Several times this week, I’ve paused at dusk to watch the fireflies dance. Their flickering glitter brings a sense of magic to the end of a long summer day. In my neighborhood, the fireflies’ flash is accompanied by a chorus of cicadas and tree frogs, so it’s hard to miss the fact that night is falling. This time of year, it’s also hard to miss the signs that summer break is dimming. Discount stores have stocked up on school supplies, and many families are packing to squeeze in a vacation before the ring of the school bell signals the end of summer.
For coaches, it’s a good time to think ahead to the coming year. How will you frame your work as a coach so that it’s welcomed by teachers? In last week’s post, I shared some magic words for coaching and collaboration. This week, I’ll add another to the list, a word that signals to teachers the kind of relationship you hope to have with them in your coaching work. It is the short but powerful word, we.
When we frame our work with the word we, our words set forth that work as collaborative. We implies that the work will be shared. It says we will be bouncing ideas off one another, listening respectfully, and celebrating shared victories. We will depend on each other and depend on trust. The work will feel collaborative when we use the word we more than I. Hanging a sign with those two letters, w-e, in our meeting room is a good reminder.
As we work together with teachers, instruction becomes “a public contribution to be shared, used, shaped, and understood by the community.”* We help each other grow. Our work becomes an illustration of the Quaker proverb, “Thee lift me and I’ll lift thee and we’ll ascend together.”
The “ascension” of instructional improvement is the work of collaboration and coaching. The word we is a “just right” word for couching our coaching work.
While watching the fireflies tonight, I was reminded of the importance of word choice expressed in Mark Twain’s quip: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—'tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.” Thinking about the implications of the words we choose can get our coaching off on the right foot when a new school year gets underway.
*Lieberman, A., & Pointer Mace, D. (2010). Making practice public: Teacher learning in the 21st century. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1), p. 80.
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Teacher collaboration is something I’m passionate about! You can read more about creating a collaborative culture in my upcoming book, Collaborative Lesson Study, available herefor pre-order (20% discount code is TCP2019). Please indulge me in celebrating this book. I’m so excited to share what I’ve learned!This week, you might want to take a look at:
Preparing classrooms for success at the beginning of the school year (podcast):
A beautiful, printable poster with tips for new teachers:
A helpful excerpt from the book Discipline with Dignity:
Building routines for readers workshop:
Moving coaching relationships from social to professional:
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