Coaches strive to develop in novice teachers a practice of continuous improvement by encouraging them to identify professional growth goals and to reflect on their practice.
- Joellen Killion and Cindy Harrison; Taking the Lead

The Role of the Mentor:

As a mentor, coaches provide ongoing support to the staff members in their buildings. They work to continue to build trusting relationships to establish trusting relationships within the building. Coaches draw upon their experiences in order to leverage the best supports needed by staff in order to provide the best instruction to students.

Here are some ways that FCPS Instructional Coaches serve in this role:

• Collaborating with teachers to plan differentiated lessons to students.
• Modeling lessons within coachees’ classrooms.
• Observing a co-planned lesson in order to provide specific feedback to teachers.

Though it may seem counterintuitive, perhaps the greatest value of an Instructional Coach is that they don’t always give answers. Rather, they empower and build capacity in others to come up with their own answers.
- Tim Thomas; Principal, Annandale High School