Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles

Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles is a rare gem in the crowded field of instructional leadership books. Tavernetti provides us with a practical, no-nonsense roadmap for implementing instructional coaching cycles, based on his extensive on-the-ground experience and expertise. Crucially, this book challenges instructional coaches to reclaim the core purpose of their work: supporting and developing teachers to improve student learning. This book is essential reading for anyone passionate about fostering excellence in instructional coaching, and it will undoubtedly become a well-worn resource on your professional bookshelf. * Dr. Zach Groshell, Instructional Coach, and Host of the Progressively Incorrect Podcast * In Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles, coaching expert Gene Tavernetti provides an exceptionally clear, practical and humane guide to instructional coaching - informed by years of successful experience. Tavernetti also provides a frank and much-needed appraisal of the current dismal state of the field of coaching. I learned vital lessons from reading this book and highly recommend it for coaches or any educator interested in improved teaching and learning. * Mike Schmoker, Author of FOCUS and Results Now 2.0 * It is rare to see professional development that is designed around the key concepts of a PLC where teachers are truly engaged in 'Learning by Doing.' Dr. Tavernetti's model of Coaching Cycles is an example of professional development in its most effective form. New and veteran teachers alike can access personal growth and continuous learning by participating. For me, as a district support provider, it was similarly simple to learn, to replicate, and to sustain from site to site and year to year. My district benefited greatly from his framework, and I can see it's effects year after year in the classroom with teachers. * George Knights, Director of Professional Learning Communities and Assessment, Newport-Mesa Unified School District. * I had the distinct pleasure of working with Gene this past 2022-2023 academic school year. I have primarily taught mathematics and computer fundamentals courses for the past ten years, but this was my first year as an Academic Coach ... There were, in fact, a lot of 'firsts' this year in addition to my new position. The two that stand out for me are 'my first year without my classroom' and 'my first year mainly working with adults rather than kids'. In preparation for better supporting my colleagues, I had taken an online workshop series at the beginning of the year for new TOSAs (Teacher On Special Assignment) and was attending another in-person workshop throughout the same year that I was working with Gene. The topic that I feel Gene taught me the most about (more so than the two other courses that I had taken) was 'coaching cycles' and the importance of having routines when supporting teachers. The marriage of these two concepts was made very clear to me when Gene was working with our site administrators to train the vast majority of our school staff - I was present for essentially all of the lesson design, observation, and debriefings. The 'coaching cycle' component was made crystal clear to teachers from the very beginning. Teachers knew that they were going to be brainstorming a lesson, getting observed, and then debriefing afterward. It was of utmost importance to Gene that teachers knew of the following two things prior to starting: First, this was not evaluative in any way, and the sole purpose of the coaching cycle is to help the teacher get better at their craft. Second, these coaching cycles were not 'one additional thing' that they needed to do, so teachers were asked to bring in a lesson that they were already going to teach and see how the FAST framework would enhance their instruction. With every lesson design and debriefing session, Gene used the same delivery format every single time - it was a routine. As a classroom teacher, this made perfect sense to me. If it works for middle schoolers, it'll work for adults! The 'end' of a teacher's coaching cycle (the debriefing) was always very powerful for me. During any normal lesson debriefing, there may be multiple things that you'd like to bring to the teacher's attention about their lesson, but there's always that fear of inadvertently insulting them or making them feel bad. Gene taught me three amazing questions to ask teachers right at the beginning of the debriefing to ensure that I would get to talk about everything I wanted to address with the teacher (both glows and grows) in a way that doesn't pose the risk of them feeling embarrassed in any way. These questions - 'How do you think the lesson went?', 'Did you do anything different than what you had planned?', and 'What would you do differently next time?' - cleverly encompass everything I would like to address with a teacher in such a way that it is the teacher that is bringing up the topics I'd like to address. The topics are all coming from them and not me. Ultimately, the common thread that seems to weave throughout everything that I've learned about coaching (from both Gene and the courses that I have taken) is that the key to successfully supporting others is ensuring that you build and sustain positive relationships. It's not about 'fixing' people. It's about acknowledging where they are and helping them envision where they can go from there. * Paul Dietrich, Academic Coach. *