I used to think that planning for an instructional coaching meeting was antithetical to being responsive and authentic. I also didn’t have a clear structure for coaching meetings and I resisted examples I’d encountered that were overly prescriptive. But inevitably, in an effort to keep things organic, I’d leave some coaching conversations wishing they’d gone differently, wondering what opportunities were missed, and kicking myself for not having anticipated certain questions or pushback. Over time, I noticed a pattern—my most impactful coaching conversations weren't just the ones where I was fully present or where the conversation flowed naturally; they were the ones where I had done the work beforehand to get myself ready.
Preparing doesn’t have to mean scripting the meeting or over-engineering the conversation. It means setting aside time to think critically about the arc of our work with teachers, what student learning is showing us, anticipating what the teaching might need, and preparing a toolkit that truly moves practice forward.
The most impactful coaching conversations often look effortless precisely because they're not. Like a duck gliding smoothly across water while paddling energetically underneath, impactful instructional coaching requires often invisible but intentional preparation.
Handling Business
At a baseline level, we need to make sure we're covering the foundations to make our prep process effective:
Make Time
If you're not finding time to prepare for coaching meetings, check out these recommendations for managing your calendar as an instructional coach. I recommend calendaring your prep time just as you would a team meeting, whether you have 15 minutes or an hour. If we don't make the time, we will not find the time.
Check Off Your To-Dos
It should go without saying, but follow-through is an important component not just for being prepared, but for building and maintaining trust. Complete any action steps, prepare any materials you've committed to bringing to the meeting, send the emails, or handle any other logistics or arrangement agreed to in previous meetings.
Beyond the Checklist
A well-prepared coaching meeting isn't about creating the perfect agenda, but we do need to connect the dots between goals, action steps, and results. Here are some ways to do that thoughtfully.
What's the Through Line?
Start by reconnecting with the bigger picture:
What are the teacher's goals, and how do they connect to student learning?
What patterns have you noticed in your work together?
How might today's conversation move both teacher practice and student outcomes forward?
How does this work connect to what you know about the teacher's values, vision for themselves, and hopes for their students?
Where Are We in the Story?
Look back at the arc of your work together so far:
What have you tried and what has worked? What has gotten in the way? Where has there been growth?
What commitments did you and the teacher make in your last meeting?
What evidence might show whether those moves made an impact?
If planned actions didn't happen, what might that tell you?
What's the Evidence Telling Us?
Our coaching conversations need to be anchored in evidence and low-inference data. A key part of preparation is having clear evidence of learning or progress towards the coaching goals. This might include:
Data from assessments or exit tickets
Student work samples showing thinking processes
Notes from classroom observations
Recorded patterns in student discourse
Teacher reflections on implementation
Getting Below the Surface
Sometimes a teacher might name a challenge with a great deal of awareness about themselves, and need that can drive a very practice work plan. Other times, the root cause of the challenge isn't immediately clear—or you may be seeing the root cause differently from the teacher. If we don't take the time to explore further, we risk moving toward solutions that don't actually address the real issue.
Elena Aguilar's Mind the Gap framework offers a really helpful lens here. If a teacher is struggling, you can ask yourself (or even plan to engage the teacher in identifying) whether the gap might be in:
Knowledge (Do they know the basics of how retrieval practice is tied to cognitive science?)
Skill (Have they had practice with check-for-understanding strategies beyond calling on volunteers?)
Will (Are they open and committed to trying different engagement strategies?)
Emotional intelligence (Are they aware of and able to move through strong emotions when students aren't following community agreements?)
Capacity (Do they have the time, resources, or energy to advance this goal?)
Cultural competence (Are they able to connect with students from different cultural backgrounds from their own?)
By considering these possibilities ahead of time, we can craft questions and guidance that match the need, rather than our assumption of the issue.
Doing the Intellectual Prep
Strong coaching requires having a solid foundation in the learning goals for students, the instructional approaches, and student tasks. As Lacey Robinson said, "Justice is in the details of teaching and learning". While we may not need to know the minutiae of every lesson plan, we do need to be prepared to partner thoughtfully around instructional goals. Our prep can include:
Unpacking standards—What do students need to know and be able to do at this grade level? What common misconceptions might arise?
Internalizing curriculum—What instructional materials, lesson structures, or pedagogical approaches are we planning? What are the major goals of this unit, lesson, task?
Reviewing pacing guides and progression documents—Where are they in the larger scope of learning? What's coming next?
Examining common assessments—What does mastery look like? How do students demonstrate understanding?
Pulling examples, models, videos, or other resources to support skill development or knowledge-building for teachers or ourselves.
Planning for Possibilities
If/Then Planning
Since effective coaching is responsive, thinking through different if/then scenarios helps us stay flexible:
If the teacher has already analyzed their exit ticket data, then I might ask...
If they're feeling overwhelmed by the pace of change, then we could...
If they're ready to push their practice further, then we might explore…
If the conversation gets off-track from our original agreements, then I will…
Depending on the needs and likely scenarios, we can prepare several high-impact coaching moves, such as questioning strategies, modeling teaching practices, co-planning, analyzing data, looking at student work, observing a class together, watching videos, practicing teaching moves with feedback, role playing scenarios, etc, to meet the moment. This isn't about predicting every possibility—it's about being ready by having done some mental rehearsal and toolkit-building based on likely needs.
When Time Is Tight
Let's be real: Sometimes you're running from one meeting to the next, and perfect preparation isn't possible. In those moments, even five minutes of focused thought can make a difference:
What's one key piece of evidence to center the conversation?
What's one assumption you might need to check?
What's one question that could help uncover what the teacher really needs?
Getting Ourselves Ready
Before we can meet teachers where they are, we need to get ourselves right. This internal work might be the most important preparation we do to be able to show up as partners and work from trust. Here are some things that can be helpful to check in with ourselves about.
Examining Our Own Triggers
It can be helpful to tune in to any reactions or judgments we ourselves are bringing to this conversation. Sometimes a teacher's behavior reminds us of a challenging colleague from our teaching days. Or maybe their resistance to trying new strategies triggers our frustration about the pace of change. Peeling back the layers of our triggers can put us into a more resourceful and generative state. For example, when I sit with my frustration and ask myself where it's coming from, I often come back to deep convictions around equity and educational justice, the student experience, and my desire to ensure teachers are adequately supported to do important work. Naming and examining these reactions is a step in setting them aside and uncovering the values we do want to connect to in coaching conversations.
Finding Our Backbone
Some conversations require a special kind of preparation—the kind where we have to connect deeply to why the conversation matters and challenge practices or mindsets that aren't serving students or the teacher. If you notice yourself avoiding a difficult topic, try asking yourself, "What students might be impacted if I don't find the courage to have this conversation?" Reconnecting to impact can help us find our resolve and get to planning for a challenging conversation.
Challenging Our Certainty
Sometimes our biggest barrier is our own sense of having the answers. When I notice this for myself, I try to identify at least three alternative interpretations of what I'm seeing. This practice helps me stay open to the teacher's perspective and creates space for collaborative problem-solving.
Connecting to Curiosity
If we notice judgment creeping in, we can try to get curious instead. Rather than "They never follow through on our plans," I might wonder "What barriers might be getting in the way of implementation?" This shift in mindset helps me show up as a genuine thought partner rather than an evaluator.
Ultimately preparation isn't about controlling the conversation—it's about creating conditions for conversations that spur reflection, lead to insight, refine skills and knowledge, and leave teachers feeling more supported and equipped to shift outcomes for students. When we take time to prepare thoughtfully, we honor the teacher's time and our shared commitment to student success.
