Your Morning Boost

The Non-Monetary Way to Honor Your Essential School Staff

During National Education Week's Support Professionals Day, discover the profound impact of recognizing the essential staff who keep our schools running—custodians, secretaries, aides, cooks, and more. Your Morning Boost welcomes Dr. Lisa Hill, host of Vice Principal Unofficed, to discuss practical, non-monetary strategies for administrators and assistant principals to meaningfully honor these vital team members.
Dr. Hill shares actionable tips like learning names, greeting staff, working alongside them, and modeling everyday kindness. Listen to take away short, high-impact techniques to build loyalty, strengthen your school culture, and ensure every adult remains focused on students.
ACTION STEP: Amplify your day and keep boosting your impact by subscribing!
Find out more about what we do:AWB Education - awbeducation.orgGrundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.comGot a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org

Turning Conflict into Collaboration: Productive Parent Partnerships

Is talking to parents about discipline a challenge? During American Education Week's Family Day, Your Morning Boost welcomes back Dr. Lisa Hill, host of the Vice Principal Unofficed podcast, to share essential strategies for assistant principals. This episode focuses on pivoting difficult, disciplinary conversations with parents into productive, long-term partnerships built on mutual respect. Dr. Hill discusses the power of empathy, finding common ground, communicating the "why," and keeping interactions calm and solution-focused.
You'll gain practical techniques for de-escalation, validating parents’ emotions, and utilizing a team approach. Discover the simple, powerful question, "How are you doing?" to rebuild trust and foster collaboration.
ACTION STEP: Amplify your day and keep boosting your impact by subscribing!
Find out more about what we do:AWB Education - awbeducation.orgGrundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.comGot a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org

Kickoff to American Education Week: Building Trust as a Vice Principal

Are you stepping into a new administrative role? Don't make the biggest mistake most assistant principals make: rushing to implement flashy solutions before understanding the school's heart. Join Your Morning Boost as we kick off American Education Week with special guest Dr. Lisa Hill, host of the Vice Principal Unofficed podcast. With 39 years in education, Dr. Hill shares invaluable insights on building trust and setting clear expectations with a new principal. She reveals why slowing down, gathering voices, and identifying high-impact areas are critical for success. This episode centers on the first of a five-day 'five questions' series focused on the vice principal role. Get practical leadership takeaways, real-school anecdotes, and guidance for APs aiming to grow into visionary leaders, plus a lighthearted teaser for upcoming episodes!
ACTION STEP: Amplify your day and keep boosting your impact by subscribing!
Find out more about what we do:AWB Education - awbeducation.orgGrundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.comGot a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org

Relationships Are the Work: Sustaining Civil Engagement in Schools

The Ultimate Guide to Bridge-Building: Why Relationships are the Work! We wrap up our impactful week with Shannon Watson, Founder and Executive Director of Majority in the Middle (majoritymiddle.org). In this final segment, Shannon shares her deep experience leading successful bipartisan efforts, emphasizing why kindness and finding common ground are non-negotiable for navigating division in school leadership. Discover practical, low-effort tactics busy administrators can incorporate daily—like informal hallway check-ins—to make civil engagement a long-term priority, not just a crisis response. Learn why staying in relationship, practicing patience, and consistently modeling respectful behavior is the most powerful way to positively influence your school community.
Action Item: Make relationship-building your top priority! Subscribe, share this powerful message, and visit awbeducation.org and grundmeyerleadersearch.com for more resources on sustaining leadership impact.
Find out more about what we do:AWB Education - awbeducation.orgGrundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.comGot a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org

Inoculating Schools Against Polarization: Practical Steps for Transparency

Tired of polarization derailing instruction? Learn low-cost policy fixes! This essential episode of Your Morning Boost features Shannon Watson, Founder and Executive Director of Majority in the Middle (majoritymiddle.org). Discover practical, low-cost structural and policy changes schools can implement to build robust transparency and civil participation, safeguarding your core instructional work. The conversation highlights key strategies like setting transparency as a cultural standard, focusing discussions on student-centered outcomes, and inviting dissenting voices to shape compromises. Shannon provides concrete examples and emphasizes shifting "in-group" tribal dynamics to keep the focus strictly on the issue at hand.
 
Action Item: Move past partisan gridlock! Subscribe and share these vital strategies with your board and leadership team. Visit awbeducation.org and grundmeyerleadersearch.com for more resources on school improvement.
Find out more about what we do:AWB Education - awbeducation.orgGrundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.comGot a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org

De‑Escalate the Room: Leading Calm in Polarized School Meetings

Stop the Chaos: Practical Strategies for Managing Polarized School Board Meetings! This crucial episode features returning guest Shannon Watson, Founder and Executive Director of Majority in the Middle (majoritymiddle.org), offering actionable advice for school leaders facing contentious community forums. Learn how to master meeting management by setting clear expectations (time limits, ground rules, fairness) before conflict starts. Shannon covers structural approaches to reduce rhetorical heat, such as discouraging reactive audience behaviors (applause/booing) and alternating speakers to prevent escalation. Tune in to discover the key to being the "eye of the storm"—maintaining a neutral tone and consistent enforcement to ensure all voices are heard without rewarding destructive behavior.
Action Item: Don't let your next meeting spiral! Subscribe, share this episode with your board members and administrators, and visit awbeducation.org and grundmeyerleadersearch.com for more resources on effective governance.
Find out more about what we do:AWB Education - awbeducation.orgGrundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.comGot a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org

De‑Escalating Staff Polarization: Mission First Leadership

Stop polarization before it fractures your team! In this essential episode, Your Morning Boost welcomes back Shannon Watson, Founder and Executive Director of Majority in the Middle (majoritymiddle.org), to deliver crucial, actionable strategies for school leaders. Discover how to effectively de-escalate staff polarization when heated political discourse enters the building. Shannon shares powerful, listening-first techniques like asking "tell me more," identifying underlying values, and shifting your team's focus from defeating people to defeating problems. Learn how to prioritize mission alignment, foster civility, and use practical methods from organizations like Braver Angels to rebuild and preserve team collaboration.
Action Item: Don't let division compromise your mission! Subscribe, share this episode with your leadership team, and visit awbeducation.org and grundmeyerleadersearch.com for more resources on transformative leadership.
Find out more about what we do:AWB Education - awbeducation.orgGrundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.comGot a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org

Lead with Civility: Shannon Watson on Nonpartisan School Leadership

Tired of the political noise? Learn how to model real civility for your school community! This week, Your Morning Boost welcomes Shannon Watson, Founder and Executive Director of Majority in the Middle, for a powerful discussion on empowering nonpartisan civic engagement and connecting it directly to school leadership. In honor of National Young Readers Week, Shannon shares vital strategies for public-facing leaders: modeling respectful understanding, avoiding sweeping generalizations, and why leaning into nuance is essential. You’ll learn the importance of literacy and empathy in bridging divides and how to ensure every decision centers on what is truly best for students. Dive in to discover how to humanize communication and foster cross-partisan relationships in your district.
Action Item: Subscribe, share this episode with a colleague, and visit awbeducation.org and grundmeyerleadersearch.com for more resources on exceptional school leadership!
Find out more about what we do:AWB Education - awbeducation.orgGrundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.comGot a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org

📱 The "Six-Seven" Challenge: Why Digital Literacy is Now a Core Student Safety Issue

Your students are fluent in viral internet slang (like the cryptic "six-seven"), but are they literate in digital safety? The "six-seven" phenomenon—a playful reference to a social media scamming tactic—is a stark reminder of how quickly and often digital misinformation and security threats infiltrate our schools.
In this timely episode of Your Morning Boost, we conclude our dive into the Fitting Five newsletter with a call to action: digital literacy must be treated as a core competency and a fundamental safety issue.
Key Takeaways: Learn three systemic steps leaders must take to protect students in this hostile digital ecosystem:
Introduce a "Scam Whisperer" Curriculum: Integrate mandatory, short units across all subjects to teach critical thinking skills needed to identify phishing, deepfakes, and misinformation.
Model Responsible Digital Citizenship: Teachers and leaders must actively discuss, verify sources, and model healthy digital boundaries to give students a visible roadmap.
Engage parents with a Digital Wellness Compact: Host family workshops and secure a shared commitment to discussing online safety and modeling good habits at home.
➡️ CTA: It's time to prepare students for a complex digital life. Subscribe, listen, and share this episode with your digital safety and curriculum teams!
Find out more about what we do:AWB Education - awbeducation.orgGrundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.comGot a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org

🎯 Leader Self-Assessment: It's Time for Your Midterm Grade (3 Ways to Course Correct Now)

As the first quarter ends, we're focused on student grades—but what grade would you give your leadership? Waiting until the end of the year to assess your effectiveness means missing a crucial chance to pivot.
In this sharp episode of Your Morning Boost, we dive into Dan P. Butler’s piece from the Fitting Five newsletter: "It's Time for Midterm Grades, but Not the Kind You're Thinking of." This challenge is not about judgment; it's about shifting from vague feelings of busyness to objective, fast, and focused course correction.
Key Takeaways: Learn three objective methods to measure what truly matters: your behavior, your time, and your connections:
Implement the Stop-Start-Continue Feedback Loop: Use a brief, anonymous survey with trusted staff to gather crystal-clear, actionable data on your leadership behaviors.
Conduct a Candid Time Audit: Track your time for two weeks to see if your daily actions align with your instructional priorities (e.g., are you spending 70% on email and only 10% on walkthroughs?).
Check your Relational Capital: Identify the 10 most critical people for your school's success (custodian, union rep, veteran teacher) and proactively invest in any relationship that scores low.
➡️ CTA: Commit to this objective self-assessment now to ensure you finish the year strong. Subscribe, listen, and share this episode!
Find out more about what we do:AWB Education - awbeducation.orgGrundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.comGot a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at adam@awbeducation.org