Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers
Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers book cover

Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers

Price
$16.99
Format
Paperback
Pages
496
Publisher
Jossey-Bass
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1119278719
Dimensions
6.9 x 1.5 x 9.1 inches
Weight
1.4 pounds

Description

From the Inside Flap A COACH'S TOOLBOX TO SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCH NEW TEACHER DEVELOPMENT "Make sure your students follow your instructions." That sounds like a straightforward instruction, but in fact, it's fairly abstract. What does a teacher actually have to do to make sure students are following? Even the leader delivering this direction may not know, and the first-year teacher almost certainly doesn't. In Get Better Faster , Paul Bambrick-Santoyo shares instructive tools of how school leaders can effectively guide new teachers to success. The focus on the actionable—the practiceable—is what drives effective coaching. By practicing concrete actions and key micro-skills, teachers will markedly improve their ability to lead a class. Inside this book you'll find: The Core Principles of Coaching The Core Principles of Coaching The Four Phases of Skill Building The Four Phases of Skill Building A Scope and Sequence Guide to help prioritize new teacher skill development A Scope and Sequence Guide to help prioritize new teacher skill development Useful resources including 35 video clips, presentation slides, planning templates, and other training tools Useful resources including 35 video clips, presentation slides, planning templates, and other training tools "This book is a must-read for all educators who develop, impact, and influence teachers in the art of teaching and learning. New teachers need a roadmap to success: this is it." —Mauriciere De Govia, District #23 Superintendent, New York City Department of Education "Every part of the book is designed to be eminently usable for leaders who strive to spend their time on what matters most for learning. It's rich with practical, detailed advice that empowers coaches to give teachers highly individualized support." —Dawn R. Robinson, Ed.D., Chief School Performance Officer, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools "Easy-to-use and relentlessly focused on practices proven to move progress—yes, it will drive achievement Faster than ever!" —Billy Snow, District Transformation and Innovation Officer, Caddo Parish Public Schools A COACH'S TOOLBOX TO SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCH NEW TEACHER DEVELOPMENT "Make sure your students follow your instructions." That sounds like a straightforward instruction, but in fact, it's fairly abstract. What does a teacher actually have to do to make sure students are following? Even the leader delivering this direction may not know, and the first-year teacher almost certainly doesn't. In Get Better Faster , Paul Bambrick-Santoyo shares instructive tools of how school leaders can effectively guide new teachers to success. The focus on the actionablex97the practiceablex97is what drives effective coaching. By practicing concrete actions and key micro-skills, teachers will markedly improve their ability to lead a class. Inside this book you'll find: The Core Principles of Coaching The Core Principles of Coaching The Four Phases of Skill Building The Four Phases of Skill Building A Scope and Sequence Guide to help prioritize new teacher skill development A Scope and Sequence Guide to help prioritize new teacher skill development Useful resources including 35 video clips, presentation slides, planning templates, and other training tools Useful resources including 35 video clips, presentation slides, planning templates, and other training tools "This book is a must-read for all educators who develop, impact, and influence teachers in the art of teaching and learning. New teachers need a roadmap to success: this is it." x97Mauriciere De Govia, District #23 Superintendent, New York City Department of Education "Every part of the book is designed to be eminently usable for leaders who strive to spend their time on what matters most for learning. It's rich with practical, detailed advice that empowers coaches to give teachers highly individualized support." x97Dawn R. Robinson, Ed.D., Chief School Performance Officer, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools "Easy-to-use and relentlessly focused on practices proven to move progressx97yes, it will drive achievement Faster than ever!" x97Billy Snow, District Transformation and Innovation Officer, Caddo Parish Public Schools PAUL BAMBRICK-SANTOYO is the Chief Schools Officer for high schools and K-12 content development at Uncommon Schools. Paul has trained school leaders worldwide in instructional leadership in his work as cofounder of the Relay National Principals Academy Fellowship and founder and dean of the Leverage Leadership Institute. His previous books include Driven by Data, Leverage Leadership , and Great Habits, Great Readers. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • Effective and practical coaching strategies for new educators plus valuable online coaching tools
  • Many teachers are only observed one or two times per year on average―and, even among those who are observed, scarcely any are given feedback as to how they could improve. The bottom line is clear: teachers do not need to be evaluated so much as they need to be developed and coached.
  • In
  • Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers,
  • Paul Bambrick-Santoyo shares instructive tools of how school leaders can effectively guide new teachers to success. Over the course of the book, he breaks down the most critical actions leaders and teachers must take to achieve exemplary results. Designed for coaches as well as beginning teachers,
  • Get Better Faster
  • is an integral coaching tool for any school leader eager to help their teachers succeed.
  • Get Better Faster
  • focuses on what's practical and actionable which makes the book's approach to coaching so effective. By practicing the concrete actions and micro-skills listed in
  • Get Better Faster
  • , teachers will markedly improve their ability to lead a class, producing a steady chain reaction of future teaching success.
  • Though focused heavily on the first 90 days of teacher development, it's possible to implement this work at any time. Junior and experienced teachers alike can benefit from the guidance of
  • Get Better Faster
  • while at the same time closing existing instructional gaps.
  • Featuring valuable and practical online training tools available at http://www.wiley.com/go/getbetterfaster,
  • Get Better Faster
  • provides agendas, presentation slides, a coach's guide, handouts, planning templates, and 35 video clips of real teachers at work to help other educators apply the lessons learned in their own classrooms.
  • Get Better Faster
  • will teach you:
  • The core principles of coaching: Go Granular; Plan, Practice, Follow Up, Repeat; Make Feedback More Frequent
  • The core principles of coaching: Go Granular; Plan, Practice, Follow Up, Repeat; Make Feedback More Frequent
  • Top action steps to launch a teacher’s development in an easy-to-read scope and sequence guide
  • Top action steps to launch a teacher’s development in an easy-to-read scope and sequence guide
  • It also walks you through the four phases of skill building:
  • Phase 1 (Pre-Teaching): Dress Rehearsal
  • Phase 1 (Pre-Teaching): Dress Rehearsal
  • Phase 2: Instant Immersion
  • Phase 2: Instant Immersion
  • Phase 3: Getting into Gear
  • Phase 3: Getting into Gear
  • Phase 4: The Power of Discourse
  • Phase 4: The Power of Discourse
  • Perfect for new educators and those who supervise them,
  • Get Better Faster
  • will also earn a place in the libraries of veteran teachers and school administrators seeking a one-stop coaching resource.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(542)
★★★★
25%
(226)
★★★
15%
(135)
★★
7%
(63)
-7%
(-63)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Use carefully and thoughtfully

The author asserts in the introduction, "Because there is a predictable sequence to what a rookie teacher will need to master for sound management, there is a sequential blueprint for what the coach will undertake." The question I have to ask myself, after reviewing this book, is it possible to have a step-by-step process in which to support new teachers? As a seasoned mentor (7 years in this work), my reaction is definitely no. Each person I've supported over the years unfolded in their own unique way. The needs that one new teacher has are rarely the same that another new teacher has. Just as it is dangerous to peg certain kids into an intervention that may not meet their needs, such as it is dangerous to treat our newest professionals into a "formula for coaching".

So why three stars? Once I got over my initial reaction to his formulaic approach to supporting new teachers, I found many of the strategies and ideas he promotes to be of good quality. He has a range of suggestions and ideas that break down larger complex classroom tasks (routines, procedures, classroom management) and make them small enough for our new teachers to learn from and digest, so to speak.

If I were a coach or mentor, I would use this book as a guide and not a prescription. After all, that is what most seasoned teachers do with any canned curriculum, right? Make it fit for the students in front of us, rather than trying to make the students in front of us fit into it. If you are struggling with a new teacher, and looking for ideas to support them, this could serve as a useful starting point to share ideas and information.

However, I suggest strongly that anything you try with new teachers needs to start with their needs. Spend time in their classrooms. Do informal observations. 15 minutes spent in any new teachers classroom will give you at least ten entry points into conversations you need to have with the teacher. Note: do not share all ideas at once, lest you overwhelm the new teacher. Look for an entry point that will pay off to the teacher, come up with a few strategies to support that idea, have them select a strategy to try, offer to model that strategy with the class, and then observe them trying the strategy. Trust your gut. You know more than you think you know if you are in the role of coach or mentor.

We need to support our new teachers thoughtfully and carefully as they enter this new profession. We have a moral obligation to support them to success, for them as well as the students placed in their classrooms. They deserve more than a step-by-step guide for support; they deserve a reflective, responsive mentor or coach that is there with them on this journey ahead.
14 people found this helpful
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If you haven't read Teach Like a Champion (I'm reading it for the first time ...

It was an interesting read, though I'm not sure I completely buy into the system. It is very much grounded in charter school type very structured systems and breaking teaching down into these tiny measurable actions. If you aren't used to that the videos can seem outrageous (my boyfriend who would hear/see some of the videos as I was watching them thought some of them were particularly laughable). The book is associated with Uncommon Schools. If you haven't read Teach Like a Champion (I'm reading it for the first time now) some of the strategies and techniques in this book might be unclear. They aren't explained in great detail since the book is more about coaching techniques. When I was a teacher I never wanted strategies or tool-box type professional development so I struggle a lot with this model now that I am a coach. Nevertheless, it was an interesting read.
8 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Don't waste you time or money on this dopey book

Uncommonschools, where the author is affiliated, is a charter (privatization) outfit intent on confusing parents. The author claims to know how to train teachers. He doesn't. His organization runs charter schools whose teachers don't even have to be licensed. Real, licensed teachers were student teachers and have learned how to do their jobs on the job with mentor experts.

Uncommonschools is run by the guy who started Relay Graduate School of Education, a joke among actual academics and professional teachers everywhere.

Don't waste you time or money on this dopey book.
7 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Get Better faster! Important book for leaders!

Get Better Faster- this book is a game changer in teacher development. Specific strategies that are tied to proven results to coach and improve teachers are invaluable. If getting teachers to get better faster means students will learn more, this could be a significant solution to our failing schools.
6 people found this helpful
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Get Better Faster is a great book for coaches and instructional ...

Get Better Faster is a great book for coaches and instructional leaders! I have read many books on the topic of coaching, and this book is unique compared to others. The author shares very detailed plans for working with teachers based on their needs. Peppered throughout the book are suggestions based on the experiences of others. I read the book from cover to cover, but I will now use it as a resource looking up the various skills I will be using in my coaching cycles. The book comes with a DVD that includes information found in the book but in a printable format. It also includes 35 video clips, so coaches and teachers can see the skills in action. I have read two of Bambrick-Santoyo's other books: Leverage Leadership and Driven by Data. These are also fantastic books, and they are mentioned throughout Getting Better Faster. If you are looking for a detailed scope and sequence for instructional coaching, this book is for you.
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Wait! I just realized.....

I AM MISSING THE FIRST 28 pages of this book!!!
What a disappointment. Pages 61-92 are repeated and no page 1-28 to be found. I thought maybe the pages were out of order but that does not seem to be the case. I bought the book in December and have just now started using it as a resource. It is too late for me to return or I would definitely be returning for a new copy. Future Get Better Faster buyers - CHECK THE PAGE SEQUENCE IMMEDIATELY UPON DELIVERY!
3 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Don't just work hard. Work effectively.

Like many of you, I have been a public educator for more than 20 years. I never worked in charter schools or private schools, so I initially looked at Bambrick-Santoyo's work with a certain level of skepticism. We public educators don't get to choose the students we teach or choose those we will no longer teach - we teach all and we work HARD. But hard work that reaps minimal gains in measurable student learning can become frustrating work. I was tired of the repeated frustrations so I decided, as a principal, to collaboratively implement as many of the practices Bambrick-Santoyo described in his first two books as I could. I didn't let traditional public school bureaucracy be the excuse for me not to try. What I learned is that HARD work matters far less than EFFECTIVE practice. PBS has operationalized what many other scholars can only describe in impractical fashion. So what happened for us? Giving honest & persistent effort to develop a culture of effective practice yielded results: Our urban Title I school, with 90% F/R lunch and 85% students of color, moved from the bottom 10% in state accountability performance standards to the top 20%. The more these practices were implemented with fidelity, the better we did. I've read this book, and now I have a road map to move our work forward. This isn't a charter school thing or a private school thing or a public school thing - this is a student learning thing, and it can help all of us be more effective.
3 people found this helpful
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Missing DVD

I have now ordered this book twice, and each time did not receive a DVD with it. Yes, I can go online to watch the videos, but the DVD makes it so I don’t need internet access. The description for this product is mislabeled and should explicitly state it does not come with a DVD. Save your money and buy it used in this case.
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Book is great, but DVD was warped

The book has great information and is well written. Very practical ideas that are focused on the needs of new teachers.
However, I couldn't view the DVD clips because the disk is warped and unreadable. I have been able to find many of the clips online, but I'd prefer to have a working disk. If there is a way to access all the clips in one location online, that would be great!
2 people found this helpful
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Principal

The book is easy to use and my teachers like this method because it allows them to implement the recommendation and get feedback right away. It also allows them to see the before and after difference.
2 people found this helpful