Today, I am talking with Brad Gustafson @GustafsonBrad, principal of Greenwood Elementary School #GWGreats. I’ve been a follower of Brad’s blog for a long time. He is inspiring and helps me want to be a better principal. I hope you learn a ton from him, just like I have.

In this episode we talk about:

Part 2

  • Teachers are talented.
  • Failure - Moodle forums research
  • Monthly theme - optional vs. required.
  • Transparency builds trust
  • Teachers do great things no matter what, either openly and transparently or behind closed doors.
    *Invest in digital connections to deep your learning.
  • Educational malpractice to limit learning based on what we refuse to learn.

WorkflowED podcast

Earning Freedom Podcast

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher

Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  


New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal


I had the great opportunity to interview Michael Santos this week. He is a former convict who spent 26 years in prison for running drugs. He says he never touched the drugs, but organized other people to do it. Pretty amazing story.

Michael has a podcast out, now as well. He pipes it into the prison system to help people learn to change.
You can learn a little bit more about Michael here:
PBS NewsHour (7-minute profile)
NBC Bay Area Proud (5-minute profile)
San Francisco Chronicle (Front-page profile)

We talk about the following:


New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal


I had the great opportunity to interview Michael Santos this week. He is a former convict who spent 26 years in prison for running drugs. He says he never touched the drugs, but organized other people to do it. Pretty amazing story.

Michael has a podcast out, now as well. He pipes it into the prison system to help people learn to change.
You can learn a little bit more about Michael here:
PBS NewsHour (7-minute profile)
NBC Bay Area Proud (5-minute profile)
San Francisco Chronicle (Front-page profile)

We talk about the following:


New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal

Trust with Gregory Leavitt Transformative Principal 066


Mr. Gregory Leavitt is the principal of Draper Park Middle School in Draper, UT. Draper Park has experienced some great success recently as a top-scoring school in the state in Math, ELA, and Science. He was the 2013 Canyons District Administrator of the Year Award Winner.

In this episode we talk about the following:

Cross Curricular Teaming and PLCs.

  • Agenda consists of activities, common vocabulary, student problem solving, and team activities and celebrations
  • Vocabulary is a powerful way to connect content areas.
  • How he reviews all 9 PLC teams’ notes.
  • Consistency as key to long-term success.
  • How they use a Friday late start collaboration time.

Subject Area Teaming and PLCs

  • Large focus on data
  • Common Formative Assessments
  • Bringing everybody up, instead of comparing for comparison sake.
  • Easy to take big end-of-year test when you are assessing for mastery to the standards all throughout the year.
  • No need for a big push at the end.
  • Nothing fancy, just some Google Docs that are shared between the team.

Standards-Based Grading

  • 100% of grades are based on assessments, what the kids can actually demonstrate as mastery.
  • Rick Wormeli - “Fair Isn’t Always Equal”
  • Objective Tracker, student-reported grades, and success.

How you can be a transformative principal:

Pick one thing that you can sustain for the next 5–7 years and stick with it.

Please take a moment to rate this podcast in iTunes or on Stitcher

Please follow me on Twitter: @jethrojones for the host and @TrnFrmPrincipal for the show.

Buy Communication Cards

Show notes on TransformativePrincipal.com

Download Paperless Principal.  


New Episode of @TrnFrmPrincipal