Our ongoing topic for the months of June and July is: Continuous Improvement. In this post, we’ll share:
- The top professional growth ideas from the recent #822Chat.
- Five resources for your own professional growth.
Before we jump into these great ideas and resources, a quick announcement: #822Chat will be off for summer break for the next week! Enjoy your time and see you on June 15, 2019.
Growth Ideas from Top Educational Leaders
Our recent #822Chats featured returning hosts AJ Bianco and Cristobal Saldana. The conversation focused on purposeful improvement and growth.
Reflective Practice
As you reflect on your leadership or teaching this past school year, what are you looking to change and improve next year?
I’m moving into my third year as principal. I really want to work on clarity. Now that I’m not just “getting through the day” we will all be better for it. –Sheila Jurke
There’s one factor that’s so important to school culture: clarity. Sheila’s focus for growth will have a massive impact on her school.
“Relationships….I always want to improve my communication style to have more balanced and effective relationships. What you see is what you get with me which can be disconcerting for others. I prefer open and honest as my style of choice. –Allicia Saldana
Professional Learning
Where will educational leaders find fresh ideas, inspiration, and answers? Leadership retreats, books, and Twitter are a good place to start.
“We start off the summer in our school system with a 3-day retreat with all leaders from all campus to learn, reflect, plan, and network with our peers across the system. I love it! I will also be reading like a fiend and scouring the Twitterverse for gems.” –Melissa Sidebotham
After a little reflection, engaging in creating educational content (such as with Principal Tribe) is also a great way to stretch your professional growth muscles.
“I need to reflect first to identify what went well and areas of improvement. I use a reflection tool for this purpose and shared it with the staff…then focusing on reading and blogging.” –Chris Legleiter
Learning is not always an isolated event. Often isolation is itself the problem. Learning together is a great strategy for continuous improvement.
“Our Region is using this summer to create learning opportunities for educators that will allow them to build networks across district lines. Summer is a great time to break down some of the silos that stop great educators from coming together in support of students.” – Dr. Pete Sullivan
Five Recommended Resources
If you have not discovered the following resources, we highly recommend them for summer growth and learning.
*These are not paid advertisements. We do receive a portion of any purchase you make at no cost to you.
Top Podcasts for Educational Leaders
Listen to episodes from this list of Top 10 Podcasts for School Leaders.
New Releases in Educational Leadership Books
These are best-selling new releases designed to motivate, refresh, and challenge you.
Relentless: Changing Lives by Disrupting the Educational Norm by Hamish Brewer (Motivate)
“In Relentless, Hamish Brewer shares a story of hope, love, and inspiration for making schools better. It is one part memoir, one part school-improvement guide, and a whole lot of motivation.” —Beth Houf, principal, Fulton Middle School; coauthor, Lead Like a PIRATE
Go See the Principal: True Tales from the School Trenches by Gerry Brooks (Refresh)
Ranging from practical topics like social media use in the classroom and parent-teacher conferences to more lighthearted sections for comic relief, this book is a great summer read.
Hacking School Discipline: 9 Ways to Create a Culture of Empathy and Responsibility Using Restorative Justice
Ranging from practical topics like social media use in the classroom and parent-teacher conferences to more lighthearted sections for comic relief, this book is a great summer read.
Leadership from Harvard Business Review
This final recommendation is the 10 must-read articles on diversity leadership.
This book will inspire you to:
- Identify and address bias.
- Short-circuit discrimination instead of unintentionally feeding it.
- Attract, retain, and engage talented people who represent myriad identities.
- Ensure that everyone has equal access to growth opportunities.
HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Diversity
