5 C’s of Motivation: Not Just for Students

Whether we're thinking about students, teachers, coaching, or even ourselves during the summer months, 5 factors make a difference when it comes to motivation: control, choice, challenge, connection, and construction of meaning.
 
Control
Control is the feeling that our actions matter, that we can have an influence on what happens. Control is the belief that our effort, decisions, and actions have an impact on the outcome.
 
This summer, you can recognize the impact of control in the tasks you do and those you see others do. There’s a difference between spending a day completing obligations chosen by someone else versus doing a project you've decided to tackle yourself. Whether it's learning a new skill, tackling a home improvement project, or organizing a neglected space, control fuels persistence.
 
In classrooms, control might look like students deciding how to approach a task, setting goals, monitoring their progress, or reflecting on their learning. Even when everyone is working toward the same learning target, students are more motivated when they feel ownership over the process.
 
This same principle applies to coaching. Teachers are more invested when they help identify the focus of coaching conversations, determine next steps, and evaluate their own progress. When coaching becomes something done with teachers rather than to teachers, motivation increases.
 
When motivation seems low, we can consider: Is there an opportunity for meaningful influence over the process?
 
Choice
Choice means having options. At home, choice may be one reason summer feels refreshing. We can choose which book to read, which hobby to pursue, or how to spend a free afternoon.
 
For teachers, choice might look like offering students a choice between two books, selecting a project topic, or deciding whether to make an oral presentation, a video, or a written product. For coaches, choice might mean offering teachers different ways to engage in professional learning.
 
Having choices allows learners to align tasks with their interests and preferences, which makes learning more inviting and personal. To consider how choice is influencing motivation, we can ask: Do the choices offered feel meaningful and create opportunities for ownership?
 
Challenge
Having the right level of challenge influences motivation: too easy, and we’re not motivated; too hard, and we’re not motivated. The sweet spot offers just the right level of difficulty – we can accomplish it, but it’s a stretch. Effort and thinking are required, but it still feel attainable. Productive difficulty means there’s a bit of a struggle, but not discouragement. Are you stretching yourself this summer, tackling a task that you really have to reach for?
 
Teachers’ motivation might be high when they take on a goal that pushes them beyond their current comfort zone. Students can feel motivation to tackle a complex problem or persevere through a difficult concept with support. As a coach, you’ve probably found yourself looking for this “just right” tension. With novice teachers, I’m often considering which of the things I’ve noticed will be most beneficial to bring up – what is an instructional aspect that is almost within reach?
 
Motivation increases when success is not guaranteed, but growth feels possible. To check on this characteristic, we can ask: Is the work stretching without overwhelming?
 
Connection
When we see how the new thing we are doing connects with past learning and experiences, we feel more motivated. Learning matters when we see connections to other people, real purposes, our own community, or our identity.
 
Outside of work, connection is often what draws us into activities in the first place. We volunteer because we care about a cause. We spend time with family because relationships matter. We learn new skills because they align with our interests or identity.
 
In classrooms, connection might involve linking content to previous learning and experiences or helping students see how learning applies beyond school. In coaching, connection often begins with relationships and grows when coaching conversations focus on goals that matter to the teacher and the students they serve.

 
When motivation is lacking, it can be helpful to ask: “How does this connect with what I know and have experienced? Why does this matter to me, to others, or to the world?”
 
Construction of Meaning
We construct meaning when we are actively making sense of ideas rather than simply receiving information. Instead of memorizing, we interpret, apply, question, and create. Knowledge isn’t delivered, it is built. What new knowledge will you build this summer?
 
Coaching creates space for this sense-making process. Rather than providing all the answers, coaches ask questions that help teachers notice, interpret, and draw conclusions for themselves.
 
Learning feels more motivating when we construct understanding rather than passively consuming information. To check on construction of meaning, we can ask, “Are people making sense of ideas for themselves, or are they simply completing tasks and following directions?”
 
Reflecting on the 5 C’s
For students, teachers, and (really!) anyone trying to do anything, motivation is influenced by the conditions that are created. When there is control, choice, challenge, connection, and construction of meaning, motivation is more likely. Maybe that's one reason we look forward to summer: it might offer more of the conditions that help motivation thrive.
 
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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, you might want to take a look at:

Why use humor in the classroom? Here are many reasons:
 
http://www.middleweb.com/5053/humor-in-the-classroom/
 
 
AI research skills for middle-schoolers:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-annotated-bibliography-middle-school
 
 
Making data review more personal:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/making-data-review-more-personal/
 
 
The Big List of Class Discussion Strategies (podcast or text):
 
http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/speaking-listening-techniques/
 
 
You’ll think of lots of uses for this book, 10-Minute Inservice:
 
https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Ten_Minute_Inservice.html?id=fHTCBwAAQBAJ
 
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: MAY2026 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!

Pause and Ponder: What Stands Out from Your Coaching This Year?

The districts in my area wrapped up the school year this week, and Sandi took the time to pause with me and reflect on her third year as a coach. We talked of her proud accomplishments and also how she wanted to come back when August rolls around. Sandi is proud of the way she laid a uniform foundation by meeting throughout the year with every team in her school, discussing schoolwide goals. She is proud of how she has moved from putting out fires to a more systemic coaching approach. And she has thoughts about how to take the coaching deeper next year by providing PD, helping teachers select their own related goals, and creating an authentic coaching rhythm that supports teachers in achieving those goals.  
 
If you are no longer moving at full speed with end-of-year meetings, post-conversations, celebrations, classroom cleaning and a long list of things that need attention before summer officially begins, I invite you to pause and ponder; What has this year of coaching meant to you and the teachers you work with? What will you take with you into next year, and what will you leave behind? Coaches spend so much of the year helping teachers reflect that it can be easy to skip reflection for ourselves. Let’s make a space to stop and notice.
 
What’s Worth Celebrating?
Our brains are wired to see the negative – an approach that could serve us well if we were being chased by a predator, but isn’t as useful for our everyday lives (thankfully!). When you pause to think back on this school year, push negative thoughts aside for a moment and consider:
 
*What’s something you’re proud of?
*What was a strong decision you made?
* What effective practices did you see teachers start using?
* Where did you create momentum?
 
Honor the work that you’ve done, noticing what went well. Reflection can help us notice what we might otherwise overlook. It’s worth slowing down long enough to note the impact you’ve had. Growth often shows up in quiet ways.
 
What Stands Out?
As you look back on the year, what stands out? What feels most memorable? What moments do you hope will stay with you? Recognizing significant moments helps us make meaning from our experiences rather than simply moving through them. It helps us reconnect with our purpose. Whether we are noticing the impact of our work or the places where we fell short, revisiting significant moments elevates the lessons learned. We can recognize what we now know about relationships, decision-making, communication, or practice. We see not just what happened, but what mattered.
 
What Was Learned?
As you sit with the year for a moment, looking back on highlights and hard moments, notice the threads that connected your work. Maybe you learned some principles, like slowing down instead of solving problems, distributing the work, or prioritizing relationships. Or maybe it was skills that improved – practical things like how to ask better questions or how to protect your time. Reflection helps experience evolve into wisdom.
 
What Stops?
A fruitful end-of-year question is:
 
*What do you want to leave behind?
 
Framing it this way makes a shift in practice feel like a lighter load. Are there things that didn’t work that you don’t want to repeat? Are there things that were just too much – too much time, too much effort, too much of you doing the problem-solving? Did you overcommit? Strive for unattainable perfectionism? Feel pressured to have all the answers? If you carried something this year that has become too heavy, put it down. Reflection can help you disrupt unproductive patterns.
 
How Do You Want To Come Back?
The things you celebrated might be things to step back into when the new school year starts. Name them. List them. Then you’ll remember them without having that uncomfortable feeling of holding it all somewhere in your brain over the summer.
 
You might also have ideas about stepping in with something new. What’s the next iteration? What do you want to do? What do you want to be? Do you want to be:
 
*More curious?
*More present?
*More focused?
*More courageous?
*More balanced?
 
When I met with Sandi today, the words depth and authentic kept coming to her mind, creating a vision for how she wants to come back.
 
Give Yourself a Gift
Before you step away from this school year, give yourself the gift that you so often give to others: the opportunity to reflect, notice growth, and think forward with hope. Pause and celebrate. Ponder what stands out, what was learned, what stops, and what will start when the new year gets underway. Reflection can remind you why coaching matters.
 
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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, you might want to take a look at:

Finding the middle ground – Teaching the pros and cons of AI in ELA:
 
https://www.the74million.org/article/why-the-middle-path-of-ai-literacy-may-be-the-future-of-english-class/
 
 
Teaching morphology in early elementary:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-morphology-elementary-school
 
 
Using drawing meaningfully in ELA:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/three-meaningful-ways-to-incorporate-drawing-in-english-class/
 
The importance of the first 5-years for brain development (brought to you by in this TED talk by a 7-year-old):
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aISXCw0Pi94
 
 
How to increase the chances that your feedback gets heard:
 
https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/creating-a-culture-of-feedback
 
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: MAY2026 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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Coaches as Teachers’ Cheerleaders: In Praise of Praise

It’s the time of year when there’s a count down on the calendar. Even though there are lots of things to get done between now and the end of the school year, it’s important to make space for the positive so that coaches and teachers end the year on a high note. One way to do that is through purposeful, specific praise – the kind of praise that helps teachers see exactly what is working in their practice and why it matters.
 
“That think-pair-share was quick and focused – so effective!”
 
“The photos that you showed got students so excited for their project!”
 
“The Venn diagram really worked as a pre-writing strategy today!”
 
Comments like these not only brighten someone’s day, they reinforce effective instructional decisions. They help teachers recognize the moves worth repeating. When we shine a light on effective practices, we increase the likelihood that those practices will continue. Research shows that praise is an important practice for fostering teacher growth and reflection. Growth flourishes in environments where people feel respected, encouraged, and capable. And when teachers feel effective, students benefit too.
 
A teacher who hears, “The way you focused students on the learning objective and included self-assessment was outstanding,” is likely to intentionally include these practices as an ongoing part of his instruction.  He’ll probably also be a more resourceful problem-solver who looks for creative solutions to help his students grow.  As one teacher explained, “Praise gets me searching for new and innovative things on my own.” 
 
“Great job,” might produce a momentary happy high, but, “Great job – those open-ended questions really got students thinking!” has a lasting impact.
 
I was in a meeting with a group of elementary teachers when they started reminisced about a favorite principal from years earlier. “She was in our rooms so much, sometimes we didn’t even notice she was there,” they said.  “Then we’d find a note in our box pointing out something we’d done well.”  “It made me want to try harder,” a teacher said.  “I wanted to be as good as she thought I was,” said another. Praise motivated these teachers to try harder and be better.  It lifted them and encouraged them to keep going, even when the going got hard.
 
Praise provides encouragement. At this busy time of year, a small moment of recognition can be the thing that keeps a teacher going. When coaches notice and name effective practice, we help teachers see their own strengths more clearly.
 
Rita Pierson famously said that every child deserves a champion. I think teachers do, too. Instructional coaches are uniquely positioned to be those champions — people who cheer teachers on by noticing growth, celebrating progress, and reminding teachers how much their work matters.
 
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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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Ideas for end-of-year learning:
 
https://www.middleweb.com/29647/make-end-of-year-learning-meaningful-fun/
 
 
The value of rereading picture books:
 
https://teachersbooksreaders.com/2021/02/22/read-them-again-and-again-and-again/
 
 
Reasons and resources for teaching empathy:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/empathy-classroom-why-should-i-care-lauren-owen
 
 
Vocabulary activities fun enough for the end of the year:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/quick-vocabulary-practice-and-assessment/

Happy to be #10 on this list:
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-L4wmooudw 

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!
 

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

Coaching in the Home Stretch: Finishing Strong with Reflection & Celebration

We’re coming into the home stretch. It’s May.  In many places, testing is behind us, and what remains is the delightful work of wrapping up the year. The calendar is still full, but the tone has shifted—there’s a sense of celebration in the air. Teachers feel a bit more flexibility, and there’s a shared desire to finish on a high note.
 
For instructional coaches, this stretch is about putting the finishing touches on what’s been done—showcasing growth, reflecting on progress, and honoring the effort it took to get here.
 
The Finale of a Coaching Cycle
 
This time of year marks the natural closing of coaching cycles. Think of this as your swan song – not an ending, but a finale—one that reflects confidence in what teachers can now do independently.
 
You’ve worked alongside teachers, helping them try new practices, refine their instruction, and respond to student needs. Now, those practices have become part of their repertoire.
 
As you near the end of a coaching cycle, you are naming strong decisions and celebrating effective practices. Specific, personalized praise becomes the most appropriate and powerful coaching move. That’s what happened in my end-of-year coaching conversation with Norah.
 
After watching a lesson in Norah’s classroom, we sat down together and I asked, “Thinking back on the math lesson, what stands out to you?”  She launched into a description of how she used their morning work to transition into the lesson; she started the description by saying, “Something that I really liked was…” She said she was able to “prime their minds” for the upcoming lesson. I loved that phrase and used it in my follow-up comment. “Yes, it primed them for it – they were ready to think about fractions.”
 
Because Norah started our conversation with a discussion of the beginning of the lesson, I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to talk about another positive aspect of the start. After affirming the smooth transition from morning work to math lesson, I asked her to talk about her decision to start the lesson by “hooking them on the why.” Before launching into the math content, Norah had asked students, “Why are we even talking about fractions? When do we use fractions?” Norah wanted students to recognize that what they were learning was actually relevant to their lives. Responding to Norah’s question, students launched into a long list of ways fractions could show up in their lives: cooking, measuring, construction, cutting up bread, making video games, and even middle-school science class.
 
I tied Norah’s description back to a topic we’d talked about together many times: class discussion. The goal had been for students to take more ownership for whole-class discussions, rather than ping-ponging back and forth between teacher and student – and it happened during this discussion, as students built off of one-another’s ideas about the relevance of fractions. That was something to celebrate!
 
During this final coaching conversation, even the one recommendation I made was wrapped up in an affirmation. Something I’d noticed as Norah listed students’ ideas about fraction use on the board was that many of the comments were morphed into something for future job use; when students talked about cooking, Norah mentioned a job as a cook or baker; when they talked about measuring, Norah mentioned a job in construction. When they talked about measuring in middle-school science, she talked about a career as a scientist. While career insights were worth highlighting, I wanted to make sure Norah recognized the value of the more-immediate applications students were bringing up. So as our discussion of the discussion continued, I said, “That makes me think about…” and I brought up the middle-school science lab example mentioned by a student. Norah nodding, remembering. Then I said, “I thought that comment was especially interesting, because it wasn’t about the long-term future, it was about something they’d been thinking a lot about – that transition to middle school. That seemed like a really authentic, important connection.” Norah brightened up, “It was a point of excitement!” she said, launching into a description of their enthusiasm about both science and middle school and saying, “I definitely think that was an authentic connection.”
 
Our conversation continued as Norah and I took turns bringing up positive parts of the lesson: Her effective modeling, giving students classroom responsibilities, using all-respond techniques (and expecting all to respond!). We talked about her probing questions (“How do you know?”) and even the specific words she used, as I commented: “I loved the way you framed the practice by saying, ‘You’re about to get a chance to show what you know as far as ordering fractions goes.” Norah and I talked about the power of those words.
 
This is what the end of a coaching cycle can look like: a conversation filled with specific, grounded praise that helps a teacher see just how far they’ve come.
 
Making Space for Reflection

One of the greatest gifts coaches can offer teachers is the chance to pause and reflect. In the rush to finish everything on the checklist, it’s easy to overlook the good things happening and just how much growth has occurred. Creating intentional space for reflection allows teachers to see that their hard work has paid off.
 
Sometimes this happens naturally within coaching conversations, like it did with Norah. Other times, it’s helpful to build in structured opportunities.  During team meeting in May, I’ve let music prompt reflection, playing the Beatles song, “In My Life,” followed by Trace Adkins’s, “You’re Gonna Miss This,” while teachers reflected on their best memories of the year, what would stick with them, and how they had changed. Then they shared a memory or celebration with their shoulder partner. The mood in the room was noticeably brighter. 
 
A creative twist on supporting teacher reflection is to ask teachers to reflect on each others’ successes. The “Strength Circle” protocol offers this opportunity.  Each teacher is given an envelope and a blank piece of paper.  They write their name on the outside of the envelope, fold the blank paper, and tuck it inside.  Then everyone gathers in a circle. Once in a circle, everyone passes their envelope to the right. With each passing of the envelope, teachers take out the paper and write a strength they recognize in their peer. Encourage them to describe a specific time they noticed this strength. After a minute or so, the paper goes back in the envelope and the envelope is passed. Repeat several times to give each teacher a happy list of strengths they can celebrate and continue to cultivate. This activity can be done with teams or the whole faculty and staff (be sure participants know each other well enough to be specific about strengths). Moments of reflection shape how teachers carry their work forward.
 
Appreciation Lasts
 
The final coaching conversations of the year can be lighter, more reflective, and filled with affirmation. As teachers revisit goals that once felt distant, they recognize the good work they’ve done. When we help teachers see their strengths clearly, we celebrate and also set the stage for continued growth.
 
As you move through these final weeks, celebrate the wins, both big and small. Finishing strong isn’t about doing more—it’s about seeing, and helping others see, how much has already been accomplished.
 
When my efforts are focused on helping teachers recognize their strengths, I’ve noticed that I am more buoyant!  This work of affirmation not only benefits the teacher, it lifts us, too.
 
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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, you might want to take a look at:

An end-of-year teacher reflection template:
 
https://wpvip.edutopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Edutopia_Copy_of_Reflections_and_Directions_Table_Version_-_Google_Docs.pdf
 
 
Student-planned end-of-year celebration:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/student-planned-end-of-year-celebration/
 
 
Maximizing coaching in the month of May:
 
https://dianesweeney.com/maximizing-coaching-month-may/
 
 
How to supercharge adult learning:
 
https://learningforward.org/2026/04/21/supercharging-your-adult-learning-its-better-together/
 
 
Pros and cons of homework:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/whats-right-amount-homework
 
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: APR2026 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!