“In a teaching context, humility is a willingness to stoop down to lift students up: We humbly crouch to understand another’s perspective, set aside our own ideas as we listen to and consider the thinking of others, relinquish the need for perfection or completion in favor of the ongoing evolution of understanding.”

Last month’s Educational Leadership magazine (another read I look forward to every month) was a beautiful collection of articles about “Putting the ‘Professional’ Back in PD.” Jim Knight’s piece, How to Coach When Time is Short, included seven findings from his team’s research, and one stood out to me in particular as I am wrapping up the year’s coaching cycles with teachers. In Finding 6, Jim shares recent (2026) research from Christian van Nieuwerburgh, highlighting four specific skills that coaching requires.“Effective coaches listen deeply so they can serve as thinking partners. They ask questions that expand awareness, support goal setting, and guide planning. They notice nonverbal communication. Finally, they play back what they’ve heard by paraphrasing and summarizing.” These four coaching skills are what I work to hone with each teacher, leader, and coach I partner with, and, frankly, when used in symmetry, they directly benefit our relationships with students. 

Taking the time to reflect with colleagues in May and June about our year of coaching together is something I deeply value.  A week before meeting with each teacher for their end-of-the-year coaching wrap-up session, my fellow coach and I asked them to respond to a Google Form with three questions we could use as springboards for our conversations:

1. How did our coaching conversations impact the way you see your students as learners?

2. What stands out for you from our coaching conversations this year?  

3. What did you learn or do this year that you will carry forward into next year?  

I share these three questions with you to use and reframe for your own conversations with colleagues or students this June. I also plan to use the following words from Jim Knight to fuel my conversations and coaching work with educators this summer and next school year: “Motivation for change comes from noticing the gap between where we are and where we want to be.”

Reach out to me here to learn more about how we can become thought partners.

What I’m Reading Now

Upcoming Schoolutions Episodes

This June, Schoolutions podcast offers tools and ideas for teachers to keep learning alive as the school year winds down and for families to carry that momentum through the summer. Check out the June line-up below and don’t forget to join our Schoolutions podcast community by clicking this link.

06/01 (Part 1) & 06/05 (Part 2) Season 5, Episode 40
Every child who says “I’m not a reader” is really saying something else.

Dr. Kay Stahl brings 25+ years of classroom and clinic experience to a conversation about the 5th edition of her co-authored book, Assessment for Reading Instruction. Kay offers insights about paired reading at bedtime and reading topics for the dinner table. This conversation reframes what summer reading can look like and why summer slide is totally avoidable.

06/08 (Part 1) & 06/12 (Part 2) Season 5, Episode 41
Movement isn't a break from learning; it's the secret to unlocking it.

Coach Tom Gelardi, New York State's P.E. Teacher of the Year, shares what really happens in a gym class. Between keeping 64 kids safely engaged in a space meant for 30 and building a popular YouTube channel, nearly closing in on 15 million views, this conversation will instill a whole new respect for P.E. teachers worldwide.

06/15 (Part 1) & 06/19 (Part 2) Season 5, Episode 42
Being good at math was never about being fast; it was always about being curious.

Wendy Ward Hoffer, author of All Minds on Mathematics, makes the case that summer is the most underused math classroom we have, and that the kitchen, the car, and the dinner table are all you need to keep mathematical thinking going. This conversation is a practical, joyful summer playbook for any adult who wants to help a child grow as a mathematician without a single worksheet in sight.

06/22 (Part 1) & 06/26 (Part 2) Season 5, Episode 43
Joy and justice aren’t opposites of rigor; they’re the whole point.

Cornelius and Dr. Kass Minor, co-founders of The Minor Collective, have spent years building education around a radical premise: that kids deserve to be truly centered. In a moment when teaching feels surveilled, exhausted, and politically complicated, this conversation is a fierce, tender reminder of why the work still matters and how to keep going.

06/29 Season 5, Episode 44
For Teachers, By Teachers & Forever Getting Better

I (Olivia) reflect on big ideas gleaned from Season 5’s conversations, what Schoolutions followers can look forward to this summer, and why the theme for Season 6is For Teachers, By Teachers & Forever Getting Better, leading up to my book’s release in spring 2027!

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