November 19, 2024 • 22 mins
A 60-second chat with students can lead to big changes.
Today we are joined by education leadership expert Dr. Mary Hemphill, who details the transformative power of the One-Minute Meeting. Dr. Hemphill shares how to implement and leverage this unique approach to school improvement, where quick yet meaningful conversations with students shine a light on their well-being, achievements, and learning challenges. Discover how these interactions not only engage and empower students but also inspire educators to innovate their teaching.
Teachers in America profiles K–12 teachers across the country. Hear firsthand from the people who are shaping young lives in the classroom every day. If you or someone you know would be a good candidate for Teachers in America, please email us at shaped@hmhco.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
So why have we not invited students to the table
and said is there anybody you'dlike to shout out for their
stellar services or somethingthat we can do to make sure that
your educational journey iseven better, or are there any
barriers?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
From paper and pencil to Wi-Fi and AI.
Education is ever evolving OnTeachers in America.
We'll keep you at the forefrontof what's new.
We connect with teachers and edleaders to talk trending topics
and real issues, bringing youinspiring ideas that will
influence the future of yourteaching.
This past summer, at the modelschools conference, we sat down
(00:37):
with leadership expert, educatorand center for model schools
senior fellow, dr Mary Hemphill,who's also the author of the
One-Minute Meeting CreatingStudent Stakeholders in Schools.
We love a one-minute meeting.
This book dives into how toleverage the unique
instructional practice of theone-minute meeting to gain
information from students ontheir learning experience.
(00:57):
In this episode we put togetherour favorite moments from our
conversation with Dr Hemphill,as she shares how to implement
this practice to engage andempower students as stakeholders
.
But first let's hear from DrHemphill on why and how the
one-minute meeting came about.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So when we came up with the one-minute meeting at
that time, I was a principal ofa failing school.
Two days before I was hired bythe school board.
The North Carolina Departmentof Education deemed that school
an F, and when I say an F I mean19% proficient in reading and
between 7% and 9% proficient inmath.
I came from a school like that.
I grew up in Hickory, northCarolina, and being in that
(01:40):
school and knowing that itwasn't the top school, it wasn't
the school where there was anaffluent community or where we
had access to all of thoseresources, I knew that as a
child, even though my parentsstill let me know we support you
, we're going to make sure we doeverything you can to succeed.
I came from a building likethat, so it was incumbent upon
me after graduating as ateaching fellow to go back into
(02:01):
classrooms and to go back intoschools that way, because those
students deserve a chance aswell.
I played on the sameplaygrounds, I've been in the
same community centers as you'vebeen in, but I've also seen the
world outside of our localcommunity and it's accessible to
you.
When I came back to Hickory,north Carolina, I was in the
(02:22):
same third grade classroom thatI had been in as a third grader
and I had also studied abroad.
So I asked my principal to giveme every Spanish-speaking
student and family, because Itruly and deeply believed that
it wasn't about access, itwasn't about where you came from
.
It was about arming them withthe knowledge of curiosity and
positive intention to be able toarm themselves to have a voice
(02:44):
as they went on theireducational career.
So myself, my assistantprincipal, my instructional
facilitator, had about twomonths to really sort of turn
things around and think abouthow we were going to start this
school year.
We knew that time was the mostprecious commodity that we had,
and so my AP and I said whatwould happen if we met with
(03:04):
every single child in thebuilding for one minute and
asked them about theirexperiences?
I had all the data.
I had the North CarolinaTeacher Working Conditions
Survey.
I could see what people weresaying in the community, but
nobody was asking the studentswe as adults.
Anytime you open a bank account, what do you get?
When you get home, you get asurvey.
How was the experience?
(03:25):
Would you like to call somebodyout who went above and beyond?
You can't book a flight nowwithout getting a customer
satisfaction survey.
So why have we not invitedstudents to the table and said
is there anybody you'd like toshout out for their stellar
services or something that wecan do to make sure that your
educational journey is evenbetter, or are there any
(03:45):
barriers?
So that's what we did the firstyear.
We met with every singlestudent.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Dr Hemphill breaks down the components of the
one-minute meeting, includingthree questions she asks every
student.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
The first thing we did is we made sure that the
mobile office was set up,because those one-minute
meetings don't happen in theprincipal's office.
I wanted to shift the narrativethat only bad things happen or
problems are only resolved inthe principal's office.
So I had my mobile cart withall the information that I
needed and I rolled my principalchair down to every classroom.
I didn't sit in the principal'schair.
(04:17):
Students sat in the principal'schair, every single one, the
ones who had been high flyers inmy office, the ones who were
high-performing students, everysingle one, the ones who had
been high flyers in my office,the ones who were high
performing students, everysingle one.
And I sat in the student chairat their feet and I asked them
and I listened to them and wrotedown their answers.
But here's the key when I wentback and shared the data with
our team and shared the datawith our entire school that's
(04:38):
what transparency is I couldthen develop relationships with
students all of our team whowere doing them, because in the
hallway, instead of saying, hey,josh, how you doing?
I would say, hey, josh, youstill celebrating that little
sister, how's she?
doing.
It's consistency, it shiftedthe conversation.
By the time we finished upone-minute meetings that first
year teachers, unmandated, weredoing one-minute meetings after
(05:00):
instructional benchmarks, afterhuge projects and even with
family members, because they sawthe power in the three
questions and conversations howare you today?
That establishes relationshipand each question 20 to 22
seconds, sitting with a childand not doing the drive-by.
How are you today?
The second question is what areyou celebrating or what are you
most proud of from the pastnine weeks?
(05:21):
And that last question is whatare you celebrating or what's
been the greatest barrier toyour learning in our school in
the past nine weeks?
Our team came up with those One.
We wanted to make sure that ina school that was failing the
lack of emotional language andthe stories that our children
were hearing they were repeatingthings they were hearing in the
community I had littlekindergartners come to me and
(05:43):
say my mama said that we'regoing to move out of this
district as soon as we can.
So I needed to be able to standin the gap for that
conversation.
That second one when we talkabout celebrations, I didn't
want to celebrate what wecelebrate as adults.
Yay, we got the grant.
Yes, we went one-to-one, butsome children are celebrating
their parents coming home frombeing incarcerated or mastering
(06:04):
a new language for my Englishlanguage learners and learning
print vocabulary.
I even have a student I sharethis in my keynote Amira.
She was one of the twins in myschool and when I asked her what
she was celebrating, I thoughtshe was going to say perfect
attendance or she had justgotten an A on her exam and she
said Dr Hemphill.
I'm celebrating as a familywith my twin sister who just
(06:24):
exited EC, because we're goingto have the same reading
homework for the first timesince kindergarten.
It brings you back to values.
And then I didn't want to endthat meeting without asking them
what is it that I can do?
What's the barrier?
What's the problem, what's thechallenge?
What can I do to help move thatout of your way so you can get
to success faster?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
out of your way so you can get to success faster.
Learn about more leading edgeideas and best practices at the
2025 Model Schools Conference.
Join us from June 22nd throughthe 25th in Washington DC to
hear from innovative districts,model schools and epic educators
from across the country.
Come out and connect with acommunity of dedicated educators
just like you.
Be sure to secure spots for youand your team today.
(07:09):
With any kind of change,resistance may arise.
Dr Hemphill had to addressteachers' hesitations and
concerns.
She explains how she garneredteacher buy-in by providing
support as well as leadershipopportunities.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
One of the things we had to really think about was
the fact that, going into afailing school, we're going to
have individuals in the buildingwho had been there for a long
time and probably had verylittle impact.
We had to start really thinkingabout when we did the
one-minute meetings withstudents in their classes how
can we take that data andtransform it into a story and
engage that teacher.
So we really had to work on notreacting versus responding, and
(07:51):
I did have some teachers whobooked the process.
During some of those one-minutemeetings when students would
share with me their experiences,I wanted to just stop the
meeting.
You can't do that because,remember, you're modeling the
way for how leadership is goingto be in your school and so,
taking all of that data andsaying to a teacher instead of
saying, johnny told me you, Isaid 30% of your students have
(08:15):
signaled to me that there issomething happening in your
classroom that's distracting.
Can you talk to me a little bitabout what that sounds like and
looks like on a daily basis?
It also helped us weed outculture cancers, because those
culture cancers in the buildingare quiet and they're silent and
they can spread theirnegativity very quickly, and so
we needed to be able to pinpointthose and surround them with
(08:37):
support, even if that supportmeant we supported them out the
door.
First thing we did was wechanged stakeholder language.
So one of our cardinal rules,one of our non-negotiables was
we'd never say the word teacherwithout saying the word leader
behind it, never say the wordstudent without saying the word
leader behind it.
But that also meant givingteachers the opportunities to
actually lead.
(08:58):
There are star teachers inevery single building, but if we
keep them within the closure oftheir classroom only, without
supporting them and having someexternal efforts to show up as
leaders, and also realizing thatI can't do everything.
So some of those communicationloops that we created, my third
grade level teacher she createdthose my school improvement team
(09:24):
asking for permission toutilize them in different ways,
not just bringing the voices ofyour colleagues, but what are
some tangible solutions andinnovative ways we can approach
this?
And even I had one of thoseteachers who had she had been at
the school for 15 years.
She had never traveled outsidethe county for professional
development.
I asked her to go with me toCharlotte, north Carolina, to a
literacy program and she said Iget to go to the big city, but
(09:46):
her navigating the big city,sitting at the table with me as
we talked about statewideinitiatives, something she had
never done before.
She was my greatest ambassadorwhen we got back.
But what I said was that ifanybody in this building goes to
professional development, whenyou come back, I want you to
lead the PD on it.
I want you to even teach meabout it, and I made sure that I
was sitting in the chairs tolearn from them.
(10:09):
So when we were able to saylisten, we can't do everything.
We need to tap some ambassadorswho are really good at what
they're doing, and we also needto lean into curiosity, because
some of the teachers have beenthere way longer than I had been
.
Tell me what I need to knowabout this community.
Teach me.
As the principal, you're thelead teacher, and so when you
put yourself in a position tolearn from other people, you'll
(10:30):
start to see leadershipopportunities pop up.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
When implementing the one-minute meeting, dr Hemphill
kept in mind the other keymembers of the school community
families.
Hear how she supported parentsand guardians throughout the
process.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
So that F when it hit Facebook, when it hit the
newspaper, there were alreadyconversations happening.
So what I had to do was take arisk and I think, as being a
school leader, taking courageousrisk for me meant sitting down
with my assistant superintendentof curriculum and instruction
as well as my superintendentsaying things like if we keep
doing the same things we'redoing I was their fifth
(11:08):
principal in four years If wekeep doing what we've been doing
, then we're always going to getwhat we've gotten.
Do I have your permission, onthese specific pillars, to not
do what it is that the otherprincipals are doing, because
what the other principals aredoing fit their community.
For instance, our firstparent-teacher conference day
450 students I had less than 50families show up and it was not
(11:31):
the 50 that I needed to speakwith.
So I went to my superintendentand I said what if we opened up
some of the fellowship halls insome of our local organizations?
What if we went to thecommunity centers and our YMCAs
and YWCAs and if we were to havea few tables and chairs and
devices and Wi-Fi?
What if we meet parents wherethey truly are?
We even had parent-teacherconferences outside of football
(11:53):
Friday night, two hours beforethe gates would open because
parents are showing up therenight.
Two hours before the gateswould open because parents are
showing up there.
We went from about 50 parentsshowing up to over 380 because
we broke down the barriers.
That school only happens in thebrick and mortar, school
happens everywhere.
We just had to make it possible.
At Open House that first year Ihad a parent come up to me and
(12:14):
she said Dr Hempel, we'reexcited you're here.
I've read about you.
I think you're going to doamazing things, but you just
have to know that this is theonly child I have and I have to
make the best decisions for her.
My husband and I are makingplans to move out of the
district to be able to go toanother school and I didn't want
you to take it personally and Isaid will you give me a year to
change your mind?
(12:34):
What that meant was that we hadto be consistent in how we
showed up.
We had to do what it is that wesaid we were going to do, and
that meant, whether it was atthe school level, whether it was
at the local level or even thecommunity level, we engaged her
truly to be able to help usgarner other parent support.
At the end of that second yearshe came back to me and she said
(12:55):
Dr Hemphill, thank you forchanging my mind.
We're going to stay for herfirst grade year.
And she became our PTApresident.
And that's when I knew becauseit wasn't a teacher leader,
wasn't somebody in the buildingwho was hearing our voices all
the time this was somebody whomade a decision for the future
of her child to keep herconnected to our school.
And that's when I knew we werechanging things around.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Dr Hemphill believes in bringing student voices to
the forefront of importantschool conversations.
Students' feedback can helpinform instructional practice,
foster a positive school cultureand improve student achievement
.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
When we think about education as an industry.
We are one of the onlyindustries that truly sort of
was on the back end of thatinnovation of putting the end
user first.
That's exactly why I wrote theone-minute meeting, because
education is something thatshouldn't happen to children.
It's something that happenswith them.
So when we're optimistic aboutthe fact that this
transformative change lieswithin our students and they
(13:53):
hold the answers, then we can'tlook at just budgeting.
We can't look at just humancapital or physical resources.
Yes, those matter, but we havechildren in seats right now.
So my level of optimism isencouraging educators to
continue showing up forthemselves so that they can be
their best for children, becauseour children deserve it.
Second graders only have oneshot at second grade.
(14:16):
Our graduating seniors onlyhave one shot at their senior
year, and if we can commit 180days to being our best selves so
that they can succeed, thenthere's still power in this
industry and I believe it'sstill there at the core.
It's like asking somebody thatyou see being successful.
We know about the icebergeffect.
We know that at the top we'reseeing the success, but
(14:37):
underneath it is all of the hardwork, all of the challenges,
all of the frustrations.
But when we switch it to sayit's not that we're doing
everything in education, we'redoing the right things in
education, it shifts ourperspective, because engaging a
child and asking them what'shappening in your educational
experience, what are the thingsyou're celebrating, what are the
things that are challenging youor what are barriers that we
(14:58):
sometimes perceive as adults arethe budget, the lack of human
capital, all of the hiring,recruitment and retention,
whereas students, on theirperspective, if we're really
going to meet them where theyare, they're thinking about
their microcosms, maybesomething that happened at home
that day, maybe some areas andpathways that they want to be
able to follow after high school.
When we can reframe the rightthings to make sure that we're
(15:21):
intimately connecting with thosestudents, then we can embed
their responses into our schoolimprovement plan, into our
pedagogy and into the actualculture.
When we start to think aboutthis story of life, we're
teaching students how to do lifein our classrooms.
I talked this morning aboutdoing two types of walks in a
school A celebration walk, whichis walking through the building
(15:44):
and finding every piece ofevidence you can find in terms
of how you celebrate students,and I'm not just talking about
trophies in a bookshelf from the1980s and 1990s.
How are you currentlycelebrating and rallying around
students in their celebrationsand what do you define as a
celebration in your school?
But the other type of walk is afailure walk, because when
students fail, when teachersfail, what's the culture that
(16:08):
wraps around them?
When we fail, do we polarizethem and say you're going to be
othered or polarized or I'mgoing to silently retaliate
because you messed up, or am Igoing to shove that support even
further so that I can undergirdyou in your journey of
productive failure?
And when we can teach studentsto productively fail from
kindergarten all the way to 12thgrade, think about what type of
(16:28):
adults they'll be walking intosociety.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Dr Hemphill now helps other education leaders execute
the one-minute meeting in theirschools, and some are even
putting their own twist to thepractice.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
So I just did an amazing engagement with a school
district in Long Beach, newYork, and I worked specifically
with Lauren Kaufman.
She's absolutely phenomenal,you've got to follow her.
She worked specifically withbeginning teachers and she was
having some issues with somemiddle school students.
She took our one-minute meeting, she created a five-minute
meeting, she took the questionsand put them on a Google form
(17:00):
and she sent that Google form toall of her middle school
students to give them time to beable to respond and then she
opened up her classroom.
This was during COVID.
She opened up her virtualclassroom in a breakout room and
when she met one-on-one witheach student, she already had
responses and resources andsolutions for the students and
it just changed the game.
And that's the beauty of theone-minute meeting Customize it
(17:21):
to match what it is that youneed.
High school principals arereaching out to me in campuses
of 1700, 2100.
And they're saying listen, I'mstarting with the students who
have had attendance issues, I'mstarting with the students who
may not have declared collegeand career ready and we're
starting to see some changes andI'm finding out things I never
knew or how they got this far ineducation and they haven't
(17:44):
gotten the support that theyneeded.
So principals and teachers aretalking to students and they're
being intentional and strategicabout the information they're
gleaning from them to makechange happen in the building.
When I work with leaders, Ialways remind them that when you
share your vision and when youmodel the way, you're casting
out something that people caneither attach to, find
(18:05):
themselves in and have theopportunity to have a voice
about.
But what I'm finding is thatmany school leaders are saying
but what if it's rejected?
Or what if this doesn't work,or I simply don't have the time?
Well, this is a process thattakes the time and creates an
intentional opportunity for youto connect.
So people are starting to seein new and different ways that
leadership is action.
(18:25):
But it doesn't have to be thesebig, huge, overt projects and
initiatives that require timeand all this energy and capital
in order to be able to see allthe way through.
This is something that, through60 seconds, what you're saying
is you matter.
What I have to be accountablefor as a leader is being
consistent in how I continue towrap you around this process.
(18:46):
It gets principals out of theprincipal's office and it puts
them in a space to be able to belearners.
We forget that oftentimes, asprincipals, we're lead learners
and showing people how to leadwith curiosity and when we can
develop that in the leader.
Do you know how much permissionyou give a teacher leader to
productively fail or to have aninitiative and follow it through
(19:08):
?
But we first have to be theones to be able to do that.
There's a quote that I have justfallen in love with from Alan
Tolfer, and he said that thefuture of learning is really and
truly thinking about literacy,and it's not reading and writing
, it is unlearning andrelearning.
If you're in a season ofunlearning, know that you're not
alone and as you unlearn, havea voice about that unlearning.
(19:31):
We have to unlearn thetraditional practices of the way
we learn school, the way welearn school in terms of
thinking about the connectionsand the communication and the
collaboration.
We have to unlearn the factthat even being the sage on the
stage is not always the way togo.
Sometimes the sage is sittingin the seat in front of us in
that classroom.
We have to unlearn how we usedto connect with teachers and
(19:54):
building culture, how we do thatnow is it's life-work balance
and how we can bring that intoour building.
But we're also unlearning howto trust ourselves.
So, yes, we still have theformal assessments and
standardized assessments, butwhat are some other ways that we
can say you are actually anamazing human being, and that
may not always be being a levelone, two, three or four on a
(20:16):
state test, and when we can dothat in a way that is
transparent and honest?
Even if we don't get it rightthe first time, you're really
teaching everybody at everylevel how to be a better human.
Readiness means knowing thesymptoms of what's happening in
the building and I think thatonce you see the symptoms of
this is shifting, thisconversation is not the same
(20:38):
conversation it used to be.
I'm not reaching students usingthe things in my bag of tricks
that used to work anymore.
When you're feeling thatfeeling and you know your school
is about to lean into the shift, then you're ready for the
one-minute meeting, because Ibelieve that students are the
American public school heroeswe've been waiting on, and
there's a quote that myprofessor told me right before I
(21:00):
finished my PhD.
He said, mary, if you're not atthe table, you're on the menu.
Can't put kids on the menuanymore.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Who knew so much could be accomplished in 60
seconds?
We want to thank our guest, drMary Hemphill, for her insights
on elevating students as schoolstakeholders and sharing all
about the one-minute meeting,and we want to thank you,
listeners, for tuning in today.
Until next time.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
If you or someone you know would like to be a guest
on the Teachers in Americapodcast, please email us at
shaped.
At hmhcocom.
That's S-H-A-P-E-D.
At H-M-H-C-O dot com, be thefirst to hear new episodes of
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If you enjoyed today's show,please rate, review and share it
(21:47):
with your network.
You can find the transcript ofthis episode on our Shaped blog
by visiting H-M-com.
Forward slash shaped.
That's hmhcocom.
Forward slash S-H-A-P-E-D.
The link is in the show notes.
The Teachers in America podcastis a production of HMH.
Thank you to the productionteam of Christine Condon, tim
(22:08):
Lee, jennifer Coruvo, mio Fry,thomas Velasquez and Matt Howell
.
Thanks again for listening.
So why have we not invited students to the table
and said is there anybody you'dlike to shout out for their
stellar services or somethingthat we can do to make sure that
your educational journey iseven better, or are there any
barriers?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
From paper and pencil to Wi-Fi and AI.
Education is ever evolving OnTeachers in America.
We'll keep you at the forefrontof what's new.
We connect with teachers and edleaders to talk trending topics
and real issues, bringing youinspiring ideas that will
influence the future of yourteaching.
This past summer, at the modelschools conference, we sat down
(00:37):
with leadership expert, educatorand center for model schools
senior fellow, dr Mary Hemphill,who's also the author of the
One-Minute Meeting CreatingStudent Stakeholders in Schools.
We love a one-minute meeting.
This book dives into how toleverage the unique
instructional practice of theone-minute meeting to gain
information from students ontheir learning experience.
(00:57):
In this episode we put togetherour favorite moments from our
conversation with Dr Hemphill,as she shares how to implement
this practice to engage andempower students as stakeholders
.
But first let's hear from DrHemphill on why and how the
one-minute meeting came about.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So when we came up with the one-minute meeting at
that time, I was a principal ofa failing school.
Two days before I was hired bythe school board.
The North Carolina Departmentof Education deemed that school
an F, and when I say an F I mean19% proficient in reading and
between 7% and 9% proficient inmath.
I came from a school like that.
I grew up in Hickory, northCarolina, and being in that
(01:40):
school and knowing that itwasn't the top school, it wasn't
the school where there was anaffluent community or where we
had access to all of thoseresources, I knew that as a
child, even though my parentsstill let me know we support you
, we're going to make sure we doeverything you can to succeed.
I came from a building likethat, so it was incumbent upon
me after graduating as ateaching fellow to go back into
(02:01):
classrooms and to go back intoschools that way, because those
students deserve a chance aswell.
I played on the sameplaygrounds, I've been in the
same community centers as you'vebeen in, but I've also seen the
world outside of our localcommunity and it's accessible to
you.
When I came back to Hickory,north Carolina, I was in the
(02:22):
same third grade classroom thatI had been in as a third grader
and I had also studied abroad.
So I asked my principal to giveme every Spanish-speaking
student and family, because Itruly and deeply believed that
it wasn't about access, itwasn't about where you came from
.
It was about arming them withthe knowledge of curiosity and
positive intention to be able toarm themselves to have a voice
(02:44):
as they went on theireducational career.
So myself, my assistantprincipal, my instructional
facilitator, had about twomonths to really sort of turn
things around and think abouthow we were going to start this
school year.
We knew that time was the mostprecious commodity that we had,
and so my AP and I said whatwould happen if we met with
(03:04):
every single child in thebuilding for one minute and
asked them about theirexperiences?
I had all the data.
I had the North CarolinaTeacher Working Conditions
Survey.
I could see what people weresaying in the community, but
nobody was asking the studentswe as adults.
Anytime you open a bank account, what do you get?
When you get home, you get asurvey.
How was the experience?
(03:25):
Would you like to call somebodyout who went above and beyond?
You can't book a flight nowwithout getting a customer
satisfaction survey.
So why have we not invitedstudents to the table and said
is there anybody you'd like toshout out for their stellar
services or something that wecan do to make sure that your
educational journey is evenbetter, or are there any
(03:45):
barriers?
So that's what we did the firstyear.
We met with every singlestudent.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Dr Hemphill breaks down the components of the
one-minute meeting, includingthree questions she asks every
student.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
The first thing we did is we made sure that the
mobile office was set up,because those one-minute
meetings don't happen in theprincipal's office.
I wanted to shift the narrativethat only bad things happen or
problems are only resolved inthe principal's office.
So I had my mobile cart withall the information that I
needed and I rolled my principalchair down to every classroom.
I didn't sit in the principal'schair.
(04:17):
Students sat in the principal'schair, every single one, the
ones who had been high flyers inmy office, the ones who were
high-performing students, everysingle one, the ones who had
been high flyers in my office,the ones who were high
performing students, everysingle one.
And I sat in the student chairat their feet and I asked them
and I listened to them and wrotedown their answers.
But here's the key when I wentback and shared the data with
our team and shared the datawith our entire school that's
(04:38):
what transparency is I couldthen develop relationships with
students all of our team whowere doing them, because in the
hallway, instead of saying, hey,josh, how you doing?
I would say, hey, josh, youstill celebrating that little
sister, how's she?
doing.
It's consistency, it shiftedthe conversation.
By the time we finished upone-minute meetings that first
year teachers, unmandated, weredoing one-minute meetings after
(05:00):
instructional benchmarks, afterhuge projects and even with
family members, because they sawthe power in the three
questions and conversations howare you today?
That establishes relationshipand each question 20 to 22
seconds, sitting with a childand not doing the drive-by.
How are you today?
The second question is what areyou celebrating or what are you
most proud of from the pastnine weeks?
(05:21):
And that last question is whatare you celebrating or what's
been the greatest barrier toyour learning in our school in
the past nine weeks?
Our team came up with those One.
We wanted to make sure that ina school that was failing the
lack of emotional language andthe stories that our children
were hearing they were repeatingthings they were hearing in the
community I had littlekindergartners come to me and
(05:43):
say my mama said that we'regoing to move out of this
district as soon as we can.
So I needed to be able to standin the gap for that
conversation.
That second one when we talkabout celebrations, I didn't
want to celebrate what wecelebrate as adults.
Yay, we got the grant.
Yes, we went one-to-one, butsome children are celebrating
their parents coming home frombeing incarcerated or mastering
(06:04):
a new language for my Englishlanguage learners and learning
print vocabulary.
I even have a student I sharethis in my keynote Amira.
She was one of the twins in myschool and when I asked her what
she was celebrating, I thoughtshe was going to say perfect
attendance or she had justgotten an A on her exam and she
said Dr Hemphill.
I'm celebrating as a familywith my twin sister who just
(06:24):
exited EC, because we're goingto have the same reading
homework for the first timesince kindergarten.
It brings you back to values.
And then I didn't want to endthat meeting without asking them
what is it that I can do?
What's the barrier?
What's the problem, what's thechallenge?
What can I do to help move thatout of your way so you can get
to success faster?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
out of your way so you can get to success faster.
Learn about more leading edgeideas and best practices at the
2025 Model Schools Conference.
Join us from June 22nd throughthe 25th in Washington DC to
hear from innovative districts,model schools and epic educators
from across the country.
Come out and connect with acommunity of dedicated educators
just like you.
Be sure to secure spots for youand your team today.
(07:09):
With any kind of change,resistance may arise.
Dr Hemphill had to addressteachers' hesitations and
concerns.
She explains how she garneredteacher buy-in by providing
support as well as leadershipopportunities.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
One of the things we had to really think about was
the fact that, going into afailing school, we're going to
have individuals in the buildingwho had been there for a long
time and probably had verylittle impact.
We had to start really thinkingabout when we did the
one-minute meetings withstudents in their classes how
can we take that data andtransform it into a story and
engage that teacher.
So we really had to work on notreacting versus responding, and
(07:51):
I did have some teachers whobooked the process.
During some of those one-minutemeetings when students would
share with me their experiences,I wanted to just stop the
meeting.
You can't do that because,remember, you're modeling the
way for how leadership is goingto be in your school and so,
taking all of that data andsaying to a teacher instead of
saying, johnny told me you, Isaid 30% of your students have
(08:15):
signaled to me that there issomething happening in your
classroom that's distracting.
Can you talk to me a little bitabout what that sounds like and
looks like on a daily basis?
It also helped us weed outculture cancers, because those
culture cancers in the buildingare quiet and they're silent and
they can spread theirnegativity very quickly, and so
we needed to be able to pinpointthose and surround them with
(08:37):
support, even if that supportmeant we supported them out the
door.
First thing we did was wechanged stakeholder language.
So one of our cardinal rules,one of our non-negotiables was
we'd never say the word teacherwithout saying the word leader
behind it, never say the wordstudent without saying the word
leader behind it.
But that also meant givingteachers the opportunities to
actually lead.
(08:58):
There are star teachers inevery single building, but if we
keep them within the closure oftheir classroom only, without
supporting them and having someexternal efforts to show up as
leaders, and also realizing thatI can't do everything.
So some of those communicationloops that we created, my third
grade level teacher she createdthose my school improvement team
(09:24):
asking for permission toutilize them in different ways,
not just bringing the voices ofyour colleagues, but what are
some tangible solutions andinnovative ways we can approach
this?
And even I had one of thoseteachers who had she had been at
the school for 15 years.
She had never traveled outsidethe county for professional
development.
I asked her to go with me toCharlotte, north Carolina, to a
literacy program and she said Iget to go to the big city, but
(09:46):
her navigating the big city,sitting at the table with me as
we talked about statewideinitiatives, something she had
never done before.
She was my greatest ambassadorwhen we got back.
But what I said was that ifanybody in this building goes to
professional development, whenyou come back, I want you to
lead the PD on it.
I want you to even teach meabout it, and I made sure that I
was sitting in the chairs tolearn from them.
(10:09):
So when we were able to saylisten, we can't do everything.
We need to tap some ambassadorswho are really good at what
they're doing, and we also needto lean into curiosity, because
some of the teachers have beenthere way longer than I had been
.
Tell me what I need to knowabout this community.
Teach me.
As the principal, you're thelead teacher, and so when you
put yourself in a position tolearn from other people, you'll
(10:30):
start to see leadershipopportunities pop up.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
When implementing the one-minute meeting, dr Hemphill
kept in mind the other keymembers of the school community
families.
Hear how she supported parentsand guardians throughout the
process.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
So that F when it hit Facebook, when it hit the
newspaper, there were alreadyconversations happening.
So what I had to do was take arisk and I think, as being a
school leader, taking courageousrisk for me meant sitting down
with my assistant superintendentof curriculum and instruction
as well as my superintendentsaying things like if we keep
doing the same things we'redoing I was their fifth
(11:08):
principal in four years If wekeep doing what we've been doing
, then we're always going to getwhat we've gotten.
Do I have your permission, onthese specific pillars, to not
do what it is that the otherprincipals are doing, because
what the other principals aredoing fit their community.
For instance, our firstparent-teacher conference day
450 students I had less than 50families show up and it was not
(11:31):
the 50 that I needed to speakwith.
So I went to my superintendentand I said what if we opened up
some of the fellowship halls insome of our local organizations?
What if we went to thecommunity centers and our YMCAs
and YWCAs and if we were to havea few tables and chairs and
devices and Wi-Fi?
What if we meet parents wherethey truly are?
We even had parent-teacherconferences outside of football
(11:53):
Friday night, two hours beforethe gates would open because
parents are showing up therenight.
Two hours before the gateswould open because parents are
showing up there.
We went from about 50 parentsshowing up to over 380 because
we broke down the barriers.
That school only happens in thebrick and mortar, school
happens everywhere.
We just had to make it possible.
At Open House that first year Ihad a parent come up to me and
(12:14):
she said Dr Hempel, we'reexcited you're here.
I've read about you.
I think you're going to doamazing things, but you just
have to know that this is theonly child I have and I have to
make the best decisions for her.
My husband and I are makingplans to move out of the
district to be able to go toanother school and I didn't want
you to take it personally and Isaid will you give me a year to
change your mind?
(12:34):
What that meant was that we hadto be consistent in how we
showed up.
We had to do what it is that wesaid we were going to do, and
that meant, whether it was atthe school level, whether it was
at the local level or even thecommunity level, we engaged her
truly to be able to help usgarner other parent support.
At the end of that second yearshe came back to me and she said
(12:55):
Dr Hemphill, thank you forchanging my mind.
We're going to stay for herfirst grade year.
And she became our PTApresident.
And that's when I knew becauseit wasn't a teacher leader,
wasn't somebody in the buildingwho was hearing our voices all
the time this was somebody whomade a decision for the future
of her child to keep herconnected to our school.
And that's when I knew we werechanging things around.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Dr Hemphill believes in bringing student voices to
the forefront of importantschool conversations.
Students' feedback can helpinform instructional practice,
foster a positive school cultureand improve student achievement
.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
When we think about education as an industry.
We are one of the onlyindustries that truly sort of
was on the back end of thatinnovation of putting the end
user first.
That's exactly why I wrote theone-minute meeting, because
education is something thatshouldn't happen to children.
It's something that happenswith them.
So when we're optimistic aboutthe fact that this
transformative change lieswithin our students and they
(13:53):
hold the answers, then we can'tlook at just budgeting.
We can't look at just humancapital or physical resources.
Yes, those matter, but we havechildren in seats right now.
So my level of optimism isencouraging educators to
continue showing up forthemselves so that they can be
their best for children, becauseour children deserve it.
Second graders only have oneshot at second grade.
(14:16):
Our graduating seniors onlyhave one shot at their senior
year, and if we can commit 180days to being our best selves so
that they can succeed, thenthere's still power in this
industry and I believe it'sstill there at the core.
It's like asking somebody thatyou see being successful.
We know about the icebergeffect.
We know that at the top we'reseeing the success, but
(14:37):
underneath it is all of the hardwork, all of the challenges,
all of the frustrations.
But when we switch it to sayit's not that we're doing
everything in education, we'redoing the right things in
education, it shifts ourperspective, because engaging a
child and asking them what'shappening in your educational
experience, what are the thingsyou're celebrating, what are the
things that are challenging youor what are barriers that we
(14:58):
sometimes perceive as adults arethe budget, the lack of human
capital, all of the hiring,recruitment and retention,
whereas students, on theirperspective, if we're really
going to meet them where theyare, they're thinking about
their microcosms, maybesomething that happened at home
that day, maybe some areas andpathways that they want to be
able to follow after high school.
When we can reframe the rightthings to make sure that we're
(15:21):
intimately connecting with thosestudents, then we can embed
their responses into our schoolimprovement plan, into our
pedagogy and into the actualculture.
When we start to think aboutthis story of life, we're
teaching students how to do lifein our classrooms.
I talked this morning aboutdoing two types of walks in a
school A celebration walk, whichis walking through the building
(15:44):
and finding every piece ofevidence you can find in terms
of how you celebrate students,and I'm not just talking about
trophies in a bookshelf from the1980s and 1990s.
How are you currentlycelebrating and rallying around
students in their celebrationsand what do you define as a
celebration in your school?
But the other type of walk is afailure walk, because when
students fail, when teachersfail, what's the culture that
(16:08):
wraps around them?
When we fail, do we polarizethem and say you're going to be
othered or polarized or I'mgoing to silently retaliate
because you messed up, or am Igoing to shove that support even
further so that I can undergirdyou in your journey of
productive failure?
And when we can teach studentsto productively fail from
kindergarten all the way to 12thgrade, think about what type of
(16:28):
adults they'll be walking intosociety.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Dr Hemphill now helps other education leaders execute
the one-minute meeting in theirschools, and some are even
putting their own twist to thepractice.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
So I just did an amazing engagement with a school
district in Long Beach, newYork, and I worked specifically
with Lauren Kaufman.
She's absolutely phenomenal,you've got to follow her.
She worked specifically withbeginning teachers and she was
having some issues with somemiddle school students.
She took our one-minute meeting, she created a five-minute
meeting, she took the questionsand put them on a Google form
(17:00):
and she sent that Google form toall of her middle school
students to give them time to beable to respond and then she
opened up her classroom.
This was during COVID.
She opened up her virtualclassroom in a breakout room and
when she met one-on-one witheach student, she already had
responses and resources andsolutions for the students and
it just changed the game.
And that's the beauty of theone-minute meeting Customize it
(17:21):
to match what it is that youneed.
High school principals arereaching out to me in campuses
of 1700, 2100.
And they're saying listen, I'mstarting with the students who
have had attendance issues, I'mstarting with the students who
may not have declared collegeand career ready and we're
starting to see some changes andI'm finding out things I never
knew or how they got this far ineducation and they haven't
(17:44):
gotten the support that theyneeded.
So principals and teachers aretalking to students and they're
being intentional and strategicabout the information they're
gleaning from them to makechange happen in the building.
When I work with leaders, Ialways remind them that when you
share your vision and when youmodel the way, you're casting
out something that people caneither attach to, find
(18:05):
themselves in and have theopportunity to have a voice
about.
But what I'm finding is thatmany school leaders are saying
but what if it's rejected?
Or what if this doesn't work,or I simply don't have the time?
Well, this is a process thattakes the time and creates an
intentional opportunity for youto connect.
So people are starting to seein new and different ways that
leadership is action.
(18:25):
But it doesn't have to be thesebig, huge, overt projects and
initiatives that require timeand all this energy and capital
in order to be able to see allthe way through.
This is something that, through60 seconds, what you're saying
is you matter.
What I have to be accountablefor as a leader is being
consistent in how I continue towrap you around this process.
(18:46):
It gets principals out of theprincipal's office and it puts
them in a space to be able to belearners.
We forget that oftentimes, asprincipals, we're lead learners
and showing people how to leadwith curiosity and when we can
develop that in the leader.
Do you know how much permissionyou give a teacher leader to
productively fail or to have aninitiative and follow it through
(19:08):
?
But we first have to be theones to be able to do that.
There's a quote that I have justfallen in love with from Alan
Tolfer, and he said that thefuture of learning is really and
truly thinking about literacy,and it's not reading and writing
, it is unlearning andrelearning.
If you're in a season ofunlearning, know that you're not
alone and as you unlearn, havea voice about that unlearning.
(19:31):
We have to unlearn thetraditional practices of the way
we learn school, the way welearn school in terms of
thinking about the connectionsand the communication and the
collaboration.
We have to unlearn the factthat even being the sage on the
stage is not always the way togo.
Sometimes the sage is sittingin the seat in front of us in
that classroom.
We have to unlearn how we usedto connect with teachers and
(19:54):
building culture, how we do thatnow is it's life-work balance
and how we can bring that intoour building.
But we're also unlearning howto trust ourselves.
So, yes, we still have theformal assessments and
standardized assessments, butwhat are some other ways that we
can say you are actually anamazing human being, and that
may not always be being a levelone, two, three or four on a
(20:16):
state test, and when we can dothat in a way that is
transparent and honest?
Even if we don't get it rightthe first time, you're really
teaching everybody at everylevel how to be a better human.
Readiness means knowing thesymptoms of what's happening in
the building and I think thatonce you see the symptoms of
this is shifting, thisconversation is not the same
(20:38):
conversation it used to be.
I'm not reaching students usingthe things in my bag of tricks
that used to work anymore.
When you're feeling thatfeeling and you know your school
is about to lean into the shift, then you're ready for the
one-minute meeting, because Ibelieve that students are the
American public school heroeswe've been waiting on, and
there's a quote that myprofessor told me right before I
(21:00):
finished my PhD.
He said, mary, if you're not atthe table, you're on the menu.
Can't put kids on the menuanymore.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Who knew so much could be accomplished in 60
seconds?
We want to thank our guest, drMary Hemphill, for her insights
on elevating students as schoolstakeholders and sharing all
about the one-minute meeting,and we want to thank you,
listeners, for tuning in today.
Until next time.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
If you or someone you know would like to be a guest
on the Teachers in Americapodcast, please email us at
shaped.
At hmhcocom.
That's S-H-A-P-E-D.
At H-M-H-C-O dot com, be thefirst to hear new episodes of
Teachers in America bysubscribing on Apple Podcasts,
spotify or wherever you get yourpodcasts.
If you enjoyed today's show,please rate, review and share it
(21:47):
with your network.
You can find the transcript ofthis episode on our Shaped blog
by visiting H-M-com.
Forward slash shaped.
That's hmhcocom.
Forward slash S-H-A-P-E-D.
The link is in the show notes.
The Teachers in America podcastis a production of HMH.
Thank you to the productionteam of Christine Condon, tim
(22:08):
Lee, jennifer Coruvo, mio Fry,thomas Velasquez and Matt Howell
.
Thanks again for listening.
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