The BEST Qualities of an Instructional Coach

In this S5E18 Schoolutions Teaching Strategies conversation, Chrissy Beltran explains how to stop being a "fixer" coach and start being a partner! In this powerful conversation, Chrissy (Buzzing with Ms. B) shares game-changing strategies for instructional coaching that actually work with all teachers, maximize teacher support, and drive student success.

Chrissy is the host of the "Instructional Coaching with Ms. B" podcast (250+ episodes), a former literacy coach and instructional coach supporting teachers everywhere

🎯 What You'll Learn:
Chrissy reveals her proven coaching strategies for working with teachers in different engagement modes—from resistors to explorers. Discover how to shift from deficit-based to asset-based coaching, when to tell vs. ask, and why great classroom teachers don't always make great instructional coaches. Learn the "Visit-a-Colleague" strategy that breaks through resistance, the 4-T debrief method for documenting impact, and how to differentiate your professional learning approach for every teacher type.

Some resources mentioned:
➡️Jan Hasbrouck, Ph.D.'s coaching research

➡️The Disengaged Teen by Rebecca Winthrop & Jenny Anderson - Interview

Get in touch with Chrissy:
🐝 Visit Buzzing with Ms. B: the shop
🛒 Shop Buzzing with Ms. B on TpT
👓 Check out Buzzing with Ms. B: the blog
🎙️ Listen to Instructional Coaching with Ms. B, the podcast
🖥️ Join Instructional Coaching with Ms. B: The Facebook group

CHAPTERS:
0:00 - Introduction to Chrissy Beltran
1:49 - Research That Guides Coaching Practice
2:43 - From Fixer to Partner: The Coaching Mindset Shift
5:33 - Asset-Based Coaching & Documentation Strategies
6:48 - Why Great Teachers Don't Always Make Great Coaches
8:47 - Top 3 Skills Every Coach Needs
11:23 - Adult Learning & Teacher Development
13:10 - "Just Tell Me What to Do" - When to Show vs. Ask
17:00 - The 4 Modes of Teacher Engagement
18:25 - Coaching the Resistor: Building Bridges
20:19 - The Visit-a-Colleague Strategy
21:40 - Who Should Be Coached? (Spoiler: Everyone)
24:19 - Beyond Data Dumps: Finding Stories in Student Work
25:47 - The Pattern-Finder Framework
27:02 - Measuring Your Coaching Impact
28:12 - Lightning Round: Essential Coaching Tools & Tips
30:05 - Final Thoughts & Closing

Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child. 

📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

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When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

Olivia: [00:00:00] You know that moment when you walk into a classroom and your brain immediately starts cataloging everything that is not going well? That classroom management that needs tightening the lesson structure that could be sharper, the learning target, that's not quite clear enough? If you've ever caught yourself in a full on fix it mode, you're not alone and you're definitely not a bad coach. You're just human. 

I'm Olivia Wahl, and today on the podcast, I'm talking with someone who gets it, really gets it because she's lived it. Chrissy Beltran, also known as Buzzing with Ms. B, went from being a third and fourth grade teacher to a literacy coach, to an instructional coach supporting teachers everywhere. And she's learned some hard truths about what actually moves the needle in coaching.

Here's one of those truths: being a phenomenal teacher doesn't [00:01:00] automatically make you a phenomenal coach. Chrissy's going to walk us through why coaching adults requires a completely different skillset than teaching kids. And why that positive determination to keep showing up even when teachers shut the door in your face might be more important than any coaching protocol you've ever learned.

We're diving into coaching 101 today. Like what to do when a teacher begs you to just tell me what to do, how to shift from that deficit mindset to actually seeing what's already working in a classroom, why those rigid four to six week coaching cycles might be doing more harm than good, and how to stop being the fixer and start being the thought partner. 

Whether you're brand new to coaching and maybe feeling overwhelmed or you've been doing this for years and just need to remember why you said yes to this role in the first place, this conversation is for you, so grab your notebook [00:02:00] because yes, Chrissy's going to tell you why every coach needs to carry one. And let's talk about what it really takes to coach teachers well.

This is Schoolutions Teaching Strategies, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that isn't just theory, but practical try-it-tomorrow approaches for educators and caregivers to ensure every student finds their spark and receives the support they need to thrive. 

I am Olivia Wahl, and I am thrilled to be in conversation with Chrissy Beltran today. Um, let me tell you a little bit about Chrissy for those of you who haven't met her yet. Chrissy is also known as Buzzing with Ms. B. She taught third and fourth grade and then became a literacy coach in 2012. She broadened into her role to instructional coach in 2017 to support coaching and teachers [00:03:00] everywhere.

Um, the Chrissy's podcast, Instructional Coaching with Ms. B is phenomenal. It has over 250 episodes since launching in 2020. And Chrissy, our paths connected. Um, we have gone back and forth about topics, and I was lucky to be on your podcast. And you have so many followers, um, and what you offer, it's countless resources. I love your blog. I just, I love everything about the way you package information in such an accessible way. So thank you for being on the podcast today. 

Chrissy: Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for having me here. I'm really excited to be here and I, I'm looking forward to the topics that we're gonna talk about, and I just think it's gonna be really good.

Olivia: I do too. And I think the reason I wanted to release your episode when it's dropping is I think it's critical to have kind of a wrap up for coaches of, you know, what topics kept bubbling up over and over and over this year. And because you and I both work with a lot of [00:04:00] coaches across different districts, different role settings, I thought it would be helpful to unpack some of these.

I won't call them pain points, but I kind of will and then we'll be able to, um, go from there. 

Chrissy: Sounds great. 

Olivia: Alright, here we go. Um, I asked you to start with a research piece of researcher. A researcher that you lean on often when it comes to coaching. 

Chrissy: Yes. You know, one of my favorite, um, I actually was blessed to be able to interview her.One of my favorite researchers, I pulled out her, my book, my stickies on it is, um, Dr. Jan Hasbrouck. And I just really appreciate her work because. It is so accessible and realistic, and it looks like what coaching looked like as a coach, you know? It's not so, um, unattainable. It's very responsive and she's, you know, very much, uh, teaching people to think about the person in front of them and responding to the needs that they have.

And she talks about, you know, practical time management solutions and I just really appreciate work that [00:05:00] looks like the work we do instead of. I mean, there's great information to be found in theory, but sometimes it doesn't. It's like, how does this apply? What does this look like when I bring it into my work? And so I just love Dr. Jan Hasbrouck. She's just so accessible and realistic. So sorry. Her work is really pivotal. 

Olivia: Yeah, absolutely. Um, so something I know I think we both hold tightly to is the idea of coaching as not being a fixer. Um, and so I, I wanted to talk about how can coaches shift from that? just wanting to fix, it's innate, it's like inside of us to try to be helpful, but that's not where we really wanna go with coaching. So how do you shift from being a fixer to a partner? 

Chrissy: Yeah, that's a great question and that is, um, an area that I feel like whenever you get started as a coach, especially. It is a huge shift moving from your own classroom where you're like, this is the best way to do things. I constantly think about what is the best way, and I'm always analyzing and changing [00:06:00] and reflecting and so you feel like you've figured some things out, right?

How the best way to do things is, and then you become a coach and you are put into all these different classrooms and you're like. This, everything looks so different than what I did. And so the, I think our first instinct is to say, no, no, no. If it doesn't look the same, it's bad, it's wrong. And we're not necessarily like, you know, aware that we are thinking this.

This is just like a human thing. If it looks different, if it's not the way that I did it, it might not be right. And so it's a huge adjustment to start looking at things and saying, wait, there's a lot of, there are a lot of good things that are going on here. So we, it's easy to get stuck in the fix it mode or in the, um, deficit mindset just as human, human nature being thrust into a very different environment.

And there are a lot of elements that we don't control. It's not your own space anymore, which can feel really uncomfortable and sometimes that lingers, right? We still go back to that. We still can struggle with those things no matter how long you've been coaching. [00:07:00] So I think that some of the things to consider as you're trying to move more to asset-based coaching is we have to be able to like help ourselves with little tools. Like we are human we have, you know, it's difficult to change thought patterns, so we need to, in our recording sheet for example, we wanna have dedicated space to write things down that we see that are in place. Write the things down that are working.

You know, it's whenever we, if I think back to whenever we were in the classroom and we were making maybe a recommendation for special ed services. You have to document what the child can do and not just what they can't do. Right? You start with strengths and if you can't do that, then there's a problem, right? We need to really look more closely in that situation and figure out, wait, what can this child, maybe I'm looking for all the deficits instead of strengths, so if we have a space to do that, that's for like right in front of our face all the time. I feel like that is a better way to like, support ourselves in making a mindset shift. Sometimes the the practices can help [00:08:00] us move the thinking, you know? Yeah. We have to like start with action. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Chrissy: Um, even with ourselves, right? With our, we are human too. So I think that like really looking at student outcomes, see what's working, see what's in place, see what efforts a teacher is making, and start documenting those things can help you move in that direction. And then you can start working in the areas of growth without feeling like nothing is working. 

Olivia: Yeah. I saw a reel the other day and it was, uh, actually I think the child was 12. It was a, a tween there, right in that realm. And the child said to a grownup, I'm tired of the compliment sandwich. Um, ditch it. I'd much rather you just trust me that I can handle the feedback you're going to offer. And so I appreciate so much if you have the list of what is working, then you're able to choose the next step for that person. So strategically based on what they already have in place. And I see that very differently [00:09:00] than, okay, I'm going to name the two things I've jotted that you're doing well around the next step for you in the middle.

So I would use that section to say, okay, out of all of these things I've listed that are happening and successful - impacting kids in a really positive way. What is this person's next step that I can offer? And I'll even call it improvement feedback because that's what teachers often want. They don't want all the compliments or good job necessarily. Just like our kids don't. They want a next step that is improvement, but also based on meeting them where they are. Um, so I have another question for you. This is something I've always thought was fascinating. A lot of people assume because someone is a phenomenal teacher in their classroom, that they will make a phenomenal coach. What do you think about that? 

Chrissy: Yeah, that is, I think, a, [00:10:00] an assumption that is super common and I think it is a huge mistake. 

Olivia: Me too. 

Chrissy: And it's not because great teachers don't make good coaches, it's because being a great coach takes a very different skillset. Than being a great teacher. And it just doesn't translate. We don't just, you know, I mean, I was plucked outta the classroom, dropped into the coaching role with like little to, I mean, no training really, um, for a really long time. And I was building the plane as I flew it, I was figuring out my job as I was trying to do it at the same time with a group of teachers who had not been coached before.

And so there were a lot of unique challenges that I had to figure out in action in the moment. And so it didn't set me up for a great, like, to really define that role. I didn't have that in place. And so I feel like whenever we do that, it's, it's great that we are honoring, you're a great teacher. We believe you have a really strong skillset that can support other teachers.

However, we need to [00:11:00] look for very specific skills that coaches have and we also need to make sure we are providing them with the support and training they need to develop that skill set that is difficult to develop when you're in the classroom. You may have like some natural lean or ability in that direction, but that doesn't mean that you've really had a chance to develop it and grow it.

Olivia: So say more. I am interested to hear what would your top three skills be that a coach needs to have, especially advice you'd give to a new coach coming into this position. 

Chrissy: That's a really good question. Um, um, if I'm thinking about skills that are not necessarily the same as classroom teacher skills. Um, I think about an, a positive determination to work with adults, which is not like it's, it doesn't fall on anybody's list, but it's like you have to have a sense of determination that is virtually [00:12:00] impossible to tire because adults are exhausting in a way that children are not exhausting. They're exhausting in different ways.

Right? And so you have to keep, you have to be able to pick yourself up and come back to the plate every time, even whenever you know you're getting beaned. For every, every interaction. It's you, your feelings get squashed in a way that they don't get squashed when you're a teacher. 

Olivia: So true. Yes. 

Chrissy: You know,

Olivia: Yes.

Chrissy: Adults can just cut right to the quick, you know, and, um, and so I feel like we need this. It's resiliency, but it's also like you have to have, uh, embody a positive demeanor as well at the same time as you're being resilient. Because if not, then it's, it's, it's off-putting. 

Olivia: Yeah. Yeah. 

Chrissy: Not like toxic positivity, but like a sincere positivity. I believe we can do this. I believe we can get better. You know, so I think that's a big one. That's like the biggest one to me, is that you have to be able to keep coming back over and over [00:13:00] despite interactions that make you uncomfortable, despite, you know, um, all the times that that teachers push us away.

Um, a second one, I think would be more flexibility is required of a coach than a teacher. And that's something I, maybe you just have to develop on the job because I know that I'm not the most flexible person ever. Um, and you have to get good at that. But you definitely get more practice because you have so many teachers that you work with that do things in so many different ways.

So flexibility is a huge one, even beyond what is expected of a classroom teacher, which is already a significant amount, but you have more control. There are lots of things that come into your room and tell you what to do, but you still have more control over what that looks like in your

Olivia: A hundred percent 

Chrissy: in your own space. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and then the third thing, you know, I think that knowledge of how adults learn is helpful. And it's not completely different from how kids learn, but sometimes people almost forget that adults have to learn. [00:14:00] 

Olivia: Oh, that's such a good, yes. Yeah. 

Chrissy: I think that, I mean, even as students, we see it, you know, you work with a teacher in fifth grade, they're like, they already know they've been here for six years. They know where to put their papers, they know how to turn, you know the lights off. They know how to sit down in their seat. If they're not doing it, you gotta teach 'em how to do it. So, you know, we have to do it with adults. It's even more so it's expected, like you have a teaching degree, you graduated, how is this unfamiliar to you?

But it doesn't, it doesn't matter why it is at this point and we have to address any needs, any learning gaps that there are because if not, we're not doing the teacher any sort of service. So, um, yeah, I think understanding how adults learn and that they do need opportunities to learn and time to implement new learning is, um, is another big one.

Olivia: Those are three key pieces. If I were listening to this conversation and I was thinking at first as a new coach, those were, those would be qualities I'd want to hone. Um, and also if I am in a position of thinking of [00:15:00] who would be a great fit for a coach in my district, those would be three sets. I would also add onto that, um, patience, and you already alluded to that, but also being willing to question. I think questioning skills are absolutely critical, and this was something else I wanted to talk to you about because I was in a session with a group of coaches and it came up. What do you do when a teacher says, please just show me. Just tell me what to do. 

And there was a great divide of, that is not my role as a coach. I, I need to ask questions that pull back that cognitive coaching vibe of you. I can be alongside you while you do the work. You do the thinking, but I am not telling you what to do no matter what. I'll sit in silence almost. Versus they're asking for help. They may be a new teacher, they [00:16:00] don't know. My friend, where do you fall on this? How do you handle it?

Chrissy: I, I sincerely think if we are all or nothing in any camp, we're not gonna be able to do much of any good. 

Olivia: So True. In life. Yeah. 

Chrissy: Yeah. And yeah. Right. We have to be, we have to be willing to say, well, there are situations, there are gray areas, there are reasons that we do certain things differently at different times. So I personally believe that as a coach, you rely heavily on what some would call intuition. Um, and sometimes there are those moments when you go, you know what? This teacher has maxed out. They are stuck. They don't have, um, they are not in a place where they are able to kind of dig in and do all this, you know, research.

Like the amount of learning that is required to try something new here or to solve a problem here is not something we can do in this moment. And they, they're asking for help. Those are, if they're telling you, just show me what to do, and they sincerely mean it. That's kind of a big deal, you know? 

Olivia: Right. Yeah. 

Chrissy: Um, and I think if we just [00:17:00] go, well, I mean, if we take like the, you know, the, the psychiatrist when you're laying on the couch approach and you just ask all the questions, they might be saying, but I, if I had the tools to do this, I would do it. Yeah. I'm asking you for the tools. I don't know what to do here. 

You ask me, how does that make me feel? Isn't helping me make a decision about what to do tomorrow? And so I think that there are times whenever teachers need the information and you can partner with them to learn something. And I think that's just fine. Um, I think that we wanna refrain from just telling them, we'll just do this because if you say, well just do this, it doesn't usually have an impact. I think that we can kind of discuss a few different possibilities. I think we can look up a few different possibilities and then we could say, what do you think would work? 

Olivia: Mm-hmm. Nice. Yeah. 

Chrissy: Um, because that's still giving them agency to make some decisions, to make some choices about what feels right and what you know, based on what they've already tried they can eliminate some possibilities and. It doesn't completely rely on them to dig into information that maybe they don't have. 

Olivia: Mm-hmm. Yeah, well said. [00:18:00] I also am wondering too about, I put a reel out and I asked you this question. I adore The Disengaged Teen book by Rebecca Winthrop and Jenny Anderson. And therefore, modes of engagement have been extraordinarily helpful for me as a coach. Um, I don't love ever thinking of any human, whether it's a grownup or a student as, um immovable in their practice. Um, even the word reluctant to me is I don't, I don't love it, right? 

And so the idea of someone being in a passenger or a coasting mode as a student or a grownup, the idea of someone being in the resistor, like they're fighting against something, but what is it? Um, achiever or hopefully explorer - I started to think of the districts and the teachers that I get the privilege of serving within those four modes, and it was really helpful for me to say, okay, [00:19:00] if someone feels, I am not saying they're in passenger or coaching, I'm very carefully listening to what they're telling me about their practice and where they feel like they are.

So I wanna make that clarification. I'm not writing a four-quadrant sheet of paper and putting teachers names in those boxes. But I'm wondering, thinking of those modes, um, how do you see that being beneficial for other coaches to shift practice, just like with students eventually to that idea of explorer?

Chrissy: Yeah, I really liked that. Um, I, you know, I, I looked up, I hadn't read that book, so I looked up the specific four modes of engagement and kind of read about them. And I really did like that idea of approaching, you know, you're listening like you're saying with teachers. And listening for those characteristics and for those things, those statements that they're telling you about, how they feel about their work, you know?

Um, and so I think that this is when having a really diverse coaching strategy toolbox matters. I think that one of the [00:20:00] mistakes that we make is we think everybody's supposed to be in a coaching cycle once every six weeks or whatever magical number people have come up with. And it seems like the people who come up with those things are farther away from the teachers.

Olivia: I agree. 

Chrissy: Um, yeah. So whenever you're closer to teachers and you see them as people who are different, obviously just like your students, you're gonna differentiate right, with the work that you do for them. So I think choosing the right strategy for the moment and being responsive to teacher needs is really important. Like I was mentioning before about Jan Hasbrouck, I mean, that's one of the things that she writes about. So I kind of went through each person and or each, um, each sort of, uh, mode. And then I made a couple notes. About, um, what are some things to think about as you're working with, with different kinds of people? 

Olivia: Ah, awesome. 

Chrissy: So, for the resistor, I, I think it's super important to understand motivations there, um, because they are unlikely to build a bridge to you, and so you are gonna have to build a very deliberate bridge to them. So you have to demonstrate a lot of [00:21:00] empathy, and sometimes it's the hardest situation to demonstrate the empathy in because their demeanor and their actions don't make, you don't maybe incite empathy, you know? 

Um, naturally you really have to make a choice to say, you know what, there, I need to understand what's happening here better. And so I'm gonna listen and I'm going to try to figure out why they're coming from where they're coming from. It's not always easy and we can't always figure it out, honestly. Um, because not everybody gives us a lot to work with, but we can try. We keep coming back. This is what coming back to the plate all the time that I mentioned. And some of these issues are admin issues, but the patient coach over time can make inroads if they're really patient and they can over time build the, the, the relationship with the teacher so they can have honest conversations.

Olivia: Yeah. 

Chrissy: Not even always about the work, because in this case, you have to treat the person as a whole person who's coming to you with issues about work, but they are a person aside from that. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Chrissy: And so sometimes you [00:22:00] have to spend time talking about those other things so that they can trust you as a person and actually wanna talk to you about work. Yeah, so true. And then I do find that visiting a colleague, if in your little strategy toolbox, your toolbox full of all the different things that you can do as a coach, visiting a colleague is one of the better ways to get to people in this mode because they can see something in action in another classroom.

And so, so that can like reduce the resistance sometimes working with us feels like, ugh. Like they may be more of a resistor to us than they are to other things. Sometimes. Um, and so if we can get them to see something in action in another classroom, they're like, oh, okay. It, they're doing this. I could try that. It's not as, as, um, intimidating and it's, it feels like it's honoring teacher expertise. 

Olivia: Mm-hmm. 

Chrissy: And so they might be more receptive to that. 

Olivia: I wanna name a couple of the pieces that you've just, you're, you're so, um, you have such flow because this is part of who you [00:23:00] are as a coach, and so your ideas flow so freely. I'm hearing you say very clearly, we need flexibility in our coaching structures, we need to differentiate just like for our students. And so this idea of every six weeks, I'm going to have a new coaching cycle and we need to not be as rigid. And I think that's very, um, validating and helpful to hear as a coach.

I'm also hearing that getting to the why behind any resistance is critical. And that it is okay if you are meeting with a teacher and you are not just talking about the content if they have their kitchen flooded the night before and they need a listening ear. Um, I think that goes back to the idea of coaches are very caring humans - most people that I've met, um, they really want to be in connection with others, so when you're choosing your, first of all, do you [00:24:00] choose who you coach? Do you recommend that, or is it volunteer or is it everyone has to be coached over the year, but, uh, you get to choose when it is and how long it's for?

Chrissy: My, what I recommend and the way that I ran my program when I was at an individual school. Everybody gets coached, but it looks different for everybody. And so we don't wanna limit like, oh, we only coach new or struggling teachers. That is like right off the bat, we don't wanna do that.  Because that's gonna set you up for failure. And teachers are not gonna see this as something that they do to partner with you and continue learning over the course of their careers.

Which, I mean, that's really what we do. We wanna continue learning over the course of our career. It's not like, oh, you're after you've taught for three years, you're great, you're good. You don't have to learn anything anymore, you know? Um, and we also don't wanna just serve struggling teachers or whatever the word is used to describe teachers at your school because they, I mean, that stigma associated with coaching is really one of the biggest problems we're dealing with.

I feel like overarching. Um, so I [00:25:00] recommend you coach everybody, but it looks different for everybody. Um, teachers could approach me, I could approach teachers and sometimes I was. Requested to go work with teachers. And that is just the reality of coaching in a school that has expectations. That's, it's something that we all face and have to figure out how to deal with.

Um, and so in those situations, the principal would usually say, you know, this is what they're supposed to be working on, or what areas of of growth I have seen. Then I would go and I'd talk to the teacher and I'd say, so I hear you're working on these areas, right? Ms. So-and-so, and they, I was, it was already supposed to be established that I was requested to go in.

Yeah. So that I wasn't the middleman going back and forth between these two people. So I would go in and say, oh, Ms. So-and-so mentioned that you're working in these, these areas. You wanna tell me a little bit about what's going on? And then you just start developing, you know, your working patterns with that coach based on those areas.

That's what I have done, and it has, it has worked for me in that way. I mean, it's not always perfect. But if that's a part of your job description where you are [00:26:00] assigned to work with people and they maybe aren't that excited about it, you kinda just have to be upfront about it and honest and be like, yeah, they, they asked me to come in, so how's it going? Tell me what's going on. 

Olivia: Yeah. And they're, they usually welcome it too. I mean, at that point you're, you could be, uh, help and a thought partner for someone that feels stuck anyway. Uh, the other piece I find that we're doing too much of without the why behind it is I'll call them data dumps. And so it's just like coaches are asked to sit in on meetings and I, I, if I were a coach sitting in on a meeting and I hear that this classroom or students need X, Y, Z from this classroom, that would be beautiful opening of doors for thought partner and conversations. Uh, but how can we help teachers get to the stories behind the numbers? 

Chrissy: Yeah. I think that we make a mistake when we just look at numbers. Um, because numbers don't tell you why something happened. They just tell you what happened. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Chrissy: Um, they [00:27:00] tell you what bubble the child filled in, you know, they don't tell you why they picked it, if they meant to pick it, if they did any kind of thinking before they picked it. They don't tell you anything about that. So we spend a lot of time looking at student work, and that's even on a multiple choice test. What work was done? Is there any evidence of thinking there? Um, and we, and I, I teach coaches and teachers to have their kids do thinking on paper so that we can help them uncover what's happening, you know?

So we spend time looking at student work and figuring out what thought processes were in place. And then another helpful thing to do is visiting the classroom to see what's happening while the assignment or the test is taking place, you know? I've worked with schools where tests are given results are wildly different. And then you go visit the classroom and you're like, well, that's why. Because in this classroom, the teacher has, you know, I don't know, allows the kids to use whatever multiplication chart. And in this classroom, the teacher's like, no. Everybody has their little dividers up and it's silent. And in this classroom it's kind of chaotic during the test.

And so everybody's just doing whatever they're doing. [00:28:00] And so it's really helpful to find out what's going on. At the time that things are being administered, what kinds of thinking kids are putting into the work, because you cannot tell the thought process if you don't see it written down somewhere. So I think it's important that we teach kids that they're writing and all the notes that they make and all those things that helps us understand how they think.

Yeah, it matters. Yes, it matters. It does. 

Olivia: But you just brought something else to light. You also brought the role of the coach can be a pattern finder. And so it look like not just, we will go with alliteration here. Pollinator/pattern finder. Um, and and that goes with your buzzing too. The Buzzing with Ms. B, yes.

Right. Um, because coaches are pollinators of goodness of the practices we want to see repeated through a building, and they're the pattern find. So the end of a cycle, what another colleague and I have been doing, when we wrap a cycle, whether it's six days or six weeks, we send a debriefing email to the admin team, [00:29:00] but it doesn't go beyond the 4-Ts.

So we talk about teachers, we worked with time, we spent with them topics of discussion and tasks that aligned with those topics. So we're not betraying anyone's trust by naming teachers within the topics. It's extraordinarily helpful though, for the leaders in that district to say, whoa, this is something that's a pattern now I'm finding it. Um, and so that's been really interesting. Uh, I also, I asked you around how do you document, like how do you know you're actually making an impact as a coach? 

Chrissy: Yeah, that's a good question. And I think coaching is really hard to measure because we're measuring, you know, the outcome of outcomes. And whenever we look at test data, for example, so I think that, uh, getting teacher surveys and input, you know, look, thinking about how the culture of coaching and learning has changed at your school and getting teachers to respond to that on paper is helpful. Asking teachers about a change that they made as a result of something that you've done with [00:30:00] them.

And I think, you know, coaches have so many responsibilities, including PD or facilitating PLC meetings or whatever is on their plate. All of those things fall, fall under coaching. You know, it's not just the individual coaching. So, you know, it can be really something they've done as a response to any work you've done with them, not just those coaching cycles. So, um, yeah, I think that getting teacher input is important. I think that visiting classrooms, and one of the thing that I love to do is a classroom sweep across the school where you visit all classrooms and like you said, you notice patterns. You, you hunt down patterns across the school and you see what kinds of shifts are we seeing? What are some things that are in place that maybe were not before? Um, how, how are people responding to some of the learning that we've done together? 

Olivia: Beautiful. All right. Are you ready for lightning round?

Chrissy:  Sure. 

Olivia: Here we go. Okay. What's one tool every coach needs?  

Chrissy: So a physical tool. Everybody needs a notebook, like to write down your reflections and your thoughts. Everybody needs to carry it with 'em all the time. Then a figurative tool I think is, is really, I mentioned it before, the visit, a colleague [00:31:00] strategy. It's one of my favorites. It really opens doors that would otherwise be closed. 

Olivia: It does. All right. What is the biggest coaching myth? 

Chrissy: Uh, just build relationships and it'll, everything else will fall in place after that.

Olivia: That's a big myth. Uh, what's your morning routine that sets you up for success? 

Chrissy: I go back to that notebook. I pull out my notebook every morning, and I review kind of what notes I have made recently because I want things fresh in my mind. 

Olivia: Nice. Uh, what's your advice for a new instructional coach? 

Chrissy: Get really clear on what your job is because if you don't know what your job is and your admin has not nailed it down either, then the teachers dunno what your job is and you're not gonna actually be able to do your job because nobody knows what it is. 

Olivia: And what is the most underrated coaching skill?

Chrissy: I mentioned this one before. I think that positive determination that I talked about extensively there, where you, you keep coming back. You keep showing up even whenever people don't really seem to want you around. I think that is underrated and something we, we [00:32:00] forget to even look for in coaches. But if you have it, that's when you can really make a difference.

Olivia: Yeah, and I think we have to consider people shut down and push others away for so many reasons. And it's rarely about us. And so as a coach to end on that note. Yes, you keep showing up for that person because you could be the one person in their life that does keep showing up for them, even though they're pushing you away very, very hard.

Chrissy: That's right, 

Olivia: Chrissy, and to note you created your entire platform because you felt like you were an island when you first began coaching and you created this beautiful platform, this beautiful community of coaches that it's this thought partnership that's always buzzing with goodness. So thank you for what you do. Um, and thank you for being willing to be in conversation with me today. 

Chrissy: Well, thank you so much for having me. I wish we had more time to talk. Yeah. Obviously could talk all day about this stuff. 

Olivia: We'll have to have coffee. [00:33:00] We'll have to have coffee again, and, and you'll have to come back on the podcast as well. Take care. 

Chrissy: Yeah, that'd be great.

Olivia: Schoolutions Teaching Strategies is created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to solutions wherever you get your podcasts, or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube. Thank you to my guest, Chrissy Beltran, for sharing her biggest takeaways from coaching in 2025.

Here's my invitation: before your next classroom visit, add a dedicated what's working section into your notes. Challenge yourself to document at least three strengths before you write a single area for growth. Now this is a small shift and it can change both what you see and how your conversation unfolds. 

I hope this conversation resonated with you. Please share it with another coach who needs to hear that they're not alone in this work. [00:34:00] Sometimes the best thing we can do for each other is to remind ourselves that we're all figuring this out together because great coaching starts with learning from coaches who have walked this path before you and who keep showing up even when it's hard. Send me an email at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com and let me know how it went. What are you excited to try next? Take care. I'll see you on Friday for the bonus episode.