage - their people. Andrew and I talk about the pivotal habits that are essential for helping companies (and schools) foster the health, happiness, and security of all their employees. Time flew during this interview. Andrew had so many great things to share about how to develop habits to improve all aspects of your professional and personal life that we may need to do a part two. You can reach Andrew by email at andrew@habitsatwork.com and on Twitter @sykesandrew. Enjoy this interview with Andrew Sykes.
As always, send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
If you’d like help improving your productivity and leadership skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on twitter @doughtymike.
Ever since I read her book Every Patient Tells a Story, I have wanted to talk to Dr. Lisa Sanders. Dr. Sanders is a physician, author, and teacher of physicians. Her speciality is what works and what doesn’t work in the process of diagnosis. We talk about everything from how the process of diagnosis is like a detective story and how the cognitive biases inherent in the process apply to decision making for school leaders. We get into health, wellness, work-life balance (spinning multiple plates), diet, exercise, burnout, and how to get comfortable with uncertainty. We even talk about Dr. Sanders’s favorite and least favorite TV shows about doctors. Enjoy this interview with Dr. Lisa Sanders.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in iTunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
If you’d like help improving your productivity skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on twitter @doughtymike.
If you’re like me, you probably get a lot of email, and it’s one of the worst parts of your job. If email is the best part of your job, then you need a new job. In this episode Dr. Jeff Cimmerer and I talk about all things email - its history, how people use and misuse it, strategies for managing it, and much more. While email isn’t one of those things that’s likely to make your career, using email inappropriately could send you into obscurity, or worse, unemployment. You can get control of your email in a positive way and spend more time with your friends and family. It’s time to stop letting this “tool” control your life. For more on mastering email consider listening to my interview with Merlin Mann.
If you’d like help improving your productivity skills, please contact me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com or on twitter @doughtymike.
In this episode I interview author, coach, triathlete, and competitive mountain bike rider Selene Yeager. Bicycling Magazine calls her the Fit Chick, and she was a lot of fun to talk to. Selene is a regular contributor to many different fitness magazines on training, nutrition, and injury prevention. I became a big fan when Selene’s article Sitting is the New Smoking appeared as the cover story in Runners World in 2013. We talk about how school administrators can combat the health effects of sitting in too many meetings. We also get into strategies for getting yourself to exercise like, “because it feels good, and I enjoy it.” Selene shares several of her personal productivity tips and routines as well as the projects she’s currently pursuing. We may need to do a part two.
To learn more about Selene and her work follow her on twitter @FitChick3 and visit her website: seleneyeager.com/. Enjoy this interview with Selene Yeager.
In this episode I sit down with friend and colleague, Dr. Jeff Cimmerer. Jeff is the Chief Information Officer for a large suburban school district in Upstate New York. He and I have a lively discussion about the horrible presentations we have seen during our time as school leaders. We share a bunch of dos and don’ts about planning, designing, and delivering effective presentations. Don’t be one of those school administrators that we talk about for giving bad presentations. You can get better.
For more on this topic consider listening to my interviews with Dr. Stephanie Evergreen and Dr. Nick Morgan.
If you’d like help improving your presentation skills or would like one of us to come talk to your team, please contact us. You can reach me at mike@schoolleadershipshow.com and Dr. Jeff Cimmerer at drjpc21@gmail.com.
Send your comments, questions, and show ideas to mike@schoolleadershipshow.com. Consider rating the podcast in itunes and leaving a comment. And please pass the show along to your colleagues.
In this episode I interview political reporter, television pundit, and author Eleanor Clift. Eleanor is a regular contributor to The Daily Beast and has a long history covering national politics - every presidential election since 1976. Many people know Eleanor as a perennial panelist on the syndicated talk show, “The McLaughlin Group.” I started watching “The Group” as a high school student in the early 90s, and I’ve been a faithful viewer ever since. Eleanor and I talk about writing, communication with new media, what makes a good leader, and the challenges facing K-12 education. She even predicts the candidates and the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
To learn more about Eleanor and her work visit http://www.eleanorclift.com/. Enjoy this interview with Eleanor Clift.