WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:12.015 --> 00:00:18.075 Welcome to Transformative Principal, where I help you stop putting out fires and start leading. 00:00:18.585 --> 00:00:20.085 I'm your host, Jethro Jones. 00:00:20.085 --> 00:00:22.785 You can follow me on Twitter at Jethro Jones. 00:00:22.785 --> 00:00:22.845 Okay. 00:00:35.083 --> 00:00:37.273 Welcome to Transformative Principal. 00:00:37.273 --> 00:00:38.743 I am your host, Jethro Jones. 00:00:38.743 --> 00:00:40.333 So excited to have you here today. 00:00:40.333 --> 00:00:42.523 Today we are talking with Stan Urba. 00:00:42.613 --> 00:00:43.333 Did I say that right? 00:00:43.935 --> 00:00:44.475 You did? 00:00:44.833 --> 00:00:45.343 Okay. 00:00:45.643 --> 00:00:46.513 Stan Urba. 00:00:46.543 --> 00:00:51.793 He is a principal in Ohio and he is currently working on his doctorate. 00:00:51.823 --> 00:00:55.003 And as you know, I also am working on my doctorate, so. 00:00:55.393 --> 00:00:59.533 I love it when I can talk with people who are in the middle of this process as well. 00:00:59.533 --> 00:01:11.533 And, um, I don't think I told you Stan, uh, I have a, and a little accountability group that I'm doing with other people who are writing their dissertations, so I should invite you to that also. 00:01:12.775 --> 00:01:13.585 Actually, you know what? 00:01:13.585 --> 00:01:17.215 I think when we first connect to Jethro, you did actually invite me. 00:01:17.245 --> 00:01:21.145 I am part of the group, probably not one of the more active members right now 'cause 00:01:21.218 --> 00:01:21.928 There you are. 00:01:22.873 --> 00:01:24.253 Yes, you. 00:01:24.523 --> 00:01:28.903 You are in there, but you don't ever post anything, so I thought you weren't there. 00:01:29.413 --> 00:01:30.763 So there you go. 00:01:31.063 --> 00:01:31.573 All right, 00:01:31.980 --> 00:01:32.790 you are correct. 00:01:32.790 --> 00:01:34.710 I need to be, have a little more accountability, so 00:01:34.903 --> 00:01:35.413 well. 00:01:36.313 --> 00:01:37.753 Yeah, well, here's the thing. 00:01:37.783 --> 00:01:44.323 Uh, the, the, there's an automatic question that goes in every week that says, what are you gonna get done towards dissertation? 00:01:44.323 --> 00:01:46.423 And what did you get done towards dissertation? 00:01:46.873 --> 00:01:50.263 And just having that little bit of accountability really helps. 00:01:50.263 --> 00:01:57.703 It helps me be accountable to somebody besides myself, and it helps others be accountable to somebody besides themselves also. 00:01:57.703 --> 00:02:02.623 So, uh, if you're working on dissertation, there'll be a link to this in the show notes on the. 00:02:03.258 --> 00:02:17.418 On the podcast today at Transformative Principal dot org, so you can, you can join this as well if you're in the middle of working on a dissertation or at the doctoral level, or even if you're just, uh, getting ready, you can still join us and connect there. 00:02:17.418 --> 00:02:25.938 And, and I gotta tell you, having the accountability is really helpful because it's helped me get to the point where, uh, I am, I am just about done. 00:02:25.938 --> 00:02:27.528 And it's, it's very exciting. 00:02:29.710 --> 00:02:30.060 Great. 00:02:30.175 --> 00:02:31.135 Congratulations. 00:02:31.135 --> 00:02:34.975 I wish I could say the same, but we're, we're on a rough draft of the first three chapters. 00:02:35.428 --> 00:02:38.218 Oh, you, you will, you will get there, my friend. 00:02:38.278 --> 00:02:39.238 Don't you worry. 00:02:39.388 --> 00:02:41.068 That's, that's the beauty of this stuff. 00:02:41.068 --> 00:02:41.788 You just keep going. 00:02:41.788 --> 00:02:46.378 Eventually you get it done and, uh, and, and keep pushing forward. 00:02:46.438 --> 00:02:47.038 You'll get it. 00:02:47.728 --> 00:02:55.198 Um, so, uh, why don't you start by telling us a little bit about, uh, what your dissertation is in and the things that you're researching. 00:02:56.305 --> 00:02:56.595 Sure. 00:02:56.610 --> 00:03:01.860 Um, so my primary focus on my dissertation is principal self-efficacy. 00:03:02.070 --> 00:03:05.940 So basically it's the power of if you believe in something or you think. 00:03:05.940 --> 00:03:08.520 Something you're going to naturally do better at it. 00:03:08.580 --> 00:03:15.270 And, um, a quick story that kind of got me into this, um, and I Jethro, I haven't even shared this with you actually. 00:03:15.600 --> 00:03:21.720 Um, I started my dis, or I'm sorry, I started my doctoral program in 2014. 00:03:21.930 --> 00:03:22.410 Yes. 00:03:22.588 --> 00:03:23.038 man. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:23.760 years ago. 00:03:23.880 --> 00:03:24.150 But 00:03:24.388 --> 00:03:24.748 man. 00:03:25.660 --> 00:03:29.770 There's a story behind that though, and that's where you're gonna, you'll say, oh, wait a second. 00:03:30.070 --> 00:03:31.420 So I started in 2014. 00:03:31.420 --> 00:03:44.380 I was in the last semester of my coursework and, um, I had a weird thing where I just wasn't, I, what I would do is when my boys would go to bed, I would do most of my writing from 10 p 10:00 AM or 10:00 PM to 2:00 AM. 00:03:44.843 --> 00:03:45.063 Yes. 00:03:45.465 --> 00:03:49.755 I got to the point I couldn't complete assignments and I never, that was not me as a student. 00:03:49.995 --> 00:03:51.495 And, uh, I started feeling sick. 00:03:51.495 --> 00:03:53.415 I was losing weight mysteriously. 00:03:53.655 --> 00:03:58.735 So through some blood work and a great doctor that saved my life, I had leukemia and, um. 00:03:59.513 --> 00:03:59.733 Yik. 00:04:00.780 --> 00:04:02.550 Yeah, it was, it was bad. 00:04:02.550 --> 00:04:03.630 It almost took my life. 00:04:03.630 --> 00:04:08.310 But through that process, I always was a believer in positive thinking. 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:11.520 And that kind of drove me to where I am today with my dissertation. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:12.960 So I had to take some years off. 00:04:13.170 --> 00:04:21.210 Um, I took some, some years off of work, but, um, when I returned, you know, I realized that that's really what I wanna study is self-efficacy. 00:04:21.210 --> 00:04:24.120 And I transferred that into my work as a, as a principal. 00:04:25.163 --> 00:04:27.898 Okay, so self, that's, that's a crazy story. 00:04:27.898 --> 00:04:28.918 Congratulations on. 00:04:29.593 --> 00:04:31.573 Beating that and, and surviving. 00:04:31.693 --> 00:04:37.363 Uh, tell me a little bit about, um, what self-efficacy really means. 00:04:37.363 --> 00:04:47.533 You said that it's what, if you believe in something, then you're more likely to be able to accomplish it, or something like that is what you said, but help me understand what that means day to day for a principle. 00:04:49.645 --> 00:04:51.870 Basically, oh. 00:04:53.400 --> 00:04:54.210 Sorry about that. 00:04:54.420 --> 00:04:59.430 Um, uh, what that means is as a principal, is that what your question was, Jethro. 00:04:59.488 --> 00:04:59.818 Yep. 00:04:59.848 --> 00:05:00.298 Mm-hmm. 00:05:00.690 --> 00:05:07.530 Okay, so, so I'll, I can give you an example actually, a very specific example. 00:05:07.530 --> 00:05:11.160 Um, my career as a teacher, I was a band director. 00:05:11.190 --> 00:05:13.350 Um, and that's really what I did. 00:05:13.350 --> 00:05:14.880 So regarding curriculum. 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:18.030 Probably not my strongest suit. 00:05:18.390 --> 00:05:29.040 Um, I would say I've worked hard on it on these 11 years as a school administrator, but when I go and I think about it before I go in and tackle a task that involves curriculum. 00:05:29.820 --> 00:05:31.050 I really think about it. 00:05:31.050 --> 00:05:37.380 I visualize I'm gonna go in there and talk to this teacher about curriculum and you know, I'm gonna be positive about it. 00:05:37.410 --> 00:05:44.130 And if I have that thought going into it, the actual interaction with the teacher is gonna be more positive for the teacher. 00:05:44.130 --> 00:05:44.790 Definitely. 00:05:44.790 --> 00:05:45.570 And for me. 00:05:45.875 --> 00:05:50.015 And more importantly, I go in there with the confidence and the attitude that, you know what? 00:05:50.045 --> 00:05:51.215 I can help this person. 00:05:51.215 --> 00:05:55.745 We're gonna work together and we're gonna make this happen for the best interest of our kids. 00:05:55.865 --> 00:05:57.515 So that's just a quick example. 00:05:57.515 --> 00:06:01.265 Um, curriculum is not my strong suit, but I'm definitely getting better at it every day. 00:06:01.325 --> 00:06:05.825 And ironically, um, part of my current position is not curriculum directly. 00:06:06.005 --> 00:06:16.325 But, uh, I do testing and assessment for my school district, so I, I'm already starting to build on that and really develop that positive attitude and work on it to become even better. 00:06:17.428 --> 00:06:17.628 Yeah. 00:06:17.628 --> 00:06:26.388 So, uh, is this, you know, essentially, excuse me, is this essentially the, like the power of positive thinking, or is it deeper than that? 00:06:27.855 --> 00:06:29.385 I think it's both actually. 00:06:29.385 --> 00:06:32.535 Like I said, it, it comes from personal experience first. 00:06:32.565 --> 00:06:33.705 Um, but I think. 00:06:34.140 --> 00:06:39.720 More importantly, it's the actual, the mindset and it's the going out and, and thinking about it. 00:06:39.750 --> 00:06:46.170 Um, I know you've, people have heard Michael Giordano would go out and visualize shooting baskets, you know, and that positive thinking. 00:06:46.380 --> 00:06:50.190 Um, and that translated to his, his, um, performance on the court. 00:06:50.490 --> 00:06:53.610 So I really do think it's more, it's a mindset. 00:06:53.610 --> 00:06:59.490 It's just everything I do, I try to tackle it with a positive attitude and thinking that there's nobody. 00:06:59.545 --> 00:07:00.235 No way. 00:07:00.235 --> 00:07:04.465 Something's gonna stop me from being successful and achieving what I need to get done. 00:07:04.495 --> 00:07:12.715 And I can even use this dissertation as an example where, um, I'm maintaining a positive attitude about it, albeit, you know, 11 years now. 00:07:12.925 --> 00:07:16.705 And, um, it's, it's helped me, I believe, both personally and professionally. 00:07:17.788 --> 00:07:18.478 For sure. 00:07:18.808 --> 00:07:25.588 Um, you know, so I do, uh, the, the form of coaching that I do is, uh, positive intelligence coaching. 00:07:25.588 --> 00:07:35.188 And one of the things that, that they talk about in there is that you are significantly more likely to find success if you visualize it happening. 00:07:35.623 --> 00:07:48.673 Beforehand than if you either don't do anything at all or if you just practice a whole bunch, it is almost as effective to visualize yourself doing it as it is to do the actual practice. 00:07:48.973 --> 00:08:03.493 And so, you know, they, they use the, uh, the basketball example as well where they say, uh, if you, if you go out and practice and you shoot free throws all the time, then you. 00:08:04.093 --> 00:08:06.883 You know, you can improve a certain amount. 00:08:06.883 --> 00:08:11.983 If you visualize doing that, then you can improve very close to that same amount. 00:08:11.983 --> 00:08:24.253 And I don't remember the exact numbers that they used, but it was, it was significant improvement and significant, uh, growth just based on visualizing or practicing. 00:08:24.763 --> 00:08:28.693 Um, and, and what I've found when I have. 00:08:29.503 --> 00:08:34.333 Difficult things to do that I'm not looking forward to, or that I, I struggle with. 00:08:34.783 --> 00:08:43.213 Um, the visualization really helps in practicing it in my mind, or, or seeing the positive outcome really helps. 00:08:43.273 --> 00:08:50.863 And so, but the question is, how does that work with things that you are not like nervous about? 00:08:50.893 --> 00:08:52.723 Does it still help or do you not need it? 00:08:52.723 --> 00:08:56.803 Or do you already have that confidence that you don't need to visualize it at all? 00:08:58.410 --> 00:09:07.200 For me personally, once I get to a point where I've got something, and I know there's a lot of research on, you know, tackle the wor, the, the toughest thing first. 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:08.610 Uh, I've read books on that. 00:09:08.610 --> 00:09:13.560 I think there's a lot of research out there that says, you know, tackle the toughest thing and then work your way down. 00:09:13.770 --> 00:09:16.920 Um, there's all kinds of, of research out about that. 00:09:17.325 --> 00:09:21.450 I, I would say to me, I just lend myself to the fact that, you know what? 00:09:21.830 --> 00:09:22.580 I'm gonna do it. 00:09:22.580 --> 00:09:23.240 I gotta do it. 00:09:23.240 --> 00:09:24.200 I gotta get it done. 00:09:24.470 --> 00:09:25.190 And you know what? 00:09:25.190 --> 00:09:26.630 I'm gonna maintain a positive attitude. 00:09:26.630 --> 00:09:27.680 I'm gonna work hard. 00:09:27.890 --> 00:09:28.340 You know? 00:09:28.370 --> 00:09:37.550 Um, the, then I, when I really get down on things, I'll go back to the point, Hey, there was a point when I almost didn't live on this earth anymore because of cancer, but I defeated it. 00:09:37.790 --> 00:09:44.090 And when I go back and I dig down in that deep, deep soul, sometimes I have to go to, I realize, you know what? 00:09:44.090 --> 00:09:45.080 This is nothing. 00:09:45.260 --> 00:09:45.410 I 00:09:45.553 --> 00:09:45.853 Yeah. 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:47.630 This is nothing. 00:09:48.043 --> 00:09:48.463 Yeah. 00:09:48.590 --> 00:09:55.305 uh, so to answer your question, I. I do think I'm, now, do I visualize every time I go in and talk to a teacher about curriculum? 00:09:55.575 --> 00:09:56.145 No. 00:09:56.265 --> 00:10:04.245 But if there's a more difficult teacher, you know, someone that I think that it's gonna be a, a, a more challenging conversation that might push me a little bit. 00:10:04.305 --> 00:10:05.295 I need to be prepared. 00:10:05.295 --> 00:10:09.465 So I do, I go in and I think about it and I visualize it before I even walk in there. 00:10:09.465 --> 00:10:18.945 And I, and I, I'm glad you shared that about the research, you know, that it's just as good, you know, um, I think that's very important to anything you're tackling that can be difficult for you. 00:10:19.453 --> 00:10:23.233 Yeah, so you mentioned tackling the toughest thing first. 00:10:23.503 --> 00:10:35.923 Uh, sometimes I do that and other times I start with the smallest win that I can get, uh, to build my own confidence that I can, I can do this and, and so, you know, going. 00:10:36.703 --> 00:10:49.813 For example, when I first became a principal, I didn't really like doing, I was in an elementary school and I didn't really like doing, uh, observations because I hadn't taught in an elementary school except as a substitute, but that doesn't really count. 00:10:50.143 --> 00:10:56.803 And, and so I felt a little insecure about it and didn't know how I could give feedback to teachers. 00:10:56.803 --> 00:11:01.963 And so in the beginning, I would go into teachers' classrooms that I liked and I knew, liked me. 00:11:02.288 --> 00:11:04.238 Where it would be easy and comfortable. 00:11:04.508 --> 00:11:20.348 And then later I would, you know, go into three teacher's classrooms that I liked and then go into the teacher's classroom that I was kind of dreading and you know, just doing walkthroughs and things like that that often helped as well and accomplish the easy things before we get into the hard things. 00:11:20.738 --> 00:11:31.388 So with that, there, there are a lot of things that we do in education that don't really move the needle, but make us feel like we're doing. 00:11:31.723 --> 00:11:54.013 We're getting these small wins, and one of those things is, uh, keeping on top of your email and, and a lot of principals spend a lot of time worrying about getting their email answered and taken care of, and I have often seen that as a procrastination tool rather than a, like getting work done. 00:11:54.313 --> 00:11:57.073 Any, any thoughts on that with just that brief introduction? 00:11:57.915 --> 00:11:58.695 Sure, sure. 00:11:58.755 --> 00:12:00.555 Um, specifically about emails. 00:12:00.615 --> 00:12:06.195 I would definitely say, um, I learned that over the years, I, I'll be the first to admit. 00:12:06.195 --> 00:12:10.035 I think as a first year building administrator, it was tough to manage the emails. 00:12:10.335 --> 00:12:21.135 Um, a couple things I've, I've kind of done the old schedule send, um, in my building and in my school district, I'll actually say, um, we have a thing, Hey, you know what? 00:12:21.135 --> 00:12:22.515 After four or five o'clock. 00:12:23.130 --> 00:12:27.690 Don't email us unless there's something really important going on a dire emergency or something. 00:12:27.750 --> 00:12:33.870 And typically that's done with a cell phone call anyways, so that would be the first thing I would say. 00:12:33.870 --> 00:12:34.770 I shut it down. 00:12:35.010 --> 00:12:38.010 Um, a tip I would give to school administrators. 00:12:38.040 --> 00:12:41.370 Um, and some of you're gonna say, I don't know how you do this. 00:12:41.610 --> 00:12:47.760 Um, when I started my last position for the current position I'm in, I took all school email off my cell phone 00:12:48.268 --> 00:12:48.658 Yep. 00:12:48.868 --> 00:12:49.198 Yep. 00:12:50.145 --> 00:12:53.505 If I'm gonna be a good administrator, I need to be at a hundred percent. 00:12:53.505 --> 00:12:55.815 My batteries need to be charged and ready to go in the morning. 00:12:55.905 --> 00:13:02.535 And if I'm thinking about that email that my superintendent sent out at midnight till 6:00 AM am I gonna be effective The next am? 00:13:02.540 --> 00:13:06.285 Am I gonna serve my students the best I can and my teacher's probably not. 00:13:06.465 --> 00:13:12.495 So that email, I would encourage you, since I've done it, I think I've reclaimed part of my life back. 00:13:12.495 --> 00:13:13.065 Truly. 00:13:13.453 --> 00:13:13.933 Yeah. 00:13:14.760 --> 00:13:17.220 thousand percent would, would encourage that. 00:13:17.460 --> 00:13:24.000 Uh, as far as emails I've found, and, and we're a Google School district, I know a lot of schools are going that way now. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.820 Uh, I use Google Calendar a thousand percent. 00:13:26.820 --> 00:13:31.200 And like I, I will tell people that if it's not on my calendar, it doesn't exist. 00:13:31.530 --> 00:13:36.330 So I block in times just to kind of sit down and reclaim my thoughts. 00:13:36.570 --> 00:13:40.230 As, you know, as a, as an administrator, sometimes we need five minutes. 00:13:40.450 --> 00:13:44.020 You know, it's okay to close that door and cry every once in a while. 00:13:44.020 --> 00:13:47.020 It is, it's, it's, it's there and it happens. 00:13:47.020 --> 00:13:50.500 And, um, so I would suggest scheduling those times. 00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:59.505 And the other thing that, that actually my doctor told me, um, when I came back from my leukemia, um, spell out is that. 00:14:00.225 --> 00:14:01.455 Take time for lunch. 00:14:01.605 --> 00:14:05.985 Uh, I don't, nothing is more important than you eating a lunch because you need to be healthy. 00:14:05.985 --> 00:14:08.385 You need to be a hundred percent to serve your people. 00:14:08.595 --> 00:14:14.475 And if you're not a hundred percent, and I didn't eat my lunch and it's one 30 my stomach's ground, I'm sitting in an IEP meeting. 00:14:15.195 --> 00:14:16.275 I'm not a hundred percent. 00:14:16.305 --> 00:14:17.265 I'm not tuned in. 00:14:17.265 --> 00:14:19.995 I'm thinking about I'm gonna eat that piece of pizza after the 00:14:20.428 --> 00:14:21.448 That's right. 00:14:21.748 --> 00:14:22.168 Yeah. 00:14:22.228 --> 00:14:28.078 And when you have a lunch scheduled and planned and there, then you can eat healthy and make good choices with that. 00:14:29.473 --> 00:14:36.223 You know, I, I also took school email off of my cell phone, and even though it was a district provided phone, and they're like, you need to have this. 00:14:36.253 --> 00:14:40.033 The, the reason why you have it is so that they can call you if they need you. 00:14:40.453 --> 00:14:50.983 And the other thing that I did is I scheduled time to check my email and I turned on an autoresponder that said I only check my email twice a day at. 00:14:51.343 --> 00:14:58.243 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM And so if you need me between those times, then you'll just have to wait until I check my email. 00:14:58.603 --> 00:15:01.483 And that was a great habit that I got into. 00:15:01.753 --> 00:15:04.693 That was so, so helpful. 00:15:04.693 --> 00:15:08.653 And now I can go all day without even thinking about my email. 00:15:08.863 --> 00:15:12.673 And then I ended up, I ended up having a whole bunch of email, uh, at the end of the day. 00:15:12.673 --> 00:15:20.353 But, but those kinds of little things, scheduling time on your calendar to take care of what you need to putting lunch on your calendar and. 00:15:21.028 --> 00:15:26.728 Towards the end of my time in schools, what I did is I just went and ate lunch with the kids, uh, in the cafeteria. 00:15:27.088 --> 00:15:29.248 I needed to be in there anyway, you know? 00:15:29.248 --> 00:15:37.588 And so I would just go and eat with them, um, or have kids come to my office and host lunch, uh, in the office or whatever. 00:15:37.648 --> 00:15:41.668 Um, but, but those kinds of things you, you gotta eat. 00:15:41.668 --> 00:15:42.598 It's important. 00:15:43.193 --> 00:15:46.133 Um, and I, I would disagree with your doctor just a little bit. 00:15:46.523 --> 00:15:51.083 You don't need to eat so that you have the energy to serve everybody else. 00:15:51.383 --> 00:15:55.583 You need to eat and take care of yourself because you, as a human being. 00:15:56.458 --> 00:15:57.508 Worthy of that. 00:15:57.928 --> 00:16:04.078 And that is first and foremost, it has nothing to do with having the energy or capacity to serve anybody else. 00:16:04.438 --> 00:16:07.108 You personally deserve that as a human being. 00:16:07.528 --> 00:16:18.358 And once you start thinking like that, you're like, oh yeah, I, I do need to respect myself and take care of myself and, and not sacrifice everything, not do things good for me. 00:16:19.058 --> 00:16:21.848 Just so that I have energy to serve someone else. 00:16:21.848 --> 00:16:27.758 And that's, that's one of those little lies that we tell ourselves in education, that you gotta do this for the sake of others. 00:16:27.758 --> 00:16:31.723 And really you gotta do it for the sake of yourself, and you are worthy of that as well. 00:16:33.785 --> 00:16:34.115 Agree. 00:16:34.115 --> 00:16:40.640 And actually I'll tell you about a quote I have right above my head here that kind of relates to all that, and it says, don't get. 00:16:41.250 --> 00:16:55.200 Too busy with the busy work to do the real work, and that's where your emails will catch up with you instead of being in the classrooms and, you know, visiting those teachers, coaching those teachers, um, it's very important and I try to live by that as much as I can. 00:16:55.410 --> 00:17:02.940 Um, you know, it's okay to spend time in your office getting things done, catching up with emails, returning those phone calls, but the real. 00:17:03.520 --> 00:17:08.650 Reason why we're in the building are for those kids and for our teachers, and serving them both. 00:17:08.650 --> 00:17:13.360 So, um, you know, getting caught up in the busy work sometimes are those emails, but you know what? 00:17:14.050 --> 00:17:14.860 can wait another day. 00:17:16.448 --> 00:17:17.158 They definitely can. 00:17:17.678 --> 00:17:20.678 Uh, and like you said, if it's a real emergency. 00:17:21.418 --> 00:17:25.138 Then someone's gonna call you and say, there's a real emergency you need to take care of. 00:17:25.198 --> 00:17:31.618 And if you are only relying on email to communicate real emergencies, that's a problem too. 00:17:33.362 --> 00:17:45.452 Um, so another thing that, that I, uh, have liked in this, this, uh, dissertation accountability group is in a tool called Basecamp, um, that I have used in schools for a long time. 00:17:45.842 --> 00:17:50.072 And the, my goal was to use Basecamp for all of our. 00:17:50.317 --> 00:17:55.387 Internal communication and not be using email pretty much at all. 00:17:55.627 --> 00:18:17.017 And, and taking that kind of a different approach was also beneficial for, uh, for having a different place rather than email because email just gets so cluttered so quickly and despite all the technology that we have, it still becomes just this hot mess and, and it's just ridiculous. 00:18:17.017 --> 00:18:17.077 So. 00:18:17.942 --> 00:18:31.322 Having a different tool for internal communication to help you talk about things and share things and, and make plans and comment on things, that is really valuable as well, because it's so easy for things to get lost in email. 00:18:31.682 --> 00:18:38.222 Uh, what else would you add as, as tools and strategies to help us use our time and improve our self-efficacy? 00:18:39.124 --> 00:18:39.364 Sure. 00:18:39.394 --> 00:18:45.244 Uh, the, and as you mentioned that, that reminded me, uh, my previous school district, we don't use it in my current district. 00:18:45.274 --> 00:18:49.804 Um, have a tool similar to that, but it's simply built into the Google Suite. 00:18:49.804 --> 00:18:50.914 It's called Google Chat. 00:18:51.124 --> 00:18:52.714 So it's kind of like a little text message. 00:18:52.924 --> 00:18:56.419 And, and I know my last district, like if I wanted to message a teacher instead of email. 00:18:57.074 --> 00:18:59.684 just say, Hey, so and so is gonna be down. 00:18:59.684 --> 00:19:00.644 They're, they're signing in. 00:19:00.644 --> 00:19:02.084 They'll be in your class in three minutes. 00:19:02.084 --> 00:19:03.644 They're, they're signing back into the building. 00:19:03.794 --> 00:19:04.964 Just little things like that. 00:19:04.964 --> 00:19:08.834 Or, hey, instead of that email saying, come talk to me, that scares some teachers. 00:19:08.834 --> 00:19:12.404 When a principal sends it, you know, Hey, um, come see me. 00:19:12.404 --> 00:19:13.004 Everything's okay. 00:19:13.004 --> 00:19:15.104 I just need to chat with you about Johnny or something. 00:19:15.314 --> 00:19:17.294 And that's, that's a great tool. 00:19:17.294 --> 00:19:20.984 Uh, I don't think a lot of people use Google Chat that much, um, 00:19:21.527 --> 00:19:21.797 Well. 00:19:22.034 --> 00:19:22.904 a convenient tool. 00:19:23.252 --> 00:19:27.752 The real problem with Google Chat is that teachers are not sitting on their computers all the time. 00:19:27.932 --> 00:19:28.262 Right? 00:19:28.682 --> 00:19:37.832 And so that's what that is designed for and created by people who are sitting on their computers, wanting to have a different way to communicate with people. 00:19:37.832 --> 00:19:38.702 Same thing with Slack. 00:19:38.702 --> 00:19:43.267 When Slack first was introduced, we thought about using it in our school, but then we realized. 00:19:43.932 --> 00:19:45.762 That's not how we wanna run our school. 00:19:45.762 --> 00:19:48.192 We don't want teachers in there all the time. 00:19:48.462 --> 00:19:55.272 And the reason we chose something like Basecamp was because Basecamp is designed to be asynchronous and not. 00:19:55.877 --> 00:19:58.157 Uh, like a text message, respond right now. 00:19:58.607 --> 00:20:07.097 And, and that's one of those things that you gotta really think about as you are adopting different tools and stuff, is what do we want our culture to be like? 00:20:07.097 --> 00:20:09.107 How do we want to work effectively? 00:20:09.437 --> 00:20:20.717 And if, if we want teachers sitting down at their computers ready to respond to a Google Chat or a Slack message, then that's the tool we should adopt, because that's what it's designed for. 00:20:21.017 --> 00:20:22.877 But if we want teachers to. 00:20:23.492 --> 00:20:29.342 Just know at some point they go into this system where they can asynchronously respond. 00:20:29.732 --> 00:20:35.612 We don't put anything in there that we like need a response to right this moment, because that is definitely not what it's for. 00:20:35.612 --> 00:20:40.082 It's designed to be asynchronous and that that helps a ton. 00:20:40.082 --> 00:20:46.382 So you don't have to have a direct response right away and you can put a limit and say, Hey, I'm gonna leave this open for the next week. 00:20:46.852 --> 00:21:03.622 Leave your thoughts on this proposed plan for our strategic initiatives or whatever, and then people can give their responses and talk about it and stuff, and then you can go back and look at it and see what everybody said and get their feedback and opinion and give them time to think about the things that they need to think about. 00:21:04.012 --> 00:21:05.902 Uh, any other tools or suggestions. 00:21:07.164 --> 00:21:12.024 When I was an elementary principal, I used Class Dojo, uh, that was more for communication with the parents. 00:21:12.174 --> 00:21:16.524 The parents loved just being able to text message me or I could send out a text blast 00:21:16.827 --> 00:21:17.117 Yeah. 00:21:17.214 --> 00:21:18.024 to their phones. 00:21:18.204 --> 00:21:20.699 'cause you know, in today's day and age, some. 00:21:21.064 --> 00:21:24.334 People email is kind of old. 00:21:24.334 --> 00:21:25.204 For some of them. 00:21:25.354 --> 00:21:26.194 They don't use it anymore. 00:21:26.194 --> 00:21:28.564 It's gotta be on a cell phone or a little message or something. 00:21:28.774 --> 00:21:33.364 So yeah, I use that as an elementary principle that's not as popular in the older grade bands. 00:21:33.634 --> 00:21:39.424 Um, and, uh, something I, I obviously picked up and I know your, your research is in ai. 00:21:39.424 --> 00:21:45.989 So this is, um, you know, I use Notebook lm. Uh, that's a big thing, especially on semi doctoral research. 00:21:46.169 --> 00:21:51.389 Uh, you just drop in the articles and instead of it like chat, GPT just goes out there and pulls stuff. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:58.799 The notebook lm you drop your 15 articles or your 15 journals and it will help you, you know, with some ideas. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:03.389 Like I use it for some brainstorming on one particular subsection in my literature review. 00:22:03.569 --> 00:22:05.159 Um, that's very beneficial. 00:22:05.159 --> 00:22:07.319 And you know, we're, we're using Gemini. 00:22:07.549 --> 00:22:10.669 Um, in, in our schools now to generate some emails. 00:22:10.879 --> 00:22:17.089 Um, now there's a lot more that I could do on my end to learn more about it, but there's some great stuff you can use. 00:22:17.299 --> 00:22:23.989 Um, we use it minimally chat, GPT, to kind of respond for some things or create maybe a, a letter to go out. 00:22:24.169 --> 00:22:28.279 But, um, there's so much you could do at chat GBT and it saves so much time. 00:22:29.512 --> 00:22:30.112 For sure. 00:22:30.112 --> 00:22:38.602 And, and my big push on my, uh, dissertation is really talking about should you even be doing those things in the first place. 00:22:39.197 --> 00:22:45.557 You know, if it's great that AI can do it faster, but should you even be doing it to begin with. 00:22:45.557 --> 00:22:52.397 And that's really the, the question that is essential and, and something that people are not asking enough of. 00:22:52.457 --> 00:23:05.057 And you know, I, you mentioned the, the communication with parents and being a parent not involved in the school system now, uh, it's a totally different experience. 00:23:05.477 --> 00:23:14.477 And it's really fascinating to see how much email I get, how, how not useful almost all of it is. 00:23:14.837 --> 00:23:26.082 And, and especially in my, uh, doctoral program, I get probably five to 10 emails a day from different university. 00:23:27.257 --> 00:23:27.287 Uh. 00:23:27.692 --> 00:23:31.172 Communications that mean absolutely nothing to me. 00:23:31.172 --> 00:23:46.502 I'm a virtual student and, and you know, it, it, my school's in St. Louis and they'll have tornado warnings and I'm like, I'm sorry that you're experiencing that, but that does not need to come to me because I'm not anywhere near there. 00:23:46.502 --> 00:23:53.732 And, and it's been so fascinating to see, uh, from the other side what my inbox looks like with. 00:23:54.362 --> 00:24:00.002 Four kids in public school and, and all the stuff that I'm getting from their teachers. 00:24:00.002 --> 00:24:07.712 And these are middle and high school kids, so it's not like this is elementary, these are, these are kids who were making their own way almost. 00:24:07.712 --> 00:24:09.782 And, and it's just really fascinating. 00:24:09.782 --> 00:24:13.892 It's something that I, I didn't understand before. 00:24:14.132 --> 00:24:16.352 Uh, and, and it's been really interesting to see that. 00:24:17.404 --> 00:24:18.754 I will say, um. 00:24:19.654 --> 00:24:23.044 Truth be told, many people don't read our emails. 00:24:23.044 --> 00:24:24.004 Let's be honest, even 00:24:24.042 --> 00:24:24.332 Yeah. 00:24:24.872 --> 00:24:25.092 Yep. 00:24:25.174 --> 00:24:31.594 Um, and, and so something I was doing, I even did it with my staff once or twice, but they were, they're pretty much on top of it. 00:24:31.774 --> 00:24:35.764 I would just put in my little newsletter, I'd send out on page three. 00:24:36.439 --> 00:24:38.374 you read this reply with da, da, da 00:24:38.462 --> 00:24:38.752 Yeah. 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:40.099 I gave out some gift cards. 00:24:40.099 --> 00:24:45.409 I even did that with parents a couple times and it did increase our, our readability on the newsletters and stuff. 00:24:45.619 --> 00:24:47.419 But yeah, I agree with you totally. 00:24:47.419 --> 00:24:57.409 I'm a, I'm an online student virtually, uh, where I'm, where I'm working on my dissertation and, uh, I get emails every day about this street is closed down or this, this 00:24:57.497 --> 00:24:57.787 Yeah. 00:24:57.859 --> 00:24:58.369 closed. 00:24:58.794 --> 00:25:02.214 I don't even, I don't even read my college email anymore, to be honest with you. 00:25:02.424 --> 00:25:06.414 Same way the parents don't really read emails and the kids definitely don't. 00:25:06.414 --> 00:25:07.674 I know that for a fact. 00:25:09.482 --> 00:25:10.172 For sure. 00:25:10.202 --> 00:25:13.022 And, uh, yeah, I, I don't read that either. 00:25:13.022 --> 00:25:13.412 I only. 00:25:14.072 --> 00:25:20.102 I only wait for specific information that I'm looking for, and the rest of it, it just, it just doesn't matter. 00:25:20.102 --> 00:25:21.542 So, uh, all right. 00:25:21.542 --> 00:25:23.252 This has been a great conversation, Stan. 00:25:23.252 --> 00:25:27.302 I, I love connecting with people and hearing what they're doing and what's, what's working. 00:25:27.302 --> 00:25:34.502 So my last question is, what is one thing that a principal can do this week to be a Transformative Principal like you? 00:25:38.214 --> 00:25:42.889 I would say probably the most important thing I would do is get in the classrooms more. 00:25:42.889 --> 00:25:50.419 And I know that seems like a general, a general statement, but, um, that's really where the nuts and bolts of what we do every day. 00:25:50.419 --> 00:25:52.099 And like I said, don't let the. 00:25:52.874 --> 00:25:55.364 Busy things get in your way to do the real work. 00:25:55.364 --> 00:26:02.234 And the real work is being in those classrooms, engaging or interacting with those students, interacting with those teachers. 00:26:02.444 --> 00:26:12.194 And I think the more the students and the teachers see you in the classrooms, the more they're gonna be willing to move mountains with you and for you if it's ever needed. 00:26:12.374 --> 00:26:18.104 So that's probably the biggest thing I would, I would suggest that and always look for something to be more efficient. 00:26:18.104 --> 00:26:20.744 And we kind of talked about a few things today about that as well. 00:26:21.872 --> 00:26:22.172 Yeah. 00:26:22.172 --> 00:26:22.742 Good stuff. 00:26:22.742 --> 00:26:24.512 Stan, this has been great chatting with you. 00:26:24.512 --> 00:26:25.922 Thank you so much for your time. 00:26:25.922 --> 00:26:30.572 Is there, uh, a way you would like people to connect with you if that's, if that's something they want to do? 00:26:30.572 --> 00:26:30.602 I. 00:26:31.234 --> 00:26:31.894 Absolutely. 00:26:31.894 --> 00:26:38.794 I'll give you my email address and it's stan, STAN, koterba, K-O-T-E-R-B-A. 00:26:38.824 --> 00:26:40.749 That is one word, STAN. 00:26:41.484 --> 00:26:45.774 K-O-T-E-R-B a@gmail.com. 00:26:45.774 --> 00:26:55.674 That's my personal Gmail that unlike my work email is on my phone twenty four seven and I'll be more than happy to talk with any of you, help you out as a young administrator. 00:26:55.674 --> 00:27:01.224 You, you gotta find somebody to, to get a hold of that's been there, done that so they can kind of coach through it. 00:27:01.434 --> 00:27:04.434 If you need someone like that, I'll be more than happy to help you with that. 00:27:04.434 --> 00:27:06.654 Time management, self-efficacy. 00:27:06.834 --> 00:27:07.944 Please reach out. 00:27:09.947 --> 00:27:10.637 For sure. 00:27:10.637 --> 00:27:11.507 Very good stuff. 00:27:11.507 --> 00:27:14.147 Thank you so much, Stan, for being part of Transformative Principal. 00:27:14.147 --> 00:27:15.437 Great to have you on the show today. 00:27:16.114 --> 00:27:16.864 Thank you, Jethro. 00:27:16.864 --> 00:27:17.854 It's been my pleasure.