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 […]

Teachers know that curiosity fuels learning. We intentionally design lessons that spark students’ questions. We celebrate inquiry, encourage exploration, and recognize that students often learn more deeply when they wrestle with uncertainty rather than simply receive answers. A classroom where students wonder, question, and investigate is a classroom alive with learning. Yet somewhere between the […]

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 […]

    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 […]

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. […]