Today I am excited to announce start of The #EduCoach Instructional Coach Blogging Tribe! This blogging tribe will be simple in nature. It is designed to provide anyone interested in instructional coaching and who blogs (or wants to blog) a support structure to keep their writing momentum! Let’s take a look at the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY and HOW of the #EduCoach Instructional Blogging Tribe.

Who

The #Educoach hashtag and Twitter Chat has had an online presence since 2011. The hashtag was co-founded by Jessica Johnson, Shira Leibowitz and I. It was the first hashtag to support instructional coaches on Twitter. The weekly Twitter Chat continue to take place each Wednesday at 8pm CST with the purpose of providing support and networking for those interested in Instructional Coaching. Today I am joined by an awesome team of co-moderators including:  @lsmith0917, @IAteacherNan, @kennycmckee,  @jkjohnsonbell, @averyteach and @realAllisonW.

The #EduCoach Instructional Coach Blogging Tribe is a new addition to the popular hashtag. The blogging tribe is open to anyone around the globe interested in instructional coaching. Teachers, instructional coaches, teacher leaders and administrators wearing a coaching hat are encouraged to join! If you would like to be part of the tribe, provide information in this Google document. Information includes your name, Twitter handle and blog URL. (If you don’t have a blog set up yet – feel free to join the tribe to support others and grow your own blogging skills. When you get your blog set up, return to the document to add your URL)

What

The purpose of #EduCoach Instructional Coach Blogging Tribe is to provide a community of support and encouragement for fellow bloggers and promote each other’s work. This can take many forms, including but not limited to:

• Commenting on tribe members blog posts
• Tweeting or Retweeting tribe members posts
• Networking with tribe members through the #EducCoach hashtag and beyond

Where

The #EduCoach Instructional Coach Blogging Tribe will use Twitter as the main platform for networking and support. Feel free to use the #educoach hashtag on other social media platforms like Linkedin, Instagram, etc… The goal is to keep this Tribe as simple as possible. If you are interested in becoming a part of the blogging tribe please add your information to this Google document. Keep this document handy so that you can tag fellow members when you tweet your blog posts. The HOW section below explains how to use Twitter for this blogging tribe.

UPDATE: We have now added a Private Facebook Group for The #educoach Instructional Coach Blogging Tribe. This will be a place to connect and network with other tribe members. Please remember that this group’s purpose is to support fellow instructional coach blogger, but not to self promote products you may sell. You will be prompted to supply answers to three questions when joining. Moderators will review and make decisions for approval.

When

There are no formal writing guidelines for this blogging tribe at this time – no set dates to post and no required number of times to post during the month.  We know everyone’s schedules are different. The tribe is here as a support your blogging efforts. We may have challenges at a later date, but for now we hope the support of the tribe will help you stay accountable to your own blogging goals.

Why

Blogging is a powerful way to reflect and share thoughts and ideas. Building a blogging brand takes time and is difficult to do as a solo act. Many successful bloggers have tribes or groups of supporters to help promote their posts. This promotion attracts readers. When readers engage with the content, the blogger’s confidence as a writer is impacted! Many writers tend to write more when they know their content is being read and is making a difference!  There has been a lot of interest in an #EduCoach Instructional Coach Blogging Tribe, so hopefully bloggers will sign up and begin to support the work of fellow tribe members. I’m from Iowa and always believe in the “Build it and they will come” mindset (from The Field of Dreams!) JOIN IN!

How

When you want the support of The #EducCoach Instructional Coach Blogging Tribe simply TAG members of the tribe when you tweet out a new post. If you add a photo you can tag up to 10 people in Twitter. Or you could include tribe member’s Twitter Handles in the post. Also use the hashtag #EduCoach. This will alert Tribe members to read your post, comment on it if they choose, and retweet to the Twittersphere if they’d like to help you promote.

That’s it. A simple plan with the potential of being powerful! Let the writing and support BEGIN!

If you have questions, comment below or feel free to use my contact me page. Again the #Educoach Instructional Blogging Tribe sign-up document is here. You can help build the momentum by introducing yourself to the #EduCoach community, sharing your blog URL and tweeting this post if you’d like.

A special thanks to the planning committee who helped plan for the #EduCoach Instructional Coach Blogging Tribe! THANK YOU @EDMathHysteria, @TooLegitTeach, @fionalea36, @thenerdycoach, and @srabrewer.

Happy Blogging!

Remember – Each Day is YOUR day to SHINE!

Check out some of my favorite instructional coaching books here!

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