This has been one busy summer so far, and we’ve only just reached the halfway mark! In all of this business, I’ve taken an unplanned three-week hiatus from writing. The blog hasn’t been far from my mind by any means, I just haven’t set aside the time to finish this post that was started three … [Read more…]
Last week, I wrote about my presentation to our school board which centered around my role as our FMCSD district literacy coach, the Science of Reading, the adoption of a high quality literacy curriculum, and how instructional coaching is a critical piece of implementation. Part of what I was speaking to was that I am … [Read more…]
After a week of multiple conversations with teacher teams expressing frustration over a myriad of concerns, I am convinced, more than ever, that one of our Professional Learning Community norms, as suggested by Solution Tree and adopted by many of our teams, needs to be revisited and reflected upon: Be solution-oriented and forward thinking. The … [Read more…]
There are times when I walk away from a coaching conversation feeling like a failure. I can feel like I was zero help to a teacher who was seeking answers or support. When that happens, I question my ability as an instructional coach, and wonder if there are other people who would be better at … [Read more…]
My last two posts have been about effective leadership and listening to understand. Earlier this week, I was catching up on podcasts while doing yard work (best way to listen to those podcasts!) and caught a 2-part episode by the One and Only Brené Brown. Her topic tied in so perfectly with my thinking around … [Read more…]
I have recognized a negative trend developing in myself in the past few weeks. My thoughts are being poisoned by events around me – nothing earth-shattering, just the normal stuff that is part of day to day life. Yet these events have hurt and impacted those I care deeply about. When I allow poison to … [Read more…]
The Background Two weeks ago, I wrote a post about the power of collaboration. In the first part of it, I described the process that our coaching staff went through to develop a session for our district’s upcoming professional development day. I summarized it as a seven-step process, much of which involved frustration, but ultimately … [Read more…]
The desire to maintain a blog has been with me for some time. My 5th and 6th grade students even dabbled in some form of a blog years ago when we had a “Book Blog” on our website. There are many reasons that I haven’t fulfilled the desire to begin a blog. Topping the list … [Read more…]