Elementary Principals Statewide Mentoring Meeting Thursday, September 18, 2014

Outcomes:  Grow your professional network;  Revisit entry plans/beginning of the year checklists and plan for the next steps;  Share practices for effectively engaging staff in professional learning;  Learn strategies for cultivating a positive climate and culture;  Access guidance regarding challenging legal issues;  Explore the rationale and strategies for having hard conversations; and  Consider ways to improve your leadership - life fit.

Important Links:  Padlet for posting questions for panel:  Evaluation:  Resources from today: elementary-principal-mentoring2.cfm elementary-principal-mentoring2.cfm

Grounding our work today… What items on your entry plan (or beginning of the year plan) have you successfully completed and where is your next area for focus? What barriers have you encountered? How might your colleagues at the table support you?

Developing our Learning Community The IPDM: Supporting a Cycle of Inquiry

Consulting Protocol 1. Groups of First person shares his/her building plan for professional learning—why is this the focus? What is your role in enacting/supporting the plan. What questions do you have about your plan? 3. Group processes by asking questions and offering insights. 4. Repeat steps two and three until all six colleagues have shared.

Group Processing  After everyone has shared, discuss what was learned by the analysis and the implications for your work as leaders  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?

Iowa Professional Development Model

Discussion Panel: Cultivating a Positive Climate and Culture T.J. Schneckloth, Davenport Garry Milbourn, Council Bluffs Kate Hartzler, Roland Story

mSept2014  Name, Role, Building/District  What tools or strategies have you used to collect information about the status of your culture?  What have you done with the data you’ve collected?

mSept2014  How do you communicate “culture”?  What leadership behaviors have helped you to create a positive, growth-oriented culture?  What are the indicators that you use to gauge your culture? How do you know if your culture is healthy?

Reminders from the Legal Vortex Matt Carver, SAI

Having Hard Conversations Dana Schon, SAI

By the end of this session, you will have…  Explored the rationale for hard conversations  Identified strategies for planning and engaging in hard conversations

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.

Hard conversations are about being true to oneself, doing what is right for students, and shaping an environment that supports learning. ~Jennifer Abrams

Having Hard Conversations Video Interview with Jennifer Abrams

What hard conversation aren’t you having?  What is bothering you?  Why is it bothering you?  Why haven’t you said anything yet?  What might you give up if you say something?  What is the worst thing that could happen?

Why do we avoid hard conversations? 1. Desire to please – to be liked and respected REALIZE: The nice thing to do IS speak up! 2. Personal safety-avoid physical/emotional pain-- scary/aggressive colleague REALIZE: Only civil, respectful dialogue is acceptable—focus on that to remain calm as you communicate this expectation to others

Why do we avoid hard conversations? 3. Personal Comfort—no waves, not worth hassle REALIZE: Short term personal discomfort for me will likely pale in comparison to long-term gains for everyone 4. Fatigue – I don’t have enough energy/emotion left to keep fighting this one REALIZE: This tired, tired feeling is what some students experience daily as they face this situation—it is worth it on their behalf to say something!

Why do we avoid hard conversations? 5. No Sense of Urgency—Don’t make a big deal, give it time REALIZE: Trust your gut/the hair on your neck/your inkling—gather data 6. Waiting for the perfect time—when is there enough in the emotional bank account that you can withdraw to be able to give feedback that might be considered critical? REALIZE: Don’t over think it! Give yourself a timeline to plan the conversation and a deadline to have it!

Why do we avoid hard conversations? 7. Worried about overwhelming someone who is already struggling REALIZE: Our job is to protect and serve students. We might consider how we can help the teacher improve so that he/she feels less rather than more overwhelmed. 8. It’s a small town, and we all know each other. REALIZE: Ask yourself how like it is that your hard conversation will have lasting consequences on your relationship, and remind yourself if you are speaking up on behalf of students, it’s worth it.

Why do we avoid hard conversations? 9. He’s a nice person./She didn’t mean it. REALIZE: Consider stepping up onto the balcony. What would you see as an outside observer in this situation?

3 principles:  Get Clear  Craft  Communicate

Questions I might ask myself…

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

On your planning tool…

Get Clear!  What language can you “borrow” to make your conversation more focused and less subjective?  What does the job description say (classified employees)?  What do the standards say (teachers)?  What do staff, student, parent, and/or volunteer handbooks say?

Make a Plan  Identify what you would like to see.  Consider what the teacher will need to make it happen.  Consider what you will need to do to support the teacher and what resources you may need to make available.

Hold the conversation… 1. Set the tone and purpose 2. Get to the point and name it professionally (avoid judgment and adjectives) 3. Give specific examples—share ONE or TWO of the most current 4. Describe the effect of this behavior on the school, colleagues, students 5. State your wish to resolve the issue and open the discussion

Angie, your content knowledge about history is second to none, and your passion for the subject is evident. ( Set Tone ). We need to figure out how to get students more actively engaged in your class. ( Get to the point ). In the last few observations, I have noted that 75% of your students are on their phones. During one observation, I noted students were copying notes from the power point, but when I asked each of 5 students what they were learning, each essentially said, “I don’t really know. I’m just writing down what’s up there.” ( Specific Examples).

The problem is that the students need to know this content so that they can be successful on your assessments. They need time and opportunity to process the information and to provide you with feedback so that you will know if they have learned. ( Describe the effect of the behavior). To structure more discussion and gather more feedback from students represents a shift for you. What do you think? ( Invite the conversation)

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.

Leadership-life Fit Dana Schon, SAI

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

Do you regularly…  Look at other principals working 13+ hour days and feel pressure to do the same?  Hope that you can get your kids to bed early so you can get a few more things done for work?  Give up exercise so you can get more work done?  Snack your way through breakfast, lunch, and dinner so you can keep working (or skip meals entirely)?  Tell yourself you need to find balance and then feel ineffective when you judge yourself for failing to find it?  Feel guilty when you’re spending time doing nothing?

You’re being owned by the myth of a work-life balance.

Work – Life Balance Visual Rant

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

What about 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

Laid-off Man Finally Achieves Perfect Work-Life Balance

Funny, but not realistic… so, what works?  Research shows the happiest people are busy — but don’t feel rushed.  Anxiety is reduced by a feeling of control. And what do studies say about work-life balance? Same thing — a feeling of control is key.

Striving for a better fit: Taking control  Schedule down time  What will you schedule weekly time to do?  Drop activities that zap your time and energy  What will you stop doing this week?  Exercise and eat healthy  What is one thing you are willing to change starting tomorrow?

You can do anything once you stop trying to do everything.

Final Thoughts & Evaluation