Melissa Sprockel: Science Instructional Coach
Athletes depend on their coaches to push them to new heights. Kauffman School teachers are no different.
At the Kauffman School, instructional coaching is an integral component to the development of quality teachers. Instructional coaches work one-on-one with teachers to provide guiding and training that will help raise student achievement.
Melissa Sprockel is in her first year as an instructional coach, after a year of teaching seventh-grade science at the Kauffman School and two years teaching at another Kansas City-area school through Teach For America.
“Honestly, before coming to Kauffman School, I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay in teaching,” she says. “I felt that I had plateaued, even though I thought I was doing a good job. My learning and growing was self-driven. Here, there’s always someone to help guide your development, and I needed to be somewhere where they teach you to be better.”
Melissa says she had a strong desire to do more for her students and a vision as to what her classroom could be for kids. At the Kauffman School, she was given the opportunity to become an exceptional educator. When there was an opening for a coaching position, she decided to pursue this new avenue.
“I wanted to have a broader impact on the school,” she explains. “It’s a skill to be able to push kids to do more. But once it starts to pay off, it really grows.”
Melissa coaches all the science teachers in the school, and her teaching experience makes her more successful in her new role. She holds practice sessions and observes classrooms to offers feedback on lesson plans and instruction style. Because Melissa has taught at Kauffman School, she is able to provide feedback to teachers from her firsthand experience in Kauffman School classrooms.
At the Kauffman School, instructional coaching is an integral component to the development of quality teachers. Instructional coaches work one-on-one with teachers to provide guiding and training that will help raise student achievement.
Melissa Sprockel is in her first year as an instructional coach, after a year of teaching seventh-grade science at the Kauffman School and two years teaching at another Kansas City-area school through Teach For America.
“Honestly, before coming to Kauffman School, I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay in teaching,” she says. “I felt that I had plateaued, even though I thought I was doing a good job. My learning and growing was self-driven. Here, there’s always someone to help guide your development, and I needed to be somewhere where they teach you to be better.”
Melissa says she had a strong desire to do more for her students and a vision as to what her classroom could be for kids. At the Kauffman School, she was given the opportunity to become an exceptional educator. When there was an opening for a coaching position, she decided to pursue this new avenue.
“I wanted to have a broader impact on the school,” she explains. “It’s a skill to be able to push kids to do more. But once it starts to pay off, it really grows.”
Melissa coaches all the science teachers in the school, and her teaching experience makes her more successful in her new role. She holds practice sessions and observes classrooms to offers feedback on lesson plans and instruction style. Because Melissa has taught at Kauffman School, she is able to provide feedback to teachers from her firsthand experience in Kauffman School classrooms.
“The team is so strong,” she says. “I really depend on my co-workers. We have each other’s backs 100 percent of the time. They care. It’s not just their job. They support me just as much as I support them as a coach.” -Melissa Sprockel