Search results: work plan

4 Ways to Organize Your Coaching Life Using Google Drive

On my way into school this morning, I grabbed myself a Pumpkin Latte with almond milk to celebrate my favorite season of the year, Fall(!!), officially being here. The leaves are starting to turn and the temps have dropped just enough for me to be able to break out my new, navy J-Crew puffy vest. (just wore it today btw and it looks super cute!)

On the school front, my first round of coaching cycles are wrapping up and fall break is next week.

Around this time of year, every year usually, I get a bad case of the organizing/cleaning/purging bug. Old notes, computer files, my planner, the windows and carpets at home…watch out. I’m coming to get you.

One of those disorganized, I’m coming to get you items on my radar this year was my Google Drive.

I love my paper planner, my erasable Frixion pens, and my washi tape file folders, but I also have a few go to digital tools I love and use often. One of them being Google Drive.

I love me some Google Drive.

It’s my favorite tool and secret weapon for bridging the world of paper and tech in an organized and efficient way.

As I was sorting, purging, and organizing my Drive earlier this week, I thought it might be helpful to share four ways you can get more organized using this online tool.

1. Create Folders and Subfolders

First, get your folders set-up. How you structure your folders will be the backbone of your whole system.

No folders = random documents everywhere = BAH!!

Here’s a peek into how I structure mine.

In case you’re wondering, what goes in my planning kit and what goes online…I like to keep my coaching log online so it can be easily shared with my coachee (more about sharing in a bit…). I also keep an online observation and debrief tool for each coachee ready to go in their folder, as I sometimes prefer to record notes on my computer, based on the complexity and length of the lesson I observe. For grade levels, I upload major planning documents I may need for shared planning and a log of agendas.

2. Color Code

I color code my calendar, my planner, and pretty much everything else in my life, so of course I’m going to color code my Drive!

Color coding is a great way to visually organize your folders and sub-folders. Just right-click your folder of choice and select the option “Change Color.” You can select one of 24 different options.

3. Take Advantage of Google Sheets, Forms and Sites…Oh My!

There’s a whole wide world of cool tools beyond the standard Google Doc, just waiting for you to take advantage of.

To start, I use Google Sheets as my go-to tool for collecting and organizing data from teachers. For example, I currently have a spreadsheet set-up to help me gather student info from teachers so I can quickly add student names and info to our district assessment system. When a student needs to be added, teachers fill out their info using the shareable link, and I can then get it sent into the district…super quick and easy!

And Google Forms are a super cool way to collect feedback after PD sessions. I just create an Exit Ticket Form which teachers fill out immediately after PD, then I can organize and view all the responses using a Google Sheet to determine what teachers appreciated, their commitments to next steps, and what we can do to improve. Boom!

Oh, and if you’re feeling like you’re really up for having some fun, you can work on creating a whole SITE for your school! How cool would that be?!?

4. Share!!

This one got a double exclamation mark because it’s one of my favorite features of Google Drive, and what really got me hooked in the first place. I love sharing! It supports collaboration, communication, and efficiency for coaches, teachers, principals, husbands and wives…everyone!

Here are a few ways I take advantage of the share feature on Google Drive:

coaching logs shared with coachees
goal setting forms shared with coachees
- NOTE** If you use any of the planning forms in the Simplified Coaching Planning Kit, you can easily upload them to Google Drive
observation and debrief notes
planning agendas
planning meeting notes
curriculum planning forms
spreadsheets to collect info

And lot’s more!

When sharing, you can either enter the names of people you want to share the doc with, or send folks a “shareable link.”

And that’s that! Hopefully you picked up a few good tips that will help you get your digital life a bit more organized.

Sometimes it’s just the small step of choosing one thing/place to sort, purge, and organize that can help you feel way better and more in control.

Thanks for reading, and if you happen to have fall break coming up, enjoy!

P.S. If you liked this post, I’d GREATLY appreciate it if you’d use the buttons below to share it with your buddies!

A Goal Setting Tool Made Just for You

Teaching Tips

Do you know what you want to get better at this year?

Like specifically?

Have you taken the time to honestly reflect and evaluate your practice as a coach? What you’re feeling really good about, and any areas where you could probably work to be better?

I know what you’re thinking: “But I have too many other things to do Kristin! I don’t have time to goal set. C’mon now!”

Or wait, maybe you do really want to set some goals for yourself this year, but you’re thinking: “I don’t even know where to start! How do you write your goals anyway?”

I know what you’re thinking because I can relate. Goal setting is hard. So sometimes we postpone it or just avoid it altogether. Honestly, if I hadn’t had my beginning of year goal setting meeting a few weeks ago with my supervisor, I may not have taken the time to slow down and give it any attention either.

But once I did, I was glad I did. I’m a big time goal setter in all other areas of my life, and I invest in the process fully, because I know how powerful it can be.

When you have a clear aim, a vision, for where you’re headed, your good friend Mo (otherwise known as Mr. Motivation) falls in step right beside you, and you start to worker smarter and harder.

Are you with me?! Ready to set some goals?!

Sweet. Now back to the creating the “clear aim and vision” part. Well you know me…I’m always here to help!

That’s why I’ve put together this free workbook made specifically for you and your go-get-em, goal setting self.

Get the FREE Goal Setting Workbook

Don’t worry, it’s not the looooong and super detailed rubric I needed to complete last week as part of my goal setting meeting. There is a rubric though, just a friendlier one! And a few other handy forms to help you assess and evaluate where you’re at, plan where you want to go, then act and track! (did you see how I was inspired by the Teaching Learning Cycle there?)

The workbook is designed to help you smile and have some fun with this whole goal setting thing.

Ooo, and no goal setting jam session would be complete without some good beats in the background. So I put together a playlist of some of my favorite songs for you. Woot woot!

It’s 27 minutes long – the perfect amount of time for a goal setting session. Use the first song to look through the workbook, the second and third song to work through the rubric, then crank up the last few songs and write some goals!

And while we’re on the subject of goal setting, I wanted to take this opportunity to share one of my big goals for this year with you. Drumroll…

To provide tons of great resources, content, and value for YOU! My fellow educator and friend from afar.

So I’ve put together an easy to fill out survey, because your input is super important to me. You can finish in 3 minutes, and your feedback will help me create content and resources even more interesting, relevant, and supportive for you and your work.

To get your free Goal Setting Workbook, all you need to do is complete the 3 minute Reader Survey. Then I’ll send it over in an email!

Print the workbook this weekend then grab some fun pens, turn on your goal-setting tunes, and get to work on crafting a vision and plan for where you want to head this year.

I’d love to hear what your goals are in the comments below. Go for it – share one goal and one next step.

Thanks for investing in yourself and the MsHouser community!

Get the FREE Goal Setting Workbook

Talk to you soon,

The First Few Weeks of School – What Do I Do?!

Teaching Tips

Remember when you were a classroom teacher and you’d get all pumped up to head back to school because you had a clear plan, you knew exactly what you needed to do, and you were so ready to get after it?

Now fast forward to your current back to school mental status as a coach. Do you feel the same?

I’ll bet you’re still pumped up, but I’d also be willing to bet that “clear plan” piece has escaped you somewhat. And maybe you’re feeling a little nervous, unsure, or anxious as a result — What do I do? It’s too early to start coaching, right? If I do something, will it be the right something? Bahh!!

This beginning of year uncertainty is a feeling lots of coaches have struggled with. But don’t worry. Here’s what you do…

Think like a teacher.

Yep, turn that classroom teacher brain back on. Now ask the question again – It’s the beginning of the year, what do you do?

Alright, you got it! Now translate those same action items to your work as a coach.

Great job! Now let’s break this down.

One of the first things all teachers have on their minds at the beginning of the year, is getting their classroom all set-up. Although we don’t have a classroom as coaches, there’s likely a space, big or small, one or more than one, that we can work on getting set-up.

For me, I started with updating my office set-up this year. There were some spaces that weren’t working for me and I also just needed to freshen it up a bit. And this week I’m working on setting up our new PD pad. We downsized a bit this year, which meant a classroom was freed up. Woo Hoo! I’m excited to make it a creative space that teachers will look forward to learning in. I’ll be sure to share some pics when I’ve got it done.

Here are a few other ideas of spaces you can set-up for yourself or teachers at the start of the year:

your desk
your Planning Kit
your coaching bag (if you travel as a coach)
a staff welcome or photo wall
a literacy/book room
a teacher meeting/planning/PD space

I’m sure you may be able to think of a few more spaces that you can work on setting up. Push yourself to think outside of the box!

Teachers at our school were busy, busy last week and early this week attending PD, meeting with their teams, and gathering resources to support them with planning out their instruction. And if you think about it, we do a lot of the same type of work as coaches at the start of the year.

We meet with our Principal or leadership team to discuss goals and coaching objectives for the first few months. We may meet with coaching colleagues to brainstorm and hash out our thoughts. And we gather resources, read and learn about whatever we need to in order to be prepped and ready for meeting with teachers. Check your first few weeks calendar – are any of these on it?

One of the tasks teachers were anxious to get accomplished this week was laying out their schedule. As a teacher I can definitely remember working hard to get my schedule put together. And after I got it done, printed it out and posted it my room, things just felt so much…better.

Coaches build schedules too. But not right away. Although this is something you’ll likely start to draft out and bring to life after you meet with your principal and plan for coaching {hopefully within the first few weeks}. Then once your schedule’s solid and it’s officially part of your calendar, you’ll also feel so much…better.

One of the most important things teachers can do in the first few weeks of school, is get to know their kids. Like really get to know them. Not just their reading level, or who their teacher was last year, but things like what they enjoy doing in their free time. Do they have pets? Do they like art? Where do they live? Do they have brothers or sisters? This is the kind of stuff you can learn about kids that will help you make the kind of connection with them that’s really going to count.

And the same is true for coaches working with teachers. Get to know the teachers you’re going to work with, like really get to know them. What did they do this summer? Ask them about their family. What are they super interested in outside of school? Do they like coffee? – maybe you can grab them a Starbucks!

There’s no better time than the beginning of a new year, to make a strong, positive, and lasting impression with teachers you’ll be working with.

What’s the most important thing teachers can do the first few weeks? – TEACH! What’s the most important thing coaches can do the first few weeks? – COACH! Although you won’t be stepping into any formal coaching cycles just yet, you’ll for sure have lots of opportunities to do lots of coaching. Let’s think through a few:

classroom set-up
how to organize a library
how to give beginning of year assessments
how to manage beginning of year anxiety and stress
how to support new students who may not speak English
where to find math or literacy resources for planning
planning out the first day
classroom community building ideas

And lots more. You’ll be doing all sorts of really valuable coaching these first few weeks. You just may not see it at first as “coaching.” But it is. Lend an ear, offer a shoulder to lean on, be a springboard for ideas. COACH.

You’re in this position for a reason. You have experience and wisdom to share. Someone recognized a special talent, ability, and potential in you to help teachers and their students reach great heights. And so you were hired do this job. And you’re going to do it amazingly well. Believe in yourself and don’t stress.

Do the best you can with what you know, and you’re going to rock these first few weeks.

Then keep getting better from there.

Keep me updated. I’ve been getting lots of emails, and I love reading and responding to every single one.

Thanks for spending some time with me, and I’ll talk to you next week. Go get em!

Back to School Checklist. And a Little Catching Up.

Teaching Tips

After I published last week’s post, I realized I hadn’t even stopped to say “Hi!” or catch up a bit after not chatting with you all summer. Sorry! So how has your summer been?? Mine was an amazing whirlwind of goals accomplished, new goals set, and oh, a wedding! Luke and I were married on July 18th, and it was picture perfect. All our friends and family were there, and the sun came out after a ton of rain, right before the ceremony. We don’t have our photos back yet, but here are a few pics captured by our friends.

In addition to all of the craziness and fun that goes into a wedding, I was also hard at work towards other goals. The first one was wrapping up my first product launch for the Time & ToDo Planner. This has been A LOT of work {packing up 200 planners just a few days before our wedding!}. My sister thought I was totally crazy, but it was work that I was and am so happy to be doing. Stepping into the world of ecommerce was a big and at times challenging first step for me. I had some setbacks, but I learned a ton in the process, am grateful for how far I’ve come, and super excited for some revisions and additions I have planned moving forward!

Headed to school with planners to ship!

I also decided it was time to update the style of MsHouser.com. We kept the foundation of the design, but updated the color layout and revised the organization a bit. I was excited to get this goal accomplished this summer, and I’m hopeful you like the updates!

Alright, enough about me. How about you?! I wish I could shuttle you over here to catch me up on your summer over a refreshing glass of iced coffee, but alas, I cannot. So the next best option is to shoot me an email or share in the comments below!

Now. Moving onto the checklist. As I was putting my Simplified Coaching Planning Kit together last night, my mind was racing a hundred miles an hour about everything I needed to do and wanted to do next week when I officially head back to school. And with all the racing thoughts, I kept worrying that I would forget something. You know that feeling, right?

So to make sure I have all of my ducks in a row, I put together a handy back to school checklist. And I wanted to share it with you in case you also have a case of the back to school racing thoughts going on.

I designed the checklist to coordinate with your planning kit, so you can just pop it into your planning section!

I also left some blank spaces, in case I forgot anything or there is any work specific to your role you’d like to add to your list.

Download Here

Oh, and here’s a blank one in case you’d like to start fresh.

Download Here

Alright, now your homework is to print out this checklist, pop it into your planner, and get after it!

For those of you heading back to school next week, I hope you have a terrific start to the year.

ps – am I missing any big back to school to-dos? Let me know in the comments below!

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,

3 Keys to Finding the Time for Quality Coaching

Teaching Tips

I was doing some reading earlier this week from one of my favorite new books, Leverage Leadership, and got all excited when I flipped the page and landed on Chapter 8: Finding the Time. Why was I excited? Because I really like reading about time management strategies for educators, and good info on this topic is hard to come by.

As we reflect on the past school year and look towards the next, it’s helpful to consider what worked and what may need to be improved for next year in the area of scheduling, time management, and “making it all work.”

So what did the chapter have to say? Here is an overview of the three key tools discussed in the book {along with some tid-bits of my own}, to finding the time for quality leadership and coaching.

The idea here is that your weekly schedule should be intentionally built to reflect the work that best supports building excellent schools. I would say that of the six “levers” discussed in the book, the three that most apply to coaches include: Professional Development, Observation and Feedback, and Instructional Planning. Here are the steps for getting them in place.

Step 1: Lock in Your Group Meetings

The first set of events to schedule are regular group meetings: PD, leadership team meetings, grade level team meetings, data meetings, and so on. Which meetings will you be facilitating? What communication needs to be sent to staff and how much time might you need to prepare? Be careful about too many meetings…planning to attend all grade level meetings every week might not be the best use of your time. Identify your priorities, and keep the focus there.

Step 2: Lock in Your Observations and Debriefs

Now it’s time to lock in your observations and debriefs with teachers for the week…arguably the highest leverage driver of your work. For each coachee, I like to schedule two observations per week, and two debriefs. The time you have scheduled for a visit doesn’t have to be concrete, and will likely depend on your coaching goal. For example, if I’m working with a teacher on guided reading I may only need to be in their room for 30 minutes, whereas if I’m working with another teacher on reader’s workshop, I’ll likely be in there for a full hour.

Something else to keep in mind is how closely you schedule your debriefs to your observations. I always leave some space between the two so I have time to plan and prepare my notes.

Step 3: Build in Time for Planning

The final piece is to build in blocks of time when you’ll work on instructional planning. For coaches, this could include preparing yourself for an upcoming coaching cycle with a goal you need to do some reading and research on. You might also consider building in time to throughly prepare for the debriefs you have scheduled, planning for next week’s PD, or working with a teacher to problem solve why a certain student isn’t making growth. There isn’t really a set amount of time to dedicate to this piece each week. It really just depends on what you have already built into your schedule after completing the first two steps.

Here’s an example of what your weekly schedule might look like with all three levers in place:

Alright, now that you’ve got a clear calendar for the week and some mental white space, let’s defend it! You’re already ahead of the game by having mapped out your time, but here are a few quick tips for sticking to your game plan.

Get On The No Train: Here’s the thing…whatever you say yes to, means you’re saying no to something else. Yes, coaches need to be flexible and you can’t always say no, but it’s important to be mindful of the trade you may be making.
Plan Blocks for Communication: Email is seriously distracting. It breaks your flow and takes you away from often more important work. Since the majority of communication takes place via email in a school though, you can’t really just ignore it. But you can be more strategic about it. How about blocking out one chunk of time each day to process all of your emails, then just take a peek a few more times during the day to monitor for anything urgent, but hold off on responding. I know, that takes big-time discipline and I’m not even there yet. But we can work towards it!

You’re in the home stretch! You’ve locked in your weekly schedule and defended your time. The last piece is to get all of those tasks in order: your daily tasks and your monthly tasks.

To keep track of it all, coaches need a way to map their actions and build a plan beyond the daily and weekly level. Leverage Leadership discusses a tool they’ve seen leaders use called the monthly map. It’s a nifty little tool that helps you keep your eyes on what matters most.

Here’s an example of what your map might look like for the first month back at school, using the monthly map offered in The Simplified Coaching Planning Kit.

Design Coordinates with the Time & ToDo Planner

Exceptional coaches thrive not by working more hours, but by making their hours count.

So how will you make yours count?

See you next week,

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.

New Year New Gear

Goals and Motivation, Instructional Coaching, Organization, Teaching Tips

It’s that time of year for spicing up your teacher gear! I couldn’t be more excited for the start of a new year. It’s the perfect time to reflect, set goals, and celebrate a fresh start!

Over the break I did some New Years Resoluting, and I’ve got some pretty good new goals worked up for myself this year. Maybe you do too? Well, one tip I’ve found to be especially helpful in goal setting and maintaining, is to make it a treat! And who says the treat part has to come at the end? I’m all for treating at the beginning, as I really think a little something special tied to new goals or habits you want to build into your lifestyle, can really help with getting and keeping the ball rolling. So here’s a peek into a few of my treats.

one / two / three / four / five / six

– one –
I’ve always loved a good workout in the morning. Whether it’s running, cycling, yoga, or lifting weights, starting your day off with some movement and a good sweat is a great way to prep yourself for a successful and happy school day. But somehow last year, I let my mornings get away from me and my workouts became less and less. And then like none at all. Well not this year! I’m getting married in July {yeah!}, so I’m bound and determined, committed to building this habit back into my schedule. Because I prefer working out in the morning and school starts pretty early for us (7:20), I needed a plan for being super efficient with my AM time. And this plan includes gear. Enter the most organized toiletry bag ever. I found it at the Container Store, and it helps me get in and out of the shower at the gym in 20 minutes. No time to dig around for shampoo or make-up on a teacher’s schedule! So far I’ve been to the gym three mornings this week. Sweet!

– two –
Something else you need if you’re going to be working it out at the gym and then later at school, is plenty of properly chilled water ready to guzzle down. I’m a water-bottle-aholic, and maybe I didn’t need this one, but I really love it. It holds plenty of water for a full day, and keeps it super chilled all the way until the end of the day and into the next, if you need it to. There’s different tops available if you don’t like the wide mouth variety, and plenty of colors to choose from.

– three –
OK. So, I thought long and hard about this one. And then I decided to just pull the trigger already. Stitchfix is going to be my new personal shopper to help me out with stylizing and professionalizing my wardrobe for 2015, and I’m psyched about it! I have too many random t-shirts, boring colors, and outdated pieces in my closet. What you wear can send a message, especially when you’re in a leadership role, and I’d like to spiff my message up a bit. Stitchfix is a site I’d heard about from several friends, and after getting my first “fix” this past week, I’m totally hooked. They do the shopping for you, and send you five different pieces to try out. Keep what you like, send back what you don’t! Love.

– four –
When I was teaching, something I always dreamed about was a big window in my classroom that would let in lots of bright sunshine and refresh my room with a nice breeze. So when I moved into my coaching office, you wouldn’t believe how excited I was to see…a window! I walked over to my window, thankful that my dream had come true, and then discovered…that my window didn’t open. Sad. Yes, I had some sunshine, but no fresh air. Well I decided to spruce up my office space a bit this month, and part of that sprucing up will be to add a little breeze to the room. Even if it’s not fresh. This little fan is super quiet, and helps circulate the air, which is real nice, especially in the afternoons. I’ve heard a fan in your office supports your health and may even make you more productive. We’ll see!

– five –
I love coffee. The way it smells, the way it tastes, the way it gives me a little pick-up when I need it. Given that pumping up my fitness and health is going to be a goal of mine this year, I thought maybe I’d give up coffee. Think, think…nah! Although, I am going to switch up my afternoon coffee routine a bit to include my new favorite drink, a dirty chai. Just mix up a little coffee or nespresso with some chai tea in your new Vessel sippy-cup, and boom! You’ve got yourself a stylin’ afternoon drink.

– six –
The start of a New Year is a great time to freshen up your planner and planning system. I think about what’s working well, what isn’t, and from there what improvements I may be able to make. For me, I’m pretty good with day-day and week-week planning, but when it comes to long-term, big picture planning, I’ve just never taken the time to do it well. And that big picture piece is so important for making your weeks and days come together with greater purpose and intention, so this was an improvement I wanted to make. Because I’m a very visual planner, I created a Year Planner for myself and a new monthly calendar template. First I mapped out everything I wanted to accomplish on my Year Planner, then I’ll use my monthly calendar to outline when I’ll get everything done.

You can grab a free copy of the Year Planner here! For the monthly calendar, you can check out my shop here.

So how about you? What are you thinking about for 2015? Whatever it is, I know we’ll make this year awesome.

I hope your holiday was great and your New Year is off to an amazing start!

Coaching on Classroom Management

Instructional Coaching

These first weeks of school, my coaching work has been focused on supporting our new teachers in creating a positive classroom culture. This was an intentional decision made on the part of our leadership team since, as you likely know, classroom management and creating a learner friendly environment is so super important in the overall success of a teacher, her kids, and their growth and learning. So we really wanted to help teachers hit the ground running.

Now, I know how to manage a classroom. It was always one of those things I could just kind of do. However, coaching teachers on classroom management is a different story. I’m not totally sure why…maybe it’s because there are some aspects of classroom management that aren’t really tangible or measurable. Like your overall presence or ability to build rapport with kids. Then there are some things that can be kind of sticky to talk about with teachers. Like, “Hey, your room is a bit out of order which is probably contributing to your kids acting a bit out of order.” Whatever it is, coaching on classroom management can be tricky.

Luckily, I was able to do some team planning with two of my coaching colleagues this summer for how we were going to tackle supporting our new teachers in this area. I think we made some smart decisions, and we’ve seen pretty good progress and success with the teachers we worked with as a result.

Here are five planning and implementing steps we took.

1. Start with Clear Targets

We decided we would coach new teachers only during the first 6 weeks of school, then narrowed down what we wanted them to know and be able to do at the end of those 6 weeks. Two of our goals were strategically tied to the Colorado Teacher Quality Standards so that our work was aligned with the criteria teachers would be evaluated on.

2. Plan for PD

Now that we had our targets, it was time to plan for the learning we would do with teachers to support their progress towards the targets. We knew we wanted to go into some depth, so we planned for a full day PD. If you currently don’t have a full day PD option, you could break the learning up into four or five one hour sessions over the course of a month or so.

The anchor text we chose for our work was The First Six Weeks of School. A copy was purchased for each teacher and it served as a foundation for our learning.

3. Provide Areas of Focus and Examples

One of the best things we did was define clear “criteria for success” tied to each of our targets. Classroom management is a broad area, but we made the effort to maintain a narrowed focus on what we felt were the most critical components for the start of the year. We used a Classroom Environment Criteria list that our school designer shared with us to communicate these criteria to teachers. We then asked three veteran teachers to serve as model classrooms for new teachers to visit, in support of setting up their classroom space. They took along their Criteria List and recorded evidence they observed on their visits, tied to each one. I think this was helpful for teachers to really see what they were reading about on paper.

Created by Expeditionary Learning

4. Collect Data and Give Targeted Feedback

One of the hardest things for me is collecting data or clear evidence on classroom management. I’m just starting to try out a new coaching tool a fellow coach shared with me at a conference. I modified it a bit, but it’s based on the book Coaching Classroom Management which looks awesome and I totally need to read. Anyhow, I’m going to give it a go this week and see how I can use it.

Our leadership team also did a round of walkthroughs to collect data on how the learning we worked on with teachers was being implemented. We used this walkthrough tool to help us collect data and calibrate our looks-fors and feedback.

5. Model!

The majority of teachers will quickly take you up on your offer to model a lesson and thank you many times over. It can often be so much for impactful when a teacher has the opportunity to see the practices/strategies you’re describing in action in their classroom with their kids.

And lastly,

“Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.”

This is a quote from one of the greatest coaches of all time, John Wooden
. And it’s really true, especially with classroom environment/management. Coaching teachers in this area takes time, patience, and lots of encouragement along the way.

I know it’s nearly October, but it’s definitely not too late to begin implementing any of these steps. Lots of teachers need support in creating and maintaining a beautiful classroom space that supports learning and engagement throughout the year.

If you’re an expert in or have some experience with coaching on classroom management, you for sure have to let me know. I need all the ideas I can get!

My First Week Back and the Giveaway Round-Up

Goals and Motivation, Instructional Coaching, Organization

Wow oh wow. You guys are seriously amazing. Really though! I received over 200 (!) entries in response to the giveaway for The Simplified Coaching Planner. So many of you offered super smart and insightful Top Planning Tips that couldn’t have come through at a better time for me.

Last week was my first full week back at school, and man was it a busy one. No kids until this week, but we had a full week of PD with teachers, so I felt like a classroom teacher: greeting, planning for, and working with her students their first week back. Phew. Anyhow, I found myself with a bit of free time on Wednesday night, so I plopped down on the coach, opened my laptop, and started reading through all of the submitted planning tips. As I read, I found myself thinking, “That’s right!” or “I should do that!” and “Why am I not doing that?” then finally, “Kristin, you’ve got to get it together girl.” This last thought came from the fact that this past week wouldn’t exactly go down in the record books as being one of my most organized. To give myself some credit, it wasn’t that bad, but I did some pretty scatterbrained things like forgetting to put on my mascara one morning and then forgetting my laptop the next morning. I know. The forgetting my computer morning wasn’t great.

But luckily I had you guys and your Top Planning Tips to help me get back on track! Here’s a synthesis of my reminders/take-aways:

Schedule & Plan

Make a weekly ritual with yourself to plan for the week ahead. Then set aside some time at the end of the day to check in on your plan, do a brain dump, then plan for the next day. This is a tip a lot of us know to do, but how many of us consistently do it? Maybe if I had been a bit better about this last week, I wouldn’t have had the “I forgot my computer” morning.
Put it on your calendar…immediately. Don’t think you’ll remember to do it later.
Color coding can be helpful for your calendar and in lots of other ways!
Share your schedule with your coachees.

Organize and Prioritize

This was a big one.

Get some organizational systems together sooner than later, then work your systems. Organization and efficient systems prevent the dreaded overwhelm, large paper piles, and other back-up.
Keep everything together in one convenient place.
You’ve got to prioritize. You’ll have a lot going on at school and at home when the year gets started. Determine what’s most important and reduce the time you spend on what’s not.

Focus

I had a hard time with this one this week.

Be realistic with yourself and what you can get checked off of your to-do list each day.
Write it down. Avoid multi-tasking.
Carry your planner or a journal or a piece of paper with you everywhere.

Accept Imperfection

This was probably my most important lesson this week. As much as we might really, really want to be…we’re not superheroes. We’re not always going to be perfect and that’s okay. Sometimes, no matter how much planning we do, things don’t go according to plan. Actually, this happens a lot. Flexibility, reflection, and revision are always key ingredients to successful days and weeks.

So now…

I’m ready for a fresh start this week. And I’ll bet that if we all practice these planning principles throughout the year, we’ve got a pretty darn good shot at a great year.

But wait!

There’s more. You know how I said earlier this was just a synthesis of all the great Top Planning Tips I received? It just wouldn’t be fair of me to keep them all to myself. Which is why I’ll be sharing them with you later this week in another post…hang tight!

READ: 31 Top Planning Tips Post

I hope you all have a great start to the school year and I’m really excited to continue learning and growing with you here on the blog.

If you have a Top Planning Tip that you weren’t able to submit in the giveaway and are dying to share, please share in the comments below.

Thanks for all your support and have a great week!

It’s my favorite tool and secret weapon for bridging the world of paper and tech in an organized and efficient way.

1. Create Folders and Subfolders

2. Color Code

3. Take Advantage of Google Sheets, Forms and Sites…Oh My!

4. Share!!

Sometimes it’s just the small step of choosing one thing/place to sort, purge, and organize that can help you feel way better and more in control.

Do you know what you want to get better at this year?

When you have a clear aim, a vision, for where you’re headed, your good friend Mo (otherwise known as Mr. Motivation) falls in step right beside you, and you start to worker smarter and harder.

That’s why I’ve put together this free workbook made specifically for you and your go-get-em, goal setting self.

The workbook is designed to help you smile and have some fun with this whole goal setting thing.

To provide tons of great resources, content, and value for YOU! My fellow educator and friend from afar.

To get your free Goal Setting Workbook, all you need to do is complete the 3 minute Reader Survey. Then I’ll send it over in an email!

I’d love to hear what your goals are in the comments below. Go for it – share one goal and one next step.

Think like a teacher.

Alright, you got it! Now translate those same action items to your work as a coach.

Great job! Now let’s break this down.

Do the best you can with what you know, and you’re going to rock these first few weeks.

You should start a blog.

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

Are you with me?!

1. REGISTER A DOMAIN NAME

2. INSTALL WORDPRESS

3. SPICE IT UP!

Now just keep at it.

Step 1: Lock in Your Group Meetings

Step 2: Lock in Your Observations and Debriefs

Step 3: Build in Time for Planning

Design Coordinates with the Time & ToDo Planner

Exceptional coaches thrive not by working more hours, but by making their hours count.

4:30am WAKEUP

5:15am EXERCISE

6:45am DRIVE IN

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

7:45am COACHING VISIT

10:00am COACHING PLANNING

11:00am COACHING COACHES

12:00pm LUNCH {usually}

12:45pm WORK ON DISPLAY

1:15pm FACILITATE VISITORS

2:45pm MEET WITH CHELSEA

3:45pm DRIVE HOME

4:15PM PLAY TIME!

5:00pm PREP FOR NEXT DAY

6:00pm DINNER AND FAMILY TIME

7:30pm BIZ WORK

9:00pm GET READY FOR SLEEP

9:30pm LIGHTS OUT!

Now it’s your turn!

1. Start with Clear Targets

2. Plan for PD

3. Provide Areas of Focus and Examples

4. Collect Data and Give Targeted Feedback

5. Model!

“Seek opportunities to show you care. The smallest gestures often make the biggest difference.”

Schedule & Plan

Organize and Prioritize

Focus

Accept Imperfection

So now…

But wait!

READ: 31 Top Planning Tips Post

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