Search results: site visit

Tips for Facilitating a School Site Visit

Last week I facilitated my first school site visit. Typically our school designer leads these visits, but she wasn’t available on this particular day which meant I would be in charge! Here I share a few tips I learned in making the experience a successful one.

Seek Support

When my principal first asked me to facilitate this visit, I began to work through some planning on my own. I quickly found out though that I had more questions than I had answers. I am very lucky because I work with a terrific school designer whose experience extends beyond my own and is always willing to help. She talked me through some of the pieces to be sure to have in place and provided a few resources to get me going. If you have someone to go to for some initial support, definitely take advantage of this.

Plan Outcomes/Targets

In order to put together a supportive and productive agenda, it’s important to be aware of the needs of visiting teachers and what understandings you hope they walk away with. In my case, I began by gathering some background information from the principal of the visiting school. I then crafted two learning targets that I thought would support teachers and provide a focus for the visit. I shared these targets with the principal to ensure I was on the right track and moved on from there.

Create an Agenda

Once you have clear targets to guide your work, you are ready to create an agenda consisting of work and learning experiences that will support these targets. Before heading straight into presenting targets and logistics for the day, begin with an interesting introduction/greeting to help break the ice a bit.

Share Observation Norms

These were shared with teachers just to ensure that the classroom visits were as respectful and productive as possible.

Just Keep Swimming

I arrived at school bright and early the morning of the visit. When I walked into the building I was greeted by…dark and cold. That’s right. No power, no heat, and no one to problem solve with. This definitely was not a part of the day that I had planned for. After my initial panic (!!!!) I pulled myself together, put a smile on my face, and just kept swimming. The day got even crazier from there with an early dismissal and a fire on the roof (no kidding!), but I stuck it through and managed to wrap-up a successful site visit. I must say though that I wouldn’t have been able to do this without very understanding visiting teachers and super supportive hosting teachers…thanks everyone!

I learned a few things from this experience. First, always be as planned and prepared as possible. I made sure that I had our materials and space for the site visit arranged well in advance of the visit date. If I had waited until that morning to do this, I really would have been up a creek. Second, even when you are well planned and prepared, you can’t plan for everything. When unplanned roadblocks do present themselves in an untimely fashion, just keep swimming. Our first grade teacher reminded me of this as we were sitting and observing her lesson in the dark and cold. She told her students to have a strong mind and ignore the roadblock because there was still work and learning to be done. Her little guys proceeded to present themselves as excellent models of what perseverance looks like in action.

Follow-Up

After visitors have left and you’ve had a chance to take a breath, don’t assume that your work is done. First, I sent a follow-up email to the principal of the visiting school with our captured notes from the debrief of the visit attached. Then I wrote each hosting teacher a handwritten note thanking them for their time. Sometimes a personal note like this can feel more meaningful to receive than an email. Lastly, I followed up on the commitments I made to visiting teachers. They asked that I send a few example daily schedules along with information regarding documentation panels. I made sure to do this as soon as I could.

If you have any other tips or “just keep swimming” stories from school site visits of your own, please share in the comments section below!

Thanks for reading,

A Day in the Life of Ms. Houser

Goals and Motivation, Instructional Coaching

I keep a running list of blog post topics and one that has been on there for awhile is a “Day in the Life” post. I secretly love learning about the rhythms and routines of other people’s everyday schedules. When I’m out walking my dog at night, I’ll even walk a bit more slowly past open windows so I can peek inside. Is that weird?

Anyhow, I got to thinking that most of the posts I’ve written on this little blog of mine, have been more professional and less personal. I haven’t really shared much about the gal behind MsHouser.com. And I know that one of my favorite parts of reading a blog is making a connection with the person writing it. So in an effort to get to know each other a bit better, I’m opening up my window curtains and inviting you to take a peek inside.

My morning and evening routine is pretty standard, although my coaching days are always different. This day though {Wednesday of this week} reflects a pretty typical coaching day. Alrighty, let’s take a peek.

4:30am WAKEUP

The alarm goes off and my chocolate lab pup jumps on the bed to greet/lick me good morning. I’m a super early bird, so I don’t mind the 4:30am wake-up time. It gives me a few extra minutes to enjoy a cup of coffee, write in my journal, and map out my day. Starting the day this way, helps me get focused and organized for the day ahead.

5:15am EXERCISE

Most mornings I’ll head out for a long, brisk walk with the puppy, Sombra {spanish for shadow}. He’s pretty much the cutest thing ever, don’t you think? And he gives me a pretty good workout.

6:45am DRIVE IN

I hop in my car and head off to school, which is about a 25 minute commute. I’ll usually listen to a good podcast or audiobook on the way there.

7:20am SET-UP FOR THE DAY & BREAKFAST

I head into my coaching office, unpack my bag and get set-up for the day. I’ll have my breakfast while I check a few emails and see if there any changes I need to make to my schedule or anyone I need to get back to right away.

7:45am COACHING VISIT

I’m working fairly intensively with a kindergarten teacher right now in the mornings. So I’m in there longer than I would normally be in a classroom. We’re digging into rituals and routines. We’re both learning a ton and enjoying it! Kindergartners are pretty funny.

10:00am COACHING PLANNING

I always build some time into my daily schedule to review my coaching observation notes and plan for my debriefs with teachers. I think it’s important to be prepared for when you meet with teachers, just as you would be prepared for teaching a lesson. Teachers are sharing some of their limited planning time with you, in the hopes that you can help them and their students grow, so it should be worth their time!

11:00am COACHING COACHES

This isn’t a usual event in my schedule, but it was a fun one to add in! I chatted with a group of coaches about scheduling, the instructional coaching tools I use, lessons learned, goal setting and some Q&A at the end. Some of my lessons learned…be prepared and always be honest with teachers! It’s okay not to have all the answers and it’s okay to honestly talk through sticky situations.

12:00pm LUNCH {usually}

I always make time to eat lunch, but at what time that happens…it just depends on the day. As much as I love structure and routine, different things may come up during the day and coaching requires you to be flexible. When it is time for lunch, I’ll check in on email or do some reading.

12:45pm WORK ON DISPLAY

Its’s College Friday in Colorado, and I’ve been working hard all week on creating a “college dreams” wall for our kids. This is the center of the display, and it extends down the hall. Creating different displays or walls such as this throughout our building, is something I enjoy doing, and offer to help out with on occasion.

1:15pm FACILITATE VISITORS

A few times a year, we host groups of visitors from other schools. Today I facilitated a site visit for a group of 7 teachers, with a focus on identifying instructional practices that support the engagement and achievement of students.

2:45pm MEET WITH CHELSEA

Chelsea and I are just kicking off our coaching cycle together and are meeting today to review her updated assessment data, so we can set a goal and identify some instructional strategies for the focus group of students we’ll be working with.

3:45pm DRIVE HOME

Time to head home for the day. Another podcast plugged in, a snack to munch on, and I’m home!

4:15PM PLAY TIME!

This is one of my favorite times of the day. Sombra is crazy excited when I get home and I’m pretty dang excited to see him too. Luke, my fiancé, hears the commotion upstairs and comes up to greet us {he works from home}. Then we all head out back for some bone throwing and chasing time.

5:00pm PREP FOR NEXT DAY

This time includes unpacking my bags, making breakfast and lunch for tomorrow, cleaning up the house a bit, picking out tomorrow’s outfit, mail…all that kind of stuff.

6:00pm DINNER AND FAMILY TIME

We try pretty hard to have our meals planned out for the week and enjoy spending some time together in the kitchen cooking healthy meals. Tonight is one of our favorites, chicken burrito bowls.

7:30pm BIZ WORK

I’ve been working super hard on my side business, so I’ve been using this time to hustle. I’m in the process of launching a new, unique weekly planner designed for educators and other busy professionals. It’s been a long time dream in the making and I can’t wait to share it with you! You’ll hear more about it in the coming weeks.

9:00pm GET READY FOR SLEEP

I like taking a hot shower before I go to bed, just to wash the day off and relax. Then I’ll do a little fiction reading to help me get my mind off work stuff. Right now I’m reading The Maze Runner, and really liking it!

9:30pm LIGHTS OUT!

Thanks so much for taking the time to get to know me a little better. I hope this post also gave you a better idea of what an instructional coaching day can look like. I know that’s something I’m always curious about.

Now it’s your turn!

If you’d like to send me a note or introduce yourself in the comments below, I’d love it!

Have a happy weekend and I’ll talk to you soon.

How I Use Block Scheduling to Structure My Days

Teaching Tips

Hello, and welcome back! How’s distance coaching/teaching been going for you?

I feel like I’m finally starting to get my groove with all of the distance learning things (now that school is almost over, geez!). And just like you, I’ve been adjusting to new technology, new schedules, new expectations, and establishing a “new normal” work-life balance.

Today I thought I’d walk you through what my schedule is currently looking like and how I’m managing my time, so my days don’t turn into one big blursday (ha!). Let’s get started!

So the main strategy I’ve used to help give structure to my days and weeks is…block scheduling or time blocking. Time Blocking! It’s pretty amazing when you put it to good use. Jordan Page at Fun Cheap or Free has a great blog post I recently revisited that got me energized to use the time blocking strategy during these distance learning days.

Let me start by giving you an overview of how I’ve set up my distance learning blocks/schedule.

I created this schedule given the guidelines provided by our school, but I was also able to “bundle” my instructional time to all be in the morning which works better for me.

Since I’m nearing the end of the school year, I’ve also done some planning ahead for what I want my summer time blocks to look like. You’ll see they look very similar to what my current blocks look like! I just switched out the “teach” block with work I’ll be doing for myself…working on my blog, as well as keeping up with the FIVE classes I have signed up to take this summer!

OK. Now that you have the overview in mind, I’ll give you a closer look at what’s happening in each of my blocks.

And as we take this walk through be thinking about how you might structure your own time blocks!

I’m a morning person, so my morning block is a big chunk of my day…and my favorite! I’ve structured this time so I’m able to work on my priority projects and also get myself set-up and energized for a great teach from home day.

Next up, is my “Teach” block. As I mentioned, I was able to bundle all of my student instructional time to be during this block which has really worked well. My instructional time includes daily crew meetings with students, one-on-one instructional support time, as well as small group instruction.

I’ve been working from the kitchen table which has been just fine. I set up all of my supplies…laptop, Time & ToDo Planner, weekly work-box, water bottle and I’m ready to go!

After teaching and before planning meetings I make time for a tea break with my favorite work from home buddy…Sombra! (Luke is holding up a treat for him to pose for the pic, so he’s looking very serious :)

For my morning meetings:

Every day I meet with the third grade team for planning and check-in’s.

And on Tuesdays, I meet with IDT. This is our instructional design team. We’re currently getting started on work planning for next year.

Oh, and as far as coaching goes, my primary focus during this time has been on teaching. Lynsey (math coach/teaching partner) and I have been able to collaborate to share and present ideas with teachers for how to structure their small group instruction. Otherwise, coaching has really taken a back seat. Depending on what next year looks like, distance/virtual coaching is something I’m really going to need to wrap my brain around!

After a morning of teaching and a few meetings, it’s time for my “Plan & Meet” block. First, I’ll stop and have some lunch. One positive about working from home is that Luke and I have been able to have lunch together every day. He has always worked from home, though my being here to make him something to eat has been a treat!

After lunch I’ll work on any planning related tasks, and I’ll take another look through any emails that have come in.

In the later part of the afternoon, I often have various meetings. A few this past week have included:

Interviews
Planning for coaching next year with our principal
Planning for the new interventionist roles for next year
Meeting with our new interventionists (I will start next year as a mentor for this team)
Leadership Team

Instructional Coaching Distance Learning

Next up, is my “Personal” block! First, I’ll head out and take Sombra for his afternoon walk so we can both get some fresh air. I’ve been working hard during the day so I may also make a cup of tea and catch up on a book I’ve been reading.

Distance Learning Instructional Coaching

And then lastly, it’s time for my “Evening” block. I’ll make some dinner, clean up the kitchen, and pat myself on the back for a job well done today. After all that is done, Luke, Sombra and I will snuggle up and either watch a show together OR I might just jump straight into bed with my book! (Yes, I do go to bed quite early :).

A few additional tips for time blocking your days:

Color code your planner/calendar -> I like to draw colored lines in my Time & ToDo Planner to help me stay visually on track throughout the day (ps – 2020-21 planners are coming soon!)

I also LOVE to use checklists for routine or recurring tasks during each of my blocks. For school I have been using Google Keep. And for home, I keep a laminated checklist in my planner.

Phew, we made it! That was fun, huh? I know I love a good day in the life post.

I hope I have given you some ideas for how you might integrate time blocking into your own time management system. Whether this week, this summer, or even next year, give it a try!

As always, thanks for taking the time to hang out with me today and I will talk to you soon!

Why You Should Start a Blog – And How to Do It

Teaching Tips

Alright. I know our summer days are coming to a close and you’re likely getting in as much maxin’ and relaxin’ as you can before school starts up in a few short weeks {agh!}. But I’ve been wanting to tell you something for kind of a long while now, and I figured I should probably tell you now while you still have a little downtime.

You should start a blog.

Yes you! And Austin Kleon, the author of one of my favorite books Show Your Work!, just happens to agree:

“Eventually, I figured out how to install a blog, and that changed everything. A blog is the ideal machine for turning flow into stock: One little blog post is nothing on its own, but publish a thousand blog posts over a decade, and it turns into your life’s work. My blog has been my sketchbook, my studio, my gallery, my storefront, and my salon. Absolutely everything good that has happened in my career can be traced back to my blog. My books, my art shows, my speaking gigs, some of my best friendships—they all exist because I have my own little piece of turf on the Internet.” –Austin Kleon, Show Your Work!

The cool thing about blogging is that it can lead anywhere.

I started my blog 5 years ago and it’s an action I took that I continuously thank myself for. If you put in the work, you’ll get more than you can imagine out of it.

My blog has helped me accomplish so much. To name a few…I’ve become a way better writer, I’ve networked with other coaches I never would have known had it not been for the blog, I’ve created a visual resume of my work, and I’ve created a strong foundation for amazing adventures I hadn’t even planned for like starting my Etsy shop and launching my first online business with the Time & ToDoPlanner.

Your blog will become your online home. A place to share your work and inspire others, connect with people all over the world, and just put something out there that is uniquely you. It will be all yours and you can take it in whatever direction you choose.

Are you with me?!

I sure hope so, because we seriously need some more coaches out there showing off their work.

Alright, let’s get to the “how-to” part. Don’t worry, it’s really easy and your future self will say thank you. Just follow the three steps below and you’ll be up and running with your very own blog in no time.

1. REGISTER A DOMAIN NAME

This just means choose a name for your website. Take some time to think about this one, but don’t obsess about it and let it hold you up from taking action. It can be as simple as your name, or relate to where you want your blog to go. Brainstorm and write down as many ideas as you can. When you think you’ve got a few names to run with, head over to DreamHost and see if your name is available by entering it in the box that looks like this:

You’ll also need to host your domain name. Hosting is like renting space on the web to display your blog. DreamHost has great rates and gives you your domain name for free if you decide to host with them.

2. INSTALL WORDPRESS

WordPress is a blogging software and the one I’ve always used, know how to use, and really like. There are others such as Blogger and SquareSpace, but WordPress is definitely the platform most commonly used. DreamHost will walk you through all the steps to get it installed and set-up.

Step two, done. Now you officially have a blog and all you really need to do at this point is add good content that people want to read. Then, when you’re ready, you can move on to Step 3…

3. SPICE IT UP!

When I first started my blog, it was super simple and that was cool, because you don’t need anything fancy to get started. But as I went along, I started to make small tweaks and changes to spice up the look a bit. And lots of small changes have added up to the site it has evolved into today.

WordPress has lots of ready-to-go themes to get you started. I use WooThemes, and they have a ton of easily customizable templates to choose from. Elegant Themes also has some cool templates.

And that’s it!

Now just keep at it.

Maybe you set a goal for yourself to write one post per week. Then maybe you’ll start getting some comments, and more and more visitors each week, and then from there…who knows the places you’ll go!

If questions come up, let me know!…I’m happy to help.

Enjoy these last few weeks of summer, but maybe also take some time to start a blog too. Wink, wink.

Talk to you soon,

You Asked: Principal and Coach Roles

Instructional Coaching

I frequently get asked some pretty smart questions around the role and responsibilities of an instructional coach. And I always do my best to answer them all. As I was getting ready to respond to a recent question from a reader, it dawned on me {duh!} that I really should be opening up these question and answer sessions to all of you guys!

Because hey, we all want to be better and do more as coaches.

Well did you know there’s a great resource available to support us towards this goal?…each other!

We all have so much we can learn from each other’s questions and experiences.

So a big thanks to Cari for sharing her question, which is something that I’ll bet many of us can relate to:

Kristin,

I love your blog, your tips and tools are very helpful. I am a first year coach with a lot of PD and classroom experience. Since my principal hired me as an “extra” this year we have been kind-of winging my schedule and role. As we look forward to next school year we’d like to tighten up my schedule and responsibilities. Can you give me an idea of how you are accountable to your principal without sacrifying trust with the teachers. Do you meet with your principal weekly? Do you “hand in” a form? Are teachers required to work with you?
Thanks!
Cari

Ahhh….the delicate balance of building relational trust, accountability, and confidentiality.

Building relational trust is so super important. It also takes effort and time. An important first step is communication. When we began implementing coaching cycles at our school, we dedicated one of our afternoon PD sessions {agenda and support structures handout} to the topic of student centered coaching as a form of professional learning. This gave us an opportunity to share with all teachers the why, what, and how of coaching at Tollgate. In doing this, we were able to address the question of “Are teachers required to work with you?” and more importantly begin to build a culture of coaching. Once that culture is established, and you’ve worked to show yourself as a partner in learning to teachers rather than an evaluator, things are likely to go much more smoothly.

I currently meet with my principal at the end of every coaching cycle to fill her in on the work done and reassess where to head next with teachers. This schedule has worked well for us. I would say that I’m pretty fortunate in having a principal who fully trusts me and the work that I do. So I’m not required to send her weekly updates or track my time. I’ve also shared in the past how I’ve tried out coaching data trackers and our PD site as a way of keeping my principal informed.

In addition to my experience, I thought it would be helpful to see what the experts had to say on this topic:

Diane Sweeney shares a really helpful chart in her book Student Centered Coaching that defines how both roles can work together to create a culture of learning where coaching is embraced.

Elena Aguilar has a whole section in her book The Art of Coaching dedicated to ten suggestions for building trust with teachers, which includes how to have an initial conversation with coachees that establishes confidentiality. She suggests using a coaching log as a tool that can be used to report to supervisors.

Jim Knight’s book Unmistakable Impact is another great resource for this question. A few key take-aways include:

The greater the lack of trust initially, the more important confidentiality usually is. What is most important is that principals and coaches clearly delineate what they will and will not discuss, communicate that policy across the school, and act consistently with the policy.
Eight researchers and I visited five of the best coaches in Florida, drawn from a pool of 2,600. In each case, we discovered that each effective coach worked in close partnership with his or her principal.

Cari {and anyone else grappling with this question}, I hope this collection of thoughts and resources above has been helpful.

If you have a question/topic/challenge that you’re wondering about please send it my way! Remember, we’re often each other’s best resource for support.

Thanks for reading,

My 2013-2014 Instructional Coaching Planner

Instructional Coaching, Organization

Hey coaches! You didn’t think I would forget about us and our planning needs did you? No way. Although our planning style may be a bit different than classroom teachers, we need a good planning system in place just as much!

So let’s discuss. Last year, I went the all digital route. I used iCal for monthly, weekly, and daily planning. Google docs for recording and storing information gathered in observations and debriefs with teachers. And Evernote for note taking during meetings.

While there are lots of things to love about digital planning and organizing, I must admit I am a paper and pen kinda gal at heart. And this year I felt the need to show some more love to this side of myself.

So I did what I love to do and created a just-right coaching planner that has made my paper and pen heart sing with happiness!

Along with my Discbound Notebook, here are the materials I used to put it together.

My first task was to figure out how I wanted to set-up my Calendar section. Initially I thought I would use a two-page paper calendar, similar to the one I created for the Teacher Planner and build from there. However, as I thought about all of the planning and coaching meetings I have scheduled in a typical day/month, I knew there was no way the paper only calendar would cut it. So I called on my trusty friend iCal to lend a helping hand. The plan is to print my monthly calendar each month, grab some washi tape, and adhere it to the front of the divider right behind my Calendar section. Like this:

This way I’ll be able to easily refer to my monthly calendar when I’m on-the-go or doing my daily planning without having to pull up my computer or phone. If any additional meetings or events come up, I can fill them in by hand or if things get really crazy, add them to iCal and reprint.

OK, on to daily planning! This is really where the rubber meets the road so you’ve got to do it right. Because I have so much going on in a typical day, I knew I needed a daily planning sheet that would help me manage my important To-Dos and scheduled meetings.

Visit my Shop

I plan for the next day the night before so I’m ready to dive right in. I begin by identifying my top three priorities for the day in the “Eat that Frog” section. Then I get any other To-Dos off my mind by jotting them down in the section below that. Next I write in my agenda or schedule, balancing my time against my To-Dos.

As I work, I’ll jot down any notes or thoughts that come up in the “Thought Catcher” section. Written down, these thoughts won’t distract me from my plan, but they won’t be forgotten either. At the end of the day, I’ll review these caught thoughts along with any other To-Dos that weren’t attended to and use this information along with my monthly calendar to plan my next day.

Are you wondering what the heck “Eat that Frog” means? I picked it up from reading Brian Tracy’s book, Eat that Frog. If you’re interested in time management strategies at all, you should check it out. The idea comes from a Mark Twain quote: “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning that will probably be the worst thing you do all day.” Basically, take care of your most important and/or procrastination worthy tasks first!

One other tool I use to map out my week is my Peek at the Week sheet. I updated the one I shared in an earlier post to better match my daily planning sheets. You can download it free here!

I adjusted the size a bit and trimmed it, so that I could stick it to the back of my calendar tab for easy reference. I’m always checking to make sure that my priorities for the week match my daily plans!

I’ve been playing around with my planning sheets a bit this summer and I’m psyched because I think they’re going to be so perfect for the school year. Woop Woop!

After I had my calendar section all figured out it was time to decide what other sections I would add to my planner. I decided to go with Coaching, Notes, Blog, and Personal.

Within my coaching section, I have tabs labeled Observation, Debrief, and Reference.

I’ll store short term notes and reference material within these sections. For longer term storage of observation and debrief notes with coachees, I’ll use file folders and a PD Google Site which I’m going to work on creating next week. I’ll share more on this system once I have it all put together.

I decided I needed a separate Notes section for planning meetings and just to scribble out my own thoughts when I’m working on different projects. I use Levenger’s Dot Grid paper which is my favorite paper ever.

Because my school life feeds the work I do on my blog, it needed it’s own section to keep all my post ideas in order.

In my Personal section, I have my Meal Plan for the week along with a few other documents that help keep me together.

If you would like to use my Any-Day Planner to put together a coaching planner for yourself, please visit my Etsy shop. It includes a Customized Planner Cover which you can have laminated like I did or bind together with your planning pages to make a planner for the year!

If you’re someone who could do without all the daily planning action and are content with a weekly planning spread instead, then this weekly planner may better meet your needs.

So tell me, what’s your coaching planning system? I would LOVE to hear!

Thanks for reading,

iPad for Instructional Coaches

Instructional Coaching, Teaching Tips

I’m super lucky…over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to play around with one of our school’s 30 iPads. As I started to work with it, I focused mainly on researching and testing out different apps and iBooks to support literacy instruction. Then I began to wonder about how I might use it to support the work I do as an instructional coach…hmmm…

After a few Google searches, I found a wealth of information on how to use the iPad in the classroom. There was very little information however (none really!) on how to use an iPad as an instructional coach. OK, I thought, I’ll just figure it out on my own. Well, this figuring out piece ended up taking much more time than I thought…but I thought I was on to something. Up to this point, I had been doing my observations and debriefs with paper and pencil and keeping them all in a binder. I like paper and pencil because it feels much less intrusive in a classroom than a laptop and it’s also what I’m used to, so I feel comfortable with it. On the other hand, I really don’t like it. I wasn’t doing a good job of making my notes accessible to teachers and my notes felt more like a jumbled mess than a solid record of our work together.

By using an iPad, I had the opportunity to not only improve my efficiency and effectiveness, but to also serve as a model for other teachers for how they might use an iPad. So I persevered and finally came up with a functional system. I’ve been test-driving my new system for the past few weeks and I like it…a lot. In case you’re an instructional coach (or teacher) wondering how you might use an iPad to support your work, I hope the ideas below will save you some time in “figuring it out.”

Notes Plus

Notes Plus is $7.99. There are less expensive handwriting apps also available.

I knew that I didn’t want to use a big, bulky laptop to take notes when in a classroom observation, so my first task was to find an app that would support handwriting. After some thorough review, I narrowed my choices down to “Notes Plus” and “Ghostwriter” I tried using consumer reviews and information on each of their websites, but I couldn’t make up my mind…so I bought both. The plus of Ghostwriter is that you can upload your notes to Evernote. This is one plus however compared to the many pluses in my mind of Notes Plus (no pun intentended). With Notes Plus your handwriting feels super smooth and natural. You can also easily organize your notes into “Coaching Notebooks.”

My coaching notebooks organized in Notes Plus

Once I’ve collected notes from a classroom observation, I upload them to Google Docs where I create a folder for each teacher I work with. Without making any adjustments, you can upload your notes in a PDF format and add them to your teacher folders for later use. I like to do some editing of my notes before I debrief with teachers however, and I prefer for these notes I share to be typed. In comes the “convert handwriting to text” feature of Notes Plus. Yes, it’s an extra $1.99, but it’s pretty cool and a feature I definitely use. During the debrief, I can easily add information from our discussion to this existing document. This is then housed in my teacher created folder, which I share with them. In doing this, there is no need to email the teacher your notes (which I sometimes forget to do). It also ensures that you both have an organized system for storing, accessing, and using information collected during the coaching cycle to support your work.

My teacher folders in Google Docs on my laptop

My handwritten notes using Notes Plus

My notes after converting to text

I also use Notes Plus to take notes during other school meetings. I store these notes in a “School Notes” notebook. (see photo above)

One last cool feature of Notes Plus is that you can take pictures during a classroom visit or walkthrough and add it straight into your notes to refer to later!

GoDocs

GoDocs is $4.99

As an add-on to Google Docs, GoDocs allows you to quickly and neatly manage your Google Docs on your iPad. You don’t need this, but GoDocs leverages the iPad interface making it easier to work with your Google Doc files. I love how well organized my files appear and how quickly I can access my docs.

My teacher folders organized in GoDocs

Evernote

Evernote is free!

For keeping up with small chunks of information and taking more thorough notes, I turn to Evernote. I have the Evernote app on my iPad, computer, and phone and it’s free! I have one main “School Notebook” setup with different stacks, which allows me to organize my information more thoroughly than I can in Notes Plus. While I still use Notes Plus as my primary teacher observation tool, I prefer Evernote for other teacher meetings, planning sessions, and jotting down quick ideas.

Evernote on my computer

Wunderlist

Wunderlist is free!

Awhile back I read David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” and because I’m always looking for new ways to stay organized and on top of things, I was immediately hooked. I tried out his system with a paper notebook, which worked for awhile. Then I came across Wunderlist…love it! You can sync it across all of your devices and it’s completely free. When I’m out and about in the building and something pops into my head, I immediately pull out my iPad and record it. When I meet with a teacher and we discuss any actionable next steps, I can create a list and share it with the teacher so that we both remain accountable. My lists are pretty simple, but you can make them as specific as you want. Everything in Wunderlist is considered an “actionable” item. If something comes to mind that I don’t need to take action on right away, I store it away for later in Evernote to reflect on when I have more time.

Wunderlist on my iPad

Diggo

Diggo is free!

Last, but not least, I would recommend adding Diggo to your collection of tools. An easy way to think about Diggo is that it’s a smart bookmarking tool. It allows you to highlight information on a certain web page and add personal notes. You can the share these notes and highlights with others. With the Diggo iPad app, you can quickly pull up your organized bookmarks to refer to when meeting with teachers.

Although the apps and ideas described above have worked for me, you may find an iPad system that works even better for you! Please feel free to share how you have used the iPad to support the work you do as an instructional coach or teacher.