👋 Welcome to a 🔓 free edition 🔓 of Ruckus Makers — the newsletter for bold school leaders who Do School Different. Each week we drop fresh content across our signature styles:
The Reframe → Mindset shifts in 90-seconds.
Dot AI → Supercharged leadership prompts and custom gpts
MEH → The Onion meets Education. What could go wrong?
First in Line → Exclusive access to content before the bookshelf.
The Automatic School → A system that moves you FROM bottleneck TO breakthrough
💡Premium subscribers get access to custom GPTs, full archives, advanced tools, and Digital Danny — your AI-powered coach. Upgrade here.
The Ruckus Report
Quick take:
What if your intervention blocks weren’t making a difference — but making things worse? Stephanie McConnell shares how “Win Time” flips the script and helps all students get what they need without falling further behind.
Meet Your Fellow Ruckus Maker
Stephanie McConnell is a veteran school leader, author of Win Time: Fearlessly Transforming Your School, creator of the Win Time App, and founder of the Principal Principles Facebook group with nearly 80,000 members. She currently serves as an Assistant Superintendent and helps school leaders rethink intervention, leadership, and community at scale.
Breaking Down the Old Rules 🔨
Key Insight #1
What’s broken: Traditional intervention time pulls struggling students out of core instruction, causing them to fall even further behind.
The shift: Stephanie redesigned the school schedule so every student gets Win Time daily — a built-in block for enrichment or intervention.
Impact: Students get targeted support without shame or disruption, and schools around the world are adopting her model.
Key Insight #2
What’s broken: Too many schools operate from a compliance mindset — teachers do what’s required, not what they’re committed to.
The shift: Stephanie fosters a culture of ownership where teachers are invested in the mission, not just following mandates.
Impact: Increased teacher engagement and student success, leading her own school to become a National Blue Ribbon campus.
Key Insight #3
What’s broken: Many principals believe their job is to “teach it,” not ensure students learn it.
The shift: Stephanie challenges educators to take responsibility for student learning — and adapt based on what students need.
Impact: Win Time creates personalized pathways so students get double support in areas of need and enrichment where they excel.
Quotable Ruckus
“Just because we’ve always done it that way doesn’t mean we should keep doing it that way.”
— Stephanie McConnell
Your Do School Different Challenge
Tomorrow: Audit your intervention model. Are students missing more than they’re gaining?
This Month: Pilot a short Win Time block and track engagement and results.
This Semester: Redesign your master schedule to include daily Win Time for every student.
Connect & Continue
🔗 Follow Stephanie McConnell: https://www.principalprinciples.com
📌 Ruckus Makers Don’t Just Listen — They Act
If education ain’t a bit disruptive, then what are your students really learning
This show isn’t about doing school better.
It’s about Doing School Different — and joining a growing movement of bold, creative school leaders who reject legacy models and reimagine what’s possible.
🧠 Here are four ways we can help you on your Do School Different journey
📬 Subscribe to the Free Newsletter
🗞 Read Ruckus Makers on Substack
💥 Join The Ruckus Maker Club
🧨 Apply to the Mastermind
Share this post