Instructional Coaching

I attended a workshop today on Coaching for Instructional Leadership. Our district has been looking into the idea of instructional coaching. I really did not have a desire to go to the workshop, miss a day of school, and have to create sub plans. I had no clue of what a coach within math or reading would entail. With being involved in our district math team the past 2 years, I feel I was asked to be a math coach and work with other colleagues in this area. I was hesitant but took on the task.
I had many questions come to mind.
What is an instructional coach? What do instructional coaches do? What would my role entail in being a math coach? What does the research say about it? Why do we need instructional coaching?

Not all of my questions were answered at today's workshop but I did get a better understanding to what was the role of an instructional coach.  In my own words, I came to realize that an instructional coach was someone who works with teachers to help them implement proven teacher strategies. As a result, teachers are better teachers and students learn more effectively.
One idea I took away from the workshop involved that of reflection. Reflecting on my own practice and lessons is huge in becoming a more effective teacher. Even discussion and having a dialogue with another person who can offer suggestions can be beneficial. What am I going to do to improve the lesson for next time? It is one thing to reflect on it, but then I need to act on it and make the necessary changes so my instruction is more effective.

What to remember - bottom line: What do we want the student to know? What do we want the student to do? What do we want the student to be like? What do we want the student to think like?
I am excited to learn more about what instructional coaching entails but am a little nervous about my role with it. Can I be an effective math coach? How much time will I have to be away from my own classroom? There are 3 more workshops scheduled in the coming months and I am curious to continue to learn more about it.