A meeting to establish a teacher’s professional growth plan goal can either be a perfunctory activity to be checked of the “to do list” or the start of a year-long do — reflect — apply cycle that generates professional learning. Ask these questions at the end of the planning meeting: Does the teacher own the […]

Instructional coaches are often valued for their experience, instructional knowledge, and ability to support teacher growth. Yet one of the most important qualities a coach can bring to a coaching conversation is intellectual humility. Researchers define intellectual humility as recognizing that our beliefs, interpretations, and conclusions may be incomplete or even mistaken. It is the […]

Kelly Hastings, founder of Enlightening Leadership and author of Leading Change That Lasts shares thoughts on school leaders planning backwards from desired student outcomes to leadership actions. How do leaders involve and empower teachers in the process? What role does evidence of progress, with cautions around “fidelity,” play in supporting an implementation. Visit the Enlightening […]

    Last year, a school made personalized, student-centered learning a major focus of professional learning. Through workshops, staff meetings, PLCs, and coaching conversations, teachers explored how to: increase student voice and choice tailor instruction to learners’ strengths, needs, and interests create more collaborative and authentic learning experiences support students in setting goals and reflecting […]

Schools aren’t experienced through mission statements or curriculum guides. They’re experienced one interaction at a time. What are students experiencing? What are teachers experiencing? How do we know? Coaches can help teachers and leaders gather evidence about experiences that often go unnoticed because they have become routine – or even unconscious. Watch Marcela Andreas Diaz […]

Becca Silver invited me to preview and write the forward to her new book, The Resistance Solution: Why Educators Resist Change and What They Need Instead. I thought I’d share that forward to introduce her work to you. Becca reinforced and extended my thinking about hearing and responding to resistance in coaching and school change. […]