Coaching Academic Fundamentals is an educator’s playbook for building academic fundamentals— routines and habits that help students plan effectively, learn deeply, and practice with purpose. Whether you’re trying to help one kid or redesign your entire academic support program, these are the fundamentals worth your time.
Coaching Academic Fundamentals is an educator’s playbook for building academic fundamentals— routines and habits that help students plan effectively, learn deeply, and practice with purpose. Drawing from nearly two decades of teaching and coaching, the author lays out a clear progression of nine essential skills that can be taught, coached, and repeated across the classroom and at home. With practical strategies, real student anecdotes, and an unflinching focus on doing hard things, this book shows how attention, structure, and discipline can be taught like footwork or a jump shot. Educators and parents will walk away with simple routines they can implement immediately, and students will gain a model for developing the independence that school demands. Whether you’re trying to help one kid or redesign your entire academic support program, these are the fundamentals worth your time. Coaching Academic Fundamentals is written for teachers, executive functioning coaches, parents, and anyone committed to helping students succeed by coaching them to master the basics.
0. INTRODUCTION: DO HARD THINGS
1. PLAN: Routines for Writing It Down
and Breaking It Up
2. PLAN IN SCHOOLS: Building Skills That Keep Students on
Track
3. PLAN AT HOME: Conversations and Tools for Students and Parents
4.
LEARN: Focus, Reflect, and Master the Text
5. LEARN: Classroom Tools for
Attention, Reflection, and Reading
6. LEARN: Routines for Focus, Reading, and
Reflection at Home
7. PRACTICE: Conquering Tests with Retrieval
8. PRACTICE:
Classroom Strategies for Teaching Retrieval
9. PRACTICE: How Students and
Parents Can Prepare for Assessments at Home
Rob Flynn is a learning specialist, English teacher, and coach with experience helping students build strong academic foundations. He works with students at Delbarton School, a 712 college preparatory school in Morristown, New Jersey, where he focuses on developing executive functioning and study skills. In addition to teaching, Rob has spent 20 years on Delbartons athletic fields, working with the football and lacrosse programs. As a certified Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant, Rob partners with educators to design practices and interventions that improve student outcomes in and out of the classroom.
