Top 10 Takeaways from My 1st Year as an Instructional Coach

Reflecting back on my first year as an Instructional Coach, these are my top 10 takeaways that I learned in my first year as an Instructional Coach.

1. Relationships are everything! Building and maintaining relationships is the key to having success in the Instructional Coaching role. When Rita Pierson famously said in her Ted Talk, "Children don't learn from people they don't like," she was also telling the truth for adults. Adults don't learn or work well with people they don't like. You need to have a good working relationship with the teachers and staff in your building if you are going to bring about change in your school.

2. GET ORGANIZED!!! Digital organization worked better for me so that I could access whatever I needed for coaching cycles or anything else from anywhere in the school without hauling binders or anything else around.

3. Use data from Coaching Cycles, surveys completed staff (created by you), feedback from Administrators, etc. to evaluate your success regularly.

4. Reflect on your work often and find areas to improve your practice. We are never perfect and always have room to grow and learn. We are, by trait, life-long learners.

5. Constantly find ways to grow your Coaching ToolKit: attend PD, find professionals or colleagues to follow on Twitter, do a book study, etc.

6. Keep your focus on coaching, supporting teachers and students!

7. Find ways to strengthen your time management skills! I found that it is very necessary in this role especially since I am coming out of the classroom where I had a detailed schedule and lesson plan for every single day.

8. When faced with a reluctant teacher on a coaching cycle, keep trying to find ways to build the relationship and help even if its something small like running and making copies, covering their class for a parent meeting, etc. Eventually, the reluctant teacher will open up and want more help.

9. STAY POSITIVE! You are going to be great!

10. Praise your teachers for any accomplishments, no matter how big or small! Post this praise on Twitter. Share it in your digital PD Newsletter. Do something to showcase the accomplishments of your teachers, especially those on your cycle or that are reluctant, to help build confidence and help gain better support/relationships from other teachers in the building.