I like to use the term orchestrating to describe teachers’ behaviors especially relating to the creation of a learning environment. When you consider the musical conductor of the orchestra, they have their back to the audience, don’t have an instrument to play, and yet they have a major role in the music created. I believe […]

Joellen Killion and Cindy Harrison have produced a book for the National Staff Development Council titled, Taking the Lead: New Roles for Teachers and School-based Coaches. After exploring why coaching is important to student achievement, they dedicate a chapter to each of the following roles that school-based coaches can play: Resource Provider Data Coach Instructional […]

For the past three years, I have been working with the staff and administrators at Twin Lakes Elementary in Hillsborough County, FL forming teaching professional learning communities that team K-2 and 3-4 teachers in groups of 7-8. These PLC’s have a three year focus on students as they move through the grades staying in classrooms […]

Last year I had the opportunity, as part of a contract with Rochester City Schools in NY, to work with the school based management team at George Mather Forbes School #4 and its principal, Karon Jackson. I especially remember Ms. Jackson as she volunteered to help me model what a coaching conference with a principal […]

Cheryl Jones and Mary Vreeman, who lead the Reading Coach Project in Hillsborough County, FL, have published Instructional Coaches and Classroom Teachers: Sharing the Road to Success. I have had the opportunity to work with Mary and Cheryl for the past seven years and have seen the results of their work with elementary reading coaches. […]