033 - Intentional Relationship Building

Larry's path into education wasn’t  typical.   Upon graduating from Ithaca College, he spent 10 years in radio/television news before travelling across the country playing piano/singing at retirement communities- eventually arriving back in his hometown of Framingham, Massachusetts.  There, while substitute teaching, he became passionate about education and earned his Masters in Elementary Education from Lesley University.

Key Takeaways:

• Make sure you are intentional about building relationships
• Use specific, personalized questions to get great feedback from teachers
• Small actionable adjustments make all the different when building relationships and culture
• Use UDL for staff, not just students
• Focus on listening more than writing when taking notes in a meeting
• Make sure you take time to stop and see what everybody at the ground level thinks. Pay special attention to the needs of your stakeholders
• Self talk is an incredibly important part of your mindset
• Always assume positive intentions
• The process of authentically listening is difficult and takes practice
• Listening and reflection are both two way skills. We subconsciously listen to ourselves talk while listening to what people are saying and then we have to reflect on what we're saying while we reflect on how we listened to them

Get in Touch:

Twitter:   @WolpeMr

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