The #1 tool coaches need: the Instructional Coaching Binder MegaPack.

Imagine this: you're sitting at your desk. Your teacher documentation is organized, you have every form you need at your fingertips, and you know exactly how you're going to spend your time today.

When you visit classrooms, you know what you're looking for and you have an easy, positive way to share feedback with teachers.

Every resource you use is in its place, labeled, and ready to go. You've been using the Instructional Coaching Binder MegaPack, and you're ready to coach with confidence.

Who doesn't want to feel like they're ready for their day with all of the tools they need? 

As a new coach, I was re-inventing the wheel every day, spending my precious time creating documents that already existed and digging through binder after binder and book after book to find exactly the right form.

I'd visit classrooms and not know where to start, scramble to pull together RtI forms at the last minute, and race to data review meetings, planning in my head as I walked. Basically, I was underwater.

This is a pretty common experience for coaches. There's just not that much support out there. If you feel like this, you are not alone. There are thousands of coaches across the country who feel just like you: unsupported. Coaches often have to forge their own way, sometimes even creating their job descriptions as they go.

But there's an easier way to do this work. And it starts with getting the resources you need. 

I created the Instructional Coaching MegaPack to help coaches just like you and me, who were starting from scratch every single day. It's full of every form and organizational tool you need as coach, whether you're coaching literacy, math, science, or any instructional method or approach. The best part? Forms are printable AND editable pdfs, so you can print and go OR fill them in on your computer!

Seriously, it's a lifesaver. Save yourself from reinventing the wheel on a daily basis with this comprehensive coaching resource.

Here's what coaches have said about the Instructional Coaching MegaPack.

 It's made just for instructional coaches.

It's got everything you need.

Fillable forms make life easy!

It's a lifesaver!

Want to know exactly what you'll get in this gigantic resource? Check out the details!

Coach in Style

To get you organized quickly, but help you match your style, too, there are fifteen different styles of calendars, binder covers and spine labels, and cute notes to leave when you visit classrooms, too! The best part? The calendars & binder covers are editable, making it easy for you to use them year after year.

Styles Included:

• Black and white
• Bright chevron
• Confetti pattern party
• Watercolor flowers
• Black, white, and pink dahlias
• Gold & white
• Blue and yellow flowers
• Bright pencils
• Bees
• Blush flowers
• Coffee
• Rainbow
• School supplies
• Crosshatched desktop
• Salsa: citrus and lime chevron

Binder Covers Included in each style

• Grade Level Binder Covers: Prekindergarten through eighth grade binder cover and spine label for a 3" binder
• Subject Binder Covers: Reading, Writing, Social Studies, Math, Science
• Data Binder Cover
• Teacher Documentation Binder Cover
• Coaching Logs Binder Cover
• PLC Binder Cover
• Response to Intervention Binder Cover

Calendars Included in each style

• 5-day calendar for planning
• Full monthly calendar
• Editable Full monthly calendar - use Keynote or PowerPoint to edit
• Editable binder covers and spines - use Adobe to edit

Visit Classrooms

Coaching is about making change happen on your campus and supporting your teachers in their professional learning. Some of the most important tools in the MegaPack are the instructional coaching and observation tools!  These tools help you focus your classroom visits, leave feedback, and document your coaching cycle work with teachers.

In the MegaPack, you'll get...

• School Initiatives Plan
• Instructional Support Log
• Coaching Cycle and Conference (2 pgs.)
• Book Study Meeting Plan
• Classroom Observation Log
• General Classroom Observation Form
• Focused Classroom Observation: Student Participation (2 pgs.)
• Focused Classroom Observation: Lesson Alignment (2 pgs.)
• Focused Classroom Observation: Compliance vs. Engagement (2 pgs.)
• Focused Classroom Observation: Time Management (2 pgs.)
• Teacher Instructional Goal Setting (with accountability piece)
• Teacher Instructional Goal Setting
• Grade Level Goal Setting (with accountability piece)
• Grade Level Goal Setting
• Praise Notes (3 pages) - 15 different style versions available in the printable binder materials file!
• Classroom Observation Notes

Review Data
Facilitating data conversations and helping teachers plan next steps is a big role. Data can be overwhelming, but these simple data review guides can help you make responding to data easy.

In the MegaPack, you'll get...

• Reflecting on Data Bookmarks
• Data Review (2 versions)
• Standard Review

Plan Professional Development
Stay organized while you're figuring out what PD opportunities your teachers want and need and plan training that helps them grow!

In the MegaPack, you'll get...

• Professional Development Sign-In (3 versions)
• Ideas for Professional Development
• Professional Development Calendar (printable only; not fillable)
• Planning Professional Development Organizer (2 versions)
• Professional Development Agenda (2 versions)

Plan Collaboratively
Managing a collaborative planning session with a grade level or group of teachers can result in chaos, but these planning guides help you stay focused and get it done well!

In the MegaPack, you'll get...

• Focusing on the Standards
• Integrating Data Review
• Considering Misconceptions
• Planning Day-to-Day (2 versions)
• Weekly Planning Guide

Manage Your Time
Without a plan for your day or week, your time will slip right through your fingers. Figure out what you need to accomplish, schedule your days, and have a document that shows exactly where your time went.

In the MegaPack, you'll get...

• Printable Only Color Monthly Calendar - 15 different style versions! (not editable)
• Printable Only Black and White Monthly Calendar (not editable)
• Week at a Glance: Planning Your Week
• Daily Plan with Time Frames
• Daily Plan (3 versions)
• Daily Log (Record of Activities)
• Student Intervention Log
• Event Planning To-Do

Collect Documentation & Keep Records
Coaches have to keep track of so much. These forms help you document the important stuff and get the information from teachers that you need.

In the MegaPack, you'll get...

• Teacher Documentation Form (3 times a year)
• Teacher Documentation Form (BOY, MOY, EOY)
• Teacher Documentation Form (monthly record)
• Teacher Documentation Form (9 times)
• Tutoring Log (Student Attendance)
• At-Risk List by Teacher
• At-Risk List with Teacher and Grade
• At-Risk List with Teacher, Grade, and Qualifying Criteria
• Teacher Documentation Received with Date
• Teacher Documentation Received with 8 slots
• Teacher Documentation Received by Grade Level
• Grade Level Meeting Notes (2 versions)
• To-Do List
• Teacher Materials Issued Log
• Resource Checkout Sheet
• Purchasing Log

Response to Intervention Forms
RtI is a whole world of forms on its own. Keep it simple and consistent with these RtI forms for you and for your teachers.

In the MegaPack, you'll get...

• RtI Master List (2 versions)
• RtI Referral Form (2 pgs.)
• Progress Monitoring Form
• Response to Intervention Log
• Response to Intervention Meeting Log

Make today the day things change and coach with confidence!

Need to try it out first? You can get a free sample of the some of the materials included in this resource below!

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Bridging guided reading to test prep: One easy tip

Ah, spring. the birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming, and the kids are bubbling answers.

Ugh.

We've all been there. 

During this push, push, push for test scores that happens every spring, sometimes guided reading can get the boot. It can feel like we "just don't have the time". And I get it. 

The test is scary and we want our kids to be prepared, because if they're not, there can be consequences. 

Sure, there are consequences for us, but there are definitely consequences for them.

So guided reading sometimes gets lost in the desperate race to get kids where the state wants them to be, even though we know guided reading is the real deal and the test is not.

If you're struggling with this, this post is for you.



Here's how you can do guided reading while embedding some test-taking strategies, too!

Step 1. Plan your guided reading lesson like normal. Use your test data to figure out what strategy to focus on that will help them as readers and reading test takers. Use an instructional-leveled text. Identify the vocabulary you want to plant, and the background knowledge you want to access. 

Our main strategy for this lesson in the picture below was finding the main idea. Students used post-its to mark the main idea of each paragraph as they read, applying the strategy I'd taught them about finding the three-four most important words or ideas in each paragraph.

Step 2. As you're planning, when you get ready to write your purpose question: write it in test format. I'm talking test question stems and A, B, C, D. Type it up and print it out so each student has a question strip.

It should require students to practice the strategy you're working on. For our main idea work, I asked the question, "The information on page 5 helps explain how -" This was a test question stem from our state test. Students had to use their main ideas to check every answer choice and see if it matched their evidence. 

Once students get to the page that will help them answer their question, they apply their strategy like normal, and then they answer the question. Here's the important part: They have to USE THE STRATEGIES YOU'VE TAUGHT THEM!

If my students answered a question without marking their evidence with a post-it, analyzing the question, and analyzing each answer choice, I'd take their strip away and give them a blank one so they could actually do the thinking they needed to do to be successful.

Step 3. You have students finish their reading, applying strategies, and then bring them together (as usual) for a discussion about the purpose question. Here, they verbalize their thinking and explain how they arrived at the answer.

It's an easy peasy connection and it'll give you the time and proximity to see what students are thinking as they approach these questions, while building reading strategies, too. 

Would you do this all year? Not really. You want open-ended questions for guided reading, most of the time. But bridging to the test is something that our kids need support in, and this is one way to do it without drill and kill!

Want to learn more about planning guided reading lessons? Check out my post: Planning for Guided Reading! It'll break it down a step at a time!

P.S.

If you try it, shout it out on FB or IG! 
Tag me @buzzingwithmsb!



Need more support in guided reading, and want some free resources to get you started? Enter your address below!