Notes
Coaching Session #7 – Reflection on Problem of Practice and Student Progress
Coachee: Meghan Muntz
Date/Time: April 29, 2026 1:00 p.m.
Next Coaching Date/Time: May 13, 2026 1:00 p.m.
Overarching goal with students: I will work with six students currently in the partial alphabetic stage using manipulatives and hands-on materials from the 95% curriculum specifically for phonemic awareness instruction 20 minutes per day to move them to the full alphabetic stage. By March 15, the students will be 50% toward goal; by April 15, the students will be 75% toward goal; by May 15, the students will achieve full alphabetic stage. The assessment from the 95% curriculum will be utilized to determine student success. Students are progress monitored every six weeks.
Meghan tested her students within the small group today (April 13, 2026). HR, JB, FR, PV all passed skill 5.9 (adding sounds) and are ready for deletion. IV passed skill 5.7 and is ready for 5.8 (application: categorization: number). The students are making great progress toward their goals!
Meghan has set a mini-goal for the beginning of May focusing on student IV to become more fluent and confident in decoding words.
Problem of practice goal: I want to use decodable texts more frequently and incorporate their use into small group instruction by April 15, 2026. I will begin implementation with the students who are working on moving to full alphabetic stage first. Once I see how that is going, I will incorporate decodable texts into other small group instruction times. My goal is to use decodable texts within all groups by the end of the academic year.
Coachee reflections: I feel so proud of the hard work my students have put in this semester. I have really enjoyed having a focus group of kiddos this year. I think focusing on my “bubble” kiddos has been so beneficial for them to not slip between the cracks when they are borderline qualifying for intervention groups. I do plan to reach out to IV’s parents with an update on her progress and mention my concern for her focus again.
Coach reflections: Meghan submitted a video of student IV working on changing beginning, end, and middle sounds within three-letter words with short vowel sounds. IV needed lots of support to complete the tasks, and the cell phone camera being used to record the session was very distracting to the student. During a review of the alphabet, IV only needed support identifying the letter N. My question for Meghan was whether or not IV was ready for the skills or if she simply could not stay focused and engaged in the lesson. She continually removed all of the letters when she was sounding out words rather than the letter that needed to be changed. Meghan had to remind her that those letters stayed. During our coaching meeting, Meghan and I discussed talking to the parents so that they understand that IV’s inability to focus during a one-on-one lesson is problematic for her learning the skills needed to do well next year.
Questions to consider:
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 changes have you seen in student performance within the small group because decodable texts are integrated into the small group work? There are books in the tubs on students’ desks. Some are decodable, and some are not. The students are tending to choose decodable books when they read independently. They feel successful with reading those texts. Before the end of the year, Meghan has a goal of recording every student reading a decodable text and then using SeeSaw to send the video to families so that they can hear their child reading. She believes the parents don’t know their students are able to read texts. This would be another way to communicate that information to families aside from conferencing.
What evidence do you have that the decodable texts are making a difference? The students are choosing them to read because they feel successful. Meghan applied for and received a Donor’s Choose donation for decodable books. Meghan is sending a packet of books home for each student to read over the summer. The books are specifically skills-based by levels so Meghan can differentiate which books go home with the students. Each packet contains five books. She also has dairy-themed books she received and these will be sent home, as well.
What do you still need to do to accomplish this goal within the small group and the other groups you work with in your classroom? The students are sometimes reading only some of the words in the text or making up the words. She is working on getting them to slow down to read all of the words, but even so, the students have made good progress with their reading skills.
What will you be looking for in the next two weeks that demonstrates decodable texts are beneficial to your students? Meghan would like to do a running record with each of her students before the end of the school year. I suggested using A to Z resources to print a text for each of the students to save time finding running record texts that match students’ skills. Meghan has finished the required phonics curriculum with her students, but she and her colleagues are still focusing on the skills that they need to have reinforced before the end of the school year.
What steps have you taken to work with IV on her fluency? Meghan is working with IV to use three-letter words and identifying and changing BME sounds. She noted that IV immediately wants to remove the letters from the board instead of focusing on the letter/sound that will be changed.
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 mid-May. A mini-goal has been established for the beginning of May for one student.
You can create a video if you like, but that is no longer required.
At the final coaching session, we will work on identifying what your small group of students need for the summer to be successful in going to 1st grade.