faulker008

Coaches are givers.  We take on the role because we hope we have something to offer that will enhance the professionalism of those we work with. We observe, collect data, reflect, debrief, plan, facilitate, and lead in our efforts to help others.  But when all is said and done, we find that we, too, have improved through the experience.  Coaching furthers our own learning and professional growth.  As I coach, I’ve learned: ·          To shift my focus during a lesson, making me more aware of students’ level of participation and learning. ·          To collect the kinds of data that can serve as a guide for future planning. ·          To recognize classroom management problems as a symptom. ·          To read a room more accurately. ·          To respond sensitively. · ...

Last week’s post focused on shortfalls; lots of time with minimal effect.  I told of my decision to “cut my losses” with a teacher who I’d been working with all year with little growth.  If you missed that post, you can read about it here . Having made the decision to shift my time and energy elsewhere, I had a concluding conference with “Nicole” this week.  I found some pluses to highlight – small steps in the right direction that had occurred recently.  I didn’t sugar-coat the situation; the feedback tool we’ve been using is pretty objective and showed there was still much room for growth.  As I talked about my decision to conclude our coaching cycle, I noticed that her shoulders dropped and she leaned back and became more relaxed….confirmation that my decision to move on was right (for now).   I was curious, though, to notice that she actually seemed to be more interested than usual in my feedback after announcing this decision.  It was as if she kn...

This week, I did one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do as a coach.  I admitted failure.  Admitting to failure is not in my blood.  I’m guessing it’s not in yours, either.  It is  not the stuff coaches are made of.  But after modeling, nudging, recommending, suggesting, praising, encouraging, and giving the situation much thought and consideration, I had to admit it was time to cut my losses. “Cutting your losses” is only one of the idioms we use to describe this uncomfortable situation.  I was “cashing in my chips,” “throwing in the towel,” or, to take a more positive turn, “knowing when to fold ‘em.”   Perhaps the fact that there are so many idioms to describe this situation speaks to its difficulty. I had put in a lot of effort, but it was time to extricate myself from a situation where there seemed to be little hope for improvement.  Nicole (name has been changed to protect the innocent!) is a novice teacher with whom I...

When coaching, the answer to a question always depends on who’s asking.  We make our coaching personal by considering context: What we know about the teacher, her students, the curriculum, and more. So ‘who’s asking’ matters. This week, I learned another side of the ‘who’s asking’ question from a very wise teacher.  Beth and I were talking about her experiences working with a coach.  She described how, in the past, she was often defensive when her instructional coach suggested areas for improvement.  Providing justification or a different explanation seemed like her natural response when she was confronted with what felt like criticism.  After the fact, she said, she’d realize that the coach had good intentions and that her suggestion was actually a good one, but it was hard to fight that instinctive, self-protective response. So Beth figured out how to change the game from defense to offense.  Now she leads into a coaching conversation by asking, “What sug...