Running head: GET BETTER FASTER BOOK REVIEW 1

Book Review:
Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers
Noe Robles Castaneda
ID # 1220404
University of St. Thomas
Dr. Virginia Leiker
Administrative Practicum II
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Summary
The book Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers by Paul

Bambrick–Santoyo is a good book for administrators or teachers that need that extra help to

“build” better teacher. Reading this book made me realize that it does not have to be a cover to

cover read. It is a friendly use book because once an area to be addressed is selected, a section

can be easily found. As its title says, it is a 90-day plan for coaching new teachers. It is a guide

for instructional leaders in schools to effectively guide new teachers through their first year.

Throughout the reading, Bambrick-Santoyo talks about some myths and realities of

coaching new teachers. He explains about the myth that many have stated, “Teachers need to

master management completely before they can focus on learning” (Bambrick – Santoyo, 2016,

p. 12). Bambrick-Santoyo explains that not only classroom management should be present in the

beginning of a school year but rigor as well. Both classroom management and rigor are necessary

in order to help students succeed.

Even though this book was made for new teachers to be coached, I think not only new

teachers can take advantage of this. “The work with new teacher is fundamental for guaranteeing

consistent student achievement from year to year” (Bambrick – Santoyo, 2016, p. 8). Therefore,

this book is extremely helpful to anyone in the teaching field who wants to provide a detailed

and granular look on how to facilitate coaching sessions, observe, model, and practice. Reading

this book can give more helpful wisdom especially to those teachers who are performing

leadership roles in schools. “Giving quality guidance to new teachers is critical to the

development not only of the students but also of the new teacher themselves” (Bambrick –

Santoyo, 2016, p. 9).

I truly believe that anyone serving as a school leader should be able to coach teachers.

The actions recommended in this book come from the belief “effective coaching makes people
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better at what they do” (Bambrick – Santoyo, 2016, p. 11). The crucial piece is effective

coaching; the coaching must be delivered with a purpose! On page 9, Bambrick-Santoyo states,

“In fact, coaching may be one of the most important factors that determine both how successful a

teacher’s career is and whether the teacher chooses to continue along that career path at all”

(2016).

Bambrick – Santoyo describes three different Principles or Techniques of Coaching: (1)

Go Granular, (2) Plan, Practice, Follow Up, Repeat and (3) Make Feedback More Frequent. A

great advantage of this book is that it can be used as a toolbox of information that a coach can

take advantage of at any time required. In this book, Going Granular in the coaching techniques

is key to succeeding. Granular is described as “Working on just one or two sills at a time and

polishing those skills down to the smallest detail” (Bambrick – Santoyo, 2016, p. 14). Then, in

order to create a successful classroom, Plan, Practice, Follow Up, Repeat and Make Feedback

More Frequent must be followed, as well.

On the other hand, the five different phases are then to be completed in the first ninety

days of school which are broken down by skill-by-skill coaching. The five different phases are:

Phase I: Dress Rehearsal, Phase 2: Instant Immersion, Phase 3: Getting into Gear, Phase 4: the

Power of Discourse, and Phase 5: Stretch it. All these phases come with blueprint, management

trajectory and rigor trajectory.

The book also provides coaching tips, action steps to follow and the action step overview

as well probing questions to discuss while meeting with any teacher to be coached. This book

can be used as a problem solution toolkit to use with teachers. A CD comes with the book. The

CD has a variety of video with different scenarios. Also, as a book owner, you can get access to

different materials online.

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Again, I found this book as a very useful and very recommended book as a toolkit that

any teacher, coach or school leader can take advantage of in order to provide better support to

not only new teacher but the ones who struggle in any specific area.

Bambrick-Santoyo’ book gives the reader a great way to follow steps on how to teach,

models how to, and gives practice on the new behavior or defines the behavior that is expected of

teachers. Let’s Get Better Faster!

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Reference
Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2016). Get Better Faster: A 90-Day Plan for Coaching New Teachers.

San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass