Teacher Leader Coach

Political rhetoric and, recently, political actions have thrown public K-12 and higher education into disarray. Dismantling the Department of Education and withholding funds from higher institutions due to ideological differences. Both sides of the political aisle are entrenched in their thought processes, often showing disbelief at how irrational and dangerous the other side is. The reality is that the perceived chasm is not nearly as wide as we perceive it.  An article in the January 30, 2025, edition of Educational Researcher published their study of the gap in a paper called "The Purposes of Education: A Citizen Perspective Beyond Political Elites." The paper is cited below, and I strongly encourage anyone reading this to read from the primary source. Information from that study helps inform this post. The goal was to address two key questions. "Research Question 1: What are citizens' opinions regarding the purpose of education in the United States? Research Ques...

Since COVID-19, one thing educators agree on en masse is that student engagement is at an all-time low. I firmly believe that school closures were the right move for everyone's safety and well-being. The argument that COVID-19 did not medically impact kids is false, and evidence shows that kids were vectors to adults (1). Who could teach if all the adults were sick? Looking back, as bad as the outbreak was, it would have been exponentially worse had mitigation efforts not been taken. It is also true that the time during remote schooling changed many students' attitudes toward school. School attendance numbers have remained low since then, while disengagement remains high. Teachers I work with discuss that expectations in most honors-level classes today are equivalent to regular-level classes ten years ago. I'm unsure that is 100% true, and maybe our expectations then were higher than necessary, but I can definitely agree that student tenacity and urgency to succeed are sign...

In college, I took a Physical Fitness course with grades based on growth in certain exercises. On the first "diagnostic" day, I played weak and only did a few pushups. By the end of the semester, I did my normal amount, and wow, did it seem like I grew. Of course, I was not in appreciably better shape than at the start of the semester, but it sure looked impressive and got me a good grade. Without an accurate analysis of a client's current skill level, a coach does not know how to appropriately challenge and support a teacher. Each client has a different baseline skill ability, and coaches must learn where they are starting from to differentiate the experience to optimize growth. Mastery is an essential part of motivation and happens when the right level of challenge is presented and we work to overcome it. If the work is too easy, boredom results. Too challenging and overwhelming occurs.  When a client feels like the coaching is starting too low, they may feel insulted. ...

“Everyone is good for an example, even if it’s a bad one” - Bill Graba. That is one of my dad’s many sayings, and there is sage advice in those dozen words. But they only work when we pay attention to the impact of someone else’s actions. Everything and everyone around us is a learning experience when we are open to learning. Observing teachers for seventeen years has allowed me to grow exponentially by experiencing the good and bad of what other teachers do. So many great ideas have positively enhanced my classes, along with seeing examples of what I should not do in my classroom. No one is putting me on the Mount Rushmore of educators, but I am drastically better because of the opportunity to watch over a hundred teachers lead several hundred lessons. Educational leaders and instructional coaches have the advantage of observations being part of their work life. Helping teachers plan, execute, and reflect is a significant portion of the job. Each observation provides more tools to imp...

One thing most people can agree on in early April 2024 is that no one knows what to expect right now. Federal agencies are being closed at a record pace, tariffs are rocking global finances, AI is changing faster than most people can keep up with, everyone has an opinion on this, and no one can anticipate what might happen next. The stock market is a prime example of the uncertainty, and on the day I started writing this the Dow Jones surged by 800 points and ultimately fell by 600. Today as I continue writing, it rose by nearly 3000 points. There are countless ways to reach when life becomes chaotic. Some people "don't look up" as the movie's title states, because as long as you can't see the asteroid heading straight towards you it does not exist. Some like to lean into the chaos, acting like Loki, the Norse god of mischief and disruption. Others protest through marches, speeches, and boycotts. All of these are human reactions on which I place no judgment. Based...

Being a "data-driven decision maker" is as cliche today as being a " servant leader ." Both descriptions need to be prevalent in job applications, but in reality, if you are not both of these, then you should not be in leadership. Servant leadership is another blog post, where I defend that servant leadership is only sometimes good, but I quickly digress. If you are not in the business of optimizing decision-making while providing knowledge and resources to others, it is hard to defend calling yourself a leader. You may have connived some people into giving you a title, but that does not mean you are leading. Being "data-driven" means having enough high-quality data analyzed through a critical method to tell a true story, regardless of the results. Common downfalls of data-driven decisions are using too small or homogenous a sample size, ignoring relevant data, changing too many variables, or manipulating data to show what we hope to see rather than realit...

I cannot claim to be an expert on vulnerability, that title belongs to Brene Brown. Through her work, I have learned that being vulnerable is key to major breakthroughs in life. The opposite of this is true as well. Being unwilling to take risks, fearing failure or embarrassment, leads to stilted growth and eventual regression. The unwillingness to struggle in the short term leads to eventual major disappointment. That struggle is unpleasant, painful, draining, aggravating, defeating, and necessary. As a teacher, vulnerability arises when teaching a new grade level or content area. It happens when a re-designed lesson is taught for the first time, a new resource is used, and when being observed. Leaders face vulnerability when launching a new initiative and taking questions from stakeholders. Coaches face vulnerability when they meet with a new client or a client who operates outside the coach's wheelhouse of knowledge or skills. Humans are adept at procrastinating, which is a phys...