The person you’ll promote in five years may have signed in at the front office this morning.
This week is about noticing the subs, paras and student teachers in your building.
Plus three simple moves you can try on Monday.
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OFF CAMPUS
👮♂️ Hallway or Holding Cell? Why so many schools share a blueprint with prisons
🔑 The Art of Selfmentorship: Ditch permission-based PD and own your growth
🔍 Behavior is a Message: Learn to decode it with Danny and Conscious Discipline at a free webinar on Nov 4
🎯 Why Great Leaders Walk Away, and Danny’s playbook for how to keep them
A MESSAGE FROM ODP Business Solutions
Empty Rooms to Innovation Hubs
That unused classroom? It might be your best STEAM lab.
This short guide shares 3 steps schools are using to build flexible, future-proof STEAM environments—by rethinking space, upgrading infrastructure, and funding innovation sustainably.
Less construction. More creativity.
DO SCHOOL DIFFERENT
Your Next Leader Is Already in the Building
My first day as a substitute teacher was straight out of high school.
At that time, subs in our district could leave business cards in teachers’ lounges, with secretaries, and with principals. My dad was a longtime first-grade teacher in the district, so I got a lot of calls based on name recognition.
I remember those first few days, teaching first through seventh grade at the same small, rural elementary school I attended myself.
It felt exhilarating. And fun.
Eventually, I became a teacher and then an administrator.
That path started with a few people trusting me with their classrooms.
Grow Your Own
The next generation of leaders may already be in your building.
They sign in at the office as guest teachers.
They work beside your teachers as paraprofessionals.
They coach after the bell, cover the front desk, or finish student teaching down the hall.
Look again at those roles and you’ll see a pipeline.
Danny’s latest book, Retention Is the Result, is a playbook for creating a school where teachers want to stay, starting with how you onboard them.
I’d move the starting line back even further.
Retention starts before the hire, with how a guest teacher or para feels at 3:00 on any ordinary day.
Jason Dropik, one of our Mastermind coaches, took a similar path.
He started in the classroom, first as an elementary school teaching assistant, then teaching math at the Indian Community School near Milwaukee, and later became its associate principal and head of school.
Today, he leads the National Indian Education Association as Executive Director.
Someone in your building is at the start of that path right now.
Your job is to help them see the next step.
Three moves for Monday
Build to the big question. In The Dream Manager, Matthew Kelly argues that once we know the dreams of the people around us, we want to help them live those dreams. His starter question is so simple it fits on a sticky note: What’s your dream? That can feel like a lot coming from a principal they just met, so build trust over a few conversations:
What’s going well for you here?
What’s your biggest challenge right now, personally or professionally?
What do you want more of in your work?
What would you love to try next?
Then go for the big one.
Close the day well. Before a sub heads home, check in with them. Thank them personally, point to one thing that went well, and add one more question: What would make your next day here even better? People return to buildings where someone noticed them.
Open one door. Invite a para into a PD session. Ask a regular sub to join a committee. When someone mentions a leadership goal, offer an hour of coaching and open with What’s one skill you’d love to grow this year? Follow up a month later. Mentoring is a habit you build on purpose.
APs know this too
Assistant principals often book coverage, schedule instructional aides, and know which subs the kids light up for.
That call list is a talent pool.
Keep notes on who shows up ready, who connects with your toughest kids, and who asks good questions.
When a posting opens, you’ll know who to tap.
When your principal asks who is ready for more, you’ll have an answer.
Pay it forward
Somebody in my district picked up the phone and called an eager teen with a business card.
Who do you know that’s waiting for that call right now?
Think about how you’re mentoring them.
And when someone is ready for more, hook them into formal coaching.
Jason coaches in the Ruckus Maker Mastermind, where leaders grow together every week.
Come build your pipeline with us. …
TIP OF THE WEEK
Mirror, Mirror
Mirror, mirror, down the hall, who’s the boldest of them all?
Your bathroom mirror holds few surprises.
For the good stuff, you need people who’ll tell you the truth.
This week, pick three to five people and put them to work.
Make a short list. A peer. A boss. Someone outside education. And someone who knew you before education.
Slide into their texts. Ask for 20 minutes this month: “I’m working on my leadership, and I trust you to give me an honest read.”
Bring one zinger.
Where am I playing it safe?
What do you notice that I miss?
What should I keep doing?
What would you try in my shoes?
Report back. A week later, tell them what you did with their answer.
Between mirror sessions, Digital Danny is open 24/7, and his calendar is always free.
Bring him the question keeping you up at night.
SUNDAY VIBES
CLASS DISMISSED
Whenever you’re ready, here’s 3 ways we can help you on your Selfmentorship journey.
If your campus runs you instead of you running it, meet Digital Danny — your 24/7 Ruckus Maker coach. Start here.
Experience weekly coaching and peer mentorship. Surround yourself with other Ruckus Makers in the mastermind. Apply here.
Keep Making a Ruckus,
PS… visibility drives culture
