Conversations Matter

Having great coaches has been a huge contributing factor in my career. I have had both district initiated coaches, where the district assigned the school a coach, and I’ve had an administrator initiated coach, where the principal assigned me a coach (Roy, Hafflebower, & Warrick, 2013). Most of the district coaches helped me by answering questions and by helping me to think outside of the box. The math coach was the best because she modeled lessons for me and helped me to see how the lesson could be improved by actually showing and not telling. I will say, I’ve also observed coaches that talk a little too much, which makes the teacher zone out because of the surplus of information. One key tip from the video below is “LISTEN MORE THAN YOU TALK”. The administrator initiated coach was more of a mentor that all first year teachers received. She gave me more direct conversations as we taught each unit together.

The way in which information is executed to the teacher makes a world of a difference. The video above gives five great tips to coaching conversations for teachers. Roy, Hafflebower, & Warrick (2013) gave three ways to have coaching conversations. The three ways are: facilitative conversations, coaching conversations, and directing conversations. Coaching conversations, in my opinion, are more evaluative. I've received coaching conversations after I’ve completed the self assessment portion of Educate Alabama. The principal typically sits down, looks at my self ratings and talks about ways I can grow in these areas. Most of the coaches in my district don’t use directing conversations. I haven’t experienced a coach telling me “I need to to do something”. My favorite type of coaching is facilitative. I believe the teacher should be guided into learning just like we should be guiding students in the classroom. A-HA- moments are very important when it comes to learning and growing. Aguilar (2013) mentions The Ladder of Inference. This model helps coaches let the teachers see the coaching model for themselves. One example of this would be me observing a teachers classroom for ten minutes and noticing that students are shouting out answers and there’s junk in the back of the classroom. Once I leave the classroom, I have a preconceived notion that the teacher needs classroom management help. But how did I come up with this assumption? The five steps shown below show how I came up with the assumption, but It also shows how I should break down my thought process.

My Own Coaching Experience

In my current position, I serve as a UAB Mentor teacher and I have a mentor teacher who I serve at school. When I am coaching my mentee teachers I always honor confidentiality, ask questions, and watch my own actions/tone. Relationships are key to successful coaching!!

References:

Aguilar, E. (2013). The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation. Jossey- Bass: San Francisco, CA.

Roy, T., Hafflebower, T., & Warrick, P. (2013). Coaching Classroom Instruction. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Resources.