The podcast by education leaders for education leaders
Leaders Coaching Leaders Podcast Banner

"We are not all the same!" How to Differentiate Supervision

Guest(s): Ann Mausbach and Kim Morrison
Date: 09/26/2022
Run time: 31:22
Season 4, Episode 2

Many teachers recoil at term “supervision.” Who can blame them. So often it is something done to teachers with a tenuous connection to their unique, professional needs. Authors Ann Mausbach and Kim Morrison are on a mission to fix that. In this episode, they remind leaders that teachers need differentiation as much as students do; there is no one size fits all approach. They also know that this can be a tricky task for busy administrators, so they share their framework to help leaders conceptualize and execute high quality supervision across the school year, including co-constructing look fors, layering feedback, gathering relevant data and incorporating findings seamlessly into professional development. With their method of differentiated supervision, teachers will be a lot happier when leaders and coaches walk into their classrooms because they know the focus will be all about support.


Episode Audio

Episode Video

Ann Mausbach Photo

Ann Mausbach

Ann Mausbach, co-author of Leading Student-Centered Coaching: Building Principal and Coach Partnerships (Corwin, 2018), School Leadership through the Seasons: A Guide to Staying Focused and Getting Results All Year (Routledge Eye on Education, 2016) and Align the Design: A Blueprint for School Improvement (ASCD, 2008) has been an educator for over 30 years. Ann’s belief that the greatest investment a leader can make is in people not programs has focused her work on supporting principals and teacher leaders with the tools they need to align purpose with action.  Her administrative experience includes serving as a Coordinator of Staff Development, Director of Curriculum, Director of Elementary Education and an Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. She currently works as an Associate Professor for Educational Leadership at Creighton University in Omaha, NE. 

Read more



Kim Morrison Photo

Kim Morrison

Kim Morrison, co-author of School Leadership through the Seasons: A Guide to Staying Focused and Getting Results All Year (Routledge Eye on Education, 2016), is the principal of an urban elementary school located in the Midwest.  Her administrative experiences have included elementary, middle and district administration for over twenty years.  She has primarily worked in at-risk environments addressing complicated issues of equity, poverty, homelessness and special education. She was named Middle School Principal of the Year by School Administrators of Iowa in 2016. She has been the coordinator for new teacher induction, McKinney Vento Homeless Grant and Safe and Drug Free Schools. 

Read more



Peter M. DeWitt Photo

Peter M. DeWitt

Peter DeWitt (Ed.D) is the founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective, and approaches everything with a learner's mindset. He was a K-5 teacher for 11 years and a principal for 8 years. For over 12 years, he has been facilitating professional learning nationally, and internationally, based on the content of many of his best-selling educational books. 

DeWitt's professional learning relationships are a monthly hybrid approach that includes both coaching and the facilitating workshops on instructional leadership and collective efficacy. His work has been adopted at the state level, university level, and he works with numerous school districts, school boards, regional networks, ministries of education around North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the U.K.

Peter writes the Finding Common Ground column for Education Week with Michael Nelson and they host Corwin’s Leaders Coaching Leaders podcast. In 2020 DeWitt co-created Education Week's A Seat At the Table where he moderates conversations with experts around the topics of race, gender, research, trauma and many other educational topics.

Peter is the author, co-author or contributor of numerous books and his articles have appeared in educational research journals at the state, national and international level. His books have been translated into numerous languages. 

Read more



Michael Nelson Photo

Michael Nelson

There is no more noble profession than that of an educator was what Michael Nelson’s mom said almost every day while he was growing up. For almost 40 years, Michael has been an educator. His mom would be pleased.  

Even though Michael still considers “teacher” as his  primary title, he has served in roles of principal, district instructional leader, superintendent, assistant executive director developing professional development for the state of Washington, and currently as the Thought Partner for the Instructional Leadership Collective.


Michael has received many state and national awards during his time as a principal and superintendent. As principal, his school received the National Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education. As a superintendent, he was named Washington state’s 2019 Superintendent of the Year. During his tenure as superintendent, Michael was elected President of the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) by his peers. 


Michael Nelson co-facilitates coaching, keynotes, and workshops with Peter DeWitt. Their first book “Leading with Intention” was released in May 2024.

Read more




Related Titles

Featured Publication
Differentiated Supervision
Growing Teachers and Getting Results

Other Episodes In

N/A