Have you made a plan for getting organized for the beginning of the school year? Let’s talk through four key steps to get yourself organized for the beginning of the year.

My favorite thing ever…getting organized! It may definitely NOT be your favorite thing, but let’s not overlook the importance of organization to your instructional coaching success.

In my work, as a coach, I understand how important it is to get yourself organized at the beginning of the year. If you don’t, you may find yourself overwhelmed and not working as efficiently as you could be. No fun!

A structured and reliable organizational system will do wonders for your stress level, confidence, and productivity all year long. Ahhh… :)

4 Steps to Get Organized at the Beginning of the Year for Instructional Coaches

1. Decide on Your Organizational System

First things first.

You need a system.

A trusted system to capture your to-dos, organize your time, and keep it all together.

I created the Time & ToDo Planner when I first started as an instructional coach and needed an organizational system myself. The discbound Time & ToDo Planner is where I keep my schedule, to-dos, notes, project sheets, and coaching cycle notes. I love it!

2. Set-Up Your Calendar

Once you’ve identified the primary organization system you will use, the next step is to get your calendar set up.

When getting your calendar set-up, make sure to include:

• all appointments or meetings
• hard deadlines
• PD sessions
• no school days or breaks

I like to set-up my calendar for the entire school year so I have a very clear vision of what is coming, and I won’t be caught off guard.

You can see in the image above how I used sticky notes in my planner to pre-plan for our beginning of the year PD days.

3. Clarify Your Role and Responsibilities

When you’re thinking about clarifying your role and responsibilities for the beginning of the year, focus on the first 30 days.

This will help you identify what to organize your time and coaching schedule around, without feeling too overwhelmed.

For example, one of my big roles and responsibilities for the first 30 days includes facilitating beginning of the year Professional Development. So I am planning for this as I think through how I am going to organize my first few weeks.

4. Create an Initial Schedule

At the beginning of the year, it may not feel like you can yet create a schedule for yourself since the year is just getting going.

However, a big piece of getting yourself organized as a coach, is making sure you have a schedule. You likely won’t be given one by your principal and will need to make one for yourself.

Three responsibilities you can begin to organize your time around include:

• meetings/PD
• planning time
• coaching and teacher check-ins

Other Posts You May Like:

• How to Time Block Your Week: A Productive Instructional Coach Habit
• Updated Coaching Notebook
• 4 Tips for Creating a Coaching Cycle Schedule

Happy Coaching!