4 critical questions for managing your time as an instructional coach

Look at your to-do list. I mean, really look at it. Does it look crazy? Impossible? Completely absurd?

This list is like any other: full of important, time-sensitive, necessary things. It's also full of small, chore-like, and not-so-important things. It's just a list of things that need to be done.

If you've taken my previous advice, this list is housed in your notebook which you carry everywhere and stacked on top of your one calendar of important dates. So that's a start.

But even with a list, it's easy to be overwhelmed. What do you do first? What should you add to the list? How do you spend your time?

Over the last few years as an instructional coach, I've been thinking about this question. What's important? I still don't have the answers, but I do have a few questions that help me think about it more clearly.

  1. Will this task encourage or grow better teaching practice? 
You are an instructional coach for teachers. Your job is to push, pull, grow greatness in your teachers. That doesn't mean you are better than them - I personally know many teachers who I think are truly incredible and I have learned from them. But if you see an opportunity from your third-person perspective, it's your job to make it happen. That's where most of your time should be spent.

Some examples:
- Modeling! This is huge!
- Coteaching
- Observing teachers
- Providing quality feedback and coaching one-on-one
- Mentoring new teachers
- Sharing resources with teachers
- Researching new or tried-and-true instructional strategies
- Planning quality trainings for teachers and delivering those trainings

2. Will this task result in long-term gains in student learning?
Obviously, if the work you do doesn't impact kids, it's not worth it. That's the bottom line really: support teachers to support kids. This doesn't always look the same. These are some tasks that might support long-term gains in student learning:

Some examples:
- Reviewing data and planning next steps with teachers
- Becoming learned in and training teachers in new strategies to support learners in need of intervention or extension. This might include attending (quality) trainings, reading books and articles, or communicating with your PLN.
- Planning an intervention plan with teachers whose students are in need
- Observing a small group of students during class to provide support to their teacher

3. Will this task empower teachers?
That's your job! The way you've 'made it' as an instructional coach is (sadly) when your teachers don't need you! Isn't that what we want for our kids? We want them to become independent learners who use the inquiry model to figure out problems in their lives. That's exactly what we want for our teachers, too!

Some examples:
- Working with a cadre of teachers on a new campus initiative
- Planning with teachers during PLC
- Working with teachers to put together a pitch for admin
 
4. Will this task build a positive, supportive relationship with teachers?
I think this is incredibly important, even if it's not considered so popular. No one wants to learn or work with someone if they don't value their opinion. You can't walk in the door and tell teachers what to do. Without a positive, supportive, and respectful relationship, you're dead in the water.

Sometimes tasks are important because the people they are for are important.

Some examples:
- Writing a thank-you note to a teacher who has gone out of her way to support her colleagues or you.
- Creating a resource that teachers need but don't have the time to make themselves.
- Writing thoughtful feedback to a teacher who has asked for help
- Looking into resources that might assist a teacher who's asked for help
- Listening to teachers' struggles and accomplishments
- Building a positive relationship with teachers through honest communication - take the time to really listen and share honestly
 

A few thoughts on prioritizing:
Some tasks have to be done. Bulletin boards, for example, might not exactly fit into one of these categories, but it has to happen every now and then, and it creates a positive school environment. Monitoring the cafeteria for the Thanksgiving luncheon doesn't exactly achieve a long-term literacy goal, but it is part of the job and does serve an important purpose. That's just the reality.

Some things can only be accomplished when teachers and students are actively teaching and learning! You can't observe teachers' instructional methods when the kids are at home. Build your schedule around the school day. Tasks like copies, creating resources, and planning your trainings can be done after school or when kids are at lunch or PE. Tasks like observing classrooms, modeling, and observing kids can only be done when they're in the classroom.

If you're going to be out for training, make it count. You can only do the work of the campus when you're on campus. Coaches who like to schedule trainings all the time because they 'love the learning' are only fighting half the battle.

No matter what you learn, if you're not on campus enough to turn it around and provide consistent support, you're missing the opportunity to grow your teachers and kids. And that's your job. 

Choose only the best and most essential trainings to attend, and make a plan to turn the best of those trainings around to your teachers.

I made a sample week's log of things I usually do, in case it will help you out! Download it from Google Docs!

Getting started in coaching? Check out my ebook: The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching: How to make a real difference on your campus. It's over 80 pages of information to help you get started on the right foot!

And if you're interested in more materials, visit TPT to check out my Instructional Coaching MegaPack! It's over 140 pages of documentation, records, organizational tools, observation forms, planning guides and more, for instructional coaches!

Tools for instructional coaches on TPT

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Tough Conversations: Supporting Teachers, No Matter What

The Situation
 

I remember one of the first trainings I gave. I was supporting teachers through training them in a new school initiative: shared reading. I had carefully planned my training, created a video and a powerpoint presentation. I had tools to hand out that I'd made and pictures of this instructional strategy in action.

I was ready.

As I delivered my training, a teacher who had a lot of experience in teaching reading raised his hand and said, "What's wrong with round-robin?"

The other teachers turned to look at me to see how I would respond. Oh, jeez, I thought. This is one of those tough conversations the other coaches told me about. Handle this right or you're dead in the water.

I launched into an explanation of what research said about round-robin reading. How studies show it's ineffective because students aren't processing text in their own minds, and how they are waiting for their turn rather than actively thinking and interacting with the text. It was pretty compelling stuff, I thought.

"But they like it," he said.

I did not know what to say. I knew what the research said, and I knew that this practice wouldn't be permitted by administration anymore. I knew he probably had a reason for saying his kids liked round robin. I knew I had to address it, but I didn't know the best way.

And I knew that I had to stay focused on what I had come there to do: to train teachers in some best practices for shared reading. So I said, "It's not going to suit our purposes for shared reading."

And everyone let it go.

At the time, I felt like, "Well, at least I kept it from erupting."

But I had missed an opportunity. Almost everything a teacher says is an opportunity to support that teacher. Those tough conversations are opportunities to support your teachers.

Listen for opportunities

Sometimes teachers say things like this: (And I will not exclude myself from this list. In my worst moods, I'm sure I have said at least a few things like this.)

• That's not going to work.
• I've been teaching for x years. Why do I need to learn that?
• They're too little for that.
• That's too hard for them.
• How am I supposed to fit that in?
• One more thing.
• We don't have time for that.

Are you starting to feel crummy? Do you feel small and purposeless? Well, don't! All of those statements are opportunities! Don't make it about you! Listen. And realize that these statements tell you something important about the teacher you're talking to.

It might be telling you that they can't imagine what the strategy you're sharing looks like in the classroom.
It might mean they are very comfortable using a certain set of strategies, and trying something different is scary or out of their comfort zone.
It might mean they're overwhelmed with the 9,000 responsibilities and requirements teachers deal with every day.

React in a positive, calm, and supportive manner  

You have a choice about how to react. Instead of defending yourself and your ideas, or worrying that they don't like you, try saying one of these things:

• I know it's going to be a challenge, but I think we can figure it out together.
• You have a lot of experience in _content area_. Can you help me find a way to bridge this new strategy with what you already do?
• I bet we can figure out how to accommodate this for the kids that you're working with.
• You're right; we have a lot going on. Why don't we see where this would be suitable, so it doesn't add anything to your plate. We can find a logical place to include this strategy, and maybe we need to take something else out.

And then, ALWAYS, follow it up with a specific time to work with that teacher by saying,

"How about we get together to look at that later this week? How about x day and x time?"

It's hard to turn someone down who's offering to help. That's most likely what they wanted in the first place; someone to help them figure out how this new stuff is going to work, in the real world. 

 

If I had tried that approach with the teacher during the shared reading training, I can only imagine that it would have created a more supportive learning environment for that teacher.

Instead of telling him (basically), "Just do it. It's better this way," I would have opened the door for communication and exploration, together. And isn't that our job as instructional coaches? To get in there and help out, any way we can.



Getting started in coaching? Check out my new ebook, The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching on TPT! It's over 80 pages of information to help you get started to make a real difference on your campus.

Getting organized as an instructional coach? Check out my new Instructional Coaching MegaPack on TPT! It's full of fillable forms, printable forms and documents, binder covers and labels, planning tools, RtI documents, and more!

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Structures for Instructional Coaching

So, if you're an instructional coach, and this is your first year, congratulations. You've made it...at least a week.

Around this time in my first year, I remember leaving leadership team meetings with my head swimming with all of my responsibilities, trying to budget my time, and figure out what was most important.

I'm here to tell you what's most important: supporting teacher growth.

That's the #1. You can work with kids all day, but that's not going to build capacity in your faculty, which is your main responsibility!

Supporting teacher growth can happen in so many ways. Some ways are better than others for certain kinds of support. For example, you don't want to share early reading training with K-5 at an inservice.

You'll want just the primary grades, or better yet, each primary grade on its own.

I thought I'd share a few of these structures for instructional coaching with you, starting from most broad and moving to most personalized.

Inservice

Pros: Everybody's there.

Cons: Everybody's there.

This is obviously the most commonly known form of sharing new ideas with teachers. It's a big group. You've identified an area of need on your campus (maybe from teacher input; maybe from top-down input), and you create a training to support teachers in learning that concept. This works for things that all grade levels need; not so great for tailored instruction unless you find an excellent way to differentiate it.

Tips for Making it Work: Provide each grade with materials that are relevant to them, and give them lots of time to talk about the content. They'll do it anyway. Just plan it in.

After-School Professional Development

Pros: Short, focused.

Cons: It's after school.

Best for: Little pieces of information; can also do in a series so teachers add to their toolbox week after week.

This is a short training, usually about an hour long. We have our Learning Thursdays once a week on...you guessed it...Thursdays! We generally rotate our content - reading, math, ELL, writing, science, state required stuff. Once we thought we could do a little minilesson and then give teachers time to plan in response to that minilesson. Uh...nope. Teachers were like, "Oh, that was a nice minilesson. Let's talk and eat chocolate." I'm not blaming anybody, because I know exactly how fried my teacher brain was by the end of the day. Let's just say it was a fail. We try to do things where teachers can talk and share during that time, hopefully to keep them engaged with the content.

Tips for Making it Work: Choose one focus and keep it upbeat. Teachers are tired.

Book Studies

Pros: Small group, focused on one thing.

Cons: People have to read and be ready to participate.

I have really enjoyed this kind of instructional support. It serves a small group of teachers who are interested in a specific topic.  There are a few ways to run a book study. There's the optional kind and the non-optional kind. Two years ago, we read Igniting a Passion for Reading by Stephen Layne, and last year, we read Whole Brain Teaching by Chris Biffle.

These were optional book studies. We met once every two weeks for about an hour. Before the session, I'd have sent out an email with the pages we'd read, and I'd try to set a purpose for reading. This was simple. Something like, "Mark one place you have a question about," or "Mark one place you can see trying out in your classroom." We'd meet and discuss. If I'd found a video related to the reading, like with WBT and the abundance of videos on YouTube, I might share it for a small part of our meeting.

I've also hosted non-optional book studies. Our kindergarten teachers had discussed some ideas for unifying our writing instruction, and so we read Already Ready by Katie Wood Ray together. We met once every two weeks during their PE time. They'd read the chapter previously, and we discussed and planned out which ideas would work best for us. I really loved meeting with kinder and discussing the book! What a beautiful professional learning community.

In addition to those book studies, I've hosted whole-school book studies during our Learning Thursdays (obviously, I give people time to read during the session) and even a summer book study on Teach Like a Champion for interested teachers.

Tips for Making it Work: Have the dates planned out in advance, and bring things you baked. Teachers feel appreciated when you think about them! And when they have the dates in advance, they're better able to be ready and available.

Take Your Small Group on Tour!

Pros:You work with the kids on a regular basis. You don't need coverage for the teacher.

Cons: The kids might feel a little self-conscious in the new environment.

Sometimes you start to realize that you're spending a lot of time working with small groups and it's making it difficult to support the teachers. When this has happened to me, I took my group on tour! I offered the opportunity to take my small group into their classrooms for a 30 - 45 minute block of time. I would use their guided reading table and provide them a copy of the lesson plan. I brought my group into their room and delivered my lesson! After that, I had a short debriefing conversation with the teacher. It killed two birds with one stone, which is the only way to survive in this role!

Tips for Making it Work:Take a group that is working on something the teacher would benefit from. If you're working on summarizing, and that's where the teacher is struggling with her kids, that's the best time to go! Also, prep the kids beforehand to ensure they're ready for the attention!

Grade Level Meetings

Pros: One grade level can focus on their needs

Cons: Teachers are busy

We primarily use grade level meetings to debrief about data. I have the data ready for the teachers and we look at areas of strength, weakness, and next steps. 

Tips for Making it Work: Be positive. No one likes to get punched in the face with data. Focus on "What we're going to do next," rather than, "Wow, this was bad."

Planning Support

Pros: Job-embedded support

Cons: Talking about lessons doesn't always result in those lessons

There are different ways to coach teachers through planning. My school has grade levels plan together. In the past, I have led these planning sessions. I provide materials and the district planning guides. I made sure that I had at least one or two new ideas to share, and I made sure I had the necessary tools to actually share those strategies with teachers.

You can also plan with individual teachers. Teachers can ask you for help in planning a specific lesson, or unit. In this case, the teacher probably has a little more freedom in her planning.

Tips for making it work: Be ready to support them with ideas, but make sure that they get the ball rolling. Questions like, "Where do you think your kids need to move?" and "What important skills and strategies do your students need to build on?" are helpful because they respect the teacher's knowledge of her kids.

Tips for Making it Work: Be specific! Provide the tools the teachers need to try new ideas.Have an agenda - know what you need to accomplish during your planning time.

Modeling in classrooms

Pros: Shows the strategy in action, with real kids

Cons: You don't always work with the kids. There's little continuity.

This one always makes my stomach twist a little. I do it frequently, but I don't know if I'll ever feel really, truly comfortable. Maybe no one does. Modeling in classrooms is so important, because it shows the strategies and methods in action. Teachers need to see how to roll out new instructional strategies, and modeling is one of the best ways.

But the challenge for me has always been, I don't know the kids, and they don't know me (very well). I don't have a behavioral plan set up, and I am going in for a few lessons at a time. I taught in longer units, where many of my content areas were integrated, and my lessons built on each other. It's impossible to recreate that in a few lessons for an hour a day! So, I know modeling is so important, I haven't yet figured out how to do it in a way that works best for me.

Tips for Making it Work: Plan with the teacher beforehand, so you both know what will happen and you have the teacher's input about their kids. To really support more teachers, find coverage for other teachers' classrooms and invite them in to observe you model, too.

 

Coteaching

 

Pros: Working with actual students and the actual teacher, in the actual classroom

Cons: You're not there all day

In this structure for instructional coaching, you plan the lesson with the teacher, deliver the lesson with the teacher, and debrief the lesson with the teacher. You're there to provide support and give input when necessary, and the teacher is taking ownership of the lesson as well.

Tips for Making it Work: Make sure you both know what your responsibilities are. This includes preparing materials, and which parts of the lesson will be delivered by which person.

Each of these structures is valuable for different reasons, and you'll probably find yourself using a blend of them to support your teachers!

What is your favorite way to work with teachers?

Need to learn more about working with individual teachers in their classrooms? This free download includes tools for you to use when you conduct a coaching cycle with a teacher! Stop being afraid to work with those challenging teachers and get started!

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6 Must-Have Organizational Systems for Instructional Coaching

I'm not embarrassed to say that one of the main reasons teaching first perked my interest was the office supplies.    I remember sitting in Ms. Tricoli's fourth grade classroom, reading the little note she wrote to me on a post-it: "Cute story! Keep writing!" The post-it was shaped like a smiley face. A smiley face, people! At that moment, I thought, "If teaching means I can have smiley-face post-its, then a teacher I shall be."     I know, I was so cool.    Want to be as cool as me? Get organized!   In the last three years, I have really cultivated my must-have supplies for literacy coaching. I will start with the two most important pieces. If I were to lose either of these tools, I would basically have to quit.      #1 Must-Have: A Week-at-a-Glance Calendar

  You MUST be able to see a week-at-a-glance. I don't know how people look at their little phone screens to see what they have to do that day. That doesn't work for me. A dot on a calendar day doesn't mean anything to me. I need to see, written out in my messy handwriting, exactly what it is that I need to do that day, and the days before and after.    In my calendar, I schedule everything. Meetings, trainings, observations, visits, time to work on resources and assessments, time to create bulletin boards and discuss ideas with collaborators. 

  Taped into the back of the calendar, so it opens outward, is my school's schedule. Our teachers in each grade align their schedules, so I make this handy schedule that shows what each grade is doing at each time. 

  It's not a big deal if I walk in to a room, thinking it's time for writing and see that they're still finishing up math. I do not worry about that because I was in the classroom. I know how the world works! But if I really want to see how a certain reading lesson is going, I should at least have an idea of when to visit the classroom. That's where I use my schedule. I've highlighted all the parts that relate to literacy, and I reference my schedule when planning classroom visits. 
Must-Have #2: All-in-one Notebook

Only have one notebook. Seriously, if you have a million little post-it notes stuck on your computer and your bag and your binder, and then you sit down to figure out what you have to accomplish that day, you will not be able to do it. If you stuff your meeting notes in one folder and your grade level meetings in another, and your training notes in another notebook, you're going to drive yourself batty. 

  I invest in one notebook per year, and everything goes in there. Lists of things to do, notes from trainings and meetings, the planning I do for workshops on my campus, titles of books I need to read, and just thoughts about how things are going. I date everything. Every so often, I scan through the last chunk of notes to make sure I haven't forgotten anything.    If you write something on a post-it, stick it in there! It's all-inclusive.    I choose my notebook carefully. It must be bendable (don't like hard covers), have lines, and the pages must be thick enough so that I can write on both sides. It also needs to be hand- and purse-sized, because I carry it everywhere. In the hall, you will find me with my notebook, calendar, and a pen, at all times. The few times I've left it in my room, I've regretted it! Here are my new notebook and calendar for next year. Can you tell I'm excited?

Must-Have #3 Grade Level Binder System

I work with all grade levels, and each grade level has their own special stuff. I have a series of binders, one for each level, and in them I include the following documents:

• State standards for that grade level
• District planning documents, including our instructional calendar, etc.
• The released state tests for that grade level, with answer keys
• Questioning that is appropriate to that grade, based on the standards
• Last year's lesson plans (a nice reference when we're trying to remember what we've done in the past)
• This year's lesson plans, in order from most recent to the beginning of the year

I keep all of these binders together, on one shelf, along with curriculum and resources we use most frequently for planning and training. The resources we plan with most frequently go into a basket with the grade level labeled.

Must-Have #4 Teacher Data Binder
 

At any point in the year, any teacher can ask me for a copy of something they gave me six months ago. Or my principal might ask for meeting notes from a meeting that happened a while back. I might get a district request for some information on trainings I've provided.  In order to stay on top of my documentation and lists, I have one binder where most of my teacher documentation goes. I organize the binder with large plastic grade level pockets, and behind each grade level pocket are dividers from each teacher in that grade level. I also have a special divider for Special Education teachers. In this binder, I keep copies of...

• Notes from guided reading conferences and binder reviews (beginning, middle, and end of year)
• Data from our district reading assessments, beginning, middle and end of year
• Guided reading levels by month - as teachers turn in the new month (it's a cumulative table with all months on there), I throw away the old one.
• Anything else my principal gives me and asks me to hold on to for any reason!I have a roster of teacher names (just like I did in the classroom) and I mark off who's handed me what. 

I have a roster of teacher names (just like I did in the classroom) and I mark off who's turned in what, so I know who to email and request from. When I'm being really organized, I write the date that the document was handed in rather than just a check mark...but I'm still working on that. 

Must-Have #5 Hanging File Folder Crate

I visit classrooms a lot. Of course, I wish I visited them more often (the day is too short) because I love to see what's going on there! But I try to visit them as often as possible, and when I go, I write teachers a little note. I have a pad that our print shop made with a carbon copy of each page. I write the notes on the top copy and tear it off to give to the teacher. The carbon copy I put into my hanging file folder crate. The hanging file folders are organized by grade level, and inside each grade level, I have plain file folders with the teachers' names on them. As I go visit the classrooms, I write up my notes, give the teachers a copy and then save a copy in the folder. 

This is important, because my district requires that my productivity be audited. They could, at any time, as to see evidence of how I support teachers in the classroom, and I like to have as many different types of evidence as possible!

Must-Have #6 Teacher Documentation Turn-In Basket

This one is a no-brainer. You know how you wanted your students to have a consistent turn-in process? Well, I need the same thing from my teachers. I have a basket labeled, "Teacher Documentation." Obviously, whenever teachers turn anything in to me (this includes DRA, WRAP, guided reading levels, end of year data, etc.), they put it in this basket. Then I go through it, maybe once a week, and file everything and mark it off on my roster.

These are six systems that have really helped me maintain organization while being inundated with tons of documents, all the time. I know where things are and I can find them easily. 

Do you use any systems like these?
Then this freebie will be right up your alley. I've put together a nice bundle of instructional coaching freebie pages from my Instructional Coaching Binder MegaPack.  
Read more about staying on top of things as an instructional coach in my ebook, The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching! It's over 80 pages of information to help you start making a real difference on your campus.

In case you're getting yourself organized as an Instructional Coach, or looking for some forms to help you keep documentation, you should check out my Instructional Coaching MegaPack on TpT! It's full of 140 pages of fillable forms, printable documents, planning and organizational tools, and more!

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4 Tips for New Literacy Coaches and Instructional Coaches

I am about to start my fourth year as a literacy coach at my elementary school. This has been an exciting journey and I love my job. Like any teacher who knows how important what they do is, at the beginning of each year I am plagued with doubt about my ability to perform this important role on my campus. My thoughts include:

* Surely someone is better qualified to do this.

* Am I prepared to support my teachers in their new learning?

* Do I have the energy to give all of myself another year?

* How do I best help all teachers; new and experienced?

* Where will I get new ideas instead of just using my boring old ones?

* Where do we go next?

I decided it might make me feel better to prepare a list of tips for new coaches. This would actually be evidence that I have learned something in the last three years; figured something out that I can turn around to you. And maybe it will convince me that I'm better prepared than I thought.

Tip # 1 Listen

When I was in the classroom, I was often wary of people "coming in to my room," to "tell me how to do stuff." I wasn't the only one - this is a pretty common feeling. Don't be one of those people who barge into classrooms to tell everyone how to do the job they're doing. Instead, start off listening. When teachers say, "That's not going to work," or "I don't like that idea," instead of getting defensive or upset, say, "What is it that you're worried about?" in an honest way. They can explain their concerns and maybe it'll help you solve the problem together.

It's not about what you want to do. It's about how you can all figure out what the best thing to do is. If you really come to the school with the attitude that it's a team challenge, and everyone has a voice, you will make a lot more of an impact than if it's the Ms. Chrissy Show. Chrissy can think reader's notebooks are the best thing ever, but nobody cares what you have to say if all you do is talk. Helpful things to say include:

• Can you explain what you're worried about?
• Tell me a little more about that.
• Have you tried that before?
• What could we do to make a difference?
• How can I help you with this?
• Here, have some candy. (Candy is a very effective planning tool)

Big Idea: You gotta listen to the people. 

Tip #2 Be organized

The two most important things I own: my calendar and my notebook.

Get a system, and get it fast. These are the kinds of things that happen (regularly) that make me thankful that I figured out an organizational system.

• A teacher stops me in the hallway and says, "Oh, I know we're meeting on Thursday at 10:00, but I have an ARD at that time, so how about Friday at 2:30?"
• I get an email in March that reads, "I can't seem to find that BOY data I sent you in August. Do you have a copy?"
• My principal says, "What date did we provide that training about levels of rigor last year?"
• Central office sends an email that says, "Instructional coaches, please ensure that all of your teachers entered in their MOY data online."
• At a grade level meeting, teachers ask for their students' performance data on a test from three weeks ago.
• At the end of the year, everyone has to turn in everything. This means you could potentially have to provide copies to teachers again of everything they've ever handed to you. (And occasionally they'll request things they never handed to you at all, in the hopes that you might have it :)

They're not beautiful, but they are organized.

So get a system. My system involves one notebook (for the entire year - I don't write anywhere else), a calendar (paper and pencil; not electronic) a four-drawer filing cabinet, a hierarchy of folders on my laptop, and my literacy coaching binder. I carry my notebook, calendar, and a pen everywhere I go, no matter if I'm just heading to the bathroom. The one time I don't have it is the one time a teacher will stop me to schedule something really important, and I need to make a note that says, "Find parent conference letter for Ms. SoandSo".

This system helps me to know where everything is, and in the everyday occurrence off-chance that someone needs another copy of something from seven months ago, I can usually find it. And it doesn't even bother me that much, because the truth is that teachers are busy, sometimes frazzled, and I probably lost lots of stuff when I was in the classroom. So the big idea here is: Save everything and write everything down, and figure out a way to remember where you put it. 

Tip #3 Budget your time

This is tough. Everyone will want a piece of you.

On the first day of school in my first year as a coach, I was so lonely. I sat at my empty guided reading table in my empty room and thought, "Nobody needs me. I miss my kids."

That has never happened again. Now I sometimes wish I could turn out the lights, lock the door, and hide so I can go to the bathroom.

Honestly, now I schedule everything on my calendar. Even things that don't need to be done at an exact time. I schedule all of these kinds of things that would normally require scheduling:

• PLC
• Grade level meetings
• Meetings with leadership and central office
• Trainings
• Due dates
• Planning with individual teachers
• School events
• Scheduled observations
• Working with students
• Observing students in the classroom for RtI

And I schedule these kinds of things that usually don't really require scheduling:

• Classroom visits: "Visit second grade writing" in the time frame I want to visit them, or if I'm visiting some teachers one day and some another day, I'll write in the teachers' names. 
• Time to work on documentation: "Finish Reading At-Risk BOY"
• Time to work on assessments: "Third Grade Reading Fiction/Poetry Test"
• Time to work on materials for teachers: "Fourth Grade Point of View Materials"

It's like a to-do list with a time frame. 

Tuesdays look fairly blank because we have PLC all day - meetings, meetings, meetings!

And this year, I'm considering adding these elements to my schedule:

• Go to the bathroom.
• Eat lunch.
• Walk from one meeting to the next (rather than scheduling them all back to back!)
• Breathe.

Big tip for budgeting your time: If it has to be done while students are in the classroom, schedule it first. For example, if I want to observe third grade reading to see how our character study lesson plans are going, I need to schedule that at the time third grade is teaching reading. I shouldn't work on documentation at that time, because I can do that after school. To quote my mother: "You always have time for the things you do first." It's true. Try it out. You'll see.

Tip #4: Know Your Job Description
This one is pretty important. Your principal (or possibly your district) has an idea of what your job is. If you have a different idea of what your job is, and you continue doing that job for any length of time, one of you will end up being pretty unhappy. When you apply for any instructional coaching position, it's necessary to ask the principal, "What are the three most important things I need to spend my time on? Where will most of my time be spent?"

My principal (God bless her, like for reals) knows that the only way a school grows is through time spent with teachers. Most (by which I mean more than half) of my responsibilities revolve around supporting teachers in some direct or indirect way:

• Planning with teachers
• Training teachers
• Meeting with teachers to debrief data
• Modeling lessons for teachers
• Observing classroom lessons
• Providing feedback to teachers
• Writing assessments so teachers don't have to

But of course, there's a whole list of other stuff that I do that, although it does support teachers in some way, isn't directly working with teachers:

• Monitoring awards assemblies or special campus events
• Having a walkie-talkie (I hate walkie-talkies!) for use in fire drills and lockdowns
• Making copies of DRA so teachers don't have to
• Sitting in leadership meetings, weekly
• Training at the district level, whatever they want me to train on
• Attending district and other level trainings
• Planning and running school events like Family Literacy Nights
• I'm sure there's more, but I'm getting a little a little overwhelmed thinking about some of it.

So make sure you and your principal or admin are on the same page. It will make a huge difference in how both of you see your purpose and productivity!
 
Literacy Coaching is incredibly rewarding and interesting; each day is a new challenge to figure out with my colleagues. I love love love it, even when I feel like I'm underwater. Hopefully these tips will help you feel like you are underwater less often.

Looking for more resources to help you get started as an instructional coach? Check out my ebook, The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching.

   Want more than four tips? Join my free Start-Up Course for Instructional Coaches! It includes videos, tips, and tools to help you coach with confidence!

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