Dr. Jason Major

The main door to the building won’t shut completely and the facilities department doesn’t believe him. Two staff need mediation about student toileting accommodations. A parent brought a live chicken to dismissal. That’s what Jason Major means by subplots—the thousands of little things that we manage that come from the main plot: kids learning things in a safe environment. Those were three that came up in a two-hour period of the first week of this school year.

Jason is a SAM principal in his 11th year as principal of Dever Elementary School in Chicago. Over the last year he has developed a set of core values that help guide his decisions. One of them is “be real.” With that in mind, here are some of his previous experiences:

•        Math teacher (most fun thing ever, the kids solve tons of math problems, learn things, then we all go home)

•        Math coach (Adults are way harder than kids)

•        School data analyst (Campbell’s Law says high stakes social indicators will be gamed)

•        Radio salesperson (please no)

•        Admissions counselor for a predatory career college (please, please no)

This workshop has been described as “exactly what” people needed, “group therapy,” and “an entertaining workshop with practical ideas.” With improv experience, Jason likes to keep plenty of material in his back pocket and see which direction the group wants to go. You may talk about setting boundaries, but take a break to have a rock/paper/scissors tournament.

The overarching themes of the day include:

•        The spillover effect of the eight components of the wellness wheel

•        The four domains of decision education from the Alliance for Decision Education

•        Tools that have helped Jason and tools that haven’t but could help others, grounded in the greatest self help book of all-time: The 12 Levers: The Complete Psychological Toolkit for Improving Your Life

•        Real stories that remind school leaders that we deal with similar things everywhere, from NYC to southern Illinois

•        Connections with people through resonance

Some tools work for some people. Some don’t. Some tools become proxies for the actual thing you are trying to do. Some are complete pseudoscience crap.

All participants in this pre-conference session will receive a copy of Jason’s book Subplots: Navigating Life as a School Leader, an essay/journal prompt style book written as a companion to get you through the school year. Jason also writes a Substack and hosts a podcast under the same name, and occasionally will do stand-up comedy. You’ll leave with at least one new idea and perhaps a new way to think about something that has been bothering you.