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…

Growing as a leader not only requires mindset and vision work, but also tangible resources to help you put principles into action. This post will outline helpful resources to support your growth as a leader, not just telling you what to learn but why it’s essential to your success. Learn Before you know exactly what…

Coaching resistant teachers comes with its obstacles. Not only do you have to figure out what the resistance is, but you have to work to remove the barriers all before you can even begin a productive coaching partnership. This post will outline common reasons teachers feel resistant to working with a coach, ways to overcome…

Collecting student data is considered a best instructional practice in today’s schools. It allows teachers to know exactly how well students know and understand the material being taught to them. However, data collection processes can be confusing to implement which could result in inaccurate student data. This post will explore 5 things to avoid when…

I often get asked what I am currently reading or what have I loved or found helpful. This blog post will share books from my personal library that I love and think any educator should read. Teaching The following list are books I suggest for those educators interested in teaching: The Essential 55: An Award-Winning…

Data collection is an important piece of teaching. However, it can be confusing and somewhat daunting to teachers if they are asked to collect student data without clarity on how and why to do it. This blog post will explore the what, how and why of data collection. What is data collection? Data collection refers…

As an instructional coach, partnering with teachers is not always easy. Many times, teachers push back on working together or implementing suggestions from the coach for improvement in their classroom instruction. Push back refers to when an individual is not in agreement with what someone else is saying, doing or requesting of them and either…

Leading PD can be fun, but stressful. There is a lot to plan and materials to organize. It can feel overwhelming at times. This post will share all my recommendations for leading PD successfully as an instructional coach. The PD Book: 7 Habits that Transform Professional Development by Elena Aguilar – Read as a you…

Continuing education is one way to ensure teachers and leaders remain up-to-date on best practices for their respective roles. As a result, many educators become reinvigorated as they connect with other professionals, swap strategies, and gain new ideas. But most importantly, continuing education ensures educators renew their license and certificates. What is continuing education? It…

In a recent learning experience with teacher leaders in my mastermind, we discussed core coaching moves. There comes a time when you have acquired a toolkit of strategies to lead others. After the acquisition phase, it’s time to perfect your barometer for knowing which strategy or tool is best used in specific situations. Part of…