When I was in the classroom, it was easier to see the fruits of my labor. Actually, I saw them daily. I could teach a concept and immediately gage if my students "got it!" I could create and then deliver lessons, and I knew right away if it was working or not based off of how engaged my students were.
Working with adults is much more difficult; it's a harder process to diagnose the needs of my co-workers at times, and then it's an even slower process to put a plan into place. There is no pre-defined curriculum for instructional coaching. It's almost like working triage in an emergency room. I simply go where duty calls--and I'm good with that. I enjoy the ever shifting pace of my day. However, during the ever shifting pace of my day, I want to make sure it's purposeful and truly helpful. It's storage because when I was a teacher, I would dream up lessons in my head and then spend all day on Sunday creating lessons that I knew I could try out the next day in class.
Today, I still have have ideas rolling around and I want to create, but finding the right audience for those ideas is more challenging. Now, I spend my time thinking about instructional strategies that can be used across all content areas instead of how I can make my students really understand Heathcliff's motives for revenge in Wuthering Heights. I guess I'm just creating for a different audience now :)
Nonetheless, I want to see my co-workers grow and develop and transform their own teaching and learning to ultimately benefit all of the kids in our school. I want to make sure that I am providing my teachers with the very best resources and instructional coaching I can provide, and I want to see them be successful so badly. I want to see them inspired and feel great about themselves. So here's to continual learning for not only me and my colleagues. Together we will navigate this "road less traveled" and I know it will "make all the difference." ~I will always be an English teacher at heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment