When Coaches Affirm Teachers’ Frustration

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You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.
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This week, I talked with a colleague who was trying to learn a new app they had just started using. Her voice was charged as she described all of the problems created by this transition. She was intense as she talked about the features she’d grown accustomed to that weren’t in this new version. She was alarmed and upset that these changes hadn’t been communicated well – she figured them out and had to problem-solve in the moment. Things were not going well, and it was clear how irritated, exasperated, and down-right angry she was! And, as I listened, It sounded like there was good reason for her disappointment and dissatisfaction.
 
“That sounds so frustrating!” I said.
 
And she continued on, naming even more problems that she’d encountered with the new system. But as she continued, the tenor of her voice became just a bit more relaxed. Occasionally, she paused, and I’d again affirm, “How frustrating!” or even just, “Wow!” Finally, as her list of irritations ran down, she paused. “Thanks for listening. I really just had to get that out before I could think about anything else,” she said.
 
A Postitive Move
As coaches, we shouldn’t affirm everything a teacher says, but when we affirm their feelings, we can’t go wrong. Sometimes, affirming the negative Is a positive coaching move.
 
Instructional coaches often look for opportunities to encourage teachers, build their confidence, and bring positive energy to their work. But sometimes, the most helpful thing we can do is to acknowledge what's not going well. Teachers have frustrating days, and they don't always need us to put a positive spin on things. In fact, sometimes affirming a teacher's frustration is exactly what needs to happen before a productive conversation can take place. It may seem counterintuitive, but doing this can clear the way for more productive conversations. An extremely frustrated teacher isn’t yet ready to move forward. After a teacher expresses negative perceptions, it can be helpful to validate them, especially when the perceptions are accompanied by strong emotions.
 
When we affirm a teacher’s frustration, we can mirror their feelings. Mirroring means matching the teacher’s posture, gestures, pitch, volume, cadence, or language choices. Coaching rapport improves when several of these communication systems match. When a coach mirrors to affirm negative emotions, a teacher feels understood, and negative feelings de-escalate. The teacher exhales. That’s what happened when my friend described her experience with the new app.
 
Mirroring negative perceptions shows your sensitivity to the teacher’s experiences. There are hard days, lessons that don’t go well, and students with challenging behavior. Saying so, putting those experiences into words, can be a first step to moving past those events. Having a trusted colleague acknowledge and validate frustrations helps to resolve the emotion.
 
Helping Teachers Get Unstuck
When I was coaching Shaina and she expressed frustration about a lesson on  she had just taught, affirming those feelings seemed to have a neutralizing effect. As Shaina reflected on the lesson, she described how the partner talk she had used as a lesson opener had fallen flat. She had felt sure her students would be interested in talking about themselves, but she ruminated about how, when she asked them to turn to a partner and share a connection, there was a lot of silence followed by a little bit of talk about what was for lunch. Later in the lesson, Shaina had given each student a card and asked them to move to separate sides of the room depending on their evaluation of the info. On the card.  She was discouraged that, when it came time to defend their choices, students hadn’t made the distinctions she was hoping for, and they had little to say. She had been expecting a healthy debate! As Shaina described her frustrations with the lesson, I mentally catalogued them but didn’t say much.
 
Once the tide of Shaina’s frustration seemed spent, I affirmed her frustration. “It can definitely be frustrating when a carefully-planned lesson doesn’t turn out the way we expect,” I said.  My affirmation acknowledged Shaina’s careful planning, and my use of the pronoun “we” demonstrated that other teachers (including me) shared similar frustrations. Validating Shaina’s frustration was an important step that cleared the way for more-productive talk.
 
Acknowledge Before You Encourage
Reassurance comes from having feelings acknowledged. Although we don’t want to shift away from the teacher’s own feelings too quickly, you can probably think of a time when it just felt good to know that you weren’t alone in your struggles. Saying, “I’ve heard other teachers talking about that, too,” can soften a frustration. Saying, “That happened to me when…” could build unity while reducing feelings of defeat. But keep descriptions of your own frustrations short. Stay with the teacher.
 
Listen first. Acknowledge what was difficult. Let the teacher know that you understand why the experience was frustrating. Sometimes, teachers don't need us to make things better. They just need to know that we understand why things were hard. And that simple act of affirmation can make all the difference in getting a coaching conversation moving in a more productive direction.
 
Affirming is a valuable move in the GIR model. Usually, it means affirming things that went well. But when teachers are upset, saying, “That sounds so frustrating!” goes a long way.
 

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

Mutual mentoring for mid-career teachers:

 

https://www.middleweb.com/54738/imagine-pd-as-adventure-trekking-with-a-friend/

 

 

Nonverbal communication in the classroom:

 

https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/nonverbal-communication-in-your-classroom

 

 

I LOVE this idea! Book cover key chains to boost school reading culture:

 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/getting-students-excited-reading

 

 

Make Shakespeare (and other classics) accessible (focuses on SpEd, but good for all learners!):

 

https://www.tes.com/magazine/teaching-learning/general/how-make-shakespeare-accessible-students-send

 

Elementary school strategies that work in high school:

 

https://www.edutopia.org/article/4-elementary-school-strategies-work-high-school

 

 

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! TODAY you can use the code: NOV2026 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!

Coaching for Teacher Agency

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You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.
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George Bernard Shaw said, “To be in heaven is to steer.” This statement illustrates how prized personal agency is to the human spirit. This, of course, includes the teacher’s spirit, which can sometimes feel crushed under top-down directives and prescribed curricula. A low-cost way to avoid teacher attrition and keep the best teachers in the profession is to offer teachers opportunities to steer their own ship. Effective coaches adjust their approach as teachers gain experience and expertise.  Increasing agency for teachers as the lead learners in their classrooms is empowering and energizing, sustaining teachers in their professional roles.
 
When teachers have agency (power and choice) over pedagogy, they have more energy and grit for this important work. Thinking about how to best support learning – using all they know about content, pedagogy, and their students – is demanding work, but it is empowering and life-giving!
 
As coaches, we sometimes unintentionally take up hierarchical positions of authority. Coaches who work intentionally to flatten hierarchies, instead of hanging onto their own positions of power, are more successful in their work.
 
What Does Agency Look Like in Coaching Work?
 
As coaches, we might value teacher agency but be unsure how that looks in practice. That’s because how it looks in practice will vary based on teacher needs. It gets complicated!
 
When a teacher will benefit most from seeing a coach model a lesson, honoring agency might sound like the teacher deciding what her focus will be as she observes. Discuss, in advance, what she feels would be most valuable for her to pay attention to.
 
When making recommendations seems the most valuable coaching move, offering a few options (instead of just one) for the teacher to consider honors the teacher’s agency. Even this opportunity for decision-making helps teachers exercise expertise and feel more powerful about their practice. Instead of, “try this,” offering, “Some things you might want to consider…” gives the teacher ownership to think things through. By providing multiple suggestions, we increase choice.
 
Asking questions opens the conversation to teacher’s own ideas and encourage them to explore possibilities and consider new approaches. Asking questions nudges teachers to identify their own next steps instead of looking to the coach for answers. Saying, “What are some possibilities you’re considering?” encourages teachers to do the intellectual work of weighing options. The decisions teachers make will reflect their understanding of their students and their own teaching contexts.
 
When coaches affirm or praise, teachers recognize the value of their own thinking and instruction, and that honors their agency and reinforces their confidence! When teachers' ideas and efforts are recognized, they feel more confident trying different approaches and taking instructional risks. They exercise their agency in ways that lead to productive change. The goal is not for teachers to leave a coaching conversation feeling good because they were praised, but to leave with a stronger sense of their own capacity.
 
No matter which of the 5 coaches moves from the GIR model you’re leaning on, you can do it in a way that supports teacher agency.
 
Charting Their Own Course
 
instructional coaching is not about taking the wheel, it’s about helping teachers become more confident and capable of steering their own practice. Offering options, thoughtful questions, and intentional affirmation creates opportunities for teachers to exercise their professional judgment and build on their own strengths, The goal is not for teachers to depend on a coach – it’s to help them chart their own course.  

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

Boost creativity by chatting with a human (instead of AI):

https://theconversation.com/ai-may-quickly-generate-ideas-but-working-with-people-leads-to-more-creative-ones-292417

Making PD stick:
 
https://www.k12dive.com/news/how-can-leaders-ensure-professional-development-sticks/832394/
 
 
 
Teaching character traits vocabulary to deepen literary interpretations:
 
https://ccira.blog/2026/10/05/teaching-literary-vocabulary-to-deepen-close-reading-and-interpretation-a-beautiful-entanglement/
 
 
Leveraging multisensory learning:
 
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/multisensory-learning/
 
 
Microteaching as a coaching process to support teacher (and student) growth:
 
https://www.edthena.com/visible-learning-micro-teaching-2-ways/
 
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! TODAY you can use the code: OCT2026 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!
 
 

Coaches, Ask, “What’s Working?”

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You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.
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One of my favorite questions to ask at the beginning of a coaching conversation is,

“What’s working for you right now?” It’s a question that invites the teacher to reflect on their own practice and share what they’re noticing about what is going well.

Instead of beginning with a problem (“What would you change about that lesson?” or “What do you want to work on?), which can make the conversation feel heavy before it has even gotten underway. asking “What’s working for you right now?” starts the conversation off with a positive tone and creates an opportunity to build on teachers’ strengths, learn more about what’s happening in their classrooms, and find a meaningful focus for coaching work.
 
Asking about what’s working gives the teacher a chance to identify a success, and it gives the coach an authentic starting point for reflection. This question is flexible enough to use in almost any coaching conversation, yet focused enough to lead somewhere useful.
 
Begin With Strengths and Possibility
Asking, “What’s working for you right now?” creates an opportunity to affirm in a way that feels specific and earned. Instead of offering generic praise, such as “You’re doing a great job,” you can respond to something the teacher has identified and help them recognize what makes it effective.
 
When I asked a teacher this question, she began describing a recent lesson in which students were especially engaged in discussion. As we talked through what had happened, she realized that she had asked more open-ended questions and allowed students more time to think before responding. Reflecting on the lesson helped her recognize these strategies she had used successfully as practices she could use again.
 
Another teacher described how he had changed his lesson halfway through because his students weren't understanding the concept. “I just stopped and tried a different example,” he explained. As we talked about that moment, he recognized how responsive he had been to his students' needs. Rather than simply moving on to the next topic, he had noticed a problem and adjusted his instruction. That was worth affirming! It also gave us something concrete to build on.
 
Beginning with what is working builds confidence!
 
Let the Teacher Do the Thinking
Something I appreciate about asking, “What’s working for you right now?” is that it puts the teacher in the driver’s seat. It starts with an observation from the teacher, rather than the coach. That matters because the one doing the thinking is the one doing the learning!
 
In the examples above about a classroom discussion and a changed example, when asked about what is working, teachers can uncover the reasons behind a successful moment. They may recognize a strategy they had not used intentionally or name a decision whose importance they had not fully considered.
 
Asking about what’s working gives teachers an opportunity to identify what matters to them and explain their thinking, inviting them to make sense of their own practice. In making sense of why something worked, teachers often discover what they want to repeat, refine, or extend.
 
In another conversation, a teacher mentioned that exit tickets were working well. As she reflected, she realized just how much the exit tickets were telling her about student understanding. Because the routine was already in place, it became a natural focus for our next steps. We explored how she might look for patterns in students’ responses and use that information to plan the following day’s instruction.
 
Build From What Is Already Working
Asking follow-up questions helps the teacher move from simply reporting a success to understanding it. Together, you can identify why the practice was effective. You might ask:
“What do you think contributed to that?”
“What did you notice students doing?
“How was that different from what usually happens?”
“What part of this would you like to build on?”
"Where else might that approach be useful?”
 
While reflecting on what’s working, teachers often begin generating their own next steps.
 
The conversation may eventually move toward a different topic. That’s fine. The question doesn’t prevent you from addressing something else. It just provides a positive, productive entry point. Even if the focus shifts, you have begun by acknowledging the teacher’s capacity and inviting them to take an active role in the conversation.
 
Coaching conversations often move quickly toward what did not go well or what needs to change. Those conversations certainly have their place, but when problems become our automatic starting point, coaching can feel heavy.
Asking, “What’s working for you right now?” offers another way in. It promotes growth by building from strengths rather than beginning with gaps.
 
This Week's Coaching Challenge
Try asking, “What's working for you right now?” at the beginning of a coaching conversation this week. Give the teacher time to think, listen carefully to the response, and see where the conversation leads.
 
You might discover an instructional strength you hadn't noticed, learn something new about how the teacher approaches their work, or uncover a next step that the teacher is ready to explore.
 
This simple coaching question can help you find a focus, gather meaningful information, and respond in ways that are aligned with the teacher's thinking. It affirms strengths and builds confidence. All of that from one simple, well-placed question. That's a coaching move worth keeping in your toolkit!
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

The hero’s journey for new teachers (October is a big month for new-teacher burnout!):
 
https://kappanonline.org/with-great-power/
 
 
6 benefits of play:
 
https://thegeniusofplay.org/tgop/benefits/genius/benefits-of-play/benefits-of-play-home.aspx
 
 
6 ways good teachers get better:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-good-teachers-get-even-better
 
 
Improve engagement, recall, and critical thinking of complex non-fiction texts:
 
https://www.middleweb.com/54414/using-key-words-to-build-written-responses/
 
 
This podcast about leveraging multisensory learning:
 
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/multisensory-learning/
 
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: OCT2026 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!

Instructional Coaches, Be a Multiplier

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You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.
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Author Liz Wiseman urges leaders to be multipliers. While some leaders diminish, multipliers amplify the capabilities and contributions of the people around them. As instructional coaches, some of our most valuable contributions come not from knowing the answer, but from being multipliers – discovering each teacher’s genius and helping them recognize it and put it to use.
 
As a multiplier, coaches create conditions where teachers can contribute their best thinking and develop their abilities. When we’re sitting side-by-side with a teacher, thinking together about an instructional challenge, we use our own capabilities to bring out the teacher’s capacity. Recognizing a teacher’s talent and finding ways to help that native genius grow increases the impact on student learning.
 
Here’s an example: Ellie’s coach noticed her knack for drawing students into meaningful discussions. Ellie encourages students to build on one another’s ideas instead of simply stating their own thoughts. During their coaching conversation, Ellie’s coach described and praised this approach. Then they explored how to extend this strength by nudging students to ask each other follow-up questions. Ellie’s strength was magnified as her students shared the responsibility for creating meaningful conversations.
 
Another example: Samuel’s coach recognized his ability to identify patterns in his students’ assessment results. After the next round of formative assessments, the coach asked Samuel to share his insights about his class’s data with the PLC and explain his process for examining the data. His think-aloud benefited everyone on the team.
 
What one teacher finds challenging may come easily to another.  Because it comes easily, teachers may not recognize their superpowers as something special. As coaches, we can be on the lookout for strengths and help teachers recognize their own genius by naming the specific things they do well and expanding the impact those abilities have on student learning. Rather than offering general praise, we can help teachers see what they're doing and why it matters,  Shining this light helps them put their talent to good use more consistently. When we help teachers extend their strengths beyond what they're already doing, we expand the possibilities for their professional growth and their students' learning.
 
This week, I invite you to look for ways to be a multiplier. As you work with teachers, notice what they do exceptionally well.  How might you help them build on that ability in a way that expands their impact? Name a strength. Help the teacher see its value. Then explore where that ability might take them next.
 
As we help teachers discover new ways to apply what they already do well, they multiply what they can accomplish with strengths they already possess.
 

This week, you might want to take a look at:
Make the closing conversation count: 
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/the-last-20-minutes-of-your-offsite-are-the-ones-that-matter-most
 
 
Authors read their (PK-3) picture books aloud:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/read-aloud-picture-books-author-videos
 
 
4 things educators gain from professional conversation:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/k12-hub/blog/conversation-deepens-professional-learning/
 
 
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, 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: OCT2026 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!

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You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.
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“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.”

                                                                                     ~C.S. Lewis
 
Coaches are usually hired because they have extensive knowledge and experience. The trust that is necessary for coaching includes both relational trust and experiential trust. The teachers you are working with need to feel seen and safe in your presence, and they also 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 guidance you might provide. So they have to know you know some things! However, your confidence will be best received if it is quiet confidence paired with curiosity and humility.
 
“Wait,” you might be wondering, “Can confidence and humility co-exist?” The answer is, “Yes!” and they should. The trick here is recognizing that confidence and humility are not two ends of the same continuum, but rather the hoped-for ends of different continuums.*
 
Confidence and Humility
Yes, we can aim for confidence and humility at the same time. What we are avoiding is shame and pride.

Confidence is the opposite of shame. Shame is negative self-judgment. It is embarrassment, guilt, and humiliation. Don’t go there! Confidence, on the other hand, is a recognition of one’s own capability. It is self-efficacy, knowing that we can make a difference. Let’s lean away from shame and toward confidence!

Confidence, however, does not equal pride. They are not even on the same spectrum! Pride is ego and conceit. It is an ostentatious display and puffed-up-edness. It will not serve us well as coaches. The truly wise coach will recognize that keeping her ego in check is necessary for developing and sustaining coaching relationships. Be a humble servant-leader.
 
Side-by-Side
Coaches are sometimes cautioned against spending time as the “helper” – the runner of copies, the orderer of supplies. While it’s true that coaches must guard their time and that direct work with teachers is most impactful, the quickest way I ever earned trust was stapling a border on a bulletin board.
 
When I was working as a district literacy coordinator, I was assigned to support teachers at a school that had just been labeled, “Turnaround,” meaning that if they didn’t turn things around, they’d be taken over. Needless to say, it was a tense environment!  When I showed up for the first meeting, Elana, the instructional coach, welcomed me from atop a folding chair, where she was putting up a bulletin board. “What can I do to help?” I asked, knowing, like she did, that the superintendent would be making a “surprise” visit in about an hour.  Between the two of us, we quickly finished the bulletin board, stapling up statements of district and school goals to greet school visitors.  I noticed several teachers pause in their treks down the hall and look up at me, questioning.  Later, Elana told me, “You won a lot of trust that way.”  Rolling up my sleeves and stapling a few papers before the superintendent’s visit helped teachers feel that I was on their side, working with them, not on them.
 
Like my stance on the chair in the hall, coaching with confidence is a tenuous position: from confidence, we can too easily teeter to pride. If we go into conversations with our minds made up or with the idea that we need to impart wisdom, the door for dialogue and trust is shut. Instead, we can cultivate humility.
 
Sustaining Humility
Humility is a mindset about how we approach those we are working with. Are we stand-and-deliver directors or side-by-side partners? Humility establishes a productive horizontal stance with teachers, rather than a vertical, authoritative stance over them. We can acknowledge and draw on teachers’ expertise and experience while sharing our own.
 
In effective teacher-coach relationships, ideas flow easily both ways. Rather than jumping in to share our ideas first, though, in order to overcome biases about vertical leadership, as coaches, we may need to hold our ideas and talk later, so that teachers are encouraged to lead out with their own thoughts.
 
To move forward in a coaching cycle, I have to shift the focus from me and what I know to the teacher and what she knows. It’s not hard to make a recommendation when a teacher asks for support. It’s much harder to hold my tongue and instead of sharing my ideas, ask a question that allows a teacher to share hers. She doesn’t need to know how smart I am; she needs to know how smart she is. My questions can help her realize that she really does have answers.
 
If I ask, “What else have you been considering?” my question affirms the teacher as one who thoughtfully deliberates her decisions.
 
If I ask, “What did you notice about students’ thinking?” my question recognizes her thoughtful observations.
 
Questions like these that hold positive assumptions about teachers’ actions and abilities build teachers’ confidence and encourage ongoing use of the attributes that have been noted. This coaching move also sustains my humility as I see and acknowledge the wisdom of others.
 
Nurturing humility requires profound self-reflection, recognizing what we do not know and do not understand. We need the teacher to educate us about their own experience and the experiences of their students. As we listen deeply and interact empathically, we gain a better understanding of the teacher’s wisdom.
 
Sustaining Confidence
Beginning coaches, especially, might experience Imposter syndrome. We feel elevated responsibility because of our new role. Sometimes we want to demonstrate our authority or ability. But confidence in the coaching role doesn’t mean knowing everything; it means offering your knowledge with humility and genuine curiosity. When teachers feel both seen and respected, coaching partnerships flourish.
 
It can sometimes be hard to pull away from our own knowledge and experience. We have to mentally set aside the answer we would give so that we can care more about the teacher’s response.
 
A friend recently told me about her own child’s elementary school art teacher.  Let’s call the child Emily and the art teacher Mrs. Bard.  Emily was working on a drawing during art class, sketching it out with a pencil before applying paint.  Mrs. Bart, wanting to teach about perspective, erased a line and redrew it at a different angle.  The drawing was certainly improved in the process.  When Emily brought the finished painting home, her mother praised the outcome.  Emily responded, “It’s not my drawing, it Mrs. Bard’s.”  Emily lost ownership of her own work through that erased and redrawn line. 
 
I’ve cautioned against a similar practice during writing workshop.  “Make sure the pen stays in the child’s hand,” I’ve said, wanting writing conferences to be meaningful for students.  But I have sometimes been guilty of “stealing the pen” during a coaching conversation.  Sometimes my comment erases a teacher’s valuable perspective, replacing it with my own view. Instead, we can grow confident in our role as coaches by seeing the fruits of our labors: improvement in practice growing from teachers’ own insights.
 
As coaches, it’s important to be confident about what we bring to the table, We can be confident that we are fulfilling our coaching role when we also acknowledge that others bring valid and valuable knowledge and experience. Coaching is a learning journey we undertake together.
 
Be a Co-Learner
You were hired as a coach because you have knowledge of content and pedagogy.  You know how to teach effectively.  Your job is to help others in their pursuits of improvement, and you have a lot to give.  You know a lot, but you don’t know everything.  Look to the teachers you are working with to find out what they know.  They know about their students.  They know about their class’s history.  They know about themselves as teachers.  That is a lot of knowing!
 
Coaching trust is built through a steady presence grounded in both experience and inquiry. When teachers sense that you truly see them, that you honor their work, and also that you bring hard-earned knowledge to your conversations, trust grows. It’s not about showcasing expertise; it’s about offering it with curiosity. Quiet confidence, paired with genuine curiosity, invites collaboration and deepens the coaching partnership.
 
How can you acknowledge that you are a learner, too?  Your stance as co-learner is evident in your language: in how you make recommendations, in the types of questions you ask, and in the authenticity of your praise.  We can say, “I wonder what would happen if…..” and truly wonder.  We can ask, “Have you tried…..” because we want to know how past practice is informing present decisions.  We can say, “That’s such a smart idea!” when it is!
 
Attributes like humility and confidence can make or break a coach’s work, even if she has all the right procedures in place.  I’m working to grow these attributes myself, and I hope sharing these ideas will support you on your own personal journey. Humility and confidence are important attributes as we forge relationships and continue to develop our coaching identity.

*Thanks to life coach Jody Moore for these ideas. 

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

Do you have meeting overload?
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/a-guide-to-escaping-meeting-overload
 
 
Ideas for supporting students in the “fight-flight-freeze” zone:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/fight-flight-freeze
 
 
Sponsoring intergenerational reading buddies:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/adult-reading-buddies-elementary-school
 
 
Multisensory learning and movement = learning that sticks (3 min. video):
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9RH8rVBglg&feature=youtu.be
 
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
 
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: SEP2026 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!

Coaching from Causes to Possible Solutions

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You can find My Coaches Couch, the podcast (with different content) in your favorite podcast app or at MyCoachesCouch.podbean.com.

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Last week’s post offers a protocol for diving into assessment data and determining possible root causes. Now, it’s time to think about making a plan to address those causes.
 
Assessment data has the potential to guide purposeful instruction and intervention. But data doesn’t make decisions. People do. As instructional coaches, we can support the work of moving from data to decision to action.
 
After teachers have spent time understanding what the data is telling them, digging beneath the surface, and narrowing the focus, there’s an important question to answer: What are we going to do about it?
 
It can be tempting to answer that question quickly. Someone suggests a familiar strategy, another person remembers a resource that worked last year, and before long, the team has a plan. But just like getting to root causes, taking our time to get to solutions pays off. 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 teachers generate possibilities, consider them carefully, and choose a productive path forward.
 
Generate Possibilities
 
The first suggestion works best with a larger group – at least 6 people – and is a great one for the full faculty, especially if you’ve just spent a meeting or a PD day looking at data. When you’re ready for action, try a Snowball fight. 😊
 
The snowball fight stays on-topic but lightens the mood. And it generates lots of possible solutions. Here’s how it works:
 
Give everyone a full sheet of paper and ask them to write down one possible response to something the team has noticed in the data. What might we try? What change in instruction, intervention, grouping, practice, or support could address the need we’ve identified? They should write this potential answer (just one) in large print on their sheet of paper. If they have another idea they really want to suggest, they can grab another sheet of paper. One per page.
 
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, giving everyone the chance to consider multiple possible solutions.
 
Have everyone gather snowballs and bring them to the table. Teachers then call them out and we generate a list that includes all of the ideas (there will likely be repeats on the snowballs, shortening our list). If you want to skip the snowball fight, you can go straight to brainstorming and get your list that way. The next step is to see which ideas rise to the surface.
 
Narrow the List
 
After all the ideas are on the table, it’s time to narrow the list. Affinity mapping and dot voting are two of my favorite ways to do that.
 
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. You could talk this through or use the Affinity Mapping protocol for a silent version of this activity (groups should be 8 or smaller). In the silent version, you give the instructions, and then the “no talking” rule begins. Participants move the sticky notes around, forming groups that they think go together. If someone disagrees, they can move a note to another location. Once the notes settle, with no more movement, the “no talking” rule is revoked. Teachers then decide on a label for each group, write it on a sticky note, and use it as the heading. Those headings are action ideas you take to the next step.
 
Dot Voting
Another approach if you’ve got a long list and a lot of teachers (whole faculty or a team) is 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 are most worth exploring. They can load up their favorite with all their stickers or spread the wealth among ideas. The goal isn’t to choose a winner. It’s to identify the ideas that deserve a closer look.
 
Look Closely
 
Once you have a short list, you’re getting closer to action, but you’re not there yet! Instead of asking, “Which one are we going to do?”, create space for teachers to consider these most-promising options. One way to do this is with a fishbowl interview. With this protocol, you “interview” a volunteer teacher about a potential solution while everyone else silently listens in, taking notes about interesting ideas that are shared. Your questions can uncover what needs to be considered before making a decision. You might ask:
 
*  What intrigues you about this possibility?
*  What might this look like in actual classroom practice?
*  What makes you think this could address the need we identified?
*  What questions or concerns do you have?
*  What would teachers need in order to try this successfully?
*  What might get in the way?
*  What are your hunches about this option?
 
If you’re in a large group, you can follow this initial fishbowl by asking groups of 3 to discuss the remaining possible solutions, with one interviewer, one interviewee, and one note-taker. The note-taker from each interview trio then shares out to the whole group.

 

Choose an Action

Now that the narrowed list of solutions has been thoroughly considered, it’s time to make a choice about what course of action to take. Open dialogue should precede decision-making. Be sure to talk about any necessary funding (and whether you could get it) and the time that might be required. This part of the process is especially important because an idea can sound wonderful in the abstract but become more complicated when we start considering what it would actually require:

*  Does it fit the need we identified?

*  Do teachers have the time and resources to implement it?

*  Is professional learning needed?

*  Is there a cost involved?

More broadly, is this something teachers can realistically translate into instruction that benefits students?

Those questions aren’t meant to shoot down ideas. They help the team choose with its eyes open.

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. The final call can be made with dot voting, gradients of agreement, or a consensus discussion,

Make Commitments

Making a decision is an important step, but it only matters if teachers consider their own roles and commit to moving forward. Ask participants to write about the difference they believe they can make and what they will do, individually. Then share. Identify what happens next. What will teachers try? What support will they need? What evidence will the team pay attention to? Before wrapping up the meeting, set a date to reconvene and report back.

Protocols in Action

Of course, you won’t need to use all of these protocols 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. A grade-level team might need only a quick round of possibilities and a short consensus conversation. A faculty making a larger instructional decision may benefit from several opportunities to generate, investigate, narrow, and discuss ideas. The purpose is to offer just enough structure to help teachers do their best thinking. Which of these protocols could help the group 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.

When the chosen path has been conscientiously selected, everyone feels more-confident about it.  And, since teachers have invested in the process, they’ll be more-invested in the solution.

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

This “Circle of Viewpoints” activity helps participants to explore a text or event from a variety of perspectives:
 
https://pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Circle%20of%20Viewpoints_0.pdf
 
 
Setting up a symposium to differentiate PD:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/back-to-school-professional-learning-empowers-teachers
 
 
Having trusted adult relationships at school matters:
 
https://www.k12dive.com/news/trusting-relationships-in-schools-support-student-outcomes-study-says/831184/ 
 
 
Does classroom arrangement align with teaching beliefs?
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/room-for-beliefs-linking-classroom-design-and-what-we-value/
 
 
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: SEP2026 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!