In the final coaching roundup of February, we learned how to coach a teacher out of a deficit mindset, two ways you can provide PD in under 60 seconds, the five phases of a mini-coaching cycle, and more!

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One Minute PD

Rachel Mane highlights two ways she provides quick, targeted PD for her teachers—in under 60 seconds! ⌛

" My goal for these resources is to be timely and intentional. In the emails, I share a resource or strategy with an image and a brief description which can be read in under a minute. I try to make what I'm sharing applicable immediately to the current unit of study, or else I share a strategy they can use at any time. I strive to be intentional in the reason I am sharing the strategy or resource, which can help reduce the feeling of information overload."

3 Psychological Needs of an IC

Samantha Shields believes an organization must respect an instructional coach's autonomy, flexibility, and personality for the coach to be successful.

" When a coach's ability to have choice is taken away, it can lead to a decrease in work productivity, motivation, level of competence, and even work satisfaction. . . . Coaches can flourish in an environment that welcomes and invites us to be honest, open, and vulnerable. This begins when we can share our history, experiences, and raw emotions without fear of being judged."

Taking Student-Centered Coaching Deeper

Leanna Harris and Diane Sweeney outline the five phases of mini-coaching cycles and some guiding questions to support each level.

"Mini coaching cycles take place with an individual teacher and have the key elements of a regular coaching cycle. They begin with a goal or learning target and include the collection of student evidence, co-planning, co-teaching, and many opportunities for reflection. . . . They create rich opportunities for teachers and coaches to work together on a key strategy or instructional practice and monitor how students are doing as the new practice is used."

Virtual Coaching Moves

Therapi Kaplan shares three coaching techniques she uses frequently and how you can tweak them while coaching remotely.

"Each technique fulfills a different purpose. Knowing your colleagues' needs will help make decisions on which approach is conducive for your colleague in your coaching cycle. . . . All these techniques would be moot if my number one goal were not to build trust with her. To build trust, I recognized her voice intonation strengths, created gorgeous visuals, and had a strong relationship with her students. My praises to her centered around her strengths, and my feedback focused on one thing to work toward."

Moving from Talk to Action in Professional Learning

Jim Knight highlights the five stages teachers endure when implementing innovation or methods and how you can guide them along.

"Those of us who support educators who are implementing innovations will provide much better support when we understand what the journey to proficient implementation really entails. . . . One reason people resist moving through the stages of implementation is that they aren't convinced that a proposed change will be worth the effort. No matter how big an 'effect size' research shows for the innovation, people usually aren't convinced it will work until they see it make a difference for their students."

Coaching Out of Deficit Mindsets

Vicki Collet promotes her four-step process for guiding teachers out of negative feelings or thoughts they may have about their students.

"A trigger word that gets my attention and compels me to act is 'lazy.' When I hear this word used to describe students, I first have to swallow a bit of anger that tends to rise up. . . . The goal here is to understand why the teacher made the comment. It might sound like, 'I wondered why you called students ‘lazy’? What makes you say so?' By asking a question, you are giving the teacher a chance to explain and maybe even recognize on their own the negative mindset they are speaking from."

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