My approach to teacher coaching is defined by five main principles: inquiry, practice, rapport, support, and outcomes.

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Inquiry: The most successful coaching occurs when there is collaboration and not a dynamic where the teacher is simply expected to listen to the coach without any input. As the instructional coach, you are the expert on teacher development. However, the teacher is also the expert of their classroom. There is context needed to accurately create goals and provide feedback. Asking questions helps ensure that I'm not making assumptions. Asking questions helps teachers feel like they are a part of the process which assists with rapport. Starting a meeting with asking the teacher how they are or how their day went assists with understanding their current mood and adds a human element to your meeting.

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Prompts I often give are:

• What is one thing that went well this week? (this is especially important if they were observed during a difficult lesson but you know they had some wins this week)

• Explain more about the thought process you had in planning the lesson

• Before we start, what is one challenge you're having so I can use that to frame part of our conversation?

• Have you used x,y,z strategy from....(follow up on a former next step, PD topic, etc.)

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Support: After I give feedback, I have to communicate the type of support teachers will receive to fee confident in executing their next step. To internalize feedback, I have to know the appropriate methods to ensure the teacher feels supported in implementing the feedback. I have to identify if the teacher needs real-time coaching, additional resources, modeling, or a follow up meeting.

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Rapport: The only time you speak to your teachers should not be during a debrief or planning meeting. Building rapport may initially happen during your meetings but it also can happen in the hallway, via texts, and also authentic gestures. People are more likely to trust in you when they feel you have an interest in who they are as a person. 

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Practice: It's awkward sometimes to practice but even as leaders it is important. A teacher may say they agree, or you may think they understand your feedback but then the execution is ineffective in the classroom. Embedding time for practice supports the teacher with not getting frustrated over misunderstandings and allows you to  give feedback in the moment. Another component I use is scripting. Practice may not always be getting up in front of the empty classroom and framing a task; it can also be working on a component of lesson planning. 

Example Practice: To anticipate student misconceptions, write down three check for understanding questions you can ask students prior to independent practice. 

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Outcomes: As leaders, we are often outcomes-driven because it is a part of our goals. However, for a teacher just trying to work on classroom management, or who is teaching a brand new curriculum, they may need reminders of the big picture. Creating realistic, yet high-leverage goals for student achievement helps teachers see the impact of their work.  Reminding teachers of what we are working toward helps with framing and internalization. For example, planning meeting outcomes can also be named at the start of a meeting. 

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Example outcome: __________will plan a responsive lesson based on priority standards not mastered on the recent assessment 

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