This blog series will take you on a journey where we’ll delve into six foundational practices that embody how leaders can embrace a coaching mindset. Each practice serves as a stepping stone, guiding us towards instructional change and student success. Together, we’ll explore how coaching builds will, skill, knowledge, and capacity, breathing life into the aspirations of educators, leaders, and the futures of the students they serve. 

• Part 1 of the series can be found HERE. 
• Part 2 of the series can be found HERE

If you are in the field of education, you are acutely aware that time constraints can become a barrier to the growth and development of educators. To address this challenge, I have strived to make every interaction with the educators in my immediate learning community and beyond as intentional as possible. 

Recently, I revisited Adam Grant’s Re: Thinking Learning podcast. I came across a powerful statement from guest Brené Brown, “Who we are, is how we lead.” This statement deeply resonated with me. At my core, I will always view myself as a teacher and a coach. It is through my background in instructional coaching and my continuous pursuit of growth including engaging in professional learning, reflective writing, reading insightful books, listening to podcasts, and observing the actions of exceptional teachers and leaders, I deeply value the impact of leading through a coaching mindset.

Through my progression from teacher, to reading specialist to instructional coach and now administrator, I have dedicated a substantial amount of time thinking about the type of leader I needed and aspire to be. While I deeply miss having a classroom and students to call my own, one of the greatest gifts is stepping into the classrooms of others, where I get to observe and learn from teachers on a regular basis. This introspection has motivated me to seek out ways in which I can continue to create nurturing spaces where teachers thrive, discover their gifts, and infuse their work with a profound sense of meaning and purpose. Additionally, I can curate the best instructional practices and cross pollinate those ideas to lift instructional practice in more classroom spaces.

Practice 3: Lift Instructional Practice

I am going to introduce you to two concepts that can empower you to elevate instructional practice as you embrace a coaching mindset. Some of you might already be familiar with these ideas, which is fantastic. However, for others, these concepts may be entirely new. Regardless of your familiarity, I encourage you to consider integrating these two ideas into your educational framework in a way that best suits your needs and goals.

Lift Instructional Practice in Learning Spaces

1. Listening and learning inside classroom spaces: This is an essential practice, as we are all both learners and teachers within learning spaces. I consider it a privilege to enter these learning environments, whether formally or informally, as it offers valuable insights into teaching and learning. From student engagement and empowerment to instructional strategies and classroom environment, I find it invigorating to witness vibrant learning environments where both students and teachers flourish. Upon entering a classroom, I pose the following questions to myself:

• What activities are the students engaged in?
• How is the teacher facilitating student learning?
•  What elements of the classroom environment support the learning process? (This includes examining classroom artifacts, student resources, whiteboards, digital boards, and anchor charts.)

2. Model what you want to see and cross pollinate ideas 

In my role, I’ve taken on the responsibility of guiding professional learning in literacy instruction. I’ve shared numerous high-impact instructional practices, inviting educators to incorporate them into their classrooms. Conducting lab site visits, where I personally model lessons, has been both meaningful and rewarding. By immersing myself in the teachers’ experience and embracing vulnerability, I gain valuable insights into the planning, learning, and teaching process. This approach allows me to empathize more deeply with teachers, understanding both their successes and struggles. During a lab site visit where I lead the teaching, I follow this protocol:

• Classroom Introduction: Before I talk to the teachers, I introduce myself to the students in a grateful voice and tell them that the teachers and I are there to learn WITH and FROM them! I express how excited I am to be a part of the experience. Then, I tell them to turn and talk to their partner about a relevant topic. One time I asked them to share “What was the last book you read? Would you recommend it to a friend and why?” This gives me a few minutes of time to talk with the teachers prior to the lesson.

• Pre-meeting: I convene the teachers within the classroom space and distribute lab site guides customized to the specific goals and objectives of the lesson. Alongside the guide, I clearly outline the purpose of the day’s visit and lesson, ensuring everyone is aligned with the intended outcomes. I emphasize the collaborative nature of the process and welcome any questions or clarifications from participants. It’s crucial to establish an atmosphere of collaboration rather than evaluation, fostering a supportive environment that encourages other teachers to volunteer as host teachers for future lab site visits.

Here is an example of a recent lab site focus:

For today’s visit, our purpose is to hone in on the language and pacing of the components within a mini lesson. This focus aims to streamline lessons, allowing students more time for extensive writing and providing teachers with additional time for small groups and personalized instruction.

I also include a popular spin on a Project Zero Visible Thinking Routine titled “See, Think, Wonder” from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and simply have a space in a T-Chart that says, What do you notice? What do you wonder? What do you hear? This open-ended, simple protocol invites the teachers to share their thinking in a low stakes manner.

Teaching: As I deliver the lesson, the teachers are usually sitting in close proximity to the students and me and are jotting their notes with the purpose in mind. It’s easy to get caught up in all of the components of a lesson, but when there is a laser focus, it calibrates the experience for all of the educators involved. Then, we can notice, wonder, and share our thinking about the same focus.

Debriefing: After the lesson, the teachers and I debrief right inside the classroom. Debriefing is an opportunity to talk about and reflect on the classroom learning experience. Remember that small moves can have a big impact. As my friend Meghan Lawson shared in her best selling  book Legacy of Learning, “It doesn’t have to be complicated to be impactful.” It’s true, making a lab site visit too complex and formal CAN make it a rigid experience. I have found that in order to bring the best out in our colleagues, we have to create environments that are safe and comfortable. Here are the questions/prompts I ask/use during a debriefing session:

• What did you notice?
• What did you wonder?
• What did you hear?
• Tell us more about that…
• What are one or two small moves you can implement tomorrow to lift your instructional practice?

These questions are entry points to spark and add onto one another’s ideas. As the educators are sharing the ideas, I am jotting them down on my lab site form. What strikes me as most  interesting is that it’s incredible to be in the same space with a group of educators and students and they see and hear the learning through different lenses. Everyone brings their own experiences and perspectives to an experience. Being open to receiving the variety of ideas is what truly energizes the learning environment, making the process both engaging and exciting.

Evidence of Learning: On the same day of the lab site visit, I will send the teachers a plus/delta feedback digital form. I took to ChatGPT to provide us with a simple description of what the form is: “A plus/delta form is a feedback tool with two sections: “plus” for positives and “delta” for changes or improvements. It helps assess what went well and what could be improved in a given experience or process.” I simply ask two questions: What went well today? Where are their opportunities for improvement?

I compile the feedback from teachers into a spreadsheet, incorporating insights gleaned from our debriefing sessions. This invaluable information serves as an important resource that I share with teachers before embarking on new lab site learning experiences. By leveraging this information, we can seamlessly bridge past learning encounters with future ones, strengthen existing connections, and nurture continual growth and development.

Moving Forward: 
Leading through a coaching mindset and striving to make every interaction with educators in your learning communities as intentional as possible can lift instructional practice and pave the way for continuous learning and growth for educators and students alike. So, I ask, What is one small move you can implement tomorrow to lead through a coaching mindset and lift instructional practice? Remember, it doesn’t have to be complicated to be impactful.