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!
 
 

Coaching Data Conversations: Getting to the Why

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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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Sometimes the first answer feels like the right answer—until you ask “Why?” again. And again. And maybe a couple more times. Our first explanation may only scratch the surface.
 
When teams are trying to make sense of assessment data and figure out why students aren’t achieving as expected, stopping with the first plausible cause can lead us toward solutions that miss the root cause.
 
As a coach, you can help teachers resist the temptation to jump too quickly from identifying a problem to deciding what to do about it. Instead, invite them to get curious about what might be the cause.
 
Discussion protocols give teams a way to keep digging, moving beyond the first answer that comes to mind and toward potential instructional changes, interventions or other solutions. Here are some questions to facilitate team data dives:
 
1.    What is the problem? After teachers have reviewed the data, give them the chance to think individually, jotting down ideas about what the problem actually is. What does the data show? Suggest that they be as clear and specific as they can. Then have teachers share their thinking and come to consensus about what the problem is. But be careful not to define the problem in terms of a solution! This is only step one.
 
2.    What might be the major categories of causes of the problem? (for example, materials, policy factors, people/staff factors, etc.). Chart these together. Think big picture. These can be  headings across the top of chart paper or a Google doc.
 
3.    Brainstorm possible causes for each category. Now we are getting to details, but this is still an exploration phase. We’re just mapping possible causes.
 
4. Narrow to a few most-plausible causes. With the team, quickly go through the list you’ve created, narrowing from possible to plausible. Ask for a thumbs up or down. Cross out the causes that don’t seem plausible. Circle the ones that do. Discuss the ones where you’re not sure, and come to consensus.
 
5.    For each plausible cause, ask, “Why does this happen?” Asking, “Why?” can further narrow the list and move you from plausible to probable.
 
Now it’s time for the 5 Whys Protocol.
 
Asking “Why?” multiple times ensures deep causal thinking rather than surface-level solutions that get too-easily tagged. It is fine-grained analysis.
 
The 5 Why’s Protocol starts with stating a probable cause. Here’s a non-data example that shows the process: If I ask someone why my friend didn’t bring their lunch to work, they might answer, “I didn’t bring my lunch to work because I left my house without it.” Asking, “Why did you leave your house without it?” reveals yet another layer to the problem: “I left my house without it because I was running late.” “Why were you running late?” you might ask. “Because I couldn’t find my keys!” might be the response. “Why?” “Because I left them in the back door when I came home last night.” “Why did you leave them in the back door?” ”Because I was carrying a lot of stuff.”
 
Aha!  Now we have revealed that the root cause of no lunch at work is because my friend was carrying a lot of stuff when she came home!  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.
 
Beginning-of-year assessment data can feel overwhelming, but a structured protocol can help teams slow down, give everyone a chance to contribute ideas, and dig beneath obvious explanations. When teachers examine causes together and keep asking “Why?” they can uncover better solutions for supporting students.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

This simple animated video about how coaching works:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY75MQte4RU
 
 
Supporting participation of quieter students:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/supporting-quiet-students-participation
 
 
This podcast about leading in the space you are given:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/podcast-59
 
 
Picture books about worries and other emotions:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/reassuring-worried-children-with-picture-books/
 
 
A Calendar of “National Days” (both serious and silly) to celebrate throughout the year:
 
https://nationaldaycalendar.com/calendar-at-a-glance/
 
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 Helps Teachers Stretch, Not Sprint

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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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When it comes it exercise, sprints work. They burn calories! When it comes to coaching for growth, though, we don’t want teachers sprinting. Sprinting leaves us exhausted, and it’s not sustainable for the long haul.  So, when it comes to coaching for growth, let’s ask teachers to stretch, not sprint.
 
In coaching, sprinting looks like going for it all in one shot. Stretching means inching a little closer to the goal. I’ve noticed that, if I’m consistent about stretching physically, I bend a little deeper and reach a little farther as time passes. A stretch feels good, and I can see the results, so I’m motivated to keep it up.
 
Coaching for Stretch
 
As coaches, we support growth. We hope to see new strategies, refined practice, more-responsive interactions with students – ultimately, more effective teaching and learning. But it’s a gradual process. That’s why, in coaching, we should go for stretch, not sprint. Physically, stretching is sustainable; similarly, coaching for stretch helps teachers keep up the good work.
 
Stretching is a just-right kind of challenge: we feel stretch with just a little extra press. Coaches can offer the just-right press that generates growth. If a teacher wants to improve classroom discussion, instead of offering multiple fixes, we might say, “I’m wondering whether giving students a little more think time might help.” It’s offering a gentle shift, a little stretch.
 
Teachers deepen their learning over time through adjustment and reflection. It’s not about one big push – it’s about repeated opportunities to lean in and learn. Coaches help teachers to find the right stretch.
 
Find the Right Stretch
 
Stretch does not mean ease. Stretching that induces progress takes a steady press. It’s not just doing what we’ve always done – it’s doing that, plus a little more. For a teacher, the stretch might be thinking differently, reconsidering a practice, or trying something unfamiliar. But it needs to be reachable when the teacher sinks in to give it a try. It’s the difference between restructuring class discussions and asking, “What if you tried a discussion routine with this small group?” The first could leave a teacher wondering how to begin. The second creates a way to begin.
 
Choosing the right coaching move can also create a just-right stretch. Asking the teacher to generate possible solutions is sometimes a sprint; if questioning is too much, we can recommend or offer to model a new routine. The right level of support creates a stretch, and as we revisit and reflect, we can go a little deeper. This coaching rhythm creates momentum without exhaustion.
 
Think Progress, Not Pace
 
Learning isn’t about visible speed. A teacher who spends three weeks thoughtfully experimenting with one new discussion strategy may be making more meaningful progress than a teacher who implements five strategies in three weeks without really examining whether any of them made a difference.
 
The goal isn’t to get teachers through a coaching cycle as quickly as possible. It’s to help them develop the knowledge, skills, confidence, and judgment to continue growing. Then we can help them identify the next stretch. Sustainable growth has a rhythm: try, notice, reflect, adjust, and try again.
 
So as you work with teachers this week, ask yourself, “What could be a meaningful stretch for this teacher? How can we avoid a sprint?” And ask the teacher, “What feels like a stretch you’re ready to try?”
 
Creating a stretch instead of a sprint helps teachers make meaningful progress that they can own, sustain, and build on.
 
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Time management tips for novice educators:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/time-task-management-tips-new-teachers
 
 
Book-choosing strategies for middle schoolers:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/dont-judge-a-book-by-its-cover-teaching-book-choice-strategies-to-middle-schoolers/
 
 
Trust – the invisible coaching element:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/supporting-teacher-growth-trusting-relationships
 
 
Learning grammar through discovery:
 
https://www.middleweb.com/54264/its-time-for-teachers-to-put-grammar-in-its-place/
 
 
Ideas for making anchor charts more student-centered:
 
https://twowritingteachers.org/2018/10/10/co-constructing/
 
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!

The Third “E” for Coaching: Equipped

 
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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, I wrote about two qualities of effective coaching: empathy and empowerment. Empathy strengthens the coaching relationship and empowerment strengthens the teacher’s sense of agency. But there’s a third “E” that is a prerequisite for authentic empowerment: making sure the teacher is “equipped.” No matter how empowering our pep talks feel, unless the teacher is well-stocked with effective instructional strategies, the encouragement will fall flat. Giving someone responsibility without ensuring they have the needed knowledge, skills, and resources isn’t really empowerment. It’s setting them up for frustration.
 
Teachers need opportunities to make decisions and exercise their professional judgment, but they’ve got to have enough to draw on as they make those decisions. They need a well-stocked instructional toolkit.
 
Two of the coaching moves in my Gradual Increase of Responsibility (GIR) Model are important for equipping teachers: modeling and making recommendations. Both provide teachers with tools they may need to move forward.
 
Modeling: Providing a Blueprint
 
Observing a lesson in action can sharpen teachers’ attention to student learning and broaden their instructional repertoires. Because the teacher isn’t busy thinking about providing the instruction, she can give energy to watching and listening. Because she doesn’t have to be worrying about the kid rolling around on the carpet or what’s happening on the other side of the room, she can decide what she will pay attention to and when. That gives her the opportunity to think deeply about instruction.
 
When the coach is modeling, the teacher can look at the big picture. how the lesson is arranged and how the choreography of instruction plays out, and then lean in to examine the work of one group or one student. Rather than simply hearing about a strategy, the teacher gets to see it in action. Modeling can help a teacher notice possibilities that might otherwise be difficult to imagine. A teacher may have heard about open-ended questioning, collaborative learning, conferring, or graphic organizers, but seeing those practices in action makes them more concrete. The teacher can begin to envision what those approaches might look and sound like in her own practice. Modeling provides a blueprint.
 
When a teacher needs something more than her own experience in order to successfully meet student needs, modeling can provide that “something more.” Whether the modeling is live or recorded, with students or without them, it can open doors for communication and provide a shared experience for the coaching conversation that follows.
 
Recommendations: Adding to the Toolbox
 
Another way to add tools to a teacher’s instructional toolbox is to make recommendations. When coaches make recommendations, they take a consulting stance. They draw on research and experience, advocating for particular choices and actions. They might offer information about instructional strategies, content or skills, developmental processes of learning, standards, curriculum, or resources. Recommendations can be helpful when teachers are trying something new or wrestling with a tricky instructional question.
 
When a teacher poses a specific question, her question itself provides important information about what she is focused on and ready to consider. If she asks, “How would you approach this?” or “What would you do with this group of students?” her question is an invitation for the coach to share insights. Recommendations might be the best response if the situation is urgent and important. Coaches should consider how the recommendations they offer build on teachers’ existing strengths. And, instead of offering a single path forward, we can offer several ideas and invite the teacher to consider her students’ needs and her own preferences to determine a path forward.
 
Be judicious about when and how to offer recommendations – only when necessary, and with deference to teacher judgment. This approach honors teachers’ agency, empowering them as instructional decision-makers.
 
Three E’s for Coaching
 
Modeling and recommending are coaching moves for increasing teachers’ instructional repertoire so that they are equipped with knowledge, skills, and resources.

Let’s think about how adding “equipped” as an essential “E” for coaching works with the two “E’s” considered last week. Empathy helps coaches understand where teachers are. Empowerment gives teachers ownership of where they want to go. Equipping helps provide what they need to get there.

These three E’s work together. A coach who empathizes without equipping may understand a teacher’s frustration but leave her without new possibilities. A coach who equips without empathy may provide excellent strategies that don't fit the teacher's immediate concerns. And a coach who empowers without equipping may hand over responsibility before the teacher has the tools to act on it. But when empathy, equipping, and empowerment work together, the coach listens to understand the teacher’s concerns and provides support that expands the teacher’s options; then the teacher has the opportunity to make meaningful decisions about her practice.

The goal is for teachers to become increasingly-equipped to make instructional decisions. That's the purpose of the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Coaching Model: we support teachers generously as needed and gradually step back as their knowledge, skills, confidence, and independence grow.

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

Giving and receiving feedback (reading the bolded text offers some good reminders!):
 
https://learningforward.org/2026/08/24/giving-and-accepting-feedback-is-a-professional-capacity-that-can-be-improved/
 
 
Tech tools to support neurodivergent learners:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/tools-support-neurodivergent-learners
 
 
5 Design principles for effective PD (scroll down to this heading):
 
https://pce.sandiego.edu/practicing-what-we-teach/
 
 
Expand inclusion while students “Meet Someone New” through picture book biographies:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/meet-someone-new-monday-using-picture-book-biographies-to-bring-marginalized-voices-into-the-classroom/
 
 
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: AUG2026 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!

Empathy & Empowerment: Coaching for Connection and Action

 
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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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Sometimes coaches walk alongside a teacher, and sometimes we step back and let them lead. Empathy helps us walk alongside, listening carefully, recognizing emotions, and communicating, “You’re not alone in this.” Empowerment means we know when to step back, creating space for the teacher to make decisions, take ownership, and trust their professional judgment. Coaching needs both. Empathy helps teachers feel seen; empowerment helps them see themselves as capable.
 
When a teacher trusts you, challenges that she brings up might be emotionally charged – things she has felt recurringly frustrated with.  Don’t miss the emotions that are wrapped up in the situation.  If you are blind to the emotions, they will trip you up. When a teacher shares a challenge, she is likely looking as much for empathy as for a solution. The two can go hand in hand. Once she feels understood, she’ll be more ready for something else: empowerment. She needs to be reminded that she has the capacity to figure out what comes next.
 
Empathy: Coaching for Connection
 
Empathy means we can truly understand and share the teacher’s feelings about a situation. Teachers benefit when we tap into our own emotional experience as well as our professional knowledge.
 
When facing a challenge, teachers may feel that they are in this alone. Everyone else has it together, no one else has had a student like this, no one else has struggled in teaching this concept or using this teaching approach.
 
The teacher may be looking for validation that it is okay to struggle, that it is okay to try something and fail. In truth, good teachers often fail, because they are willing to take a risk and try something new.  Maybe something that puts a lot of control in the hands of students, which has no guarantees of success!  Demonstrating empathy means saying something like, “I know this feels like shaky ground.  I’ve been there.  It will be worth it.”  Or simply, “That sounds really frustrating.”
 
But how do we demonstrate empathy without taking over the conversation with our own story?  Here are a few ideas:
 
~Demonstrate that your coaching conversation is a safe place.  “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”  This recognition gives a teacher the go-ahead to express feelings without fear of judgment.
 
~Mirror the emotion. Our facial expressions, tone, and body language communicate that we are paying attention not just to the words but to the feelings underneath them. And I’ve found that when I initially match these features, I can later help the teacher relax as I adjust my own non-verbal emotional cues.
 
~Name the emotion. Listening with your heart helps you understand how your teacher friend is feeling. Naming what we hear can help teachers recognize and process what they are experiencing.
 
~Briefly connect through our own experience. Sharing a similar experience builds connection, as long as the story stays brief. Without shifting the focus away from the teacher’s concern, you can quickly summarize your own experience using the feel/felt framing: “It sounds like you feel (naming). I felt that way when…” Don’t compare their problem to yours, just connect with the emotion, Vulnerability strengthens relationships, increasing coaching effectiveness.
 
Empathy is different from sympathy, which might feel like a pity party. Empathy establishes an interpersonal connection that makes coaching possible. Once empathy for emotions is felt, the teacher will be more ready to turn to action. 
 
Empowerment: Coaching for Action
 
Acknowledging emotions in an empathetic way builds connection, and after a teacher feels understood, the more rational parts of our brains can kick into gear. The teacher you are coaching will be more ready to problem-solve. We can move toward empowerment.

 
Empowerment is helping teachers recognize the expertise, judgment, and capacity they already possess. Coaching isn't about imposing the “right” way. It is about offering possibilities and helping teachers make informed choices. We support teachers’ agency - the power and autonomy to make meaningful decisions about pedagogy. When teachers have agency, they can make informed decisions that benefit their students. Coaches empower teachers by asking questions like:
 
“What are you noticing about your students?”
“What felt just right?”
“What needs adjusting?”
“What possibilities do you see?”
“What do you think would be worth trying next?”
 
When we ask questions like these, the teacher does the thinking. If coaches instead solve the immediate problem for the teacher, it positions the coach as the one with the answers and communicates that the teacher will need us to solve the next problem, too. But by asking questions, we give the teacher the space to consider.
 
We can also offer recommendations, when needed, without taking ownership of the decision. Rather than saying, “You should try this,” we might say, “Some things you might want to consider…” That small shift matters. The coach contributes expertise, but the teacher remains the decision-maker.
 
Empathy Before Empowerment
 
One of the most important roles of an instructional coach is not to make the struggle disappear, but to walk alongside the teacher long enough for her to regain her footing—and then trust her to take the next step.
 
Teachers need coaches who can do two things at once: understand them and believe in them. Empathy says, “I see what you’re experiencing, and I understand why it’s hard.” Empowerment says, “I believe you have what it takes to move forward.” One strengthens the relationship; the other strengthens the teacher’s sense of agency. Together, they can help teachers feel both supported and capable.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Busy and learning aren’t the same thing:
 
https://learningforward.org/2026/08/10/busy-isnt-the-same-as-learning-why-clarity-matters-more-than-ever/
 
 
How organizational factors shape curriculum implementation (infographic):
 
https://consortium.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/2026-06/Skyline%20RESTART%20Network%20Infographic-Jun26-Consortium.pdf
 
 
Using movement as an instructional tool:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/movement-instructional-tool
 
 
Building teachers’ leadership capacity (podcast):
 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/keith-fickel-justin-baeder-cultivate-and-activate/id925371726?i=1000776631287
 
 
Tips for learning-as-you-go coaches:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/youll-figure-it-out-10-tips-for-literacy-coaches-who-are-given-little-guidance/
 
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: AUG2026 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 through Transitions

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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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Think of a time when you got a new phone or the operating system on your laptop had a significant update. You probably had to stop and figure out where all of your favorite and familiar settings and functions had gone. Even simple tasks take more mental energy when the system is unfamiliar. If even small transitions like these feel uncomfortable, consider the discomfort families and educators are feeling as the school year gets underway.
 
Discomfort during transitions can come from at least four places: the unknown, extra decision-making, changes in relationships, and changes in identity.*
 
Discomfort from Unknowns
 
A sixth-grader may be walking into a middle school, not knowing what it will be like to have multiple teachers and a locker. They may wonder what their schedule and daily routines will look like and whether they will be in class with friends. A teacher may be using new curricula or wonder what needs the new students will bring with them. They might have new colleagues and worry what working with them will be like. A coach may be unclear about expectations for her role. She might wonder about the new teachers on the staff and what teachers will want to talk about. These unknowns can feel weighty. Transitions disrupt the comfort that comes from predictability. We aren’t able to anticipate what is coming so that we can prepare for it. Instead, we tend to make predictions, and those predictions aren’t always optimistic!
 
Unknowns can also make us question our readiness. We might wonder if we’ll know what to do, if we’ll be able to handle the situations that are presented. We worry that we won’t be prepared, but we don’t know what to prepare for!
 
Decision-Making Discomfort
 
While facing the unknowns, there are also so many decisions to be made at the beginning of the school year. Everyone makes decisions about tiny things: we wonder what to wear, how to get there, who to talk to first. Students’ families are adjusting their morning routines: What time must the morning alarm be set for now? Teachers are deciding about the structures they want to establish: What do these students need? Coaches are considering how to best allocate their time: Which teachers should they begin with? The volume of decisions that have to be made can cause decision fatigue.
 
Decision fatigue happens because decisions require mental energy. Even minor decisions make us stop, consider options, and determine what to do. There are lots of minor decisions to be made, and some major decisions, too. Often making one decision creates another choice. The cumulative cognitive load can be exhausting!
 
When making decisions, we may feel pressed to make the “right” choice, even when there isn’t a clear one. Because we care deeply about doing things well, our decisions become quite consequential in our minds. But beginning-of-year decisions involve judgment rather than certainty. Transitions require decisions without full information. Teachers, coaches, parents, and students have to make choices without knowing how those choices will play out. Teachers and coaches are especially conscious of the fact that their decisions affect others, adding extra weight to our decisions.
 
Relationship Discomfort
 
At the beginning of the new school year, even when returning to a familiar building, there will be new faces and new relationships to be established. That sixth-grader is hoping to see last years’ friends, but finds there’s no one he knows on the cross-country team. There’s a new teacher on the grade-level team that changes the whole dynamic. Similarly, these new teachers are unfamiliar to the coach, and relationships of trust need to be established.
 
Relationships aren’t just something we do, they are something we have to build while trying to figure everything else out. Because we don’t know people’s personalities, preferences, communication styles, expectations, or boundaries, even ordinary interactions require more thought. We may worry about good first impressions, and how to create connections. We wonder how we’ll be received. This vulnerability can make new relationships feel uncomfortable and even risky. Teachers might also be figuring out what they want to reveal to coaches – how comfortable they are with being open, how vulnerable they want to be. Relationships are built, not manufactured, and this takes time.
 
Identity Discomfort
 
For a new middle-schooler, the identity shift is palpable. He was the experienced one at this elementary school, but now he’s the newbie. How does a sixth-grader even act? The teacher, at the beginning of the school year, is shifting from her summer persona to the facilitator of learning. Maybe even changing classes taught or grade level. How is a STEM teacher different from a math teacher? How is a first-grade teacher different from a fourth-grade one? A huge identity shift happens for the teacher transitioning into a coaching role. How does the coach view her new self? How do others view her? Will she be considered credible?
 
Transitions can change not only what we do, but also how we understand who we are. Even positive changes usually mean letting go of something familiar.
We may be leaving behind an identity that felt comfortable, and now we are creating a new version of ourselves; we have to reconcile the old and new versions.
 
We know who we are in a particular setting, but transition unsettles that certainty. A new role might have us feeling like a beginner. Our responsibilities change, and people may see us differently. This can be true for students, teachers, and coaches. Changing roles can affect how others interact with us, which can require us to rethink how we interact with them. When our role or circumstances change, we may wonder, Where do I fit now?
 
Transition Discomfort
 
Discomfort during transitions isn’t a sign that anything is wrong. It just means that we’re adjusting. Recognizing the tensions of the unknown, of making countless decisions, of building new relationships, and of figuring out who we are in a new context can help us face those discomforts more intentionally. Transitions require that we get into a more conscious state – we can’t act out of habit. This offers the opportunity for planning, for purposeful creation. We get to design new spaces.
 
Coaches can minimize the unknown by getting clear about their roles and responsibilities) with themselves, their principals, and their teachers). Make sure the district calendar and the school’s master schedule are at your fingertips. Ink in testing dates. These steps make the upcoming year more known.

 
We can make big decisions in advance, and make them only once. Coaches can determine a coaching model they’ll use. (Of course, I recommend the GIR Model 😊, which integrates well with other coaching designs. If you’d like the GIR coaching conversation plan, click here). We can decide on our coaching master schedule, setting aside blocks of time for planning, observing, conferring, and our own professional learning. We can prioritize to-do lists for when unexpected small chunks of time pop up. Now the decision-making for this beginning-of-year transition feels manageable!
 
The relationships we maintain or establish with teachers are both personal and professional. When we get back together with our colleagues, it’s okay to spend some time catching up – it’s not a waste, because coaching is relational work. I was flattered recently when September Gerety recalled a time 10 years ago (!!!) that I brought mini Almond Joys to a meeting because at the previous one, she’d complained that someone had eaten all the Almond Joys (her favorites!). “Vicki was so focused on the work, I didn’t expect her to be paying attention to something like that,” she said. All these years later, both things stood out to her: my focus on the work and my gift of Almond Joys. As coaches, we are establishing both credibility and connection. Relationships matter.
 
Identity is closely-related to relationships, and we are working on both at the beginning of the school year, especially if we are morphing into coach as a new role. Which of your skills and passions especially lend themselves to your coaching work? How do you collaborate? How do you contribute? How do you lead? How do you promote teachers and students? How do you contribute to the culture and climate of the school? Considering these aspects of identity inform your transition into the new year.

Coaching identity is also forged by personal attributes such as presence, openness, positivity, and curiosity.  Humility, especially, is important because it establishes a productive horizontal stance with teachers, rather than a vertical, authoritative stance over them. They’ll respond better to a guide-by-the-side than a dictator-from-above. Humility and confidence can (and should) co-exist in the coaching role. (Shame and self-confidence are at opposite ends of one spectrum; Pride and humility are on a different continuum – and you know where we need to be on both of these gauges!) We can acknowledge and draw on teachers’ expertise and experience while sharing our own.
 
By proactively managing unknowns, decisions, relationships, and identities at the beginning of the school year, we can make this transition a productive one.
(For a Coach's Guide to Beginning-of-Year Transitions, click here.)
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Busting mentorship myths about coaching new teachers:
https://www.ascd.org/blogs/4-effective-strategies-for-teacher-mentors
 
Monday headlines for a peek at home life:
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/monday-headlines/
 
Why coaches need a “smile file”:
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/smile-file/
 
Formative assessments that inspire creativity:
https://www.edutopia.org/article/creative-formative-assessments/
 
Books about books (for all ages):
https://www.alitlife.com/2023/08/08/books-to-celebrate-book-lovers-day/
 
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: AUG2026 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!