"A good coach will make his players see what they can be, rather than what they are."-Ara Parsheghian

As educators, we know that our job is all about service and helping others become the best they can be. So, how do we do that?!

Really, every teacher is an instructional coach. Our job as teachers is to coach our students toward their learning goals for the year and bring out their best selves in the process. To do that, we have to be able to see our students' potential, find the path to get them there, and guide our students on that path.

Are students going to deviate from the path? Yup. Are they going to fail? Possibly. Are they going to struggle? Absolutely. It's all part of the journey.

So, how do we best coach our students? 

There are four steps in this process that needs for teachers with what I call velvet over steel. A great teacher needs to have a backbone of steel but a velvet touch. No yielding on what we know to be really important, but being willing to be...

Now that school is under way in many places, the overwhelm can start to set in. Overcome the overwhelm. Take back your planning time before things get out of control. 

Getting in all of the planning, staying fresh in our teaching and managing the grading are 3 of the most time consuming, stress producing and valuable aspects of the teaching profession - other than the actual teaching.   =)  

So how do we overcome the overwhelm that comes with managing these 3 aspects of our day?

Like so many things, the best solution takes an investment of time up front but pays big all year: curriculum mapping. I know. It's a huge job. That's probably why we avoid it. But.... it will make your planning and decision making so much easier all year. 

Having a fully integrated curriculum map will free you up to be creative, have fun with your teaching and try some new things. You'll also have more time for your friends and family because you'll be leaving school at...

As school begins, the need for classroom volunteers becomes important.

The reason for having parent volunteers is twofold:

1. Parents need to be involved at school - good for kids and good for parents.

2. We need volunteers to help us with essential tasks that take our focus from our most valuable activities.

How do you organize parent volunteers? 

The problems start with organizing parent volunteers. In our busy classrooms, as teachers, we are stretched so thin. Sometimes the very thought of having volunteers seems overwhelming. Isn't it easier to just do all of those tasks ourselves?! NO! You'll have to invest a bit of time and planning in the beginning, but you'll reap the reward of well trained volunteers all year long. 

Let's start with deciding what our volunteers should do. What tasks do you do regularly? Make a list. Next, highlight items you could have someone else do. Circle what you need to do yourself.

Now, create a job description for...

Sometimes stepping out of our comfort zone and learning lessons from other areas of life can transform our teaching and our schools.

Read these book pics with an eye and heart for education. I think you'll be inspired. 

EntreLeadership

by Dave Ramsey

You're going to say... What?! That's a business book. What does that have to do with teaching? 

And I'll say... Everything.

This book talks about how to build a team and a business. Education is both a public service and a business whether we want to admit it or not. As teachers, we work as both teammates and as entrepreneurs every day in our classrooms. When we get over ourselves enough to admit we need to think more like business professionals, we will start to find the true path to transforming classrooms, schools and education overall. Just read it with education in mind. You'll be surprised and inspired.

Man's Search for Meaning

by Viktor Frankl

In education, the latests hot buzz words are grit and growth...

Summer is coming to a close. Where does the time go?! 

The details of daily life in a crowded place can make your year great or bog you down. I've rounded up a list of great tips and tricks for a smooth start for your school year. 

Read on...

Meeting the Teacher

• Be prepared for Meet the Teacher. The key to success - meet them at the door and then give them something productive to do. Mary from Teaching with a Mountain View has a great post on how she organizes Meet the Teacher. Her stations are easy and effective with tasks for both parents and students. Go here to read the full post.

• "Make sure you take time to tell your students about YOU," says Julie from the Techie Teacher. Inquiring minds really do want to know. :) I love her story about how a lesson on angles using a video of things she found in her home showed her how much her students wanted to know her better. Check out her ideas here.

• Prep for Back-to-School night now. Being prepared now for...

Happy Wednesday Teacher Friends,

It's really August! What?! I know! How fast summer is going. 

Back-to-school madness is here for many and coming soon for the rest of us. Staying organized is key to success in being and feeling ready for students to walk in the door.

Here's my Back-to-School Checklist to get you going at school this year in a snap. Get it here. You'll look like an organizing rock star and start the year ahead of the game (as in less stress and more joy) Win! 

Want to do a customized checklist? Got you covered! There's a blank one you can fill in yourself as well. Grab it! 

Go win the back-to-school prep battle.  Hope it's a great school year!

Teach joyfully,

Lisa

There are certainly plenty of things to have regrets about or beat ourselves up about as teachers and as parents. But... here's a few you should never apologize for.

1. A lesson that didn't go as planned. So what. Learn something from it and try again.Show your students how to accept failure and start over. Now, three's a lesson worth teaching.

2. Being really good at something others aren't. If you resumer organized but others aren't and they give you trouble about it, shame on them. Enjoy your strengths and use them. We all have enough faults worry about, do don't add your strengths to the worry list.

3. Not having a Pinterest Perfect classroom. A perfectly coordinated room does not make you a better teacher. Either decorating in your thing or it's not. Make your room comfortable and welcome for you and your students. That's enough. Just teach.

4. Doing things your own way. Being different is a strength, not a fault. In some schools, teachers are expected to go lock step together...

Conquering your inbox may seem like a pipe dream, but it's totally do-able.

Remember when "You've got mail" was a good thing?! Not so much anymore.

Is your inbox stressing you out? Are you drowning in emails? Before getting your classroom ready, get your inbox under control.

First of all, how many inboxes do you have?

Decide how you plan to keep tabs on them- when and how often. Consolidate what you can and get rid of any extra email addresses you don't really use anymore.

Next, deal with your email.

Choose a set amount of time to deal with the backlog every day until your inbox is to 0. What?! Zero? That's not possible, right?! Wrong. Totally possible and do-able.

Check your email a couple times a day. That means quickly flip through it and deal with anything that is URGENT. Leave the rest.

Once a day, set aside time to deal with your email.

This is when you will do something with every NEW email for that day- read, file, respond, delete, something to get it taken care of and out...

"The language, Lisa! You, the words matter girl, would have been appalled."

My lovely teacher friend was lamenting the recent trend toward whining and complaining in her school's teachers' lounge. She was probably right. I would have been appalled. Additionally, she was right to be concerned. The thing about whining and complaining is, they are habits. Once we head down that path, it is really hard to stop. It gets in our heads and our hearts.

There is an old saying that goes something like this - A few bad apples will spoil the barrel.

I talk a lot about how our words matter with our students. It's also true that our words matter with our colleagues. It's great to share, seek advice and blow off a little steam once in awhile. We need that. However, when talk in the teacher lunchroom turns to whining, complaining or denigrating students or parents, it's gone too far. It can spoil the whole climate of a school or team. Speaking with respect for each individual regardless of our...

Is your To Do List overwhelming you?

As a teacher and a mom of 5 kids, I get it. If you are like me, your "To Do" list is long and never ending. It can be overwhelming after awhile to even look at it. And.. getting all those things done - forget it, right?!

Well, here's the cure.

Get more accomplished each and every day with this simple fix.

• Get my Free Daily To Do List

• Turn your long list into tasks on your calendar. Give everything a tentative date.

• Then, take 5 minutes to make a small list for the next day each night before you go to bed.

• Put on one cleaning chore and 6 other items on your list, no more. Each item should be a specific, detailed, "micro task" (think bite-sized).

For example: If I put "make phone calls" on my list or "call Doctor", it might happen. If I put "Call Dr. Russell- RE: appoint. for Bob's knee (phone number)" on my list, it will happen. Why? I made it easily do-able in the midst of a busy day.

Get my Free printable Daily To Do List to get...