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When the new school year begins, many of you will be welcoming not only new students, but new teachers, too. What support might these teachers wish for as they transition into their new professional home? I’ve spent the last two days with early-career teachers who have provided some insight into that question. Our retreat was a human-centered design challenge to consider the question: How do we keep talented early-career teachers in the profession? One of the strongest themes to emerge was that meaningful support from coaches and mentors is important. Many states or districts have mandated mentoring programs that sometimes feel like busy-work: checking the necessary boxes to fill the requirement. Sometimes the assigned mentorships work; if they are lucky, new teachers are assigned a mentor who they click with, who shares their teaching philosophies and is willing to learn with them. But many times these formal mentorships fall flat. The partnerships are not well-matched, often because...

In some classrooms, the appropriate answer during roll call is “Present!” Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be present , since I recently bought a children’s book with that title. And I’ve determined that if I could successfully coach teachers to be present , much of my work would be done. Being present as a teacher means, I think, that we are constantly tuned in to our students. We are noticing their questions and their quandaries. We recognize their successes. When a lesson is falling flat, we realize it. We detect when students are losing interest or confused. We sense when they are engaged – both physically and cognitively. For the past two weeks, I had the opportunity to teach elementary students during a summer writing camp. I was reminded how hard—but how important—it is to stay present. When you have to think not only about kids, but about the schedule, the next thing in the lesson plan, the technology or book that you’ll be using soon, it is difficult to b...

In an online video about improving instruction*, 8 th grade teacher Julie Manley shares a goal-setting strategy she has used with students, the “be sure to.” When Julie has provided examples and is ready for students to launch into a task, she asks them what they want to be sure to do. I liked this agentive approach and have had success in using it with both individual students and with the whole class. “As you work on this assignment, what do you want to be sure to do?” I’ve asked. The “be sure to” phrase has also become a regular in my coaching conversations. Concluding a discussion about mentor texts, I said, “Thinking back on what we’ve talked about, what do you want to be sure to do?” Similarly, after discussing student motivation with a team of teachers, I asked them what they wanted to be sure to do. I was impressed as we went around the table sharing responses. “I want to be sure to give students choice in the topic they are writing about,” one teacher said. Another replied, “...

Schools are a place of great activity. This is never more evident than at the end of the school year, as we are busy with summative assessments and tying up loose ends. If you can extricate yourself from the bustle (or if your school year is over), take a step back and ask yourself, “Is our school a place of action?” The difference between activity and action is striking. Activity, as the dictionary defines it, is the state of doing something that requires physical movement and energy. It means being busy. Action, on the other hand, has a very intentional feeling to it. The definition describes action as an act of will; the bringing about of an alteration. Most of those reading this post are probably busy people. You have assumed the leader-role of coach because you are a doer. It is important for busy people to pause from time to time and reflect upon their busyness. Are you wearing your busyness like a badge of honor? Is your busyness intentional, or have tasks unintentionally piled ...