by Emily Cowan

When the podcast got started, it came from a very real, personal need. In education, there’s endless professional development for teachers, but when you step into an instructional coaching role, training for the trainers is surprisingly hard to come by. Coaching can sometimes feel l...

by Emily Cowan

Transitioning from classroom teacher to instructional coach brought a wave of uncertainty. Beyond wondering if I was truly qualified or how colleagues would view me in this new capacity, my biggest apprehension was the responsibility of designing professional development.

Through...

by Emily Cowan

It’s that time of year again. Inboxes are filling up, classrooms are buzzing, and goal-setting deadlines are looming. Across most schools, teachers will soon be kicking off their annual evaluation cycles and drafting mandatory growth goals. 

As instructional coaches, our initial ins...

written by Tracee Keough 

The final weeks of the school year are a strange, beautiful, and chaotic paradox. One moment, you’re high-fiving a teacher who finally nailed a student-centered engagement strategy; the next, you’re staring at a stack of data reports wondering if you have enough caffeine t...

by Tracee Keough 

There is a unique energy that comes with the fourth quarter. We can finally see the finish line, and as coaches, our biggest goal is helping our teachers finish the year with the same passion they started with. But in the rush of spring, it’s easy to fall into the 'Coach Nice' tra...

by Tracee Keough

Let’s be honest: it’s spring. State testing schedules are looming, the weather is teasing us, and if you are anything like me, your desk is currently buried under a mountain of chaotic, pastel-colored sticky notes. You’re likely running on a potent mix of lukewarm coffee, soda and ...

by Tracee Keough 

Let’s set the scene: You walk into a planning meeting with a fantastic, time-saving strategy, but before you can even finish your sentence, you hit the wall.

"We don't have time for that." "The kids are already too checked out." "I'm just trying to survive until Friday."

Sound f...