Notes
Coaching Session #6 – Reflection and Commitment to Change in Practice
Coachee: Kelly Seward
Date/Time: April 23, 2026 10:00 a.m.
Next Coaching Date/Time: April 30, 2026 8:30 a.m.
Overarching goal with students: The 3rd grade students in gifted education will be able to identify root words with 90% accuracy by April 3; identify prefixes including using words with prefixes correctly (grammatically) with 90% accuracy by April 30; identify and use suffixes with 90% accuracy by the end of the year. The success of the students will be assessed using a pre-test and post-test through SeeSaw. The strategy to be used will be a graphic organizer that asks students to correctly dissect a word but also use an illustration, drawing, and sentence to demonstrate understanding (possibly an adapted Frayer Model).
April 3, 2026 assessment results for root words: (still need to get from Kelly)
Problem of practice goal: This is the first year for teaching in the gifted education program. I will reflect in three different coaching sessions on my practice over this academic year. For the April 23, 2026 session, we will focus on reflecting on the beginning of the school year (August through October); for the April 30, 2026 session, we will focus on reflecting on the middle of the school year (November through February); and for the final coaching session, we will focus on reflecting on the end of this school year (March through mid-May). These reflections will help me to improve my practice for the next academic year.
Coachee reflections on student progress toward goal: Being new to this position, I worked too hard to try to make my classroom look like that of other teachers (both others I observed and the teacher I was replacing) and it made things feel uncomfortable and not natural. I want to set up my class from the start to meet the needs of my kids now that I know them better and have a solid plan of where my instruction will go throughout the year.
Coach reflections on student progress toward goal and coaching session:  Kelly was very reflective in today’s coaching session. We were able to narrow down and identify three challenges from the beginning of this academic year that Kelly wants to work on for next year. She will be completing a great deal of work this summer to achieve her goal of change (see below).
The Problem of Practice is a lot like setting a SMART goal:
- A focus on the instructional core,
- Our work on the goal is actionable,
- Action toward the goal is directly observable,
- The work is connected to a broader strategy of improvement, and
- The work is high-leverage and may result in important changes to instruction and student learning
Focus questions:
What are three challenges that presented themselves during the beginning of the year with the gifted students (August through October)? Kelly identified three broad areas that greatly impacted her role as the gifted teacher at the beginning of the year. 1) She tried to function according to what the previous Quest teacher had done. She quickly understood that was not going to work for her or her students, but the students did initially resisted when she tried to change processes. 2) Kelly tried to use the previous organization style for students’ materials, but understands that she needs to set materials up in a way that makes sense to her, and in turn, her students. One example is that the previous teacher did not send students’ products home throughout the year, but Kelly believes that parents want to be able to see how their student is performing throughout the year. 3) Kelly quickly understood that she needed a clear vision (planning guide) from the beginning to the end of the year. Â
How would you prioritize work on those three challenges? Kelly has identified the planning component as critical for next year. She already has plans to work on this during summer. She is asking herself the question: What is the long-range plan for all of her students and each grade level? She has discussed the long-range planning with other Quest teachers and has found a system she likes that she will use to guide her work this summer. She is moving toward shorter projects that can be completed each quarter rather than a semester-long project for each student. This will enable families to see their students’ progress and will give students more opportunities to reflect on their work.
In what ways did you see students needing changes for what occurred at the beginning of the year?  Kelly saw that she was disrupting what the students were used to from their former teacher. The students needed some time to transition to Kelly’s expectations and to sort through their feelings. Some of the students had had the previous teacher for four years and were used to her methods. That’s not how the old teacher did it.
How will you change what you did at the beginning of the year to tackle these three issues? What assistance do you need with those challenges? Through deep reflection, Kelly will complete summer planning. As noted above, she has already discussed planning with other Quest teachers and is borrowing some ideas from them. She is also working with a school psych in one of her schools to process what occurs for her students. Her special education team in both schools are very supportive and open to answering and discussing Kelly’s questions.
What kinds of evidence can you use to document work toward the challenges? The long-term planning document that Kelly creates this summer will be the evidence of change. She will be planning for a three-year cycle for grades 3-5 and grades K-2.
How will the changes you make impact your students? Behavior management will be easier because students will know Kelly’s expectations for them.
What will you be looking for in your students to see that work on the problem of practice is working for your students? Student behaviors, students’ ability to reflect on their work, students’ ability to notice and understand change.
Working on Next Steps
Work on implementation of your goal for problem of practice by the next coaching session.
Keep working on steps toward goal with your identified students that you want to meet by May 15.
You can create a video if you like, but that is no longer required.
Working on Next Steps
Think about what occurred at the middle of the year, and we will discuss a set of questions at the next session.
Keep working on steps toward goal with your identified students that you want to meet by mid-May.