Recruitment and Retention? A Solution!

Our country has a problem with recruiting and retaining great teachers for our children. While several reasons have led us to this point, thinking about solving the problem is the productive way to move forward.  Instructional Coaching is one solution to the problem.  Coaches help to retain teachers because they create individualized, personalized opportunities for them to be supported in their work.   Every teacher wants to be better every day, and coaching provides that chance! 

Coaching re-ignites a teacher’s passion, and supports them in improving their practice.  Serving as an instructional coach in reading and writing for the last five years has shown me that. In the same way that average athletes become great ones from coaching, coaches and teachers working together create innumerable opportunities to improve student achievement.  By nature, teaching is not always conducive to the kind of collaboration that can truly move teachers forward in their craft.  Swapping ideas is common, but truly reflecting, changing course, and doing whatever is necessary to reach a particular group of students doesn’t often come up in conversation.  Instructional coaches are what make that kind of teacher progress possible.  Teachers can choose how they would like to improve their planning, instruction, management, use of multiple intelligences, or assessment, and with a coach, improve instruction and student growth. 

All over the country, teachers are begging for individualized professional development that provides them with personalized growth opportunities instead of a “one size fits all” approach.

Coaching provides this.  In my current position, I spend 6 weeks at a time in classrooms during the reading or writing block.  I work with teachers of all levels of experience, from beginning to veteran, in grades kindergarten through fifth grade.  First, I meet with the teacher to set goals for our time together.  I challenge teachers to choose a standard they do not enjoy teaching, an area on the rubric, or a goal that feels overwhelming.  With two of us working together, I know we can do just about anything!  For the first few days of our time together, I completely take over the literacy block, including planning, teaching and assessment.  This helps classroom teachers to understand that I am completely vested in serving them and their students.  During this time, the teachers observe student learning, ask lots of questions, and we have conversations about what he/she is wondering, noticing, liking or disliking. 

During the next part of our time together, we take turns teaching and observing on alternate days.  This requires us to plan everything together, thinking about pacing, variety of methods used for teaching, and meaningful formative assessment.  The most growth happens during this time because we are working together to improve “our” student’s learning.  We are in the same boat, paddling the same way, and our relationship has moved to the point of open sharing, brainstorming and the willingness to fail forward together!

The last couple of days, I "coach out".  Slowly, the teacher takes back over, as I observe and take notes for the teacher about what is happening during lessons.  Conversations continue as the teacher gets final questions answered, tweaks instruction, and celebrates!  Once we have this experience, future collaboration is a natural follow-up to discuss planning, assessment, students and management.  Since coaching is not evaluative, the teacher and I have a true team approach. 

Coaching is helpful for all teachers.  New teachers are supported as they become consistent in excellent practice, while veteran teachers who are already effective have the chance to reflect on how to become highly effective.  It is a gift to have the time and opportunity to focus on how to turn good into better, and better into best.  As trends bubble up within a grade level or team of teachers, coaches can also lead meaningful, valuable collaboration to support multiple teachers in training.

When teachers feel supported in their goals to increase capacity, to engage learners, and to provide differentiated, meaningful instruction, they want to stay in the classroom. Coaches help great teachers to stay in the profession.