Pac-Man to Playback: Leveling Up Instructional Coaching with AI Insights

Step back into the 1980s with boomboxes, Walkmans, and Rubik’s Cubes—icons that transformed how people connected, created, and learned. Today, Artificial Intelligence is driving a new revolution in instructional coaching. Just as the Walkman personalized music and Pac-Man challenged players to strategize, AI tools like Sibme’s AI-powered coaching insights are reshaping how instructional coaches support teacher growth. This session blends 80s nostalgia with modern practice, exploring how AI transforms coaching by providing real-time insights, personalized feedback, and evidence-based growth strategies for teachers. In the 1980s, technology changed the way people experienced the world—MTV made learning visual, Nintendo brought interactivity home, and VCRs let us “rewind and review.” Today’s instructional coaches can do the same for teachers with Sibme AI video coaching reports, which generate actionable insights from classroom recordings.This session, informed by a research study examining how instructional coaches use generative AI to support beginning teachers in NC school districts, will explore the effects of AI on teacher effectiveness and self-efficacy. Participants will see how AI enhances reflective practice, streamlines feedback, and creates data-informed coaching conversations that mirror the impact 80s innovations had on everyday life. Together, we’ll investigate how AI-powered coaching aligns with the resilience and retention needs of today’s educators while giving coaches more time to focus on the human side of growth.