Catlin Tucker Joins TheSchoolHouse302 for a Conversation about Blended Learning
Dr. Catlin Tucker is a bestselling author, international trainer, and keynote speaker. She was named Teacher of the Year in 2010 in Sonoma County, where she taught for 16 years. Catlin earned her doctorate in learning technologies at Pepperdine University.
Currently, Catlin is working as a blended learning coach and education consultant. Catlin has written a series of bestselling books on blended learning, which include Balance With Blended Learning, Blended Learning In Action, Power Up Blended Learning, and Blended Learning In Grades 4-12. She is active on Twitter @Catlin_Tucker and writes an internationally ranked blog at CatlinTucker.com.
Key thoughts from Our Interview with Catlin Tucker
Don’t miss how Catlin’s own needs drove her to become a foremost expert on blended learning.
One Thing Series: Transformational Change w/ Jethro Jones — #onethingseries
Change Your Perspective
Jethro Jones (@jethrojones) is the 2017 NASSP Digital Principal of the Year and the host of Transformative Principal, where he interviews principals, leaders, and influencers who help improve K-12 education throughout the world. He is also the founder of Transformative Leadership Summit, which is like his podcast, but on steroids!He is the author of SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves, available now for pre-order.
Key Thoughts from the Interview:
Schools are dynamic places. Listen to how Jethro led 32 initiatives simultaneous to transform his school for the better. As you will hear, it all starts with empathy.
Jethro raves about Seth Godin’s Creative Workshops. Jethro’s approach to learning and growing is fascinating.
Recently inspired by Tim Feriss’s interview of Hugh Jackman, Jethro is journaling each day and has already experienced the power of this simple practice. But, this is journaling with a twist. Discover how you can also make this a consistent part of your life for big changes.
One thing Jethro would love to learn–the piano! Not surprising since so much of this interview is wrapped around change, growth, and creativity.
Interestingly, Jethro describes how his own Podcast is at the center of his exponential growth. His process for identifying his guests is unique and extremely worthwhile.
Jethro’s final response on what he used to believe, but doesn’t anymore, is at the heart of change–that it doesn’t have to be a certain way. His Tik Tok story is a perfect example of learning in new and dynamic ways.
Jehtro’s interview is very insightful for any educator looking to make a difference in the classroom, school, or district.
Please follow, like, and comment. Use #onethingseries and #SH302 so that we can find you. For more great leadership content, follow dereka206.sg-host.com.
This is TheSchoolHouse302’s monthly #reviewandreflect, wrapping up our focus on Building A Winning Team
Major Takeaway for this Month:
Creating and sustaining a winning team of talented people is maybe the single most important task of a leader. To do so, requires executing three key elements incredibly well. Only doing one or two without the complement of the other will always limit your efforts. Similar to the mutualistic relationship that we find in nature between bees and flowers, branding, recruiting, and selecting all work together and are beneficial to one another.
Breaking the Model Down
Branding refers to a schools ability to finding multiple avenues, using a variety of mediums, to tell their unique story to inform the community about greatness and achievement.
Recruiting is the active pursuit of finding the most talented staff to become a part of a school’s dynamic team.
Selecting refers to unique and different ways to ensure that the prospective candidate is the best for the organization.
So, what steps can you take today?
This month we offered a 3-Minute Challenge to take the necessary action steps to build your winning team by telling your story.
Excellent schools capitalize on all three areas–branding, recruiting, and selecting–to build their winning team. Did you take the first step in branding by telling your story this month? Our BIG to-do this month was the 10-Day Challenge, which required you to Commit to a 10-day pursuit to telling your school’s story using social media.
It only takes three minutes per day to Tweet, share a pic, or create a quick video. For 10 straight days, we asked that you commit to communicating something special about your school. Whether it’s preparing for the upcoming school year or celebrating recent graduates, you need to get your story told to change the narrative about what happens in great schools.
How well did you do on the challenge this month?
Read to Lead
3 Books You Need to Read to Brand Your School and Recruit Top Talent — #readthisseries
Don’t miss this vblog on books you need to read to lead better and grow faster. We recommend three titles that are must reads on the topic of building your winning team.
What an expert has to say about telling your unique story to build an amazing school brand:
“In the absence of knowledge, people make it up.” Joe provides incredible insight on the power of branding and why schools need to embrace telling their story. Learn how Joe creates connections and forces engagement in different ways. Listen here.
TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple and maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.
Please let us know how our leadership posts are working for you, what you are reading to improve yourself, and your thoughts on leadership and growth here on our blog and Twitter. Follow our #onethingseries podcast on iTunes and our #readthisseries on YouTube.
“People won’t change the way they talk about schools until we change the way we talk about schools.“
Dr. Joe Sanfelippo is the Superintendent of the Fall Creek School District in Fall Creek, WI. The Fall Creek School District was named an Innovative District in 2016 and 2017 by the International Center for Leadership in Education. Joe holds a BA in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from St. Norbert College, a masters in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a masters in Educational Leadership, and a PhD in Leadership, Learning, and Service from Cardinal Stritch University.
TheSchoolHouse302 · One Thing Series: Telling Your Story with Joe Sanfelippo -- #onethingseries
Key Thoughts from the Interview:
“In the absence of knowledge, people make it up.” Joe provides incredible insight on the power of branding and why schools need to embrace telling their story. Learn how Joe creates connections and forces engagement. We’ll forgive him for his comments regarding the Philadelphia Eagles.
A powerhouse of inspiration, Joe mentions that Inky Johnson is a person he can listen to every day. If you don’t know Inky’s story, don’t let another minute go by! Within the world of education, Joe also mentions that he “leans into” Jimmy Casas and Tom Murray and we couldn’t agree more.
Interestingly, Joe discussed the one thing that we should be doing every day is listening more. He powerfully describes how he often gets caught up in the “next thing” and can overlook the moment. You have to hear what he also says about doing something a little scary.
Listen to what he says about reading. It’s awesome and totally about immersion and engagement.
With whom do you surround yourself? Are you around individuals who push you to another level? Joe describes how to grow, find out just how simple it is if you are actually willing.
Joe’s final response on what he used to believe is a great example of doing what makes a difference versus doing things you think make a difference.
Joe’s interview is a practical how-to interview. His suggestions on telling your story are simple yet profound. The story he tells of the young man bagging groceries is what it is all about.
Please follow, like, and comment. Use #onethingseries and #SH302 so that we can find you. For more great leadership content, follow dereka206.sg-host.com.
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships. ~ Michael Jordan
A fun pastime among sports enthusiasts is to debate the best sports teams of all time, regardless of the sport itself. Undoubtedly, this is a challenging, arguably futile, exercise with fierce loyalties and subjective opinions, which inevitably cloud good judgment. Regardless, there are some heavy hitters that always make the list and that can’t be ignored. As Phillies fans, it is hard to admit, but the ‘98 Yankees definitely stand out. From the batter’s box to the pitching mound, they dominated the playing field. We’ve already mentioned the Chicago Bulls in last week’s post, so we’ll give a shout out to our friends from the north and recognize the incredible run that the Edmonton Oilers had in the 80s.
The question that looms when these arguments arise is about the essence of what it means to achieve unmistakable greatness. Granted, great teams win, but putting together a winning team is far more complex than just assembling talent. Players need to not only be the very best in their particular position, but also must complement the team as a whole.
Schools aren’t vying for NBA championships, and certainly won’t get the same accolades, but building a “Hall of Fame” team in your school is not much different from any other sport or big brand. Every teacher and staff member must excel in their roles and be able to contribute to the school as a whole to guarantee that it functions at its highest level. The first step in building a winning team is in your dedication to branding and actively telling the school’s story. This generates attraction and attention, which leads to the second critical step, recruiting. People want to be a part of something great, and if your school is doing incredible things for students, others will want to join you. Lastly, selecting the right candidate is paramount. Vacancies go far beyond the job opening and extend into the culture, the fit, and all of the other aspects of being a strong team player.
Excellent schools capitalize on all three areas–branding, recruiting, and selecting–to build their winning team. Take the first step in branding by telling your story. Use the ThreeMinuteChallenge below, and let us know how it goes.
Reflect: Think about how well you are engaging the greater school community and informing them about all of the things that are going on in your school.
Identify: There are multiple avenues for telling your story and continually building your brand. Identify one or two key social media platforms that you will use to communicate your school’s priorities and achievements. We like Twitter best for this.
Do: Commit to a 10 day challenge of telling your story. It only takes three minutes a day to Tweet, share a pic, or create a quick video. For 10 straight days, commit to communicating something special about your school. Whether it’s preparing for the upcoming school year or celebrating recent graduates, find ways each day to promote the great things that define your success.
Pro Tip: Audit your website to see how well your brand is communicated. In BrandED, Authors Sheninger and Rubin tell readers to assess their website by conducting a website “walkthrough” to determine if the message is clear and consistent as well as to determine if it effectively communicates the school’s story.
Stay tuned for more challenges, reflection questions, leadership models, podcasts, and more by following dereka206.sg-host.com. It’s our job to curate, synthesize, and communicate so that you can lead better and grow faster. In a world plagued by nothing but noise, we help you by getting to simple.
TheSchoolHouse302 is about getting to simple by maximizing effective research-based strategies that empower individuals to lead better and grow faster.
Great School Leaders Understand How to Market & Brand Their School
Don’t miss this vblog on books you need to read to lead better and grow faster. We recommend three titles that are must reads on the topic of building a winning team–branding, recruiting, and selecting top talent.
PS — If you have a topic you want us to cover or need recommendations on books to read in a particular area of leadership, just send us a tweet or email.
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More Resources for You
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7 Mindshifts for School Leaders: Finding New Ways to Think About Old Problems. 
