#coachbetter

In this #coachbetter episode, Kim talks with LaTyia Rolle, Elementary School Principal at the International School of Brussels. LaTyia “recently” moved from US public schools to international schools and she brings a wealth of experience working with instructional coaches as a school leader. On this call they talk about why coaching is so essential for schools AND school leaders, what makes it successful, in particular what international schools can learn from US public schools, how to help school leaders see the value of instructional coaching, the connection or overlap of coaching and middle level leadership, and what school leaders need to consider as they’re building a coaching culture. Find the show notes for this episode here.

This #coachbetter episode is a highlight from one of our previous podcast episodes featuring Kawai Lai. Kawai’s work focuses on helping teams and leaders rethink culture, strategy, and leadership using the power of visuals. This particular clip focuses on creating psychological safety in teams. We're sharing this one because we know that trust and safety are two huge components of building coaching relationships, and we’ve been talking about the ways that instructional coaches are informal leaders in their schools all semester. This one clip gives concrete strategies on how you can create psychological safety with the teams that you work with right now. As a coach, and a leader, building this skill set will be essential in developing your relational leadership Find the show notes for this episode here.

This #coachbetter episode is another in our series of coaching case studies, with one of Kim's amazing clients, Tracey McGillian. These case study episodes are designed to share the story of a coach, and the development of their coaching program and practice in their unique setting. Tracey is a graduate of The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program, and Kim has been working with (and the rest of the coaching team at her school in Pennsylvania) for several years. In this conversation Kim and Tracey talk about the evolution of the coaching program at PASD, and her own personal growth as a Tech Coach. Tracey made a big switch in her mindset and professional practice as a coach - from being reactive to being proactive - during her time in The Coach and that was a huge game changer for her! Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter episode, Kristen is talking about why school leaders need coaching and to help them understand why and how coaching can be impactful for them too!. If you’ve been a longtime listener of the podcast or our #coachbetter quicktips, you know that one of the questions we almost always ask of school leaders is how can we help other school leaders understand the value of instructional coaching. The answer is ALWAYS get them as close to the process of coaching as possible - and the best way to do that is to actually BE coached. When you have the experience of working with a coach, and you see the impact it can have on your professional growth, that is the deepest kind of “aha” moment about the value of coaching for all educators that you can have. Find the show notes for this episode here.

This #coachbetter episode is another in our series of coaching case studies, with one of Kim's amazing clients, Sasha Robbins. We're so excited to share this episode with Sasha with you, because Sasha and Kim have been working together since 2019! These case study episodes are designed to share the story of a coach, and the development of their coaching program and practice in their unique setting. Sasha is an instructional coach at Al-Bayan Bilingual School in Kuwait and recently, on a coaching call they were talking about how Sasha has been working to intentionally slow down her coaching conversations and the impact that is having on the quality of work she and her coaching partners are able to do. This is a powerful conversation about the ways that experienced coaches can deepen the work they do with their coaching partners. And it’s a strong demonstration of Sasha’s growth as an instructional coach over the time that we’ve been working together. Find the show notes for this episode here.

This #coachbetter episodea highlight is from one of our previous podcast episodes featuring our The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program Mentors. We're sharing this clip from this episode right now because we’ve been talking about the ways that instructional coaches are leaders in their schools all semester - and this specific clip highlights some of the surprises that instructional coaches may face when first moving into a coaching role. No matter how experienced you are as an educator, there are new skills to learn when you become a coach - and our four mentors are going to tell you about those skills in this clip! Find the show notes for this episode here.

We have an extra special #coachbetter episode! It’s our virtual launch party for the brand new non-profit organization that we’ve been building for the last year: the Association for the Advancement of Instructional Coaching in International Schools! If you’re an instructional coach in international schools, you know that coaching can look vastly different at different schools - and you might find yourself advocating for, and building coaching programs at every school you move to. Instructional coaching is such a nuanced and complex role - both within your individual coaching practice and at the programmatic level. And moving from school to school in our international context makes it even more complex! Both instructional coaches and school leaders need to be involved in this conversation - and it needs to be specific for international schools - that’s why we founded AAICIS! Eduro Learning is proud to be a founding partner of AAICIS. To find out more about our organization, and to join the conversation about instructional coaching in international schools, head over to our website at aaicis.org Find the show notes for this episode here.

In #coachbetter video, Kim talks about creating a sustainable coaching culture - and what systems and structures are either supporting or hindering coaching sustainability in your school context. This video is designed for experienced coaches who are ready to start thinking about how they can further develop their coaching practice. Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter episode, Kim talks with Samantha Olson-Wyman, Curriculum, Teaching & Learning Specialist and Stephanie Cifuentes, Lower School Principal at the American School of Guatemala. Both Sam and Stephanie are former instructional coaches so this episode is such a special opportunity to look at the macro lens of coaching with school leaders who deeply understand the micro view too! We're so excited to share this episode with you because whenever we get the chance to speak with school leaders who are former coaches, we know we’re going to be able to go deep about the value of coaching and the actual logistics and structures needed to make it happen - and this conversation does exactly that! Find the show notes for this episode here.

When you’re working on building a coaching culture and a coaching program, you know that you need systems and structures in place to make it sustainable. In this post, we're highlighting three elements of your coaching culture that you may want to examine - so you can both measure the impact you’re making and define the systems and structures needed to continue to grow. This is a highlight from one of Kim's favorite episodes from a previous season, featuring Laura Lipton. If you’re a longtime #coachbetter listener, you know that Kim often references Laura’s work, particularly the Continuum of Practice for Instructional Coaches. Since we’re focusing on coaches as leaders right now, we want to share this clip where Laura talks about the big picture of what makes coaching work from a school-wide perspective. Find the show notes for this episode here.

This #coachbetter episode is part of our series featuring coaching conversations with one of Kim's amazing clients, Cary Hart, who is a graduate of all 3 of our Certificate Programs: COETAIL, The Coach, and Women Who Lead. HUGE thank you to Cary for being willing to record one of her coaching sessions to share with all of you! In Kim and Cary's conversation, you’re going to hear how having a coach from outside of your school community can take a very complicated situation, with a lot of layers, detail, and complexity, and through targeted questions, paraphrasing and intentional focus, surface a simple and systemic solution. The challenge Cary presents in this call is one that, if you’ve been a tech coach in particular, will be very familiar to you, so some aspects of the solution here might be immediately applicable to your school setting, too. You'll notice the ways that Cary was able to share the different dynamics of her challenge, and through Kim's paraphrasing, questioning, and identifying the root of the issue, they were able to move onto a deeper discussion of potential solutions that address all of the layers to this challenge that Cary’s been struggling with. Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter episode, Kim talks about scaling your impact as an instructional coach. If you’ve been a coach for several years, you know that you can’t keep working exclusively 1:1 with coaching partners - it’s a ticket to burnout! The reality is that there will never be enough time in the day (or coaches on staff) to support every teacher at the 1:1 level. Once you start finding yourself booked out and busy, with a schedule full of coaching cycles, it’s time to start scaling your impact and start working with groups or teams. This way you can leverage your time and support teaching and learning in even more classrooms than you are already! If you are ready to make this shift, this episode is for you! Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter episode, Kim talks with Ellen and Bruce Eisenberg, founders of The Professional Institute for Instructional Coaching. As founders of The Professional Institute for Instructional Coaching Ellen and Bruce come with a wealth of experience in building sustainable instructional coaching programs in schools around the world. On this call they are talking about the research behind instructional coaching, how to collect data to measure your impact, the enabling conditions that make coaching work and the systems and structures that need to be in place to make coaching sustainable. This episode is full of big-picture thinking about what it takes to make coaching successful and sustainable in schools. If you are curious about the systems and structures that make coaching successful, this episode is for you. Find the show notes for this episode here.

This #coachbetter episode is part of of our new special series, #coachbetter Celebrations. To celebrate our 5 years of the podcast (and over 200 episodes), each month we’re highlighting a short clip from one of our favorite episodes from a previous season. This is a highlight from one of Kim's favorite episodes from a previous season. If you’re a longtime #coachbetter listener, you know that Joellen Killion is her instructional coaching superhero, and Joellen's episode from a few seasons ago was a masterclass in all things instructional coaching. Since we’re focusing on coaches as leaders right now, sharing this clip where Joellen explains how coaches can directly advocate for the work of coaching would be well worth repeating. Find the show notes for this episode here.

This #coachbetter episode is another in our series of coaching case studies, with one of our amazing The Coach graduates, Nicola Milward. These case study episodes are designed to share the story of a coach, and the development of their coaching program and practice in their unique setting. At the time of recording, Nicola was Instructional Coach at IPS Hilversum, the Netherlands and she had just graduated from The Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program. In this episode Kim and Nicola talk about how Nicola built the coaching program at her school from scratch - starting with pitching the position of instructional coach, all the way through multiple years of implementation. They talk about what coaching looked like when it first started, how it changed over time, what challenges she faced, and her “aha’ moments in her coaching practice and in The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program. Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter video, Diana talks about the Essential Conditions for Instructional Coaching to be successful. This episode is so powerful because the success of instructional coaching as a program or a culture goes well beyond what one individual coach can do. As experienced coaches, we need to look at the bigger picture of the culture of the school to see what might be supporting or hindering the success of building the coaching program. Diana will share some specific prompts to help you think about which of these conditions your school already has - and the ones you might need to work on developing. Find the show notes for this episode here.

This is a very special #coachbetter episode! This is the podcast launch party for Kim and Christina's new book: Finding Your Path as a Woman in School Leadership: A Guide for Educators, Allies, and Advocates. Kim and Christina are interviewed by four of their early readers of the book: Alexandra Gustad, Rania Saeb, Sarah Plews, and Uzay Ashton, all amazing educational leaders in their own right. These four women, along with their other early readers (they had 15 readers of the book before they submitted their manuscript) gave them vital feedback and encouragement along the path of completing the book. Kim and Christina are so grateful to all of their readers, editors, and supporters as they completed this project over the last year. In this episode they are sharing some of the behind-the-scenes stories of writing the book, what readers can expect to get out of the book, and their hopes as they put this work out into the world! Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter episode, Kim talks with Cary Hart and Paula Plaza-Ponte, both experienced coaches and members of The Coach Alumni group They chat about the challenges that coaches go through as they “level up” in their career. We tend to focus a lot on the needs of new coaches, or the process of building a coaching culture. This episode is about what the journey is like once you're an experienced coach. They talk about the unexpected challenges, the ways that coaches often lack support in their schools, and the importance of honoring self-care, process time, and potentially a pivot away from schools as you navigate the “messy middle” of a coaching journey. Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter episode, we have another episode in our new special series, #coachbetter celebrations. To celebrate our 5 years of the podcast (and over 200 episodes), each month we’re highlighting a short clip from one of our favorite episodes from a previous season. This episode features our mentors from The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program, Diana, Maggie and Kristen, talking about the ways that experienced coaches can continue to #coachbetter and take their coaching skills to the next level. We're resharing this clip from the conversation because sometimes, as experienced coaches, we’re not actually sure what we need to do to develop our practice. We can be so close to the work we’re doing that we can’t see the big picture. Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter episode, Kim talks with Carla Marschall, Director of Dresden International School in Germany. Carla brings a systems-thinking view to everything she does, and the implementation of coaching in her school is no exception. On this call, they talk about how Carla is working to create a coaching culture, communicate the vision, put structures and policies in place to make it successful, and why coaching is so essential in our schools. This episode is full of big picture thinking about how to develop a coaching program from scratch. If you are curious about the systems and structures that make coaching successful, this episode is for you! Find the show notes for this episode here.