Principals Leadership & Learning Community

AGENDA:• Innovation

1. Creating Innovators by Tony Wagner2. How are you encouraging and supporting innovation as

well as removing barriers for innovation?

• Sharing 1 Victory & 1 Struggle in 2011-2012• Next Year – What could it look like?• Lunch

•Curiosity, which is a habit of asking good questions & a desire to understand more deeply•Collaboration, which begins w/ listening to & learning from, others who have perspectives & expertise that are very different from your own•Associative or integrative thinking•A bias toward action & experimentation

“…some of the most essential qualities of a successful innovator appear to be the following:”

Curiosity, which is a habit of asking good questions & a desire to understand more deeply

Support/Encouragement:• Support intrinsically motivated

staff; why are you here? What do we do? Give them freedom to solve their own problems

• Build teacher leadership capacity; take care of own issues; pd/articles and other resources, data class, technology opportunities

• Fierce conversations; looking at things through multiple perspectives

• Standards Based Reporting

Removing Barriers:• Remove word journeys from

report cards• Semester tests? What is the

purpose? • Taking away awards for tests;

class ranks (candy, pancakes, sitting by seats class rank)

• Elementary grades are still very important to teachers; responsibility?

Collaboration, which begins w/ listening to & learning from, others who have perspectives & expertise that are

very different from your own

Support/Encouragement:• PLCs; consistent year to year builds

trust• Using leadership teams, supportive

of their peers• Get teachers out of buildings or

bring outside experts in

Removing Barriers:• Helping to get people to speak up

in front of their peers • Building culture and climate that

builds this atmosphere• Try to diminish the one or two

people who are dominant in meetings so everyone is heard from

Associative or integrative thinking Support/Encouragement:• Promoting shared

leadership• Project-based

classrooms

Removing Barriers:• Communicating to

public (Iowa Futures website) with real conversations

A bias toward action & experimentation

Support/Encouragement:• Our reaction to failure of our

teachers and kids• Defining failure; change the

mindset to exactly what it is; is it progress?

Removing Barriers:• Where does the ACT fit into

creative/innovative for the future?

• Equity for preparation for adulthood from urban to rural

Sharing & Learning With Each OtherA VICTORY DETAILS/RESOURCES

Good conversation at a SIAC meeting District mission; what are you thinking is really happening in ______? What is your dream to what you would like to see happening?

Took a group of staff to data pilot course with Gary, Maurita, Lorie and Esther

Gave some guidance and built leadership within our building for staff members;

RtI process continues to move forward Teacher said my data looks terrible but I will work on it; owned it in front of others; involve key players that need to be there (AEA), data person on staff; focus on interventions for next year (Tier 1) – get GEI on-line plan available for others?

Professional development Expanded opportunities, formative assessment data on other needs to get buy-in; added DI to help comfort level with AIW; other instructional articles, tools thru wiki; interactive, time to do book studies

Struggling learner framework (RtI) IRIS grant for last 3-4 years with focus on struggling learners; put a system in place to monitor, give support to kids; keeping kids from falling through the cracks; “intentional non-learners” = kid who tries hard not to learn and gives no effort; mentors drafted struggling learners at the beginning of the year; proactive meetings before parent

Professional development Focus on one area = DI; staff feel better; peer coaching time; 1 hr early out and 2 hr late starts; next year moving forward with consortium

Sharing & Learning With Each OtherA VICTORY DETAILS/RESOURCES

Sharing & Learning With Each OtherA STRUGGLE POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

AND/OR RESOURCES

Change! Where do you start? •School board providing leadership, support, vision; Supt evaluations? More training at state level•21st century concept; preparing community for this is what we’re building for; using kids to get out the message; take the message to them; parent? What kind of life do you want for your kids? Iowa Futures website•Admn team (core/backbone) on board going in the right direction; need a team that will challenge you to be an instructional leader!•Starting somewhere; scaffolding; not quick•Willing to lose your job

Going through the motions; need for challenge, collaborate

•Book study with others•Taking classes with other like-minded individuals•Engage with people on twitter•“I decide”…my attitude, response, what I have control over or not, owning actions/behaviors•Connect with groups like this; commit to the time/energy•Connect with peers who will challenge, reframe, ask good questions, to think about things in a way I wouldn’t have thought about otherwise

Instructional leadership team; How do you lead when the team isn’t in place? …or isn’t enough team members to make it work?

•Twitter, social network; PLN/PLC•Create learning teams, no matter the position or degree•How to create a blend of on-line and face-to-face learning

Instructional leadership vs. management •Balance•Making sure mgmt doesn’t get in the way of leadership •Teaching teachers want these are; ex. lunchroom duty is a shared component, discipline is shared (shared custody); cultural conversation

Behavior tickets •Difference between parking tickets and moving violations (where someone else may get hurt)•PBIS; teacher buy-in•RtI

Sharing & Learning With Each OtherA STRUGGLE POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

AND/OR RESOURCES

#principalslead 2012-13Goals:

• Increase leadership opportunities for all principals in PLAEA schools• Increase the number of principals who

participate in these opportunities• Increase the impact that our principals

have on the students they serve

#principalslead 2012-13IDEA PROS CONS

1. Continue 2011-12 format

2. Create Principals’ mtgs like current Supt mtgs

3. Create Principals’ mtgs like current Supt mtgs + Instructional Rounds

•Caution of IR visits; may skew data

4. Multiple options for people to get involved; like this, supt mtgs, book studies, etc.

5. Other:

#principalslead 2012-13• Supt meeting style with 9:30-12:00• With possible book study in afternoon after/over lunch• Keep wiki going for resources• Topics– Fierce conversations (evaluations)– Competency based/standards based reporting– leadership – Culture of professional learning communities; looking at

data, getting into classrooms, collaboration– Change– Question on the survey– Updates from AEA staff

#principalslead 2012-13IDEA PROS CONS

6. Other:

7. Other:

Feedback Survey

Go to wiki & provide feedback on survey form

Thank you!