Getting Your Space Ready: Part Two of the Start-Up Guide Series for Instructional Coaching

Walking into your classroom at the end of the summer is a magical time, whether you're an instructional coach or a teacher. All of your stuff is stacked to the ceiling, on top of the built-in shelves. There are at least two mosquitos floating around the room. And the air conditioner is most definitely not working. 

And despite all of these disparaging factors, you're excited. You're excited to un-box your office supplies and see how many cute post-its you bought over the summer. You're excited to put up new fabric on the bulletin boards. You're excited to use that new scrapbook paper to make signs. All of this is true, even for instructional coaches.

Every year is a chance to start anew with a new layout! To help you organize your space, here are a few things to think about and a few spaces you'll probably want to include in your instructional coaching space! Every room is different; some coaches work out of what basically constitutes a closet. But no matter the size of your space, you'll want to ensure its usefulness by considering the following tips.

Space #1 Workspace.

This is your space to work in. In this space, you'll write out documentation from your classroom visits and work on preparing trainings and alignment documents. This is the spot where you'll want to organize your office supplies for personal use and have the documentation systems that are for your use rather than teacher use. In this space, include:

*A flat surface to work on. A desk or guided reading table works well.

*Office supplies. Post-its, white-out, highlighters, pens and pencils.

*Make sure there's an outlet for your laptop or desktop nearby.

 *Printer in proximity.

*Documentation binders on a shelf.

Space #2 Planning Tools
In this section, I keep tools for lesson planning during PLC or for me to use to prepare trainings or workshops. For each grade level, I have a basket and a binder. The basket holds copies of the materials that grade level has copies of in order to facilitate planning. The binder includes documents that help us plan, like the district curriculum guide, the standards for that grade level, and questioning ideas for each standard.

Space #3 Teacher Workspace

Obviously, this space is designed to give teachers room to work and communicate during PLC,  trainings, and meetings. The tables are large and can fit about 8-10 teachers. On each table, I have a basket with post-its, pens, and highlighters for teacher use. Hole punches, staplers, and tape dispensers are nearby. 

Space #4 Teaching Resources

Because my primary focus is reading and writing, the teaching resources we use to plan our lessons are primarily books! I have two sections of books in my room. One of them is dedicated to models for writing. These touchstone texts are organized by writing skill or strategy and are available for teachers to use. For example, if we’re planning a unit on writing good beginnings in narrative text, we can grab the “Good beginnings” basket and dig through to find some great models.

The other section of books include classroom sets or multiple copies of novels or picture books. These are organized in baskets. I have a check-out binder for the class sets, placed on a low table near the shelves.  

Space #5 Direct Instruction Space
You know how you provide direct instruction in the classroom and you have a spot to do it in? It might be an easel next to a chair on the carpet, or a document camera projected onto a screen or a whiteboard. You're going to want a direct instruction space in your instructional coaching room, too. I have space at the front of the room with my media cart handy (document camera, projector, and speakers) and an easel. There's also magnetic wall space, so I can model lessons or lead professional development there.

 
Space #6 Wall Space

Just like in the classroom, your wall space is valuable! You can use it to post anchor charts made during trainings or to create sample charts teachers might like to use in their upcoming instruction. If there's a new initiative teachers are expected to integrate, this is a great place to post it, front and center. Keeping it visible will help you remember to pull it into your planning!

Another necessary tool is your calendar. I post a large monthly calendar, showing two months at a time. We mark school events, district or campus assessment windows or dates, and other important dates to help us plan accordingly. Keeping the calendars visible is so helpful when you're planning a crazy month like December!

Space #7 Professional Development Resources
This space is basically your professional development library. If you've inherited years' worth of PD materials (like me), you've got shelf after shelf of stuff. Organize it and label it for easy access!

And be sure to check out the rest of the posts in the series:

Set Instructional Goals: July 10

Get Your Space Ready: July 17

Plan Some Awesome Training: July 24

Get Organized: July 31

Create a Coaching Support Plan: August 7

Was this helpful? Would you like more tips and information about getting started as an instructional coach? Check out my all-new ebook: The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching on TPT! There's a section about getting your space ready that includes these tips and more. I also included a map of my classroom space. It's over 80 pages of information to help you have a successful year of coaching!

But wait - there's more! There's a giveaway! A BIG GIVEAWAY!

One lucky duck will win my Instructional Coaching Start-Up Kit, an over $140 value!

Included in this kit: 

• Storage box (So pretty)
• My favorite notebook (Bendable)
• My favorite calendar (Week-at-a-glance)
• The best erasable pens out there
• A mug (Necessary for coaching)
• A fruit infuser water bottle (Stay hydrated)
• A welcome banner (It's important to be approachable)
• Post-it notes, binder clips, and paperclips (Fancy)
• The Instructional Coaching MegaPack (sent via email)
• The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching (sent via email)

In addition to this, every week, you'll have the chance to enter a Rafflecopter Giveaway to be one of five people to win a digital giveaway: my new ebook, The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching, and my Instructional Coaching MegaPack Binder! Over $35.00 worth of products!

To enter this contest, follow the rafflecopter directions below: you can tweet, follow me on twitter, follow me on Pinterest, and share on Facebook. In addition to this, you can add one new entry with each blog post that comes out in the Instructional Coaching Start-Up Series, starting with the post last week! Every week, on Sunday, you can read my new post and add another entry by commenting on the post (please, just one comment per new post). You can also share each new post on Facebook, every day if you want, and add to your entries! The giveaway ends on August 10!

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Setting Goals as an Instructional Coach: Part One of the Start-Up Guide Series

Starting your year as an instructional coach can be overwhelming. For me, the beginning of the year looks something like this:


1. Present at two days of district training.
2. Attend nine days of district training.
3. Get my room set up.
4. Meet with the Leadership Team.
5. Distribute materials to teachers.
6. Plan campus professional development.
7. Deliver that campus professional development.
8. Do whatever my principal tells me to do.

 Some of these decisions are obviously out of my control. I don't get to choose what the district decides to focus on, for example, and if my principal has some new thoughts to share during Leadership, we're going to roll with it. But the most essential first step, before I do any of those steps above, is setting goals for myself for the school year.

Here are a few things I've learned about setting goals for the school year.

Connect to what's already in place.

A good goal starts with what's already happening and moves it forward a few steps. Instead of throwing something completely foreign at teachers at the beginning of the year, it can help to take stock in what your teachers already do well. 

Maybe they have some strong writing practices in place. You can grow this by working on writing in the content areas. Maybe the shared reading practices are consistent, but need some work. There you go! Work on adding engagement and strategies to shared reading! No matter how amazing the campus is, there is always something that can be done to push it forward.

Usually, the goals I create for myself are based on teacher feedback (a survey we made on SurveyMonkey) from the end of the year, conversations with teachers, and classroom visits. However, you might sometimes find that certain practices need to be completely replaced because they are actually detrimental to student learning. In that case, make sure that you are prepared to address the issues with the current practice through research.  

Consider the impact on student learning. 

A goal is only important if it will have an impact on student learning. Ideally, you want to work towards goals that will support student learning for years to come. We're playing a long game here, folks. No band-aids for us! We want sustainable growth for all of the students who attend our campus and those who are served by our teachers in the future. 

Growing the instructional practices on a campus is your number one responsibility (unless your district or campus admin tells you otherwise!). Choose some essential pieces that will make a real difference in how well students are prepared to embark on their future academic and professional careers! 

In order to ensure that the goals will reach students, you have to have some sort of plan to roll them out. Will teachers plan one lesson a week using the strategies? Will the materials be provided for teachers and discussed during PLC? Will you look for the goals during your classroom visits, or will the principal look for them during her walk-throughs? That's how a goal becomes reality for students. 

Focus!

As you consider your goals, make them specific enough so that you will know when you've achieved them. It's also important because a broad goal results in floundering! Believe me, I know. Instead of stating that you want to improve reading practices on your campus, choose a specific spot to focus on. Is it shared reading? Read aloud? Guided reading? Independent reading? Reading stations? Homework? That's a big category! Focus on the mode of instruction and the exact strategies you'd like to explore, such as rigor, engagement, etc.

As far as how many specific goals you'd like to focus on, I would say somewhere around 4-5 goals are reasonable, especially if you are differentiating goals for different grade levels. Too many goals means you'll be crazy and unable to focus your support to teachers. Teachers will be crazy, too. Learning takes time and repetition, and if you're all over the place, no one will understand the big picture or the point of what you're trying to accomplish.

When possible, team up!

Great goals include other members of support staff. Consider your colleagues. Can you work with the librarian to create some awesome reading programs in the library? Will the technology coordinator support your goals to integrate technology lessons? Can you work with the math and science coach to facilitate teacher-leader capacity through planning a teacher conference (like we're doing this fall)? You're all support team members: support each other and the teachers effectively by making it a team effort!

Try to add a human goal, too.

Teachers are people, and coaches are, too. Think about a challenge you have in working with a specific colleague or grade level. Do you have trouble relating to a certain person? Do you find yourself anxious at the thought of working with a specific grade level? There's your goal! What can you do to change this situation and become more effective in that area?

These are my goals for 2016-2017.

1. Support teachers' use of mentor texts in narrative and expository writing through planning with an aligned set of materials for each teacher. This happens during PLC. 

2.  Integrate technology seamlessly into our reading and writing planning, rather than planning technology extensions or projects.
 

3. For grades 2-5, provide training and follow-up to teachers in supporting students in quality responses to reading.

4. For grades K-2, focus training and follow-up support on refining our explicit teaching and modeling practices of reading strategies in read aloud and guided reading.  

5. Focus on building capacity in our teachers. Provide opportunities for them to share strategies, model lessons, visit other classrooms, and lead meetings and professional development.

Obviously, this isn't everything I intend to do next year. There are a hundred smaller initiatives and trainings, meetings and plans that must be done. But these are the big ideas that I will try to achieve through ongoing training and support throughout the year.

Check out the complete set of posts in the Starting the Year as an Instructional Coach Series!

And be sure to check out the rest of the posts in the series:

Set Instructional Goals: July 10

Get Your Space Ready: July 17

Plan Some Awesome Training: July 24

Get Organized: July 31

Create a Coaching Support Plan: August 7

 

But wait - there's more! There's a giveaway! A BIG GIVEAWAY!

One lucky duck will win my Instructional Coaching Start-Up Kit, an over $140 value!

Included in this kit: 

• Storage box (So pretty)
• My favorite notebook (Bendable)
• My favorite calendar (Week-at-a-glance)
• The best erasable pens out there
• A mug (Necessary for coaching)
• A fruit infuser water bottle (Stay hydrated)
• A welcome banner (It's important to be approachable)
• Post-it notes, binder clips, and paperclips (Fancy)
• The Instructional Coaching MegaPack (sent via email)
• The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching (sent via email)

In addition to this, every week, you'll have the chance to enter a Rafflecopter Giveaway to be one of five people to win a digital giveaway: my new ebook, The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching, and my Instructional Coaching MegaPack Binder! Over $35.00 worth of products!

To enter this contest, follow the rafflecopter directions below: you can tweet, follow me on twitter, follow me on Pinterest, and share on Facebook. In addition to this, you can add one new entry with each blog post that comes out in the Instructional Coaching Start-Up Series, starting with this post today! Every week, on Sunday, you can read my new post and add another entry by commenting on the post (please, just one comment per new post). You can also share each new post on Facebook, every day if you want, and add to your entries!

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The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching, giveaway & a 5-part series!

Guess what?

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

And also, I am about to start my fifth year as an instructional coach. Over the last four years, I've learned a lot and made a lot of mistakes. I hope I've done more of the former. It's been an incredible time in my career, and I hope that any coaches reading this are as excited as I am to get their year started.

Starting the year right is so important. Teachers are well-rested and excited, so it's a great time to learn something new. The training and planning you do at the beginning of the year can influence the professional growth of your teachers and the direction of your school throughout the year.

Over the next five weeks, I'll be sharing a new post about starting the year right as an instructional coach. It'll be full of practical ideas and helpful tips to help you set goals, get your space ready, plan some great training, get organized, and create a coaching support plan for the school year.

The complete set of posts in the series:

Set Instructional Goals: July 10

Get Your Space Ready: July 17

Plan Some Awesome Training: July 24

Get Organized: July 31

Create a Coaching Support Plan: August 7

Most of these ideas can be found in my new ebook, The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching: How to make a real difference on your campus. You can find it at my TPT store!

But wait - there's more! There's a giveaway! A BIG GIVEAWAY!

One lucky duck will win my Instructional Coaching Start-Up Kit, an over $140 value!

Included in this kit: 

• Storage box (So pretty)
• My favorite notebook (Bendable)
• My favorite calendar (Week-at-a-glance)
• The best erasable pens out there
• A mug (Necessary for coaching)
• A fruit infuser water bottle (Stay hydrated)
• A welcome banner (It's important to be approachable)
• Post-it notes, binder clips, and paperclips (Fancy)
• The Instructional Coaching MegaPack (sent via email)
• The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching (sent via email)

In addition to this, every week, you'll have the chance to enter a Rafflecopter Giveaway to be one of five people to win a digital giveaway: my new ebook, The Start-Up Guide to Instructional Coaching, and my Instructional Coaching MegaPack Binder! Over $35.00 worth of products!

To enter this contest, follow the rafflecopter directions below: you can tweet, follow me on twitter, follow me on Pinterest, and share on Facebook. In addition to this, you can add one new entry with each blog post that comes out in the Instructional Coaching Start-Up Series! Every week, on Sunday, you can read my new post and add another entry by commenting on the post (please, just one comment per new post). You can also share each new post on Facebook, every day if you want, and add to your entries!

 

And, to say thank you, I've put together a nice bundle of instructional coaching freebie pages from my Instructional Coaching Binder MegaPack.  

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Melisandre Monday, Season 6 finale!

I know, I didn't write about episode nine. Even though it was incredibly amazing. The battle, the dragons, the Knights of the Vale. Here's why: I was super sick. I felt terrible. So terrible that I didn't even want to open my laptop.

I know, that never happens.

I'm feeling mostly better now. Certainly well enough to write about the most incredible GoT episode, certainly in this season (yes, even better than BotB, possibly ever.

Cersei & Marjorie
When this episode opens, you spend about ten minutes watching the "previously ons." It's basically antything that's ever happened on GoT. So that tells you, it's gonna be a big one.

We see Cerseit, looking out the window across King's Landing as her lady dresses her in some sort of armor-type stuff and we listen to the bells chime. Tommen, Marjorie, and the High Sparrow are getting ready, too. And none of them looks too excited.

The music at the beginning of this episode was so unlike anything I've heard on GoT. Very modern piano movements to start, as the people file into the Sept of Balor. It's incredibly tense. They start Loras' trial and he ends up with a seven-pointed star on his forehead (not part of Marjorie's plan btw), but Cersei doesn't even show up!

So you know something big is going to happen. Marjorie knows, too, but nobody cares. It's about twenty minutes of stress for the viewer. Lancel follows the kid into the tunnels and sees the wildfire, Qyburn has Pycelle killed by his little birds (I keep telling people that working with small children is dangerous, but no one believes me), and when you're about so anxious that you can't deal with it any more, the music reaches a crescendo and everybody blows up. And not a little. Like, a lot. Like they blow up so thoroughly that there's clearly nothing left.

Tommen's so upset he just pours himself right out the window.

Walder & Jaime
So Walder's thinking he's a pretty smart guy (despite having lost Riverrun and failed to regain it) and everyone's feasting as a pretty young woman makes eyes at Jaime. Not out of the ordinary, right? I'd be making eyes at him, too... although I doubt he'd give me a second glance!

Walder comes over to Jaime to gloat over what, I'm not sure, and Jaime puts him in his place and questions his purpose in life. What value are you anyway, Walder? You're just a yucky old man with sons who wear weird hats. Nobody fears the Freys! Duh!

Sam & Gilly
This section should probably be called Sam and books, given how much attention he actually paid Gilly in this scene. The maester behind the desk was a bit goblin-y as Sam tries to make his little jokes about life being irregular. The dude's not impressed.

But he does lead Sam toward the library. Sam throws Gilly a helpless glance (who knows where she is now) and the maester leads him into the ginormous library. Did this not feel like a scene out of Harry Potter?

And those gold chandelier things are from the opening sequence! WHAAAAT?!

Jon & Melisandre
Melisandre is lecturing Jon about appreciating his childhood when she literally burned a little girl at the stake, which Davos brings to her attention. Davos was awesome in this scene; truly heartbreaking. Anyway, Melisandre has to trot away on her little pony or Jon will kill her. Or Davos will kill her. Or I'll kill her, at this point.

Jon & the North
So winter is here.

And Sansa still might be sneaky. It might be good for Jon to be a little more chatty.

Olenna & Elia
HAHAHA! Olenna cracks me up. Who wants to listen to the Sand Snakes? Not me! Once the little girls finally shut up, Olenna & Elia make an alliance with Varys to support Danaerys. And so it begins: all of the storylines funneling into Jon and Dany. (And maybe Littlefinger; he's wily enough).

Dany & Tyrion
Aw, Dany gave Tyrion a little hand of the queen pin and he almost cried. Which means I almost cried. Admit it, so did you. And then they board their ships and head for Westeros!

What I'd like to know is, she told the Greyjoys to tone it down with the reaving and pillaging and stuff, but what about the Dothraki? I remember her wedding to Khal Drogo; there was more inappropriate stuff going on there than in all the time Theon was away from the Iron Islands. I'd like to see her control that when she gets to Westeros.

Arya & Walder
I was so excited to see this: they resurrected a very old story from the books to help Arya destroy Walder. She chops up his disgusting sons and pops them into a very dense sort of pie. Apparently, Walder is used to eating some pretty rancid food, because he didn't even notice the human meat in his dinner.

And then the girl RIPS HER FACE OFF and SHE'S ARYA! She rips him right open with a smile on her face. And scene.


Except replace father with Mother, brother, and everyone else.
Littlefinger & Sansa
Littlefinger: Ummm, I was wondering, when I'm king do you want to go out sometime?
Sansa: *Pushes her hand against his face* No.

But then Littlefinger, ever the weasel, tries to turn Sansa against Jon.

Ned & Leanna
Bran, apparently thinking that he has PLENTY of time to get past the wall before the White Walkers find him, decides to take a little break to download some info from the godswood tree where his dead Uncle Benjen leaves him.

And it takes us right back to the Tower of Joy! And it's Ned! And Leanna! And the baby! And it's Jon! So R + L = J! So Jon's a secret Targaryen!

But Jon doesn't know any of this, so it doesn't matter...yet.

The North Remembers
And then Lady Mormont stands up and makes all those men in that room feel about six inches tall. Preach it, girl!

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Melisandre Monday, S6, ep. 8: No One

I'm on time with this one. Must be summertime!

Arya & THE WAIF!

This episode made me soooo anxious. I basically spent this entire episode thinking that every person on screen was the Waif. The actress gives Arya milk of the poppy. It's the Waif! Arya goes to sleep. She's the Waif! A guy shows up at Lady Crane's door. It's the Waif! AND IT WAS THE WAIF! So Lady Crane's dead - that's too bad - and Arya is running for her life.

She is surprisingly agile, given her stomach that must look like swiss cheese...or like Jon Snow's stomach... and she dashes through the entire city. The Waif follows her with a Terminator-like glare. (I promise I came up with that on my own, before I read that everyone and their Grandma also came up with the same comparison.) Arya drags her hole-punched body into a dark corner of the city and pulls Needle out from under a blanket. The Waif thinks it's curtains for Arya, until Arya slashes out the little candle and uses her Daredevil powers, acquired early on in this season, to de-face the Waif and stick her on the Hall of Faces. Woohoo! 

And then Jaqen thinks she's No One but she's not. She's Arya Stark of House Winterfell! YEAH! And then she decides to go home. Good for her. Even Jaq'en has to give her a little nod of props.

Cersei & Tommen

THE MOUNTAIN RIPPED SOMEBODY'S HEAD OFF! And Cersei was like, "Yup. I told you so."

Does she only have the one gown now? I think she's been wearing the same thing for this whole season! I guess the High Septon stripped her of all fashion sense. And then Tommen says, "No trial by combat!" and Cersie gives him a dirty look of disappointment, one only a mother could give, and Tommen avoids eye contact all the way out of the hall. Not looking at mom. Not looking at mom.

Tyrion & Co.

So Tyrion, Messandei, and Grayworm are all hanging out and Tyrion is peer-pressuring them into drinking.  They actually loosen up for about two seconds and of course all sorts of trouble breaks loose in Meereen. The slavers are back and they want their slaves! So Messandei and Grayworm undoubtedly learn that fun=bad and they are never to let their guard down again. 

And then Danaeris pops up to...save the day? With her billions of Dothraki, I guess?

Can I just say that I really like Tyrion's beard?

The Hound & the Brotherhood

Seriously, the Hound is totally cracking me up! I love his delivery! It's like now that he's accepted his life, he's a happier Hound...sort of... and he's just lighter. I love every scene with him in it, and I really do hope that the predicted Clegane Bowl will happen, despite the obvious hurdle of the no trial by combat thing. Thanks a lot, Tommen. I was all ready for the Hound to bash the Mountain.

This made me a little sad:

Brienne & Jaime

Brienne sees Jaime in the distance, gallantly astride his horse. Why does she tell Jaime everything? She's so idealistic sometimes. When she says, "Honor compels me to fight for Sansa's kin. To fight you," you can see Jaime gulp. He knows he couldn't take Brienne on his best day. Brienne tries not to cry and then she runs off. 

Jaime gives Edmure a speech about how terrible he (Jaime) is and how he'll stop at nothing to get back to Cersei. Once he takes back the castle, he sees Brienne paddling down the river to leave Riverrun. Everybody gets all choked up and he waves to her and she waves back to say, "Yes, dude, we're still friends." 

So you know that's gonna get ugly.

I'm really stressing about Brienne v. Jaime. It's gonna rip everyone's heartstrings. Let's face it: there are two outcomes. Brienne kills Jaime, because it's the "honorable" thing to do and lives with the knowledge she killed her friend for the rest of her life. Or Jaime kills Brienne, because Cersei makes him, and is completely embittered. Either way, dark days are coming for these two.

To celebrate the Rains of Castamere playing ominously as Jaime led his men into Riverrun, here is a meme. 

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White Walker Wednesday? Game of Thrones episode six

  I am beat, people. This is our next-to-last week of school, and you know what that's like.

Meera & Bran

So Meera's dragging Bran around in th emiddle of a snowy forest and Bran is absolutely useless. He's having all of these visions: the Mad King, dragons over King's Landing, falling from the tower, the White Walkers, Hardhome, and more. And all of a sudden his eyes blink back and he tells Meera that they've been found by the wights. Meera loses it because she feels guilty (as if she hasn't already done everything for this guy) when a dude with a fireball on a chain comes in and saves the day.

Can I just say that this fireball reminds me of the incense burner the priest uses during Holy Week? Except they're usually not on fire.

So big shock, it's Uncle Benjen! And he serves Bran up a nice, tasty mug of rabbit blood. Just like home cooking. Apparently Uncle Benjen was saved from becoming a wight by the same thing that turns men into White Walkers, which is interesting.

Sam & Gilly

Sam & Gilly are traveling to Sam's horrible home and Sam's giving Gilly the guided tour, including the various tree species available in the region and the fact that autumn is coming. Here's the plan: Gilly has one job. Lie to Lord Tarly about everything. 

We meet Sam's mom and sister, who are charming and sweet, and they sweep Gilly out of her wildling rags in an episode of What Not to Wear, Westerosi edition. And apparently Sam's sister's name is Talla. Talla Tarly. That's unfortunate. 

Gilly clomps with Sam of the neatly brushed hair to dinner and endures the worst evening of her life, probably, which is saying something considering she married her own dad... or grandad... or something. 

Sam talks about things north of the wall, trying to sound interesting, but fails when he explains that the most interesting thing he hunts is squirrels. Gilly tries to stand up for him but lets it slip that she came from north of the wall while Sam rocks back and forth on his seat in misery. So the jig is up. 

Just when you think Sam is going to leave Gilly and run away to Oldtown, he takes Gilly, the baby, and even the family sword. Way to stick it to him, Sam! But now where will he go? The Citadel is a lady-free spot.

Tommen & the High Sparrow

Ol' No-Shoes has managed to warp Tommen's brain but I'm not sure how this works exactly. Marjorie and Tommen play a game of 20 questions, trying to figure out what the other thinks about the High Sparrow before they say it. Tommen says, "He's a lot more..." and Marjorie says, "He is!" That's deep.

So Marjorie's got some sort of game going here, but I don't know what it is. When Jaime gallantly rides up the stairs on his beautiful white horse (the heavily plumed Mace Tyrell having just finished his very ineffective speech, perched precariously on his own horse in the background), you know swooned, ladies! But it was all for nought. Marjorie sold Tommen for her freedom, sans "SHAME" walk. I'm curious to see what the end game is there.

Arya & the Waif

 Possibly the most exciting part of this episode was Arya's. She watched the play, laughed at all the wrong places, and catches the understudy coveting Lady Crane's role. Arya poisons the rum, but Lady Crane notices her and tells her about her own story - similar to Arya's in a lot of ways - and so at the last possible second, smacks it out of her hand and tells her to keep an eye on the other actress, who clearly wanted her dead. 

So now the Waif wants Arya dead,1 or anyway she always wanted her dead, but now Jaq'en said okey dokey. Is it just me, or does it seem like the Waif knew Arya from the past? At least Arya has needle again, and we can all refer to her as Arya and not as "a girl." Yay! I can't wait to see what she does, where she goes, and how she can possibly survive, when every time she fought the Waif, she ended up flat on her back!

Have some fun. Take this quiz. I got Danaerys Stormborn... I guess there's probably more to that then I want to admit.

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