Accountable collaboration allows colleagues to work together productively in order to reach a common goal. Often, colleagues work in collaborative teams without accountability. In return, the team is limited in the results it can achieve together. By adding an accountability element to the collaboration, colleagues have clarity in how their efforts contribute to the achievement…

You might be thinking, “I am an instructional coach, now what?” Luckily, you are not alone! Many coaches feel the exact same way when they first get hired. Some schools and districts provide a clear, thorough job description and provide ample training for all the tasks required. However, most schools and districts hire knowing an…

Each school year is an opportunity to grow, especially when we improve instructional coaching practice. Being intentional in how we support the growth of teachers is dual benefit- teachers improve their craft causing students to achieve at higher rates. This post provides 10 ways to improve instructional coaching practice for the school year. Pre-Work Phase…

Professional Learning Communities also referred to as PLC’s, allow colleagues to collaborate together to enhance instruction in schools. By collaborating together, teachers can make ideas greater based on the expertise and perspective of their colleagues. The improved learning experience due to PLC’s benefits all students in the school building along with educators. 5 Ways to…

New teachers are full of passion and potential. It’s our job as leaders in our schools to cultivate the capacity of every teacher in our building. How effectively we do that depends on the system of support we create to help teachers thrive. Designing and implementing a plan that attracts, maintains the teaching talent through…

Book clubs are a great way to foster a love of reading in students while increasing their ownership in the learning process. It is a strategic instructional decision that requires strong classroom management skills to orchestrate. This is because book clubs are small groups of students reading a common text and discussing the content, meaning…

Advocating for teachers as an instructional coach is an underutilized strategy to promote collaboration and achieve goals. To advocate for a teacher means an instructional coach would understand the needs and wants of the teachers and support their efforts in meeting the request. The benefit to successfully advocating for teachers is that it builds relationships,…

Being a district teacher leader (instructional coach, PD coordinator, subject area specialist, etc.) means you are supporting teachers at multiple school sites instead of staying at one single school. This can be logistically challenging in addition to meeting the various expectations of each building you support. If you are moving from a school to district…

Building relationships with teachers can be challenging for instructional coaches, especially when you are supporting a large caseload of teachers. Regardless of difficulty, it can be done. And its advantageous to figure out just how to do it too. This post will outline ways instructional coaches can build relationships with a large group of teachers.…

There are four essential aspects of instruction that have the greatest impact on student learning- lesson design, classroom management, student engagement as well as student ownership and accountability. This post explores the teacher essentials for classroom and career success. The Discovery Throughout my years as a classroom teacher, I helped numerous students become successful learners…