My job as instructional coach is primarily to help teachers. I go into classes. I observe teaching. I give feedback. I plan and deliver training. It is quite fulfilling to see a teacher go from a novice to a master teacher through this process. Despite some of the barriers, I think teachers find the support beneficial.
A problem with instructional coaching full time is you can start to forget how to teach. You begin to neglect the practical realities of teaching real children in favor of the more abstract and theoretical. I feel like this is what happens to the university professors who train our student teachers. They become too far removed from the classroom.
To protect myself from this, I recently started teaching an intervention group once a day for about 20 minutes. I started by testing 5 students for a set of skills, and I am using a scripted Engelmann DI program called Corrective Math to address their gaps. The teaching is fast paced and based on instructional design principles – the same ones that I teach to teachers. In addition to creating a lot of growth in these students’ math skills, I feel like it is making me a better instructional coach. Above all, it feels good to walk the talk.
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