February was teeming with instructional coaching content! We ran out of room in our weekly coaching roundup and have some must-read articles today on establishing a coaching role with school leadership, principal and coach agreements, how to become a reflective coach, reasons why instructional coaching can fall short, and more. Enjoy!

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4 Reasons Instructional Coaching Won't Work

Peter Dewitt, instructional coaching trainer for Jim Knight, highlights reasons why instructional coaching can fall short within schools—two of which tie directly into the working relationship between school leadership/principals and their instructional coaches.

"When done correctly, instructional coaching can be so beneficial to our profession. However, there needs to be a positive school climate in place along with coaches who have credibility with their colleagues, and a principal who will support the process."

Establishing My Coaching Role With the School Leadership Team

Jason MacDonald expresses the importance of defining your coaching role with the school leadership team while preserving the all important principle of teacher-coach confidentiality.

"Getting off on the right foot with the principal sets a coach up for success before entering classrooms. However, nothing about achieving this goal is prescriptive; you won’t find a recipe for it."

5 Ways to Become a Reflective Coach

Alison Newby shares how reflection is an invaluable coaching trait to allow a coach to nourish their inner dialogue and growth.

"Reflection is the key internal forum where we as coaches can assess potentially difficult situations which may arise in terms of ensuring the safety of ourselves and our clients if these situations arise again."

Knight vs. Bambrick: Which Model Is Best For You?

TeachBoost's own Dave Reid breaks down the coaching model tactics of Jim Knight and Paul Bambrick-Santoyo to help transitioning coaches choose a coaching philosophy to guide their efforts.

"Just as students have different learning styles that need to accounted for as a teacher, adult learners have different learning styles. . . . When deciding to investigate one further, take into consideration how you think you will best connect with the teachers and reach given goals in a timely manner."

5 Tactics to Encourage Risk Taking

Tony Moody argues exercising leadership through vulnerability will make you the "risk-taker-in-chief" and guide staff through the risk of being vulernable and the reward of better instruction.

"Being part of that support system means taking risks in front of other teachers and challenging and inspiring your teachers to do the same. By continually modeling what it means to be vulnerable, an Instructional Coach can slowly help move teachers from literally and figuratively closing their doors to welcoming other teachers into their classrooms."

Principal and Coach Agreements

Steve Barkley defines his expectations for successful partnerships between principals, school leadership, and instructional coaches when creating a coaching role.

"A coach can build her plan and make important decisions about where her time is spent when she knows that the principal agrees with her on the prioritization of focus."

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