Jenny from Midland, Mich., writes:

I have been in the middle school classroom for 20 years and have now accepted a new position as an instructional coach this year. I have three middle schools and maybe 100 teachers plus administrators to work with. Some teachers already know me, but others do not. What would you suggest as far as the best ways to encourage teachers to use me as a resource?

Hi Jenny!

Welcome to the wonderful world of instructional coaching.

I staggered over this phrase a dozen times: "...100 teachers plus administrators to work with." My first thoughts: Wow! Whose idea was this?! 100 teachers? One hundred! What are you expected to do? How is your job defined? What are your roles and responsibilities?

But back to your questions, which raises a couple things: how do teachers know who you are, how you can support them, and what kind of coaching you're doing? What are the expectations around taking up your support (is it optional?) and is there a limit to how much coaching they can have with you? First they need to know what you're offering in order to know when and why they might take you up as a resource. Sometimes teachers don't take up coaching simply because they don't know what it is or what coaching can do.

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