The Coach ADVenture. Amy Illingworth

wear many hats. Since my first days in administration (many years ago), there has been much talk about the principal as the lead learner, the instructional leader of a school. As I support new leaders today, however, I’ve noticed that many struggle to fit in the role of instructional leader—and may ignore the role of coach completely. These shortcomings typically stem from the reality that it is challenging to balance all the elements of a complex job (see the time management chapter for some tips on this later) and from a fear that they don’t know enough to coach teachers.

      If you are an administrator who wants teachers to see you as an instructional coach, start by defining your coaching work and sharing your definition transparently with your teachers. We will talk more about designing your own coaching model in a later chapter. For now, take a moment to reflect on this question, as it will be one of the first things your teachers will need to know: How will your instructional coaching differ from evaluation?

      You need to be able to answer the question clearly for your teachers. No matter what you say, if they don’t trust you, they won’t believe that your “coaching” will be any different from an evaluation.

      Building trusting relationships takes time. It can take months or even years for a teacher to trust a new administrator. Many teachers have worked with anywhere from one to twenty administrators (especially if you include vice/assistant principals) throughout their careers. Often they have been at a school longer than anyone on the administrative team, so their skepticism or uncertainty about a new administrator isn’t unexpected or unreasonable. Building trust starts with the administrator, which is why I encourage all administrators to be visible on campus, in classrooms, and at school events—especially if they are new to a school.

      No matter how long you’ve been at your school, make time to meet new colleagues. Get to know your teachers by asking about their work and their personal lives. And always make a point to greet everyone by name.

      Active listening will help you in this endeavor of building relationships. Do a lot more listening than talking as you get to know others. When people truly feel heard, they feel closer to the people who took time to listen to them. Over time, your efforts will lead to trust. Active listening will also help you in your role as an instructional coach.

      When people truly feel heard, they feel closer to the people who took time to listen to them.

      As a new principal, I immediately began visiting classrooms and leaving little notes, celebrating something I saw the teacher doing well for students and posing what I thought was a reflective question (more on this in a later chapter). I was surprised when my teachers began freaking out about my little notes and asking everyone else before finally asking me, “What are you looking for?” At first, I didn’t understand their concern or confusion. I was looking for good teaching, of course! Then I realized that I had not shared my definition of good teaching; in fact, I hadn’t even clearly defined it for myself or provided guidance on how to make good teaching a measurable goal. I quickly backtracked and began to have instructional conversations with teachers, so we could craft a common understanding of some big instructional buzz words, such as student engagement, wait time, and checking for understanding. This took time, and I realized teachers would need to visit one another’s classrooms to find and agree upon a common language. Our lesson studies really helped us build this language—live—while we were lesson planning and delivering lessons together. (You’ll learn more about lesson studies in Chapter Eight.)

      As a staff, we determined which instructional strategies were going to help our students learn and make progress. We did this through district- and site-based professional development. We also read and used research, professional articles, and books as our references for high-leverage strategies that would support the students we served. As we began to practice those strategies together, I was able to become an administrator who provided instructional coaching for the staff in a focused way.

      Lead by Walking Around

      Every new school year, new leadership position and interaction provides us with the opportunity to build or strengthen relationships with individual staff members and students in our schools. The time to step away from your office and lead by walking around is now.

      During my time as a site leader, I made a point to visit each teacher’s classroom during the opening setup days before students returned to school. While these visits took me out of the office and away from the nonstop stream of emails and phone calls that would await my return, they were a powerful way for me to build new relationships or renew past relationships with each staff member. Not only could I check in with people about their summer and their family, I was also able to check out their room setup and offer my support physically, emotionally, or professionally. These short personal visits helped me learn more about my staff members as individuals and as members of our learning community.