Gift a Coaching Notebook

Stores are flooded with school supplies, so now is the time to stock up on a gift for teachers that supports planning, problem-solving, and reflection – a coaching notebook. Whether it’s the marbled black-and-white kind or something fancier, having a place to hold and clarify thinking enhances coaching outcomes.
 
Gifting a coaching notebook is a gesture that signals the value of your collaborative work with teachers. You could give a notebook to teachers at a start-of-year faculty meeting when you explain your coaching role or save it for the first time you meet one-on-one with a teacher. When you offer it, say something like, “I’ll be keeping notes on our coaching conversations so that I don’t forget anything important. If you’d like a place to keep your own notes, here’s a notebook where you could do it.”
 
Later, when you sit down to plan with a teacher, you could say, “Let’s both independently brainstorm some ideas and then share.” When a teacher describes a challenging situation, suggest she do a quick write to dump all of the emotions on the page. During a reflective conversation, you could prompt, “Take a moment to write about what you noticed,” or “Write about one of the most positive things that happened during that lesson” (these often get overlooked!).
 
Although we frequently use digital tools for our writing, having a tangible thing that is specific to our coaching work sets it apart. A notebook makes it easy to think back together on where we’ve been in our coaching work and plan for where we’re going. Plus, research suggests that there are cognitive benefits to the good-old pen-to-paper experience.
 
If you’re reading this after the schoolyear gets underway, no worries! You can wait until teachers settle in and comp books go on clearance! When both you and the teacher you are coaching have a notebook in hand, you’ll be prepared for deep thinking that supports meaningful dialogue. 

This week, you might want to take a look at:

Protocols for data exploration:
 
http://mycoachescouch.blogspot.com/2016/08/be-data-explorer.html
 
 
6 Co-Teaching models:
 
https://barkleypd.com/blog/coaching-co-teaching/
 
 
Teaching empathy through reading:
 
https://ccira.blog/2024/07/30/from-empathy-to-compassion-reading-to-make-a-difference/

 
Ideas for helping students who are in the fight or flight mode:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/fight-flight-freeze
 
 
Writing-at-Home resources for young children 4 – 8 (great share for parents):
 
https://kidwriting.nwp.org/
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
Want more coaching tips? Check out my book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner, available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! TODAY you can still use the code: AUG2024 for 20% off. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!
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