1. Indistar Coaching Comments Adapted from and with permission of Courtney Graves, Coach, Virginia

2. Coaching Comment Components Glow Positive, specific, aligned to indicator Grow Suggestion to improve process, focus, entry Leading Questions Prompts that guide discussion toward improvement Explanations and Guidance Impact responding to the prompts will have Next Steps Statement of your expectations

3. Hi Friends! It was great meeting with you last week. Wow, what a week does. Your plan is so much cleaner, more streamlined. I love to ‘hear’ what you discussed at your leadership meetings through those specific meeting minutes that you are maintaining. I particularly like the brainstorming session and results thereof of all of the interventions the English department is offering for your struggling students. Our next goal is to begin maintaining your monitoring notes for each task. For example, for TA 01, task 3, you mention the teachers meeting to discuss quarterly data. In the ‘comments’ section you merely mention that they met. I’d like to see specifics here. What are the results of these data meetings? What are the trends that the teachers are noticing? Was there marked improvement upon initiating interventions? Were there declines? Can you credit any one or more interventions with improvements? Are there any interventions that are giving you your biggest bang for your buck? These answers will show your progress to date and will show what kinds of instructional conversations are taking place. Answers to these questions will inform your instructional program and drive your decision-making while helping you revise and ‘tweak’ your plan. These progress notes will cite the evidence of your tasks. Next Steps: Begin to assess indicators that address the essential actions from our academic review. I’ll be looking for specifics in the minutes you are maintaining.

4. Let’s break it apart… Start with the “Glows” and be as specific as possible Hi Friends! It was great meeting with you last week. Wow, what a week does. Your plan is so much cleaner, more streamlined. I love to ‘hear’ what you discussed at your leadership meetings through those specific meeting minutes that you are maintaining. I particularly like the brainstorming session and results thereof of all of the interventions the English department is offering for your struggling students.

5. Move onto the “Grows” Our next goal is to begin maintaining your monitoring notes for each task. For example, for TA 01, task 3, you mention the teachers meeting to discuss quarterly data. In the ‘comments’ section you merely mention that they met. I’d like to see specifics here.

6. Ask questions that will focus the team’s discussions What are the results of these data meetings? What are the trends that the teachers are noticing? Was there marked improvement upon initiating interventions? Were there declines? Can you credit any one or more interventions with improvements? Are there any interventions that are giving you your biggest bang for your buck?

7. Give explanations and guidance These answers will show your progress to date and will show what kinds of instructional conversations are taking place. Answers to these questions will inform your instructional program and drive your decision-making while helping you revise and ‘tweak’ your plan. These progress notes will cite the evidence of your tasks.

8. Leave Next Steps! Next Steps: Begin to assess indicators that address the essential actions from our academic review. I’ll be looking for specifics in the minutes you are maintaining.

9. “The test of a good coach is that when they leave, others will carry on successfully.” Author Unknown