Charles Williams has served in urban education for 15 years as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal while working with students in grades PK – 12. He has developed innovative programs and structures that have resulted in successful schools in both Indiana and Illinois. He has also presented and spoken at numerous events. Charles is the founder of CW Consulting, an Educational Consulting Group, the host of the Counter Narrative Podcast, and the host of Real Educators Talk, a monthly discussion designed to engage educators in authentic conversations around education.

Trenches story: he talks about when he first became a principal at the last school he was at before his current school. It was 6 years ago. School was on the shutdown list. Was thrown into the trench. Bought new material, curriculum. Scores barely moved. Had to stand in front of the board and ask for more time. His school got 2 more years. 5 Essentials survey. Big piece was culture/climate, students didn’t feel like they were valued or heard. Shifted attention from programs to ppl. turned it around & reached goal of getting off closure list. We often try to fix issues, not focus on ppl. Next 3 years they showed tremendous gain.

Author of Inside the Principal’s Office Book: A Leadership Guide to Inspire Reflection and Growth: how would you describe it? It’s a year old. It was written as spin-off from the YouTube show. It was designed to have space for t’s to learn & grow together. Not often a space for admin. Created a space for leaders to come together. He wanted to provide principals an Opportunity to reflect. Reflection questions for 40 wks. Servant leadership, culture, celebrations. It was designed to read 1 story every week. They shared their experiences. Ask self where you’re at, can lend to book study. Takes anecdotes from his work. Digest it one week at a time. Great for both new and veteran admin, even for dept. chairs. 1-2 page stories to digest before weekly meetings. “Walking your talk”. Like not eating in the hallway. What are you allowing to happen in your school? Are you following the expectations as a leader?  Take time to stop

Inside the Principal’s Office show- streamed across FB, Twitter, YouTube. Currently on episode 30. Approaching. Puts out shows 1st, 3rd Saturday, built book title around show. This show is a space for ed leaders to have a space. Hosted by School Rubric. Show co-host Michael Mc Williams (career principal, now working for Solution Tree), Dr. Thornell (now works for NEA). Was officially launched in Feb. 21. Can find past episodes on YouTube, School Rubric. How do we find good talent? leaders form all over. Leaders from all over who are dealing w/ similar issues.

Host of The Counter Narrative: Changing the Way We Talk (and think) About Education • A podcast on Anchor currently on episode 130- has been around for 2.5 yrs. Launched during pandemic. Stems off of article by Dr. Tyrone Howard. Why were these African American men successful? He wanted to change topics. He wanted to change stories. Not have deficit mindset. They have talked about body image, mental health. Episodes drop every wk. Alternates, 1 episode is an interview, another is a reflection piece. Interviews anyone who has ties to education. Following week he has a “pause to ponder” moment. Something that weights on him. Convo that challenges dominant narrative, genders, racism in school, sharing perspective. Has listeners from all over the

CW Consulting, an Educational Consulting Group launched in Feb. 2019. Was an ELA t. before. Presented at a conference on vocab. Created a vocab workshop. A rep asked if he could present to his teachers. From there launched consultancy. He’s done a lot of work for Chicago P.S. now is doing for Kansas City P.S. Allows him to travel around & speak. Was at a lot of different cities in the summer. Standing room only. Usually speaks on equitable leadership. Series about the book. Popular one, “Problem with Colorblindness”. Speaks about framework of equity work (dives into it in schools). “Everyone’s talking about equity, how do you do it?” How to apply this framework? Has been doing speaking for 3 yrs. Did a lot of speaking during pandemic as well. Acronym about SMART leadership. About slowing down. Making list where we’re at. Redefine our focus.

Out of everything? he does a lot, but he says know your why. Brandon Beck’s book has a mission statement. When you know why you’re waking up every day- it’s all moving in the same direction. Click To Tweet He sat down with Rae Hughart, and she helped him figure out his why.

Where can ppl find you online? https://t.co/XIJLE8aUE0 (linktree)  use headshot on website http://www.cwconsultingservice.com/  best place is Twitter @_cwconsulting  View this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tA4mmQdDeWk