The 5 Things Instructional Coaches Must Do

By Dr. Heather Jackson

I began writing this book the year I became a principal. It began as a way to chronicle my work and build the foundation for the following year. Prior to my appointment to the principalship, I had been a Vice Principal in charge of Instruction and as much as I would like to believe that this experience prepared me for the principalship, it had not. So I found myself having to learn how to balance my first love- observing classroom instruction and all the other areas of running a school that needed my attention, such as, parent conferences, discipline, and cafeteria duty. Thank God, I had help in the form of my Teacher on Assignment. She became my mentor for the first couple of months and picked up the slack while I balanced the demands of my new role. I later learned that some of my colleagues who were also first time principals struggled in the role as well. As a result, I began to share some of the strategies I was using with them. In my current role, of Instructional Coach, I have dusted off my book so that I can begin the sharing process with principals and content area supervisors. I have found that not only are principals unsure or unaware of how to lead instruction in their buildings, so are their Coaches or Supervisors. It is my observation that some of the people chosen for this "Middle Management" position were highly effective teachers but not leaders. This does not mean that they cannot be mentored into leadership it just means that someone has to intentionally do that mentoring, and it is not being done. Therefore, I spend a lot of my time mentoring three different groups of leaders: principals, vice principals/coaches/supervisors and teachers. There are books out there that have been written by people with more years and research than I do. However, this book is written for the group that needs a road map and a Coach. Not everyone is going to pick up "Leverage Leader" although they should, nor is everyone going to pick up "What Works in Schools" but everyone should pick up a book that is easy to read, can get them started immediately, and provides samples they can use. There are agendas for meetings and professional development workshops along with the tools they need to monitor the implementation of the strategies shared at each workshop.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1518826253
• ISBN13: 9781518826252
• Release Date: November 2015
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 56 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.1" x 8.5"