The Instructional Coach Academy

Finding meaningful team building activities can be a challenge. Recently, I crafted an introductory team activity I want to share. When I planned this activity, I was hopeful it would work well. It surpassed my expectations.

I call this activity “Creating Collective Commitments.” I did not coin the term “collective commitments.”  A colleague used it and it stuck in my head because its implications are so powerful. A quick Google search clarified the ideas, provided examples, and uncovered existing protocols. I define collective commitments as statements of value and behavior aligned to the mission and vision of the organization.

The purpose of a collective commitments activity is to build common mental models and generate pledges about how group members plan to achieve their goals. When every member of a group believes in the mission and vision and sees how the group’s work contributes to that end, members become invested in the work. That personal investment in the work and one another is what drives the motivation to work hard and behave in ways that support success.

To conduct this exercise, the facilitator will need to organization’s mission, vision, and values. With technology, a projector and a Padlet can be used. The analog version could be conducted with poster paper and sticky notes instead.

Here are the steps:

1. Introduce the activity and explain that collective commitments are an alternative to “norms.” They represent each member’s pledge to the group and the group’s work. Provide examples of common commitments such as:

• “We commit to making each group member feel valued.”
• “We commit to using a variety of types of data to drive decision-making.”
• “We commit to effective communication.”

*If necessary, take the time to further clarify the difference between collective commitments and norms (the former is rooted in the belief that dictates behavior, while the later is limited to expected behaviors). Display the mission of the organization.

1. Ask group members to write, pair, share about how each interprets the mission.
2. Discuss to develop a consensus or common mental model.
3. Display the vision of the organization and ask the group: What do we have to do to make this vision our reality?
4. Use a silent appointment or other partnering protocol for group members to pair up and discuss their thoughts.
5. Share and discuss as a large group to develop a consensus or common mental model.
6. Display or distribute the organization’s values one at a time.
7. For each value, discuss the value and ask small groups to craft related collective commitment statements.
8. Instruct groups to post their statements on a digital or analog bulletin board visible to the entire group.
9. Allow time for group members to review all the suggested statements using a selection protocol such as colored sticker dots (analog) or “likes” (digital).
10. Select, combine, or refine statements until the group has agreed to 5-10 collective commitments all members believe they can uphold with fidelity to support the purpose of the work.

Though this seems rather involved, I believe it is worth the investment. I conducted this activity in an hour, but needed more time and will revisit it in another session later. The participation in and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. In subsequent interactions, the team has been functioning with a level of ease and purpose I have not seen before.

As organizations embrace the importance of culture and relationships, reframing how we establish teams is vitally important. Exercises like this have the potential to establish deeper team cohesion and decrease petty irritations that can interfere with productivity.

Have you ever worked with a teacher who didn’t want to work with you -at all? I did and I promise it almost broke me mentally and professionally. All of our disagreements came to a head as we set in the office ready to have a meeting with the principal.

Before I get to that, let me start at the beginning of the story.

I was hired to work as an Instructional Coach halfway through the first month of school. So when I arrived, I was nervous, scared and hopeful that I could bring my previous work as a teacher into working with other teachers. Two days into the job, I had to run my first Professional Learning Community and go over the principal’s expectations for the team. Everything was going well and teachers were asking good questions until we came up to the line-When are lesson plans due?

I started, “So Mr. Cunningham* wants all lesson plans turned in by Thursday evening so that we- the coaches- could have feedback ready to you by the time you leave on Fri-“

Before I could get the last of the word out Mr. Fox* interrupted me.

“Why Thursday? I like to sit down on Friday after the students leave, go to an early dinner and write my lesson plans well into the evening.”

Taken aback, I explained again what the principal wanted, but with that came 20 more questions about why Mr. Fox thought this was unfair. Obviously exasperated, he left the meeting vowing to meet with Mr. Cunningham to plead his case. I could tell by the look on all of the teacher’s faces that they were not amused by Mr. Fox and I immediately knew that he would be quite different to work with.

Now, based on that interaction, you’d think that Mr. Fox was a veteran teacher, but no, he actually a second-year teacher who had decided that he knew everything there was about teaching history to high school age children. Upon observing his class, it was clear that there were issues- specifically around classroom management and instructional strategies, specifically, he lectured the entire class period and if a student didn’t do what he said at that moment, he put them “out” of the classroom. However, Fox decided he didn’t need anyone’s help.

That belief posed a major problem with the vision of our principal Mr. Cunningham who had a clear instructional vision about the school that directly in contrast to how Mr. Fox operated his class. So for the next couple of months, I attempted to build a relationship with him, but to no avail. Despite his reluctance to work with me, I still had to visit his class several times per week and offer feedback and try to get him to embrace a more student-centered classroom. Nothing worked. He relied strongly on his summer training of teaching and recoiled if anyone suggested that he use anything other than the textbook.

All of this came to head, after a visit from the state where they witnessed Mr. Fox demean a student because they didn’t have the right type of paper and lectured the entire class period. Immediately after the observation, I was called into the office and there was Mr. Fox waiting.

Not knowing what was going on, I knocked on my principal’s door and he quietly opened the door and pointed for me to sit since he was on the phone. After about five minutes, he hung up and before I could ask him what was going on, he called for Mr. Fox to sit down.

The next fifteen minutes were interesting- to say the least. There was a lot of tense moments with the principal laying out his concerns one-by-one and Mr. Fox sticking to his guns that everything he was doing was right. The entire time, I just sat in my chair and listened- this was not my meeting and despite what I personally felt about him, this entire exchange was awkward and unwarranted. In the end, the principal gave Fox and ultimatum- make your teaching more student focused or his evaluation would show that. Begrudgingly, Mr. Fox agreed he’d work with me and we’d meet again in two weeks to reassess his progress.

We all left that meeting feeling pretty ‘beat up’ but I couldn’t just go back to my office- I needed to have a follow-up conversation with Mr. Fox- not to beat him up, but to let him know I was really there to help him. During our quick meeting, I reiterated that as a second-year teacher it was normal for him to struggle and that if he needed help with what he had to do let me know.

I left feeling better and  apparently he did also because later that night I received an email asking if he could meet with me during his planning to see how he could organize his planning better. Our work relationship got better once he realized I could help him and I did.  He ended the year feeling much less like he had a target on his back and he even sent me a nice note thanking me for working with him despite his ‘bad’ attitude.

As I sat at my desk and fumed all I could say to myself was, “I did not sign up for this. This is not how you treat others!” The longer I repeated those words the angrier I became and before long I was hurriedly typing away an email to my principal about my interaction with that teacher. Before I could hit send, I was called to a parent conference. After the parent conference, I helped a teacher get their technology working, but not before I was called to a meeting about Title I funds.  When I returned to my office a couple of hours later, I look at the angry email and deleted it and packed my things to go home. I needed a break and that day had been one of those days you have working in an urban school.

As I drove home, I thought about the interaction with a teacher that had gotten me so “riled up”.  I had come to work that morning excited about a strategy to help a grade level group of teachers struggling with engaging their students when in the course of a PLC a teacher who was upset we had to try something “new” blew up at the group and accused all of us of  throwing her under the bus. Livid, I was two seconds from losing my cool when my voice of reason told me to go back to my office and end the meeting. By the end of the day,  I could laugh about it but I knew sooner or later I’d have to have a conversation with the teacher to clear the air.

For years I had yearned to be an Instructional Coach. I had watched other coaches work with teachers and each time I saw them I thought to myself, I would love to do that job! During the 2012 school year, I received a call that gave me the opportunity to become a coach.  I was called to interview to be the Literacy Coach for a school across town from mine. I didn’t know much about the school, but I knew one thing about me- after being in the classroom for close to 14 years I was ready to an Instructional Coach.

Fast forward to a couple of days after receiving the call to interview, I was sitting in the from office in my new black pantsuit waiting for my name to call. As I look nervously around, I could see that this school was similar to the school I had taught at for the past five years. The kids were the same (Title 1, public high school) and based on the looks of it, the teachers were the same. Just when I was starting to feel comfortable, my name was called and I was sitting in the principal’s office being interviewed about why I should be the coach.

I know I stumbled through my answers, but later I would learn (from my principal) that my answers on instruction and helping teachers helped secure me the spot. Later on that evening after eating a bag full of donuts and watching my phone, I got the call I so desperately wanted. I was hired for the position.

As I look back on that day and my subsequent first day of work, there was so much I have learned during my time working with teachers and veteran and instructional coaches.  I was one of the lucky few who had a principal had been an Instructional Coach and he understood the scope of my work. However, others are not that lucky. Many times principals make the mistake of training their coaches to be a part of the administration team instead of a coach who helps teachers.

The reality of my time as an instructional coach was that it was hard work. Probably harder than being a teacher in a classroom of overage students. Harder than calling parents and telling them that their child was retained. Harder than working with students who others had given up on. My job as a coach was harder and not because of the work, but mainly because the audience changed. I no longer guided underage teens to a love for literature, but I had to coax reluctant teachers to trust me as I helped guide them to become stronger teachers.  Compound this with the fact that I worked at a Priority School where the threat of being taken over by the state always loomed heavy on all of us there. There were days I went home and punched my boxing bag a hundred times, there were days I cried in my office from frustration and there were days I seriously contemplated about going back in the classroom. However, for every bad day, there were two to three great days with people who cared about students and gave 100%.

Looking back at my first couple of years working with teachers, I wished that someone would have told me what this job was going to be about and what I needed to do BEFORE I went in from of any teachers. I wish someone had told me that you may have people on your staff who will undermine you or treat you poorly. I wish someone had told me that as a coach you have to be able to help people who sometimes don’t know (or care) to be helped.

As we start the upcoming school year, I want to give some “gems” of my experience so that this year coaches feel a little bit more supported in the work they do on a daily basis. Every instructional coach  should:

• research the school and content area you will support.
• conduct a professional learning survey for your teachers.
• spend the majority of your time in classrooms, observing and helping teachers.
• remember you are not an administrator. Remember that and adjust your actions accordingly.
• be prepared to encounter negative teachers who do not want to work with you.  Remember their negativity has nothing to do with you, but with them.
• team teach difficult classes to struggling teachers.
• be accessible.
• remember you are still a teacher even if you do not have a class.
• offer professional learning that is relevant to a varying degree of teaching mastery.
•  not be afraid to say you are wrong.
• keep track of your time by using an agenda where you can reflect.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive, but it’s a start for a coach who had a bad year last year or who’s unsure about this year. Use this list to guide your work and take some time to plan, prioritize so you can support teachers to have a great year!