Chronicles of a Coach
Being a Catalyst for Change
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.
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.
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