I have been actively traveling to instructional coaching conferences, schools, districts, and educational Co-ops for the past three years now and I have come across an alarming observation. The underutilization of instructional coaches! Administrators are assigning coaches to work only with struggling teachers. While this is undoubtedly beneficial, it significantly narrows the vast potential that instructional coaching holds. I am relieved that coaches are doing good work, I worry about all the teachers who are missing out on the opportunity to become even better. Restricting a coach only to t ..read more

As an instructional coach, I often reflect on my elementary school days when Mrs. G, the Title I Language Arts specialist, would assist those of us who grappled with reading. I guess one thing I should share is that I have some type of reading disability. My mom has never told me that she had me tested but I did attend the “Reading Clinic” during my elementary days. Even now, I often mispronounce and misspell words. When sitting in the classroom, I feared being singled out to join her at the back of the room. This experience was so real. Everyone in the classroom knew that Mrs. G was there to ..read more

At the beginning of the year, instructional coaches do a lot of work with teachers in terms of reflection on the previous year, goals, or visions for the future, as well as creating an action plan to achieve those goals. Beyond goals, we talk to teachers about who they are and get to know them a bit. Now, during the school year, it can be easy to get caught up in our busy lives and teachers are obviously busy too. However, taking time to do a mid-year check-in with teachers can be a vital part of a successful school year. What is a Mid-Year Check In? A mid-year check-in with teachers is you t ..read more

I can’t believe that it’s 2022! Exactly where did 2021 go? It’s a new calendar year for teachers and that means… it’s time for new goals! As a coach or administrator, you and your teachers have been through so much together since 2020. Going back and forth from in-person to virtual learning, dealing with students, family, and co-workers all being quarantined, diagnosed and even some not making it… It has been a rough 2 years, to say the least. It’s time to start fresh with a fresh outlook. While the goals you had at the start of the school year may have been focused on “getting back to normal ..read more

Why is it important to be a better listener? A few weeks ago we talked about how trusting your teachers is key to the coaching relationship. On the flip side, your teachers need to trust you back. One of the most powerful ways to build that trust is through active listening. Being a good listener shows that we respect our teachers. When we give them equal talk time in a conversation, they know that we value their perspective.  Listening can also help us to get more information that could be useful in our coaching cycles. When we sit back and just let the teacher talk, the more patterns w ..read more

It seems as tho many coaches have now settled into the school year and things have been a little all over the place. Being an instructional coach can begin to feel overwhelming. There is so much to do! It’s easy to get bogged down in stress to the point that nothing gets done. One of the things I struggled with the most as a coach is creating a PD Calendar with topics that will support your school’s goals. If you are lost as to where to start here are the six simple steps I use. Step 1: Use schoolwide data  The first place to start, when assessing the needs for your school is to take sto ..read more

What is a PLC? PLC… An acronym that is used widespread, and it is defined in different ways. For me, PLC stands for Professional Learning Community, based on the book by Rick DuFour. I have lead many many PLCs over the years and one of the things I have learned to do is become a facilitator of leading. What’s that? For me, it’s the key to leading a successful PLC! To be a facilitator of leading is just not to lead it. A PLC takes teacher ownership, and if you present yourself as the leader, the teachers will rely on you to keep the conversation going. They will always look to you to decide wh ..read more

How often do we advise our teachers to give students more “voice and choice”?  I think it’s about time that we take our own advice!  As you start to plan for professional development that teachers will need, let’s talk about a model that I implemented last school year and I have noticed that it is starting to be employed in schools and districts around the country. This model answers the question: What might it look like to let teachers choose their own PD? The Logic We all know how much impact choice can have on engagement. We are far more motivated to learn and to push past challe ..read more

Why do you want to coach teachers? What is your coaching purpose? At the end of the school year, you were probably feeling burnt out and may have found it difficult to answer these questions. But now you’ve had the chance to recharge over the summer it’s time to really reflect on your coaching purpose. Every school year, I work with coaches who have registered for the Simply Coaching Workshop. They ask me where do I start to get ready for this year, I always have them work on lesson 2.1 “The Coaching Mindset” to identify their core values and coaching purpose. If you asked me this question ..read more

“Trust is not just leader-down, it’s follower-up, and it’s also sideways – trust among equals at every level so that nobody is gaining on anybody else. We are all bound together by trust” (Colin Powell, 2003) I can’t help but think about this quote every time that I sit down with a teacher. We constantly talk about how important it is for teachers to trust us, and it is! Yet, we rarely talk about the value of putting faith in our teachers. We can’t elevate them if we don’t truly believe in them. When I first became a teacher, I felt the need to be dominant in the classroom. I could not be wr ..read more