Can you believe we’re in December? We’re fresh off the back of Thanksgiving in the US, and this is the time of year where, all over the world, we take a break. So, I’m here this week to set you up for a fully enjoyable Holiday season, whatever you’ve got planned.

Think back to the last time you had a significant break from school and how you spent that time. Were you as intentional about having the best experience possible during that time? Do you give your time off as much consideration as you give your work? As fulfilling as our work can be, it’s time to stop identifying solely as a school leader, and think about how to find purpose away from work as we close out the year.

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The vision you have for your school is incredibly important. If you find that your staff and teachers don’t follow your lead as a principal, it’s possible that you don’t have a clear vision, or you’re not doing a great job of selling this vision. Well, after this episode and the next, you’ll not only have a clear vision for your school, but you’ll be able to sell that vision to your staff and your district. 

This episode is the perfect opportunity to grab yourself a drink, snuggle in with your favorite journal, and take notes because I’m diving into the problems leaders commonly encounter when creating a school vision and how to create a vision for your school, before next week where I take it a step further by working on how you to compel others and sell your whole school community on what you have planned.

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Teacher evaluations at the school leadership and district level are often seen as a compliance issue. There needs to be a formal process for observing and evaluating our teachers’ performances to best serve your school and community, and every industry has its own way of measuring employee performance.

However, if you’re dreading or procrastinating on your teacher evaluations and often find that they’re not particularly valuable or engaging to you or your teachers, you’re most definitely not alone. The good news is that you as a school leader can dive deeper and go beyond the surface of just checking boxes and aiming for ambiguous goals, and this is where your teacher evaluation philosophy steps in. 

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Emotions are a hugely important topic that I talk about on this podcast because emotional energy is the driving force behind every decision we make and action we take. If you’re a long-time listener here, you’ll be well versed in the importance of understanding and processing our emotions, but it was presented to me today by my master coach in a new and innovative way that I had to share with you too. 

Getting intimate with our emotions is the most vital tool you have access to as a human and school leader, and on this episode, you’ll hear my three-step emotional processing practice to help you create space for allowing all your emotions. However, we also have thoughts and opinions about the emotions we’re experiencing, and this is where there’s mind-blowing work to be done. 

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This week’s episode is dealing with the sensitive topics of school shootings, loss, and grief. I have a long-time colleague and friend Krista St-Germain on the show who specializes in coaching around grief. Given some of the tragedies of the recent past on our school campuses, grief in our work as school leaders is something we need to be equipped to help ourselves and others deal with.

Krista St-Germain is a life coach who helps widowed moms figure out how to love life again after losing a spouse. She has a unique approach to grief, and she’s here today to share the tools that helped her start to live a life she loves after loss because a lot of the things we think we know about grief are actually outdated and misunderstood.

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