We want to give you a peek inside our Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program. Coaches taking part in this academic-year-long journey have graciously given us permission to post some of their learning and reflections from the private coursework they are undertaking during this program. Where possible, we have shared the course and the action task to give context for the guest post.

The Topic: Working with Adults & Teams

The Task: Share your experience and learning about working with adults

I have learned so much from my early days of coaching. When I started coaching I had only had one course in a literacy master’s that briefly discussed coaching. Most of my coaching was consultant-based and pushing into their classroom to help with something in their room. There was very little actual coaching. I understood Adult Learning Theory, but not the continuum of coaching and the different stances that could be taken. Having a better understanding of those things have been huge factors in making my coaching work more intentional.

Something that has been working really well for me this year is addressing the 6 components that Kim talked about in “How Teaching Adults is Different.” I make sure that the teacher is clear in their why for the goal. I have taken more time for the outside work of working with a teacher. Thinking through the questions that I am going to ask them to guide their thinking and pull from their prior experience. I am continuing to work towards giving the teacher and myself space to spend time defining and thinking through the problem. I loved the quote from Einstein where he said if he had an hour to save the world he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and five minutes finding the solution.

I really appreciated the resource from Aguilar about “Minding the Gap.” This was something new for me and I connected it to a recent conversation with Kim around creating a bridge for teachers, showing them how to get from one place to another. I also reflected on the aspect of addressing what you perceive to be the gap with the teacher. “Clear is Kind,” from Brene Brown came to mind. This year I have been working on being clear with teachers and using a shared coaching notes document has helped with this. Layering this strategy in of addressing the gap a teacher is facing and then helping them to create a bridge to help them be successful is something I am looking forward to trying with teachers who appear to be reluctant or struggling with something. This is definitely an area of growth moving forward for me and I love that it reframes looking at a teacher and thinking that it is a will gap and rather identifying which of the other gaps it truly is. Then we can create a path forward.

Read more from The Coach participants as they share their learning from the certificate & mentorship program…

Kate: The Importance of Relationships in Instructional Coaching

Karlie: The Coach as Change Agent

Becca: Seeing Yourself as a Leader

Tina: What Challenges Do Coaches Face?

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Level Up Your Coaching with The Coach!

If you are ready to dive deep into your coaching practice, to help you #coachbetter and build a thriving coaching culture in your school, please join us for our next cohort of The Coach!

Wherever you are in building a coaching culture in your school, The Coach will give you the strategies, skills and tools you need to make coaching a success and will empower you to confidently apply instructional coaching strategies in any situation – from building a coaching program, to having coaching conversations, to being a leader in your school community. We facilitate only one cohort each academic year so we can offer individualized support for each participant.

Coaches of all levels are welcome: you’ll start the program with a self-assessment to determine exactly what the next steps are for you!