I am a 3rd year Instructional Coach. I started my teaching career teaching in a level 2/3 Special Education classroom where I spent my first three years of teaching. I then spent 9 years teaching 4th grade Special Education followed by three years as a 3rd-grade classroom teacher. I first learned about Instructional Coaches three years ago when our school adopted the Teacher Leadership Compensation Grant (TLC) from our state Department of Education. This grant allowed schools in our state to empower teachers to advance into leadership roles such as Instructional Coach, Model Teacher and Curriculum Leader (these are the roles our school chose). The overriding philosophy of the system is multi-pronged, but boils down to the philosophy that improving student learning requires improving the instruction they receive each day. As of today, every K-12 public school in our state has adopted the TLC grant. At first, it was a bit of a scary thought to leave the classroom, however, I was ready for a new adventure. My first two years were spent as a K-5 Instructional Coach. This year my position expanded into a K-12 Instructional Coach. I was initially very nervous about the change as elementary education is my passion (and comfort zone). I am however, glad I was pushed outside of my comfort zone. I believe my learning is and will be expanded with the new change. I am a lifelong learner and have embraced the change. I think if you are not pushed outside of your box then growth will not occur. I will use this blog to share my experiences, growths and failures as well as share my learnings as an instructional coach.