Instructional coaching came to me by accident. I never truly prepared for the role. One day I applied for a district-level instructional coach role, and the next day, I had the job. Upon hiring, I thought I would receive some form of onboard training or the opportunity to shadow an experienced instructional coach. Instead, what I received was a list of failing schools that were my responsibility and the direction to “go coach.” I had to figure out what instructional coaching was on my own.

Although in previous roles I had worked with new and experienced teachers in a variety of situations, going out to schools to support instructional coaches in their roles was a new experience for me. My brick-and-mortar instructional coaching experience was limited. At the time I was hired as a district coach I had taught literacy and literacy in the content areas of Science and Social Studies, been an instructional support teacher, a Title I facilitator, and an assistant principal. All of these experiences were in K-5 schools and none of those roles had provided the experiences needed to be an effective instructional coach from the get-go, and I had no knowledge of the curriculum in secondary schools.

Those first few months as a district coach were incredibly hard. I was supporting the school district’s differentiated accountability schools: one elementary school and five middle schools. The needs were great. Due to my previous experience as a school administrator, I defaulted to that role. I would visit classrooms with the evaluation rubric in my mind. I examined what was instructionally effective or ineffective and came up with recommendations to improve teaching practice and student engagement. My reports dealt with the positives and the negatives I had observed in the classrooms, the traditional pluses, and deltas.

Instead of coaching support, I gave action steps for the school-based coaches to implement. In truth, I failed at supporting the school-based coaches that looked to me for guidance. Instead, I was evaluating their coaching effectiveness. I was pointing out issues they, in most cases, already knew.
Since I launched into the career in the middle of the school year, by the time I realized that I was supposed to be coaching, modeling, and supporting coaches and teachers, the testing season was upon us and the school year ended. This experience was an awakening. I found that it was time to reflect on the scope of my role as a district coach and the roles of the school-based instructional coaches.

My perspective, my mindset as an instructional coach needed transformation.

That summer, I studied the art of instructional coaching. I researched journal articles, books, blogs, and websites about instructional coaching. It was important to me to transform as an instructional coach so that I could effectively serve the school-based coaches that looked to me for leadership and guidance. Throughout the summer I did not know which schools I would be supporting in the coming school year. Not leaving anything to chance, I created an action plan for my coaching which foresaw several possible coaching scenarios. Having a flexible plan was important so that I could adjust my coaching as needed to enhance the practice of the school-based coaches I would be supporting.

When the new school year started, I thought I was ready. However, I had much to learn from the team of coaches I coached, some of which became close friends. I realized that instructional coaching is different in every setting, that no two coaches are alike, and that coaches need coaching too. As coaches, we go through cycles of learning and growing our capacity.

The idea for the course The Transformational Coaching Mindset (which was originally meant to be a book) came as a result of the mindful examination of school-based coaching and my own experiences with coaching at the district level. The ideas you will find in this course come from conversations with school-based coaches as well as the research I completed through my doctoral work in curriculum and instruction.

For the development of this course, I partnered with fellow coach Brieann Peterson. Collaborating together to give space for our different perspectives and expertise as we designed this instructional workbook is an example of the transformative process that we hope the reader engages in.

I look forward to your comments.

To be unconventional you must take the risk of doing things differently!

Here are 5 ways in which you can become an unconventional coach.

• Ask for responses to your coaching.

To be unconventional you must not be afraid about asking for feedback or responses to your coaching. Often, teachers will immediately share with you how thankful they are, how helpful you were, or how well a strategy discussed together worked in the lesson. Other times, the response may not happen. Thus, how can you improve the response rate to your coaching?

I worked around this by creating an online survey. This survey is linked to my email signature line and simply says: How did I do today? The teachers or staff click one of the colorful faces on the link to give their rating and that directs them to the survey. I made sure that the survey does not collect email addresses. This keeps the confidentiality of the response and allows the person responding to be honest in the feedback. 

If planning to do something similar, keep the questions simple and to the point. Follow this link for an example of the survey I use. One of the features I love about the survey is that it graphs the responses. This feature allows me to have data to share with principals and staff. The data supports my coaching in many ways!

Are you not techy? No worries. You may create a simple paper survey that you can leave in the teachers’ desks or mailboxes. This can be returned to your mailbox. Think about creating a cute and fancy mailbox where you can collect mail and notes from the teachers and staff. This can sit in the teachers’ workroom, lounge, or even in front of your coaching space door. 

• Observe other coaches.

Observing coaches sounds simple. In fact, this should be simple. However, unless there are multiple coaches at your school observing other coaches can be a complicated thing! To get around this hiccup, you can plan visits to other schools in your region. Talk to coaches when you attend regional and district meetings. Invite coaches to your school. You may also join coaching groups in virtual settings.

There is empowerment in observing and visiting other coaches’ practices. Among others you: 

• Get to learn new skills and develop your practice.
• See what is trending and working in other settings. 
• Are able to compliment other coaches on their coaching.
• Open the door for communication and have colleagues to support you.
• Feel the mood and environment of another school and set of teachers. 

• Set long-term goals.

Having long-term goals is important. Coaching is, for the most part, a long-haul exercise. There will be many wins along the way, and you should celebrate each one. However, having long-term goals, even a coaching dream board, allows you to keep moving your practice forward. 

Ask yourself, where would you like your coaching to be at the end of the semester? At the end of the year? Perhaps you want to double the amount of classroom visits you do. Or, you may want to keep track of the growth in the new teachers’ instructional practices. You may also think of personal and professional goals. These goals may include reading a set number of books on coaching or starting a book club for coaches. You may choose to create a paperless coaching experience.

In setting goals the sky is the limit! It is in setting goals that you push yourself and have something to always look forward to. Share your goals to stay accountable for reaching them.

• Avoid scripted conversations.

It is true that we should have talking points ready, this shows preparedness, planning and purpose. However, scripting your conversation makes coaching practices somewhat robotic. There is no need for a scripted conversation when we are meeting with teachers to discuss a classroom visit or as a follow up to a coaching experience. 

Instead, before meeting with teachers, set your coaching points. Review the questions you want to ask. You may even write these down. You will be able to find many coaching question starters online to choose from. Some coaches have developed great resources for you to enhance your conversational toolbox. However, you need to make these questions your own. You need to bring your personality into the coaching experience. Making the conversational tools you find work for you is important for your coaching voice to develop. 

Try not to overthink or lose sleep over what you will say to a teacher. Don’t spend time imagining what the reply from the teacher will be or what you will do if such and such happens. Avoid the drama! More often than not what we imagine doesn’t happen and we have created additional anxiety for ourselves. Instead, when you sit down to dialogue with the teacher, allow the conversation to flow naturally. 

Be yourself. 

Stay professional, calm, and positive. Empower the teacher’s craft. Remember that as the coach you are in a support role. The teacher is accountable for the instructional choices and the success of his/her practice. 

• Be energizing.

Energy has a way of leaving a person and taking a life of its own. Make sure that the energy you are sharing is positive. Start the day with a smile. From the time you reach the school, make it a point to smile. Let the smile carry through you and into your steps. Greet people as you walk in the door! Be polite to everyone you see each morning. 

In your coaching space, play music, have cheerful lights, and even scented oils. Make your coaching spaceone that inspires you and others. Start your coaching experiences on a positive note. Celebrate teachers and students. You will be surprised by how the little things you do impact those around you. 

I speak on this in my book: Be the coach you want to work with! 

I look forward to your comments. 

Thania

Truth be told, you are a coach because someone saw a formidable light within you.  There is something within you that is meaningful. Your teaching experiences, your instructional expertise, your drive – those things that make you are important in your coaching voice. You are called to model instructional practices.

The emphasis, however, is on modeling. The emphasis is not to turn the teachers into versions of you. 

I enjoy going to painting classes. You can often find me at the painting studio with friends. One of the things I love about a painting class is that absolutely everyone ends up with a different painting. Everyone receives the same tools and materials. Everyone has the same choice of paints. Everyone hears the same instructions from the same painting instructor. Nevertheless, the masterpieces are all different. 

This experience is true in teaching also. As you coach, you will present the teachers with strategies, skills, and ideas to take back to their classrooms. The implementation of these will vary due to the teachers’ own expertise, experiences, and interests. In practice, your coaching approaches will give way to a variety of outcomes. There will be teachers who will decide to take little pieces of the ideas you are providing. Others will not only take the ideas, but move beyond to create something new and exciting in your classroom. The core of the teachers will be in the middle of the pack. All of these outcomes are perfectly acceptable. 

The variety in teacher practices allows you to differentiate your practice. The follow-up to the initial professional development should be appropriate to support the success of each teacher. Take smaller steps where these are needed. Take bigger, bolder steps with the teachers that are ready. Scaffold the learning process. For an extra boost, encourage the teachers to collaborate with teachers who are a step ahead of them.

As the coach, you are supporting and developing the teachers’ instructional practices. Model the instructional practices that you believe in. Be consistent in your practices. Try to stay away from expecting all the teachers to do exactly the same thing. This practice takes away from the kaleidoscope of teaching practice that keeps vitality in the school. Encourage teachers to try your ideas and to make them their own. 

You may be pleasantly surprised by the outcomes. 

I look forward to your comments.