PITP
The Misstep…
Thinking about Peer Coaching and Mentoring causes me lots of anxiety. I think that this is because of the tremendous power that peer coaching has. It’s this power that makes it so crucial, and my anxiety stems from peer coaching either being misused, or under-used.
While I don’t think that HTH (and HTHNC in particular) falls into these traps, I have worked in organizations in the past that have. Lip service, and lots of it, was paid to the idea of conducting various forms of peer coaching and mentoring was largely left to upper administration to conduct with those individuals who were being groomed for something other than teaching. Obviously, in an environment like that peer coaching is essentially just perfunctory, and mentoring isn’t even really on the radar. Here, however, I think that we do a much better job of really utilizing the process and recognizing that it is an ongoing and un-ending thing. You can never be “too good” to not benefit from it. That recognized, my anxiety in peer coaching and mentoring at HTH comes from changing peer mentors; I love stability and that extends to peer coaching as well.
I think I had said it before in a previous Forum post, but there is a lot to be said for the chemistry between a peer coaching team. Both might be great teachers, and both might be incredibly reflective, but if the personal interactions just don’t pop, than it might be a difficult process. However, I am happy to say that did not happen this time. Melissa, Dean at HTHI, and I had met before and (in my estimation) had a connection right away. She struck me instantly as somebody who I knew I was going to seek out, and enjoy working with. When we were paired up, I was sure that we would have an excellent peer coaching experience and I wasn’t wrong.
Both of us were looking at the question “How can we be the positive culture shapers we want to be, the community norm maintainers we have to be, and not be defined by solely by our focus on discipline?” The question itself took a few rounds of refining, but interestingly we both had essentially the same question. I think that I grew as a Dean simply by talking with Melissa and processing various elements of the position out, and she is reflective and practical in a unique way that makes the HTHI community so lucky. One of the most beneficial things that we were able to do as a result of the coursework was to spend a whole afternoon shadowing the other. While doing this, it was clear that HTHI bears her signature in many areas and that while she may worry about being defined by discipline issues, I don’t believe that she is. She walks through the halls and students do not run and hide, cowering in fear, but rather they seek her out and ask for time “just to talk.” My hope is that we are able to continue to do this, unattached to a GSE assignment.
However, I am not sure that the video aspect was as beneficial. While I understand that using video for classroom teaching can help with the reflective process, both Melissa and I are in the unusual position of not having a classroom, nor do we conduct class (at least in the conventional sense). I continue to have an advisory, and am working on several projects that will involve elements of a classroom, but none of those really spoke to my question. For my video, I recorded an interaction with a student regarding dress code. The conversation was fine, and after watching it, Melissa offered some great suggestions, but she also asked a crucial question – “Is this what you usually do?” And the answer is “sort of.” With the student in question, I knew that I needed to address it in a larger way than I might do typically, and I knew her well enough to know that I needed to capitalize on her social standing. But would I take 15 minutes on it? Probably not.
What worked best for Melissa and I was to be there in person, make observations, and debrief about those interactions within a narrow time frame. When I went to HTHI, and observed Melissa without video, I saw some wonderful things that made my brain get fired up with inspiration. Likewise, Melissa had even mentioned something similar when she and I were standing on the field of HTHNC during lunch and I was just interacting with students as they walked by, or walked up, or in some cases just sat there. It was these authentic and sometimes unplanned events that I found to be most helpful.
The Art…
But, given the importance of coaching in the role of school leader, I wanted to try the things we had discussed in class in a way that allowed me to practice my skills and really develop as a coach. I began working with my BTSA mentee, Dr. Vernon. While I had participated in effective collegial coaching relationships before, I think that a lot of the success of those relationships had to do with an established rapport and the collegial nature of our relationship. This new relationship did not have established rapport and now I was in the role of school leader rather than lateral colleague. The significance of those details was something I kept coming back to, not because they intimidated me but because I recognized that those two characteristics will be common in many of my coaching conversations throughout my career. So rather than run from them, I ran to them.
The main characteristic I tried to use for “the art of coaching” was to be as mentee-centered as possible. I have worked with student teachers in the past and never fully embraced the idea of it being about them. I would often come into with my own expectations and points, not allowing them to receive feedback on their specific; it was all about what I noticed. To mitigate that, I asked Dr. Vernon to describe to me what he wanted me to look for. He did. I asked him to pick a time when he wanted me to come and see it in action. He did. I asked him to pick a time to debrief. He did. And when the time came, I asked him if he felt that the coaching session was effective. He did, and it was.
I think what made the session effective was the questions. I tried my best to emulate Rob Riordan in the debriefs we had seen in class. I asked the following question: “Was the class that I watched successful?” He replied that it was. I then asked the follow-up: “How do you know?” Those were the two main questions of the session. Everything else was a natural discussion. In my previous coaching sessions, I think it would have gone much differently with me giving a series of suggestions and notes. The art of the coach is in its conversational nature. The art of the coach is in questioning and a dialogue.
The Practice, and the Future…
Like I stated above, my previous experience with coaching was more along the lines of a director giving notes to an actor. “Here’s what I saw,” “Here is what I liked,” and “Here is what can use improvement.” This is very direct, to be sure. But is it effective? Maybe. But is it coaching? Definitely not. A coach helps the coached become more effective through a transformative process. It is the act of dialogue and self-awareness that pushes the process forward, not a series of notes.
I think back to previous colleagues I have worked with in this capacity and I feel awful about engaging in such a one-way process. While I believe that the coaching conversation I engaged in with my critical friend was important and helpful, the starting point was flawed and difficult to divorce ourselves from. However, the coaching conversation I had with Dr. Vernon was much more indicative of where I would like my coaching to go. I want it to be conversational and collaborative. I believe that prepping for it in the way that I did helped considerably, and it didn’t hurt that Dr. Vernon was a very willing participant who was prepared with specific targets and goals.
I have written about it before, but I want teachers to view me as a person who is there for support, and I believe that by applying the principles and techniques we have seen and practiced in this course I will become that person. Looking back to the coaching conversation I had with Dr. Vernon, my only regret is that I wasn’t able to follow up as often as I would like. I think it would be so beneficial to engage in coaching conversations weekly. I suspect that we could watch some very cool things happen in classrooms and it would be even cooler to see them grow over the course of a school year.
The Support…
So how can I ensure that we get time to watch these cool things happen and develop? I think one of the most important things to be done is to engage in meaningful coaching relationships. It gets very easy to disregard coaching as “something we have to do” when we should be thinking of it as something we get to do. If we take ourselves out of the equation for a second and think about if a friend said “My work is so weird. I have to go and talk with a coworker about a problem I have and together we figure out ways to solve it. And it’s part of my regular work day, so I get paid for it. Terrible, right?” We would probably chuckle at our friend’s very limited understanding of what “terrible” actually means, and then secretly envy them for the opportunity to engage in such a process.
The good news is that we DO get to engage in that process! But if we disregard it, than it becomes a chore rather than a privilege. By engaging in meaningful and productive coaching relationships, I am able to show my peers that I believe in coaching as a process, but also as a tool for achieving goals. It then becomes the norm to develop those coaching relationships rather than to put them aside.
…as a School Leader
As a School Leader, I can support coaching by allowing time for it in Professional Development schedules, meeting times, etc. At HTHNC, we even have a teacher who believes in coaching to such an extent that she has taken on the mantle of ensuring that coaching is a constant piece of the professional development of all teachers. So I support it by doing it. Like I stated above, I engage in meaningful coaching relationships as a means of supporting coaching in addition to supporting my coaching partners.
There is more to supporting coaching as a School Leader than simply engaging in it, (and knowing when somebody else has a great handle on it and not to mess with it). I think it’s important to approach the coaching process as something that is meaningful from the beginning. A practical application of this might be best summed up this way: Other people might forget to do their coaching, but I take extra time to ensure that my coaching is done thoroughly and supportively. The relationship between coaches (collegial or otherwise) is important, and I wouldn’t want to denigrate it by being flippant with it. I think that by allocating time for it, both in my own day and in a professional development schedule, the community norm of coaching being important and valuable is established.
Thinking about Peer Coaching and Mentoring causes me lots of anxiety. I think that this is because of the tremendous power that peer coaching has. It’s this power that makes it so crucial, and my anxiety stems from peer coaching either being misused, or under-used.
While I don’t think that HTH (and HTHNC in particular) falls into these traps, I have worked in organizations in the past that have. Lip service, and lots of it, was paid to the idea of conducting various forms of peer coaching and mentoring was largely left to upper administration to conduct with those individuals who were being groomed for something other than teaching. Obviously, in an environment like that peer coaching is essentially just perfunctory, and mentoring isn’t even really on the radar. Here, however, I think that we do a much better job of really utilizing the process and recognizing that it is an ongoing and un-ending thing. You can never be “too good” to not benefit from it. That recognized, my anxiety in peer coaching and mentoring at HTH comes from changing peer mentors; I love stability and that extends to peer coaching as well.
I think I had said it before in a previous Forum post, but there is a lot to be said for the chemistry between a peer coaching team. Both might be great teachers, and both might be incredibly reflective, but if the personal interactions just don’t pop, than it might be a difficult process. However, I am happy to say that did not happen this time. Melissa, Dean at HTHI, and I had met before and (in my estimation) had a connection right away. She struck me instantly as somebody who I knew I was going to seek out, and enjoy working with. When we were paired up, I was sure that we would have an excellent peer coaching experience and I wasn’t wrong.
Both of us were looking at the question “How can we be the positive culture shapers we want to be, the community norm maintainers we have to be, and not be defined by solely by our focus on discipline?” The question itself took a few rounds of refining, but interestingly we both had essentially the same question. I think that I grew as a Dean simply by talking with Melissa and processing various elements of the position out, and she is reflective and practical in a unique way that makes the HTHI community so lucky. One of the most beneficial things that we were able to do as a result of the coursework was to spend a whole afternoon shadowing the other. While doing this, it was clear that HTHI bears her signature in many areas and that while she may worry about being defined by discipline issues, I don’t believe that she is. She walks through the halls and students do not run and hide, cowering in fear, but rather they seek her out and ask for time “just to talk.” My hope is that we are able to continue to do this, unattached to a GSE assignment.
However, I am not sure that the video aspect was as beneficial. While I understand that using video for classroom teaching can help with the reflective process, both Melissa and I are in the unusual position of not having a classroom, nor do we conduct class (at least in the conventional sense). I continue to have an advisory, and am working on several projects that will involve elements of a classroom, but none of those really spoke to my question. For my video, I recorded an interaction with a student regarding dress code. The conversation was fine, and after watching it, Melissa offered some great suggestions, but she also asked a crucial question – “Is this what you usually do?” And the answer is “sort of.” With the student in question, I knew that I needed to address it in a larger way than I might do typically, and I knew her well enough to know that I needed to capitalize on her social standing. But would I take 15 minutes on it? Probably not.
What worked best for Melissa and I was to be there in person, make observations, and debrief about those interactions within a narrow time frame. When I went to HTHI, and observed Melissa without video, I saw some wonderful things that made my brain get fired up with inspiration. Likewise, Melissa had even mentioned something similar when she and I were standing on the field of HTHNC during lunch and I was just interacting with students as they walked by, or walked up, or in some cases just sat there. It was these authentic and sometimes unplanned events that I found to be most helpful.
The Art…
But, given the importance of coaching in the role of school leader, I wanted to try the things we had discussed in class in a way that allowed me to practice my skills and really develop as a coach. I began working with my BTSA mentee, Dr. Vernon. While I had participated in effective collegial coaching relationships before, I think that a lot of the success of those relationships had to do with an established rapport and the collegial nature of our relationship. This new relationship did not have established rapport and now I was in the role of school leader rather than lateral colleague. The significance of those details was something I kept coming back to, not because they intimidated me but because I recognized that those two characteristics will be common in many of my coaching conversations throughout my career. So rather than run from them, I ran to them.
The main characteristic I tried to use for “the art of coaching” was to be as mentee-centered as possible. I have worked with student teachers in the past and never fully embraced the idea of it being about them. I would often come into with my own expectations and points, not allowing them to receive feedback on their specific; it was all about what I noticed. To mitigate that, I asked Dr. Vernon to describe to me what he wanted me to look for. He did. I asked him to pick a time when he wanted me to come and see it in action. He did. I asked him to pick a time to debrief. He did. And when the time came, I asked him if he felt that the coaching session was effective. He did, and it was.
I think what made the session effective was the questions. I tried my best to emulate Rob Riordan in the debriefs we had seen in class. I asked the following question: “Was the class that I watched successful?” He replied that it was. I then asked the follow-up: “How do you know?” Those were the two main questions of the session. Everything else was a natural discussion. In my previous coaching sessions, I think it would have gone much differently with me giving a series of suggestions and notes. The art of the coach is in its conversational nature. The art of the coach is in questioning and a dialogue.
The Practice, and the Future…
Like I stated above, my previous experience with coaching was more along the lines of a director giving notes to an actor. “Here’s what I saw,” “Here is what I liked,” and “Here is what can use improvement.” This is very direct, to be sure. But is it effective? Maybe. But is it coaching? Definitely not. A coach helps the coached become more effective through a transformative process. It is the act of dialogue and self-awareness that pushes the process forward, not a series of notes.
I think back to previous colleagues I have worked with in this capacity and I feel awful about engaging in such a one-way process. While I believe that the coaching conversation I engaged in with my critical friend was important and helpful, the starting point was flawed and difficult to divorce ourselves from. However, the coaching conversation I had with Dr. Vernon was much more indicative of where I would like my coaching to go. I want it to be conversational and collaborative. I believe that prepping for it in the way that I did helped considerably, and it didn’t hurt that Dr. Vernon was a very willing participant who was prepared with specific targets and goals.
I have written about it before, but I want teachers to view me as a person who is there for support, and I believe that by applying the principles and techniques we have seen and practiced in this course I will become that person. Looking back to the coaching conversation I had with Dr. Vernon, my only regret is that I wasn’t able to follow up as often as I would like. I think it would be so beneficial to engage in coaching conversations weekly. I suspect that we could watch some very cool things happen in classrooms and it would be even cooler to see them grow over the course of a school year.
The Support…
So how can I ensure that we get time to watch these cool things happen and develop? I think one of the most important things to be done is to engage in meaningful coaching relationships. It gets very easy to disregard coaching as “something we have to do” when we should be thinking of it as something we get to do. If we take ourselves out of the equation for a second and think about if a friend said “My work is so weird. I have to go and talk with a coworker about a problem I have and together we figure out ways to solve it. And it’s part of my regular work day, so I get paid for it. Terrible, right?” We would probably chuckle at our friend’s very limited understanding of what “terrible” actually means, and then secretly envy them for the opportunity to engage in such a process.
The good news is that we DO get to engage in that process! But if we disregard it, than it becomes a chore rather than a privilege. By engaging in meaningful and productive coaching relationships, I am able to show my peers that I believe in coaching as a process, but also as a tool for achieving goals. It then becomes the norm to develop those coaching relationships rather than to put them aside.
…as a School Leader
As a School Leader, I can support coaching by allowing time for it in Professional Development schedules, meeting times, etc. At HTHNC, we even have a teacher who believes in coaching to such an extent that she has taken on the mantle of ensuring that coaching is a constant piece of the professional development of all teachers. So I support it by doing it. Like I stated above, I engage in meaningful coaching relationships as a means of supporting coaching in addition to supporting my coaching partners.
There is more to supporting coaching as a School Leader than simply engaging in it, (and knowing when somebody else has a great handle on it and not to mess with it). I think it’s important to approach the coaching process as something that is meaningful from the beginning. A practical application of this might be best summed up this way: Other people might forget to do their coaching, but I take extra time to ensure that my coaching is done thoroughly and supportively. The relationship between coaches (collegial or otherwise) is important, and I wouldn’t want to denigrate it by being flippant with it. I think that by allocating time for it, both in my own day and in a professional development schedule, the community norm of coaching being important and valuable is established.