Piglet
sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh!" he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?" "Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's
paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you."
Welcome
back to the 2013-14 school year and to our next Coaches’ Couch blog post!
The beginning of the school year is a time for establishing or
reigniting relationships. As the
Winnie-the-Pooh quote above illustrates, relationships can provide a sense of
security. New starts can be a bit
ruffling, and our new school year includes lots of “news”: new classes full of new combinations of
students, new standards, new evaluation procedures, new assessments and more. Looking for ways to offer a helping hand at
the beginning of the school year can smooth and sooth when the road feels a
little bumpy.
Your
primary role and goal as a coach is instructional improvement. So quieting an anxious child, unclogging the
copy machine, and delivering post-it notes may not seem like part of your job
description. But small acts of kindness
make you part of the team and open doors for authentic coaching
conversations. Some of the best coaching
I’ve done happened while helping a teacher put up a bulletin board. Working shoulder to shoulder builds feelings
of trust. A teacher who is otherwise resistant
may take her guard down when you are working side by side.
As
this year gets underway, looking for ways to lighten someone’s load can provide
a foundation for your coaching work. When
you see a teacher in a tight spot, reach out.
Oprah Winfrey’s words ring true: “Lots
of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who
will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”
This week,
you might want to take a look at some beginning-of-the-year resources to share
with teachers:
A
video for getting the school year off to an inspired start: “Why I Stay in the
Classroom”:
An
article about developing new routines (and sticking with them!):
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=305
A
TED talk that inspires teachers to build relationships with their students:
Lesson
Plans for establishing classroom rules (grades 2 & 3 but easily adapted –
be sure to click on different tabs to get all of the information!):
Classroom
storage ideas on Pinterest:
That’s
all for this week. Happy Coaching!
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