Friday, October 17, 2025

Seven “Be’s” for Effective Coaching Recommendations

Will your suggestion stick or slide away? The 7 “Be’s” for recommending make them stickier!

As coaches using the GIR model, we recognize that making a recommendation is sometimes the right coaching move. To stay on track, I like to remind myself of 7 “Be’s”—practices that make feedback both meaningful and well received.
 
Be timely. The closer to the observed event, the better. Teachers are prepared for and expecting feedback soon after sharing a lesson plan or being observed. They’re more likely to be primed for and open to ideas. It takes no more time to respond sooner rather than later. Remind yourself of that as you prioritize your busy schedule.
 
Be discrete. If your intended feedback might be perceived as criticism, be sure to find an opportunity to speak with the teacher individually. Praising publicly and recommending privately builds trust.
 
Be collegial. Invite partnership by sitting side-by-side. Give consideration to body language: Nod. Make eye contact (when making positive or neutral remarks). Have positive assumptions and aim for collaboration.
 
Be clear. Describe what it is you think could happen in concrete, actionable terms. What will it look like when the suggestion has been implemented? It’s helpful to target something that can make a short-term, noticeable difference.
 
Be specific. When your feedback is specific, there is less room for confusion and more likelihood of acceptance. Be clear and accurate. Don’t exaggerate to make a point. Avoid superlatives like “never,” “all,” and “always.”
 
Be concise. Connected with being specific is the need to be concise. If you keep talking after making a recommendation, it’s likely that the recommendation will not linger. Additionally, it helps to limit your focus, prioritizing one area for improvement.
 
Be prepared. It’s the Boy Scout motto, and it holds true here. Recommendations will bounce like rubber balls off the blacktop unless you’re prepared. After an observation, schedule time for your own reflection so that you can consider recommendations that could be included in a follow-up conversation, if needed. If you are responding to lesson plans, use the “touch it once” rule. Unless it’s a tough situation that you need to ponder, jotting down notes as you initially review the plan is an efficient way to offer feedback. Even with a busy schedule, we can be prepared to give effective feedback.
Keep these “Be’s” in mind when offering feedback. Chances are, your message will land more smoothly and be more likely to support growth.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
You can’t do better than your best:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufg-HMEzUwE&feature=emb_logo
 
 
Writing 100-word stories to grow voice:
 
https://www.middleweb.com/52541/the-power-of-short-form-to-grow-student-voice/
 
 
Using narrative video games to enhance reading skills:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/integrating-video-games-literature-lessons/
 
 
Helping students build metacognitive skills:
 
https://www.k12dive.com/news/students-benefit-metacognitive-skills/759772/
 
 
6 benefits of play:
 
https://thegeniusofplay.org/tgop/benefits/genius/benefits-of-play/benefits-of-play-home.aspx
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
Want more coaching tips? Check out my book, Differentxiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner, available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: FDNF25 for 15% off. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!



Friday, October 10, 2025

Let the Conversation Do the Work

Instructional coaches make recommendations to share insights, offer options, and help teachers think through next steps in their instruction. One way to increase uptake of coaching recommendations is to make the recommendation part of a dialogue in an extended conversation. The recommendation is not the first sentence in the conversation or the last. Offering time for teacher reflection gets us off to a good start, giving the teacher control of the conversation early on. When it’s my turn to talk, I can lead with positive comments, offer a suggestion, and follow up by asking the teacher’s thoughts about the idea,
 
That’s what happened in my conversation with Ariana, an early-career teacher who walked into my room full of frustration about how the day had gone. After she vented for a moment, I asked her to tell me about some things that had gone well. That question gave her pause, but then she shared a few celebrations, which seemed to steady her a bit. She took a breath. Then she circled back to her initial concern:
 
“It was still so frustrating that kids weren’t paying attention during the game!” she said.
 
“Why do you think that happened?” I asked.
 
“I’m not sure,” she said, and paused thoughtfully. “Maybe they didn’t understand the procedures. I just shouldn’t have tried that game so early in the year, before procedures were in place.
 
I didn’t want her to give up on the game so easily! I said, “I’ve noticed that when teachers are clear in giving directions, students are more engaged.”
 
“Yes, I definitely could have been more clear with the directions,” she answered.
 
“Modeling could help,” I suggested, and added, “I noticed when you were clear in describing the purpose at the beginning of the lesson, students seemed very focused. I wonder if they didn’t see how the game connected to that purpose?
 
Ariana sat up straight and seemed reenergized. “Yes,” she said, “that makes sense.”      
 
“So, being clear with directions and tying each part of the lesson back to the purpose might help,” I said.
 
“Yes! I can do that!” she confidently responded. We then talked about what that might look and sound like in an upcoming lesson. When I’m careful not to dominate the dialogue, an exchange of ideas solidifies the recommendation.
 
The ongoing conversation that comes after a recommendation allows for meaning-making and encourages ownership of ideas. After making a recommendation (or offering a couple of recommendations as options), we can let the thoughts simmer for a few long seconds. Then we can find out how the recommendation is sitting by giving the teacher a chance to respond, asking the teacher to give her perspective. With a thoughtful look and openness in my voice, I’ll often ask, “What are you thinking about how those ideas might work with your kids?”
 
What the teacher says is ultimately more important than what I might say as a coach, so I’m prepared to prompt, encourage, and listen. Making suggestions as part of a collegial conversation with back-and-forth dialogue increases the likelihood that recommendations will be used. When we make space for teachers to process and respond to recommendations, they can take the lead in their learning.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

My podcast that launched this week! (You can also find it in your favorite podcasting app):
 
https://mycoachescouch.podbean.com/
 
How to keep going:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/keep-going/
 
 
Using narrative video games to enhance reading skills:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/integrating-video-games-literature-lessons/
 
 
How acting boosts learning:
 
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-acting-out-in-school-boosts-learning/
 
 
A podcast about substantive conversation in the classroom:
 
http://www.idra.org/images/stories/CN-130.mp3
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
Want more coaching tips? Check out my book, Differentxiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner, available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: FDNF25 for 15% off. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!


Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Sneak Preview: My New Podcast!

You're the first to know....I've been hoping to create a podcast for over 5 years, and it's finally here! You can find Episode 1 of My Coaches Couch, the Podcast here:
 
https://mycoachescouch.podbean.com/
 
It will soon be available in your favorite podcasting app. But for now, you get a sneak preview here. I hope you'll enjoy the podcast - I made it just for you!
 
Don't worry, I'll continue the 13-year tradition of posting weekly to My Coaches Couch, the Blog, with different content. 
 
Happy listening!




 

Friday, October 3, 2025

Effective Coaching Recommendations

This week I had the chance to chat with a room full of experienced coaches, and we talked about the characteristics of effective recommendations. After we each thought of a time when we either made a recommendation or when someone made an effective recommendation to us, we silently pondered, “What made the recommendation effective?” Then we whipped around the room with each person quickly sharing a phrase that described why the recommendation worked.
 
Maybe you want to pause for a moment, remember a recommendation, and consider the same question, “What made it effective?”
 
Characteristics of Effective Recommendations
 
I wish I had a recording of the wisdom that was shared in that room full of coaches!  Here are a few of the comments I remember: “I trusted them,” “I felt heard,” “It came when I needed it.” “It felt true.” “It was clear.” “It was specific.” “I included an example.” “I gave choices.” “It was student-focused.”
 
Although making a recommendation isn’t always the best coaching choice (even when one is asked for!), there are times when a recommendation is just the right touch. This is especially true when a teacher is feeling overwhelmed or frustrated, or when they just don’t have the knowledge or experience to solve the problem. A novice teacher said, “I need help! They can ask me questions all day long, but I only have so much knowledge.”
 
If making a recommendation feels like a good choice, keep in mind the characteristics described above (and the one you thought of!) about what makes a recommendation effective.
 
Recommendations in Action
 
When Callie was working with a teacher as she planned an upcoming lesson, she felt the lesson would be more successful if the teacher showed students examples of what their final products might look like. She decided that having a few student samples to show the teacher would make this recommendation concrete. Making recommendations concrete ensures that our idea will mean the same thing to the teacher that it does to us.
 
Marjorie felt that the teacher she was coaching should tie her assessment more closely to the objectives she had determined for a lesson. She felt an explanation of why this was important would make the recommendation more meaningful. Discussing the rationale increased the effectiveness of Monica’s recommendation by employing higher-level thinking. As she engaged the teacher in dialogue, the purpose became clear. And engaging in higher-level thinking about an idea makes it more memorable. Providing a rationale for recommendations makes the suggestions more appealing and more likely to be remembered and used.
 
By being concrete and providing rationale for their recommendations, these coaches improved the chances that their recommendations would stick.
 
Making Recommendations “Sticky”
 
Chip and Dan Heath, in their book Made to Stick explain why the characteristics described above make recommendations “sticky.” The Heaths remind us that ideas are most likely to endure when they help people notice and understand. This week, my coaching friends uncovered some of those characteristics. In your upcoming coaching conversations, if recommendations are warranted, think about how these characteristics can make those recommendations stick.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:
Collaboration and teacher/teacher observation boosts learning:
 
http://tn.chalkbeat.org/2015/01/28/from-shanghai-to-collierville-collaboration-model-boosts-teacher-performance/
 
 
Using a podcast to spark students’ personal narrative writing:
 
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/65612/finding-your-voice-isnt-just-for-students-its-for-teachers-too
 
 
Using kilo -- the traditional Hawaiian practice of intentional observation -- to boost focus, writing skills and environmental awareness:
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/kilo-learning-from-a-living-textbook
 
 
Kicking off independent reading (it’s not too late):
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/establishing-independent-reading-is-like-planting-seeds/
 
 
How movement and exercise support learning:
 
https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/53681/how-movement-and-exercise-help-kids-learn
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
Want more coaching tips? Check out my book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner, available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: FDNF25 for 15% off. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!