12 Action Steps to a Coaching Classroom is a practical guide that provides teachers with a set of 12 actionable steps to transform their classrooms into coaching environments.

We explore key coaching skills and techniques that teachers can use to foster student growth and development, such as active listening, asking powerful questions, and providing feedback.

Each step focuses on one key skill and provides practical strategies, real-life examples, and reflective questions to help teachers apply the concepts in their own classrooms.

Whether you're a seasoned teacher or just starting out, this resource will give you the tools and strategies you need to create a supportive and empowering learning environment for your students. Looking to improve student engagement, foster a growth mindset, or build stronger relationships with your students, "12 Action Steps to a Coaching Classroom" is the essential guide for any teacher looking to take their practice to the next level.

Introduction and Overview
This resource is designed for educators and coaches who are looking to improve their teaching and coaching skills. It provides a comprehensive guide to using positive language, humor, open-ended questions, feedback, and goal-setting to enhance the learning experience for students.

Step 1: Positive Language
Explores the power of positive language and how it can be used to create a more positive and supportive learning environment. It covers the importance of using language that is encouraging, supportive, and empowering, and provides strategies for avoiding negative language and criticism.

Step 2: Using Humor, Not Jokes
The role of humor in the classroom and how it can be used to create a more relaxed and engaging learning environment. It covers the difference between appropriate and inappropriate humor and provides strategies for using humor effectively in the classroom.

Step 3: Asking more than Telling
This step covers the importance of asking more questions in the classroom and how it can be used to promote critical thinking and encourage student participation.

Step 4: Asking Open-ended Questions
Covers the importance of asking open-ended questions. It provides strategies for asking open-ended questions and avoiding closed-ended questions, and discusses the role of teacher's questions in the learning process.

Step 5: Asking for Feedback
The importance of feedback in the classroom and how it can be used to improve student learning. It provides strategies for asking for feedback from students and using feedback to improve instruction and learning.

Step 6: Learning from Mistakes
This step reveals the importance of making mistakes in the learning process and how it can be used to promote growth and learning. It provides strategies for creating a safe and supportive learning environment where mistakes are encouraged and used as opportunities for learning.

Step 7: Learning Designing Agreements
This covers the importance of agreements in the classroom and how they can be used to promote a positive and productive learning environment. It provides strategies for designing agreements with students and using them to set expectations and establish boundaries.

Step 8: Identifying Agendas
This step covers the importance of identifying and understanding the agendas of students and how they can be used to create a more inclusive and equitable learning environment. It provides strategies for identifying and addressing the agendas of different students and groups.

Step 9: Setting Goals
Demonstrates the importance of goal-setting in the classroom and how it can be used to promote student motivation and engagement. It provides strategies for setting goals with students and using them to improve learning and progress.

Step 10: Using Learning Styles
Increases your understanding the different learning styles of students and how they can be used to improve instruction and learning. It provides strategies for identifying the learning styles of students and adapting instruction to meet their needs.

Step 11: Identifying and Using Role Models
This step shows you the importance of role models in the classroom and how they can be used to promote student motivation and engagement. It provides strategies for identifying and using role models in the classroom and for encouraging students to find their own role models.

Step 12: Discovering and Using Values
This step works with the importance of values in the classroom and how they can be used to promote a positive and productive learning environment. It provides strategies for discovering and using values in the classroom, and how to use them to set expectations and establish boundaries.

This Course has 12 Steps in 4 Stages

For this course, the steps have been grouped into four Stages:

Stage One

By using Positive Language and Humour you will begin to Ask your students more than you Tell them. This makes your relationships more authentic.

Stage Two

Asking the right kind of Open Questions deepens the discussions in the classroom. By Asking for Feedback and Learning from Mistakes you will encourage your students to be courageous and curious. They will learn from you and each other, as well as from themselves. These three steps strengthen learner autonomy and change the role of the teacher from Sage on the Stage to Guide on the Side.

Stage Three

The next three steps are: sharing the responsibility for the working Agreement, having clarity about whose Agenda you are using, and collaboratively setting Goals. These steps will bring a connection to the wider community and engagement in real issues. It also results in students learning for a higher purpose. This is vital for the students' continued well-being and impact during their working lives.

Stage Four

The next three steps ask you to adapt your teaching to the many different Learning Styles that your students have. This will show them what a coaching leadership looks, sounds like and feels like. You will become your students' Role Model, as much as their other heroes and idols. Students will explore and clarify the Values and Beliefs that will guide them throughout their lives.

Strategies

Each step is described in a short text and several stories and articles. There are several strategies that you can consider using. Ideally, you will be inspired to create your own strategies adapted to your situation rather than copying one from the text.

You may find you already use many of the coaching strategies. The strategies focus on the student, regardless of whichever subject you are teaching.

Recommendations for coaching in your classroom

If you only take three action steps, take these:

1. Balance being the Sage on the Stage and being a Guide on the Side for the sake of your students and their learning
2. Hold the belief that all students are naturally curious about the world and capable of learning anything
3. Act on that belief.

Coaching Essentials

Coaching requires:

• Courage
• Curiosity
• Collaboration
• Communication

It does not require:

• Judging the students in any way
• Knowing in advance what will happen