What’s Taking Up Your Coaching Time?

Emily is a school-based coach who’s deeply involved in her school community. She helps with morning announcements, assists with fundraisers, collaborates on Instagram reels with her principal, coordinates the annual readathon, and attends district literacy meetings. It’s no surprise that Emily is seen as a valued leader on campus. But there’s a downside: all these responsibilities chip away at the time she could be spending where it counts most—talking with teachers about instruction.
 
It’s a common coaching dilemma. With so many roles to juggle—some chosen, some assigned—coaches often find their time pulled in too many directions. When the to-do list grows too long, it becomes harder to engage in deep, sustained work with teachers. And without focused coaching time centered on instruction and student learning, the real impact of coaching gets diluted.
 
We know from research that coaching has the greatest effect on student learning when it includes activities like conferring with teachers, modeling strategies, observing classroom practice, and assessment-related activities.* These actions, especially when part of intentional coaching work, create space for meaningful collaboration. They lead to thoughtful reflection on student needs, instructional strategies, and curriculum planning—work that improves teaching and learning.
 
So how can coaches protect time for this important work?
 
It takes a mixture of structure and adaptability. A weekly agenda that allots the majority of your time to high-impact coaching practices ensures your commitment to these priorities. At the same time, flexibility is needed. Tasks shift, and surprises pop up during the course of the day, Coaching is opportunistic – sometimes a spontaneous hallway conversation can lead to a powerful coaching moment. The key is to stay grounded in what matters most and be intentional with how time is spent.
 
Spending your time on what matters most is important, so I’ve made a gift for you! If you’d like a free form that will track how you spend your time, click HERE and I’ll send you links to the form and to a video tutorial. Using this tool, you’ll end up with a nice pie chart of how your time is being used.
 
Teachers are eager to work with a coach when they see the impact on student learning. Student learning improves when coaches spend the majority of their time working with teachers (and planning for that work). If your schedule is overloaded with other activities, consider one change you might make next week to make teacher interactions a bigger piece of your pie.
 
*Elish-Piper, L., & L’Allier, S. K. (2011). Examining the relationship between literacy coaching and student reading gains in grades K–3. The Elementary School Journal, 112(1), 83-106.
Walpole, S. McKenna, .C., Uribe-Zorain, X., & Lamitina, D. (2010). The relationships between coaching and instruction in the primary grades: Evidence from igh-poverty schools. The Elementary School Journal, 111(1), 115-140.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Lessons for leadership:
 
https://chiefexecutive.net/from-one-pack-leader-to-another-five-lessons-of-leadership/
 
 
Ideas for getting to know students:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/revisiting-getting-to-know-my-students/
 
 
Recommendations for adolescents AI literacy:
 
https://districtadministration.com/article/ai-and-student-well-being-how-to-support-student-learners/
 
 
Using comics to support literacy (short video):
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6yqKm3zC1c
 
 
A beautiful, printable poster with quotes about banishing teacher burnout:
 
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el201806_takeaways.pdf
 
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!
 

Principal-Coach Agreements: On the Same Page

The new school year will be underway before we know it, so now is a good time to make sure you and your principal are on the same page when it comes to coaching roles and responsibilities. Across the country, coaches take many different forms, and assigned tasks vary. Assuming that you and your principal visualize your job in the same way can create problems for you, your principal, and the teachers you serve. Starting the year with a principal-coach agreement in place creates clarity and makes the work smoother and more effective.  
 
If you are a returning coach – heading back to the same school with the same principal – familiar coaching routines with well-established systems may already be in place. For others, coaching may be brand new, the coach may be in a new school, or the principal may have changed – or perhaps the coach’s role has never been clearly defined. In these cases, taking the time to clarify expectations through a principal-coach agreement can help create a more purposeful start to the year.
 
A principal-coach agreement outlines how the coach and principal will collaborate and what the coach’s responsibilities will look like. Putting these expectations in writing helps eliminate ambiguity and builds a shared understanding of the work ahead.
 
Key questions that a principal-coach agreement might address include:

·        What will communication between the coach and principal look like? How often will they meet?

·        Which teachers will the coach work with? (Ideally, every teacher!)

·        What content areas or topics will the coaching focus on?

·        What specific roles will the coach take on? (e.g., co-planning, modeling, analyzing student work)

·        How will coaching be embedded into the school day for teachers?

·        What boundaries around confidentiality will be honored in the teacher-coach relationship?

·        How will the success of coaching be measured?

·        What tools, time, or other resources are available to support the coach?

Coaching thrives with strong leadership. Research shows that when principals visibly support the coach’s expertise, affirm that all teachers benefit from coaching, and trust the coach to manage their time independently, teacher participation in coaching increases.*  A supportive principal and clearly defined coaching role are essential for success.**
 
To help you get started, I’ve created some tools to guide the development of a principal-coach agreement: reflection questions, templates, and samples that illustrate how others have approached this work. If you’d like to receive these resources, just fill out this form and I’ll send them your way.
 
Once you and your principal have reached clarity, think about how to share your agreement with staff. When teachers see the principal and coach working in partnership, it sets a powerful tone for the collaborative work ahead.
 
When I began as a literacy coach years ago, coaching was still a new thing – no other schools in my district had a coach, but my principal wanted to give it a try. We didn’t have a roadmap—we found our way together, often discussing questions like those listed above. While coaching has become much more common, it still varies widely from school to school. That’s why taking time to co-create a clear, shared vision at the beginning of the year is an important first step for the school year. Having a shared understanding of the work right from the start sets a tone that makes coaching effective.

* Matsumura, L. C., Sartoris, M., Bickel, D. D., & Garnier, H. E. (2009). Leadership for literacy coaching: The principal’s role in launching a new coaching program. Educational Administration Quarterly, 45(5), 655–693.
 
**Matsumura, L. C., Garnier, H. E., & Spybrook, J. (2012). The effect of content-focused coaching on the quality of classroom text discussions. Journal of Teacher Education, 63(3), 214–228. 

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

Saying “no” respectfully prevents burnout:
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/why-saying-no-can-be-a-smart-career-move
 
 
Coaching for “will” vs. “skill”:
 
https://www.smartbrief.com/original/dig-deeper-offers-a-framework-for-coaching-teachers
 
 
Rewarding intelligent rule-breaking fosters innovation:
 
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-algorithmic-mind/202507/how-to-teach-kids-to-break-the-rules-intelligently
 
 
Offering opportunities for students to keep thinking:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/alert-mistakes-in-progress/
 
 
Effective teacher-to-teacher communication:
 
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-importance-of-effective-teacher-to-teacher-communication-3194691
 
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!

Try This at Home: Don’t Interrupt

This week’s post is the final in the summer series, “Try This at Home.” Summer will continue on for a bit, but I’ll shift the focus here to getting ready for school. The practice for this week is, don’t interrupt. It’s a practice that will serve you well in any situation – now, with friends and family, and later, in your coaching work.
 
Reasons Not to Interrupt
 
Although we all likely fall into the interrupting trap at times, the damage of interrupting is intuitive. If we pause to consider, we’ll recognize some of the following reasons.
 
First, interrupting interferes with psychological safety. Psychological safety is the belief that you can speak up, take risks, and make mistakes without worrying that you might be humiliated or punished. Psychological safety is the foundation for trust and authentic connection. We want that at home and we need it to make coaching effective.
 
Interrupting can be viewed as disrespect. It sends the message that you feel the speaker’s words are unimportant. Interrupting dismisses the other person’s ideas, pushing your own ideas to the top.
 
Interrupting diminishes trust. It feels controlling, sending the message that the interrupter wants to drive the conversation. Others feel manipulated or undervalued.
 
Interruption disrupts thinking. Ideas that are in the process of being shared may not come to fruition, or at least aren’t fully expressed. Both the speaker and the interrupter miss out.
 
Jumping in too soon creates misunderstanding. The interrupter may make incorrect assumptions and respond based on their own interpretation rather than what was actually meant.
 
Of course, interruption interferes with listening. If you’re just listening for a chance to interrupt, you’re not really listening.
 
These real reasons should dissuade us from interrupting.
 
How to Avoid Interrupting
 
We know that interrupting has negative consequences, but it can be a hard habit to break – especially when our brains are spilling over with ideas we’d like to share. If interrupting is a habit,  not  interrupting  can become a habit, too. That’s why it fits well as a summer “Try This at Home” exercise. Here are some ideas to help you avoid interrupting.
 
To avoid interrupting, practice the pause. Take a breath and ask yourself, “Is it my turn to talk?” Stay focused and listening. Along with your own pause, wait for the speaker’s pause…It will come.
 
To avoid interrupting. pay attention to the tone and body language of the speaker. These give us cues about whether the speaker has finished. They also help us tune into their message so that we’ll be less-likely to disrupt it.
 
Be curious. Previous posts have talked about curiosity as a key coaching mindset, and it’s one that serves us well as we proverbially bite our tongues to keep from interrupting. Staying curious keeps the conversation open.
 
Another way we can avoid interrupting is to reserve judgment. Interruption often occurs when we feel the need to correct. Instead, keeping judgment at bay helps us listen longer.
 
Practice Now
 
There are four ways listed above to avoid interrupting, and each could serve as a cue or impetus. But we can’t do everything at once!  It might help to pick just one of these to start with. What will you do this week to avoid interrupting? Will you pause, attend to tone and body language, stay curious, or reserve judgment? What will be your first focus? I’m going to work on reserving judgment. Although it’s something I try to be mindful of, I know I could use more work with this, and judgment (especially to correct) is probably the main reason I interrupt some of the people in my personal life.
 
Avoiding interruption is something we can practice now and carry into our coaching work in the fall. When we don’t interrupt, we build trust, deepen understanding, and foster reflection – important for creating an effective coaching climate. Listening long will offer teachers the opportunity to explore their ideas out loud, honoring their agency and professionalism.
 
Interruption isn’t just a break in speaking – it’s a break in connection that creates distance. Patience and presence are the anecdotes we can cultivate this summer to replace the urge to interrupt.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

When collaborating, colleagues match complementary strengths:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/video/teacher-collaboration-matching-complementary-strengths
 
 
Nurturing independent readers:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/nurturing-independent-reading-lives-in-middle-school/
 
 
Recommendations for adolescents AI literacy:
 
https://districtadministration.com/article/ai-and-student-well-being-how-to-support-student-learners/
 
 
Two questions to ask a teacher before coaching:
 
https://hbr.org/2018/11/if-you-want-to-get-better-at-something-ask-yourself-these-two-questions
 
 
5 Risks New Teachers Should Take:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/new-teacher-risks
 
 
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!
 
Continuing with the "Try This at Home" summer theme, this week's post describes how conversational dynamics create relationships of power. I hope you'll gain insight for now and important practices you can carry into your coaching:
http://MyCoachesCouch.blogspot.com
 

Try This at Home: Speaking, Listening, and Power

As part of our “Try this at home” summer series, this week, I want to give you something to think about in your at-home conversations and relationships – something that I hope will offer insight you can carry with you into your coaching work. Let’s think about the relationships among speaking, listening, and power. This triad is represented in the dynamics of  power over,  power under,  and  power with.  Let’s explore each.
 
When we speak but don’t listen, we are exercising  power over  the person we are in conversation with. You might find yourself in this power dynamic when giving instructions to someone – maybe you are telling your teenager your expectations for their use of the family car; or, more appropriately, you might give a curse command to a toddler to keep them safe. Power over doesn’t usually serve a relationship well, but there are times when it’s deemed necessary.
 
A  power under  relationship is one in which you are listening, but not speaking. Maybe you are being told something by someone in a leadership position. Maybe you are holding your tongue because you don’t want to start an argument. While listening is important for any productive conversation, if that’s all you do there’s an unequal (and perhaps unhealthy) power dynamic in the situation. Power under relationships can feel suffocating.
 
In a  power with  relationship, we, and the person we are in conversation with, are both speaking  and  listening. This might be the situation with your partner or during a deep conversation with a trusted friend. There’s a give-and-take, equanimity and equality. Power with relationships are honoring, respectful, and productive.
 
Considering the power dynamics in our everyday conversational relationships can give us useful information about our inclinations and intentions and even about the relationships themselves. Pause for a moment and examine a few of the relationships in your life. Can you identify a situation (or a relationship) in which you engage in  power over  conversations? Can you remember a time when you were in a conversation that felt like a  power under  relationship? Which relationships in your daily life typically demonstrate  power with  conversations?
 
Working now to become more aware of conversational power dynamics will help you be sensitive to such situations in your coaching work. As you aim for more equitable power distribution on the daily this summer, you’ll fall into these patterns more naturally in your coaching work next fall.

This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
3 Ways to More “Aha” Moments in Coaching: 
 
http://www.growthcoaching.com.au/articles-new/3-ways-to-more-aha-moments-in-coaching
 
 
Build a reading pause pile to soothe, uplift, and inspire:
 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e183-permission-to-pause-how-short-stories-and-essays/id1631731255?i=1000713245426
 
 
Developing independent writers:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/developing-independent-writers/
 
 
7 ways to support students’ well-being:
 
https://www.schoolstatus.com/blog/7-ways-schools-can-support-k-12-students-mental-well-being
 
What one teacher learned from readers’ notebooks:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V2bWew1lTo&feature=emb_logo

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!

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

Try This at Home: Ask & Listen

Summer is the perfect time to practice a skill that you can take with you into your coaching next fall - being fully present in your conversations. This summer, you can be more intentional about asking questions to deepen relationships—with the people who matter most. Before we jump back into our coaching roles, we can sharpen our listening skills at the backyard BBQ, on a long walk, beside the pool, or wherever you gather.
 
Try taking a conversation (and a relationship) deeper by asking a friend or family member:
“What’s been on your mind lately?”
Then pause. Wait. Listen. Let their words lead. Stay curious. Follow up with:
“Say more about that.”
As you listen, practice reflecting back what you hear:
“Let me see if I’m understanding you right…”
You’re not just making conversation—you’re building connection. This practice helps grow the listening muscles that make your coaching stronger, more respectful, and more responsive.
 
An instructional coach is a listener and learner first. She meets with a teacher to listen to and learn about her concerns, strengths, and needs. Listening builds connections and fosters respect, trust, and safety. By listening first, the coach indicates that she is there to support the teacher in meeting her goals, not the other way around.
 
You can seek the teacher’s perspective by focusing not on what you know, but on what the teacher knows. As coaches attentively listen, teachers realize that their ideas and opinions are truly of interest.
 
Just like with friends and family, “What’s on your mind?” is a question that says, “Let’s talk about what matters most to you!” It’s a useful open-ended question to start a coaching conversation.
 
When I met with Anna, a special education teacher, I began the coaching conversation by asking, “What’s on your mind?” The conversation moved quickly to how her role as “co-teacher” in one class turned out to be a situation where she was basically being used as an aide, a role that was not satisfying for her and not as impactful for students as it could have been. We got straight to a need and began looking at the people and processes that were part of this situation.
 
“What’s on your mind?” cues reflection and sharing that sets you up for meaningful coaching work. And don’t forget the power of wait time! Asking, pausing, and listening lets us know where teachers are in their practice.
 
After listening, reflect back what the teacher has said – not in a parrot-like way, but in a way that shows you were paying attention and offers the teacher the chance to clarify. Saying, “Let me see if I got this right” gives the teacher the chance to think more deeply and strengthens your understanding of the teacher’s needs.
 
Just like with family and friends this summer, when school starts again, you can ask the teacher to, “Say more about that” to clarify your understanding as you continue listening.
 
Between friends and family, among coaches and teachers, asking authentic questions, listening, and reflecting back what you’ve heard are practices that deepen relationships, invite openness, and create space for new insights to emerge.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Tips for new instructional coaches:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-new-instructional-coaches-elena-aguilar
 
 
Barry Lane’s TedXTalk on the Power of Kindness:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzimmQaLzo8
 
 
Goals support independent math work:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/setting-personal-goals-for-math-independent-work/
 
 
Ideas for effective feedback:
 
https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy-posts/learning-feedback/
 
 
Questions for a team-coaching meeting on student engagement:
 
https://barkleypd.com/blog/instructional-coaches-working-with-plcs-and-teaching-teams/
 
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!

Practice This: Power of the Pause

It’s officially summer! Hopefully, that means you can have a different pace as you walk through the days. It’s also a good time to practice attributes and practices that work in your personal life and can be carried into your coaching work when school resumes.
 
Last week’s post describes the value of focusing on strengths. This week, let’s think about the power of the pause.
 
Taking a beat, a break, a brief recess in the flow of life has many benefits. This hesitation can help us to use our senses and be more fully-present. A wait can clear our focus, elevating what’s important. Pausing – especially when accompanied by a deep breath – reduces stress, sending calming hormones through our system. Pausing increases self-awareness and improves decision-making. There is power in the pause as we determine next steps.
 
In interactions with others, pausing helps us listen more deeply, improving communication as we respond, rather than react. A thoughtful silence after listening demonstrates respect. A well-timed pause can reduce tension and deflate an escalating situation. Pausing creates a gap that invites others into the conversation.
 
Pause and consider the two paragraphs you just read. Which of those benefits do you want in your day-to-day life this summer? How will you practice the pause? Maybe you’d like to grab a sticky note and write that single word – pause – on it. Maybe you want several of them, scattered around your house or on your car’s dashboard. You could write “pause” on your mirror with a marker, offering a reminder at the start of the day until pausing becomes your habit.
 
When the school year starts, you can carry this habit forward. In classrooms and coaching conversations, pausing will help us notice. We will see subtle shifts in emotion and understanding as we take a brief break to soak in the situation.
 
During coaching conversations, pauses support teachers’ thinking, giving them the space to reflect and generate their own insights. This pause supports teachers’ agency and professionalism. Coaches who pause resist the urge to jump in with their own solutions, creating, instead, teacher-directed learning. When we respond after pausing, our words will be aligned with teachers’ interests and goals.
 
This is why WAIT time is so important. You’ve thought about it for students, and it matters with teachers, too. I use this acronym for WAIT to remind me to pause: WAIT stands for Why Am I  Talking. This little acronym encourages me to hold my tongue and really consider what the teacher has been saying before jumping in. Waiting allows me to listen better, because while the teacher talks, my mind isn’t rushing ahead thinking about what I’m going to say in response – I know I’ll have time for that once she pauses. My response is better because I’ve really listened, and because I’ve allowed myself a few seconds to think about what I’ve heard. The pause pushes my own thinking to a higher level. That thoughtful pause also sends the message that I value what the teacher has said.
 
We have probably all been a victim, at one time or another, of a solution that was provided by someone who didn’t really understand the problem. My goal is to avoid that situation by talking less and listening more during coaching conversations. The pregnant pause – silence – sometimes makes us feel like no one is thinking. But, in actuality, that pause is usually when the highest-level thinking occurs, for both you and the teacher.
 
A thoughtful pause is important when asking questions. Silence sponsors a teacher’s thoughtful response, leaving room for the teacher to consider. It grants the teacher the opportunity to process both your question and her answer. This means not rushing in to fill the quiet with words of your own. A pause for uninterrupted thinking is a courtesy in teachers’ overfull days.
 
After asking a question, give teachers the gift of time and receptivity. Make eye contact. Don’t appear rushed or make the teacher feel rushed. When the teacher pauses, don’t be quick to give a response. Instead, ask them to “Say more about that.” Or say, “Yes, go on.” Or just pause and offer silence. There’s a wise Quaker saying that applies to coaching: “Never miss a chance to keep your mouth shut.”
 
This lack of action sounds like it should be easy, but waiting can be hard work! As we give our full attention to teachers’ thinking, we give them space to reflect. We give them space to wonder. We give them space to generate new ideas. It can be difficult to keep your mouth shut, to offer a silent, thought-filled pause – but the coaching rewards are worth it!
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Using number lines to support deeper understanding:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/developing-flexibility-with-number-lines/
 
 
Boosting comprehension through movement:
 
https://ccira.blog/2025/06/17/boost-student-comprehension-through-intentional-movement/
 
 
Skillsets for AI Literacy:
 
https://community.theeducatorcollaborative.com/prompting-progress-teaching-ai-literacy-in-the-classroom/
 
 
Using wordless picture books in middle school:
 
https://www.middleweb.com/37177/4-ways-to-teach-with-wordless-picture-books/

4 Ways to Build Safety in Coaching:
 
https://tinyurl.com/CoachingSafety
 
 
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!

Practice This: Enhancing Strengths

As we enter into the summer season, there’s a shift in the day-to-day tasks for coaches. Hopefully we’ll make time for rejuvenation and pause. The better we refill ourselves, the more we have to share with others.
 
Summer can also be a time to coach ourselves, practicing stances we’ll take with us into our coaching work later. One approach for coaching ourselves this summer is to set goals that focus on enhancing our strengths. We can reinforce and refine rather than attempting to do away with a chronic trouble. When we identify strengths and frame goals as positives, our motivation increases.
 
Summarize Strengths
 
When taking this approach, it’s helpful to begin by summarizing strengths. Instead of a list of lacks, catalog things you’re good at. For practice this summer, this list can include a range of physical, intellectual, social, and emotional attributes. Divide a blank sheet of paper into 4 quadrants and label with these 4 categories; then begin listing your strengths. For example, I’m including hiking in my physical section, theorizing for intellectual, listening in the social section, and self-efficacy in emotional. Of course, adjust categories so that they make sense for you.
 
Identify Focus
 
Once you’ve got an index that includes many of your strengths, review the list and put a star by a few you’d like to enhance this summer. Next, think about how you can take these assets to the next level. Build a goal based on previous wins. How will you boost them? It’s helpful to write out a concrete statement. For example, my short-term hiking goal is to walk at least 1 mile at least 4 times per week, with each walk including an incline (my long-term dream goal is to hike the Alps with my siblings!).
 
Identity Shift
 
When we focus on strengths, we are becoming more of our best self – the person we envision ourselves to be. We reflectively ask, “What went well?” and “When have I had success in a situation like this before?” Building on strengths makes it easier to see goals as an identity shift rather than a to-do list. We visualize and celebrate successes and cultivate an attitude of becoming. Even if the changes are tiny ones, we are re-forming and transforming ourselves in positives ways.
 
Strengths-Based Coaching
 
This summer, as you take a strengths-based approach to reaching your own goals, you’ll be developing a stance that you can take with you into your coaching work in the fall. Strengths-based coaching amplifies assets, building on the valuable skills and experiences teachers have had that can be leveraged for growth in teacher practice and student learning. You will look for what’s working well – routines, relationships, strategies, and content expertise – and use these as a foundation for your coaching work. You will look for possibilities, not problems, as you work side-by-side with teachers, acknowledging their voice, agency, and expertise. It may not be your only or always approach, but strengths-based coaching can be a helpful tool – especially when you are establishing new coaching relationships and when teachers are experiencing doubt or lack of self-efficacy. And this summer is a good time to practice strengths-based coaching on yourself!

This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
10-Minute Podcast: 5 awesome things for teachers to do this summer:
 
https://www.coolcatteacher.com/5-awesome-things-for-teachers-to-do-this-summer/
 
Fun with words:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/vocabrity-fun-with-words-for-middle-school-students/
 
Kindergarten relationship skills that predict college success:
 
https://www.inc.com/amy-morin/kindergarteners-with-these-two-skills-are-twice-as-likely-to-get-a-college-degree-according-to-a-19-year-study.html
 
 
Handling negative coaching responses:
 
http://cultureofcoaching.blogspot.com/2018/04/how-do-you-handle-angry-or-negative.html
 
AI and writing instruction:
 
https://community.theeducatorcollaborative.com/processes-problems-and-possibilities-where-2025-finds-us-with-ai-in-writing-instruction/
 
 
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!

My Coaches Couch Top 10

Last week, this blog passed the 300,000 view mark. I thought this was a good time to point you toward the most-viewed posts so that you can revisit or discover the content that has drawn the most attention. So, let’s take a look at My Coaches Couch top 10, in count-down fashion (each post is linked):
 
Let’s get started with the #10 spot!
 
#10 Celebrating Success
This end-of-school-year post talks about giving teachers the space to reflect on their own accomplishments. Reflection helps teachers see that their hard work and persistence have paid off!
 
#9 Teach the Teacher
When coaching, we often deflect attention from the teacher to provide a safe space for conversations about the art and craft of teaching. Those safe spaces are important, but ultimately, improving instruction is about the teacher. Find out more about using specific examples from instruction to strike a balance that leads to change.  
 
#8 Modeling as Translation
This super-short post describes “fishbowl” modeling for students and likens the benefits to those of coaches modeling for teachers.
 
#7 Working with “Pumpkin Patch Teachers”
This post rolled out just before Halloween, which may account for its viewability. 😊 However, I think the content is relevant for coaches as well – How to work with a teacher who is desperately hanging on to old ways. 
 
#6 Be a Data Explorer
This is the concluding post in a series of 4 that describe protocols for collaborative data exploration (links to the other posts, with the protocols described, are also included). Using these protocols reduces unproductive change.  
 
#5 Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching
This post provides an overview of the GIR model and how it accounts for the differences among teachers in experience and expertise, including how these factors change over time.
 
#4 Using Third Points
During two-point communication, teacher and coach are looking directly at each other, which is usually helpful in building coaching relationships. But if a conversation might be difficult, it helps to shift to third-point communication. In this post, you can learn about possible third-points and why they’re useful.
 
#3 Funneling or Focusing: Using Questions to Support Thinking
Asking questions is the fulcrum of the GIR model, the coaching move that gives the bulk of the decision-making to the teacher. This post describes funneling and focusing questions, including examples of how and when to use each.
 
#2 Coaching Roles & Responsibilities
Included is a description of the coaching roles that, according to research, make the biggest impact. This post also includes a link to a template for a principal-coach agreement – important for getting the two of you on the same page.
 
Drum roll, please! The most-viewed post on the bog is….
 
#1 Coaches & Teachers: The Intersection of Greatness
This post compares the collaborative work of coaches and teachers to the confluence of strong rivers. When coach and teacher join together to form a single channel of thought, there is symmetry in the relationship, 
 
I hope you’ll take the opportunity to peruse some of these posts as we mark this milestone!
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

As a coach, it helps to be likeable.  J  Here are 13 habits of likeable people (maybe we can work on these over the summer!):
 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2015/01/27/13-habits-of-exceptionally-likeable-people/
 
 
Creating belonging fosters learning:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/picture-books-for-mental-wellness/
 
 
Are graphic novels real reading?
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7oLlFR2uKg&feature=youtu.be
 
 
Brain breaks for high-schoolers (and all ages!):
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/17-brain-breaks-tailored-for-high-schoolers/
 
 
Regie Routman describes how to build the trust students need to learn:
 
https://www.middleweb.com/37101/10-ways-to-build-the-trust-kids-need-to-learn/
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
Want more coaching tips? Check out my book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner, available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: 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!