Written by Diane Sweeney and Leanna Harris Originally posted in the fall of 2015, this three-part blog series has been revised and updated. Getting to 60% (PART I of III) During a session with a partner district, Diane asked a team of K-12 coaches and principals to jot down the percentage of time that they …
Written by: Diane Sweeney, co-author of Student-Centered Coaching: The Moves (Corwin, 2016) After a recent presentation at a coaching conference, a young man pulled me aside and said, “This coaching stuff is harder than I expected. I’m thinking about going back to the classroom.” It felt like a confession, and I wasn’t sure what to …
Written by: Diane Sweeney, co-author of Student-Centered Coaching: The Moves (Corwin, 2016) One of our favorite coaching moves is to sort student work with teachers because it is a productive way to help us see – and act upon – the different needs of students. It’s a process that is used throughout the coaching cycle. …
Written by: Diane Sweeney and Leanna Harris, authors of Student-Centered Coaching: The Moves (Corwin, 2016) Coaches often wonder how to measure their impact. We all know that we can’t base our success off of whether or not teachers sign up for coaching cycles, smile at us, or talk to us in the teacher’s lounge. We …
In the post, Good Coaching Got Me Up a Mountain, I shared the story of how good coaching helped me conquer obstacles on my mountain bike. It was a great reminder of the power coaching. When I wrote that post, the trails were soft and I was in peak riding shape. Since then, the leaves …
At a recent PD session, an instructional coach raised her hand and asked an innocent enough question. We had been talking about the importance of principals and coaches discussing how their coaching cycles were impacting student and teacher learning. She asked, “I’m confused. Aren’t our coaching cycles supposed to be kept confidential?” She went on …
This post was updated and revised in December 2019 – please go here to read: https://dianesweeney.com/coaching-cycles-getting-to-60-percent/ Getting to 60% (PART III OF III) In this blog series, we have addressed the importance of coaching cycles as a method to increase our impact on student and teacher learning. We also surfaced common barriers to getting traction …
This post was updated and revised in December 2019 – please go here to read: https://dianesweeney.com/coaching-cycles-getting-to-60-percent/ Coaching cycles are our best chance for creating authentic partnerships that increase student outcomes. In a coaching cycle, the teacher and coach are both in the mix, reflecting on their decision-making, problem solving, and figuring out how to adjust …