This week we learned how one district effectively leveraged community partnerships, a few ways a coach can prepare for the upcoming school year, tips for coaching a reader's workshop, characteristics of teachers' learning, and more!

Want to get the latest coaching news and insights delivered to your inbox every Wednesday? Subscribe to our Weekly Coaching Roundup emails!

Ringing In the New School Year

Steph Sukow offers a few ways she uses the summer to prepare for another year of coaching.

"Reflection is a constant and continual process. There's always an idea to revisit or reevaluate. Removed from the 2018-19 school year for a minute now has allowed me to reflect on my experiences, both a teacher and instructional coach, more objectively. . . . After creating a thorough picture of where I stand professionally and personally through the reflection process, my time has been allocated toward tapping into my PLN and seeking new strategies to incorporate into next year's playlist."

Conversations to Build a Partnership

Steve Barkley provides example questions to kick-start dialogue between a coach and principal.

"The alignment of an instructional coach's and principal's messages to staff is important in maintaining teacher actions what will drive increased student learning. Both principal and coach must make constant decisions and responses to staff during busy school days throughout the year. Rich conversations assist principal and coach in knowing their thinking is based on agreed upon goals and priorities."

6 Tips for Coaching Reader's Workshop

Chrissy Beltran shares some great coaching advice on workshop-based frameworks.

"Without a common language, planning together and communicating can be really challenging. . . . Ways to do this may include modeling lessons for each component, creating a video bank of modeled lessons so teachers can watch them when they have time, doing language-building activities during PD where teachers match Reader's Workshop vocabulary words with their definitions before and after the session, and doing a book study on this framework."

Principles for Effective Professional Learning

Vicki Collet identifies four characteristics of teachers' learning and the value that location and reflection have on purposeful change.

"Teachers' learning, like their students, is contextual and social. Professional learning that includes collaboration and social construction of knowledge promotes teacher learning and also models interactive learning structures that teachers can take to their own classrooms. Text talks, protocols for professional discussion, and co-constructed anchor charts help teachers generate and hang on to important ideas."

Getting Clear on Purpose

Jason Andrews reflects on how his district has effectively leveraged community partnerships through relationships and a shared mission.

"Once we had clarity and precision of our core purpose, we were much better equipped to engage with potential partnerships with what our desired outcome would be. . . . Equipped with clarity and a desire for mutual benefit, we have been incredibly successful in implementing the community schools mindset in our district. Students and their families are receiving services that are removing many of the barriers to our ability to ensure they are learning at high levels. We have made these partnerships count for student learning, which we now know is truly our core purpose."

Have some interesting instructional leadership news?
Share it with TeachBoost and we'll highlight it here!