How Can I Help Teachers Build Community in the Classroom?

Written by Diane Sweeney, Leanna Harris, and Julie SteeleFrom: Moves for Launching a New Year of Student-Centered Coaching (Corwin, 2022) There is so much to do in the first few weeks of school. Teachers will be reconnecting with their students, setting up classrooms, and many will be learning about new curriculum and programs. While we … Read more

Three Strategies for Helping New Teachers Develop Successful Lessons

Written by: Dr. Amanda Brueggeman Author of: Student-Centered Mentoring (Corwin, 2022) What is a successful lesson? Visualize a lesson. The timing was perfect and the delivery of content was exact. For new teachers, this is a common perspective of a perfect lesson. A different perspective is that the lesson went in different directions than was … Read more

Celebrating Coaching Cycles

Ending a coaching cycle means it’s time to celebrate all of the learning that has occurred. Acknowledging the hard work and results of what took place reinforces the coaching relationship and provides energy for teachers to feel seen and valued. In her book, Collective Efficacy, Jenni Donohoo writes, “Celebrations help highlight the power of working … Read more

Increasing Teacher Engagement in Coaching

Whether it’s the beginning of the school year, or somewhere in the middle, engaging teachers in coaching is an ongoing process that requires intentionality and perseverance. In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins uses the term the ‘Flywheel Effect’ to describe how organizations get and maintain momentum. He writes, “No matter how dramatic the … Read more

Four Options for Student-Centered Coaching: Coaching Cycles, Mini Cycles, Co-Planning Units, and Co-Planning Lessons

Feeling effective as an instructional coach depends on having systems that work. Any coach will tell you that one of the things Covid affected the most were those very systems. Many coaches felt like they were set adrift as classrooms became empty, teaching moved online, and many teachers were overwhelmed. We realized pretty quickly that … Read more

Who Goes First? Where to Begin with Coaching Cycles

As instructional coaches get their year started, many wonder which teachers should be first in line for coaching cycles. On the surface, this seems like a relatively easy question to answer. We’ve heard everything from, “We start with our new teachers.” To, “Teachers participate on an invitational basis.” And even, “Our coaches focus on teachers … Read more

Student-Centered Coaching Cycles

Effective professional development requires continuous support that can best be delivered by a school-based coach. By now many of us are familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s supposition from the book Outliers about how much time it takes to become good at something. He writes, “The idea that excellence at performing a complex task requires a critical … Read more

Building Confidence Through Co-Planning and Visualization

From time to time, we all suffer from a lack of confidence, and when we lack confidence it is a whole lot harder to reach our goals. Research from a study conducted by the University of Utah found that, “Performance affects confidence and confidence affects performance. A change in either will elicit a change in … Read more