This #coachbetter episode is part of our special series featuring real-life coaching conversations with one of Kim's amazing clients, Sara Wilkins, who, at the time of recording, had just graduated from our course for classroom teachers moving into a coaching role called Getting Started as an Instructional Coach. HUGE thank you to Sara for being willing to record this session to share with all of you!

This episode is such a great example of the power of coaching - and how a single coaching conversation can help you get unstuck.

In this conversation Kim and Sara talk about how Sara can…

• bring her existing training and experience to her role as a middle leader

• use her coaching skills to connect with others in the school community that have similar goals

• better understand the potential resistance to the work she’s trying to do

• bring this conversation to a leadership level

• consider how to shift her language to help others embrace a coaching mindset

• use existing structures at her school to create a bridge to coaching

Find the show notes for this episode here.

This #coachbetter episode is about the essential elements for developing a collaborative school culture. 

Kim talks a lot about creating a thriving coaching culture, and that kind of culture doesn’t just support more coaching, it builds a sense of collective efficacy that creates an environment where teachers want to stay and grow. Of course, this doesn’t happen in isolation, we need many different factors working together, and this clip from her conversation with Tavia does a great job of highlighting 8 of those key elements.

This is a highlight from one of Kim's favorite episodes from a previous season. She's been wanting to share this clip because it’s a participatory and collaborative culture that will help make coaching thrive. When educators want to work together, when we can see our colleagues as people who help us become better educators, it’s a lot easier to opt in to coaching.

Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter episode, Kim talks with Jordan Benedict, one of our Research Team members at AAICIS (Association for the Advancement of Instructional Coaching at International Schools) for the and Learning Coach at the International School of Kenya.

Jordan and Kim are both so excited to share the results of the first landscape study of instructional coaching in international schools, conducted by our AAICIS research team in March of 2024. There are so many interesting findings that we think will resonate with you, and we’d love to hear your thoughts after listening to the episode. Please leave a comment for us so we can hear what aligns with your thinking and experiences - or what diverges!

In this episode, they talk about the background of where the research started, how they conducted the study, the primary findings, the Reported Reasons for Establishing a Coaching Program, the reported outcomes - which will not surprise YOU as a listener of this podcast - plus what they think schools and coaches can do with this new research. This episode is a fantastic overview of all of the key findings from this study, so if you’re curious about the landscape of instructional coaching in international schools, this episode is for you!

Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter video, Kristen Moreland shares three ways that school leaders can support their instructional coaches. Often, especially in international schools, we see schools hire instructional coaches and then assume the coaches themselves can build a coaching culture.

The reality is that it takes more than just hiring coaches to build a coaching culture. Even when instructional coaches know exactly what’s needed to take the school to the next step, they almost always need the support of their school leader to actually implement the work. Instructional coaching is informal leadership, so having the tangible support of the positional leader is essential for taking action. If you’re an instructional coach watching this video, this would be a great conversation starter with your leadership team!

Find the show notes for this episode here.

This #coachbetter episode is part of our special series featuring real-life coaching conversations with one of Kim's amazing clients, Vicki Heupell, who, at the time of recording, had just graduated from our course for classroom teachers moving into a coaching role called Getting Started as an Instructional Coach. HUGE thank you to Vicki for being willing to record this session to share with all of you!

We are excited to share this conversation with you because the topics Vicki and Kim talk about are exactly the kind of questions that we get asked all the time, particularly from experienced classroom teachers who are either moving into a coaching role for the first time, or curious about moving into a coaching role. In fact, this exact conversation is an extension of many of our previous chats in the Getting Started as an Instructional Coach course!

Find the show notes for this episode here.

In #coachbetter episode we’re talking about how to help your school leader understand the value of coaching. 

This is a highlight from one of Kim's favorite episodes from a previous season. If you’re a longtime #coachbetter listener, you know Kim almost always ask school leaders how coaches can help their administrators understand the value of coaching, and the responses are always so insightful. This clip is another great example of that, featuring LaTyia Rolle, currently Elementary School Principal at the International School of Brussels.

If you’ve been coaching for any length of time at all, you know that your school leader’s understanding of coaching can make or break your program - and that understanding and support can change anytime you get a new administrator. Being able to articulate, in leadership language, what makes coaching so valuable is an essential skill for all instructional coaches. 

Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter episode Kim chats with Brenda Lee, Grade 4 teacher at Al-Bayan Bilingual School (BBS) Kuwait. 

We're excited to share this episode with you because it’s a topic that’s been requested by you! We received a request to hear from educators (rather than coaches) about their experiences with coaching. 

In this conversation with Brenda, they talk about 

• How instructional coaching has supported her growth as an educator

• How instructional coaching fits within the context of educator professional growth

• What classroom teachers need to know to opt in to coaching

• How she makes time for coaching in a busy teacher’s schedule

• Why some teachers resist coaching

• How coaching works for her as a classroom teacher

• Why she’s hoping to make the move from classroom to coach

This episode is a fantastic example of why teachers chose to opt-in to coaching - and how you can articulate the value of coaching for your prospective coaching partners!

Find the show notes for this episode here.

In this #coachbetter episode, Kim talks about the additional complexities involved in instructional coaching in an international school setting. 

Of course, this does not mean that instructional coaching is not complex in other settings, or that any of these factors are not present in other settings, these are just five layers of complexity that are often the norm in international schools.

However, when we are working in international schools, there is often even more complexity involved in the role, which may go unrecognized by school leaders, or even coaches themselves because this complexity is our “normal.” 

At the recent EARCOS teachers conference, Kim and participants unpacked some of those complexities in one of her sessions. 

In their conversation, they identified five key factors that make instructional coaching highly complex in the international school setting - and she's going to share those 5 with you in this episode!

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, Tina Bhatia, Second grade classroom teacher at the American Community School of Abu Dhabi. Tina is a graduate of The Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program, working with Diana Beabout as her mentor - and when we recorded this episode she was almost finished with her coursework.

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. 

We are so excited to share this episode with Tina with you because it’s always wonderful to hear about a classroom teacher who is inspired to become a coach - and it’s important to unpack all of the different aspects to consider when moving from classroom to coach. Tina learned a lot during her time in The Coach, and she is so ready to make the move!

In this conversation Kim and Tina talk about: 

• What attracted her to coaching

• What coaching looks like in her school setting right now

• What she’s thinking about as she’s considering the move from classroom to coach

• What teachers need to know to opt-in to coaching

• Her advice for teachers wanting to move into a coaching role

• Some “aha” moments she’s had over the past academic year, learning about being a coach in The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program

Find the show notes for this episode here.

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 Kim's instructional coaching superhero, and her episode from a few seasons ago was a masterclass in all things instructional coaching. 

This episode is a perfect introduction to thinking about, and reflecting on, the type of coaching support you’re providing to your coaching partners. So many of Kim's clients get stuck in the “advice trap” or constantly feeling like they have to prove their worth to potential coaching partners by being on demand for resource support. This conversation with Joellen highlights an essential mindset shift for instructional coaches. As Joellen says: Results can build relationships as relationships can build results. 

Find the show notes for this episode here.