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Pay Attention to What You Pay Attention To: Leveraging the Power of a Door
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. —Wayne Dyer When I decided to eat more protein, there was suddenly more information about...
Goals Create Direction
You feel stressed because you don’t have a goal. This simple truth resonates deeply in our schools today. Many of our colleagues are stressed—overwhelmed with classroom behaviors, daily demands, and...
The Coach’s Notebook: How to Capture and Organize Your Notes to Support Your Practice
Part of my work as a systems coach is documenting my conversations with leaders and teachers around their goals for building more equitable outcomes for students. We use a Google...
Navigating Bias and Assumptions in Literacy Coaching
Anxiety always lives in our assumptions. —Steve Cuss One of my first lessons as a principal was this: Never assume. I learned this lesson my first year as an assistant...
Hosting School-Wide World Read Aloud Day Author Visits
Students were all sitting, glued to the large whiteboard screen as author Lynn Plourde read to them through Skype. When she was finished, the students turned and talked to one...
Book Rationales for Building Trust and Guiding Decision-Making
"Have you read Nightjohn?" The fifth-grade teacher held up a paperback as I was walking by her classroom. "I'm a fan of Gary Paulsen, but I haven't read this one....
The Digital Declutter: Developing a Life Beyond Distractions
“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo. "So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is...
Slide Decking: Getting Writing Started
The scariest moment is always just before you start. —Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft The Idea In fall 2023, I was deep into a weekly "accountability"...
Seven Simple Steps to Happier Teachers
For the past couple of years, I have been searching for ways to support teachers and the hard work they do. As a learning support coordinator, my focus is usually...
Scaffolding: The Key to Tackling Big Projects
In the heart of my house stands a two-story staircase open from the floor of the bottom level to the ceiling of the second. The wallpaper is dated and faded,...
Supporting Perseverance in Our Students: Before You Say ‘Keep Going,’ Pause to Consider
"Just keep swimming." This popular quote, which Dory chants in the movie Finding Nemo, is often used to remind students to keep going with something that gets difficult, to push...
Using Metaphors and Analogies to Help Educators Shift Their Thinking and Change Their Practices
Any assessment can be used both formatively and summatively, but usually one function interferes with the other, so it is generally best to decide at the outset about the purpose...
Transforming Our Own Professional Learning
If you want to thrive as a Transformational Coach, you need to be prepared to engage in a lot of practice and refining of your skills. I’ve also learned that...
It’s All in the Delivery: Inviting Joy to (Mandatory) Professional Learning” by Mary Brower
The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. —William James Ms. Joy, a veteran teacher with two decades of classroom experience, closed her eyes for a...
Small Wins
In the early days of the pandemic, I created a short video about a document camera I created from a stack of bean cans, a pencil, a magnet, and my...
Reshaping Data Stories
In the game of data analysis, success is crossing home plate. Grade-level standard is achieved, growth happens, learners progress… and everyone cheers. The thing is, some are starting the game...
Nuances of Norms (Part 2)
To grow, people need to be challenged. —Adam Grant “I’m so tired of being treated like a baby,” one teacher whispered to her colleague. She wasn’t as quiet as she...
Shaping the School Culture to Encourage Professional Growth
Shaping the School Culture to Encourage Professional Growth While our tai chi group was going through our flow practice, raising our arms slowly up and down, the front door to...
Are Norms the Problem? Part 1
When I became the leader of a well-established professional learning network, one of the first things I was curious about were our norms for working together. I was a member...
Making a Case for Leadership Coaching
“Every man should have someone they look up to, and every man should have someone who looks up to them.” — Robert Bly, Iron John Every professional—not just teachers—can benefit...
Multiplier Mindset
"Managers help people see themselves as they are; Leaders help people to see themselves better than they are." ~ Jim Rohn Many of us have a person in our lives...
