Upon viewing this question, I must first analyze and describe what an instructional coach needs to be effective. The characteristics needed to be an instructional coach are defined in this paper from several articles I read to become more familiar with multiple perspectives regarding the position. In the article from reading rocket (Steiner & Kowal, 2013), there are three skills that are important, these are pedagogical knowledge, content expertise, interpersonal capabilities. According to the Hanover Research company Best practices in instructional coaching - Iowa area education agencies, n.d., p. xx) the qualities necessary depend on what type of coaching is necessary, but they also state that content knowledge is important. Then on …show more content…
ASCD (Hall & Simeral, 2015), they list; highly self-reflective, build relationships, recognize another’s strengths and a servant leader. While true that all of these are very important for any person working with people which then should be the most important for an instructional coach and what do they entail. Furthermore, of those which do I exemplify, and which do I not? All the articles seem to point to content knowledge and experience. An affective instructional coach should know about all subject matter that they are coaching teachers with so they can provide the proper help. Having that knowledge also builds trust between the teacher and the coach, which is my opinion, due to experience. Of course, they may not be experts in all areas, but before fully taking on such a role, they should understand what the teachers they are helping are, expected to teach. This can be through experience or research. Just like a new teacher a new coach can research standards and best practices in teaching the topics so they have a better understanding when they are observing teachers which areas they need to help strengthen. Interpersonal skills, such as being trustworthy, building professional relationships, being able to stay calm during intense conversations, being supportive and not corrective in nature. These skills are skills that if the coach struggles with they will not be effective since the teachers will not trust or listen to them. This is an area that teachers and coaches play a role, but it is ultimately up to the coach to remain professional under all circumstances and evolve all relationships with teacher and administrators alike to working understanding in order to be effective. The ability to be self-reflective and be a servant leader go together in my opinion, this is because if you are self-reflective on your practices and relationships then you can ensure you are a servant leader. A servant leader, according to (Hall & Simeral, 2015) is someone who does not dictate, but has a clear vision and guides others toward a common goal. A servant leader, comes across as someone helping you not as another person’s telling you what to do because they think it is best. A self-reflective coach will continually review the work they are doing with teachers as well as the relationships and look to improve their weak areas. An instructional coach should be able to see others’ abilities and skill levels and then provide them with feedback regarding those skills.
This depends on the others above characteristics, to be effective. If an instructional coach is observing a teacher who is struggling and wants to help them, the coach must first be able to identify the problem. While building the relationship the coach can provide positive areas and areas for growth, but they need to also provide ways to improve the areas needing growth. The coach then will need to follow up and ensure that the teacher is supported as well as feels supported. This skill of being able to see what needs to be improved is also important since a teacher may not realize there is a problem or what the problem is exactly that will put a halt on developing and supporting the teachers, such a delay then relates back to student …show more content…
learning. The final skill, not listed above is to be able to disaggregate data. This skill is intertwined with being able to see another person’s ability level. To be able to identify data to show what area in a classroom needs support then to go and observe the teacher during the lessons in that area helps to provide the coach with a starting point. Data is probably intertwined with all the other skills because having knowledge regarding the content, and pedagogy help the coach understand the data and then observing the class with the above knowledge help steer the learning process. My strengths are probably, being self-reflective, disaggregating data and being able to recognize another person skill level.
I am my own worst critic, my assistant principal calls me a dork, due to my action, I was asking her for my evaluation information, and I thought for sure it was bad, I saw everything that went wrong during my observation, but she saw the good. I am always looking at how I complete an assignment and ways to improve myself. I look at my relationships and ways to improve them as well. I am always willing to admit I am wrong, if while I look at my actions I suppose I could have done better. Due to my self-reflection I will also ask others for input so that I know that I am not just responding in a one-sided manner. It is actually very important that when I am looking for feedback from others I tell the whole story, not just my side to properly evaluate my actions. With regards to data, I can crunch the numbers and understand them quickly. I also while looking at data will look at specific information and look for the origin of the issue if there is any. As for looking at others and being able to recognize their skill level and/or areas of greatness, this if I observe a classroom. Even if I am not observing a classroom, I can easily see which teachers need support and which teachers are possibly working well on their own. This is through their classroom structure or if I pop into a class unannounced what I see students doing. At first glance,
a class may seem like it is in chaos, but if you look at the student work, and the data the teacher may not need any help. My areas for improvement, content and pedagogy knowledge as well as interpersonal skills and being a servant leader. I feel that since I mainly taught first grade I have minimal knowledge regarding other grade levels. I have looked at documents that shows me where the standard I teach will be used later, but I do not think I know enough. I taught fifth grade one year, I did not have much support, although the agreement was I would get as much support as I needed, so considering based off the data from that year that my knowledge of content beyond the first grade is minimal. Pedagogy as a instructional coach is concerned is what I would need to improve, that would happen best through research and experience. Interpersonal skills, while my intentions are 99.99% of the time for the betterment of others, I come across very harsh and abrasive. I believe I need to shift my ways to a position where teachers would be comfortable coming to me from the start. My servant leadership improvement would come with the interpersonal improvement. This is due to in my opinion that I am misunderstood, I get frustrated and then my motivation changes to try and prove something. To improve in these areas, I would need to research, and attend professional developments. My research would be toward the content and pedagogy knowledge as well as my interpersonal skills. The research will include best practices in each area that is taught at the elementary level and the overall expectation of rigor for each area. I do not think that this is something that will end since standards shift and are aligned differently when they do. I would look at sites such as Lead4ward and district used sites such as TEKS resource system to intertwine best practices and actual standard knowledge. As for my interpersonal skills, I would research books regarding ways to make yourself more approachable, such as the Power of Approachability by Scott Ginsberg. I would also ask others to rate the ways I interact with them, so I have a better understanding of where I am and what exactly I need to fix. As for the professional development, I would attend content based professional development that show best practices, so that I could help my teachers when I need to show them. My district provides professional developments all summer long, so they would probably be my first place. Many of the professional developments are content based, it would be especially important to attend these since this is what the district wants to see from teachers The various skills that are needed to be an effective instructional coach range into many different areas that any person wanting to be an instructional coach can accomplish. Through research and training, instructional coaches can provide support to teachers that principals or other administrators do not have the time to complete. It is important as a future instructional coach that I evaluate what I need to do to better serve the teachers in my school or district.
As a 'knower ', I have observed that I reflect at the intrapersonal level the most. According to Hartrick Doane and Varcoe, "looking intrapersonally [means] you consider what is going on within all the people involved" (2015, p.6). In relation to myself as a 'knower ', I have observed that I am extremely self-critical. I tend to reflect on my practice a lot but seem to dwell on improvements that could have been made. I strive to know as much knowledge as I can and am
This constitutes the single largest barrier to successful coaching. Common barriers to
As I have asserted, coaching is far more than winning or losing. A coach is an essential cog in shaping qualities such as sportsmanship, competitiveness, self discipline, and work ethic. A quality coach can build a player up while a bad coach can tear them down. My goal as a coach was to always leave the player striving to be the best they could be. A good coach
From most of the questions I asked, they were a few of the basic things I would need in order to be a great coach. One of the main questions was taking criticism from fans. The fans are always just fans. Which means they know nothing about the amount of work your team puts in or know anything about what the team may be going through so just let them be. The most hurdle one will have to overcome is to telling a player he/she is not good enough for the
Flaherty, J. (2011). Coaching: Evoking excellence in others (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will”. Being a football coach requires someone who can be a great communicator. This person needs to understand communication on both sides an individual can not just demand that it's a one way street where you talk and athletes listen. The career of coaching requires history of the game knowledge of the game, extensive education, and positive and negatives aspects of the game.
One of the main strengths that we found about the guy we interviewed is that he is a good counselor. He seems to be good at helping his employees better understand how they can do better at their job. According to the article, a good manager empowers their team and also does not micromanage their situations (Birkinshaw, 2014). The interviewee believes that coaching happens everyday. According to the textbook, coaches focus on helping improve the ability of their employees and that counselor’s focus on improving the attitudes of their employees. The interviewee is more of a counselor because he is willing to help his employees get a better performance out of his employees. He believes that there is only so much he can do before there is nothing
Green, Mike. "Ten Keys to Being a Good Coach." The Sports Family Club. N.p.. Web. 28 O
“A coach is someone who is equipped to aid individuals or groups and organisations to maximise their performance in pursuit of their desired goals.” (Dexter et al, (2011) p.4)
Although, I find it easy to be self-critical and I am always trying to do better, but I know I’m not perfect and have lots of room for improvement. However, I find getting critique from others more challenging and the feeling of everything I do is being watched and graded by someone is nerve-racking and it can be hard to hear what others have to say about your performance. It’s hard to hear it even though I do want to get that critique, or criticism, so I can improve and become more successful at teaching and help reach out to more
Flaherty, J. (2011). Coaching: Evoking excellence in others (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
I think this is an issue because although I do enjoy motivating others, I need to ensure that I am providing positive feedback, not to forget the negative because as humans there are always certain aspects that we can improve on. I want to ensure that others do not feel criticized or afraid to provide me with constructive criticism on my work ethic and my leadership style itself. Another one of my weaknesses I would say is that I have a tendency to express my views very strongly sometimes coming off as arrogant when I am in a group or leading a project, I want to manage this weakness by ensuring that when I am in a group I immediately ask my other peers for feedback on the statement I just provided because this will allow me to know what their thoughts are and how they view my perspectives. Another one of my weaknesses is I have a hard time accepting change. For example, I need to learn how to cope with change and realize that not everything I engage in or work on will always go my way because others will have different perspectives and they will not necessarily agree with my ideas all the time. I think understanding my weaknesses is important in particular because if I was not aware of these weaknesses then, I would not be able to improve on them in
Coaching and mentoring is a constant process that occurs all throughout a future teacher’s journey. While attending a university, it is common while in the teacher preparation program to undergo several coaching sessions and mentoring periods, which is great! Normally this continues through the first year of teaching, but something happens after that first year. If a relationship isn’t built, encouraged, and made intentional, the coaching stops. For teachers, this is strange. We are taught to constantly coach, encourage, mentor, and teach our students, but when it comes to our peers, those under us, etc., we assume that each teacher has suddenly “made it” as if someone who can make it through their first year is automatically “good to go” and will not encounter any hiccups along the way to becoming a veteran. In some instances, the teaching community is a selfish profession for the fact that you do what needs to be done for you and the students you serve, but not for your peers. You do not share your lessons, ideas, concerns, etc. Some teachers are still under the impression that if they are struggling, they are doing it wrong or they are not a “good” teacher. This is a fallacy that needs to be talked about. There is a reason that peer coaching
In my opinion if someone has feedback and means that they just genuinely care about you and their giving the opportunity to learn more about a person that you’re working for or working with. If you are always right then what is the purpose of learning from others? You should always use that information to change your performance, service, or exhibition. Constructive criticism can guide you from bad practices and steer you toward good ones. Try to be objective and look at what you’re providing as though its not yours. Also, the language that you use in response is critically important.
Peer coaching is a technique that fosters reflective practices in the ELT classroom, which enhances teacher’s professional development. This exercise becomes successful if both the coachee and the couch, observe and conduct a thorough reflection in order to provide a constructive feedback to each other. In other words, the coaching relationship needs to be reciprocal. Notwithstanding, it is recommended for both peers to be nearly at the same level of knowledge, skill and experience. There also needs to be a sense of trust, humbleness; to accept the aspects to improve, and confidentiality in order for the constructive feedback to be effective.