Meet Dan Kreiness

DAN KREINESS is an ELA instructional coach for the Norwalk Public Schools district in Connecticut. Dan is also a doctoral candidate at the American College of Education, and the host of the Leader of Learning podcast.

When It’s Not a Perfect Fit

Last year, Dan began the year as a reading teacher. The appointment was not really what he was looking for, and he began seeking an administrative role that would better suit his skills, knowledge, and experience.

Shortly after that, he was hired for an administrative position at a school in New York, but the year didn’t unfold according to plan. The school context was great, the team he served with was competent and professional, but the role just wasn’t an ideal fit. By the end of the year, Dan made the difficult decision to leave the school, and fortunately, he was hired the very next day by his current district in Connecticut.

Although he says the ordeal still stings a little bit, he calls it a learning experience and a blessing in disguise. Although we’re never pleased when an arrangement doesn’t work out the way we hoped it would, he was able to leave his previous position with his head held high and the knowledge that he did the best work that he possibly could.

Hosting the Leader of Learning Podcast

Dan recently marked two years at the Leader of Learning podcast, where he interviews education leaders and dives deeply into the issues that matter in education today. When he thinks about his start, Dan looks back at his early PhD work and all of the reading and writing that he was doing at the time. As he increased his own professional learning and engaged with pedagogical theory, he found himself wanting to share ideas and content that might inspire other educators. With some experience in college radio behind him, Dan decided to give educational podcasting a try, and the rest is history.

First and foremost, Dan explains, he does the show for himself. He brings on the guests and discusses the topics that matter to him, which makes for valuable content built around authentic passion. Over the last two years, he’s developed the technical skills of the podcasting craft and also grown professionally from the rich conversations that have followed.

What’s Setting Dan on 🔥 in Education Today

Something that is setting Dan on fire in education today is the role of innovation in classrooms. Yes, he loves to see learners innovate, but lately he’s been even more energized by the innovation and the growth mindset he sees on the part of educators.

At this point in his career, he’s more concerned with the learning of adults, and although the welfare of our learners remains our number one priority, transformational change in educators is where it’s at for Dan. It’s the passion that has led him to pursue his doctorate with a focus on the link between the growth mindset and leadership practices in skills.

Professional Goals

Dan’s professional goal relates to inspiring the teachers he serves to transform their practice – not the kind of change that comes from coercion or “orders from above,” but from an intrinsic desire to move forward in their practice and help learners better. Transformational leadership theory can be boiled down to these four tenets:

1. Idealized Influence,
2. Inspirational motivation,
3. intellectual stimulation, and
4. individual consideration.

These four ‘I’s apply in the classroom as much as they apply to the higher levels of school and district leadership. Everyone leads, from the lunch monitors to the custodians to the teachers and everyone that contributes to the growth and learning of kids.

When it comes to instructional coaching, it can take teachers time to develop comfort and trust with another educator living in their space and engaging consistently with their practice. But the job of an instructional coach is not about evaluation – it’s about coaching, supporting, and looking for ways to help another educator grow professionally.

Productivity and Compartmentalization

To meet all of his commitments as husband, father, professional, student, and podcaster, Dan points to the importance of compartmentalization. People talk about a perfect work-life balance, but at times it really does require setting one compartment aside.

Having a supportive network of family and friends is an important part of that dynamic, and it also requires keeping a watchful eye on priorities. It’s okay to shift focus and priorities temporarily in order to achieve major goals or finish projects, as long as those priorities slide back into place as soon as possible.

Dan’s #OneWord for the past year was all-in, meaning that he wanted to be intentional about going all in on only one thing at a time. We all know the limits of trying to go “all in” on too many things at once!

Voices & Resources That Shape Dan’s Thinking & Inspire His Practice

Over on Twitter, Dan recommends following @Edu_Match and @SarahDaTeechur, who have done so much to build professional learning networks and amplify great messages of transformational change in education. To hear more about what Sarah is all about, check out her appearance on Teachers on Fire at episode 66.

For edtech tools, Dan never fails to be impressed by the ways that Nearpod amplifies student voice and engagement in the classroom. Get to know NearPod on Twitter @NearPod. 

The first of Dan’s book picks is Lead From The Heart: Transformational Leadership For The 21st Century by Mark Crowley, one of the best books on leadership he’s ever read. Another book that has been helpful in terms of his thinking around instructional coaching and strategic questioning is The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier.

One of Dan’s favorite educational podcasts (besides Leader of Learning and Teachers on Fire, of course) is Better Leaders Better Schools, hosted by Danny Bauer. Follow Michael on Twitter @AlienEarbud. 

If it wasn’t being canceled again, Dan would be watching Netflix’s Designated Survivor with Kiefer Sutherland. Truth be told, Dan is more of a New York Mets fan than Netflix viewer.

We sign off on this episode, and Dan gives us the best ways to connect with him. See below for details!

You can connect with Dan …

• On Twitter @DKreiness
• On Instagram @DKreiness
• On YouTube at Dan Kreiness
• On his blog at https://leaderoflearning.com/

Song Track Credits

• Intro: Stand Up (by Mike Cosmo — license purchased at https://taketones.com/)
• Outtro: Bluntedsesh4 (by Tha Silent Partner, courtesy of FreeMusicArchive.org)

Listen on YouTube and subscribe to the Teachers on Fire channel.