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Compass PD Podcast with Dr. Carrie Hepburn
Compass PD Podcast with Dr. Carrie Hepburn
Compass PD Podcast Episode 17: Winning the School Year: Insights from Dr. Niedringhaus
Are you ready to conquer the school year like a seasoned pro? With expert insights from the esteemed Dr. Bridgett Niedringhaus, we offer a roadmap to help administrators navigate the complexities of the academic year ahead. In this episode, we demystify the art of effective mentor-mentee pairings, underscore the crucial role of time for staff collaboration, and explore the process of revisiting your institution's mission, vision, values, and goals. Our conversation is a treasure trove of practical advice designed to promote a culture of trust and respect while valuing teachers' time.
But we're not just about strategies for success; we're also your survival guide in the face of the inevitable hiccups that accompany the start of a school year. We've got you covered, be it unexpected hires, surprise student registrations, or late buses. Listen in as Bridgett shares her foolproof methods for staying resilient amidst the chaos, including setting specific objectives for the first 30 days and crafting a motivational mantra. Further, we delve into the support system for new teachers, stressing the importance of audacious goal-setting and refining professional development to meet your student's learning needs. Grab your headphones and tune in for an educational journey designed to help you kickstart the school year with confidence.
Hello, dr Kerry Hepburn here from Compass PD, and today we are joined by my colleague, dr Bridget Neidringhouse. Welcome, bridget. Thank you for having me, kerry, I'm excited to have you. It's exciting. It's your second time back on the podcast. Your last visit the fostering success and powering and supporting new teachers through learning and mentorship was really one of those podcasts that seemed to be spot on for what administrators needed at the time. One of the many gifts that you have is that you keep things simple and predictable and you always focus on those relationships and focus on building your culture and climate, so I'm really excited to have you here today, thank you.
Speaker 1:What we talked about last week on the podcast was that we've been working really hard at Compass at finding ways to support various roles within a school organization, and last week, dr Brenner came to talk with us about what coaches need to be thinking about instructional coaches, literacy coaches, math coaches, elementary secondary.
Speaker 1:Dr Fowler is joining us the next two weeks to talk about what teachers need to be thinking about, and you are going to be joining us to support the administrators and their role, and I think this is so important because rarely do administrators receive the support and the professional learning that they need in the timely manner that they need it, and this is one of the many things that I'm super excited that we're going to be bringing to them. So I want to kick us off with our first question. Today it's July, right now, as we're recording this, and administrators are gearing up for the school year, for the brand new school year they're preparing for their new teachers, their return of staff, new families, new students, all the things. What are some of the things that they need to be preparing for right now? So I can tell you notebook taking my notes.
Speaker 2:All right, thank you, I can tell you as an administrator not even just as a new administrator, but as an administrator on the 4th of July hit, I knew school was getting ready to start, and so it was always once you came back from that 4th of July holiday, you were really in the mode for planning for the new school year.
Speaker 2:I'm going to share one of the biggest mistakes I ever made was I took a vacation the week before new teachers came back, and so I was a mess, because I was so used to having that time to do that additional preparing some of your last minute kinds of things, and I never did that again because my whole vacation was filled with emails and phone calls and oh, I forgot to do this and finding people to fill in those niches.
Speaker 2:So one of the things I want to talk about today, about how are you prepared to welcome your staff, and so really that's what we think of as teachers is how are we prepared to welcome our students? So, as administrators, we need to say how are we prepared to welcome our staff? So let's talk about those new teachers, or maybe just teachers that are new to you in your building, and so you have to make sure that they're paired with a mentor that will truly help them. Don't just pick like the next person on the grade level or the team that hasn't had one yet, and that sometimes is tough, because you know who is going to be good at coaching a new teacher or not. So making sure that you have the right person to work with your new teachers, because that's going to be their first impression of coming into the building.
Speaker 1:Right, right. The next thing I want to go ahead. Well, I apologize, I'm just thinking. I'm like that's so that very intentional. That thinking is very intentional because not only are they your first impression of your building, but they're also their instructional support sometimes. So it's really critical, that's very thoughtful and that we aren't just going down the list, we're being intentional in those decisions.
Speaker 2:If you do it right at the beginning, you have so many less headaches throughout the school year. And I can tell you I've done it both ways and in the end it was always so much more successful when I was more thoughtful and really tried to pair up some personalities perhaps look at just different characteristics of the person themselves and that worked out so much better than when I just okay, well, this one hasn't had one in a while, so I'm going to give this teacher, a new teacher to mentor.
Speaker 1:so Okay, thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one of the things I would also say is, when your staff returns, you need to give them opportunities to collaborate as grade levels or if they're in content areas or whatever, and let them have time to plan for those first few days or weeks. The greatest gift an administrator can give to a teacher is time. We can do all kinds of really fun, cute things that are morale builders. We can have food trucks come, we can do games, we can do the icebreakers and and team builders and, and none of those are bad things. But let's be honest, we really need to honor the time that our teachers have to spend in our building and make sure that it's worthwhile and useful, and so I would rather see my team plan together and maybe go around with a cart for some snacks or something, and then we're doing their planning, then holding them hostage, so to speak, in a full faculty meeting, and so you really have to find that balance, because I understand there are some things you want to do as a full faculty, of course, but you also want teachers to feel like you value their time, and that is where we start building the trust and the respect and the relationships that we want to have with our faculties so thoughtful.
Speaker 2:The other thing I would say is this might be a good time for you to revisit some things like your mission, vision, values and goals. When teachers first come back, I don't think that's the time to rewrite them, but it's okay to revisit them because everybody's got a million things swirling as they're getting ready to start the new school year. Giving everybody to have that opportunity to get on the same page by by just revisiting them, starting the school year to get focused on the why and so looking at that from that building lens, and then grade levels or content areas or teams can get together and really discuss their why and as they're doing their planning and things like that. So if you are a district or a school that needs to really revisit those things and then do some rewriting, I honor that 100%. Just not at those like first back to school things. Your teachers aren't really there at that time in that mindset, and so find another way to do that near the beginning of the first quarter.
Speaker 1:Well, and I'm just sitting here thinking about like we're building the culture. You know, I'm welcoming my staff back to school, we're revisiting the purpose, the why of our work and we're honoring the time that it takes in order for our staff to be able to fulfill that. So there is a lot of thought and that goes into developing this kind of culture, into developing this type of building, into developing instruction that's going to be able to hit the levels that we're wanting, right, thank you, Thank you for that.
Speaker 2:We don't want to forget our students and parents.
Speaker 2:So, we are revved up and we kind of get in that mode where we're we're revving up for our teachers to come back and you know, there's like so much energy around that, so much excitement around that, but we can't leave out our new students or parents that may be coming to the building for the first time Think about bringing your five year old for the first time to a school building that they've never been to and so we want to do everything we can.
Speaker 2:This is where your front office, or your front line, is really going to make a good impression and so really trying to help work, work with that front office staff and helping them understand. You know, what is it that we want for our new students, our new families, as they're registering and coming in and and our front office is our first line of defense, and so you always want to put your best foot forward and so many times we forget that it's not. Our teachers don't always make the first impression, it's really when they come into those school offices. So we want to make sure that we're embracing them, make sure that we're including them in our faculty and staff celebrations and things as we are are getting together at the beginning of the year, and then we also want to make sure that they then portray that attitude of welcoming new students and families.
Speaker 1:We want to make a really good first impression as, as we get ready to get started, Well, and I think that's part of the way that we they see that we're a community, we're a team, partnered. All of us are partnered together alongside the families in educating their child, and we want them to know that they're welcome as well. I will just say, having Bridget used to be my principal back in the day when I was in the classroom, and so all of these things that she's talking about are things that I've experienced as a member of her staff. There are times where I want to jump in and say remember how you did this, or I remember you did this, and I'm trying to refrain a little bit, but there might be times where I just jump in. Okay, dr Carrie Hepburn, here I am the founder and CEO of Compass PD.
Speaker 1:It is not uncommon for our organization to hear that we're different than other professional development organizations, and that's something that makes our hearts so happy. Because we are different, our core value is relationships. We believe that at the center of all learning, it's critical for us to have trusting, positive, transparent relationships with those that we serve. Let's think about that next question, too, as we think about the beginning of the school year and all of the things that happened at the beginning of the school year, there are predictable problems that administrators are going to face. What are some of those things that we can help them be prepared for so they aren't taken off guard, or just remind them that be ready, this will be coming.
Speaker 2:Sure. So in my experience, things that we have to be prepared for are those last minute hirings. We need to be ready to interview, we need to be ready to go through applications and all that. And as an administrator, I just want you to remember at the beginning of the school year you have supports there to help you, and so don't take this burden on yourself and remove yourself from some of the other work that needs to be done. So maybe you can have somebody look through applications for you, have somebody set up interviews for you.
Speaker 2:One of the best hires I've ever made happened on the Sunday, before Open House on Tuesday, and this gal didn't even get the call that she was hired until Monday and she had her classroom open and ready to go. So on a Sunday, myself and two other administrators had teachers to hire and we were in a school building on Sunday interviewing and our mindset really wasn't around interviewing. But it had to be done. It was. You know, we all had some last minute. Maybe somebody got a promotion or a last minute movement. Things like that happen. But just be prepared for that and kind of have a game plan of who can support you when those kinds of things happen, we're going to have last minute student registration and they're not going to have their paperwork in line and they're not going to have their vaccines, and so go into it knowing that, so that you're not frustrated when these things happen.
Speaker 2:Don't be frustrated when 15 kindergarteners don't have their paperwork turned in or filled out and on the first day of school they're standing in the office because they want their children to go to kindergarten. So let's just be prepared for it. And so what can we do to prepare for that? And and you need to think outside the box a little bit maybe use some of your certified staff that might not be actually seeing kids first thing in the day you have counselors or reading teachers, or maybe librarians or assistants, things like that so that the people that know how to do the registrations can actually focus their time on the registration and then others can take care of some of the other things that are going on at that time. Right, you're going to have late buses, oh boy.
Speaker 2:You have to know that you're not getting home on time, so to speak, for a while. And so, yeah, go ahead and establish that with your family, that this is, this is how it is, and remember in years past, or something like that. But you know, think about how frustrating it can be for a parent who's standing outside waiting for their little one to eagerly get on the bus and the bus. It's 30 minutes past the bus time and the bus still hasn't come, and so we don't know the circumstances that have happened. But we have transportation departments that are going to be weighed down with calls. We have our school offices that are going to be weighed down with calls. So just be ready to answer those calls. Don't be frustrated that the calls are happening. Just know that this is going to be part of it for maybe a week or two and then hopefully, you'll have things ironed out.
Speaker 2:I want to share with you my first day of school motto. Here we go. The motto is get them in and in the right place, feed them and get them home safely. That's get them in, feed them, get them home. That's our motto. If we do that, then it is considered a successful first day. Yes, in bed and out.
Speaker 1:That's simple too. I love that in bed and out. I feel like that's a t-shirt that should be a first day of school administrator t-shirt. Like we are successful if they're in school fed and then make it home safely.
Speaker 2:Like it's a good day.
Speaker 1:So these tips, these predictable problems and the tips that you gave are incredibly, incredibly helpful. I even think about when you were talking about the second tip, about last minute student registration, not even on that first day of school In our school district for a while we were year round, so parents might watch the school bus, go by their house for a couple of weeks and then suddenly be like, ooh, has school started? Because it wasn't. If they were new to the area they might not have known that it was time for school to start, and in different parts of the country school starts at different times and you don't, maybe don't, know where to look and sometimes for the first couple of weeks it is just overwhelming.
Speaker 1:As you think about an administrator starting the beginning of the school year, we know that there is an incredible amount of emotion and stress. That causes excitement and, like that, there's the excitement of the new teachers and having seeing their new kids and even teachers that have been there for a while. You're so excited and then it's super stressful trying to get all the things ready and all of the changes and learn all of the things. And I would love to hear from you what are some just like personal slash professional tips that would help them stay grounded or strong at this time of year. What are some ideas you have?
Speaker 2:Okay. So one of the things I really think about, especially for our new administrators, is start setting some goals for yourself. So think about it in terms of what is a goal that I have for myself for my first 30 days. So if I start July 1st, my first 30 days might not even include actual school time getting started, but let's think about what is your goal for those first 30 days. So you really probably want to focus on relationships. Those first 30 days you have opportunities to reach out to your staff, your parent group, your PTA, community members, and that's all before school ever starts right, and so that's a good first 30 day goal.
Speaker 2:Continue your office staff well, understand the different roles that your office staff plays and how they can support you best, and ask them questions such as what did you do for the previous principal or what kind of things with the previous principal have you helped them with? And that'll be really good. Then you want to maybe look at what's your first quarter goal. You need to have a goal. In the first quarter. You should have been in every classroom at least one time, and that does not mean stand at the door and say hi, it just means to bounce in and see what's going on. So then you have some good conversational points with your staff or with your students when you see them learning things.
Speaker 2:Ask them about their learning. Just pop in and out. Do not bring a clipboard, do not bring a device that you're recording on.
Speaker 2:Just stop in and make sure that you can see what's going on in the classrooms. This is also a great time for you if you haven't had a chance. Get to know your bus drivers, get to know your kitchen staff, all those kind of like auxiliary positions make sure you're getting to know them. All of those support positions can really help make or break your school day. And so if you have good relationships with your bus drivers, your bus drivers are going to take the time to talk to you and talk to students and not just write them up for a poor behavior, but kind of talk and explain and make sure that we're on an understanding.
Speaker 2:For us at the school that I was most recently principal at, we invited our bus drivers in during that first month of school and we had a breakfast for them and we shared our plan with them what our plan was for discipline and how we were handling things, and asked them to be a part. We gave them school shirts so that they felt like they were part of our team. And just doing that and then when buses are arriving and dismissing, getting on, being able to say hi or how's everything going, you get to know them on a personal level. It goes a really long way with people, because we all want to feel like we're included. Along with setting goals for yourself, find yourself an accountability partner. So this was one of my favorite things you need to find another administrator to help be your accountability partner. So I had an accountability partner and things that we would do is pick up the phone and say what are you doing that I should be doing right now.
Speaker 2:Like what am I missing? And one of the things that I loved about my particular accountability partner is she shot me straight. So if I would call to vent to her or anything, if I was off key here, she'd be like, wow, like that doesn't even sound like you or that doesn't seem very reasonable. And then maybe I could start chuckling and say, yeah, you're right, that's not very reasonable.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening to me and just let me have my time. Having an accountability partner, it's a great way to just share your goals and help keep on track with each other, and so great points of conversation, and it doesn't mean you have to have a long, drawn out conversation every week. It could be a text to say, hey, how did that meeting go or what happened as the result of this, and so just trying to have somebody that's just readily available for you. And then the final thing I'm gonna share and this is something that is a very personal for me I spend time each summer before students and staff came back, and I liked to get into the building when no one was there and when I see no one was there very skeletal, maybe the custodians, there might be some in the afterschool program and I would literally walk the halls and I prayed, and I would touch every door in the school building and pray over every teacher that came through the building, every student that came through the building, every person that was coming through our building, that we would always have our best foot forward and do the best to support one another.
Speaker 2:And this is because, for me personally, that's where my center is. I have a strong faith center, and so that's one of the ways that I kind of connect with myself, or just that's the way I feel. The best is when I'm reaching out and asking you know, god, please, please be with me to be the best version that I can be, be with each teacher to be the best version that they can be. And so it helped me to focus on the good things that I knew God had in store for us for the school year.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that. I love that tip. I think that that is important those of you that do have that strong faith. It is great to ground yourself and keep you focused on the work that you're doing. I think it aligns with all of the things.
Speaker 1:As you were chatting and I'm looking through my notes something that I hear in everything that you're saying there is the big idea of relationships are critical, and at this time, building those relationships is critical. And so I hear that when I hear you talking about setting the tone of welcoming your staff. I hear it when you talk about making sure that parents and students feel welcome as they enter your building. I hear that when you talk about honoring people's time, it's about the relationship. So you care enough about them to understand the demands that are palest on our teachers and our staff and schools, and so we want to honor their time. And then I hear you go back to talking about that as when you're thinking about those predictable problems. You still had at the forefront that last minute student really registrations. We want to make sure that's still a good experience. So I don't think anyone wants to make people's lives harder. They're everyone's doing the best they can, but we're focusing on making sure that relationship is kicked off well, and we and you also understand the demand that that's putting on your office staff, so you're bringing in other people to help support them, so that doesn't mean they're doing double the work. We're all like carrying the load together, which I think is really one of those things that people see that when they're seeing, they and they feel seen. That builds that climate and that culture. And then, as you're talking about going around and praying, it's about the relationship that you have with that teacher, that teacher has with that student, that we have together collectively as a community.
Speaker 1:I am so thankful that you joined us today, bridget. This was a very helpful podcast for administrators. It will help them. It's the current administrators and those that are new to their position. So good luck to those of you that are new administrators. You're going to do great and know that you are always on our hearts and our minds, and so we are praying for all educators out there and especially praying for you.
Speaker 1:Those of you that joined us today know that the next two weeks of the podcast, dr Feller will be joining us to support new teachers and helping them think about the things they should be getting ready for things that should be on their radar and those predictable problems that they will be facing. Thank you so much, bridget. Thank you for having me. Carrie, yes, and everyone. Have a great day. We would love your help. We have set an ambitious goal of impacting the learning of 1 million students and the 2023 2024 school year, so please share this podcast with a fellow educator and reach out to us so that we can talk with you about how we can best support you and your school district and meeting those ambitious goals and providing professional development that meets those learning needs. Have a great day.