On this episode of the Innovative Schools podcast, we're sitting down with Steve Bowler to talk about climate and culture, define what those things mean, and give you guys five ideas on how to increase and maintain climate and culture. Come on. Let's learn together. Hey, everybody. Welcome to this episode of the Innovative Schools podcast.
Jordan Bassett:Jordan here today. So we got someone here on this episode who I really look up to. That's gonna be a joke you'll get later. That I think is an amazing person. We've done AccuEds with them.
Jordan Bassett:He's been at our innovative school summits. And it's someone who really gets this whole big idea of climate and culture. So we're gonna get into a conversation with Steve Baller. Steve, welcome to the podcast, buddy.
Steve Bollar:Hey. Hey, man. Thanks so much. This is exciting. I I I have a a great history with you guys, and to have the opportunity to be with you now, it just kinda it's what it needs to be.
Steve Bollar:I love it.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. It's gonna it's it's awesome. I did hear real quick before we get into it. You're really close to someone else we had on the podcast, Cara and Megan. We had on in season one.
Jordan Bassett:I heard though that there was a little jealousy that they got to be on the podcast first before you. You
Steve Bollar:know what? Yes. She she it's it they are very, very happy that they gotta be on a podcast before me. They remind me quite a bit about that. As they should.
Steve Bollar:Although, I but I will say this. Their very first podcast that they've ever been on was my podcast. So, yes, have a good time. Enjoy being on the AccuEd podcast first, but I was the one that brought you into the fold. So there you go.
Jordan Bassett:There we go. There you go. That's awesome. And you do you do have your own podcast. What's that podcast about?
Steve Bollar:It's all about school culture and climate. Actually called the School Culture and Climate Show. And me and Megan are on that together. I brought her in that way we have some banter. She gives the teacher perspective.
Steve Bollar:I give the administrative perspective of culture and climate. And we not only just share ideas and thoughts, we do a little teaching to help people understand how to make their environments in their schools so much better.
Jordan Bassett:That's wonderful. This was not planned to promote, but I just love helping teachers know about more resources. And so Yeah. I thought that was kinda natural to just kinda talk about that for a minute. But today, our podcast is gonna be on climate and culture, and we're talking about climate and to start this whole conversation about climate and culture, I think it's important for us to start at the definitions of climate and culture.
Jordan Bassett:I feel like there's a lot of kind of things that are said and go around. But for this conversation, how do you define climate and culture?
Steve Bollar:Alright. Hey. First of all, that's the best way to start this because a lot of times in schools and organizations and companies and and everything, they blend climate and culture together. Oh, we have to improve the climate and culture. Oh, we love our climate and culture.
Steve Bollar:We need they are they are two different things. They help and they work with each other. They feed each other. But you need to understand what each one of those are. So, let's start with climate.
Steve Bollar:Climate. Climate is the emotional state people feel when they enter a space. The emotional state people feel when they enter a space. So when you go into a space, you go somewhere, you feel something. We're humans.
Steve Bollar:We have we're emotional creatures. That's why outside the weather, they call it climate. When you're outside, you feel physically feel the climate and you have an emotional reaction to that. Yeah. Same thing in schools.
Steve Bollar:Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:The wind or if it's raining
Steve Bollar:or Exactly. You literally feel it. You that. So therefore, us being emotional creatures, we react to that. Same thing when it works to talk about in your classroom, in your building, in your district, in your organizations.
Steve Bollar:Alright? You walk into a building, and I'm sure people have walked into school buildings. The second you walk in, you can feel something about that building. It's negative. It's positive.
Steve Bollar:It's whatever it might be. You can walk into one classroom. Kids are quiet, but it feels negative. You go to right next door. You walk in.
Steve Bollar:Kids are quiet, but it feels happy. That's climate. And climate fluctuates. It changes. Right?
Steve Bollar:It changes week to week, month to month, sometimes minute to minute. It's like if you're outside. You're outside.
Jordan Bassett:Just just like real weather. It's sunny one minute and huge storm the next.
Steve Bollar:Yes. Per perfect example. You're out about somewhere. It's a beautiful sunny day. A cloud comes over and covers up the sun just for a moment.
Steve Bollar:Oh, well, what's going on? Right? It's the emotional state people feel when they're in a space. Yeah. Same thing there.
Steve Bollar:Okay. So that's climate. So let's talk about culture. Alright. Culture to me is nothing more than a fancy word for traditions.
Steve Bollar:That's what culture really is. Culture is a culmination of things that are done, actions that happen again and again and again and again. Alright? Perfect example. Let's say you go on a trip.
Steve Bollar:You're going on a trip, and we're gonna go to another country. You get excited. Oh, I can't wait to be immersed in the culture of that country. Basically, you're getting immersed into the things that they do over and over and over and over again. Right?
Steve Bollar:Mhmm. It's the things that they've gravitated to, and they do again and again. Same thing again in a classroom, in a building, in a district, in an organization. What are the things that you do over and over and over and over again? And a lot of those things that are happening consistently over and over and again, they they they they highlight what it is that you respect and value.
Steve Bollar:We'll talk a little bit later more about the the the importance of identifying what you respect and value.
Jordan Bassett:Sure.
Steve Bollar:So these things that you do over and over and over again create the culture. And then because of those actions that are done over and over and over again, you have an emotional reaction to those things that creates the climate, the feelings that you have. So those are the two differences between climate and culture.
Jordan Bassett:Okay. So climate being the things that you feel, culture, you're saying is kind of the that do. Traditions and the things Yes. That you So going into just climate for a minute, I think we can all, like, visualize or we can, we've had this experience, like you're saying, of, going into a classroom or going into a school Mhmm. And you can kind of feel that climate right off the bat.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. What are things that you think just not necessarily in what people are saying or doing or well, maybe. I don't know. What are the things that you notice the most going into schools? Because you go around Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:Speaking at different schools and trying to help people with their climate and culture. When you walk into a school, what are the things that you noticed first that indicate to you what the climate of that school is
Steve Bollar:Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:Absolutely. Or that classroom?
Steve Bollar:Yeah. Absolutely. So, again, I go in and out of a lot of different schools. Alright? Mhmm.
Steve Bollar:Schools have security. Alright? You gotta have security. When you ring that bell and you're trying to get into the school, somebody comes on to the microphone and they say something. Hello?
Steve Bollar:Yes. Can I help you? Or, Yeah? Hello? Can I help you?
Steve Bollar:Alright. You just got two different feelings based off of what I said.
Jordan Bassett:Same words, different meanings.
Steve Bollar:Same words, different meaning. And I and I know the secretary or the the office clerk or the security or whoever is it that sets the tone Mhmm. Of what it is is then you walk into the main building. Alright? You walk into the main building, you see the big atrium or the foyer or the hallway.
Steve Bollar:Are there pictures of kids? Is it bright and happy? Now granted, some buildings are built how they're built. Maybe it's dark. Yeah.
Steve Bollar:But what are you doing in there to set? That's the environment. Alright? And it goes to culture because what is it that you're routinely doing? The environment, how you design it, how you look at that space is part of culture because it's continually happening over and over again.
Steve Bollar:When you go into the main office, how are they greeting you? What is it like? Now I get it. Some things aren't always wonderful and great and personal, but that's another piece you can feel that. The main office usually is the hub of the culture throughout the school.
Steve Bollar:And same thing if you go into a classroom. How are you greeted? How are you coming in? What is the feelings in the hallways? Because there's a lot of microcultures in a school that lead to that climate.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. My daughter's school in specific specifically, it's a newer school. They just rebuilt it. But we had parent teacher conferences a couple weeks ago, and it kinda just blows my mind between my schooling and my kids' schooling how different things are. I don't they have fluorescent lights in the ceiling, but I don't think any classroom has them on.
Jordan Bassett:Think every class has their own kind of lighting. Mhmm. There's stuff all over the walls. I remember my my elementary school she's in third grade. My elementary school felt I love my elementary school.
Jordan Bassett:It felt a little like a prison.
Steve Bollar:It did. I was waiting for that word. I was waiting for that word. So many people say that.
Jordan Bassett:The cinder block walls Yeah. The razor wire in the door Yeah. Windows. Yep. I think my teachers did the best that they could.
Steve Bollar:They could. Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:But it is it is so I'm very thankful for that. Very thankful that we get to when I walk into that classroom for my my daughter, and it it's happened every year. We've been there. Mhmm. I can tell that those teachers care about my daughter.
Jordan Bassett:I can tell that they care about every kid in that classroom. Yeah. They want them to learn. It's not just, you know, the motivational posters of a cat hanging on the rope, like, hanging there. But Right.
Jordan Bassett:Right. It's it's it's
Steve Bollar:things the kids' work. It's it's Yes. Bright colors. It is having the kids' names up on the wall for different reasons. And it it it absolutely.
Steve Bollar:I don't get I always say school's got a great deal on gray and beige paint.
Jordan Bassett:Yes.
Steve Bollar:And I know and it's like they just slather it everywhere, and then the teachers are trying to do the best that they can. And here's the sad thing. The higher up in the grades you get, the less that you see this. Yeah. And you get this this notion in some high schools where it's like, well, hey, I'm not here to to to decorate a room.
Steve Bollar:I'm here to teach the kids. Well, that's part of it. Mhmm. That's part of it. You know?
Steve Bollar:So you're you're hoping for these things. You want these things to happen, but the environment, that's a big piece of it as well. That environment is a big piece of it as well.
Jordan Bassett:Okay. So, Steve, you're saying that climate when they walk into school, we talked about kinda how you know what the climate is when you first walk into a school. What about culture? How do you know what the culture of that school is within your first few steps in a school?
Steve Bollar:You have to go in and start looking at how people are behaving, looking at how people move. For example, let's say you go into a school and it is the bell has rung. Students are starting to move between classes. All right. Whether it's a high school or an elementary school, middle school, whatever it is.
Steve Bollar:You can see some of that culture just by the movement in the hallway. How do students regularly move through the hallway? Right? What are they doing? Are they pushing and shoving?
Steve Bollar:Are they moving nicely? Are there teachers out there? Alright. Are there staff out there? And even if they're out there, are they interacting with students or not?
Steve Bollar:You you you can see the culture. Those are the routines that happen consistently because things that happen consistently in routine, people slide into those. They do them on a regular basis. So you can watch the culture. Go to a football game.
Steve Bollar:Watch how they run a good game. If you're coming into a school and you're coming in to have a meeting, maybe you're a parent, you want to go to an IEP meeting or you're coming in from another building to a meeting, see how they run their meetings. That's culture. How they how people interact with each other. Right?
Steve Bollar:How do they talk to each other? Do they talk to each other nicely? Do they talk to each other rude? So there's one thing with how they're calling you when you're coming into the building. You can feel the But climate right let's say you're in the office, you're waiting by the main main desk, A couple of students come in.
Steve Bollar:How are they addressing those students who are coming into the main office? Alright. How that's culture. That's the routines that are happening because routines are basically traditions. So that's how you can kinda see and feel.
Steve Bollar:You go into a classroom. What is the processes and the procedures that support what you respect and value? That's how you can find out the culture.
Jordan Bassett:Got it. Got it. Yeah. So just observing that's more of the relation side, I would say, is how they're interacting with each other, student to to teacher, teacher to student, student to administrator, administrator to teach, all those different
Steve Bollar:All those interactions.
Jordan Bassett:Yes. Yeah.
Steve Bollar:How how how do they run? And that will tell you the continual culture that is being created in that school.
Jordan Bassett:Sure. What this just makes me think of, you know, I think of as we're we work on the podcast or whatever projects we're working on. Sometimes it's hard for me to see what the climate and culture is because I'm in it. Right?
Steve Bollar:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:I I wanna lead it. I wanna make changes. I wanna, you know, make sure that it's a healthy, happy, productive place. What what do you think is needed? Or like, how does an administrator or even a classroom teacher, how do they get out of seeing what they always see, I guess?
Jordan Bassett:And how do they step out so that they can see from an outsider's perspective? Because I think sometimes we get comfortable, and we think the culture's fine because it's known. It may not be the best culture. It may not be the best climate, but it's known. And so we get comfortable with it.
Jordan Bassett:How how do educators, do teachers, how do leaders in the school, how do they step out of that to be able to observe better what the school what the climate and culture is? Because I think to to make changes, you have to kinda know where you are to start with.
Steve Bollar:So You have to know what the beginning
Jordan Bassett:is about. That's a very long way to ask my question. Yeah. But I I hope you understand what I'm trying to get at.
Steve Bollar:I get exactly where you are because people are, in general, we're creatures of habit. Right? We like a routine. We like things to be Creatures
Jordan Bassett:of comfort and habit.
Steve Bollar:We are. Even if that comfort and habit is negative. And in schools, lot of times, it's almost expected to be not the greatest. So that's that's part of the issue is that in in so many different schools, they're just like, well, this is just the way that it is. You gotta Yeah.
Steve Bollar:Slide on into this. You know? So there's a problem right there. So in order to step out and to see it, you have to start examining how you are feeling. Right?
Steve Bollar:You're are you are you getting comfortable with feeling not seen? Are you comfortable with negativity all around you? Are you comfortable with rudeness? Because every now and then you see on TV or there's a documentary or you read something or you find out about some school somewhere, that's an amazing environment and kids are flourishing. And some people say, well, that's not here.
Steve Bollar:No, no, no, no, no, no. It's possible. It is absolutely 100% possible anywhere and everywhere. So as far as going to your question, how do you step back and look at that? You have to look at the emotions of the people that are around you and your own emotions.
Steve Bollar:And you're identifying what it is that those emotions that are not good, what can we do to prevent those emotions from being not good? This goes back to clearly identifying what everyone collectively respects and values. Because values, the things that you value, that is the anchor to leading you to moving in certain behaviors and actions. All right. Values are a set of beliefs, values and actions that that you are using to guide your decisions.
Steve Bollar:So let's say that let's start it at the classroom level. All right. Just a class. We're not even talking building wide. All right.
Steve Bollar:Just your own individual classroom, climate and culture. As the leader in that classroom, the teacher is the leader in that classroom, you need to identify what is it that I, as the leader, respect and value in a classroom? What do I respect and value? And think that through. What one, two, three words that you respect and value.
Steve Bollar:I respect and value teamwork. I respect and value accountability. I respect and value integrity. Okay. You being the leader, you do that.
Steve Bollar:So let's say you have a middle school or a high school group. You have three words that you've identified. Then you go to the kids, hey, give me one more word that we all respect and value. That way you get buy in. Now, what you're going to do is you're going to try to find you're going to find as many opportunities to showcase what it is that you respect and value in that classroom again and again and again and again.
Steve Bollar:Challenge the students to showcase it. You showcase it. Point it out as often as you can. Recognize the kids when they do it. And the more that you do that over and over and over again and the kids realize this is the new norm, that turns into a tradition and that turns into the culture and then it starts improving that environment.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That sounds a lot like a book I read, called, Know Your Why. I don't remember the author right now.
Jordan Bassett:But, he poses this question of what are you known for, and what do you want to be known for. Mhmm. And so bringing it down to what you're saying of what you respect and value and finding the gap between that of, like, this is what I wanna be known for. I wanna be known for, teaching kids. What were the things that you said?
Jordan Bassett:You kinda threw stuff out there. Sorry. I don't remember exactly.
Steve Bollar:Teamwork and integrity, accountability, whatever.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. I want my classroom to be known for those things. Mhmm. And then asking, are they known for those things?
Steve Bollar:Right.
Jordan Bassett:And then then not to be mean to yourself, but saying, okay. There is a gap, and I need
Steve Bollar:to fix
Jordan Bassett:that. Maybe there's not a gap. Mhmm. But evaluating where you are on Right. You know, those things.
Jordan Bassett:I think that's that's a great thing for any of us to be doing. Whether you're an administrator, it's like, hey. This is what I want my school to be known for. If you're a classroom, this is what I want my classroom. This is what I want my students to be known for Yes.
Jordan Bassett:And working towards those goals. Mhmm.
Steve Bollar:It takes a little bit of reflection. They have to take the time to reflect. A lot of times we go on autopilot, and we're just going. Give the instruction. We're doing it.
Steve Bollar:You gotta take time to reflect on those things and then do some implementation. Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:It's like sports. I bring so many things back to sports. But, you know, in football, the the NFL sends out the all 22. It's the cam, the shot of all 22 players on the field. Coaches and players sit down, they look at that
Steve Bollar:Right.
Jordan Bassett:And say, hey. You ran the wrong way this way. This person did that here. Here's where we need to improve. We have to do that so that same thing in in our own lives.
Jordan Bassett:Mhmm. Specifically around climate culture is being a step back and look at the coach cam, the all 22, and say, hey. We failed here. Yeah. And this is this is how we're gonna make it better.
Jordan Bassett:It's not a it's not like a, hey. You failed, and you're terrible. It's, hey. We failed.
Steve Bollar:This is what we need to learn. Yep.
Jordan Bassett:This is what we need to learn. Yeah. Absolutely. Exactly. Speaking of those kind of failures, so to speak, or those, missteps maybe, let's reframe it into grow areas of growth.
Jordan Bassett:Right? Mhmm. I hear teachers I've experienced this too. Let's put this in kind of a hypothetical of the beginning of the school year. You've come off your summer summer break.
Jordan Bassett:You're relaxed. You got all your plans. You have everything. You have all your posters up on the wall. You have all the things that you're gonna Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:Teaching them. You know your whys and all that different stuff. And, here we are, about middle of the year when this podcast is coming out. And maybe some of that culture has slipped a little bit. Maybe some of that the weather's gotten a little worse because now we're actually in it.
Jordan Bassett:We're dealing with real students or teachers and different things. I just wanna talk about this kind of transition period, of going into winter break.
Steve Bollar:Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:Maybe as the year you said it earlier, I think, that as the school year goes on, the the climate changes. Mhmm. Different things are happening. Maybe it gets a little worse. People start to get tired.
Jordan Bassett:What are ways that educators can kinda combat that the the winter drearies, I guess, I can say it that way. Right. Right. As the summer or as the the high of the new year the new school year starts to fade and going into kind of the heart of the school year.
Steve Bollar:Yeah. And that's the thing. You know, we're we're we're jazzed up at the beginning of the school year. Right? Jazzed up, ready to rock and roll.
Steve Bollar:Excited. We're ready rolling. Then the school year continues on.
Jordan Bassett:This year's gonna be different.
Steve Bollar:This year's gonna be different. Right? Let's go back to sports. It's like a Cowboys fan. Oh, this is gonna be a great young boy.
Jordan Bassett:I'm an Eagle fan so I get
Steve Bollar:out there. I gotta do it. Gotta do it.
Jordan Bassett:I'm Bill. So we can pick on the Cowboys all day long. Everybody know.
Steve Bollar:Alright. Right? They always take a bit. But overall, time goes on and then things start to shift. You know, things are.
Steve Bollar:Here's the thing about culture. All right. The way that culture is created is the power is in the repetition of doing it again and again and again and again and again and And if it starts to wean, then it's not the culture. The culture is that it doesn't stay. That is the culture.
Steve Bollar:The culture becomes that we start something and then it fades off. One of the things I teach, I do a lot of direct instruction or direct coaching for school administrators. And when I talk to them about leadership, and this is the same thing in the classroom, if you're in a classroom with it, is maximize and utilize that calendar like a champ. Your calendar. All right.
Steve Bollar:In your calendar, literally write down on it on a date. Today, we're going to talk about teamwork. Today, we're going to focus on accountability. Today, we're going to focus on integrity. Today, we're going to you have to purposefully put it down to remind yourself to refocus back on these things.
Steve Bollar:Yes, all those things are important for what you respect and value. But you have to purposely do that, especially now. All right? Kids are coming in and I know you have a certain amount of time. You have your curriculum to get through.
Steve Bollar:But the amount of time that you can spend two, three minutes focusing on accountability, integrity, teamwork, best effort, efficiency, effect, whatever your words are, grit. All right. Taking a second to hit that in the beginning and then wrapping up at the end of class saying, hey, how did we do on this on a scale? Recognizing students when they're doing it. All right.
Steve Bollar:Get back on a routine of that. And that's going to really do something for you. What I tell administrators sometimes is let's say that you have three word or four words for your whole school that you say you respect and value. One week, you make the announcement, morning announcements, you challenge everybody this week. Second week, you pick the next word.
Steve Bollar:Third week, you pick the next word. Fourth week, you pick the next word. Start it over the next month. Do it again. Next month, do it again.
Steve Bollar:Next month, do the four again. And again, it starts to create a routine. It starts to Yeah. Create a And routines are just traditions and traditions is culture. So when you're going into December, that's the time that that needs to happen.
Steve Bollar:Now, when you get through the winter break, because now they all leave.
Jordan Bassett:Right? Yeah.
Steve Bollar:They just did all this work. They're all gone. When you come back, that's when you do your reset. All right? You got to do you you can't just say, okay, let's get back into it.
Steve Bollar:Let's go. No. You need to take the time and reset everybody. One of the things I did as a building administrator is I would do a state of the union address. State of the Union address when the kids got back.
Steve Bollar:Now my school, the one school I was at, we were the hounds. That was our mascot dogs. We called ourselves the hounds. So I called it the State Of The Hound address. And I would literally bring all of the kids into the all purpose room or in the gymnasium or in the auditorium, and we would go over what the expectations are.
Steve Bollar:I would share data with them on discipline. I would share data with them on how they're doing at their level, the students level. I would talk about some fun things. Would find a cute little or an inspirational video on YouTube and show that to them. It would last twenty minutes.
Steve Bollar:Right? It's a reset. Then I would give talking points to my teachers. When you go back to class, these are the talking points that we wanna hit sooner to reset everyone to get back into the routine. That's what needs to happen.
Jordan Bassett:Because that winter break can be brutal getting back in the routine.
Steve Bollar:Oh, yeah.
Jordan Bassett:So just kinda leaning into that. I hey. We know you just you got all this stuff for Christmas. Mhmm. You
Steve Bollar:Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever you got. Yep.
Jordan Bassett:True. True. Yeah. Any of those those things. Away.
Jordan Bassett:Right. And so we're getting back into those routine. I think that's that's a great great tip of just, you know, working those routines in your favor, setting counter reminders, and things like that. Mhmm. We are actually gonna Steve, we're gonna take just a short break.
Jordan Bassett:And when we come back, we're gonna talk about more practical things. Yeah. So we've kinda defined climate culture. We've kinda talked about the kinda different scenarios that we find ourselves in. Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:But we've reserved this whole second half of the podcast for just, as your book is,
Steve Bollar:ideas ideas ideas. There you go.
Jordan Bassett:So everyone hang out for, a minute, and we'll see you at the end of the break. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Innovative Schools podcast. We have Steve Baller with us. I made a joke earlier that I didn't explain when I said I really look up to him.
Jordan Bassett:That's because for our audio friends, if you've never met Steve, he's six foot seven. He was definitely a professional basketball player. He he loves talking about how tall he is. And
Steve Bollar:Right. I know. Well, I was I was not a professional ball player.
Jordan Bassett:Everybody He was not. He was not. Everyone thinks that.
Steve Bollar:Yeah. Six seven black man, bald head. Everybody thinks you're a ball player. And I know people don't realize this. Yes.
Steve Bollar:I'm six seven. And there's a whole thing with middle school kids and kids. Six seven. Sick that's me. I literally I do assemblies at schools, as well.
Steve Bollar:And I open it up. I I know what you're thinking. I'm six, seven, and the kids are waving their hands. 6, seven. It's crazy.
Steve Bollar:It's like All
Jordan Bassett:the teachers turned off this podcast immediately as soon as you said those two numbers. They're all gone. Now it's just you and me. No one else is listening. But you should just change it up.
Jordan Bassett:You should start fibbing a little bit and be like, I'm six. And all the kids are like, yeah? And you're like
Steve Bollar:Six and a half. Yeah. Yeah. And a half.
Jordan Bassett:Like, just Oh, yeah. Just totally frothy. Anyway, I teased right before we went into the break about, ideas ideas ideas, which is the name of your book, so small plug there. Mhmm. But, I mean, you you have so many ideas on climate and culture.
Jordan Bassett:And to just to recap, climate is what you feel Mhmm. And culture is kinda what you do in your traditions. Yes. And so while we kinda pair those two things together, they are kinda distinct. But for the sake of this, we kind of still right?
Jordan Bassett:We still kind of lump these together.
Steve Bollar:Oh, yeah. Yeah. They they definitely feed off each other. They connect with each other. Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. I did no prep for what ideas you have, so you can go wild and crazy. Okay. But I just wanted to give our listeners just a smattering of ideas and for us to just kinda, like, talk about them, ask some questions or whatever. But I'm kinda handing it over to you, Steve.
Steve Bollar:Sounds good.
Jordan Bassett:Kinda like this. So first idea for school climate and culture.
Steve Bollar:Alright. So first idea for climate and culture is something I call greeter. Now we talked a little bit before about when you come to the school and, you know, you could tell the climate right away. You can see how people interact with each other. So one of the things that I did as a school administrator is when teachers have their morning arrival, right, they have bus duty or hallway duty or whatever like that.
Steve Bollar:You're assigned to Hallway 2 Door B or whatever. So we simply changed the name to greeter. You are now greeter at Hallway 2 Door B. You are greeter at the front. You are greeter.
Steve Bollar:We just changed the name. By changing the name, it changes the outcome and the expectations of that position. Your job now is to greet kids when they come into the school. Hey. How you doing?
Steve Bollar:Fist bump. High five. Setting that tone, setting that environment as opposed to, alright. You got hallway duty on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Just go there and make sure the kids don't bump into each other.
Steve Bollar:You know? It's just come on. Just changing that name. Very similarly, what I used to have a job at the Disney Store. Right?
Steve Bollar:And one of the jobs that they had was greeter. Your job is literally to stand in front of the store and greet people when they come in. Same thing. It just sets the tone. It sets the environment for what it is that you want to see in your school.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. I can definitely see that being a difference. I walked into a friend the other day, and I said, I was like, hey. Good morning. And she turned.
Jordan Bassett:She goes, good morning. And I was like, woah. That kind of day? Like, just that's and she goes, I'm sorry. I was looking at something else, and it affected my whole mood.
Jordan Bassett:But just changing the way that those words are said, we kinda said this earlier too. Just like same words, different meanings. Mhmm. So changing from what? Like, hall hall duty
Steve Bollar:Hall duty. Yeah. Yeah. You're the You're
Jordan Bassett:the greeter.
Steve Bollar:You're greeter. You're a greeter in the in in a hallway. You're a greeter in b hallway. You're greeter in d hallway. And we have greeters out by the buses instead of, you know, bus duty, which you do.
Steve Bollar:You know, you have bus duty. You're getting the kids off. You're greeter at the buses front set of buses. You're greeter at the middle set of buses. You're greeter at the and you can even do it at the end of the day.
Steve Bollar:You're a greeter. Right? Yeah. You're greeter. Goodbye.
Steve Bollar:Have a good day. Come on. Be a little nice. You know? Imagine that.
Steve Bollar:Even if you had a day a bad day, smile a little. It's amazing what fake it. Yeah. Stretch a smile out. Right?
Steve Bollar:Why do wanna start a day in a bad mood? So that's one of the ideas. One of the ideas.
Jordan Bassett:So changing the name to Greeter, and I'm sure our list well, I know our listeners are very smart. I'm sure they can even take that idea and say, hey. Maybe there's some other positions or jobs that we can Yeah. Tweak the name of Mhmm. Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:Just to kind of change that climate culture.
Steve Bollar:That's the one thing that I love about my book and about me doing my presentation on ideas and sharing ideas. Even though I have one idea, that idea might not be it, but it sparks new ideas. Like, wait a second. If I just switch it, twist it, did it. That's the great thing about ideas.
Steve Bollar:It gets the idea engine running in your brain, and you can kinda get some other things going.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. That's awesome. Alright.
Jordan Bassett:Idea number two.
Steve Bollar:Idea number two. I call this one show my name. Show my name. Alright. So back when I was a school administrator, I was an administrator of a school building.
Steve Bollar:It was an upper elementary school, fifth and sixth grade only. We only had two grades, the whole building. That was it. We had 1,200 kids, two grades. Big, nice That's Jersey style.
Steve Bollar:We're in Jersey. That's the way we do it. Yeah. So what we had is we had a poster maker in the library. Now this was an old fashioned poster maker.
Steve Bollar:Alright? It printed out one one color, on flimsy paper, but it was a poster maker nonetheless. So what we decided to do is at the end of each marking period, we simply took all the names of the kids who got straight As and all the kids who got As and Bs, and we put them on a big sheet of paper and we stuck it onto the wall. We did it in the fifth grade hallway. We did it in the sixth grade hallway.
Steve Bollar:That's it. The kids went nuts. They they went absolutely bonkers. They're like they just wanted to see their name on the wall to showcase what it is that they've achieved. And and and kids going to buy it.
Steve Bollar:They're exiting. Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:This is for any kind of achievement kinda thing.
Steve Bollar:Any kind of achievement. How we need to showcase kids wanna see their name. Just put it up on the wall, y'all. It's it's Yeah. It's one of the easiest things that you can do.
Steve Bollar:Put it up on a wall. Put it somewhere. There was a school that I shared this idea with. It's in, New Orleans. I'm trying to think of the name of the school.
Steve Bollar:Can't think of off the top of my head. Was a middle school. And they say, well, we have a poster maker. We could do that. Good.
Steve Bollar:So they did it. They got the names of the kids who got straight As and As and Bs. They put it up. They had this great big huge, presentation wall or whatever. So they put it up in there.
Steve Bollar:They got back to me and they said some of the toughest kids went by and looked at it and say, wait a second. I want my name up there. That's not right. Well, I just put it now they have some of these kids who weren't succeeding at all actually giving an effort just to see their name up there. You didn't spend any money.
Steve Bollar:You didn't do anything other than just print a name and put it on a wall. That's the simplest of things that you can do.
Jordan Bassett:That I've heard you talk about this before, and my brain still can't comprehend it fully, but I also understand it. Like, if I walked past a wall and I was like, oh, what's everyone's name doing up there? Why isn't my name? Oh, I wanna get my name up there.
Steve Bollar:Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:Like, just I mean, I guess it's what social media is built off a little bit. Yeah. Like, just seeing
Steve Bollar:Being seen.
Jordan Bassett:Being
Steve Bollar:seen. Being noticed. Being recognized. One of the the and you can do this. You can look onto Google.
Steve Bollar:You can AI it. Whatever you wanna do and ask the question, what is the number one reason why people give up? On jobs, on the number one reason again and again and again, there's reports and reports and effort and things everywhere is because they don't feel like they're recognized for the things that they do. Mhmm. That's what it is.
Steve Bollar:It's not money. It's not status. They just want recognition. That's the basics of everything. People want to be seen, and this is just another way that you can help students and staff be seen.
Steve Bollar:Yeah. Mhmm. Yeah. Staff all this. Staff as well.
Jordan Bassett:Like to be seen too.
Steve Bollar:Exactly. They wanna be
Jordan Bassett:seen So as we have change the name, basically.
Steve Bollar:Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:Greeter was our example. Change the name. Right. What did you call that second one? What was the name of
Steve Bollar:it specifically? Oh, what did show my name. Just show show my name. Show my But
Jordan Bassett:boiling down to, you know, be seen, Yes. Recognize What do you got for number three?
Steve Bollar:Okay. Number three is gonna be called the comeback kid. Comeback kid. Alright? So with comeback kid, now you you can call it whatever you want.
Steve Bollar:I was with a group of my teachers and staff, and we were we we know that we recognize students who got straight As and then also students who got As and Bs. But my my teachers were like, you know, we have some students no matter how hard they work, they're not gonna get straight As. They're not gonna get As and Bs. They're just not. What can we do to recognize them?
Steve Bollar:So we came up with a thing called the comeback kid. The comeback kid is any student who moves up one grade level in any subject. Congratulations. You're a comeback hit. So basically, you can go from a d to a c.
Steve Bollar:Congratulations. Comeback hit. You can go from an f to a d. Congratulations. Comeback hit.
Steve Bollar:You can go from b to an a. Congratulations. Comeback hit. It's all about growth. That's the big thing in education.
Steve Bollar:You know, it's not about that finite grade. Alright? Even though we were recognizing the finite grade of As and Bs. Yes. But we want to see growth.
Steve Bollar:We want to see how far they've grown, how much they've improved. We want to see that happening. So we need to find ways to recognize that. Alright? You can do this for for your grades.
Steve Bollar:You could do it with your your your in house testing. You could do it for a multitude of things. When they show the growth, that's when you get additional recognition. That's what we're trying to do. I know a lot of, high schools, they do it if you move up your GPA, you know, point two or point five or one point or you know, because as you move up in the grade level, it's, you know, from freshman to senior, it's harder to move up the GPA even more.
Steve Bollar:Right. But they're even using those points to to move up some, and they give recognition there. And there's a variety of things you can do. Again, put their name up on a wall. You can give a little token to them.
Steve Bollar:Give them some school swag or something to showcase that effort.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. I think that's great. I think just because you're right. There's some kids that they work really, really hard, and they're gonna improve. Or they just it's at the beginning steps of them putting in effort, and you wanna acknowledge that effort.
Jordan Bassett:It's like, hey. You didn't you didn't make it to an a, but you've moved up. Like, you are growing. I want you to see how how well you're doing because you are growing. Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:And we're gonna keep working on you. So that's great. Right. So
Steve Bollar:So one of the things that I did at one of my schools was is I went out to local pizza shops. And there's pizza shops everywhere. You know that there are.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah.
Steve Bollar:And I said to them, look, for our students who have reached a certain criteria, they got honor roll, comeback kid, whatever. You pick whatever your criteria is. If they do that, we would like to create a gift certificate, or not a gift certificate, but a coupon, so to speak, from your establishment for the family. And I had about four, no five. I had about five different pizza shops that says, yeah, we'll do it.
Steve Bollar:So we created a certain one. It had to have a certain stamp on it. So that's what you do. Go get yourself a little stamp. That way you know that it's official.
Steve Bollar:People haven't just copied these and made these anywhere. Right? Official stamp on it or a little punch hole or whatever. And we gave them out. Now the entire family is benefiting off of the student getting good grades.
Steve Bollar:The entire family is benefiting off of and the community is getting it. You go to your your your little copy machine. You make a certificate, right, a colored certificate. This business is supporting our top tier students or our great, awesome students, and they can put that into their window. So now it's showcasing who they are.
Steve Bollar:You're there getting benefits from the family. The students are doing the best that they can. They have that great connection. It's there you go. Right?
Steve Bollar:And I'd like to get those mom pop type of places, the sweet people that are right in the community that say, hey, if you come here, you show you got the good grades. We give you, you know, 5% off of your pizzas or whatever like that. And I just stuck with the pizza plate because everybody loves a good pizza on Friday. Right? Yeah.
Steve Bollar:And that's the way you have that kind of community connection.
Jordan Bassett:My favorite part of that idea is that it's so multifaceted of the different things that you're going on. You're layering in in a sense like family engagement, community engagement, along with, you know, motivating students to kind of put their best effort forward. As a it made me think of as a as a slight bonus from me an idea that I saw recently fairly recently is back around Halloween. I was passing to a local high school, and they they have their high schoolers, their juniors and juniors and seniors do trunk or treat for the middle and elementary school, schools that feed into their high And I had I had never seen that. I said, you know, that's great.
Jordan Bassett:You know, they're getting it's not full community, but it's the community that feeds into their school. They're getting students recognized with their with the high school
Steve Bollar:Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:And giving something for this for the high school students to to do to give back to their community too.
Steve Bollar:Absolutely. And I I was working with, where was this school? It was up in New England area where the the public school district was having some concerns because they were leave people were leaving the public school district and going to private schools. Now don't please get me wrong. I love private schools.
Steve Bollar:I have no problem. Get education wherever you can get it.
Jordan Bassett:Sure.
Steve Bollar:Yeah. But I they were they they they hired me to help consult with them about their culture and climate and try to keep people into their district. Well, I says you need to make sure that the elementary kids can see themselves as high schoolers. How often are the high schoolers interacting with the elementary school? Do the trunk or treats.
Steve Bollar:Have the high school kids come and serve lunch to the the elementary and the middle school kids. Have them have that connection and interaction so the elementary kids are like, oh, one day I want to
Jordan Bassett:Do that same thing.
Steve Bollar:Do that same thing. I want to make those connections. You got to have that positive feelings. You know, what high school clubs and groups do you have? Your four your your your the four H is it?
Steve Bollar:Or your Interact clubs or your Student Government or your Spirit clubs. Get them going to make those connections a little bit lower. Yeah. That can happen. Definitely.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. And I think all that just speaks into your climate and culture.
Steve Bollar:Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:Right? Your your climate of how you feel. Well, I feel really seen that the high schoolers are doing this. And eventually, that turns into a tradition
Steve Bollar:Tradition and that's the culture. Culture. That's exactly it.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. Okay. Let's round this second part off with idea number five. We'll give them five. That's a it's a good number.
Jordan Bassett:I like five. What's your your fifth idea?
Steve Bollar:Alright. This is going to staff. Alright? Because sometimes we don't do the staff. And I'm gonna go with some support staff, specifically your paraprofessionals and your custodial staff.
Steve Bollar:So these are two ideas in one. Alright? Custodial Way
Jordan Bassett:to sneak it in there.
Steve Bollar:Yes. I'm sliding in
Jordan Bassett:two for one.
Steve Bollar:All right? Your custodial staff, all right, whether you have them from an outside vendor or they're actually a part of your school or district, what I did is I got certificate paper, regular little certificate paper. On the certificate paper, we printed this hallway is professionally maintained by and then the name of the custodian. You go to the Dollar Store, you get some Dollar Store frame, you put some Velcro on it, stick it on the wall wherever they're in charge of that hallway for cleaning. It's just a quick little recognition of the custodial staff saying, hey, they've professionally maintained this hallway.
Steve Bollar:Notice I didn't say clean. I said they professionally Yeah. Maintain And I do Velcro because sometimes custodians, they move hallways. This way you can zip off and stick it wherever else you need to be. For the paraprofessionals, what I did is I had some there were some, lockers in the teacher's room, some of those half lockers, whatever like that.
Jordan Bassett:Sure.
Steve Bollar:Yeah. And you and if you don't have them in your teacher's room, put pick a locker set in the hallway if you have them or somewhere that you can lock something. And in that, you give one of your paraprofessionals the combination or the key or whatever it is, one that you trust, and you you stack it full of supplies. Post it notes, pencils, pens, rulers, erasers, all that stuff. Because these paraprofessionals are providing assistance to their students, assistance to the teachers, and they have to always walk around and beg for stuff to use.
Steve Bollar:I stack it up twice a year. I says, look. Beginning of the year, I'm gonna fill this with supplies. Halfway through the year, fill it with supplies. And it was just theirs.
Jordan Bassett:It's just for them.
Steve Bollar:It's just for them. You talk to Trudy. Trudy has the key. You check with Trudy. She'll set up the time, and she's the one who's gonna, let let her out.
Steve Bollar:If you come to me before halfway through the year and ask for more stuff, the answer is no. Work it out. Alright? Halfway through the year, I restock it up again. Again, it makes them feel valued.
Steve Bollar:It makes them feel like, hey. I am I'm equipped to do my job.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. Yeah.
Steve Bollar:There you go.
Jordan Bassett:That's I think both of those positions get overlooked sometimes as their importance in the the climate and culture of a school. Mhmm. And so, you know, giving them some space again to be seen, it seems most of these ideas kinda come back to being seen.
Steve Bollar:Being seen.
Jordan Bassett:Yes. That's if if I was listening to this podcast, I'd say, you know, the number one thing I kinda heard is, you know, being seen and figuring out how to do that. Right. From top down, all the way, administrators, staff, support staff, custodial, cafeteria, educators,
Steve Bollar:like Everybody.
Jordan Bassett:Students. Mhmm. Parents on some
Steve Bollar:level. Even community. Yes.
Jordan Bassett:And guardians. Yeah. Yeah. In the community on some level.
Steve Bollar:At a discount if they're
Jordan Bassett:in their home. Yeah.
Steve Bollar:So we've we've we've really hit every level. Find a way to let them be seen. And here's the thing. If you've done any of these things, put it in your calendar. Do it again.
Steve Bollar:Do it again. Do it again. Do it Do it again. The the power is in the repetition. The repetition creates tradition.
Steve Bollar:The tradition is culture. Positive culture produces good feelings. Great climate.
Jordan Bassett:Look at that. That's such a great wrap up. You kinda landed that plane fantastically for us. We appreciate it. We're coming to the end of our time here, and I I loved this episode.
Jordan Bassett:I love just talking with you and getting ideas and things. I love ideas. And so to kinda wrap everything up Mhmm. You said it beautifully, so I'll leave it there. I won't even try and do it myself.
Jordan Bassett:Just go back and listen to that again if you want to. But I think we're gonna go ahead and, wrap this episode up.
Steve Bollar:Sounds good.
Jordan Bassett:Unless there is there some anything else you wanna say there, Steve?
Steve Bollar:Hey, man. I I I had a great time with this. It it again, guys, just just take a little bit of time. All the things that I'm talking about, it's not a whole lot of effort. Just do a little bit with it.
Steve Bollar:I love working with you guys. Love doing the keynoting and the speaking innovative school summits. I love going out to schools and helping educators everywhere think a little different, work on their culture and climate, leadership development, and idea development.
Jordan Bassett:Absolutely. Alright. Thanks, Steve. And thank you, all you listeners, for joining us on this episode. If there's something that you learned here, and I'm sure you did, we would love for you to share it with your colleagues or anyone else you know in the education space.
Jordan Bassett:We're not doing this podcast just to kinda be famous or anything. We just wanna help as many educators as possible. And I know Steve does too. He's on board with that mission. So we'd love it if you subscribed, if you shared this episode, and everything like that.
Jordan Bassett:We thank you for everything that you do as educators. Small little plug. Those are just a few ideas from Steve. He does have a book. It's literally called ideas ideas ideas.
Jordan Bassett:Go check it out. I think he has a couple other ones. I'm sure if you look up his name, you'll find it, and we'll link them in the description below. But thank you everyone for joining us, and we will see you next season. This is the last episode of this season.
Jordan Bassett:So, be on the lookout, sometime in January for season three. Alright, everybody. We'll see you later.