Sometimes Even Instructional Coaches Need Coaching

Toni Enloe
Jul 20, 2009

"A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are."
Ara Parseghian

You were a successful classroom teacher that was able to motivate your students to achieve. Now, you find yourself in a position where you are working with adult learners. You are no longer a classroom teacher but you're not part of the administration either. What do you do? Where do you start?

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Don Kauffman, Instructional Coach at Blue Ridge Middle School (Greer, SC) for a candid interview about his experiences as an Instructional Coach and his Learning-Focused School-Based Coaches training.

Toni: What are some of the greatest challenges that you face as an Instructional Coach?
Don: My greatest challenges include how to balance the need of the students and teachers with the direction and directives of the principal and district and finding my "place" in the school.

Toni: Why did you decide to participate in the Learning-Focused School-Based Coaches Training?
Don: There were many reasons why I decided to take the Coaches Training. One was that this training is one of the very few that I have seen on the specific topic of Coaching. Two, I came to the job of Coaching with very little background of what an IC should be doing and how it is done best. Therefore, I was looking for a little guidance as to how to really accomplish what I need to. Thirdly, I wanted to see how Learning-Focused fit into the job especially for someone who was working with a veteran faculty who had all been trained a while back. I got answers to all three issues during the training. Better yet, I received tools to help me think through the new challenges that have come up since the training.

Toni: What strategies or skills from the training have you found most useful in addressing the challenges that you identified?
Don: The first and most useful part of the training was learning about the three types of coaching (In-Front, Be-Side, and Out-Back) and explaining which type goes with which situation. The training also helped me to realize that my situation is not unique and that other IC's face the same types of challenges.

Toni: How has the use of these strategies impacted the quality of staff development?
Don: The training has helped me to put together a more well-rounded professional development calendar that takes into account the differences in our faculty and not see them as obstacles but as advantages. Furthermore, it has helped me focus on what truly is my job as it pertains to PD and what needs to be left up to administration.

Toni: How has the staff development impacted student achievement?
Don: I think that anytime you help teachers move forward in evaluating and analyzing what they do and how they can do it better, it has to have a positive effect on student progress.

Toni: What are some of the things with which you continue to struggle?
Don: I struggle with many of the same things with which classroom teachers struggle. For example, I strive to create useful staff development in much the same way teachers want to create useful lessons. I also have to make a conscious effort to work on my pausing and wait time. I tend to want to give the teachers the answer instead of letting them discover the answers on their own. Sometimes remembering to take the high road can be difficult.

Toni: What tips would you give to other school-based coaches?
Don: First, get a firm grip on the job. You and your principal must define the job and not let the job define you. Secondly, don't be afraid to get uncomfortable. There are going to be times when to do the right thing you may have to do the tough thing. Thirdly, use the right type of coaching for the right situation. It can make all the difference.

Don identified some ways in which he has used his coaching training. He states that specific types of coaching are better for specific situations, stressing the importance of using the Out-Back model when working with new teachers and alternative certification teachers. He is constantly looking for sources of quality professional development opportunities and recently adapted an article by Barbara McSwain from the Learning-Focused Newsletter. In this example, each teacher was assigned a question for which they were responsible.

6 Questions About Professionalism
by Don Kauffman (based on an article by Barbara McSwain)

For teachers striving to figure out what professionalism looks like inside and outside of their classroom here are 6 questions that will help you as you begin to create your professional persona:

1. How do I know the difference between a want and a need?
In other words, how do I prioritize inside and outside of my classroom? Whether we are talking about prioritizing for curriculum standards and classroom time or we are talking about non-curricular time, this type of prioritizing is one of the hardest tasks a teacher faces. Often times we have to make a decision about what is time well spent and what is just time spent.

2. Do we know where we need to focus our attention and actions in order to insure the biggest pay off in the success of our students/school/district?
In other words, how do we pick what we need to do to insure our students are given the greatest chance to succeed? Do we spent our time planning lessons, creating new activities, dealing with discipline issues, working on committees, etc... What gives us the biggest pay off?

3. Have we set up systems in our school/district that guarantee that we have time for Planning, Instruction and Professional Development and how do we show our professionalism in the use of that time?
For example, even though we have either split planning or double blocks, the school offers around 90 minutes of planning time. Do we use it wisely? Do we show our professionalism by creating planning time with our colleagues that respects the importance of all of our time by using what time we have together in a worthwhile manor? (That includes Professional Development time.)

4. Is the instruction in my classroom and school driven by state standards?
In other words, why would it be important for a teacher professional to be able to actively demonstrate that they know, understand and use their state standards? For example, could you show lesson plans that are standard specific? Can your kids, if asked, tell an outsider what standard they are learning? Could a visitor tell from your EQ and activities what the topic of your standard is? Why is this important?

5. Does our school have assessment prompts in every lesson, a scheduled review throughout the year, formative assessment and rubrics consistently and pervasively?
In other words, what is assessment and how does a professional use it to guide instruction. What is meant by the use of the word "pervasive" when a professional is talking about assessment? Furthermore, as a school, what can we, as professionals, do to better use the assessment information we have to monitor and change what we do?

6. When is 'Good Enough' NOT good enough?
For example, how do we as professionals decide when good is not good enough? Furthermore, how do we decide what "good" is? What are the characteristic of "good" work in a classroom and what do we do as a professional when those around us are not doing "good enough"? Lastly, what effect do the people we surround ourselves with have on our ability to do good rather than good enough?

In a subsequent meeting, teachers shared their reflections on the questions and planned for "Teacher to Teacher" observations.

Don participated in the School-Based Coaches Training at the Learning-Focused National Conference in February 2008. Since that training, Don reflects that almost daily he either refers back to his training materials or utilizes many of the skills he learned during the session.