Friday, July 8, 2016

To Open Closed Doors, Be Real


Today at #ILA2016, I attended #EdCampLiteracy and had a chance to sit around a table with instructional coaches from all around the country. The very first topic posed for discussion was how to work with reluctant teachers. This was the topic of my post last week, but the ideas shared today are worth passing along.

It's all about power,” one experienced coach explained, when thinking about how to open the doors of resistant teachers. Her comment reminded me of what research tells us about motivation: Control and choice are important motivators. Your position as a coach may be viewed as a position of power. Teachers are often used to being the ones in control, so threats to that control by someone they consider to be in a position of power may be unwelcome. To soften this tension, find ways to offer choice. Create invitations for coaching that put control in the hands of teacher. Offer choices about where and when you will meet and the topics you'll address. Don't go in with a lock-step plan in place. Be ready to explore a topic from the teacher's point of view. It can be hard to lay aside our tried-and-true approaches and explore new ideas alongside a teacher, but such an approach may be the inroad you need to work with a teacher who hasn't been open to coaching.

Another big idea that surfaced during the EdCamp conversation about working with reluctant teachers is the idea of vulnerability. Teachers' reluctance to work with a coach may come from feelings of vulnerability. Being open about their practice – about their challenges as well as their successes – may be uncomfortable and anxiety-producing! If you sense this feeling may underlie a teacher's reluctance toward coaching, you may be able to shift the tides by making yourself vulnerable. If you model a lesson, for example, point out both before and after that you know there is always room for improvement. Talk about mistakes of judgment you make in the moment or things you would have done differently. You don't have to be self-deprecating or insincere – just open and honest. Posting a video of you teaching a less-than-perfect lesson, with you coaching yourself as a voice-over, is another way to show that you are willing to be open as well and that perfection isn't expected.

During our conversation around the table today we also talked about heavy coaching vs. light coaching. While I agree with Joellen Killion that relationships can be built through heavy coaching that focuses on student learning and probes for specificity and depth of thinking, some circumstances benefit from a lighter entry. The kinds of things districts often put on the list of things they don't want coaches to do (make copies, grade papers, etc.) may be the ticket in the door for that difficult-to-convert teacher. The best coaching decision I ever made was to stop and help with a bulletin board that was hastily being put up just before a surprise visit by the assistant superintendent. That gesture of help towards the highly-stressed teachers in this turn-around school dramatically changed the dynamic of our interactions.

Hopefully all of the teachers within your circle of influence will eventually be requesting to work with you. For those who start out dragging their feet, however, be real. Be open, be vulnerable, give the power to them, and relate as a colleague.


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

Pinterest ideas for organizing the classroom:



This video with ideas for classroom lab visits to encourage thinking deeply about practice:


Two podcasts about what it's like to be an instructional coach (scroll down for the audio):


Why reading matters (a great post to share with parents):


Argumentative writing ideas for social studies:


That's it for this week. Happy coaching!


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