I've sat in post-observation conversations with teachers who just delivered an exceptional lesson, and when I ask “What made that work?” they pause. Not because they aren't talented. Because they haven't had the opportunity to name what they're doing well, or why it's working. The teaching is strong, but it's instinctive rather than intentional. That gap is where coaching lives.
The Difference Between Skilled and Consciously Skilled
A skilled teacher facilitates a rich classroom discussion. A consciously skilled teacher can explain why the structure they chose increased cognitive engagement. A skilled teacher asks strong probing questions. A consciously skilled teacher can identify how their questioning sequence scaffolded student thinking from recall to analysis. A skilled teacher designs an engaging task. A consciously skilled teacher can articulate exactly how that task aligned to rigorous learning targets and why it demanded productive struggle rather than compliance.
The difference isn't the quality of teaching. It's awareness of practice. And when teachers understand why what they're doing works, they can replicate it, refine it, and teach it to colleagues. Instinct becomes a method.
If a strategy works but the teacher cannot identify the elements that made it successful, improvement becomes accidental rather than deliberate.
This is what changed my coaching conversations. Instead of telling a teacher “that was a great lesson,” I started naming the specific moves that made it work. “Your use of wait time increased the depth of student responses.” “The way you structured that task required productive struggle.” “Your clear success criteria allowed students to self-monitor their progress.”
That kind of specificity does something vague praise can't. It gives teachers a clear picture of what to keep doing and why.
Moving Evaluation from Judgment to Insight
The evaluation process should support exactly this kind of work. When it's done well, it names best practice clearly, gives teachers and administrators a shared language for reflection, and anchors every conversation in what was actually observed in the classroom. That's not compliance. That's insight.
The next time you're in a post-observation conversation with a teacher who just delivered a strong lesson, try this: instead of telling them it went well, name one specific move that made it work and explain why it mattered. Watch what happens to the conversation. That's the shift from evaluation to growth. And once a teacher can name what they're doing and why, they don't need you to tell them they're good. They already know, and they know how to get better.
Sarah Hayden is an instructional coach, educator advocate, and co-founder of Tandem Education.