Co-Creating Solutions. A CTL-sponsored blog to foster and encourage professional conversation about teaching and learning.

On Sunday night I had a lovely evening with 5 delicious NYC friends. And so it goes, when we had chatted long enough about everything else there is to say, someone brought up the impossible question:

“Sherri, what is it again that you do?”

Sigh. We’ve been through this a hundred times.

“I’m a coach…A consultant. I work mostly in schools…literacy, leadership, the arts. Y’know, teaching and learning.”

There are stares. Silence. They smile. Nobody knows what to say. Everybody else at the table has a very clearly defined job with a title that even a baby would understand:  fashion photographer, pediatrician, pharmacist, scientist, businessman. Three of them hold doctoral degrees, the rest masters degrees, and together we are fluent in Italian, Spanish, Japanese, French, and Chinese. We are not stupid people. I think to myself, “Why is this so hard to explain?” I leave that night resolving to keep track of what exactly it is that I do. I’m determined to have a better answer next time.

And so today I start Part I of the series: What Do You Do?

I’m going to capture my work in short spurts at differing times throughout the coming months. Today’s installment is representative of the second morning back after a long break. This day is atypical in that I’m working from NYC- my home office away from home, but quite typical in the switcheroo thinking and multiple strands I attend to on any given day. It’s July 13, 2010, 11:00 am and here’s what I’ve done so far:

• Checked email.

I have an iPhone so I do this constantly starting the minute I wake up until I close my eyes at night. I am one of the addicted ones, I’ll admit, which works to CTL’s advantage I suppose but also saves me the headache of being surprised. I don’t like surprises. A general overview and filing of messages is how I usually start each day.

• Clarified instructions.

In my inbox was a message pertaining to a large shipment that is heading to one of my districts. One of the things I’m learning about project management is the importance of being impeccable with my word. It’s an odd line to walk because I’m the kind of leader who likes to provide a vision and then get out of the way and let people do their own good thinking. Sometimes, however, vision isn’t sufficient. I’m working on figuring out when to be specific and when general direction is enough. I’ll let you know when I figure that out.

• Panicked.

Another inbox message; this one pertaining to one of my project budgets. I’m still panting from this and trusting the issue will be resolved before day’s end. After a few back-and-forth email exchanges with my business manager, I’ll have to just ride this one out. I trust her and know that however it unravels, we’ll figure it out. Ambiguity tolerance is essential for a project manager.

• Diverted attention to new work.

Can’t obsess over what I can’t control, so I decided to do some online research regarding leadership team development. I’m particularly interested in teacher leadership and it’s my default research mode when I have moments to spare. This particular work is directed toward 4 schools I’ll be engaging with this September when we kick off the year with the development of a literacy team. After some time online with general searching, I returned to an old stand-by: the Reinventing Education website. The Change Toolkit was developed in collaboration with IBM and is a virtual storehouse of resources, diagnostic tools, planning devices and even videos to assist schools and districts with the sticky planning associated with change initiatives. This morning I found a fabulous diagnostic tool about communicating a clear vision. I sent it to my project counterpoint for a review. We’ll plan later for how this gets folded into the work.

• Skyped.

Skype has changed my life. I can honestly say I don’t know what I did without it. This morning I simply used the chat function but have set up a time for later to discuss technology plans in one of my Year 5 Striving Readers Schools.

• Followed Up.

We’ve been struggling for over a week to get confirmation about an order shipped to one of my districts. I’ve sent a second follow-up email (with a red exclamation mark) asking for someone to please confirm whether they received the shipment.

• Bragged a little.

A bit belated but due nonetheless, I sent congratulatory notes of appreciation to my co-facilitators from Penn High School who presented with me at the SLC conference the last week of June. I also sent notes to their administrators because I think it’s important they know what great folks they have working for them.

• Made some tea.

In my yet-to-be-written memoir, I will list hot tea in the credits. It is how I survive most days. It’s my little bit of peace in a mug. Today’s tea: a chamomile, ginger, mint, cinnamon concoction.

• Networked.

Several people from the conference requested copies of the power point we used. I’ve sent that off to interested parties with info about how they can work with CTL. This is a rather new facet of my work. I’m getting better at it the more I do it. But I don’t plan to win the salesperson of the year award any time soon. Selling is very difficult for me. I’d rather be doing, not talking about, the work.

• Blogged.

And so here we are. I’m blogging. I’ll finish my post, upload for review and move on with my to-do list which includes perusing the writing of a colleague and providing feedback, fleshing out a proposal for the 2011 IRA conference, and looking ahead to the 2010-11 school year to plan out my time for my 3 Striving Readers schools. Not a bad day.

I realize there’s no fascination in reading about the minutia of my day. But the act of recording the minutes in this way has been enlightening for me. I trust that at the end of this series I’ll have something profound to share, so please stay tuned.  In the meantime, if you are a coach with a good answer to the question, “What do you do?” please send me your response. I’ve got another dinner party scheduled for Friday and I doubt I’ll have a good response formulated by then.

In my blog post of May 28^th I shared an interview I had with a colleague who was just completing four years of work as a school-based literacy coach in a combined middle and high school.  In this conversation we discussed her experiences as a coach and discussed the mentoring process that was part of the support system designed to provide job embedded training and support. The two questions guiding our conversation were:  What is the value of having a mentor coach?  How do mentor coaches and literacy coaches develop mutually supportive relationships that allow them to learn and grow together?

In this month’s post I’m sharing the rest of that conversation.

Q. So, what do you think you’ll take with you from the mentoring experience?

A. I think the most important thing a mentor does is listen and be a sounding board; the bible talks about how the stones are refined by the fire and you guys kind of refined us. Through your different ways of doing things you shaved off the rough edges, and helped us shine. I think I’m much different now than I was four years ago.

Q. In what ways?

I’m an absolute advocate for using literacy strategies with anything you teach.  I don’t think there’s any content area that the use of literacy strategies won’t make better; that won’t make learning more accessible to kids.

I kind of believed that before, but now I have a lot more tools at my disposal.  I can look at my content and figure out which strategies will help me best teach the content.

Teaching with literacy strategies is completely ingrained in my head. I wish I could go back ten years, when I was in resource class, because I think my kids would soar now.

So, you’ve really internalized literacy strategies and the impact they have on teaching & learning.

Q. What do you think the difference is between being a mentor coach and a literacy coach?

I think the mentor coach has to have the big picture in mind.  As a literacy coach I had a big picture in mind but it was only part of the picture. You had the big picture and I just had a piece. Because of this, you networked the coaches, and tried to make our vision bigger than just our school.

It’s really easy when you’re a literacy coach to get myopic and have tunnel vision, “this is all I have to think about” when it’s not true. Because of the mentor coaching we got, the coaches in my district ended up working closely together and providing support to one another. And because everybody brought a different perspective it was like looking through a kaleidoscope.

For example, at the beginning of the school year we did one training for all the new teachers in the district instead of doing separate trainings in our buildings.  We all collaborated in the planning and delivery of the training.  I don’t think that would have happened if there hadn’t been somebody out there continuously saying, “There’s a bigger picture than your school”.  And my job as literacy coach is to say, “There’s a bigger picture than your classroom.”  When the teachers can understand they’re a piece of the whole, they begin to work together and collaborate and that helps the kids make connections.

Photo: New Horizons, by drp

End of Year Conversation With A Coach

Part 1

The 2009-10 school year is nearly over.  I am finishing projects and spending time in schools working with literacy coaches I support as a mentor coach.

I have been reflecting on this work and considering some questions: What is the value of having a mentor coach?  How do mentor coaches and literacy coaches develop mutually supportive relationships that allow them to learn and grow together?

Today I met with a colleague who is concluding four years of work as a literacy coach in a combined middle and high school.

This coach has worked with three different mentor coaches. We spoke about her experiences as a literacy coach and how the structure of having a mentor supported her growth and development as a school based coach. Below is an excerpt of our conversation:

Q.  What has the mentoring process been like for you?

A. Every coach is different.  I think that from that perspective, it’s been interesting having three mentor coaches,  because each of you brought something different to the table and I think what each of you brought is what I needed at the time.

The first mentor brought great enthusiasm and we really forged a friendship.  It was almost like we were heading west to make a settlement… to borrow a phrase from Star Trek, we were going, “where no man had gone before,” and we were working together to figure out how to get there.

The second coach brought a more seasoned, mature outlook to the work. She was really empowering. She empowered me to be able to believe in myself and the work and to stand up for what I thought was right.

Q. How did she do that?

A. When we would have discussions she would affirm my vision…  She was my sounding board and would let me know that I had right thinking about things and that I wasn’t off the deep end.

She helped me craft my message so that it could be better heard.   I loved her sense of humor; she just brought a great sense of humor to the work.

Also, I think the amount of coaching support we had the first couple of years was really essential because I needed that time for a mentor coach to be here.

Q. What about this last year?

This year it’s been challenging to have your questions… You question a lot, and sometimes it’s really aggravating, but, I think it’s been good for me to think through the work and solve problems.  You’ve challenged me to use more inclusive language, to quit thinking about the grant as an “I” project and think of it as a “we” project.  I’ve been trying to be aware of that, to change my language like we talked about.

Q. What about the level of mentoring support you received this year?

I think it was smart that you phased out the amount of contact we had, because if we were coming to the end of the project and I was still seeing you on a monthly basis… I wouldn’t have my feet planted as solidly as I do now.  I know what my work is and I feel confident enough to watch the work change as the school works independently without the support of the grant.

One of the things that struck me about this literacy coach’s experience was the importance of the mentor coach working closely beside her as they developed their relationship, learned about the needs of the school, and co-created a vision for the work. I was also reminded that there are many different ways to coach and be coached.  I really appreciate this conversation as we think about what we do.

In my next blog post I will share more of this conversation.