Heather writes: Can't more be gained from talking to colleagues and learning from each other? This is the role of a coach.
Heather-- My job is to "coach our reading coaches." One of the things I try to impress on them is that coaching is all about learning together. We get them to start by cultivating a "collation of the willing," those teachers who want to learn and improve their practice together. most of the time they start by shaing a new professional book in a book study format. One of the reasons modeling is so important to what any coach does is that it frees the teacher to kid watch--figuring out what works for their kids when a new strategy is presented. Many of the teachers are thrilled to be able to focus on what is happening with their students in this kind of risk free environment. Trying out new strategies is really just a by-product of testing what works and how students react. When coaching is approached this way, even the most seasoned teachers come around alittle at a time. Coaching is not about evaluating. When we start each year, I invite a football coach in to talk to my coaches about what coaching is. It is about building capacity--finding strengths and using them to build each other--to be a facilitator--my strength may be your challenge and we can help each other--the coach can facilitate that. One of the things I have learned is that coaching is taking baby steps. It is working to gain trust and collegiality. it is being there to help each other learn and grow as professionals. I've been teaching for 26 years--but I learn so much from my teachers and my coaches--they help me to get better at what I do! Mary Anne ________________________________________________________________________ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com. _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
