March 31, 2025 • 41 mins
The teacher shortage crisis demands innovative solutions from today's educational leaders. Principal JL dives deep into practical strategies for attracting and retaining quality educators in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Discover how forward-thinking schools are building their own teacher pipelines through creative programs like paid high school internships and paraprofessional advancement pathways. These initiatives not only fill immediate staffing needs but create sustainable sources of educators already familiar with school culture.
Speed has become the decisive factor in successful hiring. Learn why waiting to build candidate pools often backfires and how pre-screening, rapid interviews, and "soft offers" can secure top talent before competitors. Principal JL shares personal experiences of losing excellent candidates by moving too slowly and how changing this approach transformed his hiring outcomes.
Beyond traditional recruitment, we explore the power of school branding through strategic social media presence, expanding hiring pools with career-changers through transition programs, and the critical importance of retention through supportive leadership. The podcast offers actionable insights on using AI tools to reduce teacher workload, fostering collaborative environments, and transforming the way we view staffing challenges.
"Don't look at resignations as a negative," Principal JL advises. "Look at them as opportunities to bring someone in to enhance your school." This perspective shift, combined with practical strategies for building positive school culture, creates a comprehensive approach to educational staffing that works even in challenging times.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Principal JL (00:09):
Hey everybody, welcome back to Educational
Leadership with Principal JL.
Today's episode we're divinginto a topic that every school
leader is thinking about hiringand education for 2025.
If you are a principal, hrdirector or a district leader,
you know the struggle is real.
The hiring landscape ischanging rapidly and we need to
(00:33):
stay ahead of the curve.
So in this episode, we're goingto explore where are the
teachers, where aren't they?
How districts are gettingcreative in hiring and branding,
networking and recruitment in2025.
Now let's get into it.
First step where have all theteachers have gone?
(00:53):
This question keeps coming upand where are all the teachers?
We have a teacher shortage,right?
Well, I'm not going to just saywe have a teacher shortage, but
we also have an administratorshortage as well.
We have a parish shortage.
We have a shortage acrosseducation as a whole, and
there's a lot of reasons forthat.
(01:13):
A lot of it is colleges aren'tproducing as many graduates as
they used to in the past.
Over the past decade or so,there's been enrollment in
teacher prep programs declining.
The reality is many studentsare choosing other career paths
that have better pay and lessstress.
(01:33):
So we have math and scienceteachers, for example.
They're seeking opportunitiesin engineering or the tech side,
some high needs areas such asspecial education, fcs, science,
math.
These are areas that are hardto find, especially when you
specialize in the things likeagriculture and stuff like that
(01:55):
as well.
If you have those types ofpositions, those are fewer
people, which means there's lesspeople specialize in these
areas, and so that creates thatshortage.
So what does it mean forschools?
This means retention isimportant more than ever, and
hiring isn't just about fillingpositions.
It's about making teaching anattractive, sustainable career,
(02:17):
and so there's lots of ways wecan do that.
So we're going to go over somedifferent strategies that I have
used.
That we're doing, but as wellas I've heard other people doing
as well, and if you guys listento this episode and their
strategies you're using that Ihaven't mentioned in this
episode, I'd love for you toreach out and let me know what
(02:39):
those are.
I can use that in a laterepisode or do an update with how
other people are utilizingdifferent strategies to hire
people to make education moreattractive.
The pipeline isn't what it usedto be.
We used to have people incollege, you know, lining up,
and it was hard to get ateaching job.
(03:01):
Right now, we're just searchingfor anybody and everybody to
come into teaching and findingdifferent ways to do that.
So one of the ways that we havedone that is we're learning how
to grow our own here in ourdistrict.
So a lot of schools are doing alot of different things.
So one of the things that we'redoing to help grow our own is we
(03:23):
started a work-based learningprogram.
It's a two-year program wherethey start as juniors.
In year one they are basicallylearning different job skills.
They are going out on jobshadows, they're looking at
different career areas thatthey're interested in for a
career, for a career, and sowith that, in year two they get
(03:49):
to pick one of those areas andthey get to go out and do an
internship.
We do paid internships withthem and so their senior year
they are actually doing paidinternships with different
businesses in the community aswell as within our district.
So what we have done as adistrict we have hired five of
those students that areinterested in education and they
become paraprofessionals withinour system and in this case
(04:13):
we're having them work in ourelementary schools and that's
been a really big help and hasfilled some needs and those kids
are getting firsthandexperiences as what it is like
to be in the classroom, whatit's like to be in education,
and for a lot of these studentsthey are choosing to become
educators.
So they're choosing throughthis experience.
(04:34):
I'm going to go to college andbecome an educator, and so
that's been a really great thingfor us these past couple of
years to grow our own studentsto want to be in education, and
so we have other schooldistricts actually starting to
model that as well, and sothat's been really kind of a
cool thing that we've done inour district.
(04:55):
When we talk about growing ourown, another thing I've done,
I've hired college students inthe education field as a para,
and the goal is is I starttrying to recruit them to come
to our school district inwhatever capacity, and so that's
another strategy that you canlook at doing if you have a
(05:17):
university nearby, to try to getsome of those students to not
just do field experiences butalso to maybe work for your
district in some capacity.
But that means you got to becreative with your schedule and
be flexible with them so theycan still do both.
So that's something we're doing, or that I've done, and I
actually am looking forward toretaining that college student
(05:42):
as a teacher for us in thecoming year.
Another thing isparaprofessionals.
You have paraprofessionals inyour building.
If you have any of them thatwant to become a teacher.
There are paraprofessionalteacher programs out there.
I know of one for sure, and ifthere's others out there, I
would love to hear about them.
The one I know is Grand CanyonUniversity has a program where
(06:05):
paraprofessionals can go back toschool and become a teacher.
They have a program designedjust for that.
So that is another way that youcan help grow your own, the
people that you have within yourbuilding, to become teachers.
So you can hire them.
And the nice thing is is theyknow your culture, they know
your school, and that's prettycool idea for you to really
(06:28):
grasp onto if you have people inthat position.
We always need paraeducators,but there are some out there
that maybe would like to takethat next step, and so that's
another way as well.
Another thing that's reallypopular has been going the last
couple of years is payingstudent teachers to offer in
(06:48):
some sort of compensation to bea student teacher in your
district.
There's a lot of districts thathave done it, we have done it.
Get them in the door so you cantry to recruit them within your
system.
The next topic we're going totalk about the speed is the name
of the game when we're comingdown to hiring right.
So right now a lot of districtsaround us here in Nebraska has
(07:15):
moved their cutoff date forallowing people to transfer out
or to move around in theirdistrict but also to seek jobs
in other districts.
We moved it from April 15th allthe way up to March 15th now,
so we lock in our staff at March15th.
I know there's other districtsout there that are still locking
(07:36):
people in on April 15th orafter April 15th, but for us,
because of the other districtsaround this locking people in
early, we had to make the moveto lock in people early, and so
we cannot allow a teacher out oftheir contract after March 15th
unless we find a suitablereplacement.
So that's another strategy.
(07:56):
Districts have gone to and Iknow not a lot of districts I
know not every district outthere has done that.
I know not every district outthere has done that, and so that
might be something that youhave to think about.
If you're a superintendent or aprincipal that does a lot of
the hiring, maybe you have tomove up that lock-in date so
you're not losing teachers toother districts because you're
(08:18):
still giving them the ability tomove, and so that's another
strategy that we have done aswell.
When it comes to it, I amtelling you, the quicker you can
get people hired, the better.
What I have learned in the pastis I would wait to get a pool
and then I would search throughthe pool.
(08:38):
I'd go, hey, I'd get my teamtogether, we'd pick the top four
or five, but I have actuallylost good candidates doing that.
So if we got, you know, a fewpeople in the pool, but we have
some quality people I'm going tomove a lot faster.
This year I had two openpositions.
I have an English teacher and aFCS teacher position open.
(09:02):
We started actually hiringthose open positions in November
of last year, so in November of2024, I already hired my
English teacher and my FCSteacher for the 25-26 school
year because I had some reallygood candidates that applied and
I moved quickly.
I said you know what, I'm notgoing to lose out on this person
(09:23):
because a couple years ago Idecided to slow play it and try
to get more applicants.
I moved quickly.
They were a good fit, we wentahead and offered, we got them
in the door and now thatpressure of trying to fill that
position is off, and so I'll behonest, I've been really lucky.
This year.
I've only had one teacherresign as of so far for the
(09:48):
25-26 school year.
So I only have one position andI'm in a building of a thousand
students.
I have about 84 certificatedstaff, 22 paras, and then I have
my consortium staff and my mysecretary.
So I'm in charge of a largeschool building.
So where having only oneteacher resigned to move on was
(10:09):
pretty remarkable, because Iaveraged eight to 10 people per
year that I was filling teacherroles up until this year, and so
that's been really great.
To see not happen is losing abunch of teachers.
But yet the people that I'velost over the last couple of
years is because of familyreasons, career movement,
(10:33):
because they wanted to seekanother position in another
district, not because they wereunhappy with what they're doing.
They just wanted a change, andso my job was to help them do
that.
So when I am looking for ateacher, I'm looking to find
great candidates.
So if I have a qualitycandidate that's applied, I'm
going to try to get them in andhire them or interview them as
(10:53):
quickly as possible.
Here's some strategies to thinkabout when you're trying to
hire teachers right now.
So it's a great idea topre-screen your candidates early
before the interview.
The reason why you want to dothis do reference checks.
Don't do them afterwards.
Sometimes you do that, butsometimes I think you lose
(11:14):
valuable time when you do that.
If you got a good feel of thiscandidate when you are
interviewing them, have allthose reference checks done,
because then you can create anoffer right away.
And so what I do even though Ihave to have HR approval, I give
soft offers.
If we really like somebody,we'll actually give each other
(11:37):
signals in the interview and Iwill give them a soft offer.
I'll say, hey, we would reallylike to offer you this position,
but it's going to be contingenton my human resource director
approving it and me giving youhard numbers to go with.
But I wanted you to know thatwe like you so much that we're
going to extend you an off, andso I'm very open and transparent
(11:58):
and clear with that.
And actually that's something Iactually just did this past week
trying to hire a scienceteacher, just saying, hey, we
really like you.
My team is really on board.
You fit us.
This is kind of what's going tohappen next, and so being
preemptive with your screen isimportant.
If you like somebody, don'toverthink it.
If they're a good fit, make theoffer before they leave the
(12:21):
building.
If you have all those things inplace before you even interview
and then trust your team andthat's something that I do is I
try to bring in a teacher withinthe area.
That teacher might be workingwith you.
Hey, this is a teacher youmight be working with, so I'm
going to bring that teacher infor the interview, as well as my
assistant principal and otherpeople that are a part of that
(12:43):
hiring process.
And if my team is saying thisis a go, I don't even think
about it, I said, yep, we'regoing to do that, and we also.
We will collaborate throughthat.
But knowing that they're onboard, that we're on board,
we're all thinking the samething.
It makes it a lot quickerprocess.
And then you're not going tolose teachers on the way out,
(13:04):
because that has happened towhere, if I didn't do those soft
offers, if I didn't tell themthat we really liked them, I
have lost teachers becausethey've had interviews at other
places and they're being offeredand they may take that offer if
I don't let them know beforethey leave the interview that we
really like them and want themto be a part of our community of
(13:27):
educators at our building.
So I've learned that the hardway and those are some things
and some tips and strategies tokind of speed up the game a
little bit for you so you're notlosing out on good, good
candidates that you bring in forinterviews.
So the next thing I would liketo talk about is the power of
branding and social media.
This is really important.
(13:47):
I'm really lucky because rightnow our school district really
has bought into this.
When I got here, it wasn't asbig of a deal to brand your
building, but now it is.
And so that's something I knowwe worked really hard on in the
high school level is to brand,put out positive social media
posts about what our studentsare doing, not just activities,
(14:09):
but in the classroom and othersponsored organizations within
our school.
Put out these social mediaposts to let the community know,
hey, these are all the greatthings that are happening, and
so every school building in ourdistrict has a content creator
position to where they havesomebody that helps put out
social media posts for theirbuilding, and so our content
(14:34):
creator in our building willwork with our Tiger Vision media
class to help create andproduce content and put it out
as well as they do their partand help create content as well,
and they can schedule thesethings out.
Our top social media posts areFacebook, instagram and XR, aka
(15:01):
Twitter, and we utilize ClassIntercom so we can create unique
posts in all three of thosedomains through one application
to where we can actuallyschedule out posts and different
things, and our content creatordoes a fabulous job.
She schedules out so many perday.
We have things lined up.
There's always something that isposted every day about what's
(15:23):
going on at our school and allthe great things that are
happening, and what that does isit puts our brand out there in
front of people and they can seewhen we have candidates that
want to be a part of our schooland they actually do their
research.
They're going to see all.
We have candidates that want tobe a part of our school and
they they actually do theirresearch.
They're going to see all thegreat things that are happening
within our building and that'sgoing to bring people in and
(15:44):
they're going to see like, wow,this is really cool, they do
this and they have this going on.
Man, I want to be a part ofthat, and so that's another way
of getting people to come to youis being able to brand, being a
social media presence, reallycontrolling the narrative of
your school, so people can wantto be a part of that.
(16:04):
Those are some really coolthings that we have done over
the last few years to help bringcandidates on and we tell
people hey, take a look at oursocial media, look at all the
good things that we're doing,and if you want to be a part of
that, we'd really love to haveyou.
So those are really a coolthing, and a cool way to help
recruit is to control thenarrative and to brand yourself
(16:28):
and get those positive storiesout there about your school.
The next thing I want to talkabout is expanding the hiring
pool.
Okay, everybody's like teachershortages, administrator
shortages we have all theseshortages, but you have to also
think about other ways that youcan maybe expand that pool.
Right, we may not get as manypeople coming out of college,
(16:50):
but there's people out therethat may want to teach, and in
Nebraska.
If you have a bachelor's degreein a field, we can have you
start a transition program towhere.
It takes a couple of years, butonce you are offered a job in
an area, you can actually beeligible for this transition
(17:10):
program, which is through auniversity, and they kind of
help you get the education piece, all the different things that
you could think about at ateacher prep program.
They will teach you thosethings as you're working as a
teacher.
And so I've worked a lot withthose transition teachers to
where they're coming from afield of study or just a career
(17:33):
and they wanted a change andthey thought maybe education
would be a great fit for themfor one reason or another, and
so being able to build up yourteacher pool by looking at
people that want to teach butmay not have a teaching
certificate, they can go througha transition program to get
that and so you can bring themon in that capacity as well, and
(17:55):
they've worked out really wellA lot of those those teachers
have.
They really want to be there,they really want to figure it
out and work.
They were.
They're very good aboutconstructive feedback and those
things.
It's always nice to have aperspective from outside of
education.
Come in and help, becauseeducation is kind of a unique
thing and people that are outand you know doing other things
(18:18):
come in with their experiences.
That just brings value to yourschool as well.
Not saying that teachers thatjust go to school and become
teachers are valuable they are.
They're very valuable.
Having people with differentperspectives coming in and
teaching is also a great thingtoo, so don't shy away from that
.
Perspectives coming in andteaching is also a great thing
too, so don't shy away from that.
Also, if you're close to aborder, let's say you know
(18:41):
you're close for Nebraska, we'reclose to the Kansas border.
When I was at my other districtwe're close to the Kansas and
Colorado borders we hired peoplefrom out of state, because not
every state is the same right,with their benefit packages and
their pay and different thingslike that.
I was able in my career to beable to bring people in from the
state of Colorado, from thestate of Kansas, because we had
(19:04):
better benefits than they didand so we had highlight those
things.
Hey, here's some cool benefitswe got.
Come on over.
We would poach people fromother states.
Now, fair or not fair, butthat's a strategy you can use,
if you are close to a border ofa state to try to bring people
in.
Even if you're not, you can seepeople from other states that
(19:26):
will be like you know what.
You guys have better benefits,you have better pay.
People need that.
So don't be afraid to hirethose people from out of state.
They will have to go throughthe process with your state to
make sure they can get certifiedand go through those hoops, but
don't be afraid of that becauseyou want to be competitive and
you want to try to fill theroles you need to fill for your
(19:46):
students.
And that sounds kind of badbecause you're like thinking, oh
, I'm poaching from other peopleand they're struggling too, but
at the the same time, we're alltrying to fill our roles and
make our building the best.
And if you are doing this joband you are creating a culture
and climate that people want tobe a part of, you're going to be
able to be more successful atthat if you're not building that
(20:09):
culture and climate that peoplewant to be a part of.
So that's another thing.
Another thing you can thinkabout is considering
international teachers.
They will require a J-1 visa.
There are a lot of people outthere that do this.
That's something that I havelooked into.
I haven't done that yet.
I've heard positives andnegatives on it, but at the same
(20:32):
time, I'm using all these otherstrategies on it.
But at the same time, I'm usingall these other strategies.
This might be a strategy Ilearn, I use on the back end of
like.
I'm really like, oh man, Ireally got to have this.
That's the strategy that Icould go to when it comes to you
know, trying to hire and fillyour roles, as well as maybe
look into those internationalteacher options as well.
(20:54):
Now, another thing I would loveto talk about in Nebraska, we're
doing something I feel is likeit might be something that
you're doing in other states,but this is something I've
learned this year when I'mhiring in Nebraska if you're a
certified teacher and you wantto get more endorsements on your
certificate, all you need to dois take a praxis in that
(21:17):
content area.
So you could take a praxis incontent areas such as like 5.9
English or 7.12 English or 5.9Science and 7.12 Science, and
you know same with math andwhatever content area that you
don't have, if you're reallygood at those content areas and
you can pass that practice, thatbecomes an endorsement on your
(21:41):
teaching certificate and whatthat does.
It makes you more marketable tofill roles within your district
.
Or if you feel like you need achange, you can look outside
your district not try toencourage it, just trying to say
it's a reality.
Now to where you can get anendorsement just by taking that
practice test in that contentarea, and so it might be one of
(22:05):
those things.
As a principal, we have a reallygood teacher, but we have a
really need in this area.
If they're really good at thiscontent area, maybe they can
take that practice in thiscontent area, maybe they can
take that practice in thatcontent area and maybe you move
them into that area.
So there's a lot of differentways you can look at this.
I find this a very great way tothink about how to fill holes
(22:29):
in your position to where youmay not need a teacher in this
role because maybe your numbersare lower, could you move them
into another teaching role thatthey're strong in.
So that's just something tothink about.
Right, that's a really coolthing that we're doing here in
Nebraska and other states may bedoing it.
If you guys are doing it, Iwould love to hear about it, you
(22:51):
know, let me know, email me,you know, send a message, hear
about it, you know, let me know,email me, you know, send a
message.
I have the fan mail and you canreally click into that and send
me a message on some of thethings that you have seen on
that end as well.
I don't know if that'shappening in other states, but I
know it's happening in Nebraska, so I think that's really cool.
So one of the things I want toget into another strategy is
(23:11):
retention.
Right, retention in my book isthe number one way to hire staff
, just like in college, right?
They have this NIL going on towhere coaches have to maintain
the people within their team and, if they're not a good fit,
maybe help them go somewherewhere they are a good fit.
(23:33):
Same thing in education.
We want to try to maintain thestaff we have, so we have less
people to hire when it comes tothe hiring season, because if
you have a good school culture,climate and you're supportive in
your staff, your staff's goingto stay Okay.
The number one thing you have todo as a principal and as a
(23:55):
district leader is to make sureyour staff is supported and they
feel supported.
They have to feel supported aswell.
You can say you have all thesesupports in place, but your
teachers have to feel supportedas well, and that keeps them
there.
If they don't feel supported,they're going to look around for
a new place, and I actuallyhave people applying for jobs in
(24:19):
my district that aren't happyat other districts because they
don't feel supported.
They feel overwhelmed,overworked, burned out.
They want to try somethingdifferent, so they're looking at
other districts to do that.
That's why it's really importantas principals, as educational
leaders, is to retain the staffwe have, and here's some things
(24:40):
you can do that Make sure yourprofessional development you
have is meaningful, it'sproductive, it's something they
can use and take away.
Because if you give ameaningless professional
development and everybody likeprofessional development oh my
goodness, that's a dirty word inour world sometimes because
because professional developmentisn't done right all the time.
But if you have meaningfulprofessional development, your
(25:02):
staff is going to get somethingvaluable out of it, they're
going to use it and they'regoing to see the value of it.
You've got to have that as aleader and because teachers feel
supported in that.
Another thing to think about ishow are you supporting your new
teachers?
Here, where I'm at, we give ournew teachers it doesn't matter
if they taught they're a brandnew teacher coming out of
college or if they taught for 15, 20 years, it doesn't matter.
(25:26):
You're going to get a guideteacher.
You're going to get somebodythat knows the building, knows
the district, knows the ins andouts, because you may be a great
teacher, but you're going toneed to have a go-to person to
understand what we do, what ourculture is like, what is our
expectation, and to have thatpoint of contact, that
(25:46):
collaboration piece with thatveteran staff in that building
is going to be really important,on top of just the other things
that we do to help support ournew teachers with our mentoring
program and different thingslike that, to help them, you
know, not feel the stress andburnout and have a go-to person,
not just in the building but intheir content area.
(26:08):
That's also another thing we dois our PLC process, to where
our teachers collaborate a lot,to where no one's on an island
and this happens a lot ineducation.
Here's your books, here's yourroom, boom, see you later.
I'm only going to bother you ifthere's a problem here.
We don't do that.
We want people to be supportive, we want them to collaborate.
(26:28):
We don't want them to be onthat island, and so we do a lot
of things in our district to nothave people be on an island.
So it's really important to dois how do you support your staff
?
And then another thing islisten to your staff.
We have a school improvementteam to where my staff comes in
and we try to find solutions toissues we're having and we're
(26:50):
trying to improve our school alittle bit every day and we've
done a lot of great things inour district the last couple of
years to improve our school alittle bit every day, and we've
done a lot of great things inour district the last couple of
years to improve our schoolbuilding and our culture.
And it really comes down tolistening to the staff, taking
their ideas and findingsolutions with them and
collaborating.
So that's a huge piece when itcomes to retention, because when
they are part of the solution,they feel empowered, they feel
(27:13):
like they're supported, they'relistened to and they're going to
stay because they have allthese positive interactions
within your school district, andso that's a really powerful way
to do that.
Another thing to help teachersget retained is find ways to
help them save time, and I dothis by looking at technology.
(27:34):
Everybody, everybody's allafraid of AI.
Don't be afraid of AI, leaninto it.
So what we have done is we arepiloting Magic School AI.
You've probably heard me talkabout this before, but this is
something that helped ourteachers save time, and I've
heard a lot of great stories onhow that's doing that, and so
(27:55):
this whole program is designedfor teachers and administrators
can use this as well, and I'lltell you about how I use it here
in just a second.
But my staff has utilized it andthey have saved hours of time
trying to differentiate material, trying to create material
that's relevant towards thelearning targets that they're
(28:16):
teaching.
They use it in a lot ofdifferent ways, but they said
you know what?
It also gives me ideas that Ihave never thought about,
because, as humans, we think ofall our experiences and we look
at the experiences we have anddraw on those to help us guide
our teaching.
Well, this tool is being usedto help teachers come up and
generate ideas they may have nothave thought of and go wow,
(28:39):
that's a really good idea.
Maybe that's what I canimplement.
That's a strategy I neverthought about.
Maybe that's cool.
You know, let's do those, andteachers are using those ideas
because they have a tool to helpthem come up with that.
The other cool thing about MagicSchool AI is the teachers are
using it and they're teachingthe kids how to utilize it
properly.
And we have an English teacheror a couple of them, really that
(29:00):
will utilize the AI tools withtheir students and say, hey,
you're going to do your writing,but this AI tool is going to
provide feedback and it's goingto help you make your writing
better.
But it's still that student'swriting, it's still their ideas,
it's still their work.
They're just getting somesupport and other ways to get
(29:21):
that feedback to help thatwriting become better.
And that teacher can set theparameters out.
What does that look like andhow do they utilize that?
And a teacher controls whichtools those students can use
within that platform, and so Ithink, if you haven't really
looked at it, I'd say look at it, because it will help save your
teacher's time, but also that'spart of keeping them from
getting burned out.
That's also a part of makingthem feel supported.
So that's something that youcan really really look at doing
(29:44):
Now.
As a principal myself, I use AItools as well, and right now I'm
using them to help me writeformal evaluations help me write
formal evaluations, and so whatI do is I take the information
that I have and it helps medevelop strengths, opportunities
for growth, and it also helpedme find strategies, because even
(30:04):
as a principal, I have to drawon my experiences to help my
teachers learn and grow.
That's why I have a curriculumand instruction background to
have more tools in my toolbox soI can help put more tools in my
teacher's toolbox.
But you know what Using AItools has helped me become a
better principal, to where I'mhelping them come up with more
(30:25):
strategies to help them grow andlearn.
So what I'll do is I'll utilizethese tools to come up with
strategies that I could sharewith my teaching staff to
strengthen some areas, but alsoto give them opportunities for
growth, and I don't like callingthem weaknesses.
I like calling themopportunities for growth,
because I want it to be apositive thing that they're
(30:46):
having, and when you make it apositive thing, they're going to
be more receptive to that.
So I utilize AI and you knowwhat it used to take me about an
hour per teacher to do that.
So I utilize AI and you knowwhat?
It used to take me about anhour per teacher to do that.
I got it now to where it takesme 20 minutes to do that formal
evaluation after I've done myclassroom visit, and it's become
(31:06):
a really powerful tool and I'vehad really great conversations
with my teachers this yearbecause I have utilized that in
a way that helps me save time,but I'm actually giving them
quality feedback and reallyhelping them become better, and
they actually have taken thatfeedback and used it, and so
that's a really cool thing andthat's all part about making
(31:26):
your staff feel supported, sodon't be afraid of that.
That's another strategy you canuse as well.
The final thing I want to getinto you might have to get
creative when it comes tostaffing and finding solutions.
So there's a lot of schools outthere, especially small rural
schools, that they're having ahard time finding people to fill
(31:48):
their roles, and so I've heardpeople using online programming
and hybrid options to where theymay have a distant learning
option, to where theycollaborate with another
district.
Hey, we don't have this type ofteacher.
We need help.
You have that type of teachers.
They're a way that wecollaborate to where your
(32:11):
teacher goes online for ourstudents and we can work
together to help get ourstudents that education that
they deserve, collaborating withother school districts to see
if they would be interested inhaving that teacher teach in
their room but be more on a onlike a hybrid model to where
(32:34):
they're online, where anotherclass is coming in and and
learning with that other, withother class and student from
another district.
Those are things I've seen.
Those are things that that areviable options out there that
you might want to think about.
And then you might want tothink about how to get creative
with the schedule as well, asmaybe you know, try to maximize
your staff.
(32:55):
You might have staff that mightbe certificated in different
areas, but they may not be asneeded in one area as another
and how can you have them teachother classes in different
content areas.
But that's also helping youfill the gaps, fill the holes,
but also give your kids apositive interaction.
But also that goes with hey,maybe you know that teacher
(33:17):
might be wanting to step out anddo some different things and
utilize their endorsements inother ways.
I know for me.
I taught physical education andmath and there was a time where
I did both.
I was teaching math in themorning, physical education in
the afternoon.
There's a lot of ways you canlook at that, and so those are
things that you can think about.
How can I utilize my existingstaff in other ways, just to be
(33:38):
creative on those things.
Now here's some of my finalthoughts when it comes to hiring
.
So, when it comes to hiring ineducation, it's tough, right,
and when you get a resignation,that's hard because you're like,
oh no, I got to fill this.
Where am I going to find thisteacher?
Don't look at that as anegative.
(33:59):
Look at that as an opportunityto bring someone in to your
school, to enhance it.
Right, and if you think aboutit in that light and not
negative, oh my gosh, where am Igoing to find someone to fill
this role?
That is the power of theopportunity, right?
Hey, I have a resignation.
(34:20):
They're going to seek otheropportunities, or they decide
they're going to leave educationbecause they have another goal
in life, another thing they wantto really do, and that's okay.
Take that time to process andgo.
Wow, this is a greatopportunity for me to find
someone that really wants to bea great educator and be a part
of what we're building here.
(34:41):
So don't take those things as anegative.
Think long-term.
Invest your grow in your owneducators.
So these are things you want tothink about.
You want to move fast.
You want to find goodcandidates.
You don't want to mess around,so you want to make sure you
bring in that quality candidate,get them on board as quickly as
possible.
If everything checks out, makesure you work ahead and do your
(35:04):
pre-screens before yourinterview.
So if you can offer offer rightaway and that's a strategy that
you can use.
Be creative.
If traditional methods aren'tworking, you're going to have to
figure out other ways to do it.
This landscape is changing allthe time and you're going to
have to stay on top of thetrends and stay on top of what
(35:24):
other people are doing.
You need to network.
You need to collaborate.
That's why this podcast existsis to give you guys ideas.
I would love to hear otherideas that you guys are doing
that I have not even mentioned.
I guarantee you there's thingsout there I don't even know
about and if there are, I wouldlove you guys to hit the fan
mail button and really tell mewhat those things are that you
guys have seen out there that Ihaven't even mentioned that
(35:45):
other educators can do to helpwith their hiring and bringing
on quality education.
And then the final thing isretention.
Guys, you got to create aculture that keeps the teachers
that you have and if you have agreat school culture and climate
to where it's inviting peoplewant to be there.
They want to be a part of it.
They're excited to be there andthem being excited to be there,
(36:05):
they're going to tell otherpeople about it and that's going
to help your recruiting,because if those teachers and
staff are excited to be there,they're going to tell their
friends and their friends aregoing to be like you know what?
I might want to come over there, because there's a lot of great
things happening over there andI want to be a part of that.
And so your teachers as wellare some of your best recruiters
, so don't forget about that.
(36:26):
If best recruiters, so don'tforget about that.
If they love being there,they're going to tell other
people, and word of mouth is oneof the most powerful ways
getting other people to come toyour school district, and that
has happened.
I've had people tell me I'veapplied here because I've heard
all the things that arehappening and I really want to
be a part of it.
That's part of that brandingand messaging right Is your
teachers.
If they're happy and love whatthey're doing and they're having
(36:48):
positive experiences, they'regoing to tell others.
So don't forget about thatthings.
With that said, I want you guysto remember when you guys are
hiring people, look at it as anopportunity to build the culture
and climate of your buildingand bring in someone in that
will fit that.
So that's something reallyimportant to think about when
you're hiring as well.
If you find this episode helpful, I love you guys to subscribe
(37:10):
to the podcast.
I love so you guys can get theepisodes when they first hit.
I would love for you to leave areview and I would love to hear
from you as well by hittingthat fan mail button to hear all
the things that you guys likedabout the episode and I like
about the episode.
All those things.
I love to hear those things.
I hope this episode resonatedwith you guys.
(37:31):
Until next time, keep leading,keep innovating, make a
difference out there and alwaysbe 1% better.
Hey everybody, welcome back to Educational
Leadership with Principal JL.
Today's episode we're divinginto a topic that every school
leader is thinking about hiringand education for 2025.
If you are a principal, hrdirector or a district leader,
you know the struggle is real.
The hiring landscape ischanging rapidly and we need to
(00:33):
stay ahead of the curve.
So in this episode, we're goingto explore where are the
teachers, where aren't they?
How districts are gettingcreative in hiring and branding,
networking and recruitment in2025.
Now let's get into it.
First step where have all theteachers have gone?
(00:53):
This question keeps coming upand where are all the teachers?
We have a teacher shortage,right?
Well, I'm not going to just saywe have a teacher shortage, but
we also have an administratorshortage as well.
We have a parish shortage.
We have a shortage acrosseducation as a whole, and
there's a lot of reasons forthat.
(01:13):
A lot of it is colleges aren'tproducing as many graduates as
they used to in the past.
Over the past decade or so,there's been enrollment in
teacher prep programs declining.
The reality is many studentsare choosing other career paths
that have better pay and lessstress.
(01:33):
So we have math and scienceteachers, for example.
They're seeking opportunitiesin engineering or the tech side,
some high needs areas such asspecial education, fcs, science,
math.
These are areas that are hardto find, especially when you
specialize in the things likeagriculture and stuff like that
(01:55):
as well.
If you have those types ofpositions, those are fewer
people, which means there's lesspeople specialize in these
areas, and so that creates thatshortage.
So what does it mean forschools?
This means retention isimportant more than ever, and
hiring isn't just about fillingpositions.
It's about making teaching anattractive, sustainable career,
(02:17):
and so there's lots of ways wecan do that.
So we're going to go over somedifferent strategies that I have
used.
That we're doing, but as wellas I've heard other people doing
as well, and if you guys listento this episode and their
strategies you're using that Ihaven't mentioned in this
episode, I'd love for you toreach out and let me know what
(02:39):
those are.
I can use that in a laterepisode or do an update with how
other people are utilizingdifferent strategies to hire
people to make education moreattractive.
The pipeline isn't what it usedto be.
We used to have people incollege, you know, lining up,
and it was hard to get ateaching job.
(03:01):
Right now, we're just searchingfor anybody and everybody to
come into teaching and findingdifferent ways to do that.
So one of the ways that we havedone that is we're learning how
to grow our own here in ourdistrict.
So a lot of schools are doing alot of different things.
So one of the things that we'redoing to help grow our own is we
(03:23):
started a work-based learningprogram.
It's a two-year program wherethey start as juniors.
In year one they are basicallylearning different job skills.
They are going out on jobshadows, they're looking at
different career areas thatthey're interested in for a
career, for a career, and sowith that, in year two they get
(03:49):
to pick one of those areas andthey get to go out and do an
internship.
We do paid internships withthem and so their senior year
they are actually doing paidinternships with different
businesses in the community aswell as within our district.
So what we have done as adistrict we have hired five of
those students that areinterested in education and they
become paraprofessionals withinour system and in this case
(04:13):
we're having them work in ourelementary schools and that's
been a really big help and hasfilled some needs and those kids
are getting firsthandexperiences as what it is like
to be in the classroom, whatit's like to be in education,
and for a lot of these studentsthey are choosing to become
educators.
So they're choosing throughthis experience.
(04:34):
I'm going to go to college andbecome an educator, and so
that's been a really great thingfor us these past couple of
years to grow our own studentsto want to be in education, and
so we have other schooldistricts actually starting to
model that as well, and sothat's been really kind of a
cool thing that we've done inour district.
(04:55):
When we talk about growing ourown, another thing I've done,
I've hired college students inthe education field as a para,
and the goal is is I starttrying to recruit them to come
to our school district inwhatever capacity, and so that's
another strategy that you canlook at doing if you have a
(05:17):
university nearby, to try to getsome of those students to not
just do field experiences butalso to maybe work for your
district in some capacity.
But that means you got to becreative with your schedule and
be flexible with them so theycan still do both.
So that's something we're doing, or that I've done, and I
actually am looking forward toretaining that college student
(05:42):
as a teacher for us in thecoming year.
Another thing isparaprofessionals.
You have paraprofessionals inyour building.
If you have any of them thatwant to become a teacher.
There are paraprofessionalteacher programs out there.
I know of one for sure, and ifthere's others out there, I
would love to hear about them.
The one I know is Grand CanyonUniversity has a program where
(06:05):
paraprofessionals can go back toschool and become a teacher.
They have a program designedjust for that.
So that is another way that youcan help grow your own, the
people that you have within yourbuilding, to become teachers.
So you can hire them.
And the nice thing is is theyknow your culture, they know
your school, and that's prettycool idea for you to really
(06:28):
grasp onto if you have people inthat position.
We always need paraeducators,but there are some out there
that maybe would like to takethat next step, and so that's
another way as well.
Another thing that's reallypopular has been going the last
couple of years is payingstudent teachers to offer in
(06:48):
some sort of compensation to bea student teacher in your
district.
There's a lot of districts thathave done it, we have done it.
Get them in the door so you cantry to recruit them within your
system.
The next topic we're going totalk about the speed is the name
of the game when we're comingdown to hiring right.
So right now a lot of districtsaround us here in Nebraska has
(07:15):
moved their cutoff date forallowing people to transfer out
or to move around in theirdistrict but also to seek jobs
in other districts.
We moved it from April 15th allthe way up to March 15th now,
so we lock in our staff at March15th.
I know there's other districtsout there that are still locking
(07:36):
people in on April 15th orafter April 15th, but for us,
because of the other districtsaround this locking people in
early, we had to make the moveto lock in people early, and so
we cannot allow a teacher out oftheir contract after March 15th
unless we find a suitablereplacement.
So that's another strategy.
(07:56):
Districts have gone to and Iknow not a lot of districts I
know not every district outthere has done that.
I know not every district outthere has done that, and so that
might be something that youhave to think about.
If you're a superintendent or aprincipal that does a lot of
the hiring, maybe you have tomove up that lock-in date so
you're not losing teachers toother districts because you're
(08:18):
still giving them the ability tomove, and so that's another
strategy that we have done aswell.
When it comes to it, I amtelling you, the quicker you can
get people hired, the better.
What I have learned in the pastis I would wait to get a pool
and then I would search throughthe pool.
(08:38):
I'd go, hey, I'd get my teamtogether, we'd pick the top four
or five, but I have actuallylost good candidates doing that.
So if we got, you know, a fewpeople in the pool, but we have
some quality people I'm going tomove a lot faster.
This year I had two openpositions.
I have an English teacher and aFCS teacher position open.
(09:02):
We started actually hiringthose open positions in November
of last year, so in November of2024, I already hired my
English teacher and my FCSteacher for the 25-26 school
year because I had some reallygood candidates that applied and
I moved quickly.
I said you know what, I'm notgoing to lose out on this person
(09:23):
because a couple years ago Idecided to slow play it and try
to get more applicants.
I moved quickly.
They were a good fit, we wentahead and offered, we got them
in the door and now thatpressure of trying to fill that
position is off, and so I'll behonest, I've been really lucky.
This year.
I've only had one teacherresign as of so far for the
(09:48):
25-26 school year.
So I only have one position andI'm in a building of a thousand
students.
I have about 84 certificatedstaff, 22 paras, and then I have
my consortium staff and my mysecretary.
So I'm in charge of a largeschool building.
So where having only oneteacher resigned to move on was
(10:09):
pretty remarkable, because Iaveraged eight to 10 people per
year that I was filling teacherroles up until this year, and so
that's been really great.
To see not happen is losing abunch of teachers.
But yet the people that I'velost over the last couple of
years is because of familyreasons, career movement,
(10:33):
because they wanted to seekanother position in another
district, not because they wereunhappy with what they're doing.
They just wanted a change, andso my job was to help them do
that.
So when I am looking for ateacher, I'm looking to find
great candidates.
So if I have a qualitycandidate that's applied, I'm
going to try to get them in andhire them or interview them as
(10:53):
quickly as possible.
Here's some strategies to thinkabout when you're trying to
hire teachers right now.
So it's a great idea topre-screen your candidates early
before the interview.
The reason why you want to dothis do reference checks.
Don't do them afterwards.
Sometimes you do that, butsometimes I think you lose
(11:14):
valuable time when you do that.
If you got a good feel of thiscandidate when you are
interviewing them, have allthose reference checks done,
because then you can create anoffer right away.
And so what I do even though Ihave to have HR approval, I give
soft offers.
If we really like somebody,we'll actually give each other
(11:37):
signals in the interview and Iwill give them a soft offer.
I'll say, hey, we would reallylike to offer you this position,
but it's going to be contingenton my human resource director
approving it and me giving youhard numbers to go with.
But I wanted you to know thatwe like you so much that we're
going to extend you an off, andso I'm very open and transparent
(11:58):
and clear with that.
And actually that's something Iactually just did this past week
trying to hire a scienceteacher, just saying, hey, we
really like you.
My team is really on board.
You fit us.
This is kind of what's going tohappen next, and so being
preemptive with your screen isimportant.
If you like somebody, don'toverthink it.
If they're a good fit, make theoffer before they leave the
(12:21):
building.
If you have all those things inplace before you even interview
and then trust your team andthat's something that I do is I
try to bring in a teacher withinthe area.
That teacher might be workingwith you.
Hey, this is a teacher youmight be working with, so I'm
going to bring that teacher infor the interview, as well as my
assistant principal and otherpeople that are a part of that
(12:43):
hiring process.
And if my team is saying thisis a go, I don't even think
about it, I said, yep, we'regoing to do that, and we also.
We will collaborate throughthat.
But knowing that they're onboard, that we're on board,
we're all thinking the samething.
It makes it a lot quickerprocess.
And then you're not going tolose teachers on the way out,
(13:04):
because that has happened towhere, if I didn't do those soft
offers, if I didn't tell themthat we really liked them, I
have lost teachers becausethey've had interviews at other
places and they're being offeredand they may take that offer if
I don't let them know beforethey leave the interview that we
really like them and want themto be a part of our community of
(13:27):
educators at our building.
So I've learned that the hardway and those are some things
and some tips and strategies tokind of speed up the game a
little bit for you so you're notlosing out on good, good
candidates that you bring in forinterviews.
So the next thing I would liketo talk about is the power of
branding and social media.
This is really important.
(13:47):
I'm really lucky because rightnow our school district really
has bought into this.
When I got here, it wasn't asbig of a deal to brand your
building, but now it is.
And so that's something I knowwe worked really hard on in the
high school level is to brand,put out positive social media
posts about what our studentsare doing, not just activities,
(14:09):
but in the classroom and othersponsored organizations within
our school.
Put out these social mediaposts to let the community know,
hey, these are all the greatthings that are happening, and
so every school building in ourdistrict has a content creator
position to where they havesomebody that helps put out
social media posts for theirbuilding, and so our content
(14:34):
creator in our building willwork with our Tiger Vision media
class to help create andproduce content and put it out
as well as they do their partand help create content as well,
and they can schedule thesethings out.
Our top social media posts areFacebook, instagram and XR, aka
(15:01):
Twitter, and we utilize ClassIntercom so we can create unique
posts in all three of thosedomains through one application
to where we can actuallyschedule out posts and different
things, and our content creatordoes a fabulous job.
She schedules out so many perday.
We have things lined up.
There's always something that isposted every day about what's
(15:23):
going on at our school and allthe great things that are
happening, and what that does isit puts our brand out there in
front of people and they can seewhen we have candidates that
want to be a part of our schooland they actually do their
research.
They're going to see all.
We have candidates that want tobe a part of our school and
they they actually do theirresearch.
They're going to see all thegreat things that are happening
within our building and that'sgoing to bring people in and
(15:44):
they're going to see like, wow,this is really cool, they do
this and they have this going on.
Man, I want to be a part ofthat, and so that's another way
of getting people to come to youis being able to brand, being a
social media presence, reallycontrolling the narrative of
your school, so people can wantto be a part of that.
(16:04):
Those are some really coolthings that we have done over
the last few years to help bringcandidates on and we tell
people hey, take a look at oursocial media, look at all the
good things that we're doing,and if you want to be a part of
that, we'd really love to haveyou.
So those are really a coolthing, and a cool way to help
recruit is to control thenarrative and to brand yourself
(16:28):
and get those positive storiesout there about your school.
The next thing I want to talkabout is expanding the hiring
pool.
Okay, everybody's like teachershortages, administrator
shortages we have all theseshortages, but you have to also
think about other ways that youcan maybe expand that pool.
Right, we may not get as manypeople coming out of college,
(16:50):
but there's people out therethat may want to teach, and in
Nebraska.
If you have a bachelor's degreein a field, we can have you
start a transition program towhere.
It takes a couple of years, butonce you are offered a job in
an area, you can actually beeligible for this transition
(17:10):
program, which is through auniversity, and they kind of
help you get the education piece, all the different things that
you could think about at ateacher prep program.
They will teach you thosethings as you're working as a
teacher.
And so I've worked a lot withthose transition teachers to
where they're coming from afield of study or just a career
(17:33):
and they wanted a change andthey thought maybe education
would be a great fit for themfor one reason or another, and
so being able to build up yourteacher pool by looking at
people that want to teach butmay not have a teaching
certificate, they can go througha transition program to get
that and so you can bring themon in that capacity as well, and
(17:55):
they've worked out really wellA lot of those those teachers
have.
They really want to be there,they really want to figure it
out and work.
They were.
They're very good aboutconstructive feedback and those
things.
It's always nice to have aperspective from outside of
education.
Come in and help, becauseeducation is kind of a unique
thing and people that are outand you know doing other things
(18:18):
come in with their experiences.
That just brings value to yourschool as well.
Not saying that teachers thatjust go to school and become
teachers are valuable they are.
They're very valuable.
Having people with differentperspectives coming in and
teaching is also a great thingtoo, so don't shy away from that
.
Perspectives coming in andteaching is also a great thing
too, so don't shy away from that.
Also, if you're close to aborder, let's say you know
(18:41):
you're close for Nebraska, we'reclose to the Kansas border.
When I was at my other districtwe're close to the Kansas and
Colorado borders we hired peoplefrom out of state, because not
every state is the same right,with their benefit packages and
their pay and different thingslike that.
I was able in my career to beable to bring people in from the
state of Colorado, from thestate of Kansas, because we had
(19:04):
better benefits than they didand so we had highlight those
things.
Hey, here's some cool benefitswe got.
Come on over.
We would poach people fromother states.
Now, fair or not fair, butthat's a strategy you can use,
if you are close to a border ofa state to try to bring people
in.
Even if you're not, you can seepeople from other states that
(19:26):
will be like you know what.
You guys have better benefits,you have better pay.
People need that.
So don't be afraid to hirethose people from out of state.
They will have to go throughthe process with your state to
make sure they can get certifiedand go through those hoops, but
don't be afraid of that becauseyou want to be competitive and
you want to try to fill theroles you need to fill for your
(19:46):
students.
And that sounds kind of badbecause you're like thinking, oh
, I'm poaching from other peopleand they're struggling too, but
at the the same time, we're alltrying to fill our roles and
make our building the best.
And if you are doing this joband you are creating a culture
and climate that people want tobe a part of, you're going to be
able to be more successful atthat if you're not building that
(20:09):
culture and climate that peoplewant to be a part of.
So that's another thing.
Another thing you can thinkabout is considering
international teachers.
They will require a J-1 visa.
There are a lot of people outthere that do this.
That's something that I havelooked into.
I haven't done that yet.
I've heard positives andnegatives on it, but at the same
(20:32):
time, I'm using all these otherstrategies on it.
But at the same time, I'm usingall these other strategies.
This might be a strategy Ilearn, I use on the back end of
like.
I'm really like, oh man, Ireally got to have this.
That's the strategy that Icould go to when it comes to you
know, trying to hire and fillyour roles, as well as maybe
look into those internationalteacher options as well.
(20:54):
Now, another thing I would loveto talk about in Nebraska, we're
doing something I feel is likeit might be something that
you're doing in other states,but this is something I've
learned this year when I'mhiring in Nebraska if you're a
certified teacher and you wantto get more endorsements on your
certificate, all you need to dois take a praxis in that
(21:17):
content area.
So you could take a praxis incontent areas such as like 5.9
English or 7.12 English or 5.9Science and 7.12 Science, and
you know same with math andwhatever content area that you
don't have, if you're reallygood at those content areas and
you can pass that practice, thatbecomes an endorsement on your
(21:41):
teaching certificate and whatthat does.
It makes you more marketable tofill roles within your district
.
Or if you feel like you need achange, you can look outside
your district not try toencourage it, just trying to say
it's a reality.
Now to where you can get anendorsement just by taking that
practice test in that contentarea, and so it might be one of
(22:05):
those things.
As a principal, we have a reallygood teacher, but we have a
really need in this area.
If they're really good at thiscontent area, maybe they can
take that practice in thiscontent area, maybe they can
take that practice in thatcontent area and maybe you move
them into that area.
So there's a lot of differentways you can look at this.
I find this a very great way tothink about how to fill holes
(22:29):
in your position to where youmay not need a teacher in this
role because maybe your numbersare lower, could you move them
into another teaching role thatthey're strong in.
So that's just something tothink about.
Right, that's a really coolthing that we're doing here in
Nebraska and other states may bedoing it.
If you guys are doing it, Iwould love to hear about it, you
(22:51):
know, let me know, email me,you know, send a message, hear
about it, you know, let me know,email me, you know, send a
message.
I have the fan mail and you canreally click into that and send
me a message on some of thethings that you have seen on
that end as well.
I don't know if that'shappening in other states, but I
know it's happening in Nebraska, so I think that's really cool.
So one of the things I want toget into another strategy is
(23:11):
retention.
Right, retention in my book isthe number one way to hire staff
, just like in college, right?
They have this NIL going on towhere coaches have to maintain
the people within their team and, if they're not a good fit,
maybe help them go somewherewhere they are a good fit.
(23:33):
Same thing in education.
We want to try to maintain thestaff we have, so we have less
people to hire when it comes tothe hiring season, because if
you have a good school culture,climate and you're supportive in
your staff, your staff's goingto stay Okay.
The number one thing you have todo as a principal and as a
(23:55):
district leader is to make sureyour staff is supported and they
feel supported.
They have to feel supported aswell.
You can say you have all thesesupports in place, but your
teachers have to feel supportedas well, and that keeps them
there.
If they don't feel supported,they're going to look around for
a new place, and I actuallyhave people applying for jobs in
(24:19):
my district that aren't happyat other districts because they
don't feel supported.
They feel overwhelmed,overworked, burned out.
They want to try somethingdifferent, so they're looking at
other districts to do that.
That's why it's really importantas principals, as educational
leaders, is to retain the staffwe have, and here's some things
(24:40):
you can do that Make sure yourprofessional development you
have is meaningful, it'sproductive, it's something they
can use and take away.
Because if you give ameaningless professional
development and everybody likeprofessional development oh my
goodness, that's a dirty word inour world sometimes because
because professional developmentisn't done right all the time.
But if you have meaningfulprofessional development, your
(25:02):
staff is going to get somethingvaluable out of it, they're
going to use it and they'regoing to see the value of it.
You've got to have that as aleader and because teachers feel
supported in that.
Another thing to think about ishow are you supporting your new
teachers?
Here, where I'm at, we give ournew teachers it doesn't matter
if they taught they're a brandnew teacher coming out of
college or if they taught for 15, 20 years, it doesn't matter.
(25:26):
You're going to get a guideteacher.
You're going to get somebodythat knows the building, knows
the district, knows the ins andouts, because you may be a great
teacher, but you're going toneed to have a go-to person to
understand what we do, what ourculture is like, what is our
expectation, and to have thatpoint of contact, that
(25:46):
collaboration piece with thatveteran staff in that building
is going to be really important,on top of just the other things
that we do to help support ournew teachers with our mentoring
program and different thingslike that, to help them, you
know, not feel the stress andburnout and have a go-to person,
not just in the building but intheir content area.
(26:08):
That's also another thing we dois our PLC process, to where
our teachers collaborate a lot,to where no one's on an island
and this happens a lot ineducation.
Here's your books, here's yourroom, boom, see you later.
I'm only going to bother you ifthere's a problem here.
We don't do that.
We want people to be supportive, we want them to collaborate.
(26:28):
We don't want them to be onthat island, and so we do a lot
of things in our district to nothave people be on an island.
So it's really important to dois how do you support your staff
?
And then another thing islisten to your staff.
We have a school improvementteam to where my staff comes in
and we try to find solutions toissues we're having and we're
(26:50):
trying to improve our school alittle bit every day and we've
done a lot of great things inour district the last couple of
years to improve our school alittle bit every day, and we've
done a lot of great things inour district the last couple of
years to improve our schoolbuilding and our culture.
And it really comes down tolistening to the staff, taking
their ideas and findingsolutions with them and
collaborating.
So that's a huge piece when itcomes to retention, because when
they are part of the solution,they feel empowered, they feel
(27:13):
like they're supported, they'relistened to and they're going to
stay because they have allthese positive interactions
within your school district, andso that's a really powerful way
to do that.
Another thing to help teachersget retained is find ways to
help them save time, and I dothis by looking at technology.
(27:34):
Everybody, everybody's allafraid of AI.
Don't be afraid of AI, leaninto it.
So what we have done is we arepiloting Magic School AI.
You've probably heard me talkabout this before, but this is
something that helped ourteachers save time, and I've
heard a lot of great stories onhow that's doing that, and so
(27:55):
this whole program is designedfor teachers and administrators
can use this as well, and I'lltell you about how I use it here
in just a second.
But my staff has utilized it andthey have saved hours of time
trying to differentiate material, trying to create material
that's relevant towards thelearning targets that they're
(28:16):
teaching.
They use it in a lot ofdifferent ways, but they said
you know what?
It also gives me ideas that Ihave never thought about,
because, as humans, we think ofall our experiences and we look
at the experiences we have anddraw on those to help us guide
our teaching.
Well, this tool is being usedto help teachers come up and
generate ideas they may have nothave thought of and go wow,
(28:39):
that's a really good idea.
Maybe that's what I canimplement.
That's a strategy I neverthought about.
Maybe that's cool.
You know, let's do those, andteachers are using those ideas
because they have a tool to helpthem come up with that.
The other cool thing about MagicSchool AI is the teachers are
using it and they're teachingthe kids how to utilize it
properly.
And we have an English teacheror a couple of them, really that
(29:00):
will utilize the AI tools withtheir students and say, hey,
you're going to do your writing,but this AI tool is going to
provide feedback and it's goingto help you make your writing
better.
But it's still that student'swriting, it's still their ideas,
it's still their work.
They're just getting somesupport and other ways to get
(29:21):
that feedback to help thatwriting become better.
And that teacher can set theparameters out.
What does that look like andhow do they utilize that?
And a teacher controls whichtools those students can use
within that platform, and so Ithink, if you haven't really
looked at it, I'd say look at it, because it will help save your
teacher's time, but also that'spart of keeping them from
getting burned out.
That's also a part of makingthem feel supported.
So that's something that youcan really really look at doing
(29:44):
Now.
As a principal myself, I use AItools as well, and right now I'm
using them to help me writeformal evaluations help me write
formal evaluations, and so whatI do is I take the information
that I have and it helps medevelop strengths, opportunities
for growth, and it also helpedme find strategies, because even
(30:04):
as a principal, I have to drawon my experiences to help my
teachers learn and grow.
That's why I have a curriculumand instruction background to
have more tools in my toolbox soI can help put more tools in my
teacher's toolbox.
But you know what Using AItools has helped me become a
better principal, to where I'mhelping them come up with more
(30:25):
strategies to help them grow andlearn.
So what I'll do is I'll utilizethese tools to come up with
strategies that I could sharewith my teaching staff to
strengthen some areas, but alsoto give them opportunities for
growth, and I don't like callingthem weaknesses.
I like calling themopportunities for growth,
because I want it to be apositive thing that they're
(30:46):
having, and when you make it apositive thing, they're going to
be more receptive to that.
So I utilize AI and you knowwhat it used to take me about an
hour per teacher to do that.
So I utilize AI and you knowwhat?
It used to take me about anhour per teacher to do that.
I got it now to where it takesme 20 minutes to do that formal
evaluation after I've done myclassroom visit, and it's become
(31:06):
a really powerful tool and I'vehad really great conversations
with my teachers this yearbecause I have utilized that in
a way that helps me save time,but I'm actually giving them
quality feedback and reallyhelping them become better, and
they actually have taken thatfeedback and used it, and so
that's a really cool thing andthat's all part about making
(31:26):
your staff feel supported, sodon't be afraid of that.
That's another strategy you canuse as well.
The final thing I want to getinto you might have to get
creative when it comes tostaffing and finding solutions.
So there's a lot of schools outthere, especially small rural
schools, that they're having ahard time finding people to fill
(31:48):
their roles, and so I've heardpeople using online programming
and hybrid options to where theymay have a distant learning
option, to where theycollaborate with another
district.
Hey, we don't have this type ofteacher.
We need help.
You have that type of teachers.
They're a way that wecollaborate to where your
(32:11):
teacher goes online for ourstudents and we can work
together to help get ourstudents that education that
they deserve, collaborating withother school districts to see
if they would be interested inhaving that teacher teach in
their room but be more on a onlike a hybrid model to where
(32:34):
they're online, where anotherclass is coming in and and
learning with that other, withother class and student from
another district.
Those are things I've seen.
Those are things that that areviable options out there that
you might want to think about.
And then you might want tothink about how to get creative
with the schedule as well, asmaybe you know, try to maximize
your staff.
(32:55):
You might have staff that mightbe certificated in different
areas, but they may not be asneeded in one area as another
and how can you have them teachother classes in different
content areas.
But that's also helping youfill the gaps, fill the holes,
but also give your kids apositive interaction.
But also that goes with hey,maybe you know that teacher
(33:17):
might be wanting to step out anddo some different things and
utilize their endorsements inother ways.
I know for me.
I taught physical education andmath and there was a time where
I did both.
I was teaching math in themorning, physical education in
the afternoon.
There's a lot of ways you canlook at that, and so those are
things that you can think about.
How can I utilize my existingstaff in other ways, just to be
(33:38):
creative on those things.
Now here's some of my finalthoughts when it comes to hiring
.
So, when it comes to hiring ineducation, it's tough, right,
and when you get a resignation,that's hard because you're like,
oh no, I got to fill this.
Where am I going to find thisteacher?
Don't look at that as anegative.
(33:59):
Look at that as an opportunityto bring someone in to your
school, to enhance it.
Right, and if you think aboutit in that light and not
negative, oh my gosh, where am Igoing to find someone to fill
this role?
That is the power of theopportunity, right?
Hey, I have a resignation.
(34:20):
They're going to seek otheropportunities, or they decide
they're going to leave educationbecause they have another goal
in life, another thing they wantto really do, and that's okay.
Take that time to process andgo.
Wow, this is a greatopportunity for me to find
someone that really wants to bea great educator and be a part
of what we're building here.
(34:41):
So don't take those things as anegative.
Think long-term.
Invest your grow in your owneducators.
So these are things you want tothink about.
You want to move fast.
You want to find goodcandidates.
You don't want to mess around,so you want to make sure you
bring in that quality candidate,get them on board as quickly as
possible.
If everything checks out, makesure you work ahead and do your
(35:04):
pre-screens before yourinterview.
So if you can offer offer rightaway and that's a strategy that
you can use.
Be creative.
If traditional methods aren'tworking, you're going to have to
figure out other ways to do it.
This landscape is changing allthe time and you're going to
have to stay on top of thetrends and stay on top of what
(35:24):
other people are doing.
You need to network.
You need to collaborate.
That's why this podcast existsis to give you guys ideas.
I would love to hear otherideas that you guys are doing
that I have not even mentioned.
I guarantee you there's thingsout there I don't even know
about and if there are, I wouldlove you guys to hit the fan
mail button and really tell mewhat those things are that you
guys have seen out there that Ihaven't even mentioned that
(35:45):
other educators can do to helpwith their hiring and bringing
on quality education.
And then the final thing isretention.
Guys, you got to create aculture that keeps the teachers
that you have and if you have agreat school culture and climate
to where it's inviting peoplewant to be there.
They want to be a part of it.
They're excited to be there andthem being excited to be there,
(36:05):
they're going to tell otherpeople about it and that's going
to help your recruiting,because if those teachers and
staff are excited to be there,they're going to tell their
friends and their friends aregoing to be like you know what?
I might want to come over there, because there's a lot of great
things happening over there andI want to be a part of that.
And so your teachers as wellare some of your best recruiters
, so don't forget about that.
(36:26):
If best recruiters, so don'tforget about that.
If they love being there,they're going to tell other
people, and word of mouth is oneof the most powerful ways
getting other people to come toyour school district, and that
has happened.
I've had people tell me I'veapplied here because I've heard
all the things that arehappening and I really want to
be a part of it.
That's part of that brandingand messaging right Is your
teachers.
If they're happy and love whatthey're doing and they're having
(36:48):
positive experiences, they'regoing to tell others.
So don't forget about thatthings.
With that said, I want you guysto remember when you guys are
hiring people, look at it as anopportunity to build the culture
and climate of your buildingand bring in someone in that
will fit that.
So that's something reallyimportant to think about when
you're hiring as well.
If you find this episode helpful, I love you guys to subscribe
(37:10):
to the podcast.
I love so you guys can get theepisodes when they first hit.
I would love for you to leave areview and I would love to hear
from you as well by hittingthat fan mail button to hear all
the things that you guys likedabout the episode and I like
about the episode.
All those things.
I love to hear those things.
I hope this episode resonatedwith you guys.
(37:31):
Until next time, keep leading,keep innovating, make a
difference out there and alwaysbe 1% better.
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