15 Coaching Activities for Leaders & Teachers (other than debriefing a lesson)

In a typical school environment, when leaders and teachers discuss "coaching," they are often referring to the observation and feedback cycle. Educators are all familiar with it. Teacher teaches, the coach/leader observes, and then a feedback conversation occurs. For some teachers / leaders, this is the only time coaching occurs, and the only vehicle for one-on-one support.

Over the last few weeks in our Learn and Lead Masterminds, Jenn David-Lang and I explored the topic of coaching with our participants. We delved into why everyone needs a coach, the continuum of direct/indirect feedback, and effective coaching practices. Towards the end of our third session focused on coaching, we asked asked participants to share effective coaching activities other than debriefing a lesson. The following 15 ideas represent some of what they shared:

1. LEARNING WALKS: One huge takeaway that we have to remember is that sometimes the best thing a leader or coach can do is convene other teachers. Quite often, fellow teachers are the ones best suited to provide ideas and support to one another. So taking time to walk the school and visit classrooms with small groups of teachers can be a GREAT use of time.
2. GHOST WALK: Visit empty classrooms - when students aren’t there - and teams provide feedback (glows and grows) to one another based on physical environment.
3. FISHBOWL? / ABRIDGED JAPANESE LESSON STUDY: Have Teachers plan lessons together, 1 teaches while others provide feedback. Team regroups, re-plans with adjustments and someone else tries.
4. QUESTIONING: Share reflection questions that team members or teachers can use anytime they finish a lesson/project.
5. MEETINGS: Participate in PLCs and/or planning within grade level teams.
6. DESIGN: I love building with other people. Designing an assessment and providing feedback while you do, or building out an authentic student experience of some kind is great.?
7. ROLE PLAY: A role play can be a really great coaching opportunity. Teachers can practice a portion of an upcoming lesson.
8. VIDEO of OTHERS: Watch a video of someone else teaching and discuss together what was strong, what could be improved, and what might be adapted.
9. LESSON PLANNING: Examining a lesson plan prior to lesson or planning a new lesson
10. 3 LAYERS OF FEEDBACK: Give teachers 3 layers of feedback - individual after teaching, team feedback, and after walkthroughs?
11. CAUSE/EFFECT ANALYSIS:? I like the idea of looking at student actions and then asking what teacher actions created the environment for those student actions.?Use a “transcript” of a section of a lesson as a way to do this with teams.
12. PROBLEM-SOLVE: Use a Think Tank or Consultancy Protocol Work with a team of teachers on a problem of practice - everyone collaborates and shares suggestions.
13. INTER-VISITATIONS: Visit another teacher’s classroom with a teacher and yourself or a coach with goal in mind - together, name the moves and then debrief the visit. Or visit another school!
14. TEACH/MODEL:? Teaching alongside or in front of teachers and debrief. In this case, coach uses their own teaching as the example to discuss (the goal is NOT to model perfection, but to model being open and vulnerable to an honest coaching conversation).
15. STUDENT WORK: Student work could come in many forms - projects, essays, assessments, etc. Look at student work together and work backwards from there. What was the goal? Was it met? What worked? What could be done differently?

Teachers, coaches and leaders...what might you add to this list? We'd love to hear more suggestions in the comments! What might you try? If you're a teacher, what has worked best for you??

For more information about our Learn and Lead Masterminds for School Leaders, feel free to message me or send an email to [email protected]