Episode Details
Back to EpisodesNo Better Gift Than Reading and Self-Education with Brendan Hufford
Description
Brendan Hufford, assistant principal at Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary, Indiana, says there is no better gift you can give a person than the ability to read and educate themselves. He also wants schools teaching entrepreneurship in schools and argues that principals innovate more when they stop studying only education.
Hufford watched first graders go from no reading at all to a second grade reading level in one year as a teaching assistant. He also describes copying Buffer's public salary schedule and handing it to his boss, and why he thinks schools should stop blocking YouTube and Twitter.
What you'll learn
- Learn how reading works well enough to coach a struggling reader, as Hufford did with a few high schoolers, even if you teach secondary.
- Try low-tech changes before you buy more laptops, such as taking the chairs out of a room or adding morning exercises.
- Monitor students on YouTube and Twitter instead of blocking them, and build lessons on live conversations, like searching a topic on Twitter.
- Bring a transparent salary schedule to your leadership, using Buffer's as a model, and adjust it for your school.
- Spend your reading time on business, marketing and biography rather than another book about education.
Chapters
- 0:00 Brendan's free tools for principals
- 0:49 A first grade assistant job and teaching reading
- 5:28 Why kids need entrepreneurial skills and no debt
- 8:09 Why teaching can't just be a paycheck
- 11:14 Pushback from traditional administrators
- 12:48 Stop blocking YouTube and use Twitter in class
- 17:08 Copying Buffer's transparent salary schedule
- 22:53 Spend zero time learning about your industry
Times are for the episode without ads. Your player may be off by the length of any ads.
Questions this episode answers
Should schools block YouTube and social media?
Hufford says no. He argues schools should monitor students rather than ban sites, since a student can already read an illicit book in class, and the adult in the room is responsible. He suggests lessons where students search Twitter or tweet as a historical figure.
How can a principal come up with innovative ideas?
Hufford passes on advice he got in his own business: spend zero time in your own industry. He suggests learning from streetwear, food trucks, marketing and other fields, then applying that at school, and names The Dip by Seth Godin as one book to read.
What can schools learn from Buffer about transparency?
Hufford says Buffer is a fully transparent company, including its salary schedule. He copied that schedule, changed it to fit a school and gave it to his boss, and says a transparent salary schedule with bonuses would be entrepreneurial for a school.
About Brendan Hufford
Assistant principal at Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary, Indiana, who also runs the OK Kimonos side business and the Entrepreneurs and Coffee podcast.
Links and resources