From mediocre to superior

I witnessed this quote, today, on the resume of a colleague of mine. The part that resonated with me is the difference between a "mediocre teacher" and a "superior teacher".

As a coach, I'm expected to assist teachers in best practices, desegregation of data, and provision of resources. Of those tasks, & in my interaction with teachers I expend about

• 50% of my efforts telling teachers
• 20% explaining to them
• 10% demonstrating for them
• 20 % inspiring them

I'm not sure that I'm okay with those percentages. What pains me the most is the fact that 50% of my efforts are spent telling them which only makes me a mediocre coach. While I greatly value finding ways to inspire them, I'd prefer a larger percent of my time and energy being spent on demonstrating. My personal goal is not to be a great coach, but a superior coach...and not for any accolades, but simply for my own internal satiety.

But I see a dilemma with this methodology. Where, in a coach's schedule, does the act of demonstrating (or modeling) have room to play a colossal role? Between data meetings, planning meetings, students intervention groups and Admin meetings, where does a coach find time to model lessons with teachers?

Not that it can't be done, but modeling in its purest form is more than a one time 'dog & pony show' (as they used to call it). Its about as effective as calling a perspective teacher in to teach a model lesson, and basing their value to your program off of one 15-35 minutes model lesson. That's not wise. Modeling would need to be consistent. And by consistent, I mean with that same teacher, almost to a point of co-teaching. And by consistent I mean over a period of weeks.

So my resolve lies in how I utilize my planning meetings with teachers. Demonstrating best practices with them through trainings and planning is how I am more effective at reaching my goal. As of now, every time I present information to them, I do so through the lens of demonstration. Whenever I'm presenting a new concept to them, I teach them the concept as I present the lesson to them as if they were the pupil in their class; I decorate and set my office up with current anchor charts & samples of foldables that help them see what visual cues will assist ELL & tactile or visual learners. Each training I do, I ensure that I use interactive paired & group activities to disseminate the information so that they will see what their classroom environment should look & feel like.

My hope and goal is not just to inspire them through encouraging words, but that my own practices might spark passion and desire for them to emulate best practices when they facilitate learning within their classrooms. Just my thoughts...