Individualized Coaching
I am going into my third year as an instructional coach and what a journey it has been! I must confess that I was completely comfortable with being a classroom teacher. I knew how to be an effective teacher; I knew and understood my district’s and state’s standards and expectations; I could teach the curriculum; I could manage my students (and their parents); and I worked with a great team. I had this teaching thing figured out, life was good!
Soon, an instructional coaching position became available. To make the situation more lucrative, the position was available at my current school. So, I applied. Then, after a few rounds of interviews, I was offered the position.
I soon found myself in the world of coaching, and it was a different world for me. Here is why coaching was different for me..the teachers. I was faced with motivating, encouraging, and helping/coaching teachers. How in the world does an instructional coach do that??? See, I didn’t have any previous experience with working with adults. Most of my teaching was to six or seven-year olds. I was now faced with communicating with adults.
Out of all my fears and uncertainties, I was certain of one thing, I wanted teachers to grow. From my perspective, the most important aspect of my job is to provide opportunities for teachers to grow.
Well, there could be a wide range of teacher’s abilities within one school. There can be novice teachers and there can be veteran teachers. It is essential for each group of teachers to be equipped with skills and strategies that can be readily used within their classroom.
There are so many ways to coach teachers. You can coach by grade level, by content, and through book studies. The question then becomes,which method is the best method. One practical way to coach teachers is with individualized coaching..
Individualized Coaching is a great tool to use to offer differentiated support. This will allow you to support your veteran teachers and your novice teachers. Let’s take a look at how individualized coaching will look for novice teachers first.
Novice teachers need guidance. They need to understand the state’s standards and the district’s expectations regarding their respective grade level. They also need to understand what they are expected to teach children.
Jennifer Allen explained one way her district helps their novice and new-to-the-district teachers. She states that within her district teachers new to the district are apart of a “monthly release day with other teachers who are new to the profession or new to our district...it is intended as a gift of time to support them and help keep their heads above water in the craziness of starting the school year and entering our fast-paced profession”. Don’t you remember your very first year of teaching?? Did you feel like a fish out of water? I know I did. Giving new teachers an opportunity to collaborate together builds camaraderie, it also allows you, as an instructional coach, to give specific, directed direction towards their needs. If you are not able to support a monthly release day, it is still beneficial to meet with those new teachers. I am sure any help with planning would be greatly appreciated.
Beginning of the year assessments is another area of need. Allen mentioned that she works with her teachers three times a week. My heart smiled when reading this because I often worry about being in a teacher’s way if I am in their room too much. Here she provides heavy support for teachers with assessments in the beginning of year.
Here are a few other areas to think about when working with your new teachers: Is there a school wide discipline program? What are the instructional expectations for teachers? How will they (the teachers) be evaluated? These are all questions that will help your teachers become acclimated with your school’s culture.
Working with master teachers looks a bit different. It is a collaborative effort. For example, a master teacher may come to you and want help with using mentor sentences to help with teaching grammar. Instead of you researching and reading and modeling, this step is done together. You and the teacher work together towards the same goal.
When modeling in the classroom, it may look more like co-teaching. You may begin teaching the lesson to students and then the roles may switch. This requires trust! Teachers will need to view you as a partner in learning and understanding, a facilitator.
Both groups of teachers will need your support. It will just look a little different.
What is your ultimate goal in coaching teachers? My goal, as stated above, is growth. It may be growth in the implementation of small groups, or assessments, or classroom management, or the workshop model. I strive to help teachers grow….which means they need to be pushed out of their comfort zone.
The greatest growth I have achieved as an educator has been working as an instructional coach. It’s not because of the title, it’s because this position has pushed me outside my comfort zone…..way outside my comfort zone. I wasn’t comfortable; I was uncomfortable, and this caused me to learn...to grow.
So, take a deep breath and use your coaching time as opportunities to push yourself to do something new...take a risk...do the same for your teachers and your students...and watch yourself, your teachers, and your students FLY!
The most important feature of an educator is to provide the conditions under which people’s learning curves go off the chart. Sometimes it is the other people’s learning curves: those of students, teachers, parents, administrators. But at all times it is our learning curve.
- Roland Barth from Becoming A Literacy Leader