Tips for New Coaches

At a recent training session, current coaches offered the following tips for new coaches to ensure success:

• Try to get the School-wide Information System (SWIS) implemented as soon as possible because the data is an important tool
• Strong administrative support is critical
• Identify a time to meet regularly and consistently
• Find the 6 most positive people you can find to be on your start-up team, they will be your cheerleaders
• Get a cross section of staff (support people, as well as certified staff, AEA personnel, and others)
• It is important to take notes at the regularly scheduled meetings so you can communicate a consistent message with everyone involved
• Define your role as a coach (you are someone to facilitate the process, not do everything)
• Repeated self-assessments gives you data, helps to sell the program, sets people up for success
• Look for other grants for funding to support more training and more participants at the training
• Make an effort to connect with what people already know and create the bridges
• Try to find a balance between here is where the train is going, but have the patience to stop and teach and reteach as needed
• Recheck, sometimes you think things are being done, but they aren't
• Schedule celebrations and booster activities at times when you know there are going to be problems
• Network with other coaches
• Check resources on the Internet: Alliance web pages, The
  Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and other sites for technical assistance (check links section)
• Use surveys, especially after initiating a section, to identify what is working and what isn't working and tweak the process