Tag Archives: learning

Holding Two Truths: Education, Evidence, and Fatherhood

As I prepare to become a father, my view of education is shifting. What will I hold onto and what will change when learning becomes personal? A reflection on time, empathy, evidence, and raising a learner in a complex system.

From the Sidelines to the Shoulder: Using Co-Teaching as the Engine for Instructional Coaching

The Gradual Release of Responsibility (“I do, We do, You do”) is a powerful framework for instructional coaching, and it can be delivered directly through co-teaching strategies. Instead of a coach modeling and then simply observing, the crucial “We do” phase becomes a hands-on, collaborative partnership. This post explores how to use specific co-teaching models as the bridge from “I do” to “You do.” I share a single-session example of supporting a teacher with multilingual learners, moving from my “I do” (model) to our “We do” (“Team Teaching”) and finally to their “You do” (with me in a “One Teach, One Support” role), all within a single lesson.

EdTech Leadership in the Age of AI: What Matters Most When Everything is Changing

My coffee is still warm when the first alert comes in. A teacher cannot access Canvas, and their students are stuck at the login screen. I walk the teacher through the SSO steps, confirm access, and move on. By midmorning, I have visited classrooms, supported teachers with technology integration, and observed lessons to plan follow-up coaching. After that, I sit with our engineers to review system performance, troubleshoot issues, and test several EdTech tools and updates planned for release.

At two o’clock, there are three messages on LinkedIn about a new AI tool that promises to transform learning. I scan one, note the potential and the hype, and return to the work I already committed to do. The afternoon goes to email, planning professional learning, and reviewing the week ahead.

Sound familiar?

For many of us in EdTech and instructional leadership, this mix of strategic and immediate work is the norm. Some hours go to multi-year plans, budgets, and compliance. Others are dedicated to making sure one specific app works for one teacher so students can keep learning. The pace makes it easy to lose focus when the day is packed and many things are going on simultaneously. I return to a single question: how do people learn, and how can instruction and technology work together to support that? If we cannot answer that question, systems, budgets, and tools will have little impact.

This post shares how I connect what we know about learning with the daily realities of leading technology and instructional change in schools. I will describe several major themes and then provide a summary of the next steps to help you further reflect upon your leadership and programs.

Instructional Coaches Need to Know How Memory Works – And It’s Not a Muscle

I often hear memory described as a muscleβ€”something that gets stronger the more you “work it out.” While the sentiment is well-intentioned, it’s a misleading metaphor. Our memory isn’t a single entity that we can simply beef up through brute force. It’s a complex system, and for instructional coaches, understanding its nuances is a game-changer for helping teachers truly embed new and refined strategies into their practice as well as teach the teachers we are coaching how learning happens.

Scaling Instructional Coaching: Overcoming Key Challenges

While the evidence for instructional coaching’s effectiveness is compelling, translating this potential into widespread impact presents significant challenges, particularly when attempting to scale programs across schools or districts. A primary concern, identified by Kraft et al. (2018), is the potential dilution of quality as coaching programs expand. The personalization and strong relationships that underpin effectiveContinueContinue reading “Scaling Instructional Coaching: Overcoming Key Challenges”

The Power of Rehearsal: The Most Overlooked Step in Instructional Coaching

Instructional coaching is a powerful tool for transforming teaching and learning, but one of its most underutilized strategies within instructional coaching is lesson rehearsal by the teaching being coachedβ€”a safe, structured opportunity for teachers to practice new instructional strategies before implementing them in the classroom. Check out how this critical element of instructional coaching can be implemented and be apart of your coaching toolkit and practice.

Proving Our Impact: How Instructional Coaches Can Use Regression Analysis to Demonstrate Their Value

Recently, my PLN colleague Roxi Thompson posed some compelling questions on LinkedIn: How do you collect data to demonstrate the impact of your coaching program? What methods have you found effective, especially in showing improvement in areas like instructional design or student learning? As instructional coaches, these are the questions we must answer to advocateContinueContinue reading “Proving Our Impact: How Instructional Coaches Can Use Regression Analysis to Demonstrate Their Value”

Retrieval and Spaced Practice – Key Strategies to Support Multilingual Learners

supporting multilingual learners is a top priority for teachers who want to help every student succeed. As language demands grow, teachers are always on the lookout for practical, research-backed strategies to support vocabulary and memory skills. A recent study by Butowska-BuczyΕ„ska et al. (2024) highlights two strategies that stand out: variable retrieval and spaced practice.ContinueContinue reading “Retrieval and Spaced Practice – Key Strategies to Support Multilingual Learners”

CoTeachingEvolved.com

CoteachingEvolved.com is our new website for our upcoming book, “Co-Teaching Evolved: Partnership Strategies for an Equitable, Inclusive, and Tech-Powered Classroom,” which is scheduled for release this fall on October 11th with Solution Tree. It’s designed to help new and seasoned co-teacher teachers better understand and implement co-teaching strategies that address the complexities of modern co-teachingContinueContinue reading “CoTeachingEvolved.com”

The Modern Instructional Coach

As we transition from the broad challenges of modern education to specific strategies, this blog will first delve into the foundational cognitive science principles essential for instructional coaches. Following this, we’ll explore the integration of cutting-edge EdTech tools and AI applications in teaching, culminating in practical approaches for establishing effective classroom routines and behavior management.

10 High-Impact Instructional Strategies Instructional Leaders and Coaches Can Support Teachers With That Make a Huge Difference in Student Learning

As instructional leaders and coaches, we have the incredible opportunity to elevate the effectiveness of teaching and cultivate a culture of continual growth in our schools. Embracing the new school year, review an array of high-impact instructional strategies that can truly ignite learning experiences within our classrooms. Each strategy presented in this post is accompaniedContinueContinue reading “10 High-Impact Instructional Strategies Instructional Leaders and Coaches Can Support Teachers With That Make a Huge Difference in Student Learning”

What is a Wakelet Collection?

By: Matt Rhoads, Ed.D Dr. Matt Rhoads is a Tech and Instructional Leader and Innovator with hands in Adult Ed, K-12, and Higher Education. He is the author of several books and is the host of Navigating Education – The Podcast. Do you want a place to save links, social media posts, videos, and imagesContinueContinue reading “What is a Wakelet Collection?“

Edtech & Equity and Engagement Series – Part 4: Paper Learning – An Edtech Tool & Service that Bridges Equity Gaps for all Students

By: Matt Rhoads, Ed.D Dr. Matt Rhoads is a Tech and Instructional Leader and Innovator with hands in Adult Ed, K-12, and Higher Education. He is the author of several books and is the host of Navigating Education – The Podcast. Welcome back to Part 4 of the Edtech Equity and Engagement Blog Series. AsContinueContinue reading “Edtech & Equity and Engagement Series – Part 4: Paper Learning – An Edtech Tool & Service that Bridges Equity Gaps for all Students”