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Coaching Support Structures

Some literacy leaders receive extensive training for working with adult learners, but most of us do not. As you move between the stances of coach, collaborator and consultant, you’ll need support structures in place for defining your role, communicating with administrators, advocating for your position with a school board and more. Here you’ll find reflections and how-tos that respond to the question, “Who coaches the coach?”

Latest Content
Puppies and Babies and Kittens, Oh My! Support for Maternity Leaves

Are you experiencing a new “baby boom” among teachers in your school? Melanie Quinn has advice on assisting in classrooms where teachers are going on maternity leave.

Coaching Minute: Celebrations

Ruth Ayres talks about the importance of celebrations for coaches, teachers, and students in this brief video.

Welcome Visits

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan explain why “welcome visits” are so important for building relationships, and how they make these visits an integral part of their professional development programs.

Coaching Minute: Principals and Professional Development

In this brief video, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan talk about the challenges of getting busy principals involved in professional development given how packed their schedules are.

Cultivating Teacher Leadership

Jennifer Allen explains why it is essential for literacy coaches to expand their work to include mentoring teachers into leadership roles, especially involving curriculum work.

Coaching Minute: Pinterest

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share the many ways Pinterest has enhanced their professional development with teachers.

Literacy and Technology: Changing Structures

Jennifer Schwanke finds her school's computer lab feels more like a relic from a 1980s typing classroom than an entry point to the digital world for students. Here's what she changed to bring the resources into the current century.

Infusing Technology into Writing Celebrations (Grades K-2)

Brian Sepe works in a school with iPads aplenty in grade 3 and up, but few available for first graders. He works with a first-grade teacher to find ways to showcase young students’ writing using an inexpensive tech app.

Aligning Coaching and Teaching Teams

Jason DiCarlo has practical tips for getting coaches and teachers on the same page when it comes to aligning goals and strategies.

Coaching Minute: Quick Connections

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share the value of informal chance meetings with teachers they are coaching in this three-minute video.

Coaching Minute: Editing

Heather Rader has some suggestions for editing emails and other important writing in this quick video tip.

Making Time for Classroom Visits

Jason DiCarlo explains why classroom visits are his top priority as a principal, and shares his schedule and prompts he uses while visiting to learn from students and teachers.

From Bootcamp to School: Building Enthusiasm for New Initiatives

Jason DiCarlo finds there are parallels between the initial unenthusiastic response of participants at his gym to a new challenge and the process of initiating change in schools.

Quick Check-ins: Touching Base Before Coaching Sessions

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan describe the art of the three- to five-minute check-in before collaborating with teachers in classrooms.

Coaching Minute: Working with Principals

Ruth Ayres has advice for how literacy coaches can work effectively with principals in this one-minute video.

A Small Group Coaching Cycle in Action

Kristin Houser explains how group coaching can be a useful structure for helping teachers make changes in their classrooms with this case study of two kindergarten teachers.

Video and the Thoughtful Coach

Brian Sepe finds video is a wonderful tool for fostering both teacher and coach reflection.

Clarity and Connection: The Language of Change

Principal Jason DiCarlo thinks through the language he uses daily to promote a shared positive vision in his school.

Picture It: Pinterest for Professional Development

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan find Pinterest is an excellent tool for organizing resources for professional development sessions.

Coaching Minute: Wait for the “In”

Heather Rader shares her strategies for getting into classrooms of teachers who may be hesitant about inviting visits from coaches.

Picture It: A Soothing Workspace

Given the stresses of her job as a principal, Jennifer Schwanke makes a commitment to keeping her workspace not only organized and uncluttered, but soothing.

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