Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

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Strong Connections: Building Teacher-Coach Relationships

Brittany Bowens, Polly Base, Matthew McDonald | Published: November 5th, 2025 by K20 Center

Summary

This professional development session equips instructional coaches with the necessary strategies to build strong, trusting relationships with their teachers. This session emphasizes relationship building using communication like active listening and constructive conversation. Instructional coaches will learn how to adapt their approach to meet individual teachers' needs and foster a collaborative, supportive environment. Coaches will learn how strengthening these relationships will allow them to more effectively guide teachers' professional growth and enhance student learning outcomes by analyzing teacher case studies, applying the Authenticity Framework, and reflecting on the coach-teacher relationship.

Essential Questions

How can coaches build trusting and collaborative relationships with teachers that foster professional growth for teacher and student success?

Learning Objectives

  • Analyze teacher case studies using Elena Aguilar’s steps to building trust to enhance engagement, achievement, and soft skills.

  • Reflect on research in instructional coaching to identify strategies for teacher growth.

Snapshot

Engage

Participants watch a video of a client consultation with home builders and record things they notice and wonder about the interaction.

Explore

Participants engage in collaborative discussion and share insights and perspectives on questions that directly impact their roles and effectiveness as instructional coaches in a Four Corners Activity.

Explain

Participants discuss Elena Aguilar’s ten steps to building trust.

Extend

Participants role play and reflect on strategies used in different instructional coaching case studies.

Evaluate

Participants reflect on their learning about coaching using the Mirror, Microscope, Binoculars instructional strategy.

Materials List

  • Presentation Slides (attached)

  • I Notice, I Wonder handout (attached; one third of a page per participant)

  • Coaching Sentence Stems handout (attached; one per participant; print two-sided)

  • Case Study for Instructional Coaching handout (attached; one page of the handout per group)

  • Mirror, Microscope, Binoculars handout (attached; one half-sheet per participant)

  • Instructional Strategy Note Catcher (attached; one per participant)

  • Laptop or tablet

  • Chart paper

  • FlipChart markers

Preparation

In the Explore phase of this session, participants will practice the Four Corners instructional strategy, which will require some prep before the session.

Write each of the four questions below on a different sheet of chart paper:

  • What concerns or challenges do you anticipate in your coaching relationships?

  • How do you adapt your coaching approach to meet the needs of teachers with different personalities, communication styles, and preferences?

  • When working with teachers who have different personalities, what strategies help you build trust and foster positive relationships with them?

  • How do you want teachers to remember you based on their experiences working with you as a coach?

Hang each sheet of chart paper in a different corner of the room.

Engage

10 Minute(s)

Use the attached Presentation Slides to facilitate the session. Display slide 2 and introduce the topic of the session. Transition through slides 3–4 and share the essential question and learning objectives.

Move to slide 5. Give each participant one copy of the attached I Notice, I Wonder handout and introduce the I Notice, I Wonder instructional strategy. Ask participants to record things they notice and wonder in response to the following questions on the handout as they watch the video:

  • How do the builders help the client make decisions?

  • How do the builders encourage the client to focus and revise her plans?

  • How do the builders give the client choices? 

  • How do the builders use what is already there to create something new?

  • How do the builders celebrate with the client?

Display slide 6 and play the video from HGTV on the slide, Thinking of the Future | 100 Day Dream Home. After the video, show slide 7, which includes the questions and facilitate a group discussion. Ask participants to share out what they noticed and wondered in relation to the questions on their handouts.

Explore

15 Minute(s)

Display slide 8 and introduce participants to the Four Corners instructional strategy. Move through slides 9–12 to introduce the questions present in each corner to participants. Share with participants that each question is written on a different chart paper, each of which is posted in a different corner of the room. After all questions have been introduced, have participants go to the corner of the room with the question they are most interested in exploring.

Have participants in each corner group discuss the question in their corner. Tell participants that, as they discuss, they should have one person act as a scribe and record important discussion points on the provided chart paper. Allow participants approximately five minutes to discuss and record their thoughts.

Have participants choose a different question and move to that corner of the room. Have them repeat the discussion process with their new group, adding and responding to the existing notes on the chart paper. Allow approximately four minutes for this second round.

Transition to slide 13 and have participants return to their original question. Have them read their peers’ ideas, star the top three comments, and choose a spokesperson for their group. Invite each spokesperson to share out important points from their poster.

If time permits, have participants complete a Gallery Walk to read each poster around the room.

Explain

10 Minute(s)

Display slide 14. Discuss Aguilar’s ten steps to building trust. Particularly highlight the four that will be featured in this session, which are listed below:

  • Connect: Build rapport

  • Listen: Pay attention to body language

  • Ask questions: Gain understanding

  • Validate: Paraphrase discussion, respond with sentence stems

Move to slide 15. Share the information on rapport, and highlight that developing rapport helps remove perceived threats in a coaching relationship.

Display slide 16 and share the information on what rapport looks like. Share how mirroring can help bolster rapport. Encourage participants to practice these strategies with an Elbow Partner. Provide questions for discussion and allow them one minute each to practice the strategies.

Show slide 17 and share the quote from Stephan Covey. Let participants know that one of the major steps to creating rapport is listening.

Transition to slide 18 and share additional information on listening, including the differences between active listening and “I” listening. Tell participants that active listening creates a space for coaches to intentionally understand the strengths, needs, and perspectives of each mentee. Share that the tips on the slide support meaningful dialogue to aid effective growth.

Display slide 19 and introduce the information on paraphrasing during a coaching conversation. Let participants know that paraphrasing is a way to check understanding and clarify information by repeating back what you heard in your own words. Once again, allow participants time to practice these strategies with an Elbow Partner. Provide them questions for discussion, similar to the ones listed above, and allow them one minute each to practice.

Move to slide 20. Share the list of sentence stems that can be used to help paraphrase information during a conversation. Explain that sentence stems serve as a starting point for paraphrasing in a coaching setting. Distribute the attached Coaching Sentence Stems handout to participants and inform them that they will use this handout for the next activity.

Extend

20 Minute(s)

Use K20 Sesh to organize participants into groups of three. Display slide 21 and pass out the Case Studies for Instructional Coaching handout. Ask participants to select one case study and read only the teacher profile as a group. Have those assuming the role of the instructional coach view the whole case study so they know what goals they must achieve by the end of the meeting with their teacher. Allow them time to read, then move to slide 22 and introduce the three roles they will assume: teacher, instructional coach, and observer.

For the first round, have each group member assume a role. The person playing the teacher and the person playing the instructional coach will play the roles of each represented in their selected scenario from the Case Studies for Instructional Coaching handout. The person playing the instructional coach should coach the teacher into finding a solution for the scenario. The person playing the role of the observer should jot down any feedback they would like to share with the coach.

Allow approximately ten minutes for the first scenario, then have participants switch roles and repeat the process to act out the same scenario. Once again, allow ten minutes for them to role play. Have participants then switch a third time, so each participant has the opportunity to play each role. After the final ten minutes, have each person share their feedback from their time as an observer with each instructional coach.

Evaluate

10 Minute(s)

Display slide 23 and pass out Mirror, Microscope, and Binoculars handout. Introduce participants to the Mirror, Microscope, Binoculars instructional strategy and ask them to reflect on their experience during today’s session by individually responding to the following prompts on their handouts:

  • Mirror (self-reflection): How has this experience changed my thinking?

  • Microscope (close inspection): Now I see that I need to work on…

  • Binoculars (global reflection): What could be done to implement change and improve the coaching process for my teachers?

As participants reflect, pass out one copy of the attached Instructional Strategy Note Catcher handout to each participant. Invite participants to fill in the first column by reflecting on the strategies that were used in this session and the second column with how they might incorporate these strategies with their teachers.

If time permits, invite participants to share out their ideas from the second column.

Research Rationale

Building strong relationships is central to effective instructional coaching because relationships establish the trust necessary for teachers to engage meaningfully in reflection and growth. Collaborative inquiry between coach and teacher provides opportunities to analyze instructional strategies and student outcomes, and authentic, open-ended dialogue pinpoints strengths and areas for improvement (Motto, 2021). When goals are set to align with teachers’ professional aspirations and classroom needs, commitment and motivation increase, and reflection fosters the transformative shifts necessary for both individual and collective growth (Munson, 2021; Saclarides, 2022; Moore & Williamson, 2023). Research confirms that relationship-centered coaching not only supports teacher development and adoption of new practices, but also strengthens student learning through deeper understanding, engagement, and measurable achievement gains (Walsh et al., 2020; Witherspoon et al., 2021; Knight & Skrtic, 2021).

Resources

Publisher

K20 Center

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Downloads

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Standards

InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards (K-12th)
9b: The teacher engages in meaningful and appropriate professional learning experiences aligned with his/her own needs and the needs of the learners, school, and system.
9c: Independently and in collaboration with colleagues, the teacher uses a variety of data (e.g., systematic observation, information about learners, research) to evaluate the outcomes of teaching and learning and to adapt planning and practice.
10f: The teacher engages in professional learning, contributes to the knowledge and skill of others, and works collaboratively to advance professional practice

Facilitator Resources

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  • Presentation Slides—Strong Connections

Learner Handouts

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  • Case Studies for Instructional Coaching—Strong Connections
  • Coaching Sentence Stems—Strong Connections
  • I Notice, I Wonder—Strong Connections
  • Instructional Strategy Note Catcher—Strong Connections
  • Mirror, Microscope, Binoculars Reflection—Stong Connections

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