Coaching is a way to support teachers in assessing and improving their practice. By engaging in rich, rigorous, and reflective professional conversations with colleagues, teachers can continue to develop and grow as they construct meaning, reinvest their cognitive resources, and apply new learning. Calibrating conversations are a way to foster this type of career-long development and growth. Calibrating--meaning to measure and attune performance against an established standard--is based on the assumption that a teacher is a continuous learner looking to refine his or her craft and, as a result, turns to other sources and research to improve personal practice. Calibrating conversations are designed to assist a staff member in measuring his or her progress against an agreed upon standard to determine where his or her skill level falls. This article describes a calibrating conversation that has six stages, each with a specific purpose designed to support the coachee in reaching objectives or goal(s) reflected in the standard. By supporting self-directed learning, assisting teachers in gauging current performance with aspirations, as noted on locally developed statements of excellence or adopted standards or rubrics from other sources, the calibrating conversation embodies the values and goals of self-directed learning which, in turn, translates into instructional processes with students as well.