Hannah Horne circles her first-grade classroom, stopping at each of the five tables to lean in to talk with her students.
She asks one student to read out loud the sentence she is writing underneath a bright, hand-drawn picture. She gently pats the back of a student at another table and redirects one who runs up to her, not following directions.
While Horne guides her students through their writing lesson, another adult quietly follows her steps, like a shadow. He leans in behind her, watching and listening to what Horne says, offering gentle suggestions or engaging with the students himself.
Horne is not being evaluated, but the two will debrief later about the lesson and her teaching methods.
The shadow? He is Brent Page, one of Hamilton County Schools’ two new-teacher coaches.