Education Leadership and Beyond: Surviving &amp; Thriving

Check out my book:

The Principal: Surviving and Thriving 125 Points of Wisdom, Practical Tips, and Relatable Stories for All Leaders.

Found on andrewmarotta.com, amazon, and all online retailers. Now available in kindle edition. Audible edition found here

Monday, October 22, 2018

#63 ELB Keep Rolling w Dan Spainhour: author of Leading narratives and owner of The Leadersh Publishing Team

Education Leadership and Beyond:

Surviving & Thriving with Andrew Marotta

Blog &Podcast #63 with guest Leadership Publishing Team creator & teacher Dan Spainhour

LPT website

Keep rolling. That's what Dan tells me often. In episode #63, we meet Dan Spainhour. Dan is my college roommate @kevinspainhour 's brother--a teacher, author and owner of the Leadership Publishing Team. Dan is doing great things in leadership, teaching, and coaching circles with his journal and books. He offered ELB listeners a 20% on a yearly subscription to his Coaching & Leadership Journal use the code ELB20. It is worth a look. I love it as a resource for my podcast and my role as Principal.

So keep rolling. What's this all about? We, as leaders, face many challenges....many ups and downs...just like in our lives. If you have a #keeprolling mentality, no matter what gets in our way, we will keep moving forward. Maybe you have a bad speech or a bad evaluation...keep rolling. Tomorrow will come and do it better. Each text or email Dan and I would send to one another, he would end with: Keep rolling. This motivated me and inspired me to keep writing, keep recording to keep with it. So add this to you tool box: keep rolling. Give it to others who may need encouragement put it in your mindset that you are going to keep with it. It is kind of like the 5SW's in sales:

1. Sometimes it will, 2. Sometimes it won't, 3. So what, 4. Stick with it, 5. Someone's waiting

Looking to become a better storyteller. Check out Dan's book below. It is filled with great stories and themes...excellent to start any speech or workshop!

Quote: Even if you are on the right track you'll get run over if you just sit there.

--Will Rogers

Enjoy the Podcasts: #ELB 63--Facebook Live Broadcast

#ELB ITUNES link

Book Recommendation: Leading Narratives by Dan Spainhour

**Contact me if you are interested in sponsoring the show & blog!

Enjoy the podcast. Order your copy of The Principal: Surviving and Thriving today! Click here

LOOKING TO BOOK ANDREW FOR YOUR NEXT ADMINISTRATIVE RETREAT?: Click here for more information.

Go out and change the world for the better!

Andrew Marotta

Check out my book:

The Principal: Surviving and Thriving 125 Points of Wisdom, Practical Tips, and Relatable Stories for All Leaders.

Found on andrewmarotta.com, amazon, and all online retailers. Now available in kindle edition. Audible edition found here

Sunday, October 7, 2018

#ELB 62 w/ Shohola PA Elem Principal Diana Bixby

Education Leadership and Beyond:

Surviving & Thriving with Andrew Marotta

Blog &Podcast #62 with guest Shohola Elem Principal Diana Bixby

This weeks sponsor: 1106 Design Website for 1106 Design

Thanks to Michele DeFilippo and her company 1106 Design. They did a great job helping me get my book off the ground and into print, online, and ready to go at all sellers. She provided awesome customer service to me, especially as someone who was brand new to all of this: book writing, websites, etc. They specialize in all things self-publishing: book formatting, editing, cover design, website creation, etc etc...& most important honesty, fairness, and integrity! Give her a shout out and let her know you found her by listening/reading on Education Leadership & Beyond and she'll take care of you!

This week on the show we meet Shohola Elem Principal Diana Bixby...huge Beatles fan by the way (see ending quote). Diana shares the journey of her school and her steps from Assistant Principal of Special Education to head Principal. She is full of love, learning, and a passion for kids and schools.

To open the show, I talked about a blog post from our good friend Dan Rockwell, The Leadership Freak: The toughest challenges of leadership. Whether you are a Principal, AP, teacher, or outside the world of education, these points are relevant and pertinent to leader's lives. We face these hurdles and it is how we respond. I chose to feature 7 out of the 12:

Humility during success
Confidence during setbacks
Stepping back so others can step up
Admitting mistakes
Listening...with the goal of learning
Leading change: leaders don't just do things, they change things
Learning from criticism

The two that I struggle with the most are 5 & 6. I work on listening, and I remind myself each time I engage in a conversation. My wife has been my greatest support and teacher. As far as #6, if your work in schools, you know that change can be difficult. The only people that like change are babies with a wet diaper. We are creatures of habits, routines. The same schedule each day moving in the same areas and when that gets changed, people can become frustrated and doubting of what you may be trying to do. I am a believer that once you & your team make the decision to move forward with a change, you get rolling, and work out the kinks as you go. Maybe it's the ADD. Just with time constraints, schedules, and other obligations, it can be a change to get everyone in the same room to keep on planning. Go with it and work out the kinks as you go. Adapt, add, change, and continue to tweak your change as you go. Go get 'em!

Enjoy the Podcasts: #ELB 62 live on facebook

#ELB ITUNES link

Book Recommendation: The Energy Bus/The Power of Positive Leadership by Jon Gordon

**Contact me if you are interested in sponsoring the show & blog!

Enjoy the podcast. Order your copy of The Principal: Surviving and Thriving today! Click here

LOOKING TO BOOK ANDREW FOR YOUR NEXT ADMINISTRATIVE RETREAT?: Click here for more information.

Go out and change the world for the better!

Andrew Marotta

Check out my book:

The Principal: Surviving and Thriving 125 Points of Wisdom, Practical Tips, and Relatable Stories for All Leaders.

Found on andrewmarotta.com, amazon, and all online retailers. Now available in kindle edition. Audible edition found here

Friday, September 28, 2018

#ELB 61 Her first go at it! A conversation with Nicole Ey, 1st year Principal at Ellenville, NY Elementary School

Education Leadership and Beyond:

Surviving & Thriving with Andrew Marotta

Blog &Podcast #61 with guest 1st yr Principal Nicole Ey

Enjoy the Podcast: Facebook live podcast with Nicole Ey
On Itunes

So exciting...So energizing...So challenging starting out in your first Principalship. In this episode, we meet Nicole Ey, the dynamic and creative 1st year Principal at Ellenville Elem in NY. Nicole brings the energy and the resolve to do a great job for her staff and students and I wish her the best this year in her journey.

I describe my first year as Principal as standing on the highway on the white stripes trying to get in a car as it speeds by; everything goes so fast!

I mean it's almost October already of this school year, & 10% of the year is over! So what advice could I offer Nicole as she starts her journey? She is bright, confident, and responsive and she'll figure it out very quickly. I decided on the first five tips in my book The Principal: Surviving & Thriving to share with Nicole. There are some of the most real & practical in the whole book. And just the like golden rule in life, I think the #1 tip is the most important:

1. Treat every kid as they are your kid

2. Don't ignore small irrantants

3. Show people that you care

4. Don't be, look or act defeated

5. Beg borrow and steal ideas from other building and bring them into yours

You love kids and show people that you care about them and the school; You can't go wrong. Everything else will follow. When both parents and admins want the best for their kids, #it'sallgood!

For all of you new or first year administrators out there: Keep rolling and get after it. Do good things for kids and your school--That's your only job description! Everything else comes after that.

Thanks to Nicole Ey for coming on #ELB.

Quotes: "True leaders don't create followers. They create more leaders."

"Be the leader who invites everyone to the table."

**Contact me if you are interested in sponsoring the show & blog!

Enjoy the podcast. Order your copy of The Principal: Surviving and Thriving today! Click here

LOOKING TO BOOK ANDREW FOR YOUR NEXT ADMINISTRATIVE RETREAT?: Click here for more information.

Go out and change the world for the better!

Andrew Marotta

Check out my book:

The Principal: Surviving and Thriving 125 Points of Wisdom, Practical Tips, and Relatable Stories for All Leaders.

Found on andrewmarotta.com, amazon, and all online retailers. Now available in kindle edition. Audible edition found here

Saturday, September 22, 2018

#ELB 60 Connecting with your community with Milford, PA Mayor Sean Strub

Education Leadership and Beyond:

Surviving & Thriving with Andrew Marotta

Blog &Podcast #60 with guest Milford, PA Mayor Sean Strub

Enjoy the Podcast: Facebook live broad click here
On Itunes

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In episode #60 of #ELB, we meet Milford, PA Mayor Sean Strub. In our conversation, Sean and I discuss the importance of building a relationship between the local community and the school district. Sean has this relationship with Milford’s schools: Delaware Valley SD (PA). As a school leader, this is very important for you to be a connector--a multiplier of people to be able to make connections that will help kids. Whether it is asking a local business that you frequent for a donation or getting tickets for your students for a local writers festival through the mayor's office, it very important for you to develop and cultivate these relationships.

I am at Port Jervis HS in OC, NY and I have been blessed to be there for 14 yrs (7 as AP). In my book, The Principal: Surviving & Thriving, I describe this point in tip #38: Get to know key people in the community. In my phone I have the following phone numbers handy ready to contact in a moments notice: the police chief, the mayor, business leaders, the county legislator, the YMCA director, the library director, the district attorney, the probation officer, the funeral home director, etc, etc. You get the point. Be a connector in your school community….The school is the community and the community is the school. There are always situations where you will need these people to assist with students and issues happening within the school. Work on these relationships, even call them all together if need be. When the school leaders and the community leaders work together only good things can happen for kids. #Makeithappen.

Book Recommendation: Sean's book: Body Counts A memoir of politics, sex, aids, and survival

Quote: If it is to be, it is up to me!

**Contact me if you are interested in sponsoring the show & blog!

Enjoy the podcast. Order your copy of The Principal: Surviving and Thriving today! Click here

LOOKING TO BOOK ANDREW FOR YOUR NEXT ADMINISTRATIVE RETREAT?: Click here for more information.

Go out and change the world for the better!

Andrew Marotta