Coaching Roles & Responsibilities

Instructional coaches may spend their time filling a variety of roles: assessor, data analyst, copy maker, assembly planner, substitute teacher, interventionist, behavior support, and more. The most important role, as validated by research, is the support given directly to teachers. The more time coaches spend modeling, planning, observing, and reflecting with teachers, the greater their impact. That doesn’t mean that all of your time needs to be spent in this way (other activities are valuable and may strengthen relationships and fill building needs). But the more you can prioritize the things that matter most, the greater your effectiveness.
 
As we turn our attention to the coming school year, it’s time to prioritize the roles that matter most. Were you given a job description when you began coaching? If so, what roles are included in that description? And are the responsibilities listed there the way you actually end up spending your time?  If you could write your own job description, what would you include? (Pause and ask yourself that question!) Can you adjust your time to make those things happen?
 
Coaches make a difference when they support teachers in the goals they have for themselves or their students. They make a difference when they co-plan with teachers, drawing on effective practices and valuing teachers’ expertise and knowledge of their students and the content. They learn and problem-solve alongside teachers. Coaches make a difference when they model or observe instruction and then ask questions to guide teachers’ reflection on that instruction. Shoulder-to-shoulder, coaches and teachers work together to improve student learning.
 
Now is the time to get crystal-clear about your values and goals as a coach. Once you’ve done so, the first person to share these ideas with is your building principal or district administrator (depending on the scope of your role). It helps to have a principal-coach agreement going into a new year. If you’d like examples and a template for creating this agreement, click here.
 
After you and your principal are on the same page, consider how you’ll share information about your role with teachers. Even if you are a returning coach, the start of a new school year allows the opportunity for redefinition. Sharing a “menu of support” at a beginning-of-year staff meeting can clarify expectations and get teachers on board. It’s also helpful to share what you are not – especially that you are not acting as an evaluator and will not share information for evaluation purposes. You are there to collaborate and encourage.
 
Being clear about the values that guide your work, and the roles and responsibilities that support these values, will help you communicate effectively and prioritize your efforts as the new school year gets underway.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Giving teachers more control over their PD calendar:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/when-teachers-design-the-professional-development-calendar/
 

Ice breakers and warm-ups for the back to school faculty meeting (I like to tweak them to give them an education theme):
 
https://www.nsrfharmony.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/icebreakers_0.pdf
 
 
How mentors help first-year teachers:
 
http://neatoday.org/2017/06/19/lean-on-me-how-mentors-help-first-year-teachers/
 
A Pinterest board with lots of relevant links for instructional coaches:
 
https://www.pinterest.com/alysoncarpenter/instructional-coaching-partnerships/
 
 
Open-ended conversations that promote reflective learning during coaching:
 
https://blog.teachboost.com/active-listening-one-mouth-two-ears
 
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
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Hooray!!! My book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner is available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: JUL2023 for 15% off plus FREE SHIPPING. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!
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