Coaching Cycles: Tips and Tricks

Here are some Tips and Tricks I have learned from my first year as an Instructional Coach! I start with General Tips and Tricks, and then get into Tips and Tricks for Before, During and Wrapping up the Coaching Cycle.

1. Start with a personalized gift to announce and get your teacher excited for being on a coaching cycle whether they volunteered or were "volun-told" to be on your cycle! I give out this “getting-to-know-you"

form that I give out at the beginning of the year and I kept in a binder this year. Next year, I plan on digitizing it and doing it on a Google Form! This lets me have access to some personalized information on my coachees for surprises and need to know info for coaching cycles!

2. If a teacher is struggling to identify the goal they want to work on or the goal seems to be something that is not extremely clear (ex. student motivation), schedule a visit to the classroom during the class period the teacher is having trouble with to gather some data and help pinpoint a goal.

3. Always keep feedback from an observation positive, even if the observation wasn’t a positive one!

4. Let the teacher drive the conversation and you LISTEN and SUPPORT. Practice listening skills.

5. Keep everything digital and ORGANIZED! Easier for on the go access!

6. Go through Google Educator and Coach certification! Becoming a Google Certified Coach made me a better coach!

7. Things may become CHAOS as the school year commonly does but always keep your focus on coaching. Your primary focus should be on supporting teachers and students.

8. Find time management skills that work for you! Get a calendar, paper, Google Calendar or whatever works for you. Mark down all scheduled meetings and visits and make those a priority over other roles and tasks you may have come up. I am also the RTI, 504 and Title I Coordinator so I understand that your schedule can be extremely full sometimes.

9. Make time/Set a time to meet with your administrators once a week to keep them updated and get their feedback.

Goals for Starting a Coaching Cycle...

• Identify a goal to keep the target of the cycle clear so each meeting is focused, just like a learning target.

• At the first meeting, clarify your role as the coach to be confidential, supporting, a co-teacher, positive, etc.

• Set a standard that you want to keep all meetings positive and respectful. Make sure your teacher knows they can be honest with you but that you want to respect each other.

• Some coaches have a contract that they review and sign with their teachers on coaching cycles that lays out respect, positivity, willingness to try new things, etc.

Goals for During the Coaching Cycle...

• Stay focused on the goal

• Keep everything positive.

• Try new strategies.

• Push your teacher outside of their comfort zone but easily. Don’t make the teacher too uncomfortable!

• Co-teach and model new strategies and tools.

• Use data from observations, student work, etc. to drive the coaching cycle.

• If you achieve the goal early, see what else you can work on the rest of the cycle or what other ways you can achieve the same goal.

• Build a toolkit for your teacher for the goal!

Goals for Wrapping up the Coaching Cycle...

• Reflect with the teacher using data to see if the cycle was successful in achieving the goal

• Let the teacher reflect individually on how the cycle went and encourage them to be wholeheartedly honest. Try a survey that they can do digitally without you being present.

• You should also take a survey or do a similar reflection for evaluation. Compare both your teacher's input and yours!

• Make future plans and steps for you and that teacher to continue to improve and work together.

• See how else you can support the teacher even off of the coaching cycle.