Coaching Relationships
Each year, I start with surveying my teachers about the best way I can support them. This starts our relationship on a positive note and lets them see I will work in collaboration with them to sharpen their teaching skills to impact student learning.
"...I need to create relationships with my teachers that do not make them feel intimidated when I walk through the door. The goal is to promote student achievement and helping teachers attain their goals will help accomplish this. While doing this work, I would also like to ensure that we are striving to live in the relationship quadrant of high task and high relationship. When Kate Kinney Grossman and Frances Rust came to speak to us, they talked about how relationships play a role in the tasks we accomplish daily. They advocated for developing great relationships with your teachers so they would want to accomplish more higher level tasks (personal communication, September 13, 2020)..."
After I know what a teacher wants to focus on, I help align the support I give with the school's goals. Then, I visit their classroom and take notes on the note-catcher below. These notes are immediately shared with them to limit the anxiousness they feel anticipating feedback. After that, we have our debrief and I ask them how they think the lesson went and ask them to reflect on anything they would change about the lesson. Finally, we plan small actionable steps for them to take and share any resources I have that may help them. I have created a place on the note-catcher for action steps for myself as well. This helps to build our coaching relationship and shows my level of commitment to our coaching time together. In a few days, I go back in to see how they have incorporated their new learning into their lesson and the cycle continues. Teachers are in all different places on their own learning continuum. Sometimes coaching needs to be more directed, sometimes less so. I get to know my teachers personally and professionally, so I know how to best meet their needs in specific ways.
Teacher Feedback From My End of Year Coaching Survey
"I have had fewer people in this world listen to my concerns and provide me with support that makes me feel heard, connected, and appreciated than my coach, Heather McCullough."
"My students have become so much better at responding to questions that are higher level versus right there responses due to my coach guiding me to ask questions in a different style, allow more wait time, and practice not answering myself."
"My coach made it her mission to ease my stress this year in finding resources to meet digital learners needs at very differentiated levels. She even set up Typing.com accounts for all of my students and linked it to my classroom for me."
"My coach never missed a meeting, always encouraged me to be better by inspiring me with her own work ethic and resources in addition to her direct modeling and example sharing."
"The best thing that ever happened to me!"
"What leaders often miss, though, is that receiving feedback is also a skill that we can do well or poorly. In addition to being good at giving feedback, effective leaders are also good at receiving it—whether it’s from parents, students, teachers, or peers.”
-Stone & David-Lang, 2017
