Into the World of Instructional Coaching

    This year is going to be very different for me.  I am losing three sections of teaching a class I love (AP U.S. History) and now becoming my building's Instructional Coach (IC).  This is the first time our district has dedicated itself to providing teachers with on site staff development geared toward student growth.  The timing is perfect, after all, as the state of Illinois will tie student growth to job performance in the evaluation of a teacher.  So I spent some of my summer learning what it means to be an instructional coach. It really seems like a loaded position with so many potential responsibilities but with one ultimate goal - help teachers better help students.  Although I am the lone IC in the building, the district has selected some great people at each school and we will undoubtedly become a significant support group and resources for each other.

   I am going to be constantly on the lookout for strategies, tips, forms, advice, and most importantly, opportunities to work with the staff at Palatine High School.  The teachers have been already eager to talk to me and tell me that they would be happy to work with me - I think the buy-in is real and I hope to prove its value.  Since our school is now completely 1:1 with iPads, I believe many teachers at PHS are eager to try to integrate technology into their classroom.  It is from that point, I believe, teachers will seek to use other opportunities to work with me...the technology is a good foot in the door.  However, I do not want to be solely affiliated with technology as teaching is too much of an art to be mastered simply by learning out to use new devices.  The craft is intricate and needs to be respected as such. As artists, so to speak, it is important to break-out a new brush or try some new paint - but sometimes it is equally important to try a new medium, a new strategy.  The canvas is still the same, isn't it?