Strategy-Focused Coaching with Emilie Rio

In this episode of the EDU Coach Collective, hosts Celine and Katie speak with Emilie Rio, a high school instructional technology coach in Illinois, about her unique approach to strategy-focused coaching. Drawing on her background as a former Spanish teacher, Emilie shares how she creates a safe, vulnerable space for staff to learn new technology, much like she did for students learning a foreign language.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Calling all instructional leaders, curriculum innovators, and dedicated classroom coaches, or whatever they call you. I'm Celine. And I'm Katie. As coaches, we know the path to school-wide growth can feel isolating with big responsibilities resting squarely on your shoulders. That's why we built this space. 

We're opening the conversation to. Collaborate and bring a unified voice to the world of instructional coaching. Elevate your practice with strategies that work, and finally feel like you have a whole collective cheering you on. So let's dive into this conversation. 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Hello everyone. Welcome back to the EDU Coach Collective. We're so excited to have you today on this very special spring episode. We're finally in some warm weather, and Emilie, we're so glad you are here. We always say that coaching is a bit like, um. A translator being someone that's very open in the classroom. 

Um, and we are taking this time today to have this conversation with you. So we're very excited, , to see what techniques [00:01:00] and what things that you're able to use. So we would love for you to kind of open up and introduce yourself to the people here on our episode today. So. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Well, again, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to talk about all things coaching. Um, as I both mentioned, my name's Emilie Rio. I am currently a high school instructional technology coach in the Quad Cities area of Illinois. Um. I am at one high school district building before becoming a coach. 

I taught Spanish in California before moving back to the Midwest in Illinois. Primarily, I only do high school coaching, so I actually created the high school coach, um, because I felt like there's really not a lot of resources for the high 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Hmm. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: coaches. And so I really have been working hard to kind of develop that and kind of get it out there of like, we are coaches too, but it does look very different from more traditional coaching per se. Um, and especially with tech coaching thrown in there as we know, like. All of our titles, whatever they are, they're always just like, [00:02:00] I feel like made up for whatever sounds good for the district. And so, um, a lot of what I do is working with our new teachers, but then also implementing any sort of instructional technology tools and kind of partnering with admin to do that as well. 

So I'm excited to talk more about it. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Awesome. Welcome Emilie. It's it's great to have you on the podcast and, um, I'm gonna kind of jump right into some of our questions here, but be before I do, can you tell us a. Little bit, um, just for our listeners who maybe aren't in the Illinois area, kind of what, what does, what does the coaching landscape look like in Illinois? 

Um, because I feel like Illinois has, um, a, a much more robust like, infrastructure around coaching than a lot of other states. So if you could maybe just speak to that a little bit First. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Yeah. Uh, so when I first got into this role, I had no idea what it was, but once I kind of branched out and reached out to like neighboring districts and people more towards like the Chicagoland area, I learned a lot of what it is. And so, like you said, it is really robust because what I've noticed, [00:03:00] especially in Illinois is there are almost like. Five to 10 coaches on average at one school. And what I really like about what Illinois has is it's very specific to content areas. So one of our feeder schools, for instance, they have an EL coach, they have a math coach, a science coach, special ed coach, and instead of having to wear all different hats as one primary coach, I really like that. 

In Illinois it's very specific. To either like literacy or arts. Um, I recently at Idea Con, I recently met a coach who was there specifically for music teachers, which I thought was really interesting 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Wow, I've not heard of that. That's awesome. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: I know. Yeah. And so I talked with her and I was like, how does that work? 

And she's like, I basically do it for our district. And so I think I'm really fortunate to be in Illinois because I have so many great resources. We have a lot of coaching conferences that happen. I would say like quarterly. We have networking events held by our regional opposite of education. So I just feel like the support is really good because there's so many of [00:04:00] us. 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Hmm. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah, that. Thank you. Thank you for saying that. Um, that's been my impression not being a coach at. Illinois. But as an outsider looking in, I've been, um, pretty impressed with the, you know, like I said, the infrastructure around coaching. So, um, love to hear that you guys have support because, you know, we even kind of say it in our, we've always said it in our intro, like, you know, we don't want, we, weve made this podcast 'cause we don't want people to feel like they're on their own coaching island, um, because it so often feels that way. 

So I just think it's cool that Illinois does that. But, um, jumping into to your experience specifically, I'm curious. know, with your, um, I like how Celine said, we, we kind of think as of coaching as translators at the beginning. Um, because with your background as a Spanish teacher, um, I think, I think that's a really cool connection here. 

And I'm curious teaching a foreign language, right. You know, and now you're, you're coaching technology and technology can often feel like a foreign language for folks. Um, so I'm curious, what do you feel like your background. Teaching a foreign language to people. What was, what's been like the main thing that you've maybe carried over into your coaching practice or, or like what prepared you the best having already [00:05:00] taught of a foreign language now that you're coaching and almost kind of coaching a foreign language in in a way, 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: right. Coaching is also a foreign 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: yes. 

It's 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: so, um, 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: just the titles alone are sometimes of foreign language. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: crazy. Uh, but I think with my background teaching Spanish, I think I always get students who are in like a really vulnerable state, right? Because a lot of times, especially where I'm located. High school is their first experience with a foreign language. And so a lot of the students that I receive are very vulnerable. 

And so I take that same kind of vulnerability when I'm working with staff because a lot of our staff before my role, you know, we still have people like using the smart notebook and like the smart boards and things like that. And so one of the goals in my role was like getting people to step outta their comfort zone. And the way that I did that was like, okay. I told them just what I tell my students, like we have to respect each other. We have to understand that we're all gonna make mistakes. 'cause I feel like a lot of times if [00:06:00] I have somebody who might not be the like tech guru, they don't do a lot because they're too scared, it's gonna fail or something, it's gonna go wrong. 

And so when I coach, I actually give them like, what is your tech comfort level? So just like I would do with my students, I try to meet them on their level and then kind of build upon there. And so I think I'm very fortunate because I taught Spanish, I can really bring that like, okay, we're all gonna make mistakes. 

It's okay. Like I didn't grow up speaking Spanish. That's okay. You didn't grow up with technology. Like I'm the most millennial Millennial, so like I get it. You know, I got boomer parents, all those things. And so, um, I just think it's really helpful. And I also think with Spanish, especially like the instructional side of stuff, I always ran my classroom like a kindergarten classroom, um, because like that was their level. 

And so I also sometimes think of like, if a teacher's like I just. my computer in and use the board as a projector. And I'm like, okay, so like it's a low level. How can we build [00:07:00] upon those skills and things like that. So bringing those different strategies in to make them feel comfortable and just know that we all make mistakes, myself included. 

So 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: I like the way that you're leveling the playing field there and just kind of setting the safe space to, to be vulnerable. 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah, 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: for sure I. 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: I like that too. And like it kind of reminds me of like kind of like the structure of scaffolding technology. 'cause I know from my perspective, especially with technology in high school, sometimes there's like an area of. Different teachers that wanna use it, but they're not sure like how to implement it. 

They wanna just kind of do the basics. So I'm interested to know, like on your end, is there like any tool or any resource, especially recently with everything that's been coming out, um, that you feel like has been populated, like at your district specifically, or anything that has been a go-to or kind of like mind blowing for students or any, anything that's cultivated change for you in your coaching experience? 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Um, I know it's so typical right now with like AI and stuff, but that is something that I have been really fortunate. I've been doing kind of like mini units with teachers to work with students on like, what AI [00:08:00] is, how are you using it, and things like that. So tools like Magic School has been so lifesaving for our teachers too, to like slowly introduce them. especially with our students, I really, you know, our students really embrace it. We turned on Gemini for our school and we didn't tell anybody just, we were just like, well, let's just see. And so, but kids, it's surprising 'cause you would think that students would wanna be using it at the high school level all of the time. And more and more we're seeing. They don't want to, or they just want to use it for simple grammar things. And so I think magic school has been really, really a big impact on our students and our teachers because of the simplicity, but also just keeping that protection in place for everybody because students really like it. 

Teachers really like it, and it just kind of is that one thing that's very, like, it's a level playing field for ai without jumping into the like scary world of AI per se, with students and staff. 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah, I love that. And that makes sense. And then you, you talked a little bit about like your units. I'm [00:09:00] interested to know like how you structure that. Is that more like. Or like, yeah. What's like your go-to structure? What? Like what do you use for creating. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Yeah, so when I do like the AI mini unit, I recently did it with, um, one of our ESL teachers with her level one students. And so a lot of the students didn't speak English or don't know the language, and so the way that I kind of scaffolded it is I co-planned with the teacher and I said, okay, you have all of these different students, you have 13 different languages in one classroom. 

Like do you first. Differentiate for them. So her and I kind of looked through different ideas, what kind of tools they use, and then we primarily use the magic school. So we use their, what I do is I like to find their like pre-made. Templates. And so it was like the AI literacy course, but what I did instead is I took away some tools, so I only give, especially with EL students, like three tools play with. 

And then I went through and we modified the reading level and we uploaded documents that the students, we said this is their language. And [00:10:00] so what I did is it was a four week mini unit, so I would go in there twice a week and what we did is the first day was like, okay. We just did a simple standup sit down. 

How many of you use ai? How do you know what it is? And we even had students like, how do you translate 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Hmm. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: what does that look like? You know, trying to bring it back to them. then again, we kind of scaffold it. Okay, a little activity for you to test it out. is this picture ai, there's a really great Google Arts thing, um, that it's like, is it AI or not? 

And so we went through and did that like a very low stake thing for the students, that it's just visual, no language is included. the next week we kind of jumped into, okay, now here's an activity. Pick an activity from one of your classes that you're struggling with. can this tool help you? 

How can you change the reading level? How can you have it read to you? Right? And then we kind of took it a step further, all right, how can we use it safely? What ways can we use it? They had a tool that was like, would you use AI for this? And they just had a simple yes [00:11:00] or no, right? Low stake. I'm not asking you to write a novel, I'm not asking you to read large things. And then we just kind of progressed throughout to now they actually have a Google classroom that I have created for them where I will different tools and things for them to try. And it's fun because when I do go into the rooms and I get to see them and they're like other classes, they're like, oh, I use this too. 

I use this. One of 'em is very into like vibe coding now. And so that's been really cool 'cause. It's just so interesting 'cause it's like I don't do that and it's 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: like language, but they love it and they're like trying Figma and they're trying, you 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Mm-hmm. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: coding and all this stuff and it's just, it's so rewarding to see. 

'cause I feel like as coaches we like, I miss that sometimes. You know, we don't necessarily get to do that all the time. And so it's just, it's nice to see, to have that impact and kind of work with the students on that level. 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: you're going from one language to a whole nother one and seeing it 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Ain't 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: circle is like full circle. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah. Well, Emilie, as you were talking and sharing [00:12:00] that, I'm like, I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, oh, that's so cool that she's getting to work that closely with the students. And you know, then you touched on it, right? Like, as coaches, we don't get to always do that all of the time anymore. So, um, I, I'm curious, I'm gonna have kind of like a two-parter to my next question, but, um. You, you know, when, when you kind of opened and talked about how many coaches there typically are in Illinois and how they're each focusing on their own distinct like content area. I'm curious, um, first part of my question is, have you. Have you had an opportunity to work with other content coaches in your district around ai, right? 

Like it's a natural fit for you, obviously, like that clearly falls under your domain of coaching technology to be supporting ai, but I'm just curious like what does that look like in tandem with other content coaches? Because it can't be solely up to one. Person [00:13:00] to roll it out, right? Like if you're saying one thing, but then they go work with the math coach and the math coach is like, no, we're not using this. 

Right. Like that. Those are like two competing messages. So, so what's that look looking like with the other content coaches and their approach to supporting teachers specifically in their content areas with AI and that partnership that you have? 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Yeah, so that's something that definitely at like the high school level has been really interesting to kind of navigate. So I am the only coach in our district. Which is kind of unheard of, but the way it's kind of laid out is different. But I do partner with a lot of our other coaches, so I actually work very closely with a coach in a neighboring district and they use brisk ai. 

And so her and I talk a lot of like, okay, how are you implementing this at the middle school level? How are you doing this at the high school level? and I just collaborated on special education. 'cause I said like our special ed department, like we're really trying to kind of give them differentiation [00:14:00] tools, but just keep it to one platform. 

So she actually sent me like a PD that she did, um, that I got to share with staff. And so her and I really connect a lot. And then also kind of our local coaches in the area. Like you said, a lot of them are at the elementary school, and so I've asked them like, how does that look like? What proficiencies are there? 

What literacy are you teaching with AI at the elementary level? a lot of them said they just kind of let it be. They said that they're not really introducing it until like fifth and sixth grade because they're trying, like we talked briefly before we started Sleen, and I like trying to go backwards of like not trying to give them too much technology at the elementary level, but instead starting a more, once they get into high school. 

So I think being able to work with the other districts has been helpful. But it is hard, like you mentioned, because. though I am the only coach, you know, there are natural leaders at the building that we collaborate with. So you mentioned like math. Okay. How are we using AI in [00:15:00] that? How is the art teacher gonna use ai? 

Like, that was a big thing that, um, herself and I, we really worked on. Right? It's so hard at the high school level because. All of the different tools you have to find how they work in every area. And I think that's something that like, I really like to talk about because my school, we have a vocational school and so it's attached to our building, I'm working with vocational, you know, trade workers who have no experience in education. 

And so I try to bring and scaffold technology for them. And they're like, well, what does this have to do with autobody? Or what does this have to do with STEM and whatnot? And so I'm like. Trying to bring it into them of like, okay, this is how you could use it. This is how you can get ideas and using it as a partnership. 

But it is hard, like you said, to kind of collaborate with me, myself, and I. Um, but so kind of picking out those leaders of like, how are you doing it? I like to go into classrooms and see like, okay, this teacher is trying out snorkel. Right. How is that looking? Or [00:16:00] one of our language teachers was doing a video call her student teacher with someone from Argentina. How are they using ai? Right? They did podcast episodes that they shared with them on Google vs. Great. How could we bring that to art? How can we bring that to music? How can we bring that to PE even? It's just, it's crazy at the high school level because you have to just. it work for everybody, like driver's, ed, all of these things that you don't think of. so when it's like me, myself, and I, it's really important to partner with the other district coaches, like I mentioned before, to just see what they are doing with everything technology. 'cause it is so different across the board. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah, no, thank you for that. And, um, will you describe the, like what makes up your district? How, how many buildings, how many grade levels, what, what makes up your district When you say district, Hmm. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: we're very unique. We are a high school district, so it is just a one building high school district. Um, it's kind of weird how we're laid out. Out here we have seven different feeder schools, which is like crazy for such a small area. But my [00:17:00] district, we have our main building. We have a vocational school, so our trade school with CTE, and then we also have, um, an alternative school as well. 

So I don't. Go to all three buildings all the time. Primarily I'm at the main high school and then the vocational. So that's kind of how that works with our district and what that looks like. And it's a pretty big district. Um, we've got about 2000 kids, about 120 staff, so it's a lot, it's a very small area and everyone really works well together and knows each other. 

It's a really nice community to be a part of, so I'm fortunate with that. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah. That's awesome. Thank you. And I appreciate that clarification because Right. You know, different parts of the country that you're in di like district would, you know, like here in Ohio, we don't have anything. We don't, we wouldn't call like just high school a district, right. It would all. be elementary, middle, high school. 

It may be one building, it may be, you know, 20 But, um, so it's, it's just so interesting. Right. And there's, there's even some states they [00:18:00] don't even call 'em districts, so I'm just always kind of interested in, in that makeup. But, but that, that question actually, um, cleared something up for me. So I'm not gonna ask my second parter 'cause it's, it's not like relevant in that context. 

So thank you for that. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: it is definitely. Yeah, it's very different. And like you mentioned, because in California, I was actually in a high school district as well, but there were 13 buildings, so like, it was like one of the largest high school districts. And it was so interesting 'cause it was like, oh, okay, like there's 13 high schools that's crazy and what that looks like and things like that. 

So yeah, it's definitely different. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah, I, I love like learning and hearing about like, the makeup in, in other parts of, of the country, so thank you. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah, I, I think that's so interesting that you have the vocational attached because. I sometimes I'm like, oh my gosh, how am I gonna get through the day? 'cause I have six different buildings, um, in my district. Like I have a very big district. I have a very big district. But I can relate to like that feeling of like, oh. 

Just the thought of being like the main person to go to for everything and what that feels like. So I'm interested to know, like, um, and maybe, maybe [00:19:00] you have like one simple structure, especially since it's high school, but is there a certain way you approach like professional development or outreach or, um, when you have different content areas that you're focused on for technology instruction, like you have a certain approach that you wanna, you know, you consistently. 

Give people resources and tools and information on a like weekly bread. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Yeah, so typical of like any coach, right? I started out with sending newsletters and then I was like, oh, yay. Six people clicked on it. Cool. Go me. I just put so much time and effort, right? Like, and then I was like, oh, I'm gonna start an Instagram. And the principal's like, great. And then I was like, nobody's following me, so yay. what I've kind of nailed down in the five years of doing this, which is still not a lot, is I really try to do like quarterly initiatives. So what I do is I always do my weekly, [00:20:00] like what the tech videos. Now, whether or not they watch it, fine, whatever. try to like, also at the end I'll plug, like, if you read this, add your whatever to this playlist. 

You're like, if you read this, reply with da, da da. So it's like, okay, you opened it. Um, but the big thing that I do are like initiatives. So quarter one. Typical of any beginning school year. We have a lot of PD at the beginning, and usually it's us that are helping plan it. And so what I really like to do, especially at the beginning of the school year, is like, okay, let's look back. 

Here's what we still have, but let's refresh it. Because I'm fortunate I get to work with all our new teachers before they come to the building for two weeks, and so I've already kind of taken care of them. So a lot of it is all right with our current staff. What are we adding to it, right? We still have this subscription. 

What are the updates? What are the new things? And the big thing that I like to do, and maybe this is because I was a Spanish teacher, I like to get them outta their comfort zone. So one of the things I did with like way ground was okay. Y'all have to use all the different question types. So I [00:21:00] created a way ground activity at a station and was like, you have to film yourself singing the school song. 

You have to draw a flag on the flag pole. Like all of these different ideas and things to get them to collaborate. 'cause something, when I stepped into my role, that was my goal was to get teachers to collaborate more because they were all very comfortable in their area, which is normal of teaching, but I really wanted people to interact with each 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Especially high school too. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Exactly, because like you don't ever get to work with your team or there's not a depart, you know, it's just kind of so interesting. So what I really try to do the first quarter is like, together as your group. So the beginning of the school year, we do that. A lot of it's choice boards, so it would be like the A group, the B group. 

Here are three activities with the tools you can choose. Do you wanna do magic school? Do you wanna do way ground? What do you wanna do? Right? Because then that way it's specific to the departments where it's not feeling like this isn't relevant. so that's kind of a big thing, especially with vocational. 

Like, okay, how can you use this? And what I like to do too is I like to [00:22:00] give like little cheat sheet ideas. I have like little menu holders that have little cheat sheets, like feeling lost. Here's an idea that could work for whatever math or science, like what that looks like. So that's kind of first quarter. And then second quarter is my big thing that I am obsessed with and I love doing, and that is our building wide tech challenge. This is like my baby, and it's my favorite thing that I do, and everybody gets into it and it's so fun. Um, but that is, it's the, my favorite way because it actually gets all of staff. 

So like, I have a custodian participating. He's like my biggest fan. He has all my stickers on his toolbox. I have a pair of participating, I have hall monitors, I have the principal, you know, 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: I love that so much, right? 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: oh my gosh. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: are people who are often left out of the puzzle. That's awesome. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Yeah, it's so fun. And like they get stickers put on their laptops, and so it's like a very, also a very visual way for people to be like, oh, I should join this. And so what it is, is it's usually six weeks and I create a Google classroom for it, and then there's an overarching theme. [00:23:00] So this year's theme was ai, and what it is, is I would basically have a point system. 

So I had five to 20 point activities. So if a teacher's like, I only have five minutes, I'm just gonna do a 5.1, but maybe today I have 20 minutes, so I'm gonna do this activity that's 20 minutes and it's really just like a low. Stake situation for them to just try things out without feeling like I'm watching or feeling like people are judging. And it's just a lot of fun. So like at the beginning we have a launch party and so they get to kind of come and do that. They play games, we do a potluck, we have a photo booth. They get a little like banner that they get to put on their window like I'm do taking the challenge. things like that. And so each week there are those different activities, and then I include like bonus activities. So one of 'em is like, do a coaching session with Emilie, right? Because we always have to market ourselves like, do you want 50 points? Come and talk to me. Who wouldn't wanna talk to me in my closet? Like, come on now. Um, and so that's. My favorite thing, and that's usually second quarter. And it's just, [00:24:00] it's just so fun. 

It's just so great. And I'm more than happy to share all the things because it is my baby and I just love everything about it. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: I 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: I was about to say, can you please, please. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: I will share all of the things because like I have templates, checklists, 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: yeah. Celine will make sure the, the social media team like uses them to promote the episode and stuff. That'll be. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: I will definitely send them your way. 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah, I was gonna use it for myself. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: I'll send, you can take it off and it, and it is, and like, it's just so interesting 'cause the first day I brought it to my principal, he is like, this is insane. I was like, don't I know it? But I am doing it. And to see where it has come, it's fun because like you have teachers who have been doing it. single year. And so they get so and they're like, join the challenge. Right? That was one of the bonus points was like, take a picture with somebody not in your department and get them to join the challenge. So we're marketing ourselves like they have to talk to people they haven't talked 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Another bonus one was like, go watch a teacher use this tool, or like, put it on the [00:25:00] bulletin board. Showcase what you're doing. is so fun and it's just, it's the best. So I will share all the 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Oh, I love that. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: third quarter, yeah, third quarter starts like testing season. So third quarter is always kind of hard 'cause it's that like everyone's tired, what are we gonna do? 

And so this year I worked with one of our administrators on creating a like a CT Bingo card, what I found with high school is like there's not really consistent data that you can use across the board because. have so many different areas. And so, um, we kind of incorporated how can you use these a CT programs that we bought? How can you do it in the autobody class? How can you do it in the music class? And so, um. The assistant principal and I coded, vibe, coded my first time. It was difficult, but we did it, uh, a little bingo card and then like they would get random, like, you found a prize. Like how exciting. And it would send them a Google form, right? 

'cause everybody loves initiatives and prizes. And so that was kind of what we did this year. then fourth quarter, I always do a digital declutter. So I know a lot of schools do that. So like, you know, Google classroom cleanup, how can you clean your pc, how can you do your [00:26:00] phone? And again, that's building wide, like all of these I try to do building wide. Um, because like Katie mentioned, like. It does matter because a lot of times, you know, this person might need help, somebody at the district level might need help. You're not just there for teachers. And so it's a really nice way to kind of help everybody in the building, especially at the high school. 

Like whenever I do things, I try to incorporate everybody the best I can to avoid just doing teachers. Um. Yeah, so next year I'm gonna, I think I'm gonna try like a build a student wide tech challenge. So more to come on that maybe. We'll see. That's a lofty goal, but I think it would be a lot of fun 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: I love that the, that you're incorporating challenges throughout the year that are so inclusive. I'm just gonna iterate it again. I feel like maybe your background as a Spanish teacher has like forced you to be so inclusive in that way, because I'm taking an assumption, but from my experience even. the, if you're not a core content teacher, even if you're still a teacher, right, but like the electives or the [00:27:00] specials, right. 

Like that's why I was fascinated when you said there's a music coach in Illinois, right? Because so often even they are left out of the pd, like foreign language. I'm sure you experienced like you were left out of a lot of the PD that was taking place and probably never the focus of it. So I feel like maybe, again, I'm kind of taking a big assumption here, but I feel like maybe that background has maybe made you a little bit more aware of. 

Like we need to include everyone here, and I think that's really cool. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Absolutely. Because you never wanna be the one feeling left out or anything like that. And that's something that is like really my passion too is, and that's why I like to work with the new teachers. 'cause I don't want you to feel left out. Like I send a slideshow to staff at the beginning of the year being like, friendly reminder, these are new faces. 

Like these are our new colleagues. Like be nice to them, like please. And they fill out a little like about me. And so our staff can be like, Hey, I saw you went to this college. Like really just creating that. Collaboration and culture from the get go to make sure that everybody is included and everybody is seen and heard, and. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: [00:28:00] That's so cool. And I, I know we're like almost at time, I've been, I like wrote it down. 'cause I wanted to ask you about if we had time. I'm curious about like if you could just kind of super quick, high level, those two weeks, I'm really interested and I think a lot of coaches could take away, what is it that you're doing with new teachers in those two weeks prior to everyone else coming back? 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Yeah. Um, so we started this when I, the second year in my role, we started a two year long kind of new teacher induction program. And so in those first two weeks we have orientation, but the rule is like the district only gets half a day. Like you don't get longer, because it's so important for the new teachers to be in the building to be workshopping. 

So I really work with them on classroom management. Here's how it looks here. They get to do workshops with their mentors. They get to go in their classroom, so I'll have 'em do classroom tours with the mentors and say, okay, how are you running your classroom? All right. We sit down in their room as a student. 

Can every student see the board? do a lot of, it's almost like a little bootcamp [00:29:00] for teaching. And even if, you know, I have a teacher this year who's taught for 20 plus years, even they are coming to the orientation to learn because it, even no matter how long you've taught, when you come to a new building, it's completely different, right? 

Passing periods are different. What does that look like? So a lot of it is very much workshop based and just kind of getting those classroom procedures and routines implemented so that when they do start the day, all they have to worry about is the students in front of them and nothing else. So it's almost like a mini bootcamp, just kind of on routines, classroom management and things like that. 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Sorry. I was like, oh my gosh, I'm muted. Look crazy. Um, one thing we do like to do at the end of our episode is like if you have a go-to tip for maybe coaches, just, I know we were talking a lot, a lot in the season, like how time times like motivation or things that we want to try to do for our teachers. 

Um, because it sometimes it gets hard, but if you have any like tips or things for coaches that are either coming into it or in their veteran seasons, what would it be? 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: I think my biggest tip [00:30:00] is like don't get lost in like the coaching jargon or, or vocabulary of coaching. I think it's really easy to feel like you're not good enough. When I first started, it was like. Coaching cycles and all of these different things and I was like, oh my gosh, I don't know what any of this is. 

And so I think no matter if you're a veteran coach or a new coach, like just work with your staff. Look what works for your building because just because it works great for one district, it's not necessarily gonna work for your staff. And it might change year to year. I started out doing coaching cycles, now I do more coaching sessions and we just kind of look at growth goals and those growth goals. 

Also incorporate data, but a lot of time it's supporting the educator and what they need at their point in their teaching career and what that looks like. So just don't, don't get hung up on like, I'm not good enough, or, I see this coach doing this. It's so hard not to compare, just remember, it's what's best similar to the students in front of you. 

It's what works best for your school and your staff in that year. And it's okay to [00:31:00] change it. 'cause change is 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yes. I love that. Yes, absolutely. Well, where can they find you? Like or do, are you on the socials? I know you said they weren't following you on the Instagram, but do you. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: I can't. So, um, I do pri I primarily, I don't use X ever, which I feel like is such a big no-no with the tech world, but I just, I couldn't handle it all. It was too many hashtags. So I am the high schooled underscore coach on Instagram. that's primarily where I post. Again, I'm trying to build, I'm trying to be better about it. 

So please don't judge, be nice. Um, but that's where, that's where you can find me. Mostly I have a TikTok. Has a profile picture and that's about it. So you know, we're trying our best here. So Instagram, the high school coach is where you can find me. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: I'm curious, Emilie, do you have, um, do you have a LinkedIn. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: I do. That is my name, but my really long name. So it is Emilie Rio Walinski. So I will send that long, long name to you, um, 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: [00:32:00] It's okay. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: because yeah, uh, it's a lot. But yes, I do have a LinkedIn as well. Um, I don't post as often, but I definitely am on there a 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Yeah, and just for our listeners, Emilie is spelled E-M-I-L-I-E. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: Yep. know, we gotta be different. gotta live it up so. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Oh, well, my real name is Caitlyn. No one knows. And I never tell anyone how it's spelled. 'cause 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: I've never known that. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: I'm convinced my mom just sounded it out on the birth certificate because it's, it's not spelled like any other Kailyn. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: But it's, it's unique, 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Oh, yes. 

emilie-rio_1_04-03-2026_090510: just roll with it. 

katie_1_04-03-2026_100510: Uh. 

studio_1_04-03-2026_100510: I love it. Well, thank you so much for joining us today, and thank you to our listeners for tapping in with the EDU Coach Collective and thank you Emilie again for joining us today, and we are so excited for you all to enjoy this episode and we'll see you in the next one. 

That's a wrap on another incredible conversation. 

Thank you for being a part of the EDU Coach Collective today. If you found value in this episode, the best thing you can do is share it with another educator or [00:33:00] leader who needs to hear it. Absolutely. You can also connect with us on social media. Just look for the EDU coach. Network and let us know your biggest takeaway or what topics you want us to unpack Next 

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