Saturday, February 15, 2014

An Olympic Coach's Advice

Watching the amazing feats at the Olympics this week got me thinking:  How did these athletes develop such expertise?  Doubtless their coaches had something to do with it!  I took a look at advice from an Olympic coach and realized the ideas have merit for instructional coaches as well.  Here’s my adaptation of an Olympic coach’s wisdom:


1.  Set individual goals.   

Although teaching doesn’t (shouldn’t!) foster the competitive environment that exists in the Olympic games, human nature still has us comparing ourselves with others.  According to Olympic coach Bob Bowman, a true champion is as satisfied with meeting personal goals as with receiving a medal.  High performers operate according to their own standards and are satisfied when those standards are met. 

2.  Be better today than yesterday. 

If you do that enough days, you’ll travel a great distance!  Be process-oriented and focus on the things you can control.  Skills are developed through experience.  One of Bowman’s favorite sayings is, “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”  It’s okay to make mistakes, as long as we learn from them and make incremental improvements.  We learn from failures – sometimes even more than from successes!  When things don’t go well, encourage teachers (and yourself!) to take the opportunity to analyze what’s going on and make changes. 

3.  Expect challenges. 

There are frustrations and unexpected situations at school on a daily basis.  Accept that these challenges will happen.  Take them in stride and focus on opportunities; encourage the teachers you are working with to do the same.

4.  Recognize that one size does not fit all.

Coach Bowman said he used to have just one tool in his coaching toolbox – a hammer.  But he quickly figured out that many people don’t respond well to that approach!  Some respond to logic, others to motivation.  Coaches are successful when they tailor their approach to the individual. 

Like the Olympic athletes soaring to success this week, coaches and teachers will find success in their work as they set personal goals, strive for incremental improvement, work through the inevitable frustrations, and expand the toolkits they use in their important work. 


This week, you might want to take a look at:

An interactive digital graphic organizer for comparing and contrasting:



A list of authors who will Skype with a classroom for free:



How Google Docs are Revolutionizing the Classroom:


Article Smorgasbord - A great PD activity for offering choice while building background knowledge:


22 Formative assessment techniques:



That’s it for this week!  Happy Coaching!

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