Posts by Gretchen Schultek Bridgers
189: Do you Push, Pull or Guide?
Instructional coaching and teacher leadership are essential for moving the needle in student achievement and teacher proficiency. But the way coaches are leading teachers ends up landing flat because they are either pushing too hard or pulling too far. The secret to great teacher leadership is being a guide on the side- not pushing or…
How to Set Up Your Instructional Coaching Space
Just like a teacher sets up a classroom, an instructional coach needs to set up their coaching space. The process is very similar in terms of what you must consider about those you lead, whether it be students or teachers. Not every coaching space is identical in size and shape. Most commonly, instructional coaches utilize…
Read Full Post188: Turn your Whelm Upside Down
Overwhelm can get the best of us. In fact, too many teachers are leaving the profession due to their plates being full for far too long. When you learn how to recognize overwhelm before it overcomes you, you can begin to hack away at your schedule so that you conserve energy and happiness for what…
10 Ways to Prepare for the Upcoming School Year during the Summer
The summer is the perfect time to prepare for the upcoming school year. There are 2.5 months, on average, where teachers are able to work at their own pace gathering ideas and preparing their classroom for instruction in the fall. The following 10 tips are tried-and-true strategies veteran teachers use to prepare for the upcoming…
Read Full Post187: Permission to Fill Your Cup
Sometimes you can be so tuned in that you don’t realize your candle is burning out. For teachers, summer is a great time to unplug by becoming a learner in something new. You have permission to fill your cup in another passion so that you can be great at your main passion as an educator.…
Text Talk: Get Kids Talking Authentically & Enthusiastically About a Text
One challenge teachers face is the lack of quality text talk in the classroom. This means teachers are struggling to get students excited to engage in meaningful conversations with each other about the books that they are reading. It is important for students to develop text based discussion skills because it increases reading comprehension while…
Read Full Post186: Amplify your Impact
It’s time we take what is working in our own classrooms and share it with other educators so that they can replicate our success. To truly amplify our impact in our classroom, school buildings, and community we need to figure out where we excel and make it accessible to others so that they can repeat…
How to Utilize Overly-Engaged Parents to your Advantage
The idea of an overly-engaged parent in your classroom can bring feelings of anxiety to some teachers. An overly-engaged parent can be defined as one that desires access to the teacher often, whether in forms of communication or collaboration. From the perspective of a teacher, in order to appease this type of parent, it requires…
Read Full Post185: Bonus Edition- Interview with Kim Lepre
Kim is a veteran educator of 17 years, currently a 7th-grade English teacher, Beginning Teacher Mentor, Educational Technology Specialist, and technology and standards-based coach throughout her district. She also has a Leading Edge Blended Learning certificate and is a Level 2 Google Certified Educator. During her career, she’s taught band, choir, AVID, Study Skills, and all…
Advice to a First Year Instructional Coach
The role of an instructional coach has rapidly become a well-sought after commodity in most schools. The position is ideally held by a veteran teacher with a proven track record for success in the classroom and in the leadership of other teachers. This means that success in the classroom is due to consistent growth in…
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