Exude Availability

Some of the best coaching I’ve done happened while helping a teacher put up a bulletin board. When working shoulder to shoulder, a teacher who is otherwise resistant may take her guard down. Although coaches are often warned to steer clear of things that are not part of their job description, small acts of kindness make you part of the team and open doors for authentic coaching conversations. Things like unclogging the copy machine, delivering supplies, scheduling parent-teacher conferences, or calming an anxious child can build feelings of trust that are vital to a coaching relationship.
 
A quick exchange in the hall: “How’s your mom?” or “How many goals did Evan score last night?” lets a teacher know you care about him as an individual, and it is part of the coaching work. At the beginning of a coaching conversation, a casual question – a “How are you doing?” or a shared laugh – is 60 seconds well-spent.
 
Brief personal connections send the message that you are available and accessible, not too overloaded to notice and care. Sometimes, because we have so many tasks as coaches, we may unknowingly send the message that we are unavailable. This came to my attention when a teacher said, “I know you’re really busy, but…” After that, I paid attention to how I might be signaling my busy-ness: walking quickly down the halls, sitting on the edge of my seat, intently focusing on my laptop screen during a meeting, mentioning the many things on my to-do list. We might unconsciously feel self-important because we have so much to do, wearing busy-ness like a badge.
 
In your hurried world as an educator, taking a moment to pause before you step into a classroom or start a coaching conversation will help you be fully present.  Use this pause to focus your attention. Take a slow, deep breath, relaxing your shoulders, preparing to enjoy the experience.  Leave behind what you were doing and focus on what you are about to do. Your teacher-friend will sense that you are fully present and ready to relish these next few minutes with her or her class.
 
Take off the badge of busy-ness. Exude an aura of availability instead. When we walk more slowly, pause more frequently for a chat, or lean back in the chair when we sit down, teachers feel invited to join us in the work of instructional improvement.
 
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Hooray!!! My new book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner is a fall release from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can order the book now and use the code: SEPTA2022 for 15% off plus FREE SHIPPING. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!
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This week, you might want to take a look at:

Bringing empathy to coaching:
 
https://blog.teachboost.com/bringing-empathy-to-coaching
 
 
Relationship-driven strategies for responding to challenging behaviors:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/relationship-driven-strategy-addressing-challenging-behavior
 
 
Ideas for making anchor charts more student-centered:
 
https://twowritingteachers.org/2018/10/10/co-constructing/
 
 
Book-choosing strategies for middle schoolers:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/dont-judge-a-book-by-its-cover-teaching-book-choice-strategies-to-middle-schoolers/
 
 
This 9-second video about starting the year with a growth mindset (for yourself!):
 
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid5043572966001?bckey=AQ~~,AAABlTNHE7k~,oIicl_E-tmh-P1MYnYtUFKA3vxntu_8N&bctid=5079638940001
 
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
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