Ruth Ayres deals with the conundrum of wanting to assist teachers to build relationships as an instructional coach, yet not accepting all menial task requests.
Melanie Quinn mulls over the challenges and distractions that hamper transfer of learning from professional development sessions to classroom teaching.
Literacy coach and high school English teacher Ellie Gilbert finds her ninth-grade teaching team is at odds when they work together to plan a new curriculum.
This video of the “Step Over the Line” icebreaker activity was captured at a meeting of district-level coaches in Washington state early in the fall led by Amanda Adrian and Heather Sisson.
Coach Heather Rader and Teacher Sean Moore use the same quiet signals to ensure continuity in Sean's second-grade classroom when they share instruction.
In this podcast, Katherine Casey shares her wisdom on classroom modeling for coaches that really works because both teacher and coach have a shared understanding of purpose and practice.
We’re firm believers that literacy coaches should go where they are welcome in classrooms and be patient. But what happens when you’ve been a literacy coach for years, and you’re still waiting for those invitations from some teachers? Amanda Adrian explains how a simple professional development closure activity garnered many new invitations to classrooms. Download an exit slip to use for your next closure activity.
Have you ever had a teacher enthusiastically embrace a new "magic bullet" instructional program that includes scripted or rote elements that concern you? Melanie Quinn considers this sticky situation instructional coaches sometimes find themselves in, and comes up with some starting points for conversations with colleagues.
Shari Frost presents a tale of two literacy coaches — one who has had success building close relationships with colleagues, and one who has struggled. In analyzing their experiences, she presents eight practical strategies for building relationships over time.