Part 9: Leading in a Time of Crisis – a Conversation with Principal Toni Faddis Ed.D. and Teacher Giulia Longo
Today on Getting Unstuck
Most of us are living in an unprecedented time. Not since World War II, have we experienced something that can literally impact every person on the planet. Getting through the COVID-19 pandemic is taking incredible resources and resourcefulness. It is also forcing us to look at one another and work with one another differently. And one place of work where that is extremely evident is in schools
What follows is one conversation in a series of conversations we’re having with educators across the country on how they are leading their schools in this time of crisis. Because these educators are extremely busy helping their schools and communities to pivot, we’ve intentionally limited these conversations to approximately 15 minutes.
It’s our hope that these conversations will provide nuggets of solid advice and emotional support to other educators on the front lines of change.
Program Note
in this episode, we hear from:
Principal Toni Faddis Ed.D and Teacher Giulia Longo, both working in the Chula Vista Elementary School District in Chula Vista, CA.
“What I would like to see continue as a result of the pandemic is the focus on social and emotional wellness for all the people in our community, whether that’s teachers and staff, or kids and parents. It’s remembering who we are as human beings and how we are more similar than we are different. And that the human side of connecting is critically important, whether we’re in the middle of a pandemic or not.”
“I'm letting people know that we're going to be creative and do everything we can to lessen everyone's anxiety. And I'm sharing a message that 'You matter, and that I care about how you're feeling right now.' It's about trying to be sensitive to all of those factors because everyone's fighting a different battle.“ — Toni Faddis Ed.D.
In this part, we hear from:
Principal Toni Faddis Ed.D, Montgomery Elementary School
Chula Vista Elementary S.D., Chula Vista, CA
Listen for:
Why Toni and the larger Chula Vista district must first focus on the social and emotional issues of its school population.
How the school district is taking care of the nutritional needs of a significant portion of its students’ families.
The need to use sensitivity, creativity, communication to mitigate situations before they become full-blown problems.
Why actively listening is so critical at this time.
“We work together to share information that we received from parents and remain focused on those relationships that we’ve spent all year cultivating. Relative to our colleagues, we’re all in different places. Some of us have kids, some of us don’t have kids. Some of us have other family members living with us, some of us don’t. So just really also being mindful of all the things that we have going on at home has something that our principals has been focusing on as well – making sure that we’re taking care of ourselves and our families in addition to working.”
“The biggest piece of advice I can offer is go slow. This is a huge change for everyone, especially in the elementary grades. So don't try and teach a full day's worth of lesson on the very first day of distance learning. Take your time, build that connection back again. Build that relationship and then slowly add on things that you've already been doing in class. And then add new things going from there.” — Giulia Longo
In this part, we hear from:
Teacher Giulia Longo, Finney Elementary School
Chula Vista Elementary S.D., Chula Vista, CA
Listen for the need to:
Connect virtually with students and their parents to support their social and emotional needs.
Ensure that all students share equitable access to resources.
Remain flexible and adaptive as the academic year continues from this point.
Go slow.
Correction: Giulia meant to say “70% socioeconomically disadvantaged and 34% English Learners”
To Connect with Toni and Giulia
Could a book on how to effectively lead change in schools be more timely?
We’re pleased to announce …
…that our book Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change is now available from Corwin Press or Amazon. If you purchase from Amazon, please consider leaving us a rating and review. Thank you!
From our publisher:
In Shifting, educators and leadership experts Kirsten Richert, Jeff Ikler and Margaret Zacchei empower educational change leaders to proactively and coherently navigate complex change in schools to achieve the desired outcomes. Using a three-part framework—Assess, Ready, Change—this book leads educators to examine a school’s imperatives and readiness for change, identity the tools and abilities required to manifest change, and take action by defining the roles and processes necessary to effectively implement both sweeping change and smaller day-to-day adjustments.