Last year, science teacher Jason Kalin decided to part ways from teaching after 22 years to become an instructional coach. 

On the first day of his new job this past summer, he said, he felt like an incoming freshman, “awkward”.

“It was very hard for me to get through day one, I felt out of place. It’s different not being in front of kids. I definitely miss kids,” Kalin said.

According to Kalin, he has started to settle in and is getting used to his new job. Although he said that he misses being a teacher, there are a lot of new opportunities as an instructional coach. 

Kalin said that he loves being able to communicate and see more teachers in the building. He also likes looking at what he and the teachers can do in the classroom to better the culture and the instruction. 

Kalin has been helping a handful of teachers throughout the School District, including 10th-grade teacher Lee Sims, who took Kalin’s old science teaching position teaching anatomy and physiology. 

“Kalin is always willing to help and is always positive about trying to get me the help and the resources I need. Without him the move to his teaching job would be much harder,” Sims said. 

Kalin has also been a huge help to language arts teacher Minden Hultstrom.

“A benefit of having Jason Kalin as an instructional coach this year has been his frequent availability for classroom observations. These collaborative opportunities for discussion aim to discover the most effective strategies for student learning,” Hultstrom said. 

Kalin said that becoming an instructional coach requires a lot of planning, meetings and time.