Instructional Coaching Interview

As I start my fourth year as an Instructional Coach, I had the opportunity to be interviewed for a graduate class for prospective Instructional and Literacy Coaches. Although I recorded my answers as audio files, I am sharing the transcript of my interview below.

                                                        Coaching Interview Questions

• Question #1: What is your current role related to instructional coaching and how did you find yourself serving in that capacity?
  • I am an Instructional Coach at a Mitchellville Elementary which is a preschool through fifth grade building.  In my role, I am not content specific, so I work in all content areas with classroom teachers, special education teachers, reading specialists, art/music/pe/and guidance counselors.  Four years ago my district received the Teacher Leadership and Compensation Grant through the state of Iowa. As part of this grant, the district added one instructional coach position to each elementary building, 2 to our 6th grade building, 4 to the junior high, and 6 at the high school. In my previous position I had been facilitating professional development, so transitioning into the Instructional Coaching role seemed like a natural next step in my professional journey.
• Question #2: What is your coaching philosophy or vision?
  • In my Instructional Coaching role, I use a partnership approach, meeting teachers where they are at, and allowing the teacher to have voice and choice in their learning. I don’t consider myself to be an expert, so I work alongside teachers to impact student learning through Jim Knight’s 3 phase process…identify, learn, improve. I believe together, we can get the results the teacher is looking for.
• Question #3: How do you build trusting relationships with your teachers?
  • Steve Barkley once said, in order to build trust, you say what you’re going to do…then do it. In addition to keeping my word, I make sure to take time to get to know the teacher, their passions, what drives them, how they like to learn, and what they’re currently working on in their room. I was lucky in that I had already worked in the building for three years before transitioning into a coaching role, so my colleagues knew and trusted me.  I make it a practice always make sure that I make myself available. If a teacher wants to meet with me, I will put other non-coaching tasks aside and give the teacher my full attention.
• Question #4: What is a typical day like when serving as a coach?
  • Honestly, in my experience there’s no “typical day,” but there are activities that happen every day. These activities include: checking in with teachers, engaging in coaching cycles, advocating for teaching & learning, analyzing achievement data, planning or facilitating professional development, engaging in professional growth (reading books/articles or social media), and fulfilling assigned duties (these vary).
• Question #5: Are there any qualifications/responsibilities that are specific to your content area?
  • My district required Instructional Coach candidates to have a master’s degree and to have taught at least 5 years. The main responsibility is facilitating adult learning in order to impact student achievement.  I have taken several adult learning theory courses as well as received training on various Instructional Coaching approaches (Jim Knight, Steve Barkley, and Cognitive Coaching).
• Question #6: Stakeholders define coaching differently, causing confusion as to the exact roles and responsibilities of a coach. Have you experienced this challenge? If so, how have you confronted or overcome it?
  • In my own building, I have had to overcome this confusion.  When my district rolled out Instructional Coaches, it seemed like we were building the plane while in flight.  Teachers, administrators, and district personnel didn’t have a common understanding of coaching. Some thought we were an extension of the principal, others thought we were there to “fix the bad teachers”. As a coaching PLC, we worked hard to clarify the role, share the why, and establish a coaching culture. We created PD presentations, met with grade level PLCs, spoke at parent group meetings, and designed a “What Coaching Is/Isn’t” chart. This did not happen overnight. In some cases, there are still pockets of misunderstanding. I continue to remind administrators and teachers of the purpose and impact of my role.
• Question #7: One of the challenges coaches face is time – not having enough time to accomplish everything on their plate. How have you built coaching time into the school week?
  • The most important thing to keep in mind is your priorities, what are your building and district’s goals, and what activities will allow you to make steps toward those goals.  I put everything into my Google Calendar. Teachers have access to my schedule, allowing them to see when I’m free/busy, and using a Google Form can request a meeting or observation. For my own professional growth, I use a Time Audit tied to a Google Site to reflect on how I spend my time each day, week, month, and trimester.  If I notice an activity that isn’t directly tied to impacting student achievement takes up too much of my time, then I make a conscious effort to find balance the next day or week.
• Question #8: Some coaches find educators/colleagues resistant to coaching. For example, the new teacher who lacks confidence and does not want to seem inexperienced or the experienced teacher who is overly confident in his practices. How have you navigated these type of coaching experiences and what advice would you give to a new coach?
  • First and foremost, don’t take the standoffishness personally. There can be outside factors affecting how a teacher is responding to you, so you need to remain professional and simply let them know you’re there if and when they need anything.  I am always on the lookout for windows of opportunity that I can use to make inroads with a teacher.  Whether a teacher is a new teacher or a veteran one, I keep the focus on student learning, and how I can partner with the teacher to impact learning. A lot of times, if you’re on the lookout, and continue planning seeds of instructional ideas, the teacher will see that you’re there for the students, rather than to fix the teacher.
• Question #9: Do you use innovative practices in your coaching role such as using technology to provide coaching support? If so, how? If not, are there any innovative ideas you’d like to try out?
  • I am an advocate for using video for reflection. I use Swivl Pro+ to record individual observations, coaching conversations, and professional development sessions.  With Pro+ the teacher and I are able to add time-stamped feedback, brainstorm next steps, and document growth toward the teacher’s coaching goal.  
• Question #10: Additional comments or advice you can give to prospective coaches?
  • Once you become a coach, don’t let yourself get so caught up in helping others improve that you fail to build in your own professional learning time too.
  • Check out the #educoach chat on Twitter. It’s a wonderful group of coaches who are more than willing to help you reflect, plan, or celebrate learning.
  • Take time to build relationships with the teachers you’ll support. A colleague of mine says, go slow to go fast, and I think this is a great way to remember that building trust and relationships can take a while, but it’s so much better to take time to cement the relationships first, rather than jumping in and trying to coach a teacher before they’re ready to open up.

If there's anything I can do to help prospective or current Instructional Coaches, let me know! I'm more than happy to write guest blog posts, collaborate in professional learning development, plan or facilitate book studies, or serve as a listening ear!