Lead Lit Topic: Getting Organized
Getting Organized
Results
Coaching Minute: Keep a Meeting Journal
Curriculum director Inga Omondi spends a lot of time in meetings. To make connections, remember next steps, and stay organized, she keeps a journal with all of her meeting notes.
Coaching Minute: Coaching Groups of Teachers
Ruth Ayres offers a useful tip when planning your coaching calendar: Create groups of teachers.
Maintaining an Inquiry Stance: Seeking to Enhance the Practice of Questioning in Leadership
A person who asks questions is more helpful than the person who offers advice. —James Clear "What should I do?" The classroom teacher turned her face toward me with a...
Picture It: When Material-Use Goes Awry
I was leading a demonstration lesson for 40 middle school teachers when I looked across the classroom and saw that one of the students had lined his hands with stickers....
Redesigning Experiences for Parent/Guardian Conferences
October and February are usually the months for parent-teacher conferences in most schools. I admit that at the beginning of my teaching career, I never questioned any aspects of these...
35 Ways Leaders Can Improve School Culture
When the principal sneezes, the school catches a cold. —Todd Whitaker The school culture is defined as the school’s unwritten rules and traditions, customs, and expectations (Deal & Peterson, 2016). ...
A 30-Day Coaching Challenge
Instructional coaching can feel a bit like a roller coaster. Some days feel like we’re sailing through the day with the wind in our face and our arms outstretched with...
Constantly Evolving Toward a Stronger Practice
When Serena Williams was interviewed by Vogue magazine about leaving the game of tennis, she commented, “Maybe the best word to describe what I'm up to is evolution. I'm here...
Coaching in Community: Co-Creating Learning Spaces (Part I)
People whose teaching lives have been positively impacted by coaching know that coaching can be transformational. However, the other side of the narrative holds just as much truth: Some teachers...
How Do You Show Up?
Let’s start with a quick exercise. Think about your own coaching work with colleagues or think about a coach you’ve partnered with recently. Using the matrix below, where would you...
Using a Checklist for Powerful Post-Conferences
The new school year has started! You’ve connected with your teachers, created a schedule, organized your resources. As you begin to navigate your coaching cycles, it’s helpful to have a...
Coaching Minute: Taking Time to Plan
David Pittman encourages the importance of instructional coaches taking the time to plan.
Creating a Culture Where Everyone Leads
A few years ago, I came home and announced that I’d be doing a different job at my school the next year. My youngest son looked incredulous. “Don’t be offended,”...
Coaching Minute: Creating a Sign-Up for Coaching
Kate Mills and Tara Barnett streamline the sign-up system for working with a coach.
Give Yourself Time to Prepare
David Pittman encourages instructional coaches to take time to prepare for the day and then to reflect at the end of the day.
Remaining Connected as a Coach
It happens every time I walk into a primary classroom in January until the end of the year. No matter what my purpose for being there is—co-teaching, observing, micro-modeling or...
Coaching Minute: Set-Up Coaching Plans
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills share an important first step for instructional coaches to help teachers feel invited into the coaching relationship: Make shared coaching plans.
Coaching Minute: Welcoming Students as an Instructional Coach
David Pittman reflects on ways instructional coaches can help create an atmosphere of belonging for students.
How to Respond When Books and Curriculum Resources Are Challenged
In the past few months, many literacy leaders have been facing challenges from parents or community members related to classroom library books, school library books, and supplemental materials that support...
Changing Positions? How to Rethink Your Community (Download)
“How are you?” I asked the teacher as I walked into the hallway where she was looking at art on the wall. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m switching to...
Reshaping Personal Narratives with Awareness, Reflection, and Support
People do not reconsider what they mindlessly accepted as true. — Ellen Langer At the age of 45, I was given a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It was a...
