Maria Chapman

I walked into Mrs. Smith’s second-grade class for our coaching session excited to refine her small group instruction techniques. We met that morning during her prep time, discussed data, and planned a flawless small group lesson for a group of English Learners working on short vowel sounds for me to model. She knew where she was falling short in her instruction and asked for help figuring out how to make the lessons work for her students. I knocked on the locked classroom door. I watched through the narrow window as a student sprinted across the room and leaped over a desk to be the first to open the door. What I encountered was pure pandemonium. 

What I encountered was pure pandemonium. 

Juan hadn’t had his ADHD medication in a week because mom had run out, and there wasn’t more until the end of the month. He had flipped over a desk and was now crying because he didn’t mean to and wasn’t sure how to control his hands and feet.

Audrey had taken a toy from another student who was crying hysterically, begging for its return. 

Jace just wanted to read his graphic novel in peace, but the deafening roar in the classroom made that impossible, so he had laid his head inside the open book on his desk.

Axel was coloring on the desk that Jace was resting on. 

Yadrielys, the new student from Puerto Rico was sitting with her hands folded on her desk, waiting for a direction that she understood.

Jose was bent over, head on his desk because he was hungry. He had gotten to school too late to eat the school-provided breakfast, and the staff at the school had been told that snack time wasn’t permitted because it took away from instructional time. 

Mrs. Smith was attending to Andre, her non-verbal autistic student rocking in the corner. His paraprofessional had quit the week before, and with the district shortage, it may be another month before a replacement was found. 

I walked over, placed my hand on her shoulder, “I leave here every day feeling like a complete failure,” She sighs, tears in her eyes. 

As a Literacy Facilitator in a bilingual school, in an urban district, I have coached many new teachers. What have I learned? We need to do a better job of supporting novice teachers.

Mrs. Smith was hired 2 days before new teacher orientation. She was oriented in two days, spent another two in full-day professional development sessions, and spent the weekend preparing her classroom as best she could despite the peeling, cuss word-graffitied walls. The students showed up on Monday morning. Mrs. Smith, like so many other new teachers, is hungry to refine her pedagogy. She is coachable, she is invested in her students, and she is flailing in the chaos. Sure, she needs instructional coaches like me and our very qualified STEM coach. Sure, she needs data team meetings, and staff meetings to become acquainted with the routines and processes of the school. Perhaps, though, all of that could wait a bit?

What she really needs is someone to guide her through those first, ever-important first weeks of school. The weeks where relationships are built and classroom communities develop. She needs to learn how to set up her space so that it works well. She could also use some money to purchase supplies for that space, rather than use her meager savings to tackle it on her own. She needs to know how to set and enforce classroom procedures so that she doesn’t spend an hour putting the classroom back together after school each day. She needed time before the school year started dedicated to preparing for the young people she cares so much about. 

So, on that Tuesday, I set our flawless lesson plan aside, I reigned her class in, sent her to the bathroom, and to grab a snack since she had used her lunch period to level the books for her classroom lobby. I read a story to a group of 8 year-olds who sat (mostly) criss-cross-applesauce on the rug. I gave her a moment to breathe. 

Then, the next morning we set about arranging her furniture and creating routines and classroom jobs. I may be a Literacy Facilitator, but that’s not what she needed at the moment. If we don’t develop structure and routine first, no one will learn how to read this year. We’ll get to that small group lesson another time. 

Maria Chapman is a Literacy Facilitator and freelance writer. Her work is featured on Medium, BizCatalyst360, Baby Gaga, Rooted in Rights. She lives in Connecticut where she enjoys time with her husband and their five children. You can find out more about her work at mariafchapman.com and on Linktree.

Originally posted on The Educator’s Room

By Terri Froiland

In my six years as an instructional coach, I have been fortunate to have been given a great deal of professional development in a variety of coaching models, from invitational coaching to transformational coaching.  As I have been trained in various models, I have worked hard to adapt and learn the new lingo.  However, regardless of the model, one secret to coaching success never changes: It all starts with building relationships.  In order for educators to truly benefit from working with an instructional coach, they need to trust that they are actually there to support them.

It all starts with building relationship Share on X

Here are some ways to build those relationships:

Find an entry point to help. Once I was coaching in a school that was adding a bilingual program.  Sadly, I am not bilingual but still felt like I had something to offer to those teachers.  I was shocked when I went room to room introducing myself the first day and a teacher told me I was not welcome in her room since I do not speak Spanish.  Rather than arguing with her, I bided my time.  Two weeks later, some new classroom furniture arrived for her and I offered to unpack and assemble it for her.  That investment in her, though far from my coaching job description, got my foot in the door and helped us to develop a great connection.

Be trustworthy. A teacher’s time is so precious.  If you schedule a coaching session with an educator, show up.  If there are extenuating circumstances and you just can’t make it, notify them as soon as possible and offer to make it up to them in some way…reschedule at their preferred time, bring them chocolate, whatever it takes!

Listen all the time. Everyone appreciates feeling listened to, so ask lots of reflective questions and listen carefully to their responses.  Not only will you build rapport, but you will learn so much about how to best support each educator in this manner.

Praise whenever possible. Every conversation you have with a teacher should include some praise.  It’s comparable to teachers conferring with students; starting by sharing something positive you noticed gets everyone off on the right foot and feeling more open to some constructive advice.

Cycle your support. Be aware of the school-year cycle for new teachers, which is also pretty applicable for veteran teachers in my experience.  In addition to listening to your teachers and being responsive, this cycle can help you be proactive with your support when they need it most.California New Teacher Project, published by the California Department of Education (CDE), 1990.

Bring food to all meetings. Treats are the way to every teacher’s heart.  I accidentally forgot to show up for a meeting earlier this year.  I felt so badly about it and knew that the inconvenience it caused required more than a mere apology, so, when I rescheduled, I offered to buy sub sandwiches for our next lunch meeting.  The teachers truly appreciate it and there were no hard feelings because of my gesture.  That was a fairly grand treat…don’t forget the power of a little bit of chocolate!

Have you ever worked with an Instructional Coach? If so, did it help your practice?