Coaches as Personal Trainers

Like so many thousands of other Americans, I have found myself at the gym quite a bit in this first month of a new year. exercising with more intention and focus.  I even decided to work with a personal trainer for the first time in my life.  Yesterday my trainer and I were chatting as I warmed up at the ridiculous hour of 5:00 a.m., and since it was our first session, she asked me what I do.  Ever since I began this job as an instructional coach, I have struggled to answer this question because coaching is so unfamiliar to most people.   For the past sixteen years the answer has been easy:  I'm a teacher.  But now I hesitate and begin, "Well, I've always been an English teacher, but now I'm an instructional coach."

And then it hits me, like the weight of the medicine ball she hands me, that I am sort of like a personal trainer.  Under the best circumstances, a trainer and her client are both there because they believe the experience will be beneficial, that the client has goals and wants support to reach them, that the trainer will do all she can to support her client in reaching those goals, and the client will feel stronger because of the work she has done with the trainer.  The trainer will also learn from the experience.  Under those same best circumstances, a coach and a teacher will work together through a similar process.

In my first meeting with the trainer she asked me what my goals were, what sorts of exercise I enjoy, and what time of day would be the best for me to meet her.  She explained that we'd work together once a week and that she'd write out instructions for my workouts throughout the week for me to do on my own.  So her role was to create an effective set of workouts for me, model the exercises, and encourage me through the hard parts.

Sounds a lot like what Jim Knight taught us at the Instructional Coaching Institute a few months ago:  people will not work toward someone else's goals, coaches should expect to learn something from everyone, and we must be respectful of people's learning styles.  As coaches, we must listen to the teachers to learn what their goals are, understand how they most want to engage in a coaching partnership, and model/guide/encourage all the way.  If only we could burn calories while we do it, too.

                                                                                from Todd William

Reflections--A Look Back on 2011

On this last day of school of 2011, I feel compelled to reflect on the first half of this academic year, especially in light of my new position.  It began with a professional development workshop on assessment, which refined my vision for the year--kids have to know where they are headed, where they are now, and how they will close the gap.  They have to be able to name the things they are learning so they can evaluate their progress.  Teachers have to provide meaningful feedback in reasonable chunks and kids need time to reflect on their learning.  In my role as instructional coach I have been trying to hold these key ideas in my mind in all of my work with teachers.  I see the positive effects of teachers naming the learning targets for the kids, having them reflect on their progress, and setting weekly goals.  I am grateful to have attended the workshop led by the Assessment Training Institute and feel like this is the right path to take to help kids become more metacognitive and engaged learners.

The next stop on the professional development train took me to Kansas for Jim Knight's Instructional Coaching Institute.  My goals as a coach became easier to name as a result of the training:  be a better listener (active listening is really hard), work with people who are excited about being coached, and strive for reciprocity (by getting as much as I give).  I have tried to do these things, and I am particularly pleased to say that I have gotten far more than I have given.  I plan to continue working toward these goals in 2012.  Thank you to all of the teachers who have let me in your doors and allowed me to help you fine-tune your craft.

The rest of my professional development has happened on the job.  I am so lucky to work with such a broad range of teachers and their students, dealing with challenges as diverse how to introduce fiction writing to kindergarteners to how to engage middle schoolers in science.  I am most grateful to my coaching partner, Penni, and our technology integration specialist, Melissa.  All three of us are navigating instructional coaching together, even though we have different content expertise.  Thank you, Melissa, for inspiring me to begin this blog!

As I head off for winter break, I pack my bag full of what I'll need to begin 2012 well:  a list of blogs to read so I can stay abreast of what's working in schools near and far, a copy of Troy Hicks' The Digital Writing Workshop so I can continue to plan for how to move writing workshop into this century, and works by George Hillocks to deepen my understanding of inquiry-based learning.

Until next year...