An instructional coach, described in Jim Knight’s High Impact Instruction (2013), is a learning partner who collaborates with teachers to identify goals, suggest teaching practices to learn, explains and models new practices, and observes and supports teachers as they master and integrate those new practices into their teaching and meet their goals.

Instructional coaching is “in house” professional development. It provides teachers the opportunity to pursue their personal best in the classroom and develop a clearer understanding of how and what their students are learning.

Instructional coaching @ GCDS is voluntary and non evaluative. Teachers set a goal for themselves and the instructional coach helps to identify strategies to achieve that goal. The coaching cycle looks like this:

• Pre conference to identify goal(s) and/or effective instructional strategies
• Conversation to refine goals/strategies
• Observation of teacher implementation and if warranted, modeling by the IC of the desired outcomes
• Post conference for reflection

Good Things Are Happening in

GCDS Classrooms!

A number of teachers have experienced instructional coaching, and great things are happening! From planning and implementing a cumulative project, to designing lessons to enhance student engagement, instructional coaching supports your work with students. Coaching can help you achieve your personal best in the classroom and develop a clearer understanding of how and what your students are learning.

What teachers are saying:

“…watching my first graders engage with questions and protocols in a way that I had never seen before was magical. I am most thankful for how the coaching experience has shifted my perspective around student engagement and realize that small changes in practice can impact students’ learning in a big way. I am already looking forward to tackling another goal with Nina’s support!”

“Instructional coaching is so helpful! I had a loose idea for a project I wanted to create for my English class, and through the coaching model we ironed out the details. I received feedback every step of the way — from refining my ideas, to creating my rubric, to debriefing after the project about what worked and what didn’t. The website has so many resources with helpful tips and strategies for instruction, all curated by a very qualified coach!”