AP/Deans Statewide Mentoring Meeting Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Outcomes:  Grow your professional network;  Process start of the year;  Explore goal-setting strategies and tools;  Reflect on the assistant principal’s role as instructional leader;  Consider approaches for dealing with difficult staff;  Learn strategies for involving parents;  Increase awareness regarding legal issues; and  Identify strategies for improving individual leadership-life fit.

Grounding our work today… As you reflect on these first few weeks of school, what has been most challenging and what has been most meaningful?

Developing our Learning Community Setting Goals and Supporting Professional Learning

Success Analysis Protocol 1. Groups of First person shares his/her goal-setting tool/strategy/article/etc., how it is used, why it’s successful, and/or what might need tweaked (5 minutes) 3. Group processes by asking questions and offering insights (5 minutes). 4. Repeat steps two and three until all four colleagues have shared.

Questions and Group Processing around What Was Shared or Next Presenter (10 minutes)10 minutes

Group Processing  After everyone has shared, discuss what was learned by the analysis and the implications for your work as leaders. (10 minutes)  Debrief the protocol  How did the process work for your group?  How could it be improved?  How might you use this with your teachers and or other groups?

Break! Grow your professional network—choose a new table !

AP S AS I NSTRUCTIONAL L EADERS S CHOOL A DMINISTRATORS OF I OWA Bryan Stearns and Erika Cook West Des Moines Community Schools

A PS AS I NSTRUCTIONAL L EADERS That’s Me! It’s raining duties… (share three most important at your table) (share your definition of success with your mentor/mentee)

AP S AS I NSTRUCTIONAL L EADERS Sharing the Secrets by Rebecca Good Reading (10 minutes) Mentors (read odd numbered secrets) Mentees (read even numbered secrets) When finished with your reading, with your mentor/mentee: Odds Mentor summarizes in one sentence. Mentee responds by anticipating how that secret will play out this year. Evens Mentee summarizes in one sentence. Mentor responds by anticipating how that secret has played out in their career.

A PS AS I NSTRUCTIONAL L EADERS How will you stay focused as an instructional leader and positively impact student achievement this school year? (Share with mentor/mentee) Instructional Leadership Letter Resources Thank you!

Dealing Productively with Difficult Staff Dana Schon, SAI

By the end of this session, you will have…  Identified resources to support you in engaging in critical conversations  Considered conversation skills and behaviors that contribute to the building of successful relationships and extraordinary leadership  Engaged in collaborative problem-solving

Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations Our lives are a series of relationships, the success or failure of which happen one conversation at a time. Extraordinary leadership is the result of having fierce conversations with ourselves first and then with others. Only then can any of us hope to provide the caliber of leadership that our organizations need and desire.

Particularly valuable resources…

A Checklist for Difficult Conversations: Setting the Stage  What is the purpose for the conversation? What is the desired outcome?  What assumptions are you making about this person’s intentions? (Impact doesn’t always equal intent)  What buttons of yours are being pushed?  How is your attitude influencing the situation?

A Checklist for Difficult Conversations: Setting the Stage  Who is the challenger? Begin to reframe him/her as partner.  What are your needs and fears? Are there any common concerns? Could there be?  How have you contributed to the problem? How have they?

The majority of the work in any difficult conversation is work you do on yourself.

4 Steps to Success 1. Inquiry – listen to learn. What is being said? What is not being said? 2. Acknowledgment – not the same as agreement. Recognize that you have heard the story. 3. Advocacy – it’s your turn. Clarify your position without minimizing theirs. What have they missed from your perspective? 4. Problem-solving - build solutions. What might work? What needs to happen? What if we just tried____.

Getting Started:  "I have something I’d like to discuss with you that I think will help us work together more effectively.  "I’d like to talk about ____________ with you, but first I’d like to get your point of view."  "I need your help with what just happened. Do you have a few minutes to talk?"  "I need your help with something. Can we talk about it (soon)?" If they say, "Sure, let me get back to you," follow up with them.

Getting Started:  "I think we have different perceptions about _____________________. I’d like to hear your thinking on this."  "I’d like to talk about ___________________. I think we may have different ideas on how to _____________________."  "I’d like to see if we might reach a better understanding about ___________. I really want to hear your feelings about this and share my perspective as well.”

A few tips…  Acknowledge emotional energy – yours and theirs – and direct it towards a useful purpose.  Know and return to your purpose at difficult moments.  Don’t take verbal attacks personally. Help your partner come back to center.  Don’t assume they can see things from your point of view.  Practice the conversation with a mentor/colleague before holding the real one.  Mentally practice the conversation. See various possibilities and visualize yourself handling them with ease. Envision the outcome you’re hoping for.

LUNCH !

Discussion Panel: Working with Parents Andy Seiler, Carlisle Joan Crowl, Glenwood Mike Peakin, Pleasant Valley

Discussion Panel  Your position and the expectations for you in your role, particularly as they relate to your work with parents.  How have you connected with parents such that the first contact isn't a discipline call? or How do you balance the perceived negative (discipline) calls with what is perceived as more positive communication?

Discussion Panel  What are some ways you have involved parents as part of your systemic support for students, especially those students who are at-risk? How do you enlist parents in the learning journey of their student?  What are some standard lines that you have used with irate parents? Parents who want special favors? Parents who want information that you should not provide? Do you have any other "go-to" lines?

Break! Grow your professional network--choose a new table !

Reminders from the Legal Vortex Matt Carver, SAI

Leadership-life Fit Dana Schon, SAI

By the end of this segment, participants will have…  Revisited the concept of balance as compared to fit  Identified strategies for reducing stress and creating an ebb and flow that works for you

Challenging the Notion of Work-life Balance M05yxs

The Notion of Balance…  Is discussed most frequently discussed in the negative  Keeps us focused on the problem rather than the solution  Assumes we are all the same  Infers there is a “right” answer  Leads us to judge  Results in unproductive guilt  Suggests the goal is a split between work and life  Leaves no room for periods where there is more work and less life and vice versa; and  Ignores the constantly changing reality of work and life

You are one person, so there is no need to try to separate your personal life from your work life.

Why a work-life fit?  Honors our unique situations throughout various points in our lives  Leads us to inspire  Recognizes multiple options based upon each person’s current circumstance  Acknowledges the ebb and flow of life’s events  Values flexibility

Reframe Your Thinking and Change the Script Negative/Powerless Thinking  I don’t have enough time…  I have to…  I need to…  I should… Positive/Empowered Thinking  I didn’t take time to…  I choose/want to…  I could…

Strategies for a Better Fit  Schedule Your Life – both work and free time  Create Lists – Know what needs to be done and put it on your schedule  Set priorities – Complete the most important things first  Create Systems for anything you do more than twice  Know when to say No – Delegate and stop trying to do it all.  Work on One Thing at A Time – Multitasking does not work!  Healthy Life, Health Mind – Exercise and Get Enough Sleep

Keep working to find your leadership-life fit!!

Final Thoughts & Evaluation