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The tools you need to build a responsive organization
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We have collected and designed resources to help you test and implement The NEW School Rules in your organization. Use the experiments, workouts, case studies, and content below to develop new practices for you and your teams.
As we wrote The NEW School Rules we wanted to not only think differently about the how schools and districts operate, but also the way readers interact with the rules. Many “how to” books include recommended activities or guiding principles, but these often require a big lift to get started. We wanted to ensure the lessons in this book drove readers toward action. The NEW School Rules includes two types of activities you can use right away to engage with our school rules: experiments and workouts.
- Experiments: The NEW School Rules book includes “experiments” at the end of each chapter to help you try out the rules in small ways. These experiments are helpful when you have a hypothesis you want to test (e.g. I think reworking our instructional team structure will lead to better collaboration across the team). Experiments are meant to be used as a starting point for making a change on your team or across your organization. Please purchase The NEW School Rules to access the experiments today.
- Workouts: The NEW School Rules website includes workouts for each rule. Workouts are activities that help you build a new muscle for implementing the rules. Research shows that it takes repeated practice to develop a new habit or skill. Practicing something repeatedly actually changes the wiring of your brain and supports the growth of new neurons. We have designed these workouts as activities you can use repeatedly, on your own or with your team, to develop the flexibility and stamina for new skills. You should use our workouts once you know what problem you’re trying to solve (e.g. I know I need to rethink roles and accountabilities on my leadership and want to practice doing this). Click on the links below to access our workouts.
Looking for a resource we don’t have below? Have a resource you want to share? Email us at nsr@edelements.com to connect and collaborate.
Workouts
Planning Workout #1A
This workout focuses on Rule #1: Plan for Change, Not Perfection. It helps you build skills to be a better planner and to plan using what is known, what is anticipated, and what needs more data.
Teaming Workout #2A
This workout helps you dive deeper into Rule #2: Build Trust and Allow Authority to Spread. This workout helps you practice building trust through clarifying project ownership and responsibilities.
Managing Roles Workout #3A
This workout helps you build skills for Rule #3: Define the Work Before You Define the People. It helps you practice regrouping roles and accountabilities, a key element for reimagining how work happens.
Decision Making Workout #4A
This workout focuses on Rule #4: Aim for “Safe Enough to Try” versus Consensus. In this workout you will build skills to take ideas that you might have said “won’t work” and make them safe enough to try.
Sharing Information Workout #5A
This workout supports Rule #5: Harness the Flow and Let Information Go. This workout will help you take messages and chunk them into small, medium, and large pieces based on effort and expiration.
Learning Organization Workout #6B
This workout focuses on Rule #6: Schools Grow When People Grow. This workout helps you focus on learning a new skill and reflecting on the successes and challenges of the learning process.
Planning Workout #1B
This workout focuses on Rule #1: Plan for Change, Not Perfection. It helps you build skills to be a better planner and to develop plans that have the flexibility to allow for learning and iteration.
Teaming Workout #2B
This workout helps you dive deeper into Rule #2: Build Trust and Allow Authority to Spread. This workout helps you practice redistributing authority to the teams and individuals closest to each decision.
Experiments
Experiment #4: Team Meeting Protocol
This experiment helps you test hypotheses related to teaming and how you build trust and let authority spread. Through this experiment you can apply a new meeting protocol to change the way your team comes together and collaborates.
Experiment #10: Default to Yes and Defend No
This experiment helps you test hypotheses related to decision-making and aim for “safe enough to try.” Through this experiment you can test new ways to “default to yes and defend no” one decision at a time.
Book Study
Chapter #1 Planning
The first chapter of The NEW School Rules explores Rule #1: Plan for Change, Not Perfection. This chapter includes an overview of the Planning rule, a district case study, experiments you can try, and look-fors related to the rule.
Study Guide
This guide will help you and your team to reflect, share and synthesize your learnings from The NEW School Rules. Begin to change your culture and shift mindsets towards responsiveness.
Self Strengths Audit
This tool will help you and your team to gauge your current practice for The New School Rules. Each rule includes a reflection on at least one core mindset and skillset for that practice
Tools
Tactical Meeting Guide
Tactical meetings are project or team meetings focused on moving the work forward. This Tactical Meeting Guide should help you have everything you need to run a tactical meeting in one easy to download and easy to share pdf.
Check-in Check-out Questions
This toolbox provides you with a simple check-in check-out process to begin shifting the habits and culture of your meetings. It is designed to support you and your teams in leading check-ins and outs to increase engagement and focus in your meetings.
Podcasts
Meet Anthony and Alexis
In this short interview hear Anthony and Alexis introduce themselves, summarize The NEW School Rules, and explain why it’s most relevant now.
TL Talk Radio
On this Podcast, Anthony speaks with Lynn Fuini-Hetten and Randy Ziegenfuss from TL Talk Radio about the PL Playbook and reasons for writing The NEW School Rules.
The Principal Center Podcast
On this Podcast, Anthony is interviewed by Justin Baeder Director of The Principal Center about how schools and district organizations can be more effective and impactful.
KSUiTeach Radio
On this podcast, Anthony was interviewed about his new book, The NEW School Rules. He also talked about Learner Voice as an essential condition for personalized learning and how teachers can begin to incorporate learner voice in their classrooms.
In this episode, host Brian LeTendre welcomes Anthony Kim to discuss his new book The New School Rules. They discuss how schools and districts must change from an organizational standpoint in order to have a truly successful personalized learning model.
Revolutionizing Education
In this episode, we are hosted by Robin Peter Zander to discuss our new book The New School Rules: 6 Vital Practices for Thriving and Responsive Schools, how we can make an impact in education and how can students and schools thrive in this 21st Century.
Elements of Change Episode #1
In this inaugural episode, we sit down with our own Anthony Kim, founder, and CEO of Ed Elements, to discuss his new book with co-author Alexis Gonzalez-Black, The NEW School Rules: 6 Vital Practices for Thriving and Responsive Schools. In this episode, Anthony talks about his experiences working with talented leaders who find themselves struggling to optimize their team’s potential.
Elements of Change Episode #2
In this episode, we connect with Alexis Gonzales-Black, co-author of The NEW School Rules: 6 Vital Practices for Thriving and Responsive Schools, who describes her experience adopting a distributed management system at Zappos and provides tips for getting started at your own school or district, bolstering culture and employee satisfaction, and minimizing wasted work hours.
Education’s Lastest Secret Trend: Networking
Ed Elements CEO Anthony Kim, who works with hundreds of educations throughout the U.S., wrote “The New School Rules: 6 Vital Practices for Thriving and Responsive Schools” with Alexis Gonzales-Black. As Kim worked with school leaders, he realized that what typically drives success or failure of efforts to improve school is not the educational approach but instead “the culture of our schools, organizational structures and methods of communication and decision making.”
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I learn more about The NEW School Rules?
We’d love to connect with you to share more about the NEW School Rules and how they might support you and your organization. Email us at nsr@edelements.com to connect, or complete the form below.
Where can I buy the book?
The NEW School Rules is available on Amazon and can also be ordered through the Education Elements team by contacting us at nsr@edelements.com.
How can I bring someone to present at my organization?
We’d love to help facilitate a workshop or deliver a keynote to your organization. Check out our Partner With Us page for more information on our speakers and how to book them.
Which rule should I start with?
Use our quiz and our responsive roadmap to help you identify which rule might be best for you or your organization to start with.