In two decades as an educator, I’ve attended countless workshops, devoured professional books, articles and podcasts, and engaged in powerful learning experiences. But the learning that shaped me most? It came from coaching cycles, hallway conversations, and intervisitations where educators opened their doors, their hearts and minds, sharing what worked, wondering aloud, and learning alongside one another.

I always reflect on my years as an instructional coach. I do that often because it shaped the way I lead and learn. I can clearly recall a conversation with a former colleague. “Wasn’t that role great?” she said. “It was a the perfect stepping stone into administration.” While that may be true for some, I quickly replied with something like this: “When I became an instructional coach, it was so much more than a stepping stone. I saw it as a calling. It placed me on the front lines with teachers, helping to cross-pollinate great ideas and spotlight the brilliance already thriving within our schools. That mindset of listening, noticing, and nurturing has followed me into every leadership role since.”

I share the following sentiments in my book, The Leader Inside, “When you see greatness in someone, say it. When you believe in someone, tell them. When you feel purpose rising in your work, share it out loud. Because naming it can help someone else step into it.”

Coaching doesn’t stop when you step into leadership. In fact, it becomes even more important. Because building systems that elevate teacher voice, encourage shared learning, and lead with intention is how we ensure students don’t just succeed today but thrive in the world ahead.

Coaching with the Portrait of a Graduate in Mind

So how can leading with a coaching mindset deepen our work with the Portrait of a Graduate?

I’m using this question as an example because this work can’t just be about posting a new framework on the wall or designing an awesome infographic with your teams…although those are great starting points. It’s about noticing, naming, and living the values behind those words. It’s about creating the conditions for students and educators to become the kind of thinkers, citizens, and collaborators the future demands.

You can read more about how my colleagues and I approached this in my earlier post, Layering Learning: A Protocol for Educators to Deepen Reflection and Connection.

The six competencies in Portrait of a Graduate define what we believe students need to navigate a complex world. But they’re not just outcomes for kids. They’re attributes we must nurture in ourselves and in each other. That realization in itself inspired me to develop the Layered Coaching Protocol, a reflective practice rooted in these traits and designed to help educators grow together through a coaching lens.

Let’s begin by defining the 6 components of Portrait of a Graduate before I go on to share the protocol.

The Six Components of the Portrait of a Graduate as defined by the New York State Education Department (revised July 2025):

1. Academically Prepared: by demonstrating a strong foundation in the New York State learning standards and being equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve success in college, careers, civic engagement, service, and life.
2. A Creative Innovator: by utilizing imagination, curiosity, and flexible thinking to solve problems creatively, and develop new ideas and products, while adapting to evolving circumstances and challenges.
3. A Critical Thinker: by analyzing information thoughtfully, evaluating evidence critically, and identifying patterns and connections between different pieces of information (across multiple content areas) to address complex issues and navigate the world with insight.
4. An Effective Communicator: by articulating ideas clearly and confidently through speaking, writing, and the use of different types of media for various purposes, while engaging with diverse audiences and actively listening to different perspectives.
5. A Global Citizen: by acting responsibly and ethically within local, global, and digital communities, employing civic knowledge, skills, and mindsets to promote global sustainability and contribute positively to a culturally diverse, democratic society.
6. Reflective and Future Focused: by engaging in self-reflection to identify strengths and areas for growth, setting meaningful goals, using social awareness to maintain supportive relationships, and demonstrating responsible decision-making that prioritizes social, emotional, and mental well-being.

These competencies don’t live in isolation. They show up in everyday instruction, interactions, and decision-making. And when we lead like a coach by reflecting, listening, and growing alongside others we begin to bring them to life.

Now, let’s take a look at how to use these traits through a coaching lens with the Layered Coaching Protocol.

Layered Coaching Protocol: Turning Reflection into Action

This protocol is designed to help educators engage in meaningful reflection, deepen practice, and connect their work to the Portrait of a Graduate. While I’m using the Portrait as an example, the Layered Coaching Protocol can be applied in any learning walk, instructional debrief, or reflective conversation centered on your school’s mission, vision, and instructional approaches. Whether used after classroom intervisitations, coaching cycles, or team meetings, this approach supports a culture where coaching is not just a role, it’s a way of leading.

Throughout this post, I’ve included insights from one of my favorite books, Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, because so much of what he writes about…seeing people deeply, creating extraordinary experiences, and leading with purpose beautifully mirrors what it means to lead like a coach in education.

Layer 1: Pause + Notice

Prompt: What stood out to you in today’s learning experience, either from students or from your own practice?
Begin with presence. Invite educators to pause and reflect on a specific moment or interaction that sparked curiosity, insight, or a shift in thinking. This helps ground the conversation in authentic, lived experience.

Coaching move: Encourage quiet reflection followed by partner sharing or journaling to make space for all voices.

Layer 2: Connect to Purpose

Prompt: Which Portrait of a Graduate traits were visible or emerging in this moment?
Help educators connect what they observed or experienced to the six core competencies:

• Academically Prepared
  Example: Students cited evidence from a range of sources during a class debate, demonstrating mastery of academic standards and college-ready skills.
  
• A Creative Innovator
  Example: Students prototyped multiple solutions to a design challenge, adapting their ideas based on peer feedback.
  
• A Critical Thinker
  Example: A student analyzed the author’s argument in a nonfiction text and identified a counterclaim using logical reasoning.
  
• An Effective Communicator
  Example: Students presented research findings using a combination of visuals, narrative, and media, adjusting tone for their intended audience.
  
• A Global Citizen
  Example: During a social studies unit, students explored climate change across continents and wrote letters advocating for sustainable policies.
  
• Reflective and Future Focused
  Example: Students set learning goals during a student-led conference, reflecting on past growth and naming strategies for improvement.
  

Coaching move: Ask, “Which competency do you see emerging most clearly in this moment? What does that tell you about your students or yourself as a learner?”

Layer 3: Name the Moves

Prompt: What instructional moves supported that outcome?
Help educators move from instinct to intention by naming specific strategies that led to the success. These can be instructional routines, relationship-building moves, or the structure of the task itself.

“A huge part of being a leader is telling your team why they are doing what they’re doing.”
— Will Guidara, Unreasonable Hospitality

Example: “The teacher used sentence stems and visual prompts to scaffold student dialogue, which supported students in building confidence as communicators.”

Layer 4: Expand Possibility

Prompt: Where could this practice go next? How might it grow across classrooms, content areas, or grade levels?
This layer invites educators to think systemically and creatively. A strong move in one space could unlock clarity, collaboration, or consistency across a school.

“Explore contradiction and embrace it… Conflicting goals force you to innovate.”
— Will Guidara, Unreasonable Hospitality

Example: “What if we created shared reflection routines across grades to support future-focused goal setting?”

Layer 5: Coach Forward

Prompt: What is one next step you’ll take or one thing you’ll try because of this reflection?
Close with action. Small, intentional steps drive momentum and signal belief in each educator’s capacity to lead from within.

“Often, the perfect moment to give someone more responsibility is before they’re ready. Take a chance, and that person will almost always work extra hard to prove you right.”
— Will Guidara, Unreasonable Hospitality

Example: “Next week, I’ll introduce a reflection journal in my class to help students track their emotional growth and learning goals.”

Moving Forward

This protocol is more than a structure, it’s a mindset. A way of saying: We believe in our teachers the way we want them to believe in our students. When we coach with curiosity, listen with intention, and lead with purpose, we bring the Portrait of a Graduate or any instructional approach off the infographic and into our everyday practice.

“Nobody knows what they’re doing before they do it.” — Will Guidara, Unreasonable Hospitality

We don’t need to have it all figured out. We just need to stay open. To notice. To reflect. To lead forward with care.

So let this be your invitation.

Whether you’re walking a hallway, leading a debrief, or coaching a colleague, you are shaping a culture of learning that mirrors the very competencies we want to grow in our students.

I invite you to use the protocol in your professional learning communities. Share it. Adapt it. Layer the learning. Layer the coaching.

Because coaching doesn’t stop when the cycle ends.

It lives in how we speak. How we listen. How we lead.

And just like it did for me years ago, it might just become more than a role.
It might become your calling too.

Layer the learning. Layer the Coaching.

Click HERE to use the infographic below with your leadership teams.