- Partnership
- Equality
- Choice
- Voice
- Reflection
- Dialogue
- Praxis
- Reciprocity
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Unmistakable Impact-Instructional Coaching-Chp. 4
When you think of the word "coach" what are your first thoughts? One might think about a coach from a sports team they played on or a life coach that helped them with weight loss. When classroom teachers hear the word "coach" probably several pictures come to mind. Views on coaches will vary from good to bad but why? The role of a coach in any situation can have the potential to dramatically improve or destroy the people involved. In the article, Teacher-to-Teacher: The Heart of the Coaching Model by Linda Shidler, she describes the word coach as a professional who works closely with another professional to increase productivity or to meet a common outcome. Knight from Unmistakable Impact, describes coaches as those that help teachers take all the ideas and practices they are learning and bring them to life. He goes on to say that without coaching, too often, no significant change can occur. Among the types of coaches a teacher may be exposed to are: cognitive, literacy, peer, data, content and instructional coaches. The primary goal of any type of coaching must be to support implementation of the target. This target is set by the teacher and usually will focus around improving instruction. In order to improve the quality of teaching which will "impact" student achievement and lead to better schools, Knight suggest the following must be present between an instructional coach and the teacher:
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The mentoring plan that I reviewed for Module 5 in the Coaching/Mentoring class focused on your "bottom line" - "...successful coaches create an environment that allows teachers to reflect on their current approaches and strategies. They then focus on helping the teacher build confidence and competence to practice new skills." The plan was for early career special education teachers. Most of the time we think of the general education teacher in the coaching/mentoring process. It was insightful to be challenged to consider the isolation of special education teachers and how the coaching really built their confidence and competence.
ReplyDeleteJust wondering if you have found any information about making sure special education teachers, librarians, and other faculty members who are not general education teachers are included in the process.