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I heard about this awesome private school group called "Waldorf." Check them out at http://www.awsna.org/. As I read their website, I noticed that they speak to many conceptss of Coaching. So, I gained information about a school that embraces Coaching concepts. Now what?!!
I just had the most wonderful experience at my first weekend of Coach Training. It was an "in person," 3-day weekend and the learning was absolutely astounding!!! I have experienced a classroom that I can flourish in and there are some aspects of it that I believe can be transferred into our school classrooms.
"Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery." Dr. Joyce Brothers
In the communication process, we spend nearly half of our time listening. Yet, people often complain that "nobody's listening" -- and sometimes that is true. With so much going on around us, it's easy (and occasionally necessary) to tune out some of the noise. However, good listening is powerful in aiding human relationships and necessary for real communication to take place.
When we feel as though we've been heard, been listened to, we love the listener who has embraced us and our thoughts and feelings. We connect and feel understood. Our confidence and self-esteem lift.
In schools, students are called upon to listen 60-70% of the time. Listening to directions; listening during lectures; listening to passages of content, to stories and films. Listening in assemblies and performances. Listening in social interactions and information exchanges with fellow students.
Listening with intention, active listening, is a learned skill. From childhood, we have our hearing tested frequently. But what about our ability to listen? Listening can be assessed, taught and exercised. It can be developed and nurtured.
How can the skill of listening be taught and cultivated? It starts with a teacher who listens to students and models the behaviors of active listening: At first, silence and eye contact, then head nodding and facial expressions that show understanding. Next, with appropriate questions and responses to what has been said.
If a teacher gives specific instructions and examples of listening behaviors, and orchestrates practice of those behaviors, improved listening will become evident among the students. The result? A more harmonious classroom atmosphere where even greater learning takes place -- a space for success.
Listening is a life skill that offers clear communication benefits for both listeners and speakers.
A Teacher learns every day they are in the classroom. Each student has something to Teach. What if the Teacher went into school each day to be a learner? Yes, there are lesson plans and curriculum that need to be taught. What if it wasn't Teaching at all? What if the plans concepts became a learning tool for both the Teacher AND the student?
What would our schools look and feel like today if they were truly communities of learning? Imagine if all the stakeholders in the school community truly identified themselves as learners. All of us, administrators, parents, teachers, board members, and of course our students, acknowledging that what we don’t yet know is a more powerful motivator in our lives than what we claim to know. What would the conversation sound like in our staff meetings and our board meetings? What approach would we take to a phone call with a dissatisfied parent or a child who has been sent to the Principal’s office? How would we present our ideas in our professional associations? How would we respond to the ideas of other?
To have no expectations as a teacher or learner doesn't fit in these days of standards, test scores, and comparisons to schools "like ours." As teachers we've been fed a steady diet of objectives, outcomes, benchmarks, and accountability. And, we've been instructed to share those objectives and outcomes with students. There's no getting around it: there ARE expectations!
But, we can avoid the trap of unrealistic expectations. I think this is a good place for Coaches to become involved in the educational process. Coaches can work with teachers to help them steer clear of the pitfalls of placing too many expectations upon themselves and taking on excessive extra-curricular responsibilities. Perhaps the role of a Coach here is helping teachers to specifically define their goals and expectations. These smaller expectation bites will be easier to measure, reinforcing progress or showing where the process is breaking down. Having met with success, it's easy to set the next workable goals and expectations. If skills need reteaching, that is quickly recognized.
Also of great importance, more definitive goals will permit teachers to keep a healthy work/life balance. Maintaining that work/life balance benefits teachers, their families, and their students.
If I am honest with myself, I know that there were always and only two questions that I asked myself before I took on any new job or challenge: the first was am I passionate about the work? Do I really believe in the vision of what this work will allow me to do? And, are there people I will love to work with and learn from? Will I be part of a team? And so, even before I consciously used the language of “collaboration”, it was what I gravitated towards. But I have learned that collaboration does not come naturally to everyone.
Where does Coaching fit into Collaboration? In schools there are many different levels of collaboration, beginning with the student and going all the way up to the Superintendent. Coaching offers the opportunity for each person to find their own unique contribution to the development of the group. Here's a thought...
You have a valuable job. You spend every day nurturing, educating and caring for children. But when was the last time that you took extra care of your parents’ child: You? Do you make sure that you eat properly, get enough sleep, have fun, take time for the things that are most important to you?
Many teachers feel that they would be cheating their students if they didn’t work so hard. I know many people (including myself from time to time) who feel that they just don’t have the time to relax; that too many other people depend on them.
The irony to this way of thinking, is that when your own needs are being sacrificed, you might be giving it all you’ve got, but it isn’t close to what you are capable of. No one wins.
An example is demonstrated through the pre-flight video on commercial airplanes. When the flight staff instruct you on the use of oxygen masks, they always state that parents of small children must put a mask on themselves first, before they put one on their child. This goes completely against parental instinct. But the reasoning is valid: if you become unconscious, or worse, who is going to take care of your child then?
Teachers are one of society’s most valuable resources. Parents entrust you with their heart’s greatest treasure everyday. Honor them (and your own parents) by living well yourself. It will be a gift for everyone.
Ah, it's that time again. Schools are gearing up for a new year. Time for a fresh start. As a Music Teacher I remember going back to school in the fall with all sorts of goals and dreams. I was going to be more creative, handle my classes better, get a better system together for organizing my room and so on. I expected the Principal to be nicer, fellow Teachers to be less "clicky" and students to be better behaved.
