Beyond the Classroom

Something has been on my mind a lot the last few weeks. What makes a teacher effective and successful in the classroom?  I know it comes down to strong student relationships, effective and structural classroom management, and preparedness with intentionality. My goal lately has not been to critique my teachers, but rather to figure out the best way to support them and help them grow. We all have something to improve upon!  I've focused on their goals as they align with campus goals.  I’ve given small tips along the way, strategies to try, suggested procedures to implement, and ideas for building community.   But it seems like some teachers are just different, more coachable, more willing to try new things, are reflective on their practices, some teachers have something special - that “it” factor that makes it all come together. “Those who can, do. And those who can’t, teach.” I always loathed that saying. First, because it indicates that teachers a...

Teaching is hard. This week has been incredibly hard. It wasn’t one identifiable thing, but the culmination of lots of little things. My job, as an instructional coach, is to work with teachers on reaching their goals, both individually as a teacher and as a part of their team. In essence, I am still a teacher, a teacher of teachers. Just as a classroom teacher, I do not claim to be an expert or have all the answers. I just do the best I can with what I know and have experienced, and hope that the teachers I work with do the best they can.  This week, I sat down with a teacher who was struggling to figure out how to squeeze six days of curriculum into four days of instruction. Another teacher had the opposite problem, nine days to teach a unit and only six days of good materials. After observing a lesson, I helped a teacher set new goals for herself on instructional strategies she wanted to improve upon. I worked with a team developing new lessons because what they had wasn’t ...