I have been teaching mathematics since 1989 and during this time I have experienced no less than 3 or 4 math coaching initiatives either as the recipient of the math coaching or the deliverer of said math coaching. These sudden moments of interest in math coaching are ALWAYS connected to some external event: the state […]
A long time ago I was given a shirt. It said, “You can’t scare me. I teach middle school.” The premise, clearly was middle school students are a difficult audience to work with. While this premise may be true, my last ten years as a mathematics instructional coach (technically I’m the Senior Math Coordinator…but I […]
We have all heard the claim that any big change a school district might want to make will require 3 to 5 years of concentrated effort. You want better scores? 3 to 5 years. You want to fundamentally change what instruction looks like in your classrooms? 3 to 5 years. You want to close achievement […]
Years ago I was invited by my district office to leave my classroom of 26 years to become an instructional coach serving 300 K-5 teachers as they transitioned to Common Core. Up to that point I was happily and successfully teaching math to middle school students. I also coached the golf team and was one […]