1. Superintendents’ Statewide Mentoring Meeting
Thursday, September 15, 2016

2. Outcomes: Grow your professional network;
Ensure familiarity with SAI’s Mentoring and Induction program resources and expectations;
Revisit entry plans to process successes and challenges to date;
Consult with colleagues regarding a leadership challenge;
Discuss pertinent legal issues;
Gain insight to effective strategies for working effectively with the board;
Revisit superintendent and principal evaluation; and
Adopt a strategy/ies to improve leadership-life fit.

3. Links Resources: http://www.sai-iowa.org/sept16suptmentoring.cfm
Evaluation:
Mentoring Matters:

4. Welcome!!
Name
District
What is the focus of professional learning for you and your administrative team this year? (a word or phrase)

5. SAI Mentoring and Induction

6. Grounding Activity
Discuss the progress you’ve made on your entry plan.
What challenges/successes have you experienced in your first 100 days?

7. Learning Community: Leadership Dilemma Consultancy

8. Protocol Leader who drives the oldest car will be the first presenter
Timekeeper/facilitator will be the person to the left of the presenter
Presenter shares an overview of the dilemma and poses his/her focus question.
3 MINUTES

9. Protocol
Consultancy Group asks clarifying questions – those with brief, factual answers.
Consultancy Group asks probing questions:
Worded to help presenter clarify and expand his/her thinking about the dilemma presented to the group.
Help presenter analyze the dilemma.
2 MINUTES

10. Protocol
Consultancy Group talks with each other about the dilemma presented while the presenter listens and takes notes:
What did we hear?
What didn’t we hear that might be relevant?
What assumptions seem to be operating?
What questions does the dilemma raise for us?
What do we think about the dilemma?
What might we do or try if faced with a similar dilemma? What have we done in similar situations?
5 MINUTES

11. Protocol
Presenter reflects on what he/she heard and on what he/she is now thinking, sharing with the group anything that particularly resonated during the consultancy.
5 MINUTES
Rotate to second presenter.

12. Legal Update and Scenarios
Matt Carver, SAI
Legal Update and Scenarios

13. Modified Discussion Panel: Working Effectively with Your Board

14. Welcome, Experts!! Tony Voss, Hudson Duane Willhite, North Fayette
Duane Willhite, North Fayette
Pam Ewell, Van Buren

15. Working Effectively with Your Board
How do you keep you board focused on the “right” work (i.e. education and student achievement)?
How do you educate your board around key issues?
How do you ensure your board members are familiar with district policy?
Turn and Talk

16. Working Effectively with Your Board
What do you do when a board member/s crosses the line into micromanagement? What if a board members wants a principal (or staff member) fired, for example? How do you reinforce what role the board plays and your role?
What does board development look like in your district?
What is the greatest challenge you face in navigating board relationships and how have you approached that?
How do you maintain the appropriate distance between your board and your staff?
Turn and Talk

17. Superintendent Growth and Development
Principal Growth and Development

18. Reflective Questions
Describe how you collaborate with principals to establish their professional learning goals?
What does your ongoing conversation with the principal look like regarding his/her goals?
How often do you meet with principals and what does your scheduled/structured time look like? What is the focus of your meetings?
How do you know if your principal/s have a clear vision for quality teaching and learning—what it looks like, sounds like?
How do you communicate your expectations for principals regarding their work?
What challenges do you face in evaluating and supporting principals and how do you navigate those?

19. Leadership-life Fit: Resiliency via Mindfulness
Dana Schon, SAI
Leadership-life Fit: Resiliency via Mindfulness

20. 1 2

21. resilient 1 3 1 5 4 2 7 6 8 9 1 5 6 4 3 5 2 9 4 5 3 2 1 6 7 2 3 1 8 7 4 1 9 1 8 7 8 6 2 3 8 9 7 6 4 5 4 5 3 4 2 9 3 5 1 2 6 9 8 7
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

22. Switch Roles 1 2

23. mindfulness 1 3 1 5 4 2 7 6 8 9 1 5 6 4 3 5 2 9 4 5 3 2 1 6 7 2 3 1 8 7 4 1 9 1 8 7 8 6 2 3 8 9 7 6 4 5 4 5 3 4 2 9 3 5 1 2 6 9 8 7
Hours
Minutes
Seconds

24. Resiliency…
the process of effectively coping with adversity—bouncing back from difficulties; not a personality trait; a way of paying attention, thinking, and behaving that anyone can learn.

25. Mindfulness
Simple yet effective form of meditation that enables you to gain control of unruly thoughts and behaviors
Benefits:
more focused
Less stressed - stops you from feeling out of control, stops you from jumping from one thought to the next, and stops you from ruminating on negative thoughts

26. Mindfulness
"Mindfulness is the process of actively noticing new things. When you do that, it puts you in the present. It makes you more sensitive to context and perspective. It's the essence of engagement. And it's energy-begetting, not energy consuming. The mistake most people make is to assume it's stressful and exhausting--all this thinking. But what's stressful is all the mindless negative evaluations we make and the worry that we'll find problems and not be able to solve them.” ~Ellen Langer, Harvard University psychologist
Benefits:
more focused
Less stressed - stops you from feeling out of control, stops you from jumping from one thought to the next, and stops you from ruminating on negative thoughts

27. The Lingering Effect of Stress
The emotional soup that follows a stressful event can whip up negative stories about yourself or others that goes on and on, beyond being useful. For example, if you have an argument with your partner before leaving for work, you can end up replaying that conversation all day, which continues to proliferate anxiety or low mood far more than is necessary.

28. Key Components of Resiliency
Positive relationships (most important factor)
Ability to make plans and take action to solve problems
Capacity to manage difficult emotions
Effective communication skills
Mindfulness reduces this rumination and, if practiced regularly, changes your brain so that you’re more resilient to future stressful events.

29. Build Resilience Nurture relationships
Find meaning in difficult situations—how have you positively navigated the challenge?
Be optimistic- Change your response to stress.
Mindfulness
Be decisive and take action
Expect change.

30. Video including 1 min. mindfulness strategy to practice

31. 1 2
With your mentor/mentee, your reactions to mindfulness and your willingness to commit to try it tomorrow!

32. A foundational tool to build resilience…
“Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally. It’s about knowing what is on your mind.” ~Kabat-Zinn

33. Final Thoughts & Evaluation
Upcoming learning opportunities: Evaluation: