There is nothing I love more about my job, than coaching teachers. Although I am now a current administrator I still get to facilitate adult learning in my building and coach teachers along the way. It's important that as we coach our teachers through the best practices for student learning, we as coaches must follow our same advice. Teach to the learner and let the data guide the instruction.
1. Building relationships with our teachers is number one priority. We cannot expect a collaborative working relationship to just happen on it's own. We have to put in the time to get to know our teachers personally and professionally. Find out what they like and don't like. Administer professional development surveys to gain knowledge of their different learning styles. You will want to cater your professional development for them in that way.
2. Side by side, as a team, assess student data at the campus level, grade level and by individual teachers. Together you and the teacher can find what skills or standards students may be missing. This creates a more student centered coaching cycle and takes the judgmental lens off of the teacher.
3. While you and the teacher are assessing students, you want to assess the staff. Look for trends across grade levels and possible gaps in the curriculum. This information can be used to facilitate professional development needs for your campus.
4. Make the time to collaborate and plan instruction with your teachers. Attend planning meetings and PLCs so that you can be apart of the conversations that take place about instruction. This is also a great opportunity into forming individual or team coaching cycles as you give expert guidance and direction.
5. Based on information gathered through data talks and planning meetings, facilitate instruction and professional development. Be apart of the co-teaching process with your teachers as they begin to present information to students. Teachers learn better by doing, so it's best to have a coach present in the moment as instruction is taking place. When planning professional development, be mindful of the diverse platforms you could use. Take a more blended PD approach with modeling, technology, and lecturing. Professional development should be ongoing, not a 1 hour sit & get. Make time for follow-up and hold check in sessions so that teachers can ask questions and get clarification.
6. Always evaluate results from professional development and coaching cycles. Student pre/post assessment data is extremely beneficial in determining the effectiveness of instruction. This is also a good time for reflection for the teacher and you as the coach.
Coaching teachers is an art. It is something that gets better and better over time and can be so rewarding. Good luck to all you coaches out there and keep making teachers shine!
:-)
Christina