{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Better Teaching: Only Stuff That Works","title":"How to Sabotage a Coach","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":448,"description":"Summary\nInstructional coaches are often treated as a school’s all-purpose backup: covering classes, managing testing logistics, joining extra committees, and handling whatever emergency appears next. In this episode of Better Teaching, Gene Tavernetti explains how those individually reasonable requests quietly dismantle a coaching program.\nGene makes the case for protecting coaching time as carefully as instructional time. He recommends a clear job description, a schedule that protects observation and debriefing, explicit monthly expectations, and a target of spending 70–80 percent of the coach’s time in classrooms. The long-term choice is clear: covering a class solves today’s problem, while coaching improves instruction this year and the years that follow.\nChapters\n0:00 — Welcome to Better Teaching\n0:46 — The all-purpose support trap\n1:23 — How understaffing consumes the coaching calendar\n3:12 — The message teachers receive when coaches are pulled\n4:08 — Define and protect the coaching role\n4:49 — Keep 70–80% of the coach’s time in classrooms\n5:16 — Dr. Randy Olson and the “nothing is an emergency” rule\n5:44 — Short-term convenience versus long-term improvement\n6:42 — Closing thoughts and resources\nShow Notes\n**Host:** Gene Tavernetti\n**Core takeaway:** Protect the coaching calendar like instructional time. Define what coaches do—and what they do not do—and hold leadership accountable for preserving that work.\n**Recommended starting point:** Write a clear coaching job description, set a weekly schedule for observations and debriefs, and review the coach’s time allocation monthly.\n**Gene’s books:** *Teach Fast, Focus Adaptable Structure Teaching* and *Maximizing the Impact of Coaching Cycles*\n**Website:** TESS Consulting Group\n**BlueSky:** @gtavarnetti\n**X/Twitter:** @gtavarnetti\n**BE Podcast Network:** bepodcastnetwork.com\nAbout Better Teaching\nBetter Teaching is hosted by Gene Tavernetti and focuses on practical ideas for teachers, instructional coaches,...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/VSXrwoUOSd2tDtIjeOHJdpEf8A1p87_Wq_-T3Iwockc/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9lNmEx/NWNiM2YyNjE5MDRm/YmE5YzFiZDM3MGQ2/Mzg5Ny5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}