Have you ever had this happen?
Coach: Thanks for meeting before our coaching observation. What would you like me to focus on when I come into your classroom?
Teacher: Honestly, I don’t really have anything specific. You can just come in and watch.
Coach: Okay… sometimes teachers ask me to look at student engagement, questioning, or how transitions are going. Is there something in your teaching that you’ve been curious about lately?
Teacher: Not really. Things are going pretty smoothly. I’m fine with you just getting a sense of the class overall.
Coach: Got it. Sometimes even choosing a small area gives us a way to reflect together. For example, I could watch how students respond when you give directions or at different spots in the lesson.
Teacher: No, that’s fine. I’d rather you just come in and take a look at whatever you notice.
Coach: All right then. I’ll come in tomorrow and just observe the whole lesson.
Eric Crabtree, Elementary Principal at American Cooperative School of La Paz, just provided me with the perfect description of what happens if you proceed with the observation and post-conference following such a pre-conference conversation. Its stepping into quicksand! As soon as Eric mentioned that description, I told him I would be sharing it. During the observation after such a conversation, I can imagine a sinking feeling setting in and a panic feeling beginning as a post conference proceeds. I imagine quicksand feels the same.
A lack of focus for an observation often leads to negative outcomes.
- Misaligned expectations: The coach and teacher may end up zeroing in on mismatched priorities.
- Eroded trust: Without clarity, the teacher may feel misunderstood and unsupported. The coach’s feedback can be interpreted as evaluative since the coach chose what to focus on.
- Lost learning opportunities: Coaching becomes less impactful if it’s not tied to agreed-upon objectives.
- Wasted time: Observations and feedback that lack purpose, become diffuse and not actionable.
- Fragmented coaching: Without clear goals, it’s hard to follow up meaningfully or build momentum.
For me, pre-conferencing is the most critical element to having effective coaching, yet strangely enough, it’s often the component that people who are pressed for time most commonly end up shortchanging or even skipping. When I’m designing a training program for coaches, I put the greatest amount of time into understanding and practicing effective pre-conferences. If my pre-conferences lead to increased understanding of the teacher’s agenda (the thinking behind the teaching/learning design and desired impact) I can observe through the teacher’s eyes as well as my own. If the pre-conference identifies clearly what the teacher is seeking as a focus, I know exactly what to do and record during my observation. I am clear on the feedback the teacher is looking for when I walk into the post-conference. When evaluators come into the classroom, they actually have to avoid getting a focus because if they get a focus it throws off the accuracy of their evaluation. Evaluators need to pay attention to everything. When the coach comes into the classroom, they’re going to disregard the majority of what’s going on, and zero in on that on that small focus piece. I build my trust as a coach by delivering through the observation and the post-conference what we had agreed to in the pre-conference.
Here is an example of a coach assisting the teacher who states that they do not have a focus.
Coach: Thanks for meeting before our coaching observation. What would you like me to focus on when I come into your classroom?
Teacher: Honestly, I don’t really have anything specific. You can just come in and watch.
Coach: During the lesson I am observing, what’s the most important thing you need the students to do?
Teacher: Well, they are going to be working in triads to solve a few math problems that are different from, yet connected, to concepts we’ve been working on. When they discover that they initially, don’t know what to do, I need them to do some analyzing, trying out ideas, and persevering beyond the first “that didn’t work.”
Coach: That sounds great, and I am guessing, challenging, especially from some students.
Teacher: Some students do a very quick, “ I don’t know how to do this.” and shut down. That can lead to wasted time. Mostly they stay on task. Some groups do better than others.
Coach: What are the important things that you imagine yourself doing during the time that the triads are working?
Teacher: I’ll be moving around the groups and encouraging them to keep persevering and trying a different approach.
Coach: What might that encouragement sound like?
Teacher: Maybe giving positive feedback for a strategy that didn’t work. Maybe giving a clue for something to consider or try. I might be able to send a student from one group that successfully solved the problem to be a coach to another group.
Coach: Great options. As I observe all that interaction among students in triads and you with the triads, I am wondering if there’s some focus I might observe and record for your reflection afterwards.
Teacher: I would be interested in knowing what happens in a triad after I have spent some time interacting with them.
Coach: That is interesting. What if I made a map of where the groups are located and as often as I can, record on the map what you said when you stopped by and then observe a few moments after you move on to another group? I’d catch as many sequences as I can. Might that information be interesting for your reflection.
Teacher: Yeah, it would. You’ll see and hear things I don’t as I am busy with the next group.
Coach: I am looking forward to observing and hearing your reflections.
With gentle persistence and targeted questioning, the coach can generate teacher reflection on the planned learning activity and move from vague reluctance to a specific, actionable focus. Such a pre-conference often increases the teachers awareness during the lesson which adds to greater reflection and learning in the post conference.
