The Instructional Coach Academy

Tracking professional development can be a huge headache. It doesn’t have to be. A simple add-in for Google Forms can save hours of work. It is called Certify’em.

Other bloggers such as Alice Keeler and Free Technology for Teachers have written about this awesome little add-on. If you are looking for detailed instructions on how to use Certify’em, I’d recommend you read their posts. It is quite simple, but my purpose isn’t to create a tutorial.

This post is about how I am using Certify’em to track professional development hours for my teachers.

There are two amazing aspects to how I can use this add-on. First, I am able to acquire a database of recorded hours with minimal effort. Second, teachers automatically receive a certificate for the hours they complete.

The first step is to make a Form. I named it “PD tracking form” in my Drive. It has just 8 questions:

1. Name
2. Location
3. Hours Completed
4. How would you rate today’s PD overall?
5. What did you learn today?
6. What questions or needs do you have at this time?
7. What could be improved in the future?
8. Who is wearing blue?

I set it to automatically collect email addresses as well. I set it as a Quiz and I select one question (such as location or overall rating for the day) and make it multiple choice. Next, I set the point value to one and designate all the answers as correct. Finally, I turn on Certify’em and make sure the settings are correct.

The last question ensures teachers are in attendance and paying attention. Can they still cheat the system? Of course, they can. But really, who will? Most teachers will just be grateful their exit survey is so short!

At the end of each PD session, I assign this form to teachers through Google Classroom. I change the title to reflect the topic of the session so it will appear appropriately on the certificate. I ask teachers to complete this form.

A certificate is emailed to teachers as soon as they submit their Form. Google, of course, records who has completed the Form in Google Classroom. It also produces a spreadsheet of responses and responses can be viewed in the Form itself. In addition, Certify’em creates a spreadsheet in my Drive that holds only certificate related information.

Voila! I now have a three-fold method of tracking PD hours. And I have provided teachers with a certificate to use as documentation of completed professional development. Even better, I consistently have some simple, usable and descriptive feedback to develop future sessions.

It took a couple of tries to get everything working correctly, so don’t be surprised if you need to experiment a bit.

Now that it is working, it is an incredible time saver. No more time-consuming certificate creating for me. No longer will I have to calculate total PD hours for each teacher.

My teachers appreciate the immediate feedback and I appreciate the minimal effort.

by Shawnta S. Barnes

It takes hard work to build up teachers and improve their practice, but the work is even harder when teachers are displaced.  This school year is my third year as an instructional coach and this year has been the most challenging. Due to decreasing enrollment, my school district, Indianapolis Public Schools, decided to eliminate three high school campuses, moving from seven to four.  Instead of only teachers at the closing high school campuses being displaced, the school district decided to displace every high school employee, from the principals to the cafeteria workers. The district felt this was best because it would allow teachers to find their best fit school.  

As you might have suspected this has caused anxiety, stress, and depression among some teachers.  Teachers fear they either won’t have a job or will be assigned to a school where a principal did not choose them.  Some teachers have quit mid-year despite being offered a bonus of up to $5,000 to stay until the end of the year. Others have decided quit and stay; they are planning to finish the school year, but they have quit trying to be the best teachers they could be.

In the midst of this all, I have to coach teachers.  I have to improve their practice and through them, I also have to improve our students’ academic achievement.  Although being displaced is not a situation any educator wants to face (and this is also my second displacement), this is a reality in many school districts across many states.

How do you coach teachers when they are part of a reality they do not like?  Below, I have outlined what I am doing to coach teachers who are displaced.

Acknowledge their frustrations and then get to the work.

At first, when I had coaching sessions, I didn’t talk about the situation that was all around us.  It was this elephant sitting in the room during each coaching session. Even though I can’t ease their anxiety, I can acknowledge their frustrations about the situation and tell them I appreciate their hard work and commitment to the coaching process.

Focus on what you can control.

When I taught middle school English, the English department chair would say at every meeting, “We are only going to focus on what we can control.”  I know that statement would burn people up sometimes especially when they were angry about a decision that was made. Being angry about a decision, such as your district displacing you is a valid feeling, but it is not okay to let your anger consume the entire time you should be working to improve your practice as a teacher.  When I’m meeting with a teacher who is derailing our work by focusing on issues he or she can’t control, I’ll say, “Is there anything you can do about this?” If the answer is no, I’ll direct the teacher back to what we were originally discussing.

Remind teachers why they entered the profession.

When teachers are fearful they either won’t have a job next year or get placed in a school they did not choose, they may leave mid-year or put in minimal effort.  Although, I respect the decision of teachers who leave mid-year (because I rather them leave and serve other students well rather than stay and just go through the motions), a teacher leaving or a teacher putting in minimal effort hurts students and puts an extra burden on other colleagues.  When a teacher says, “Mr. Blacksmith is just sitting at his desk and passing out worksheets,” I’ll respond, “Do you want to be like him and is that good for your students?” Always bring it back to the students. I want my teachers to know it says more about their character when they teach well even in the face of uncertainty.

Encourage teachers to take care of themselves.

The foundation of good instructional coaching is trust.  When teachers trust you, they might unload on you as if you are their therapist.  If you are concerned about the mental health of the teachers you coach, refer them to someone who can help them.  Don’t try to provide answers or try to solve their problems.

Consistently offer support and observations.

I frequently tell teachers, “I want you to end this school year knowing you have improved because of your investment in this process.”  Teachers can only invest when you are also invested. When teachers are quitting, it is easy to get caught up in putting out fires and making sure those classes are okay instead of focusing on the teachers that are still there putting in the work.  If I want teachers I coach to bring 100%, I also have to do the same. That means showing up consistently to observe their classrooms and providing the support they need.

Lift up the good.

Last and certainly not least, remind teachers of their progress.  Highlight the improvements they are making. I was speaking to a teacher who was frustrated after I came to observe.  She wanted her lesson to be better. I said, “No one was walking around the classroom, cursing at you, or throwing stuff.  Your transitions were smooth and students could articulate what they were learning. Remember August?” After my feedback, a big smile appeared on her face.  She was so caught up in what she perceived she did wrong that she didn’t she was she was doing right.

At this time, I have no clue what I’m doing next year.  I have not secured a job placement yet, but right now I’m trying to be the best coach I can be so my teachers can serve our students well this year and be prepared to serve students well next year in their new roles.

If you’ve been in education longer than a decade, you likely experienced (or heard legends of) the teacher compensation model that encouraged continuous learning at post-secondary institutions. This paralleled state licensing that required graduate credits as part of the license renewal process. The “steps and lanes” approach provided teachers with periodic raises based on years of service (steps) and graduate credits earned (lanes). Essentially, teachers who continued to take credits were able to renew their license and were financially rewarded for their continued commitment to the profession. During this time, instructional coaching may or may not have been available in the school district.

The apparent benefit of steps and lanes was that graduate courses provided in-depth examinations of theory and research related to learning, child development, instructional practices, or targeting specific student types (e.g., at-risk). However, this compensation model also allowed teachers to earn credits in areas that didn’t align with their content or assigned grade level. For example, a science teacher could focus on a future career path (e.g., administrative licensing) rather than furthering their content knowledge to benefit students.

Even if teachers chose coursework related to the content they taught, there was no requirement to follow through on implementation; no one was walking through teachers’ classrooms to ensure that the learning from their coursework was being applied to their practice. It’s also possible that the teaching wasn’t aligned with district instructional expectations. So, while this model may have had some benefits, there is no guarantee that it positively impacted student learning. As professionals, we should strive to grow, adapt, adjust, and modernize our approaches to ensure that our efforts have a direct and positive impact on our students. 

Post-Compensation Model

Many states have eliminated the requirement for teachers to obtain additional professional development credits to maintain their licensure. Furthermore, laws like Wisconsin’s Act 10 grant districts the authority to eradicate compensation models, such as “steps and lanes,” allowing for greater flexibility within their budgets. A major perceived budget issue stemmed from teachers having partial ownership over their earnings, as they could accumulate a large number of graduate credits in a short period. Another major perceived budget issue was that teachers might prioritize salary increases over student learning. Therefore, with fewer licensing requirements and less of the budget tied up in guaranteed raises, districts could shift to merit-based pay or performance-based models.

Hence, a philosophical dilemma arose. To earn the most money for your work, it’s best to study the specific details of the performance-based evaluation and follow the instructions exactly as stated. To become a great educator, it would be best to continue learning through graduate coursework, action research, risk-taking, and collaboration. In the aftermath, school districts are left to encourage continuous learning for teachers through various incentives, contractual obligations, and the staff’s willingness to pursue opportunities for learning on their own.

There is, of course, in-house learning. This typically includes an in-service week at the beginning of the school year and in-service days that occur sporadically throughout the year. The major drawback to relying strictly on in-house professional development is the tendency towards “one size fits all” learning with varying degrees of relevance to a diverse staff. The amount of time a full staff has together is rarely enough to engage in in-depth learning about a topic or initiative. This model also tends to focus on immediate building needs that are logistical or technical in nature. Finally, there can be a lack of accountability for this learning–often based on trust–which can lead to implementation that lacks fidelity. Even with the best intentions, giving up or forgetting critical details can easily happen, and teachers revert to their familiar teaching routines.

Enter Instructional Coaching

The role of instructional coach has become more commonplace in our post-pandemic school systems. Almost half of public schools created one or more coaching positions since the pandemic began (NG, 2024)¹. However, this concept isn’t new. In the 1980s, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Learning developed a “peer coach” model. The motivation came from earlier research that showed less than 10 percent of teachers implemented strategies learned from traditional professional development (Joyce, 1996²). To combat this, they conducted weekly coaching seminars with volunteer teachers to first model and then implement new strategies using student data as feedback. “Successful peer coaching teams developed skills in collaboration and enjoyed the experience so much that they wanted to continue their collegial partnerships after they accomplished their initial goals” (Joyce, 1996).

So, why is it trending now? According to a recent EdWeek report, “districts may be increasing focus on instructional coaches as they put a new emphasis on academic recovery and the adoption of new instructional materials.” This may also be influenced by an increase in students with diverse learning needs.

In the 2012-13 school year, 6.4 million students (13% of all students in the United States) were served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); this increased to 7.5 million (15% of all students) in the 2022-23 school year (National Center for Education Statistics, 2025)³. That’s roughly 4-5 students with highly specialized learning needs in every class of 30.

Meeting the Needs of Students

The other 25 students also require increasingly differentiated instruction and alternative pathways to show their learning in inclusive classroom settings. Teachers are expected to make adjustments to their practices to accommodate each and every one. Some may view this as a “challenge [to their] their professional autonomy. Prescribed lesson-plan expectations, standardized tests, and data collection oftentimes drive instructional decisions” (Heubeck, 2023). Balancing personal teaching interests, values, and beliefs alongside new directives is a highly sensitive issue that must be addressed for long-term retention of teachers.

As previously suggested, teacher learning has been separated from compensation (i.e., it lacks external incentives) and, therefore, may only occur during limited in-service opportunities; yet, we expect teachers to grow and adapt more than ever before. This is where coaching comes in. Instructional coaches work with teachers to provide job-embedded professional development that’s data-driven, student-centered, and allows teachers to focus on the “how” of instruction in a way that best suits all learners and aligns with the teacher’s style and passion.

Coaches are trained to help mediate the thinking and nurture the mindset of an adaptive professional, collect classroom data that is meaningful to the teacher, and encourage solution-based reflection to address the unique challenges of their current students. It’s collaboration, professional development, creativity, autonomy, and accountability all in one! Utilizing an instructional coach as a partner encourages a teacher to try, and try again, as long as it takes, to successfully implement a strategy or practice that is effective. Also, since coaches are not evaluators, it alleviates stress and anxiety for teachers who want to get targeted feedback and improve their classroom practices.

Engaging With Instructional Coaching

Districts that employ coaches have numerous options when it comes to requiring (or not requiring) teachers to utilize the support offered by coaches. Some districts selectively require teachers who are new to the profession, new to the district, or teachers who are on a plan of improvement to work with a coach, while others use a voluntary model (i.e., only those who are willing to be coached work with coaches). Some districts simply require all teachers to work with coaches in some capacity. Knowing that instructional coaches can have a substantial positive impact on instructional practice, it makes sense for districts to require every teacher to work with a coach, but that can lead to other issues, namely that not every teacher wants to be coached. In our experience, some teachers are hesitant to be vulnerable and share their instructional practices with a colleague.

Some teachers may be apathetic to the process, viewing coaching as “another thing” they have to do in their already demanding schedules. Some teachers feel that being coached comes with a stigma–it indicates that there is something within their practice that needs to be “fixed” by someone else. Whether or not these things are true, they are perceptions that exist, and it’s hard for some teachers to look past them. If a teacher spends most of their professional learning time occupied by formal, structured meetings centered on site-wide initiatives, there is very little mental or physical space left for the reflective, creative work that can be fueled by a coaching cycle.

Perspectives on Coaching

Considering the need for instructional coaching as a professional learning model, it is helpful to consider how various stakeholders might view this work. Administrators should view this role as critical to the success of their school-wide mission and vision. They have active, experienced educators floating in and among the everyday controlled chaos to support, mediate, mitigate, and model best practices. Teachers should view this role as a partnership in all of the demands of their everyday work. Coaches are sounding boards, listeners, advocates, liaisons, and researchers. Students should view this role as an essential piece of their learning community.

Coaches work with both students and teachers to ensure the classroom experience is supportive, nurturing, and appropriately scaffolded and challenging. A coach is a visible, familiar helper, observer, and teacher who shows up in various learning spaces throughout their day, school year, and often K-12 journey. Parents, then, should view this role as an integral part of their child’s education. While teachers change from year to year, district-wide initiatives do not. Coaches work with parents to share, listen, and advocate for optimal learning. Lastly, the school board and larger community should view instructional coaching as a vital piece of 21st-century learning. With an intense focus on personalized, data-driven education approaches, coaches provide on-the-ground, on-demand support for all the intricate components of a high-functioning school system.

Coaching and Accountability

Aside from engaging with a coach, educators have many ways to develop professionally and increase their knowledge about content, craft, and meeting student needs. Some districts offer opportunities for book studies led by building, district, or teacher leaders. Teachers also have the option to read a text independently to expand their professional knowledge. Without the “required” continuous learning of the past, many teachers still choose to enrich themselves by taking graduate courses to enhance their knowledge and skills, obtain additional licenses, or pursue a master’s degree.

All these options have benefits, but they can still miss the accountability needed to put learning into practice and build a cohesive learning experience for students. Instructional coaching eliminates this drawback by allowing teachers the opportunity to work with an unbiased peer to help them mediate their thinking and monitor their practice or their students’ progress. This helps to ensure that measurable change toward a meaningful professional goal is happening.

About the Authors

Dan Krill is a father, educator, and songwriter. He double-majored in math education and philosophy, then earned his master’s from UW-Madison in curriculum & instruction with an emphasis on learning sciences. Krill has taught secondary and post-secondary math for over 20 years. He currently works as a 5-12 math/science coach in south-eastern Wisconsin. Outside of education, he enjoys camping, mountain biking, reading, and adventures.

Kaitlin Schumaker is an educator from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary English education as well as her master’s in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in reading. After a decade working as teacher across three school districts, she transitioned to a full time instructional coaching and reading specialist role in 2022. She remains in this role alongside a wonderful team of coaches, teachers, and administrators. Outside of education, she enjoys spending time with her husband and pets, cooking and baking, traveling, and reading.

1. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, School Pulse Panel 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024–25.
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2. Showers, B., & Joyce, B. (1996). The Evolution of Peer Coaching. Educational Leadership, 53, 12-16. ↩︎
3. William J Hussar, National Center for Education Statistics and Tabitha M. Bailey, IHS Global Insight ↩︎

The situation

Last year, our leadership team struggled to have positive data meetings. We presented attendance data, passing rates, and student feedback. We asked for teacher input. We restructured and rethought and tried multiple formats. The principal, the counselor, the department heads, and I (the instructional coach) did the best we could. And we failed.

No matter what we did, the data meetings always devolved into complaints about specific students or bothersome behaviors. We were never able to focus the conversation so we were proactively thinking about what caused problematic behaviors. Our focus never wound up where we wanted it: on what interventions or strategies we could try. 

It was frustrating, demoralizing, and upsetting. Staff reported leaving the data meetings feeling worse about teaching at the school. Many felt data meetings were a waste of time. Others wanted to know what someone else was going to do to address the problems they repeatedly rehashed. 

The plan

Over the summer, the leadership team decided to try a different approach. We sought ways to ensure teachers felt ownership over the process. Unlike traditional RTI and other data meeting strategies, we didn’t want to dictate the interventions. We wanted teachers to share their best ideas and commit to trying new things.

When we started this conversation, I can admit I was pretty defeatist about the whole process. Everything we tried last year bombed catastrophically. Eventually, we decided to ask the teachers to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of our students. 

They were strategically grouped (because, you know, teachers) and given markers and poster paper. There was only one rule: the number of strengths and weaknesses needed to be similar. So, 6 strengths and 7 weaknesses was acceptable, 6 strengths and 17 (or 70) weaknesses…not so much.

To my surprise, the teachers reveled in this exercise. Those who contributed negatives were prompted by their peers to find the corollary positives. Teachers engaged in discussions about why they identified certain traits and argued over whether a specific trait, like chattiness, was a weakness or a strength and a weakness. Some teachers provided examples while others dissected them like some crazed biology experiment. 

We gave the teachers a time limit of just 15 minutes. I believe the short time period helped teachers stay focused and feel a sense of urgency. When the time was up, each group presented their lists to the whole room. Teachers asked questions, made comments, pointed out connections, found similarities, etc.

After a little more reflection, we recognized a need to shift the focus from students to teachers. We repeated the strengths and weaknesses exercise. This time teacher identified their own collective strengths and weaknesses. Once again, the discussions impressed me because teachers were honest to the point of vulnerability and accepted that we all have weaknesses.

Then the real magic began. As a leadership team, we collected both sets of the posters and hung them in the office. Those posters now guide the planning for our weekly data meetings. As a team, we sit down and look at the lists. We select one or two strengths and one or two complementary weaknesses for the meeting that week. Our selection process is based on what we believe staff and students need. For example, nearing exams, we selected motivation and self-advocacy as strengths with lack of academic confidence and poor self-regulation as related weaknesses for students. For teachers, we focused on organization and high expectations as strengths and anxiety and exhaustion as weaknesses.

Next Steps

At each meeting we present these traits to the staff with a reminder of the work they did. We then ask them to form groups and discuss how we see these traits manifested in student and teacher behavior using these guiding questions: 

“What do we see? How do these qualities manifest in student-teacher interactions?”

“How do these behaviors support or interfere with student success?”

Once groups have completed their brainstorm, they share with the room. 

Next, we ask teachers to reflect on how they typically react or want to react to these behaviors. It is important to note that we ask teachers to be honest about their emotional reactions and not just share what they believe they should do. When someone interrupts me to ask a question I have already answered, my gut reaction is irritation. I work hard not to respond with irritation, but that is still my natural tendency.

As the discussion progresses, we add another dimension and ask: 

“What could we do when we interact with students displaying specific behaviors to achieve a positive outcome? 

“What could we do to monitor and adjust to minimize our weaknesses and maximize our strengths?“

Teachers share strategies they have tried that worked or that failed. They ask clarifying questions and share uncertainties. 

The final step of the process requires teachers to shift to solution mode. We ask them:

“What strategies or phrases can we ALL try in the next week?”

Instead of dictating action, we ask the teachers to generate a list of possible strategies and then come to consensus on one or two they will try to use, or use more often/intentionally, over the next week.

After the first data meeting, each meeting starts the same way: with a reflection on the previous work. Teachers track their use of the selected strategies and the results in whatever way works for them. As long as they bring back concrete data to report, we aren’t worried about forms or formulas. We also don’t collect gobs of numerical data–maybe we will someday, but for now, doing the work is more valuable than documenting it.

To help teachers reflect, we ask:

• What worked?
• What didn’t?
• What changes, if any, did you see in students attitudes/behaviors?
• What will you continue to do or what do you want to try next? 

The results…so far

The results have been extremely encouraging. There are still complaints and accountability issues. Teachers would still rather not meet at all. But. I hear far less grumbling about our data meetings. The reports of feeling worse after a meeting have stopped. As have the rather desperate excuses to get out of attending. 

Instead, I hear teachers talking about the traits and strategies we discuss in the halls and at lunch. I see teachers trying and keeping new strategies. Teachers are reflecting more around their own behaviors has visibly increased. Best of all, the school’s atmosphere, its culture, feels calmer and less adversarial. Students are being sent out of class less frequently. Teachers are escalating confrontations more rarely. The data is slowly reflecting the changes we can all feel. 

Everyone is finally engaged in the work of helping students help themselves. 

Contempt of the teacher isn’t exactly a real thing. But it should be. It is the teacher equivalent of ‘contempt of cop.’

Wikipedia provides the following definition: “Contempt of cop” is law enforcement jargon in the United States for behavior by people towards law enforcement officers that the officers perceive as disrespectful or insufficiently deferential to their authority.

Replace the words that refer to police with teachers and the concept is clear. How often are discipline referrals generated by teachers for behavior they perceive as disrespectful? How many times have minor infractions escalated because an adult didn’t approve of a student’s tone or attitude? Why are we so easily triggered? And why do we think this is a new phenomenon?

Socrates is quoted as saying “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

Again, replace a few words and this could have been uttered by any number of educational professionals yesterday, not 2,000 some odd year ago. How often do teachers lament the good old days with the students of yesteryear? How many times have teachers become bitter because they perceive that students today have changed so greatly? Why does this seem to happen generation after generation?

What does it look like in action?

Notice that this concept is not focused on whether or not contempt is being displayed. Instead, it is focused on the perception of a professional, in this case, an educator. To be fair, some students are genuinely, intentionally contemptuous. Most; however, are not. Even if they are, as educators, we hold the responsibility to respond professionally. Doing so is difficult and requires self-awareness and explicit training.

Picture a charter high school is an urban environment. Imagine a young English teacher managing classes of 28-35. This teacher has strong classroom management and builds meaningful relationships with students. One day, a student of hers, let’s call him Don, is given ISS. The ISS instructor, who we will call Mr. M, is an ex-military drill sergeant. Don is unlikely to respond well to Mr. M’s management style.

The teacher calls Mr. M before school and asks that he call her classroom if Don misbehaves. She feels confident she can prevent the two from engaging in escalating conflicts that lead to a suspension for the student.

In the middle of class, the phone rings. Students are working independently, so the teacher answers the phone. Immediately, Mr. M begins yelling about Don’s behavior. The teacher calmly asks Mr. M to put Don on the phone. He does not. She asks again with slightly more force. He continues to shout out all Don’s transgressions. She asks again…and again…and again. Finally, the teacher shouts back into Mr. M, “PUT HIM ON THE PHONE!”

33 students go from quietly working, to wide-eyed, stunned silence as they stare at the teacher. She barely registers the response of her class, she is so frustrated. Don comes to the phone. The teacher blurts “What is wrong with you today!?” There is a light pause and Don responds “Huh?”

At that moment in the vernacular of this particular city, ‘huh’ was considered the height of disrespect. The teacher reacts accordingly. As her class of students listens avidly, she proceeds to tear Don up one side and down the other. Though she never uses inappropriate language, the dressing down she delivers is epic. Within moments, Don is responding, “Yes, ma’am,” “No ma’am,” “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

The teacher begins to calm and reiterates her expectations for Don’s behavior yet again. As the conversation draws to a close, Don pauses and says “Ms. Teacher? Um, I’m, uh, sorry I said ‘huh’ before…for a little minute, I thought you was my mama.”

I was that teacher. I remember that moment vividly and I think I even smiled. Because at that moment, I realized what had happened. Don wasn’t a teenager with a lot of common sense. He had no impulse control. He also had no malice. His actions constantly landed him in trouble, which he accepted with good-natured ease. I had interacted with him and his mother often enough to realize I had used one of her favorite phrases “What is wrong with you today?”

Don didn’t say ‘huh’ to be rude or disrespectful. He literally could not compute what was happening. First, I told him I would check on him. Then, he heard Mr. M say he was calling me. Naturally, Don associated phone calls with calls home. So when I came over the phone and used his mother’s typically response to his nonsense. It just didn’t compute. The phone should mean mom, but Mr. M said my name, but I used mom’s words, but it was my voice. Without meaning to, I had utterly discombobulated him. He said ‘huh’ because the circumstances left him befuddled.

As soon as I realized what had happened, all my irk melted away. I accepted his apology and offered an apology for overreacting in return. We ended the conversation on a positive note. To the best of my recollection, Don made it through his time in ISS without further incident.

I was lucky. Don had enough forgiveness that I didn’t destroy our relationship. We had enough of a relationship that he was willing to apologize and tell me why he had responded that way. I had enough self-awareness to recognize immediately that I was triggered by something that wasn’t intended to be disrespectful. I caught a bad case of ‘contempt of teacher.’

When I reflect on this incident, which I have done many times, it always reminds me to check my reactions to student behavior. It is my role to deescalate conflicts and maintain my composure. I am the role model, the authority, and the adult. It has taken intentional effort and practice to cultivate my awareness in these situations. Now, I wonder how to help other teachers.

How can instructional coaches help teachers become self-aware? What explicit learning experiences can we provide for teachers? What else can Instructional Coaches do to identify and mitigate the consequences ‘Contempt of Teacher’ in our schools?

How can Instructional Coaches help teachers?

The first thing we can do is acknowledge the reality of this problem. Teachers who are easily offended by the behavior of young people tend to have more discipline and classroom management problems. Rigid ideas about what constitutes respect can escalate problems exponentially. Too often, teachers expect punishment instead of examining motive.

Next, we need to find ways to introduce this concept to teachers and confront them with the ways they contribute to and participate in quickly escalating power struggles. Teachers often don’t recognize the attitudes they hold or how those attitudes can impact the classroom experiences of their students. Moreover, if we can present teachers with examples of this phenomenon and have them analyze them, they might be more able to make the connection to their own practices (emphasis on might).

Another strategy we can employ is to provide teachers with training in conflict management and deescalation. It is important to acknowledge that classroom management and conflict management are NOT the same thing. Conflict management and deescalation require a specific set of practiced skills that include self-awareness, situational awareness, and conflict resolution. Classroom management tends to focus on establishing routines, getting and keeping attention, and making behavioral expectations clear.
Though teachers are expected to manage classes of diverse young personalities, they are rarely given specific training in how to handle conflict effectively. Teaching with Love and Logic is one powerful resource.

Instructional coaches can also provide training in cultural awareness for teachers. Teachers often perceive certain behaviors as disrespectful that are, in fact, learned cultural behaviors. Over-talking is one example. In many cultures, individuals engaged in conversation begin talking as or before another person finishes speaking. Doing so indicates attention and engagement. One easily recognizable example is Italian family dynamics. In the classroom; however, over-talking is almost always seen as disrespectful interrupting. Coaches can identify the cultural backgrounds of students and related cultural behaviors that are problematic. They can then provide targeted, relevant professional development for teachers. Exercises like Harvard’s Project Implicit can be useful here.

How can Instructional Coaches help administrators?

Many of the things that help teachers will also help administrators. Administrators who are aware of how ‘contempt of teacher’ contributes to the school culture have an opportunity to promote positive change.

First, instructional coaches need to introduce the concept to administrators. Administrators need support to analyze their own attitudes and recognize which staff members might be especially sensitive to perceived student disrespect. Many school leaders experience ‘contempt of teacher’ in the behaviors students, parents, and other teachers. If leaders can recognize when and how this concept causes unnecessary problems, they can respond accordingly.

Administrators also need training in conflict management and deescalation. Practices like Restorative Justice can positively impact school culture, but need effective leadership to be successful and sustainable. Several Instructional coaches can help leaders connect programs, practices, and school culture.

Finally, and most importantly, administrators can help educate students about how and why they unintentionally trigger negative responses. Students benefit when they are made aware of what behaviors are causing problems in the classroom. In addition, many students need both validation of cultural behaviors and specific, explicit instruction in alternative behaviors that are more situationally appropriate for school.

Administrators have the opportunity to support teachers in learning not to respond to perceived ‘contempt of teacher.’ They can also teach both students and teachers to code switch to meet behavioral norms. Administrators can also create a culture that focuses on culturally responsive classroom management. In addition, they can avoid negative assumptions about teacher and student motivations when managing conflicts and discipline issues.

Final Thoughts

Instructional coaches are uniquely placed to recognize ‘contempt of teacher’ and do something about it. We don’t have all the answers. We are; however, able to provide professional development and resources that can shift the conversation. We can encourage the school community to examine the intent of perceived disrespect to avoid escalation.

We can make ‘contempt of teacher’ a real thing.