Have you ever wondered what you are supposed to do when the math coach, intent on coaching math, walks into your classroom? Math Coaches, in schools, have become more and more popular as a way to help teachers refine their teaching skills and get better learning outcomes for students. The problem is that nobody really tells you how to use a math coach as a resource. I am going to share how to use a math coach to your best advantage, how to leverage another set of eyes in your classroom and how to create a helpful resource for you and your students.
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What is a Math Coach?
There are two types of math coaches: an instructional math coach and a math coach interventionist. A math coach who provides interventions will primarily work with small groups of students to provide additional instruction in areas of need. The classroom teacher may group students who missed an important place value question on a quiz and send them with the math interventionist to work on place value concepts. An instructional math coach primarily works with the teacher on improving instruction and learning outcomes for students.
What Does an Instructional Math Coach Do?
An instructional math coach can provide many different services for a teacher. They might come in and observe a lesson to give feedback on the instruction, or observe students and their response to what is happening during the math lesson. The instructional math coach may sit and pre-plan lessons with the classroom teacher or analyze assessment data. Instructional math coaches can even help rewrite curriculum materials to support specific learning needs of your students. Maybe, as a new teacher, you need support with breaking down concepts into learnable chunks, or a scope and sequence for teaching your math lessons.
Why is Math Coaching Important?
Having an instructional math coach work with you can be a great opportunity to learn new teaching strategies, solve problems you encounter along the way, improve the way you collect and analyze data, and explore new ways to differentiate instruction. If you’re reluctant to ask a colleague for help, a math coach is someone discreet who can answer your questions on a variety of topics. Besides, it is sometimes the one time you have a captive audience to bounce ideas off of.
Instructional Math Coaching Works Best as a Partnership
The best coaching experiences are always based on a partnership. You should never feel that coaching is being done “to you”, but always with you. The coach and you are equal partners who respect each other and work in tandem. A good instructional coach will approach you to ask if you would like to work with them. If the answer is yes, it is up to you to choose how you would like to use their assistance.
A Game Plan For Math Coaching
Okay, you’ve decided to seek coaching…now it is time for the game plan! The two of you should sit down and make a plan of what you will be working on, when this will happen and for how long. You should be clear on the outcomes you want to accomplish. During this time, you can expect the coach to ask a lot of questions as they get to know you and what you want to accomplish.
This is a great time to be specific about the role of the coach in the classroom. Do you want them to model lessons? Do you want them to interact with students? Maybe you don’t want them to take notes while you are teaching because it will make you nervous. The more you share about the purpose of the coach in the classroom, the better the outcome will be aligned with your goal of receiving coaching.
So How Do I Decide How To Use the Coach to My Advantage?
I will share 5 powerful ways to use a math coach to help you improve student learning outcomes in your classroom. These 5 tips will help you gain purpose and clarity about intentionally working with a math coach to propel you forward in becoming a more effective teacher.
Be My Eyes and Ears
When you are not really sure of what you want to work on with a math coach, ask them to be your eyes and ears during the math lesson. When you are teaching in front of the class, often you are focusing on how the lesson is flowing, making sure you are covering the topic and using all the math vocabulary you thought of when planning the lesson. It is difficult to pay attention to everything that is going on in the classroom including what types of questions students are asking or what their body language is saying.
Ask the math coach to make a note of questions, comments, and explanations that students make. Also, have them note body language, the appearance of engagement, and how students communicate when in small groups. It can be fascinating what a fresh set of eyes and ears can learn about how students are learning in your classroom. Typically, the debrief session with your coach will lead to rich conversations, ideas you want to try, more questions, and reflections on what you might try next time.
Help Me Plan This Lesson
Maybe you’re approaching a lesson that has not gone as well as you had hoped in the past. Or, last time you taught it, students continued to struggle with the concept. Maybe you are unclear about the prerequisite skills needed to conquer this skill. Math coaching can help pinpoint what areas you want to concentrate on and improve.
A math coach can sit with you to plan out the lesson from start to finish, including the formative assessment piece you want to use. They can share additional materials, or help you modify materials for different learners. Need a follow-up activity for fast finishers? Or maybe a warm-up activity to get them ready? An instructional coach typically has these in their back pocket.
Help me Differentiate for All of My Learners
Typically, students in your class have a wide range of foundational skills and abilities. It can be challenging to plan for every student in your class. What do you do with the student that already understands and can do the math you are teaching? What about the student who struggles with basic number sense, or struggles with reading directions?
This is where the math coach can support your instruction and materials. With just a few simple tweaks, you can deliver a lesson that will challenge the above grade level student while providing support for students who need additional help. Many of these same ideas are transferable to other lessons, making them part of the tools you just start to use automatically.
Help Me Solve a Problem in My Math Class
Think of a problem you have and ask for ideas on how to solve it. Not a math problem, but something happening in your math class that is unintended with negative consequences. Maybe your math hour is right after lunch and students are sluggish and inattentive. A different problem may be trying to get shy students to participate and have a voice during math class. Perhaps you notice that students are not communicating effectively while working in small groups.
Two brains are better than one! A math coach can help you find the possible cause of the problem and make suggestions on what to try. After taking action, compare notes and see if it helped.
Help Me Analyze My Data
Analyzing data takes a lot of time and teachers don’t always have the luxury to sit and pour over scores on a test or the latest screening results. Math coaching will help you analyze data and determine what your next steps would be. If you notice most of your class can demonstrate mastery of a concept but you still have a handful of students who need more practice, and possibly reteaching, your math coach can help you with planning interventions.
Imagine meeting with your building principal armed with data to show how and why you used certain strategies. What a rich conversation that would make! Math coaching can prepare you for important conversations about your instruction.
Everyone Deserves a Math Coach
Having a math coach at your disposal can be a timesaver, and gives you a support person that will work with you to achieve your goal. Steve Barkley, on his podcast episode called Everyone Deserves a Math Coach makes the point that whether you are new or a veteran teacher, a math coach can help you grow your teaching efficacy. If you’ve ever wondered what instructional math coaches ponder, check out Sue O’Connell’s blog on Reflections of a Math Coach 5 Questions to Ponder. More great tips on how to successfully use a math coach for your classroom math routines is 4 Ways to Maximize the Benefits of a Math Coach by Edutopia.
Transforming Your Teaching With Math Coaching
It is so much easier to focus on improving your teaching when you have someone to support, recognize the hard work, and encourage you. Decide what you want to work on, have a clear focus, and use your instructional math coach for an amazing math coaching experience.
