התמלול המלא של ISTE 2026: Ready to Lead with AI with Kip Glazer

controversial. 00:05:01.830 --> 00:05:06.280 But what the vegetables are in schools, a lot of people have different opinions on. 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:12.610 And as we were talking the other day as we got to know each other, you've been doing some cool things at your school. 00:05:12.610 --> 00:05:17.820 I did some cool things at my schools, and we agree on a lot of those things. 00:05:18.180 --> 00:05:21.844 But there are some people who would say that's the absolute wrong way to do it. 00:05:21.864 --> 00:05:22.274 Yep. 00:05:22.530 --> 00:05:30.970 So how do you manage when you know there's a good way that you believe in, and how do you deal with the people that, don't agree with that? 00:05:33.830 --> 00:05:34.880 Bonnie: Such a great question. 00:05:35.240 --> 00:05:36.350 Couple different ways. 00:05:36.370 --> 00:06:20.420 One, I lean into the literature research, and I think there is something to be said about relying on the field to give you the assurance and credibility to continue with your strategies Two, I think I lean into understanding where these sort of opinions are coming from, and I think the biggest challenge that today's school leader or educators are having is that a lot of people, especially parents or leaders, create this narrative in their head based on their own school experience. 00:06:20.940 --> 00:06:20.960 Yeah. 00:06:21.050 --> 00:06:28.930 And I have to do a lot of communication and explaining that today's school is not the school of your day. 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:31.780 Today's school is not even the school of pre-pandemic. 00:06:31.790 --> 00:06:31.810 Yeah. 00:06:32.190 --> 00:06:43.550 So to apply your schema to what we are trying to do, you're already starting at a place of deficiency or difference. 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:43.580 Yeah. 00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:52.730 And that's why I recommend fellow school leaders or teachers to focus on sharing the positive stories. 00:06:52.740 --> 00:07:03.480 And I think media has lots of this exception to the rule stories, but not enough what's actually happening on the ground stories. 00:07:03.880 --> 00:07:03.900 Yeah. 00:07:04.050 --> 00:07:07.460 It's because it's not as exciting or scandalous, right? 00:07:07.470 --> 00:07:07.490 Yeah. 00:07:07.810 --> 00:07:10.540 Like kids showing up to school and love learning. 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:11.380 What? 00:07:11.410 --> 00:07:11.430 Yeah. 00:07:11.840 --> 00:07:14.040 That happens every single 00:07:14.468 --> 00:07:16.388 Jethro D. Jones: In fact, that is actually the majority- Yes 00:07:16.450 --> 00:07:17.420 Bonnie: Yes. 00:07:17.790 --> 00:07:17.880 Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. 00:07:17.940 --> 00:07:18.620 Bonnie: Yes. 00:07:18.630 --> 00:07:18.650 Yeah. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:29.920 Yet we just post things that are just out of the norm, and it gets perpetuated, right? 00:07:30.120 --> 00:07:30.140 Yeah. 00:07:30.150 --> 00:07:39.900 So I just feel like we have to do more intentional celebration of what's going right at school sites. 00:07:40.280 --> 00:07:47.830 That's why I started to be very active on social media to celebrate my school, because if I don't do it, who's gonna do it? 00:07:47.840 --> 00:07:57.040 If I don't say my teachers are amazing- Yeah … if I don't say my students are amazing, my community's fantastic, who's gonna do that? 00:07:57.128 --> 00:07:57.528 Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. 00:07:57.848 --> 00:08:00.458 Because one, nobody else has insight into that. 00:08:00.468 --> 00:08:00.728 Kip Glazer: Facts. 00:08:01.038 --> 00:08:06.188 Jethro D. Jones: And the other thing is that n- nobody feels like they can speak for the school. 00:08:06.418 --> 00:08:09.128 So you have to, as the principal, be the one who does that. 00:08:09.458 --> 00:08:12.998 So you mentioned, relying on research, and then you talked about media. 00:08:13.348 --> 00:08:24.838 And one of the things that I find so fascinating is that, the research is focused on, we need to know what works, and we need to see that it works across multiple groups and all this kind of stuff. 00:08:24.838 --> 00:08:38.528 It needs to be done a certain way so we can extrapolate and say, "This will work with my people." But the media is the exact opposite because they take the one story about one situation and make that the focus. 00:08:38.538 --> 00:08:42.348 And this is something that even though I've been alive for a long time 00:08:43.436 --> 00:08:43.576 I only 00:08:43.586 --> 00:08:45.726 recently started seeing that this was the case. 00:08:45.746 --> 00:08:50.776 And so journalism is about telling one story from one perspective, basically. 00:08:51.056 --> 00:09:00.436 And yes, they get corroboration and that kind of stuff, but it is almost the opposite of what we do in research, which is we know that this works 'cause it works across a bunch of different people. 00:09:00.866 --> 00:09:09.466 And it's just so fascinating because we have to manage and deal with both of these things as principals and in making educational decisions. 00:09:09.846 --> 00:09:14.556 And the other thing that I wanted to comment on is-- Or do you have anything to add to that? 00:09:15.562 --> 00:09:28.032 Bonnie: Yeah, that's a great observation, and I do work with a lot of researchers, and I also try to make sure that they're not holding their knowledge within their fields. 00:09:28.092 --> 00:09:50.410 And I found myself being fascinated by when I first encountered "How People Learn" book, I was searching another way to be a better teacher late at night because whatever I was doing based on my training or my experience or talking to my experienced colleagues wasn't working. 00:09:50.460 --> 00:09:56.840 it was not working, and I said, "There has to be a better way," and I found this book, and it was transformational. 00:09:56.850 --> 00:10:08.320 If anybody listening to this, please read my book, obviously, but if you don't read my book, go read "How

People Learn." It's free online. 00:10:08.650 --> 00:10:23.990 National Academies put it out as a PDF, and there are s- there is so much goodness in that book to be a transformational educator, and that really is where we should lean into it. 00:10:24.340 --> 00:10:35.020 The tragic part about it is that it's been out for 25 years, and school does not look anything like what "How People Learn" book- Yeah … wanted us to build. 00:10:35.790 --> 00:10:37.480 And so where is the disconnect? 00:10:38.150 --> 00:10:41.210 I think we do have to take some responsibility. 00:10:41.210 --> 00:10:45.130 When I say we, w- current educators and current school leaders. 00:10:45.550 --> 00:10:50.900 So often, we're so busy doing our job, we allow someone else to tell our 00:10:50.900 --> 00:10:51.660 stories. 00:10:51.780 --> 00:10:51.810 Yes. 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:55.100 And we have to take that narrative back. 00:10:55.570 --> 00:11:09.170 Our kids are so thoughtful, they're so amazing, and they're saying, "Adults, please build safer tools. Adults, please don't destroy environment." at my school, we have green team. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:13.600 They are organizing safe ride school days. 00:11:13.630 --> 00:11:22.310 They ride bikes, and they talk about how to keep the planet safe and secure for the future generation. 00:11:22.780 --> 00:11:31.830 And so I do believe that educators should speak up when they see good things happening, and I would love those stories to go viral 00:11:31.850 --> 00:11:32.850 Jethro D. Jones: Yeah, exactly. 00:11:32.860 --> 00:11:37.180 And the thing is that those are happening all around us. 00:11:37.260 --> 00:11:39.060 And again, that's the vast majority. 00:11:39.520 --> 00:11:56.480 And so going back to the disagreements piece, the other part besides just leaning on the research you mentioned, and I wanna dig into it a little bit deeper, is the need to dialogue and talk and listen to what people are saying and how their How they feel things should happen. 00:11:56.550 --> 00:12:07.720 and what I have found works for me is that when I have a parent specifically who disagrees or anybody else, I try to go back to what we really are trying to do. 00:12:08.050 --> 00:12:13.020 We're trying to, to educate these kids and help them become successful adults. 00:12:13.550 --> 00:12:17.100 And so I start back there and say, "Is that what you're trying to do?" 00:12:17.400 --> 00:12:21.150 And everybody says, "Yes, of course, that's what I'm trying to do," because that is what they're trying to do. 00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:30.460 And so then we start talking about, "Okay, if that's what we wanna do, here's the situation, and here's how I think we should do it, and you're saying you wanna do it this way. 00:12:30.930 --> 00:12:34.340 Let's talk about which one of these is going to work better. 00:12:34.390 --> 00:12:35.110 What do we think? 00:12:35.140 --> 00:12:36.100 Let's look at the research. 00:12:36.100 --> 00:12:48.800 Let's take into consideration the individual student or whatever." and what it really comes down to is that regardless of what we try to do, learning is really an individualized pursuit. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:51.070 It is individual to every single person. 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:56.750 You can have twins sitting in the same class, and they'll get something different out of the class because it's individualized. 00:12:57.100 --> 00:13:04.250 Now, that doesn't mean that everything we do has to be individualized to that individual person, and we probably can't. 00:13:04.270 --> 00:13:08.400 There's benefit to having a teacher teach something and have it be different. 00:13:08.680 --> 00:13:11.050 So what other things would you add to that? 00:13:12.476 --> 00:13:20.266 Bonnie: That's an interesting way of looking at it, and I think there's some profound truth to that. 00:13:20.406 --> 00:13:30.986 For me, whether I'm working with a parent or student or my colleagues, I always ask this question, "What problem are we trying to 00:13:30.986 --> 00:13:31.636 solve?" 00:13:32.506 --> 00:13:36.886 And that sort of sometimes stops them, right? 00:13:37.296 --> 00:13:43.656 Because there are few different types of challenges that get introduced to the conversation. 00:13:43.656 --> 00:13:49.286 One is some people are unhappy because they lack the knowledge and information. 00:13:49.616 --> 00:13:51.326 Other people are just unhappy to be 00:13:51.326 --> 00:13:51.976 unhappy. 00:13:51.986 --> 00:13:52.166 Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. 00:13:52.366 --> 00:13:54.156 Bonnie: So I wanna differentiate that first. 00:13:54.206 --> 00:13:59.516 are you, in this co-solution creation space? 00:13:59.546 --> 00:14:01.256 Then I'll explain it. 00:14:01.266 --> 00:14:09.856 "Here's what you are missing because you're not-- You don't have my job, and here are the state regulations, board policies," whatever. 00:14:10.266 --> 00:14:14.906 And I find that especially my parents, they actually appreciate it. 00:14:14.906 --> 00:14:15.123 Yeah. 00:14:15.123 --> 00:14:21.316 Th- they wanna know why the answer's the way or whether it's yes or no, both times. 00:14:21.806 --> 00:14:28.046 And then there are some people who are just, I don't know why, they're just upset and they're just angry. 00:14:28.386 --> 00:14:30.816 And I got better at just sitting there and listening. 00:14:31.736 --> 00:14:37.486 And so when I say, "What problem are we trying to solve?" And you can kinda tell, "There is no problem. 00:14:37.486 --> 00:14:40.006 You are the problem." Okay. Then there, there is "Okay. 00:14:40.866 --> 00:14:41.556 Noted." 00:14:41.646 --> 00:14:41.746 Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. 00:14:42.206 --> 00:14:43.906 " Bonnie: Yes." And I just sit there. 00:14:43.926 --> 00:14:56.306 And I think that's the stressor or the emotional requirement or demand to the leaders that don't, doesn't necessarily get exposed. 00:14:56.436 --> 00:14:56.456

Yeah. 00:14:56.466 --> 00:15:03.986 Because we think that being a leader is about having the knowledge, being able to articulate all of those things. 00:15:04.016 --> 00:15:04.686 very important. 00:15:05.056 --> 00:15:19.176 But I think post-pandemic, we talk a lot about kids coming back broken, and I don't think we have paid attention enough to the adults coming back with, quote-unquote, "broken." 00:15:19.746 --> 00:15:23.856 And it requires a lot more emotional 00:15:24.906 --> 00:15:25.706 responses 00:15:25.706 --> 00:15:36.566 or emotional patience to really sit through that discomfort, and I think leaders today are asked to carry that without a lot of support. 00:15:36.638 --> 00:15:37.568 Jethro D. Jones: Yep, for sure. 00:15:38.048 --> 00:15:39.608 And, yeah, that was good. 00:15:39.628 --> 00:15:47.708 So my- … my last question, bef-before I get to that, the real question is, if people wanna follow you, connect with you, how do they do that? 00:15:48.222 --> 00:15:49.752 Bonnie: They can find me on LinkedIn. 00:15:49.942 --> 00:15:53.262 That's where usually I share a lot of thoughts. 00:15:53.332 --> 00:16:07.852 just to give you a quick, I'm a very direct person and honest person, and early in my career, somebody told me like, "Oh, you need to learn to be more diplomatic." And I go, "I think I'm a, I'm a pretty diplomatic human. 00:16:07.852 --> 00:16:20.662 I don't think I'm, like, rude," but sometimes directness can be conflated as rudeness, But I just don't know how to be any other way, 'cause I feel like I wanna respect your time by being super direct. 00:16:20.672 --> 00:16:35.332 So one night, I was getting really irritated, so I wrote this little letter, "Dear EdTech companies, stop creating solutions in search of problems." 00:16:35.792 --> 00:16:44.642 And people started to follow me, so I have some folks who are interested in what I have to say, which was also delightful, 00:16:44.988 --> 00:16:45.348 Kip Glazer: Yeah. 00:16:45.522 --> 00:16:47.682 Bonnie: wow, people actually care what I have to say. 00:16:48.212 --> 00:16:49.452 you can find me on LinkedIn. 00:16:49.462 --> 00:16:52.082 I'm also on Instagram, but mostly 00:16:52.618 --> 00:16:52.938 Jethro D. Jones: Yep. 00:16:53.198 --> 00:16:53.498 All right. 00:16:53.548 --> 00:16:55.198 Kib Glazer or k- yes, Glazer. 00:16:55.198 --> 00:16:57.738 Kib Glazer, look for her on LinkedIn. 00:16:57.938 --> 00:17:03.858 The last question is, one thing that a principal can do this week to be a transformative principal like you? 00:17:04.152 --> 00:17:06.252 Bonnie: Wow, that's a big question. 00:17:06.722 --> 00:17:15.852 I think they should reach out to someone who they trust and ask them for perspective or advice. 00:17:15.942 --> 00:17:20.202 It helped me a lot, and it doesn't have to be your fellow principal. 00:17:20.202 --> 00:17:31.412 I think you can just ask anyone, even if it's just a student, "How are you doing? doing?" And just so that they can build that empathetic muscle, and I think that helped me a lot. 00:17:31.442 --> 00:17:38.052 And I hear their stories or their stressors, and I think, my life is pretty good." 00:17:38.242 --> 00:17:38.332 Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. 00:17:38.432 --> 00:17:43.632 Bonnie: People are generally nice- because educators, right? 00:17:44.032 --> 00:18:00.042 So I say connect with someone, build community, and just enjoy the stories so that you can be assured there that what you're doing is having a positive impact. 00:18:00.228 --> 00:18:00.588 Jethro D. Jones: Yeah. 00:18:00.778 --> 00:18:01.348 Very good. 00:18:01.708 --> 00:18:04.498 Kip, thank you so much for being part of Transformative Principal Day. 00:18:04.748 --> 00:18:04.922 Bonnie: Today. 00:18:04.922 --> 00:18:06.712 Thank you so much for having me. 00:18:07.218 --> 00:18:07.278 Jethro D. Jones: you so much for having me. 00:18:07.278 --> 00:18:07.288 Yep