Not Yet - Part 3

 

Trust the Journey Series

February 15, 2025

Not Yet - Part 3

One of the principals that had interviewed me in the past called me out of the blue one summer. She offered me an Instructional Coach position over the phone. She told me that she saw something in me that would benefit her school and that she hoped I would be the connecting link between the teaching staff and the administrative staff. She explained her expectations and I accepted them. In that instant, my professional life changed.

Over the next year, I learned more about what school leadership was than I ever had. Working with grown ups is hard! I was expected to be an expert, but as you have learned, I was NOT. The teachers and paraprofessionals at my new school did not know me at all. They did not know my work ethic, my strengths, or how far I had come. I was starting over, and I had to make a plan if I wanted to gain their trust and support them. My principal had been an Instructional Coach previously, and offered great advice. "Get in classrooms, and help them where they are. Each will have different needs."

I started with several priorities: 

1. Never forget how important and how hard their jobs are. I was committed to serving them - to help make their teaching lives easier - to be who I needed as a teacher. 

2. Help teachers improve their craft. By identifying and pointing out their greatest strengths, they were encouraged to continue moving forward. 

3. Be the bridge (the safe person) to seek out when decisions needed further explaining or reasoning. Teachers spend most of their days with children within their four walls. Sometimes, it is difficult to understand school-wide issues.

These priorities required presence and communication. I had to be visible, approachable, and willing to learn. I became extremely aware of (and humbled by) my limited knowledge of curriculum at every grade level. I was committed to studying and maturing. I was learning so much from the teachers I served. The administrators had high expectations, and I was enthusiastically working to meet them.  This was one of the hardest years of my life, but it was also one of the most rewarding. I was helping teachers - and it felt great! I was growing, connections were forming, and trust was being built. Change was happening one person at a time. 

And then the RIF (Reduction in Force). At the end of my first year as Instructional Coach, my principal had some news for me....