If I believe the person sitting across from me is a professional, my coaching job can’t simply be to get that person to do what I’ve decided is best. I need to engage their thinking which means deep listening on my part. Treating someone as a professional isn’t simply something we say. Teachers experience whether […]

  One of the shifts I have long encouraged teachers to make—especially in their PLCs—is to consider how much of their attention is focused on teaching and how much is focused on student learning. That’s not because teaching isn’t important. Teachers need strong instructional skills, thoughtful planning, engaging strategies, and deep content knowledge. But teaching […]

The author of, “Not One More Teacher Lost,” Brad Gaynor, explores the powerful idea that improving education is not only about developing better teachers and leaders, but also about creating the conditions in which they can continue to do their best work. What happens when systems confuse accountability with documentation, support with compliance, and improvement […]

What if the statements we label as resistance are actually invitations to get curious? As a school leader or instructional coach, have you ever heard a statement like this: “But we have always done it that way”? In a SmartBrief blog, Julie Winkle Giulioni describes that as a phrase leaders cringe at hearing. I have […]

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 […]