Saturday, August 31, 2013

Sure of You


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." 
                                              ~A.A. Milne

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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