It's Hard, Isn't It?

Teaching is hard. I don’t need to enumerate the reasons why. We all know. Change is difficult, too. It requires us to leave comfortable routines behind. Coaching tackles these two hard things together – teaching and change. So we can’t expect it to be easy. By acknowledging the struggle and complexity of the process, coaches can clear the way for progress.

Most things in life require balance, and your response to complaints definitely calls for careful consideration. Ignoring the difficulty of a situation can come off as inauthentic, but you don’t want to become a negative venting place. A response that has worked well for me is, “It’s hard, isn’t it?”

A colleague described all the data required for RtI, and her complaining seemed to be blocking progress with this new intervention process. Her demeanor changed when I acknowledged her concerns with, “It’s hard, isn’t it?” It seemed that being heard—feeling that her struggles were understood—opened the path for moving forward. The complaining stopped, and we began a discussion about formative assessment data that could be collected during instruction.

Another teacher wanted to be sure I understood the challenge she faced having seven students with IEPs in her second-grade class. She described several students with behavior issues, a group who still needed support with beginning-reading skills, and another set of students whose requirements for math intervention were her responsibility. “It’s hard, isn’t it?” I authentically responded. The complaining stopped, and we got to work on a plan for differentiation, utilizing the aide time that was available.

There is stress when we face difficult tasks that make us fear failure. Sometimes the best encouragement is acknowledgement that the thing we are doing is really hard. If we first acknowledge current difficulties, our cheerleading will feel more authentic and teachers will be more receptive to our support.

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

Resources for coaches from the Teaching Channel:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/coaching

This fun word game for vocabulary review:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=483

Five lesson-opener hooks:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2016/09/14/5-ways-to-start-your-lessons/?utm_source=newsletter20160917/

Classroom management non-negotiables:

http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/principals-office/non-negotiable-classroom-expectations/

Allington’s summary of research-based practices for reading instruction. A must to read and share:

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar12/vol69/num06/Every-Child,-Every-Day.aspx

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

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