TheSchoolHouse302 One Thing Series School Leadership Podcast Joe & T.J. from theschoolhouse302.com

In this podcast, we are completely focused on successfully implementing and managing the multiple initiatives that can be found in every school system.

What you’ll find in this episode:

Despite the enormous amount of various initiatives in schools, maintain a mindset that sees how they all fit into the system versus it being “one more thing.”

Zoom out to gain a greater perspective so you can successfully organize the initiatives and work into buckets. Very often the area of focus may gel nicely with work already being done.

As a school leader, be sure to include teacher voice and their perspective. They will point out obstacles and roadblocks that will save an enormous amount of time.

Let teacher leaders run with the work, but don’t leave them out to dry. Providing ongoing leadership development and capacity building is key.

Lastly, do an inventory of all the programs and initiatives. Sometimes the work overlaps with other efforts and either something can be eliminated or coupled.

Let us know if there’s a topic you want us to cover in our short Leading Better & Growing Faster episodes by leaving a comment below or by contacting us at contact@theschoolhouse302.com. And don’t miss our leadership content updates every week by subscribing on the site.

We can’t wait to hear from you.

Joe & T.J.

Leading Better and Growing Faster with Joe & TJ: Guest Debbie Silver Talks about Inspiring Educators to Enjoy the Job They Once Loved

About Debbie Silver

Dr. Debbie Silver is a former Louisiana Teacher of the Year, a best-selling author, and a highly sought-after speaker. She has presented to educators, administrators, parents, and students in 49 states, Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and the Middle East.

Her best-selling books include Drumming to the Beat of Different Marchers, Teaching Kids to Thrive, and the recently updated and revised Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8, and Deliberate Optimism: Still Reclaiming the Joy in Education.

Debbie’s high-energy sessions address both the art and heart of teaching. Audiences delight in hearing this 30-year veteran teacher whose presentations are described as “where learning collides with laughter.”

What You’ll Find in this Episode with Debbie Silver

Debbie starts off with the fact that her book Deliberate Optimism focuses on leadership, specifically teacher leaders.

Dr. Silver talks about the need for teachers to have more time without students so they can break the stagnation and build a relationship culture.

Don’t miss what she says about optimism and “what matters.”

Debbie talks about incremental steps rather than massive changes. We need to balance the art and the heart of teaching.

She reminds us to look for glimmers, not triggers.

She dives into the idea of failing better and building our collective efficacy.

She talks about teaching educators to vent properly and not pull the profession down.

Don’t miss what she says about new teachers not having more than 4 hours of teaching a day so that they can spend more time observing master teachers.

T.J. asks Debbie about modeling. Don’t miss her response and her call for unity.

Her insight about teacher training and isolation is thought provoking. What we expect from teachers, specifically new teachers, is impossible and unlike any other profession.

Joe mentions the potential that PLC have to support teacher capacity and growth. Listen to what she says they cannot be.

Her ingredients for leadership success are straightforward: common vision, shared value system, mutual respect, and optimism.

Debbie brings up Brene Brown, Rick Wormli, Association of Middle Level Educators, and other resources that you’ll want to check out.

The one thing people should do more regularly is to give others the benefit of the doubt. She reminds us that adults want to be treated like adults.

Dr. Silver ends with wanting to learn more about how to use Artificial Intelligence. Our riff on Chat GPT is great.

Let us know if there’s a guest who you want us to have on the show by leaving a comment below or by contacting us at contact@theschoolhouse302.com. And don’t miss our leadership content updates every week by subscribing on the site.

We can’t wait to hear from you.

Joe & T.J.

Walk into any school and you’ll find countless different types of work being done. Yes, teaching and learning are at the heart of what we do, but a great school culture, one where teaching and learning can thrive, is about so much more. Creating this kind of culture places a huge demand on countless people who are doing exciting work. But, at times, with all of the spinning plates, it can also be overwhelming.

It’s easy to get caught up in the fast-paced, whirlwind of initiatives and responsibilities that can tax even the most formidable educator. The goal is to successfully lead initiatives, striving to achieve the goals of the school, yet without burnout looming. This requires the effective use of proven leadership strategies along with a collaborative approach, paving the way for successful implementation.

That’s why we picked these two books as our recommendations for school leaders who want to implement initiatives well. They provide the tips, tools, and tricks for the necessary learning and insight to do just that.

Joe and T.J. Recommend that School Leaders Read These Two Books

These two books are powerful reads that can transform how you operate and manage initiatives in your schools.

T.J. tell us that one major take away that we had from Right From the Start was to find bright spots. Jim Marshall tells us that school leaders often look for gaps to fill, but the bright spots show us the places that need replication. The bright spots are those areas that are working well and performing optimally. We often want to fix things, but it is within the bright spots where we identify what is working and potentially what can be reproduced elsewhere.

Don’t miss what we say about the power of preplanning as well!

In our recommendation that school leaders read Every Teacher a Leader we emphasize the need to build teacher leaders and to invest in the capacity to influence others. School administrators cannot do it all, and they certainly won’t do it well without the help of teachers. Schools are constantly implementing initiatives and that reality should prompt every school leader to embrace this mindset--the need for teacher leaders--and drive change through their development.

The classroom is the most important space in a school, and at the end of the day, teachers need to be inspired and empowered to teach, learn, and lead.

Our reading tip for this month is simple: find reading material and books that support the ancillary aspects of what you are trying to achieve. For example, if you are implementing restorative practices in your school, don’t only read books on that topic. Yes, it’s critical to become highly skilled in that space, and there are great books to help you on that journey, however, digging into Chip and Dan Heath’s book Switch, which covers the psychology of change, can prove to be invaluable. Pick something up that isn’t in the typical school leader’s library or playlist.

Enjoy these books to lead better and grow faster as school leaders. We always appreciate a like, a follow, a comment, or a share. And, if you read our newest book, please rate it on Amazon. It helps.

Let us know what you’re reading by contacting us at contact@theschoolhouse302.com. And don’t miss our leadership newsletter every week by subscribing on the site.

We can’t wait to hear from you.

Joe & T.J.

About Miriam Plotinsky
Miriam Plotinsky is an instructional specialist with Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, where she has taught and led for more than 20 years.


She is the author of Teach More, Hover Less, Lead Like a Teacher, and Writing Their Future Selves (W.W. Norton & Company). She is also a National Board–Certified Teacher and a certified administrator.


What You’ll Find in this Educational Leadership Podcast Episode with Miriam Plotinsky

Miriam says that her new book--Lead Like a Teacher--was pretty much an accident. She simply found that the schools with more teachers at the table had stronger cultures.

She talked about teachers’ misconception of school leaders as well as school leaders’ misconception of teachers. She called this “the empathy gap.”

Miriam points out that “if you don’t know the story, you’ll create one. And, it might be wrong.”

Miriam acknowledges that we often learn from the models we have around us, which is only a good thing when the model is effective. Otherwise it works against us.

Hear Miriam discuss why visibility is so critical for a school leader.

Miriam gave us some insights into how the book unfolds, including what she calls “macro” and “micro” aspects of school leadership.

She calls for more classroom visits. We couldn’t agree more.

Don’t miss what she says about “Wait Time 1” and “Wait Time 2” as both teaching and leadership strategies. We can’t disagree with talking less to learn more.

Miriam mentions Twitter as a place to go to find like-minded people and new ideas.

She identifies some well known and not so well known resources that are valuable for all educators. She points to Teachers Going Gradeless as a cool organization. She also calls out Edutopia and ASCD as well as Solution Tree as great resources.

Miriam uses the ten-minute reset each day to make sure that she does something that she loves. Tune into what she says about movement and breaks.

She talks about being a “dabbler” in a bunch of things, and she wants to learn how to write more nonfiction. And, we all agreed to learn how to be more funny.

Joe reflects on the need to get more people involved early in our process for any given initiative.

Don’t miss what she used to think about those who wanted to go into administration and how her perspective has changed.

Let us know if there’s a guest who you want us to have on the show by leaving a comment below or by contacting us at contact@theschoolhouse302.com. And don’t miss our leadership content updates every week by subscribing on the site.

We can’t wait to hear from you.

Joe & T.J.

About Jim Marshall

Jim Marshall’s life-long work lies at the intersection of people and the organizations in which they work—and optimizing the synergy that fertile convergence holds. A Professor of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University, his scholarship, teaching, and consulting combine our understanding of human performance and organization development to assess strengths, devise strategy, and improve even the most vexing of challenges.


With over 200 publications to his credit, Marshall’s scholarship encompasses a diverse range of works that include empirical research, program evaluation efforts, and policy development. His evaluation endeavors are particularly significant and include more than 250 individual studies of funded projects and program investments totaling over $120 million dollars.


He serves as a thought partner to leaders seeking to hasten the collective impact of their organization’s investments. From assessing strengths and needs to conceptualizing strategy and program initiatives and then measuring return on investment, Marshall’s unique approach relies on a proven mix of assessment and evaluation, appreciative inquiry, and empathic understanding that predictably yields quantifiable results.


His book, Right from the Start: The Essential Guide to Implementing School Initiatives, summarizes lessons learned through evaluation of hundreds of programs in both the public and private sectors.

What You’ll Find in this Educational Leadership Podcast Episode with Jim Marshall
Jim starts with his experience as the evaluator of initiatives and projects, which led him to write the book. He has been able to reflect on what school leaders could do differently at the start of initiatives, which would make all the difference in the long run.

Jim calls for careful and thoughtful planning for initiatives so that when we get to the implementation phase we end up with a more predictable result.

Joe asks about the balance between whether the initiative itself is the problem or the people who execute it. Don’t miss what Jim says about how people interface with the initiative.

You want to hear what Jim says about his motivation equation: motivation = value * convince. He gives credit to Vroom through his expectancy theory.

Jim argues that a “program” is like the tip of an iceberg while an “initiative” should be able to get to the deeper parts of the iceberg.

Jim recommends that we start by looking for bright spots in our work. He calls it “appreciative inquiry.” We typically look for things to fix, and that’s not always the best way to evaluate what works and what doesn’t.

Jim wants to know why there’s not more knowledge and shared best practices among schools and outside organizations. Don’t miss what he says about dissemination of best practices.

He talks about his continued strategy for growth. He runs through the use of performance engineering.

Jim used to think of evaluation as “gap analysis,” now he looks for strengths first.

Jim ends by saying that this work doesn’t have to be complicated. We couldn’t agree more!

Let us know if there’s a guest who you want us to have on the show by leaving a comment below or by contacting us at contact@theschoolhouse302.com. And don’t miss our leadership content updates every week by subscribing on the site.

We can’t wait to hear from you.

Joe & T.J.

Joe and T.J. Recommend that School Leaders Read In Search of Deeper Learning and Fearless Schools

What you’ll discover in this episode of Leading Better & Growing Faster w/ Joe & T.J.

We recommend In Search of Deeper Learning for school leaders.
We also recommend Fearless Schools for school leaders.

Why in the world is Joe wearing a NASA Jacket?

There is “deeper learning at the margins and why the periphery is more important than the core.” This is an excellent example of how this book pushes the boundaries.

The key tenets of a learning culture.

Evidence of learning. What does it look like in classrooms?

Trust is imperative for psychological safety.

Focus on learning at every level within the hierarchy of schooling.

Each episode, Joe and T.J. leave a tip to lead better and grow faster.

This month’s reading tip is to read these books with your team! Don’t miss what Joe says about it.

Developing a learning culture requires time and effort, but the dividends are incredible.

How does your culture stack up?

Let us know what you’re reading by contacting us at contact@theschoolhouse302.com. And don’t miss our leadership newsletter every week by subscribing on the site.

We can’t wait to hear from you.

Joe & T.J.