Jim Knight 🇺🇦
@jimknight99
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Founding Partner @CoachingPD. We've spent 20+ years studying instructional coaching so students experience better learning, better lives. Managed by Jim & ICG.
Lawrence, Kansas
Joined July 2008
Call me crazy, but it just doesn’t seem fair that teachers can only deduct $250 for school supplies, but the new tax laws allow business executives to deduct the full cost of a private jet.
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I can't believe I have to write this, but being against racism is not progressives vs conservatives, it is right versus wrong. We have a moral duty to speak up when we hear racist talk or see racist action. We need to make it obvious that racism is Anti-American.
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I'm thinking that today is a good day to remind everyone that teachers should be able to deduct more than $250.00 on their taxes for the school supplies they buy.
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Coaches need to affirm the people they coach, but also be careful not to affirm them away from confronting reality. If my positive comments make it easier for you to avoid reality, I'm likely doing it so you'll think well of me, not because it helps you.
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I think this is one of the most important articles I've ever written about coaching.
Instructional coaching, done well, should foster teacher autonomy, not top-down control. @jimknight99
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It would make me very happy if there was a way to edit my tweets for typos after I post them.
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On National Teacher Appreciation Day, I want to thank you for making the decision to become an educator. Whether you work in a classroom, an office, or another type of teaching environment, your instruction and guidance make huge contributions to the world. I'm grateful for you.
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A few asked for my definition of coaching, so here goes: Instructional coaches partner with teachers to: analyze current reality, set goals, identify and explain teaching strategies to hit the goals, and provide support until goals are met. #CoachED2019.
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I created coach's playlists to give coaches a one-page doc with the most important info on topics like questioning, listening, checklists, goals, playbooks, and so on. Here's a link to all of them
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A quick question for instructional coaches: What are the most important things coaches need to learn when they start coaching?.
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To my many friends in Houston: if you lost any of my books in the storm, send me a DM. I'll pay to get them replaced.
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I honestly believe this might be the most important post we make this year. To succeed as a coach you need time, and to get time you need to clarify what you do. Here are some tools to help you have conversations about what you do:
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In today's blog, I tried to sum up 20 years of research on effective coaching in one column 🙄. There are a lot of coaching tools you can grab here too:
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The role of any instructional coach is to help raise student achievement. However, no two teachers have the same methods, teaching styles, or objectives, so coaches must be flexible in their approach.
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A quick question for coaches. Many teachers (maybe most) are feeling overwhelmed right now. What have you found to be a good way to help them feel a little less overwhelmed?.
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I think one of the most important factors for coaching success is that we position teachers as professionals, which is to say we see them as the decision maker during coaching. #mbascdedchat.
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I'm wondering if anyone has started creating an instructional playbook for distance learning? I could sure use it. #educoach.
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This is a really outstanding gift. Thank you for sharing.
Created a one-page synopsis of 'Better Conversations' by @jimknight99 to keep near me at all times! Somehow need to internalize all this. #bettercoaching #createtoremember
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Who has a suggestion for a way that we can all come together virtually to co-construct an instructional playbook for distance learning? Let's build this together. Warning. If you suggest it, we'll probably ask you to set it up. #distancelearningplaybook.
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Do you want free, really useful checklists, cases, forms, and tools to help you coach? We put over 100 documents together and organized them around the seven success factors. You can download a ton of our best stuff here:
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The theme of this month's Educational Leadership issue: A Culture of Coaching. There are a lot of great articles here.
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This is probably the one TED Talk that every coach will want to see. @Atul_Gawande on why "everyone needs a coach:"
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A lot of damage is done right before people say, "I was just joking.".
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Over the next 7 weeks, we'll be posting blogs about the 7 success factors for coaching. Here's the first one, on the importance of a coaching cycle:
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For new coaches, or anyone just starting out this year, here's a quick article about the coaching cycle we developed as a result of 20 years of research:
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What should coaches do to start the new year? Here's the first in our series of columns with suggestions for coaches preparing for the new year:
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For those who are interested, I'll post a complete sample instructional playbook on later this week.
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Hi everyone, I'm working on a document about how to be coached. I'd love your advice. What do you think teachers need to know so that they can get the most out of coaching?.
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We've put all of our resources in one spot (that's over 300 forms, articles, videos and more for coaches). You can find them all here:
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"It is important that school leaders and coaches understand that teaching is a complex task that requires independent decision-making and self-directed growth, and not a technical challenge that can be reduced to a set of prescriptive steps. ".
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Wonderful.
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This is short read, but I think it is a really important part of coaching success.
“When PD begins with teachers identifying a goal they really want to meet, the professional developer's role shifts from directing to supporting & helping teachers achieve what matters deeply to them.” @jimknight99 . Pull vs. Push Professional Development:
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I’m working on an article on coaching and teacher retention, and I’d love to hear what you’ve been doing to keep teachers in your school. I’d like to share some of what I learn here in my article.
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I think we should ask students if they’re experiencing joy, maybe through something like a weekly exit ticket or a responsive journal, or one-to-one conversations #educoach.
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“If a kid is trying to press your buttons, you’ve got to hide those buttons” Randy Sprick at the ICG Safe and Civil Schools School Behavior and Coaching Conference.
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Download my free book on how to employ the partnership principles during workshops at the link provided here. If you like it, feel free to copy it, share it, just don't sell it. It's free :).
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Here's a handy and (I hope) simple and clear free, downloadable PDF that defines about 20 checks for understanding that any teacher can use:
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I’m excited to share the practical stuff we’ve learned from 20 years of research.
Ensure that you and your students are meeting instructional goals with @jimknight99's FREE webinar on 3/11! Register at: .#educoach #instructionalcoach #instructionalcoaching
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“Coaching is about creating a safe space for a coachee to do her best thinking. And what gets in the way of creating safety is judgement” @ChristianvN speaking at #TLCKC19.
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Heard a great self-reflection question from @kristiande tonight: "Do I breath life into people, or do I suck the life right out of them?".
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We need to interview instructional coaches on leadership. If you've demonstrated leadership, leading yourself or others, or you've seen other examples of leadership, & you'd be OK with being interviewed, email me at hello@instructionalcoaching.com. Thanks.
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A quotation that inspired me today comes from Mother Teresa--"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." . What has inspired you today?.
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Positive words about teachers and coaches are spot on. Now, to truly show appreciation, contact your legislators and push for school funding that gives educators a professional salary and the time needed for planning, coaching, and collaboration.
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We created this one-stop page for free resources for coaches, administrators, teachers, and parents during these uncertain times:
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We just reposted our list of great questions for instructional coaches, this time giving credit on our list to those who taught us the questions. Download the questions here:
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A5. I am probably a bit biased here, but to promote collaboration I think schools need to provide intensive PD in communication. #ELMagChat.
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I need your best ideas. If you have ever had to coach those you report to, what strategies worked best for you? I'll be sharing more on this topic, "Coaching Up," soon.
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When we think about getting better, we often think about adding--new strategies, plans, ambitions, habits and so on. But getting better can also be about subtracting: less talking, less anxiety, less wasted time, less noise . .
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One of the best ways to honor women on #InternationalWomensDay would be to start paying women a salary they deserve for the work they do.
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Can me crazy, but it just doesn’t seem fair that teachers can only deduct $250 for school supplies, but the new tax laws allow business executives to deduct the full cost of a private jet.
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Good question: Can the "gradual release of responsibility" (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983) be applied to coaching? #CoachEd2019.
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This is well worth the time it takes to read.
2018 was a big year in education research. From debunking learning styles to identifying the effects of classroom decorations, here are the studies every educator should know about.
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I'm more and more convinced that coaching involves two kinds of time. Coaching is about now and not yet.
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Instructional coaches and #educoach people we've upgraded our web page and it has tons & tons of free videos, forms, presentations, webinars and much more. Find it here:
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Here's a list 39 of my favorite questions to use with The Impact Cycle. What are your favorite coaching questions?
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My new podcast, Coaching Conversations, is out. The first episode is a learning a conversation with Zaretta Hammond aka @Ready4rigor I always learn from Zaretta every time we talk. She helps me be a better person.
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A3 For instructional coaching, we have found coaches need to know how to employ a coaching cycle, understand how to work with adults, have a deep understanding of effective teaching practices, be able to gather data, and communicate and lead effectively #ELMagChat.
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This is an important article (and unfortunately I can't find the tweet where I first saw it) on why we feel the way we feel. Naming this grief helped me understand it:
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If your district might be interested in partnering with us on free, biweekly PD for your coaches, please contact us at research@instructionalcoaching.com.
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This quotation has had me thinking all day “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” - James Clear.
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"The most important action a principal can take to support a coach might also be the easiest—ensuring he or she has sufficient time." From today's blog post where I share seven ways #principals can, and should, #support their #educoaches.
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An elementary school coaching cycle is great, but what does a complete impact cycle look like in secondary school? I'm so glad you asked. You can watch a 43-min film of a real coaching cycle with a secondary teacher here:
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This is fascinating . though maybe not surprising.
Top teachers were the *most* likely to seek advice from their peers. The better the teacher performed, the more likely they were to obtain feedback on how to be even better. Asking for advice & feedback is a sign of strength, not weakness.
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From an EdSurge article: "Our coaches needed to be activated as change management leaders to truly make transformational change across their schools."
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Data. Why it's important for instructional coaches and what data you should gather. An essential success factor for coaches:
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Laura Bush is trending today, and I love how she sequences her life experiences in her twitter biography, "Former teacher, librarian and First Lady of the United States.".
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Last Sunday I presented at ASCD’s Empower18 conference. My presentation title was Why Every Teacher Deserves a Coach, and if you’re interested, you can learn more about the presentation by visiting Radical Learners
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If the line is too long, weather is too rainy, you're too tired, or you don't like the candidates, and you still vote, thank you. Democracy depends on your vote. Each vote is a way of thanking the heroes who gave up so much to keep us free. #IVoted.
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You can now download a complete instructional playbook at in the resources section.
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There may be no one in the world who knows more about instructional coaching and classroom management than Tricia Skyles. She also happens to be incredibly funny, warm-hearted, and a great friend. I can't wait to talk with her on Thursday.
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If you have been remote teaching, I'd be mighty grateful for your thoughts. Based on what you've learned this year, if you were to create a checklist of things to look for as you watch a video of a lesson you taught, what would you put on the checklist?.
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Coaches! When someone over the holidays asks you to tell them what it is you do, just point them to this TED talk. @Atul_Gawande on why "everyone needs a coach." #educoach.
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For those of you using the #impactcycle , we have (finally 🙄) posted a checklist for the cycle that you can download:
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I think all coaches are wise to get clear on what they believe about professional development? We believe in the partnership principles. Videos for all 7 principles are now posted at #educoach.
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This is, I hope, a handy form for instructional coaches working with teachers on engagement, from an article I posted back in December 2019.
Research reveals that students who stay in school do so because they are engaged. Coaches should play a role in building student engagement because they influence what teachers do and therefore what students experience. @jimknight99 #EduCoach
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An important question for any coach is "What is my approach to coaching?" In the short column linked below I describe 3 different ways of understanding what coaches do:
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“The question to ask is not ‘What’s wrong with this person?’ but ‘What does this irritation tell me about myself?’--Anthony de Mello.
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Got a thought-provoking quote from @jamesclear today, first stated by Richard Hamming. "Teachers should prepare the student for the student's future, not for the teacher's past.".
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Brayden Harrington is my hero tonight. He gave a beautiful and courageous speech.
“I’m just a regular kid, and in a short amount of time, Joe Biden made me more confident about something that’s bothered me my whole life. Joe Biden cared.”.– Brayden Harrington. #DemConvention
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Had a conversation today about consistent teaching practices across school. Is there evidence that this is helpful to learning and well-being? I'm genuinely curious. My own experience was that teachers using different practices helped me learn. What do you think?.
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I'm doing something different this year--an Instructional Coaching Skills Bootcamp. 3 days of intensive coaching skills training for no more than 30 people. 100% of tuition goes to homeless families in Kansas:
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If you've completed a dissertation or thesis on instructional coaching, or you know someone who has, I'd be very grateful if you'd send me their dissertation. I'm trying to round up all the great research on coaching.
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How should Visible Learning be implemented through instructional coaching. I write about that in a special edition of Educational Sciences. You can read the article here:
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I'm thrilled to share: The Instructional Playbook is available for pre-order! Authored by @annghoffman, @harrismr1, @SLTteachcoach, and myself, this resource helps implement new strategies and stay on track to meet goals.
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Anybody else out there trying to read 10 books at a time? I'm not sure this is the best strategy, but I'm certainly not bored.
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Love this quote. "All human beings want their voices to matter. We like giving our opinions and offering ideas. We want to be the subject of our activities, not the object of someone else’s.".Quaglia & Corso (2014).
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Well that's cool.
Our #10 most popular article of the year: “Escape from the Zero-Learning Zone” by Jim Knight (@jimknight99) #Top10EL
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Every student deserves a great teacher, not by chance, but by design--Doug Fisher #tlc2016.
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We just added a resources for coaching and teaching at home page to our website. You can find it here:
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And I'm tweeting beside you @burgessdave. Great to meet you again.
Small world! Look who is sitting across from me on this flight. none other than the instructional coaching guru, @jimknight99!!! #tlap #LeadLAP
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During coaching, teachers should be the subject of their conversation not the object of the coach's conversation.
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"A key skill in coaching is noticing," . noticing what is happening with others, what's happening within ourselves. @ChristianvN speaking at our Coaching for Leaders Conference in Lawrence, KS.
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What feedback should coaches get from teachers? We adapted a great survey by @CmunroOz from @gcieducation so coaches can get useful information from teachers. You can read more and download the free survey here:
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A3 One teacher I interviewed watched video from her best and worst classes. When she watched it, she realized the students weren't the issue, she was a different teacher in the two classes, so she changed her teaching to reach more kids. #educoach.
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