Instructional
coaches need a coach too. Experts help us learn new things and push us to
stretch ourselves.
This
season on the podcast, I wanted to include coaching calls with real coaches who
need help solving problems.
Missy
Sinclair joins me to talk through the challenges she's having on her campus.
She also shares some of the great things that she's doing in her coaching work.
Currently,
Missy is an instructional coach working with fifth through eighth-grade
teachers in a Chicago suburb. She’s also a member of the Coffee
and Coaching Monthly Membership.
One
of the challenges that Missy talks about is getting more veteran teachers to
raise their hands and ask to work with her. To help get herself in the door
with these staff members, she offers PD in a box.
The
PD boxes help her complete a coaching cycle with the staff while building
skills. It's a way to differentiate support and give people exactly what they
need to perform best. This helps create access and engagement around
professional development.
To
begin she asks teachers to fill out a questionnaire and explains that they are
agreeing to let her come watch them. In exchange, the teacher gets materials
and learns something new they can try out in their classroom.
These
boxes have everything the teacher needs so they can use them right away. It
doesn’t add to their already full plate. Instead, it helps them grow
professionally and gives them everything they need to succeed.
During
the episode, Missy explains the steps she takes to create these boxes and the
types of activities in them. We discuss the things she does to follows up with
teachers. I give her some additional ideas for how teachers can share their
feedback after trying the strategies.
Missy
currently supports 80 teachers. One of her challenges is being able to see and
provide support to all of them. Together we work through some ideas for
activities that could work across the board with all staff, including specials
teachers.
We
discuss getting feedback from teachers to help plan your PD and in-classroom
coaching support. During the coaching call, we talk about how instructional
coaches can use the teachers' goals to find common trends and interest areas to
work on.
To
increase participation, I suggest having a referral system where teachers get
special incentives for sharing their successes while working with you. They get
a little something extra for getting other teachers to sign up for your
coaching support.
We
also talk about how to scaffold support, so teachers get what they need and
don’t get bored. At the end of the episode, we chat about the importance of
celebrating teachers who try out new things.
Ready to listen? You can listen below with the media player, or search for Buzzing with MS. B: The Coaching Podcast anywhere you listen to podcasts!
Check me out at buzzingwithmsb.com and on Instagram @buzzingwithmsb.
Podcast produced by Fernie Ceniceros of Crowd & Town Creative
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