Working through new, unforeseen challenges has taken a toll on everyone during the COVID pandemic. It can sometimes feel like we’re on our own, but the reality is actually quite the opposite. There are so many great, free resources for educators available from a variety of sources across the internet, and today, we’ll take a look at some of ICG’s free offerings.

Resources for Teaching and Coaching from Home

When the realities of quarantining and remote teaching and coaching began to set in, Jim Knight asked if anyone on Twitter had created an instructional playbook for distance learning. The response clearly indicated that many, many others also wanted this tool, so Jim asked if anyone would want to collaborate to create one. There was an overwhelming response from educators who wanted to contribute, and Joi Lunsford, Courtney L. Teague, and Kathy Perret volunteered to lead the group and compile the Distance Learning Playbook. The result is an incredibly unique and practical tool for navigating our current times that features contributions from countless coaches from all over the world.

Videos

ICG’s website and YouTube page have dozens of videos, including a series on the Partnership Principles, Coaching Conversations with Jim Knight and other key coaches and thinkers, and even videos documenting an entire coaching cycle.

In this video on courage, Jim discusses an example of how even the smallest acts of courage can help us all move away from toxic or hateful thinking and toward growth and learning. Common ground, empathy, kindness, and listening are all ways to build bridges and encourage dialogue, especially dialogue with people who see the world differently than we do. But sometimes we simply need to stop conversations that are racist, sexist, and hateful. This takes courage.

Book Enrichment Tools

Books like The Impact Cycle, Better Conversations, High-Impact Instruction, and more are packed with tools to help support readers’ implementation of the content. So much so that there’s even more tools available than what’s actually in the books! For each book, ICG’s website contains free downloadable forms, checklists, and more that anyone can use in their own practice. For example, the forms above can be a huge help getting a clear picture of reality when beginning the first stage of the Impact Cycle, Identify.

Coaching Toolkits

Having practical tools to use in the classroom and during coaching sessions makes such a big difference. Instead of trying to keep everything in your head, having tools to gather and analyze data can keep the coaching process organized and objective. This data-gathering toolkit for engagement is packed with tools like tracking charts and surveys geared for measuring both cognitive engagement and emotional engagement.

ICG Presentations

Jim and our senior consultants constantly develop presentations to describe the key concepts and practices that teachers, coaches, and administrators can use to achieve student-focused goals. These include presentations for events, conferences, workshops, and more. The presentation above is the first of a three-part presentation on Virtual Video & Coaching was created this year as we all try to maximize the video tools we have, especially when remote teaching or coaching.

Other Online Resources

These days, it seems like new obstacles and complexities develop every day, and it’s hard to keep up. But even though we may not be in the same physical rooms together for a while, there is a whole world of resources available to help keep us all on track to accomplish our goals and keep improving. The ICG team has curated a list of further resources that can be helpful as we continue to adjust to teaching and coaching from home.

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Check out all of the great free resources on ICG's website.

Do you have any favorite free online resources? Share them in the comments below!