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!
 
 
 
 

 

Video As a Coaching Model

When coaches model, they demonstrate techniques and instructional practices to scaffold implementation. Modeling, the most supportive coaching move in the GIR model, is recognized by teachers, researchers, and professional organizations as a valuable practice.
 
Observing professional practice can sharpen teachers’ attention to student learning and broaden their instructional repertoire. Modeling is a powerful, differentiated coaching activity, usually focused on working with individual teachers to address their specific needs and goals. In addition to demonstrating potential practices, modeling provides content for teacher-coach conversations and can generate other coaching activities. Modeling can also build teachers’ confidence and efficacy. Research demonstrates that coaches’ modeling can improve student achievement (Elish-Piper & L’Allier, 2011; Firestone, 2003; Shidler, 2009).

If it’s not possible for you to model in the classroom, or if that doesn’t seem like the best solution, a video could serve the purpose instead. You might have a video of yourself that demonstrates the strategy in another setting. Clips from video recordings purchased from publishers or professional organizations may also be useful. Or you could find a clip from YouTube or another online source. Better yet, you could spotlight the instruction of another teacher in your building.
 
Model by Spotlighting Other Teachers
 
You can start your own video collection for this purpose. Whenever you see something good going on, ask, “Would you mind if I capture that?” then whip out your phone or other friendly device and record away. Not only will you have meaningful examples to share, you will have built good will in the building. Just be sure you don’t create “coach’s pets.” Every teacher has an idea worth capturing!
 
Another bonus of home-grown videos is the authenticity factor; when teachers see something happening in their own school with their own student population, they are less likely to discount the idea as something that wouldn’t work for them. As with “live” modeling, recordings need not be perfect examples; learning occurs through reflecting on both successes and less-successful aspects of lessons. Just be sure to keep the focus positive, especially when using clips from colleagues’ classrooms.
 
Using Video in Coaching Conversations
 
When video recordings are provided as instructional models, you might choose to view and discuss clips during a planning or debriefing session. This allows for on-the-spot dialogue about how to adjust and put the ideas into practice. Pushing pause as the video plays lets you draw attention to nuances that might otherwise be missed. Sometimes, though, sending the video in advance is the best solution, especially when your time with a teacher is short. You can then use your valuable time together to tweak and transform the strategy to meet the needs of her learners. If you don’t have any face time at all, you can share a link as part of an online coaching conversation.
 
Teachers can have “unlimited, on-demand access” to videos demonstrating effective instruction and could watch a video on their own schedule and again and again, as often as needed. Re-viewing a video again after a teacher has tried the practice can support self-adjustment.
 
Video-based modeling can be either collaborative (viewed with a group) or more targeted and individualized. Although lacking the immediacy and full-bodied experience of classroom modeling, videos can be accessed any time and many times. Video recordings provide an instructional model that allows the teacher to see practices in action.
 

This week, you might want to take a look at:
Overcoming the “drama triangle” when working with teams:
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/recognizing-and-overcoming-the-drama-triangle
 
 
How to feel more joy and help others do the same:
 
https://www.ted.com/talks/ingrid_fetell_lee_where_joy_hides_and_how_to_find_it/
 
 
Creating effective sentence frames to support emergent bilingual students:
 
https://www.middleweb.com/52443/strong-sentence-frames-to-support-your-ells/
 
 
Moving coaching relationships from social to professional:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/failure-to-norm/
 
 
This video about grouping to increase eye contact and learning:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/video/what-social-brain
 
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!

Volley and Return: Ask a Follow-Up Question

An instructional coach is a listener and learner first. She meets with a teacher to listen to and learn about her concerns, strengths, and needs. Listening builds connections and fosters respect, trust, and safety. As coaches attentively listen, teachers realize that their ideas and opinions are truly of interest.
 
To start a conversation that offers opportunities for listening, ask an open-ended question.  Asking “What’s on your mind?” can quickly move a conversation to what’s exciting, anxiety-provoking, or all-consuming for the teacher. It’s a question that says, “Let’s talk about what matters most to you!” Similarly, asking, “What are you wondering about?” or “What is missing for you right now?” invites teachers to get to the heart of what they care about and gives them the power to choose the coaching path ahead. It signals an open agenda rather than a pre-set coaching script.
 
After asking the opening question, practice deep listening. Give your whole presence. Be attentive. Listen to make sense of the words that are being said. Be keenly interested in understanding the teacher’s reality. Listening to a teacher’s complete response creates room for their ideas and values their viewpoint.
 
The next step is key: Ask a follow-up question. The follow-up question is your chance to demonstrate that you were truly listening. This question should be more specific and clearly connected to what the teacher has said. I can’t give you a script for that, because it completely depends on what has been expressed by the teacher. Your intunement gives you the content. Your response shows you were fully engaged.
 As you listen to understand the teacher’s perspective, feelings, and goals, you can pose questions that support the teacher’s self-directed learning. Rather than assuming we know what the teacher needs, we ask and listen. Responsive coaches are those who pay attention. When we pay attention, the teacher feels attended to. She knows her comments matter.
 
The initial question and the follow-up help you understand and help the teacher feel understood. Additional questions can lead to analysis as the teacher tests her ideas. We receive the information and return it in ways that prompt reflection.
 
In the “serve and volley” of conversation, linking the volley to the serve is what’s important. When we take up a comment by echoing or extending it, we strengthen the coherence and depth of the conversation, building capacity for analysis and change.
 
Starting with a question is important because it demonstrates openness. But the real power comes when a follow-up question is responsive. After that, coaching questions can become more and more focused, pointing toward improvement. Every question opens an opportunity for response, and every response creates space for deeper understanding.
 

This week, you might want to take a look at:
Coaching new teachers:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/free-videos/
 
 
Supporting student “voice” – the oral communication kind:
 
https://ccira.blog/2025/07/29/true-student-voice-helping-students-be-better-speakers/
 
 
Adjusting levels of support for middle schoolers:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/supporting-middle-school-students-zone-proximal-development
 
 
“Where I’m From” links literacy & community:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/linking-literacy-and-community-at-the-start-of-the-year/
 
 
Keys to productive struggle:
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2019/09/productive-struggle-elementary-mathematics
 
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!

10 Things Instructional Coaches Should Know and Do

Recently, as I was filming a training about instructional coaching, I overhead one of the production crew members say, “If they’d had something like this, I probably would have stayed in the classroom.”
 
Instructional coaching is a powerful support for teachers – one that can keep them growing, thriving, and staying in the profession. In these times of high teacher burnout and turnover, this is an important coaching outcome. It’s not the creation of a coaching position, though, that makes the difference. It’s what those coaches know and do . Below are 5 things coaches should know and 5 things to do to increase impact.
 
What Coaches Should Know
 
Coaches’ knowledge makes a difference. The following ideas can guide your work:
1) Pedagogy: It will come as no surprise that research says coaches are most effective when they have pedagogical knowledge – knowledge about teaching and how students learn. Even though instructional coaches might coach teachers across disciplines, it’s also helpful to have pedagogical content knowledge – knowledge of subject-specific teaching strategies.
 
The teachers you are working with need to feel that you are credible and that you believe they are, too. Credibility comes from knowing that you are drawing from your own experience and from your knowledge in the field. Teachers need to know they can trust any suggestions you might offer.
 
2) Adult Learning: In addition to knowing how students learn, coaches should understand how adults learn. Andragogy (principles of adult learning) reminds us that adults learn best when they are self-directed, their experience is acknowledged, and they understand and buy into the goal.
 
Adults benefit from having choices and autonomy. They like to take responsibility for their own learning. Adult learners are often practical and problem-centered. And, of course, they want to be shown respect. Adults expect to be treated as capable and reliable individuals. They want a collaborative learning environment where their input and opinions are valued.
 
3) Change & Implementation: Coaches need to understand how teachers change their practice – incrementally, over time, and through modeling, feedback, reflection, and affirmation. Substantive change is not sudden. Just like with student achievement, there are no quick fixes – just hard work. Change is a process.
 
Coaches should also know some common barriers to change: too many expectations, shifting priorities, time constraints, caustic culture, and conflicting teaching philosophies, for example.  
 
4) Data Literacy: Not only do coaches need to know how to analyze both formal assessments and classroom observation data, they need to be able to explain it and guide teachers in how to use data to inform instruction.
 
Coaches support teachers as they dig into data, identify problems, determine root causes, and narrow the focus, As we move from data to decision, coaches  help teachers make a plan that matters.
 
5) School and District Systems: Coaches need to know how the work they are doing fits in with larger systems in their school and district. Understanding the big picture helps coaches identify elements of shared vision that they can support. It helps when coaches and principals are on the same page.
 
Coaches can avoid being seen as “one more initiative,” when their work aligns with school and district priorities. Teachers then view coaching as a support for meeting these expectations. You can be on their team.
 
What Coaches Should Do
 
It’s hard to limit this list to 5, but below I’ve prioritized some important, research-supported actions for coaches to incorporate into their practice.
 
1) Build Trusting Relationships: There’s no doubt about it – positive coaching outcomes are built on foundations of trust. Teachers are more open to feedback and more willing to take risks when they feel seen and safe.
 
Trust is built through active listening, expressing empathy, maintaining confidentiality, and acknowledging teachers’ strengths. By honoring agreements, showing up as expected, and being consistent, coaches sustain trusting relationships.
 
2) Offer Practice-Based Support: Coaching is more than just talking. Effective coaching includes modeling, observing, offering feedback, making recommendations, and supporting reflection.
 
No matter which coaching moves are used to offer practice-based support, make clear connections to student learning. Seeing how changes affect student engagement and outcomes creates buy-in.
 
3) Balance Support and Challenge: Effective coaches affirm teachers’ strengths and nudge them toward growth. Including specific evidence as part of an affirmation makes it authentic, meaningful, and more likely to encourage repeat performances of the effective practice.
 
Similarly, when recommendations are specific, they are more likely to be remembered and applied. Open-ended questions that spark reflection can also spur growth. Another way that coaches propel growth is by checking back with teachers about goals they have set for themselves.  
 
4) Foster Collaboration: In the GIR model, coaching build collaborative, interdependent relationships. Through collaboration, both coach and teacher offer valuable perspectives, sparking ideas that wouldn’t be created otherwise. The insight and power that we gain from working together is one of the enduring assets of successful coaching.
 
Coaches can also create structures for peer collaboration. Coaching grade-level teams or disciplinary departments extends impact by creating networks of support and accountability. Coaches can also create structures for peer observation so that teachers recognize and build on each other’s successes.
 
5) Differentiate: My coaching book is called Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching for a reason – teachers are not all the same, and they don’t grow at the same pace, just like our students.
 
Differentiated coaching means recognizing teachers’ place, pace, and progress, and then varying the coaching moves you use as those you work with gain experience and expertise. By selectively choosing whether to model, recommend, ask questions, affirm, or praise – based on teachers’ needs – you effectively differentiate the support provided.
 
Coaching as Knowing and Doing
 
Recent research on instructional coaching suggests clear patterns for what makes coaching most effective. When coaches focus on the practices that matter, they have a positive impact on both teachers and students. The 5 things to know and 5 things to do, described above, make a difference. Instructional coaching helps teachers strengthen their practice and sustain their energy for teaching.
 

This week, you might want to take a look at:
Pairing teachers to support professional growth:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLBVJfQHQoQ
 
 
Helping students satisfy their esteem needs in healthy ways:
 
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/maslow-esteem/
 
 
Why teachers should be asking more questions in their classroom:
 
https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/always-on-inquiry-asking-more-questions-classroom/
 
 
Relationship-driven strategies for responding to challenging behaviors:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/relationship-driven-strategy-addressing-challenging-behavior
 
 
Book-choosing strategies for middle schoolers:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/dont-judge-a-book-by-its-cover-teaching-book-choice-strategies-to-middle-schoolers/
 
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!

Letters to the Coach: Gathering Teacher Voices

As the beginning-of-year bumps begin to smooth out and the dust settles, it’s worth creating a moment of quiet reflection. One simple way to do that is by inviting teachers to write letters—letters addressed to you, the coach. Can you ask to carve out a few minutes as teachers settle in for an upcoming faculty meeting? Your work throughout the year will be more purposeful and effective if teachers pause now to give you some insight about their own priorities.
 
Why Letters Matter
These letters aren’t just a feel-good activity. They provide authentic insight into teachers’ priorities, beliefs, and curiosities. When you know what matters most to the people you work alongside, you’ll be able to focus your coaching in ways that are more purposeful and supportive throughout the year
 
The letters can give you authentic insight into what teachers hope to accomplish this year. That kind of perspective will make your coaching work more intentional and relevant.
 
Setting the Stage
To make this activity meaningful, build it into a meeting rather than assigning it as “homework.” A few minutes of protected time ensures that everyone has space to think and write. Create a pause.

·        Hand out notecards or stationery.

·        Play soft background music.

·        Pass around a few extra pens (just in case).

The goal is to signal that this is not just another task, but an opportunity for reflection.

Prompts to Get Started

Teachers may not know what to write at first, so prompts can help guide their thinking. Here are some you might try:

·        What’s one thing that worked so well last year that you want to do it again?

·        What do you believe about your students? What else do you believe about them?

·        What do you believe about teaching? What else do you believe about teaching?

·        Is there a teaching practice you’re wondering about?

·        Was there something you emphasized too much last year?

·        Is there something you’d like to approach differently this year?

·        When your students look back on this school year, what do you hope they’ll remember?

You can use these prompts as written or come up with your own. Your want to spark reflection, not to collect polished essays. The important thing is that you give teachers time to pause so that they can give you a glimpse of their hopes and dreams.
 
The Gift of Time
It’s tempting to ask teachers to email you their thoughts later or to drop them in your mailbox. but teachers have so many priorities this time of year that they’ll need the think time to get these ideas worked out. The goal is not just the writing—it’s the pause. Teachers rarely get built-in moments for quiet reflection in the midst of busy school days, and providing this time can be a gift.
 
At the start of the year, competing demands are endless, and even the most well-intentioned task can slip through the cracks. By carving out time during the meeting, you ensure that every teacher has the chance to pause and reflect in the moment.
 
A Treasury of Insight
Once you collect the letters, you’ll have more than just pieces of paper—you’ll have a collection of teacher voices – their hopes, their priorities, their curiosities. As you read through them, patterns will emerge, helping you know where to focus your energy as you work with teachers this year.
 
In the rush of back-to-school, a few quiet minutes for reflection can create a foundation for purposeful coaching all year long. That treasury of insights can guide your coaching focus and help you support teachers in ways that align with their dreams for the year ahead.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Some musical inspiration about the power of letters:  J
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQaUs5J2wdI
 
 
The importance of choice in writers’ workshop:
 
https://ccira.blog/2019/06/24/the-importance-of-choice-in-writers-workshop/
 
 
Modeling mistakes:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/alert-mistakes-in-progress/
 
 
Ideas for making anchor charts more student-centered:
 
https://twowritingteachers.org/2018/10/10/co-constructing/
 
 
When to opt out of graphic organizers:
 
https://www.middleweb.com/43456/when-should-we-skip-the-graphic-organizer/
 
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!

Seeking Data-Supported Solutions

Still facing piles of assessment data that could help to guide instruction? This is the fourth and final in the series, “What do we do with all this assessment data!?!” Previous posts offered ideas for understanding the problem, getting to root cause, and narrowing the focus,
 
Because there are no quick fixes, when we move from data to decision, I try to slow down everyone’s thinking so we can make a plan that matters. Here are a few ideas to help you do the same.
 
If you’ve already spent some time doing the serious work of digging into data, you might want to start the next meeting with something that stays on topic but lightens the mood – a snowball fight! 😊 I ask everyone to take a full sheet of paper and write one thing: a possible solution for something they’ve noticed in the data. Once everyone has completed this task, we go to a large open space, paper in hand, and line up in two groups facing each other. Then I ask everyone to wad their paper up into a ball—and we have a snowball fight! After throwing your “snowball,” pick up one that has been lobbed your way, unwad it, read it, wad it, and throw it again. Call a truce to the blizzard when you start getting repeat snowballs. The snowball fight will get the thinking going, considering multiple possible solutions.

To get focus, you could next use the affinity mapping protocol (described in the previous post) or just list on the chalkboard solutions that teachers want to elevate from the snowball fight. If you’ve got a long list and a lot of teachers (whole faculty or a large team), you can shorten the list of potential solutions using dot voting. I give everyone 3-4 small stickers (I use the blank garage-sale price tag kind); the longer the list, the more stickers you should give each teacher). Teachers place their dots next to the solutions they think will be most effective; they can load up their favorite with all their stickers or spread the wealth among ideas.

Once you have a short list of solutions, you can use a fishbowl interview to discuss the top options. You’ll “interview” a volunteer teacher about a potential solution while everyone else silently listens in, taking notes about interesting ideas that are uncovered. The key to a successful interview is asking the right questions. What intrigues you about this possible solution? What are you left wondering about? What do you have hunches about that you’d like another perspective on? If you don’t ask the right questions, you don’t get the right answers, so think carefully if you decide to take this approach. If you’re in a large group, each group of three teachers can do their own interview about the solutions that haven’t yet been discussed, with one interviewer, one interviewee, and one note-taker. If you’re a small group, these succeeding interviews can also be fishbowl interviews, with different teachers as interviewees. Now narrow to one solution, either using the dot-voting method or a consensus discussion. Be sure to consider any necessary funding (and can you get it?) and the time that might be required.
 
Once you’ve reached a decision about which solution to move forward with (or if you’re having trouble deciding between two), it could be helpful to have a second fishbowl interview, especially one that might offer a different point of view. Finally, invite commitment. Ask participants to write about the difference they believe they can make, then share. Set a date to reconvene and report back.
 
Over these four posts, I’ve introduced many protocols:
 
*Protocol for examining data
*Fishbone analysis
*5 Whys
*Chalk Talk
*Realms of Influence
*Peeling the Onion
*Wagon Wheels
*Affinity Mapping

*Snowball Fight
*Dot voting
*Fishbowl interview
*Consensus discussion

 
Of course, you won’t use all of these with all groups, but you’ll probably use more than one to help you get to the best options for instruction and intervention. Pick and choose those protocols that best fit your context. Which of these protocols could help your team turn data into meaningful action?
 
Yes, these data analysis processes take time – but you’ll be sticking with the solution for weeks and impacting many students. Time you invest up front in determining the best solutions reduces time wasted in unfruitful change. Choosing the best solutions from the start is more efficient and effective than chasing changes without results.
 
You want to make sure everyone feels confident about the chosen path. And, since teachers have conscientiously selected the path, they’ll have more buy-in for following it. When teachers are invested in the process, they’re invested in the solution.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Strategies for building relationships with hard-to-reach teachers:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dsnl7tezKg&feature=youtu.be
 
 
Wow students with positive messages about their upcoming learning:
 
https://barkleypd.com/blog/beginning-of-the-school-year-messages/
 
 
Anchor charts as a student-centered teaching tool:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/the-power-of-an-anchor-chart-in-a-digital-world/
 
 
The Frayer model for learning vocabulary (great for content-area learning):
 
http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/frayer-model
 
 
Print beats digital for early literacy development:
 
https://phys.org/news/2025-08-digital-preschoolers.html
 
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!

Analyzing Assessment Data: Peeling Back the Layers

Need fresh ways to leverage beginning-of-year data? Today’s post (the third in a series) offers three protocols for groups as they seek solutions that have been illuminated by the data dives I described in previous posts.
 
Peeling the Onion Protocol
The Peeling the Onion Protocol is one way to better understand the problem before determining solutions. Working in small groups, designate a “Keeper of the Problem” who shares the issue from their perspective. Group members ask clarifying questions, restate the problem, examine assumptions, and begin brainstorming possible next steps. At this stage, every possibility is considered viable – nothing is off the table.
 
Wagon Wheels Protocol
A possible follow-up, once potential solutions have been unearthed, is the Wagon Wheels Protocol. This process, best for whole faculties or other larger groups, creates targeted partner conversations to explore and challenge identified solutions, helping us prepare to put new ideas into action. Depending on how our data dive is unfolding, I prepare one guiding question for each recurrent potential cause that has been identified or for possible solutions that are surfacing. We form an inner and an outer circle, with the same number of participants in each (double up on one if you have an odd #). I state a question, offer some quiet think time, say whether the inner or outer circle will speak first, then, after a minute, signal that it’s time to switch to the other partner. After both have had about a minute to speak, I ask one of the circles to rotate a couple of spaces (either clockwise or counterclockwise) so that new partners are formed. Then we do the process again. Repeat until the important questions you prepared have been discussed.
 
Affinity Mapping
To begin narrowing options, each participant picks their favorite ideas that have surfaced from previous protocols and writes them down, one per post-it note. Everyone sticks their post-its on a wall and works to group similar ideas together and then label each group. I often use the Affinity Mapping protocol for a silent version of this activity (groups should be 8 or smaller).
 
While these processes take time, the investment pays off. Consider which of the protocols described in this and previous posts could help your teams come to clearer understandings. Next week’s post will offer protocols for selecting a path forward, turning data into meaningful action.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Low prep, high impact, collaborative PD:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/low-stakes-professional-learning-teachers
 
 
A long-ish read on having students use AI to support learning in the classroom:
 
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2025-08-06-how-sci-fi-taught-me-to-embrace-ai-in-my-classroom
 

Anchor charts at all grade levels:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/anchor-charts-a-tool-for-every-classroom/
 
 
A video reminder that getting students’ names right matters:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZgthkdSLgI
 
 
Tips for starting the year as a new (or continuing!) instructional coach:
 
https://www.smore.com/e54a8
 
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: FDNS25 for 20% 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!