How to Teach Through Extended Student Absences

In the height of cold and flu season, student absences are inevitable. Especially in the post Covid era, numerous days of absences among students are common. Therefore, educators need a thorough plan for meeting curriculum expectations even while student attendance is inconsistent. The following steps are two fold. First, it will help students not get…

Seasons of Coaching Blog Series: Fall Strategy

Having a coaching strategy ensures teacher leaders have a focus for how they support teachers. This thorough plan is aligned to state/district goals, school curriculum, and teacher needs and wants. However, having one singular coaching strategy for the year is not going to be responsive enough to grow teaching capacity to its potential. The seasons…

6 Tips for Coaching Instructional Coaches

Instructional coaches are high performers in both instruction and leadership. Their work supporting the growth and development of teachers is why their position in education is essential. Administrators are busy crafting the vision and mission of the school while managing the operations. The teachers are the life blood of the school, making learning stick for…

Creating Mental Health Supports for Teachers

The mental health of educators is in crisis right now. It is causing increased stress, decreased job satisfaction, and a mass exodus of the profession. Mental health is a taboo subject; something no one wants to talk about or admit they struggle in that area. Because of that, educators suffer silently when they could be…

How to Lead a PD Huddle at your School Site

PD huddles are one of many ways to engage teachers in learning opportunities. Sitting passively in a professional development (PD) meeting is wasting stakeholders’ time. As teacher leaders, we have to create learning opportunities for teachers that are engaging, but that also translate to more effectiveness in the classroom. This method will increase motivation, buy-in…

Using Social Media to Promote Your School

Social media accounts for schools can be powerful. They promote communication with stakeholders- parents, students, and community members. They showcase what makes the school unique while celebrating the strides made to become a positive, successful learning environment for children. One major drawback for having social media accounts for schools is the time requirement to set…

Coaching Cycles: Macro vs Micro Options

Coaching cycles support the growth of teachers in the classroom. They are a sequence of partnership opportunities between the teacher and coach that range from intensive to light support. What support opportunities included in coaching cycles is not black and white. Instructional coaches and other teacher leaders have the flexibility to create support options tailored…

Establishing Teacher Expectations of Instructional Coaching

Are there clear teacher expectations of what instructional coaching looks like at your school site? If not, you’re not alone. Many schools do not define, share nor uphold expectations for the role of an instructional coach. This does a disservice to teachers who have access to a support but no idea how to utilize it.…

Tips to Boost Teacher Morale

Teacher morale has taken a nose dive the past two years as educators have worked tirelessly through the pandemic. They’re teaching double time with students in the classroom and learning at home, managing a revolving door of quarantining children for ten days at time, and maneuvering social distancing protocols.  On top of that, teachers are…

4 Ways to Transform Classroom Instruction

It’s time we start the conversation about how to transform classroom instruction. The pandemic has shaken up the very old and outdated structure of classroom instruction. As we begin to rebuild our new normal, we need to take inventory of what works best for kids and what we need to reimagine. I was recently reading…