As part of my summer reading this year I read the recently published book, “The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation” by Elena Aguilar. Elena writes a great blog over at edweek that I enjoy reading so I knew her book would be a good one to spend some time with. She offers a ton of helpful information in her book, but the chapter that really caught my attention was on developing a coaching work plan. This can be a tricky process and one that really needs to be thought out and planned for carefully as it provides a road map for the work you’ll do with teachers. Elena provides ten steps in developing a work plan and explains that they do not have to be sequential. But rather, the process should be flexible and circular. After reading through the steps, I jotted down some notes on how the process made the most sense to me in the context of coaching at my school. Because a good visual always helps me make better sense of information, I created one to represent my thinking and am hoping it will be helpful to other coaches as well.
Once the work plan is created, it’s doesn’t have to be set in stone. You may choose to revise or narrow it along the way given any number of reasons which may present themselves.
What are your thoughts? Does this process make sense to you or do you see it differently? To comment, just click on the comment box above.
Thanks for reading,
View Comments (9)
Thanks for all the resources that you provide on your blog! I have been following you for a few months now and as a new instructional coach, I really appreciate what you have posted!
Thanks so much Jamie! It's great to hear that.
I LOVE this graphic! I'm going to print it and use it tomorrow. I also loved Elena's book (which I was referencing today!) and was lucky enough to be a part of her PD in Salem.
Thanks Candi! I haven't printed mine yet, but that's a great idea!
Wow, I bet Elena's PD was great...I'm jealous!
Also just started reading The Art of Coaching per your suggestion. Your site has been very inspiring to me as a new coach. Just wondering what software/programs you use to create all your amazing visuals and the like. I think teachers have a greater connection with visuals and would like to create some that look as professionally appealing as those I find on your site.
Hey Justin! Thanks so much for your comment. I use Adobe Illustrator to make all of my visuals. There are other programs you can use though (not as expensive) which I'm thinking I'll share in a future post, since this question has come up before :)
Hope your year is going well!
Kristin
Kristin,
Thanks so much for sharing your amazing visual. I was wondering if I might have permission to share with some of my teachers.
:) Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
Sure, feel free to share the visual with credit to the MsHouser site :)
Thanks!
What program do you use to create your visuals?