What does it mean to have a team of people supporting each and every new course instructor? How does this team help make my life easier and the Tourism Academy better?
Instructor Success coaches are on-site professional developers who teach educators how to use proven instructional methods. To be successful in this role, coaches must be skilled in a variety of roles, including public relations guru, communicator extraordinaire, master organizer and, of course, expert educator.
The depth of this work varies greatly depending upon the needs of the Instructor and/or any project or service contract. An example of a project may be the creation and implementation of a company's full new hire training or building an online product training course for a new sponsor.
Analyzing teachers' needs
Instructor Success coaches meet with teachers and those who want to become instructors individually to identify the teacher's most pressing needs and to discuss possible research-validated interventions that might help the teacher address those needs. We also make this super-convenient for the teacher with our rolling calendar availability & team approach.
Observing classes
Instructor Success coaches actually take the online courses and sit in on classes taught by the collaborating teacher to observe the overall progress of the class as well as behaviors related to specific issues raised during the individual coach-teacher conferences.
Collaborating on interventions
Together, Instructor Success coaches and teachers identify interventions that best address the teacher's most pressing need. As an example, an Instructor Success coach and teacher might determine that a graphic device could help the teacher clearly organize and communicate the standards and content that will be taught in a unit. When necessary, Instructor Success coaches and teachers collaborate to develop a plan for using the chosen instructional method.
Preparing materials
The Instructor Success coach's goal is to make it as easy as possible for a teacher to successfully use a new instructional method. To that end, Instructor Success coaches try to alleviate the burden on teachers as much as possible by preparing all handouts, assessments, overheads, and other materials that the teacher needs.
Modeling & LIVE Training
As teachers observe, Instructor Success coaches teach their classes and demonstrate how the new instructional method or intervention should be taught. In some cases, Instructor Success coaches provide checklists or some other form of observation tool so teachers know to watch for specific teaching behaviors.
Observing
Instructor Success coaches observe teachers as they use the new intervention in class. Sometimes, the Instructor Success coach uses a checklist or some other form of observation tool as a means of providing specific feedback to the teacher.
Feedback-modeling-observing-feedback
The nature of the Instructor Success coaching process allows for continuous communication between Instructor Success coaches and teachers. After the first observation, Instructor Success coaches meet with teachers to discuss how teachers used the intervention. Coaches provide plenty of validation along with suggestions for improvement. The communication then continues, with Instructor Success coaches modeling, observing classes, and providing more feedback, depending on the needs of the teacher.
Building networks for change
Instructor Success coaches work with groups of online course instructors, topical experts and academics to establish teams or professional learning communities that pave the way for interventions to be taught consistently across platforms, media and subject matter. An Instructor Success coach might help a language arts team develop a scope and sequence for teaching writing strategies, for example, or a grade-level team develop a plan for teaching the same behavioral expectations for students at varying ability levels.