Creating a Culture of Change Pt. 3

It's always important to understand an important characteristic of change; it's undeniable.  Change happens whether you participate or not.  As it relates to a school, if you aren't willing to change you just might be looking for another place to work.  That might be a bit forward, but it's true none the less.  The irony about change is when you try something new you just might find out you like it more than you thought.  

That's what happened in our last weekly professional development.  There was a lot of scuttlebutt that there would be some push back because teachers would have to teach a lesson to their peers.  Long story short colleagues that gave the push back told me that was the best weekly PD we had all school year.  One colleague said it best, "It's funny that we were so nervous in an environment where we would be supported."  That was the take away for me.  Someone understood the goal; mutual support.  

There are too many "teacher islands" in schools.  There are too many great educators doing too many great things in their classrooms for there not to be more great things going on.  We do our awesome things and keep them to ourselves, or we struggle in an area and don't ask for support because we don't want to see incompetent.  As a younger teacher I was struggling in a particular area so I emailed all of the teachers in my department.  A veteran in my department came to my room with some resources.  After I thanked the teacher what was said next was tragic.  "You shouldn't email everyone like that; they are going to think you can't teach.  Just come to me if you need help.  They don't think people need help."  

What we are finding out, however; is teachers observing other teachers is a powerful tool to help classroom management.  According to Education World the is benefit for administrators, teachers, and the school as a whole.  Teachers become more reflective with administrators; teachers begin to collaborate with one another; and conversations become more about student achievement instead of student behavior.  As our professional learning environments evolve I encourage you to take time and observe you fellow colleagues.  You just might be missing out on some cool stuff.  

Creating a Culture of Change pt. 2

                                                               Chronicles of a Coach
                                                            Being a Catalyst for Change

It's been almost a month since I last posted.  A lot has happened in that time.  My father passed away; my son got sick; and my wife started school.  It's been quite the time!  It's also given me time to reflect on the direction of this particular blog.  I want to share some of my research about education as well as my thoughts and opinions.  Even more than that, I want to sort of chronicle my first year as an instructional coach.  With that being said and with the idea of creating a culture of change, I'd like to offer some reflections on the first 3 and a half months of being an instructional coach where I work.  

When the position was posted, I knew it was the next step in my career.  One core elements of an organization that nurtures a culture of change is having people that know when it's time to take a different position.  I didn't leave the classroom because I was tired of the kids.I left because it was time to pursue the "next thing" in my career.  My classroom run--17 years-- was pretty good.  There were as many wins as there were losses, but each served as a learning experience.  At this point in my career I felt that I had enough experiences, both good and bad, to share with colleagues as it concerned their instructional practices.  I'm very comfortable in front of crowds of any size, and enjoy public speaking.  Once the position was offered, the work to begin to put the pieces of this position together was painstaking at best.  There was a lot of reading---LOTS OF READING--and research.  I want to do this right.  

I actually got a bit lost as first, but then it hit me; let the standards lead you.  Most schools that are in large districts have more of a scripted plan for their coaches.  They focus on a subject area, technology, or using data in the classroom.  Well, I have to do all of that and it's just me.  The trade off is the school is small.  In order to get a baseline of needs, I looked at our evaluation rubric and began to plan my weekly professional developments around teachers understanding the rubric and how the rubric can be an effective tool for planning strong instruction for students.  I owe a lot of the direction we are headed as a school to reading the book Instructional Coaching in Action by Eisenberg, Eisenberg, Medrich, and Charner and published by the ASCD.  Ushering in a culture of teacher accountability and coaching is not a task for the faint of heart.  Not only that, teachers may see the role of coaching and non-evaluative observation as punitive.  "Our test scores stink, and according to the state and everyone else I can't teach," a teacher might think to themselves.  That's because many conversations in the teachers' lounge truly fit the stereotype.  Teachers are either complaining about the kids, their parents, the administration, or some combination of the three.  There are few conversations about the "cool" stuff in my class, or how my students are having fun.  These are the conversations buildings that have coaches are attempting to create.  Conversations where teachers are reflecting, evaluating, looking at data, and (most importantly) looking for ways to create environments where kids are creating and having fun.