Description

Matt Shea is the Matt portion of Personalized Learning with Matt and Courtney, a podcast about, well, personalized learning. It is one of my favorite new podcasts and you can find it at plearnmc.com or in your favorite podcast player of choice!

• Matt is a district administrator in Maine
• Courtney is an instructional coach in Maine
• Worked in Maine for his whole career
• 10 schools in five communities
• Goal: set up same systems in schools - it didn’t work
• tenets of learning: applied learning
• How do we design that culture so that there’s a balance between kids taking advantage of their own learning and teachers providing a range of options?
• What teachers can provide in their place
• What works for you?
• District administrator as more of a support role
• Talk about the tenets a lot.
• “Cultivating hope in all learners”
• Culture is a number 1 thing for all of us.
• Designing a culture that involves the learners in their learning
• Progression of learning
• Social grade levels not academic grade levels
• Place students on an academic progression where they are, and help them move forward.
• Continuous flexible grouping - School building and schedules create a challenge for them.
• Tried to do schedules in all the same way.
• 15:16 We are the problem. We are the ones that have all the issues!
• How do we get adults to be more like kids?
• What’s our ultimate goal?
• Guiding principles: They’ll find that information when they need it!
• Interview with Seth Godin
• You don’t really fail, you just are where you are.
• It’s not just about the 80% of our kids that will do well no matter what, but about all the students
• When she’s ready to take the next step, she’ll be ready for it.
• End College Career Readiness
• Many teachers have been teachers only.
• The “real world“ is something different to everyone.
• Provide kids with the skills and attitudes.
• How to be a transformative leader? Design a culture in your building where it is ok to fail in a positive way. Failing upward. Failing forward. Take away some of the negative aspects of what school is.

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Are you feeling like you are always behind at school? Do you feel like you need about 2 more hours each day to accomplish everything? Here’s how I help principals work manageable hours: Create your ideal week, so that you can leave work at work and enjoy your life!

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

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Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.