SamTastic Weekly Tip: 3/31/25 - Try a Wellness Check

This week’s tip: Try a Wellness Check

Try a wellness check on yourself this morning. 

• "What did I do last week make that makes me happy today?" Recognize small wins for yourself.  Recognize small wins for others.

• "How can I be kinder to myself in this moment?  How can I be kinder to others?”  Can you try this?

•  "What's one thing I can let go of that’s not serving me?" Can you identify one thing a First Responder could do for you that you have on your   TimeTrack for today? 

• "What brings me joy, and how can I incorporate more of it into my life and school?"

The SAM Daily Meeting starts off with a celebration question.  Why?  Because SAM teams know that building a school culture that benefits students happens one intentional act at a time. 

Many SAM leaders use wellness questions in meetings.  This takes “ice breakers” to a new level.  The University of Utah’s Resiliency Center suggests using wellness prompts in meetings to help reconnect to purpose, be more present, focused and engaged. Take a look at their one-page facilitator’s guide: https://bit.ly/3RsB6cp

Want to feel better faster today?  Read the responses, below, from your SAM team colleagues from across the country to this question: What did you enjoy most about your work this week or last?

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It is budget time in most schools and districts.  Be sure to budget for your SAM services for the 2025-26 school year.  You can request an invoice now by using this link:  https://bit.ly/40GtA33

What did you enjoy the most about your work this week or last?

·       We had a positive Data Day and focused on what solutions we could do rather than those out of our control!

·       I enjoyed working with our collaborative team.

·       My senior review conferences. Student and parents happy and crying finding out that their child is graduating.

·       I was able to get Picture Day behind us and finished early!

·       Student growth, happiness, and cooperation

·       We had a pie in the face event for pi day and I enjoyed watching some of my more “harder” students being the children that truly are.

·       It was a busy week, but I was able to go home knowing that it was also one of my most productive!

·       I attended that FCCLA State Conference to celebrate a student and got to see our students enjoying the opening session.

·       everything

·       I successfully planned an event for students and parents

·       Analyzing data with the ILT and seeing the growth of our students

·       Staff retreat

·       My SAMs Coach Travis Mackey, has supported me with finding time in my work day to do about 15-20 mins. of professional reading once a week, the goal is to increase this  practice to about 2 - 3 times a week.  This reading has supported my goals.

·       Great conversation with a student who has been having some difficulties in classes

·       Positive principal phone calls...talking with students and families about the great things happening!

·       Pouring knowledge, love and wisdom into the next generation. I love the kids!!

·       Planning for the coming school year

·       Seeing our staff work hard for students all the way up to the last bell before Spring Break!

·       Having some time to get planning for Spring testing done. (If there are extra copies of "Positive Chaos," I would love a copy of that as well. I was torn between that and "What Great Leaders Do Differently." :) Thanks!

·       Celebrating our amazing team!!

·       I was able to deliver my monthly message to our School Leaders last week that left them happy and energized.

·       This week, I genuinely enjoyed witnessing our students' enthusiasm during the iReady Weekly Contest as they engaged with their lessons in ELA and Math. It was inspiring to see teachers collaborating and supporting one another to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed. Additionally, the positive energy during our class visits reminded me of the incredible dedication our staff has toward fostering a nurturing learning environment for all our students at PS 192.

·       It was right before Spring break!

·       The positive staff culture

·       I enjoyed watching children at recess and in class learning and growing together. I even had a chance to learn one of the TikTok dances on teach me Tuesday.

·       I enjoyed seeing our teacher's growth across classrooms- it's sticking and I'm so proud.

·       Even being knee-deep in the March Madness season, I still had over 60% instruction on one of my days!

·       I was able to visit two AVID schools (KC & STL) in the midst of summative season thanks to strategic scheduling!

·       Working with students on Science Fair! 

·       Friday my instructional leadership time was crushing it at 84%

·       I have enjoyed having time to visit with students and the warmer weather has been wonderful.

·       Connecting with families and celebrating students during our recent Family Conferences. There was such great, positive energy in the building!

·       I enjoyed the consistent problem solving. I'd be bored without it!

·       This week I'm on Spring Break. I am relaxing.

·       Collaborating with teachers to develop impactful professional development.

·       Spring break! I’m actually taking the week off to  unplug and be with my family! Thank you for the book!

·       I’ve hired three new promising teachers that I’m excited about!

·       Examining data

·       Being able to get into classrooms more due to more structured time management thanks to my SAM.

·       Clarifying my role and the visualization of where I spend my time (with students!).

·       Celebrating our students with a school family event related to play as a form of learning!

·       Working with my principal as her SAM, as well as working with our SAMS Time Change Coach, Dawn DiNatale, and my own SAM. We are a fabulous foursome!

·       Looking ahead to professional development and scheduling Ken Williams to come to speak with our staff!!!

·       Building capacity and sustainability of my staff to meet the needs of our students, families, and communities. 

·       Watching the excitement in both staff and students in the growth the students are making.

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 3/24/25 - Speak Effectively

This week’s tip: Speak Effectively

I was skeptical when I heard of a Texas lawyer giving conversation tips on TikTok from the front seat of his pickup truck.  Then, I took a look and realized Jefferson Fisher is not just charismatic and engaging.  His content is valuable, applicable and relevant.

89 years ago, Dale Carnegie’s thirty principles became the gold standard for effective communication.  Most every author and self-help guru since has used the same common-sense ideas Carnegie shared in How to Win Friends and Influence People.  Jefferson Fisher uses the same principles, storytelling and common-sense approach.   What makes him different is a highly engaging, short and entertaining delivery that fits 2025. 

Click on the screen to see this 12-minute clip, Three Communication Truths That Will Change Every Conversation 

Never set out to win an argument.  Instead, see the argument as something to unravel, not   tighten.  Locate the knot.  Work to connect with the person.

Have something to learn.  Not something to prove.  The harder you push to convince a person they are wrong the worse it gets.  Their position is tied to their identity. 

The person you see is not the person you are talking to.  There are always things you don’t know.  Be curious.  Work to understand what you don’t know.

Julia Bozonne, New York Times, wrote an excellent article in Q&A format about Fisher.  I particularly liked how Fisher explains how to create and use a frame when a conversation might be challenging:

“There’s something called a frame that everyone could benefit from. Number one, you tell the person the issue you want to talk about. Two, you say how you want to feel after the conversation. That’s very important because you’re inserting the goal. Now I know what you want to talk about. I know the conversation is going to be done when this goal has been achieved. And three, you get their buy-in into the frame.

This is what it might sound like in a relationship setting: “I’d like to talk with you about our budget this week and I want to walk away feeling like you and I are on the same page. Can we do that?” Once they say yes, it’s this invisible contract. Now they know exactly what you’re going to talk about. You allow yourself to go very deep on one single issue, rather than just skimming the surface on a whole bunch of touch points.”

You can read the New York Times article below.  Jefferson Fisher’s website address is:  https://www.jeffersonfisher.com/  You can see more of Fisher here: Watch on TikTok 

Use this link to see Carnegie’s Thirty Principles in printable SAM poster format:  https://bit.ly/4hCV0we

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It is budget time in most schools and districts.  Be sure to budget for your SAM services for the 2025-26 school year.  You can request an invoice now by using this link:  https://bit.ly/40GtA33

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Navigating Conflict? This Texas Trial Lawyer Has the Right Words.

By Julia Bozzone

March 13, 2025

Jefferson Fisher has built a reputation on social media for teaching people how to tackle tough conversations with confidence.

The Texas trial lawyer Jefferson Fisher skyrocketed to social media fame, amassing more than 5 million Instagram followers with his viral “How to Argue Like a Lawyer” video series, offering practical communication tips.

Jefferson Fisher, a Texas trial lawyer, didn’t set out to become an internet sage. In early 2022, to raise the profile for the law firm he had just founded in Silsbee, Texas, Mr. Fisher began posting videos to social media in which he delivered succinct, down-to-earth communication advice as he sat in his parked pickup truck.

To his astonishment, one video in his “How to Argue Like a Lawyer” series went viral on TikTok, racking up more than a million views one day after he posted it, and Mr. Fisher reached 500,000 followers on Instagram by the year’s end. By the following summer, his popularity had soared into another stratosphere, and he quadrupled his Instagram following. Last July, he launched his self-titled podcast, a surprisingly practical and concise show. In the first season, episodes ran about 14 minutes.

Buoyed by his endearing accent and affable presence, the fifth-generation trial lawyer has built a reputation for teaching people how to take on tough conversations with confidence. He now has 5.8 million Instagram followers and his videos across social media platforms have been played more than half a billion times.

Mr. Fisher, 36, who lives in the small Texas town where he grew up, with his wife, also a lawyer, and two children, offered communication tips for couples, including how to discuss topics that can’t be easily reconciled. (One lesson he and his wife model for their children? “Yelling does not improve the logic of the position — you can be just as persuasive without shouting.”)

Speaking from his home studio, he also touched on his ascent and gave his theory for why his techniques are relevant to a modern audience. His first book, “The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More,” comes out on March 18.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Tell me about the scaffolding that people should have around a hard conversation.

Most people don’t have a goal for what they want in the conversation, so the other person is just kind of guessing. They begin their conversation with something like, “Hey, remember how …? And the other person is like, “OK, where is your point?” And it builds anxiety, that fear of “I don’t know where this is going.”

There’s something called a frame that everyone could benefit from. Number one, you tell the person the issue you want to talk about. Two, you say how you want to feel after the conversation. That’s very important because you’re inserting the goal. Now I know what you want to talk about. I know the conversation is going to be done when this goal has been achieved. And three, you get their buy-in into the frame.

This is what it might sound like in a relationship setting: “I’d like to talk with you about our budget this week and I want to walk away feeling like you and I are on the same page. Can we do that?” Once they say yes, it’s this invisible contract. Now they know exactly what you’re going to talk about. You allow yourself to go very deep on one single issue, rather than just skimming the surface on a whole bunch of touch points.

How can you get your significant other to acknowledge and understand what you’re saying?

I could tell you something right here: If you never gave me any indication that you heard me, I feel like my message is lost. You and I won’t connect.

Or if I acknowledge you, but I didn’t really understand it — I just say, “ “Yeah, that’s crazy” — there’s still not that connection there. You need to prime the conversation with simple things like “I’d like to talk with you about something important to me. I just need to be heard.” In my own life with my wife, she’s wonderful at saying, “I need to say this out loud. I don’t need you to fix it — I just need to externally process this.” That keeps me from trying to be the doctor and come in and fix everything. But sometimes it’s just, “I’m going to say this so I feel heard, and I would love to hear you acknowledge that you heard it.”

I tried this with my husband. He was upset about something. Usually I would be like, “Not now. I don’t have the time.” And I said to him, “I acknowledge what you’re going through …”

Yes!

And, “Do we have to talk about this right now?” He’s very fiery, and he actually said to me, “No, we don’t have to talk about this right now. I just wanted you to acknowledge it.”

I’m telling you, that’s it! What I like to do is very similar. I’ll ask the question, “Is this something we have to agree on?” And if it is, usually the second question is “Is this something we have to agree on right now?” Or you just use that one first.

How do you have a productive conversation about a big issue on which you and your partner don’t necessarily see eye to eye?

The first mistake is thinking that the first conversation will be the last conversation. You need to treat the first conversation almost as if you’re priming for the second conversation and the third one and the fourth one. The bigger the issue, the more conversations that are needed.

You treat that first conversation as nothing but an information-gathering and positioning session, so that means starting the conversation with “You don’t need to agree with me.” You say: “I’m not asking you to agree with anything. I’m not asking for us to come to a decision. I want you to hear my point of view. And most importantly, I’d love to hear your point of view.” And then nobody’s arguing, because now there’s not a time constraint.

Why do you think your videos and podcasts have resonated with people so profoundly?

I believe they’ve resonated because there is a hunger and a demand for people to be able to talk again. My tips are very short and they’re about topics that everybody deals with. The way that I deliver them inspires them to feel like “I can do this.”

What do you think is behind the cultural obsession with having the “exact phrase” for a given situation?

There’s been such a long period of time where we’ve relied on transmission of texts and emails that there’s some sense of community that’s been lost. We used to get information around the courthouse square. Those don’t exist. We used to all go to malls and see people. Those are starting to fade away. We’ve gone to online shopping, and now I don’t even want to go to the grocery store. Our human interactions have narrowed significantly, which presents problems. We’re humans, we’re meant to connect and talk to other humans.

How did you adjust to fame?

I don’t know about that “f” word. But truth be told, it was actually very lonely — because nobody in my world could relate. Somewhere in L.A., everybody’s got bajillions of followers. My little town in East Texas? Ain’t nobody got that. I got introduced to anxiety, met that guy, this anxiety guy about a year ago, and that’s been different. Thankfully, I have a wife who is very patient, a family that’s very forgiving, and so, every day I’m trying to learn a little bit more at a time. It took me a little while, but I’ve made friends in this space and that’s been really comforting — to have people that know what’s going on and know what it’s like, because Lord knows I did not.

SamTastic Weekly Tip: 3/17/25 - Celebrate your Success and Plan Your Next Steps

This week’s tip: Celebrate your Success and Plan Your Next Steps

Your Time Change Coach will be meeting with you soon to complete the annual SAM process performance rubric.  This is done in an hour-long SAM Daily Meeting, facilitated by your coach, in April or the first two weeks of May.

Last year TimeTrack users gave the annual assessment session very high marks.  The joy of combining celebration of success with plans for next steps was the most common comment.

Here are two comments from last year’s assessment:

The process is great. I like having a SAM and a coach to help us leverage TimeTrack. I am more intentional about having to think about things and planning ahead to meet the needs of the schools I serve. That reflection with the SAM is key! It is great to have that time to think about what I am doing. I want to thank my SAM! You can talk through things and get them planned out.

The daily meeting is critical to holding me accountable. The cadence of the daily meeting is absolutely essential to better outcomes for kids. It also helps us to track our progress by reviewing data. Leslie knows that helping me be accountable will keep me on track at not taking on tasks that are not mine to do, which would keep me from the important work of participating with teachers weekly in planning, maintaining my observation schedule, and planning feedback.

When you examine the rubric, you’ll see it starts with the basic elements of the SAM process: scheduling in advance, at/above goal, use of First Responders, use of time data and the SAM Daily Meeting.  It then moves forward to consider the impact on teacher practice and student learning.  One SAM shared what she learned last year during the assessment:

If we don’t do the SAM process basics, we don’t have the data to connect our work with improved teacher practice.  The SAM Daily Meeting must go beyond scheduling at/above goal and follow-up sessions.  I must use the data daily…share a chart of the work my principal has done with a teacher and ask if the teacher is getting better…and if not, what next?

You can access the rubrics by clicking the orange logo, upper left on your TimeTrack and selecting Written Tools for SAM teams.

Note: It is budget time in most schools and districts.  Be sure to budget for your SAM services for the 2025-26 school year.  You can request an invoice now by using this link:  https://bit.ly/40GtA33

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• Leading Successfully When Viewpoints Differ: A Set of 20-Minute Tools   https://bit.ly/NSIP_Toolkit   You are welcome to share the link with colleagues and friends.