How well do you need to know a teacher to coach them well? I found myself pondering that question after reading Randi Brown’s Edutopia article on supporting teacher growth through trusting relationships. Brown describes two threads that exist in a coaching conversation. One is visible—the lesson plan, instructional strategies, student engagement, assessment results, and 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 […]

    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 […]

“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.” Whether or not Dewey wrote those exact words in that exact form is debated, but the concept runs throughout his work. Experience alone does not guarantee learning. Reflection turns experience into learning. Inquiry begins when we encounter uncertainty. This diagram from the Great […]

Multipliers, as Liz Wiseman identified (“Multipliers – How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter”) don’t simply recognize talent—they help it grow and spread. Perhaps that’s one of the most important roles of an instructional coach. Rather than identifying what teachers are missing, coaches are on the prowl for the capabilities that are already emerging. Noticing […]

During a recent podcast conversation with Mitch Weisburgh, the author of “Mindshifting: Stop Your Brain from Sabotaging Your Happiness and Success,”, I found myself connecting his ideas to a challenge instructional coaches and school leaders frequently encounter. At times, teachers come to a coach asking, “What can I do?” while simultaneously believing there is little […]