Getting started with the coach's notebook
Article
This article is adapted from my upcoming course/live event: The Coach’s Notebook, a practical online course/live event experience for busy educators. Join us!
My virtual appointment with a coach colleague was visible on my smartphone’s calendar widget. A reminder was set. When I saw it as I started my day, I also made a mental note to get my computer up and running five minutes prior to our meeting.
Then life happened.
An email from another colleague redirected my attention to a different project.
One of my kids texted me with a request to drop off a permission slip at school.
A few minutes on social media and news apps turned into a half hour.
By the time I had addressed all of the things that captured my attention that morning, I realized I was thirty minutes late to my scheduled meeting. I sent a message to my colleague with my apologies along with a request to reschedule.
It’s easy to lay blame on a busy and unexpected morning of events for my lack of follow through. But the reality is more complicated. I had scheduled this event on my digital calendar. I saw it as I started my morning. My intentions were good even if the outcomes were not.
Whether you are a coach like me, or a teacher or a principal as I used to be, you likely can relate to this example. We want to do our jobs well while also managing all of our other responsibilities.
Trying to remember everything felt doable with the different digital tools I incorporated into my life. Yet the results are lacking. At the end of the day, I was sometimes content with simply not forgetting my commitments. Were my standards for success too low?
At some point, I accepted that more was not the answer. I had too many apps and not enough positive outcomes to justify their attention and expense.
That’s when I realized I already had a tool that had brought noticeable benefits to my personal life: a notebook.
Since 2019, I have kept a bullet journal. Applying the methodology developed by Ryder Carroll (2018)1, I learned to capture, organize, and reflect upon my daily actions. The limits of this analog tool forced me to keep my lists and notes brief. Conversely, task and notes apps are limitless. They can be a place where good intentions get lost or become invisible, like my scheduled meeting with a colleague.
This insight led me to ask: How might a bullet journal support my professional practice as a coach? I’ve been trying it out and found it improve both my productivity and presence. I do one thing at a time, and do it as well as I can. Not perfect, but good.
A print journal isn’t a panacea for managing professional responsibilities. For instance, I use a digital calendar to schedule my follow up meetings with clients. The difference is that these applications are incorporated to augment my practice. I don’t devote an inordinate amount of time learning how to use them. Digital technologies should serve us, not the other way around.
Additionally, introducing a notebook requires additional time. Staying consistent and embracing a learning curve for those unfamiliar with journaling can be an obstacle. The following brief example will show how simple it is to implement a coach’s notebook into your practice.
Getting Started with a Coach’s Notebook
A coach’s notebook can serve as the foundational tool for any professional practice. It serves as a physical system for capturing, clarifying, and acting upon one’s coaching responsibilities.
The Daily Log
Each day, I start on the next blank space in my notebook. The date is followed by my daily log: the workhouse of my notebook. It is not a catch-all for anything; rather, it is place for writing down what’s important, what resonates with me.
For example, during a coaching conversation I wrote down a few interesting points made by a client. R.J., a 4th grade teacher, was concerned about at student she was supporting over the summer. He was not identifying as a reader.
The act of writing generated a question that I posed to R.J.: Would writing be a potential entry point for reaching this student as a reader? His interest in video games could be leveraged as a topic.
After a conversation around this question, R.J. committed to introducing the Pixar Story Map as a scaffold to her student to engage in creative writing. He could read what they wrote together.
The Monthly Log and Task List
To be effective as a coach, I need to be intentional not just with what I capture and organize, but also how I manage this information.
Following the previous example, I added a note in my monthly task list to follow up with R.J. on her next step.
As I wrote down this commitment, I realized that other teachers might be struggling with a similar issue. So, I created an additional task: to send out a survey gauging educators’ interest in a workshop or webinar on writing demonstration lessons.
Regular Review and Reflection
My notebook is also a space for me to reflect on your system periodically to see what’s working and what’s not. This is where the power of a print journal shines.
For example, at the end of the month I can review my task list and reflect on my actions and their outcomes. It can serve as a timeline of my experiences over the last thirty days. This is more difficult to do with digital applications, which tend to hide information under layers of folders.
Ryder Carroll offers a simple reflection protocol for surfacing patterns that lead to insights.
1. What did I learn about my strengths, my weaknesses?
2. What’s working, and what’s not?
3. What could I do a bit better next time?
4. What value was added to my life? (p. 164)
My responses, based on what I documented, inform my goals and intentions for the future. For instance, R.J. later reported that her student wrote more in one session than in all previous interactions combined. I noted this as a win in my reflection (#2) while also wondering if I could improve by waiting a bit longer before offering ideas to clients (#3).
The Coach’s Notebook as a Canvas
Coaching guru Elena Aguilar describes coaching as an “art”. I happen to agree.
If coaching is an art, then what is our canvas? How do we express our work in ways beyond the ephemeral, such as coaching conversations and professional growth? I believe coaches need more tangible artifacts that document, clarify, and celebrate our practice. A notebook offers that blank space for our creative and impactful work. It not only captures the brushstrokes of our daily actions but also reveals the larger picture of our growth and impact as coaches.
Try it and apply it
What might your coaching practice look like if you had a clear and tangible record of your growth and insights? Consider the following first steps.
Dedicate a notebook to your coaching practice.
Start a daily log for one day, documenting your actions and interactions.
Reflect on how it went for you: what went well, what didn’t, etc.
Set an intention for the next day to either a) build on what you’re already doing well, or b) take a small, intentional step to improve one aspect of your practice.
Carroll, R. (2018). The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future. Portfolio. (affiliate link)