Support for teachers: One-on-one online mentoring fills a niche

Second grade teacher Sara Schonfeld carries around a notebook with her during the school day, jotting down questions she wants to remember to ask Daniel. 

For the past three years, Ms. Schonfeld has had biweekly video calls with Daniel Guerrero, a veteran teacher coach with the Cambridge-based organization BetterLesson. Mr. Guerrero, who has been recognized for his approach to classroom discipline, has helped Schonfeld develop lesson plans, learn classroom management skills, and cope with isolation. This is Schonfeld's 13th year of teaching, but she is convinced that every educator – no matter how experienced – can benefit from a coach.

“My classroom really changed because of this,” says Schonfeld, who teaches general studies at the Jewish day school, Magen David Yeshivah, in New York's Brooklyn borough. Her approach