Meet Our Instructional Coach

“Having this program embedded in our structure really elevates the teacher experience. It’s good for teachers, and it’s good for students."

 

Greenwood’s Instructional Coaching Program gives teachers at Greenwood opportunities to set goals, strategies to meet those goals and support to help them strengthen their skills as an educator.

Here, Greenwood’s lead Instructional Coach Kelly Smolinski answers a few questions about this unique program.

I work with teachers in their fourth, fifth and sixth year at Greenwood. They meet with me as the Instructional Coach to talk about their teaching, identify areas they want to improve, new techniques or technologies they want to try and strategies to get there. It’s all focused on student learning and outcomes. Teachers who have been at Greenwood for seven or more years also have the opportunity to participate in the program with Mary Gauthier, Executive Director of the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Research.

The Instructional Coaching Program includes classroom visits followed by a collaborative conversation with the teacher to provide feedback and support if needed. Teachers in their fourth, fifth or sixth year have three classroom visits throughout the year. These visits can be conducted by the instructional coach, or the teacher can choose to have one visit made by a colleague and two by me.

At an agreed upon date and time, the coach or a peer visits the classroom to observe the teacher with their goals in mind and provide feedback. It’s not an evaluation; it’s about being another set of eyes. It’s being collaborative and working together to support student-learning through really great and innovative teaching.

 

The role of the Instructional Coach also includes supporting teachers as lifelong learners by serving on the Teacher Growth Team and planning professional development, as well as attending Subject Team Leader meetings. The Centre also plans Professional Learning and Development groups that see teachers collaborate on small teams to share ideas and best teaching practices in their area of focus. Some examples of team topics are Research Skills, Student Engagement and Well Being in the Classroom.

It’s a safe structure because everyone is enrolled in the program. Everyone can find something to consider and work on through the year. Success might be making one small tweak to how they deliver a lesson or it might be something bigger.

Having this program embedded in our structure really elevates the teacher experience. It’s good for teachers, and it’s good for students. 

Greenwood is great at allowing and encouraging teachers to try new things. If you have heard about some way of working, or a new way of doing something, it’s ok to try that here. There’s freedom to explore. If you hear about something and want to try it out, I can help.

I have been involved in Greenwood’s mentorship program, for teachers new to Greenwood, for several years. It was a natural transition for me to take on the instructional coaching role. I have also done some training and courses in this area.

I’m excited to work with my colleagues, support them, and see what they bring to class. It’s a huge opportunity for me to learn as well, as I continue on my own teaching and learning journey.