30 minutes before a coaching call, use AI to brainstorm three teaching strategies for the student’s specific challenge. Don’t script the call—use AI to build your toolkit of ideas, then coach from your experience.
The Coaching Prep Advantage
One-on-one coaching is the highest-value work you do. But it’s easy to show up unprepared and spend precious call time thinking instead of coaching. That’s where AI prep helps. You’re not asking AI to coach for you. You’re asking it to give you options to choose from. Thirty minutes before a student’s call, you spend 10 minutes telling Claude about that student’s challenge. Claude generates three potential teaching approaches. You read them, pick the one that resonates with your coaching style, and go into the call armed with ideas.
This is like a therapist reviewing a client’s file before a session. The therapist isn’t scripting the therapy—they’re preparing their mind to be maximally helpful.
The Pre-Call Prep Ritual
Student calls are Tuesday 2 PM. At 1:30 PM, open Claude. Spend 3 minutes writing: “My student [Name] is struggling with [specific challenge]. She’s [relevant context]. What are three teaching approaches I could try in our call to help her break through this?” Claude gives you three angles. You spend 5 minutes reading. One resonates. You jot a note. You go into the call present and prepared. You’re not reading from AI notes during the call—you’re coaching from your experience, informed by prep work.
One coach did this: before each student call, she’d ask Claude for three ways to approach the student’s stated goal or challenge. She’d read for 5 minutes, pick her favorite approach, then coach from that direction. Her students noticed she was more focused and asked better questions. She was spending 30 minutes prepping for 6 calls per week. That’s 3 hours of prep that made her coaching better without adding time during the calls.
What This Means for Educators
Your coaching conversations are precious. Prep for them using AI so you show up sharper, not so you follow a script. This is preparation that makes you more spontaneous and responsive, not less.
Prep Ideas, Coach from Your Soul
30 minutes before a coaching call, ask Claude for three teaching approaches for that student’s challenge. Pick one. Coach from your experience informed by preparation. Never script the call—use AI to be more ready to listen and respond.