“The arts are not a luxury. They are not a bonus, an add-on, or something we ‘get to’ when everything else is done. The arts are essential. They are a heartbeat. A compass. A lifeline. Vital to our democracy. Vital to our communities. Vital to our humanity.”

Just as the beginning of the school year gives teachers a fresh start with new students, it gives coaches an opportunity to reconnect with the teachers they partner with. I launch coaching cycles at the beginning of the year by meeting with each teacher alongside the instructional leadership team. This establishes a shared vision for coaching we can revisit throughout the school year.

This year, coaching colleagues and I brainstormed questions to guide our thirty-minute kick off sessions. I am sharing the discussion prompts we developed below. Feel free to use them with your coaching partners or adapt them for students:

• What is a personal strength that you draw upon in your teaching?

• What is your favorite topic, unit, or area of your subject to teach?

• With coaching cycles in mind, what goals would you like to set for yourself and students this year?

• During coaching cycle planning days, would you prefer to meet for the first half, second half, or full period?

• What might our coaching cycles look and feel like this year? 

• What would you like to explore through visiting other teachers’ classrooms? 

I'd love to sit down with your team and turn questions like these into responsive coaching cycles that fit the teachers and culture of your learning community. Reach out to me at oliviawahl.com/coaching-consulting to start the conversation. 

Follow me on socials @oliviawahlcoachingconsulting, where I share the teaching practices and moves that have the biggest impact on students’ learning. Join the Forever Getting Better community, where you are surrounded by a community of educators committed to forever getting better through collective expertise.

What I’m Reading Now

Upcoming Schoolutions Episodes

This October, Schoolutions is all about prioritizing depth over delivery. After editing this month’s episodes, a common thread across all four discussions made me ask: How can we guide students to construct meaning and foster wonder so learning truly lasts? This month's conversations offer strategies to find clarity and balance between our professional roles as educators and what really matters as we grow with students.

Join our Schoolutions Podcast community here and follow Schoolutions on socials @schoolutionspodcast. This season, guests share how they use the five essential practices from my upcoming book to ensure all children thrive. Each episode this season drops in two parts: part one on Monday, part two on Friday, with a highlight reel from the guest every Wednesday.

Check out the October lineup below.

10/05 (Part 1) & 10/09 (Part 2) Season 6, Episode 4

Too many school districts keep adding to teachers’ plates without letting go of outdated expectations and initiatives. In this conversation, Katherine Lewis White shares the impacts of learning debt and the differences between presenting and facilitating learning. Katie has over a decade of experience in instructional design and global curriculum development. 

10/12 (Part 1) & 10/16 (Part 2) Season 6, Episode 5

This conversation offers strategies for balancing the many roles teachers juggle while supporting students as inductive and deductive thinkers. My guest is Angela Lathem-Ballard, an education veteran with over 25 years of experience who learned alongside Nancie Atwell and Glenn Powers at The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), a critical literacy demonstration school in Maine. 

10/19 (Part 1) & 10/23 (Part 2) Season 6, Episode 6

Jennifer Serravallo returns to the podcast this month to talk about her new Heinemann resource, Whole Book Comprehension, launching in November 2026 for grades 1–6. Jen highlights how to bridge the gap between short, testable reading passages and whole-book comprehension with a practical, research-backed approach you can use in your classroom right away. 

10/26 (Part 1) & 10/30 (Part 2) Season 6, Episode 7

How will you grow the creative minds in your organization? That’s a question my guest, Jason Blair, asks educators. In this conversation, you'll discover how to embrace your artist mindset in a way that blooms into fresh perspectives, routines, and leadership moves. As a creativity specialist, practicing artist, and elementary art teacher for twenty-four years, Jason helps schools grow imaginative, curious, and connected learners.

Listen on Apple
Subscribe on Spotify
Watch on YouTube