My job as instructional coach is primarily to help teachers. I go into classes. I observe teaching. I give feedback. I plan and deliver training. It is quite fulfilling to see a teacher go from a novice to a master teacher through this process. Despite some of the barriers, I think teachers find the support beneficial.

A problem with instructional coaching full time is you can start to forget how to teach. You begin to neglect the practical realities of teaching real children in favor of the more abstract and theoretical. I feel like this is what happens to the university professors who train our student teachers. They become too far removed from the classroom.  

To protect myself from this, I recently started teaching an intervention group once a day for about 20 minutes. I started by testing 5 students for a set of skills, and I am using a scripted Engelmann DI program called Corrective Math to address their gaps. The teaching is fast paced and based on instructional design principles – the same ones that I teach to teachers. In addition to creating a lot of growth in these students’ math skills, I feel like it is making me a better instructional coach. Above all, it feels good to walk the talk.

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Published by Zach Groshell

Zach Groshell, PhD is a highly distinguished teacher, instructional coach, and education consultant. Zach is based in the Seattle area and works with schools around the globe to develop high quality instruction based on the science of how kids learn. Zach hosts the podcast, Progressively Incorrect, and is the author of Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching.

9 thoughts on “Teaching with Direct Instruction”

  1. I have a similar role as a school speech-language pathologist and have always carried a small caseload along with my support responsibilities. I agree—being in there, doing the job, helps keep me grounded. I also find that it lends authenticity to the non-student services role. The professional peers I support know that I’m speaking beyond theory and rules/procedures and into real practice. Each part of my job makes me better at the other part of my job—I hope you find that to be the case as well.

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  2. An intervention group lessons for 20 minutes a day sound like a interesting solution, and as you said, a nice way to keep teaching and ‘walk the talk’. Are the students in the group the same every day (so that you could observe their progress)?

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