Lead Lit Topic: Schedules
“Schedule or be scheduled” may be the rallying cry for any teacher who becomes a literacy coach. Often the job and its responsibilities are ill-defined, and the danger is that you will find yourself with many responsibilities dumped into your position if you don’t define the job yourself. The definition for many literacy coaches begins with a schedule and knowing how to prioritize tasks. Here is where we share examples of how different literacy coaches and leaders have divvied up the minutes, hours, days, and months of their time in ways that lead to balance and success.
Results
Integrating PD into the School Calendar
I made my way around the room, watching staff members slowly and quietly go out the door, noticing a few others hastily catching up on parent emails or commenting on...
Scheduling Study Groups for the Year
It’s that time of year when I launch professional development offerings for next year. Some of the texts are being used in voluntary study groups, others in grade-level team meetings....
Time to Plan
It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about? Henry David Thoreau I’m a mom to four active teenagers....
Coaching Minute: Rethinking Time
Jennifer Schwanke finds that one of the biggest changes in moving from teaching to leadership is control (or lack of it) over her time.
Dropping In Versus Scheduling
Last spring, severe thunderstorms blew through the Midwest. The winds ripped off siding and loosened shingles, and hail pitted windows and splintered soffits. My house took a beating. Immediately, we...
When Teachers Design the Professional Development Calendar
Sometimes professional development creeps up on us. All of a sudden, we have a three-hour chunk of time with a group of teachers, and we grapple with how to plan...
A Yearlong Coaching Calendar
I took a deep breath and positioned my fingers over the keyboard. It was the beginning of November, and it was time. I had just completed two successful coaching cycles...
Reigniting Your Coaching Schedule in December
It happens. That moment when you glance at your calendar and current cycles of coaching are ending and there isn’t much scheduled in the way of new work. This is...
“Got a Minute?”: Rethinking My Schedule and Priorities
I was in a second-grade classroom, observing students and the teacher working on personal narratives, when I got a call from the office. “Matt, a parent is here and would...
Getting Out of the Tater Tot Office: The Importance of Visibility
In my role as a literacy coach, I’ve shared a lot of spaces with a lot of people and a lot of “stuff”: spaces with walls of computer equipment, stuffed...
I Have Time
One of the first pieces of advice I was given as a new coach was this: Always be busy. This advice was followed with a list of suggestions of how...
Coaching Minute: Punctuality
Heather Rader explains why starting professional development meetings on time is crucial in this quick video tip. A transcript is available below the player. I’ve noticed that if...
Coaching Minute: Ending the Day
Heather Rader shares a quick video tip about the importance of closing rituals at the end of the coaching day. A transcript is available below the player. Writers know to...
Coaching Minute: Birthday Tip
Heather Rader has a quick video tip for organizing low-stress birthday celebrations for colleagues. A transcript is available below the player. Most people like to be remembered...
Coaching Minute: Set Your Alarm
Heather Rader has a tip for ensuring you stay on schedule and "in the moment" during your meetings in this brief video tip. A transcript is available below the player....
Coaching Owls, Larks, and Hummingbirds
What do birds have to do with coaching? More than I initially suspected. I first read about sleep patterns of larks, owls, and hummingbirds in John Medina’s book Brain Rules:...
Planning for a Year of Study Groups
Sustainable improvement can never be done to or even for teachers. It can only ever be achieved by and with them. Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan As a literacy...
Coaching in the Moment
Recently we have noticed that some of our best coaching moments are happening outside of our coaching schedule. These on-the-go conversations in the photocopier line, in the parking lot, or...
Planning Classroom Visits: Organizing Purposefully
For instructional coaches and principals, opportunities to visit classrooms and observe learning and teaching are critical. As a principal, I knew I needed a plan so I could make the...
The Dangers of Overplanning
I am a planner and a list maker. I am the person who goes out jogging in the morning, sits down, makes my list, and writes “jogging” and crosses it...
Creating a Master Schedule
As August approached each year, I was the teacher who began to think and plan for the coming school year. I watched the weekend ads for the latest sales and...
