This summer I am having several opportunities to provide training to educators who are entering a new phase of their career as an instructional coach. I am also working with school based administrators who are responsible for coaching teachers as part of their leadership role and supporting the work of instructional coaches in their schools. […]

I am a strong advocate for the Principal Coach Partnership  (see earlier blog). Agreement defining student learning outcomes (vision) builds trust and focus among the leadership team at a school. An administrator can build increased shared leadership knowing that time the coach spends with teachers and decisions made in PLCs will focus on the shared, desired […]

Feedback was the focus of my research and reading this week as I worked to design a presentation I was asked to do for middle and high school teachers. I first turned to Dylan Wiliam’s work which I had remembered from earlier studies. Among five elements for assessing student learning he includes this: Provide feedback […]

This week I was working with teacher leaders from a GA district who were studying with instructional coaches and administrators from their buildings. We examined teacher leaders’ roles in facilitating PLCs, building team cultures, and promoting a culture of coaching. One of the areas that emerged from our conversations was how to assist teachers in […]

I’ve spent the past week prepping to facilitate an upcoming workshop about grading for high school teachers. I thought I’d share some of the information I found, as it seems to me a valuable conversation for administrators to explore at a faculty meeting, coaches to examine with teachers, facilitators to discuss with PLCs, and mentors […]

As a classroom teacher I discovered early in my career that when I met with a learning specialist regarding special needs of one of my students, the strategies shared for me to try almost always had payoff with additional students. When she told me a student needed movement between activities to increase his focus, I […]