I was coached today

When I was a high school athlete, I wanted to be better.  When I was a college athlete, I wanted to be better.  In order to be better, I listened to my coaches and did my best to follow their training plans and suggestions for improvement.  I rarely if ever questioned what they told me to do, except maybe when I was a long jumper and sprinter in high school.  What's the purpose of running two miles when the most you'll ever run in competition is 220 yards (now you know how old I am)?

What I'll tell you is that because I listened to my coaches and practiced, I became a better athlete.  Hard work pays off in athletics, but every athlete has a limit.  The question is, what is that limit?  How will we ever know if we aren't pushed to be better.  Growing up as a sprinter and long jumper, no one would have known that I would become a marathon runner, ultimately qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  My coach for my qualifying run was Hal Higdon, and not because I ever spoke to him during my training.  It was because I found a training plan online and followed it almost to the letter.  I did meet Mr. Higdon at the Chicago Marathon Expo the year I qualified for Boston.  We briefly discussed my training, which consisted of lots of long runs on my treadmill, and he told me he didn't think I would qualify.  He felt the treadmill wasn't the place to do long runs.  That just made me want to prove him wrong, and I did.  I followed Mr. Higdon's training plan mileage and pace, but I was able to alter it to meet my situation.  Good coaches can give you the training plan, but there needs to be a little wiggle room.

Why do I bring this up?  I bring this up because I was coached today.  I realized that I still have a lot to learn about our Language Arts program so I went to classrooms today with our Literacy coach and we took notes together, had discussions during the lessons we saw, and had further discussion afterwards.  I was learning about teaching points, gradual release of responsibility, and ways to facilitate small groups.  Did I already know about these things?  I sure did, but I wanted to get better.  You know what else I can tell you?  Our staff wants to get better.  We both benefit from our coaches.  But there is one sticking point that can get in the way of coaching and learning-mindset.

My mindset has always been one of a learner.  I can't learn on my own all of the time.  I can do personal reflections, but I need feedback on my performance from an outside source, too.  My mindset was put out there last night on the #nyedchat Twitter chat.

Jay Posick

@posickj

A3 I think a great way to get better is to have a coach, mentor, colleague, or admin provide feedback conversations following a lesson. Everyone needs a coach, even Lebron James! #NYEDChat

Carol Varsalona @cvarsalona

A3 #NYEDChat

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7:29pm · 17 Sep 2018 · TweetDeck

I have been coached by principals, superintendents, instructional coaches, teachers, and many others, including my wife, about ways to improve as a principal.  It's happened face to face, over the phone, in a Google hangout, on Twitter, on Facebook, and on Voxer.  All of these coaching experiences have helped me to become better.  But I'm not done being better.  There is so much more I need to learn, so I'll keep searching for more coaches.

So my next big challenge is this- How can I help educators realize the value of being coached?  Who of you out there can provide me some suggestions and a plan?  You know, who is willing to coach me through this challenge?