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!

Protocols for Scaling the Assessment Data Mountain

Each fall, educators are met with mountains of numbers – too much to digest all at once!  In addition to the standardized test scores from last spring, we’re busy collecting back-to-school benchmarks and individual inventories. The key for avoiding data overwhelm is to look for useful patterns. I’ve found that using clear protocols helps teams identify these patterns, moving beyond numbers and into purposeful conversations. Last week’s post offers options for structured analysis that lead to potential root causes. Below I offer protocols for finding solutions that respond to these causes.
 
Chalk Talk
One of my go-to tools for seeking solutions is the Chalk Talk Protocol. This is a flexible protocol, useful in many contexts, and one of those is for examining data. Here are the steps:

·        To prepare, write each underlying cause that has been identified in the center of a chart or large sheet of bulletin board paper—one cause per sheet. (For example, if your data review pointed to large intervention groups as a possible factor, that goes in the center of one sheet.)

·        Place the charts around the room, on tables or hanging on the wall.

·        Using colored markers so they can track their thinking, teachers move silently from paper to paper, jotting ideas, drawing arrows between related thoughts, and using their pens to noiselessly argue and challenge ideas they feel need rethinking.

This approach makes sure all voices are “heard” while keeping a lively pace—many conversations happen at once. (Pro tip: Divide the number of participants by 5 to figure out how many sheets will give you the best flow. If you have fewer topics than that, duplicate some so groups stay small and ideas keep moving.) By the time everyone has rotated through the different charts and then circled back to comment on what others have added, you’ll have a rich, collective idea bank.
 
Next, have participants pick their favorite ideas from the charts and write them down, one per post-it note. After that, you can make the number of ideas more manageable by having teachers talk at their table or with a partner to narrow their post-its down to one or two per person.
 
Realms of Concern / Realms of Influence Protocol
At this point, your group still has too many possible solutions. Using the Realms of Concern / Realms of Influence Protocol helps us separate what we wish we could change from what we can change, zeroing in on actionable solutions. On chart paper or a big piece of bulletin board paper, draw 3 large, concentric circles, labelled like this:

Ask teachers to describe the difference between these two realms, or give non-education examples of something in each realm to help folks start to process. Then, ask teachers to come forward and place their sticky notes on the appropriate spot in the target. The stickies in the realm of influence are now your potential actionable solutions.

 
The time it takes for Chalk Talk, stickies, and Realms of Concern may feel formulaic – but I guarantee that the outcomes that surface will be worth the effort.
 
(Check back next week for ideas on turning  potential  solutions into  active  ones!)
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Collecting coaching data to demonstrate impact:
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/coaching-for-impact-starts-with-collecting-data
 
 
Offering opportunities for students to keep thinking:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/alert-mistakes-in-progress/
 
 
Helping students overcome learned helplessness:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/guiding-students-overcome-learned-helplessness
 
 
An entertaining video with advice to first-year teachers:
 
https://video.edweek.org/detail/video/5574068218001/second-year-teachers-share-some-advice-for-rookies
 
 
This podcast episode about how new teachers can find great mentors:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/podcast-43
 
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!
 

From Data to Action: Structures for Exploring Assessment Results Together

How can instructional coaches help teachers make sense of the mountains of assessment data that have been collected?
 
As the school year gets underway, teaching teams are tasked with using assessment data to guide whole group and small group instruction and identify intervention needs. Don’t try to digest all the numbers at once! Discussion protocols – structured processes to focus communication – can encourage effective collaboration during data discussions. Below I’ll describe several protocols that, when used together, support structured discussions about data.
 
One of the protocols I’ve used is the National School Reform’s protocol for examining the data. Working in small groups, teachers are given a set of data to consider. Multiple rounds are introduced by the facilitator, asking teachers questions that encourage them to look at the data differently, first by responding silently in writing and then through discussion in their small group. During round 1, teachers record and discuss what the data tells them at first blush. What jumps out and seems significant? What surprises them? What patterns are noted? During round 2, teachers make inferences about the data. What is it telling us? What is it not telling us? They look beyond obvious relationships. Round 3 is a time to look for celebrations. What good news is there in the data?
 
These celebrations are a good place to pause the protocol. Take a break (or come back another day for a fresh start). Pausing on a happy high can fuel the important next steps.
 
Come back for Round 4, which looks at the flip side of celebrations. What problems of practice might be underlying this data? This round of cause-and-effect thinking can be overwhelming. You might devote a whole meeting to just this step and unpack it a bit if the data warrants a deeper dive to identify possible sources of the problem, It’s only when we really get to the cause that effective solutions start to surface. A combination of a fishbone analysis and the 5 Whys protocol can get your team’s thinking going in the right direction.


The Fishbone is a structured team process for identifying underlying factors or causes of an event. The product of the team’s work is a cause/effect diagram that might look something like this:
 

 
Or this, if you’ve got a group of creative teachers!
 

(These Fishbone diagrams unpack a problem not related to student achievement, but you get the idea!)
 
Fishbones help us consider lots of alternate causes and sort ideas into useful categories.
 
Here are the steps in the process.  Working in small groups, ask:
 
1.    What is the problem/effect? Be clear & specific. Be careful not to define the problem in terms of a solution!  Write this at the head of the fish.
2.    What might be the major categories of causes of the problem? (for example, materials, policy factors, people/staff factors, etc.). Write these on the large skeletal bones.
3.    Brainstorm possible causes for each category. These are the smaller bones.
4.    For each cause, ask, “Why does this happen?” Write these sub-causes as branches on your diagram.
 
Asking “Why?” multiple times along the way can ensure deep causal thinking rather than more obvious solutions that get too-easily tagged. In the fishbone analysis, it means adding sub-causes to the “bone structure” through fine-grained analysis.
 
Here’s how the 5 Why’s Protocol works: Someone states what they think is a cause. For example, if I ask someone why they were late for work, they might answer, “I was late for work because I ran out of gas.” Asking, “Why did you run out of gas?” reveals yet another layer to the problem: “I ran out of gas because I didn’t buy any on my way to work.” “Why didn’t you buy any on your way to work?” you might ask. “Because I didn’t have any money!” “Why didn’t you have any money?” “Because I bought these gorgeous shoes last night!” might be the response. “Why?” “Because when I see a gorgeous pair of shoes, I just have to have them even though I already have a closet full of shoes!”
 
Aha! Now we have revealed that the root cause of being late to work is a shoe fetish! Without the 5 Whys protocol, we would never have known! Of course, 5 is not a magic number. The point is, go deep enough to get at real answers to the question. The final “Why” should lead to a root-cause statement that helps the team take action.
 
The fishbone analysis, accompanied by the 5 Why’s, encourages a deeper consideration of the data and a focus on underlying problems. When we see dips in the data of student achievement, it’s most effective to solve directly-stated problems rather than proposing solutions to surface-level issues.
 
Finally, it’s time for the 5^th and final round of the protocol for examining the data. During this round, the group describes their key conclusions and recommendations. Taking this layer-by-layer approach stops us from jumping to unwarranted conclusions about assessment data.
 
If tackling assessment data feels like an overwhelming task, a structured analysis approach can make all the difference. By using discussion protocols, teaching teams can focus on what matters most, listen to each other’s insights, and move from simply reviewing numbers to making informed decisions that benefit students. Thoughtful collaboration turns mountains of data into clear, actionable steps for instruction and intervention.
 
(More ideas for peeling back the layers of assessment data coming next week!)
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

How and why to support and hold onto experienced teachers:
https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-heres-how-we-hold-on-to-experienced-teachers-give-them-the-support-they-need/
 
Decorations vs. anchor charts:
 
https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/clearing-the-way-for-new-growth/
 
 
Starting the year with picture books to build math identities:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/fostering-math-identities-with-picture-books/ 
 
 
Ideas for helping students who are in the fight or flight mode:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/fight-flight-freeze
 
 
Mentors need new teachers (not just vise versa):
 
https://ncte.org/blog/2020/01/mentors-need-new-teachers/
 
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!

Instructional Coaching Rhythms

When preparing for the school year, coaches may start thinking about coaching cycles – who they’ll serve with them, what measurements they’ll have, and what the cycles will look like. There’s a place for work that has a clear beginning, middle, and end. .In coaching, that includes setting a specific goal, measuring progress, and celebrating when the target is reached. And, just like with teaching, there’s also a need for coaches, and coaching, to be flexible.
 
What if, as coaches, we thought more about being opportunistic? What if, as we think about our use of the 5 GIR coaching moves (model, recommend, question, affirm, and praise) we consider coaching rhythms, rather than cycles?  The pattern of these 5 moves is determined by teachers’ needs, flowing in real-time response to the teacher and the teacher-selected focus for the conversation.
 
To effectively support teachers while ensuring students get the instruction they need, coaches need to be nimble - light on their feet – improvising among the 5 coaching moves. We adjust the tempo and intensity of support.
 
I was talking this week with Kristen, who is an exceptional coach. She told me that in her early work as a coach, she was very well-prepared for the coaching work, going into each conversation with a clear plan, even having questions and recommendations written down. It went all right, she said, but she felt something was off. Then, during a coaching meeting, a teacher made a comment that changed the way she coached. The teacher said, “It feels like you're continuing a conversation from the past. But I'm not in that same place anymore.” Kristen said this teacher’s comment stuck with her and helped her realize that effective coaching requires us to meet teachers in the current space.
 
We can use the 5 moves in the GIR model in response to the teacher. The appropriate support will guide, challenge, or validate. The squiggly line in the GIR model shows that coaching isn’t a linear process – it’s a fluid one. Instructional improvement is contextual, so coaching is a cha-cha. We will step forward and back, and there will be lifts and dips along the way. We know that the upward sloping line in the GIR model indicates growth, but the cha-cha of coaching includes small steps back, too. When it seems needed, don’t hesitate to lean on a move that offers more support, like modeling or recommending. If one move doesn’t bear fruit, we can lean back and try an approach that provides more scaffolding.
 
We have to be limber; if we lead too strongly, sticking too long with a move when it’s not needed, we are over-scaffolding; this reduces teachers’ agency and motivation. We know how to lead by paying careful attention to the teacher and the context. We are ready to reposition, to find a match between the support needed by the teacher and the support offered by each of the 5 coaching moves. This is the rhythm of responsive coaching.

This week, you might want to take a look at:

Get ready for back-to-school (a 16-min. podcast episode):
 
https://stickyhope.com/28-schools-starting-are-you-ready/
 
 
Making it “our” classroom:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/who-owns-the-room/
 
 
Significant 72: Three impactful days for starting the school year:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/fresh-starts-through-community-building/
 
 
How collaboration works:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/video/teacher-collaboration-matching-complementary-strengths
 
 
6 Co-Teaching models (not just for SpEd):
 
https://barkleypd.com/blog/coaching-co-teaching/
 
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 or EBOOKS for 33% off digital copies (thru Aug. 4, 2025). 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!