December 2018 Instructional Coaching Must-Reads

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Happy Holidays from the TeachBoost Team! Indulge in the top coaching articles from our weekly coaching roundups this final month of 2018 and learn about fundamental traits of instructional coaches, the "third space" concept for building relationships, what it's like to transition back into the classroom after coaching, and more. Enjoy!

Is a New Year's resolution of yours to build quality relationships? Coaches cite relationships as one of the most time-intensive parts of their job, and it takes a lot to get it right. TeachBoost Coach helps you build and reinforce the relationships that will create instructional shifts in the classroom.

From Coaching to Teaching

Shasta Looper shares four "critical path items" to impact student growth she learned during her experience as a coach.

"A true coach is someone who provides a different perspective, helps to identify blind spots in my instruction, assists in developing a plan to address a need, and consistently helps me to refine my practice. There's no greater tool in a teacher's toolbox than an instructional coach."

The Coaching Effect

Christina Podraza reveals 12 fundamental traits of instructional coaches that she learned throughout her coaching career.

"The five years I spent as a coach were the most impactful of my entire career. I grew more as a teacher, learner, and pretty much overall human being in those five years than I ever did in my 13 previous years as an educator. Why? It comes down to 12 foundational tenets that I learned at the beginning of my coaching career and continued to practice, reflect upon, and refine."

Utilizing the "Third Space" in Coaching

Darren Ralston explains the "Third Space" concept for building relationships and how a teacher and coach can use it as a "safe area" for their coaching interactions.

"The relationship between the coach and teacher is a purposeful pairing, or grouping with something outside the familiarization of both parties to help them grow as the primary focus of a meeting. . . . While the work done in classrooms is inevitably tied to the teacher's sense of self, the goal of the coach is to help the teacher grow professionally."

Compounding PLCs Interest

Casey Reason and Craig Dougherty compare Einstein's compound interest theory to Wyoming's Sheridan County SD 2's nationally recognized success through PLCs.

"SCSD2 didn't start by throwing out their curriculum or hiring all new staff. Instead, they looked within and decided that the best changes would come by learning to work more thoughtfully with what they had. . . . Some of their teacher-led, team-driven strategies worked perfectly, creating new levels of shared knowledge (aka the secret sauce or company secrets)."

Coaching Styles for Teachers in Personalized Learning

Kaneland Coaches define four coaching styles and student indicators to look for—based on Jane Kise's work—when deciding which support role to take.

"As a district, we have started with the student profile to get our students to be more reflective learners and begin to talk about how they learn. Differentiated Coaching: A Framework for Helping Educators Change can help in the way that we look at our students. Kise writes, 'There are no resistant teacher, but rather only teachers whose needs during change have not yet been met.' Change the word 'teacher' with 'student.' Isn't this what we believe?"

It Takes Two to Tango

Fiona Hurtado defines five qualities of teachers that make them great coachees.

"Coaches spend a lot of time thinking about how we can be great. This job isn't easy, and for many of us, our role requires constant maintenance, be it self-checking our air-time in conversations, being diligent with our follow-ups, or holding back with our solutions."

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