Are there any similarities to coaching and teaching? From personal experience, I believe there is
a lot about coaching and teaching that is similar and overlaps. You may not see where this is going right
now, but I hope it makes sense and gets across a point by the time you have
read the entire post.
I am reading the text, Reading Essentials by Regie
Routman. I was going to focus on the
first section of the book, but decided to just focus on the first chapter for
this first “segment” because there was so much beneficial information. The
first chapter, Simplify Your Teaching Life, discusses the importance of really
concentrating on the important aspects or what the book refers to as the “essentials”,
and focuses on really doing things to be a better teacher and get more out of
students. “If we want our students to be excited about
literacy, they need to have teachers who love coming to work, who are literacy
learners themselves, who find ways to make curriculum relevant to children’s
lives, and who can put high-stakes testing in perspective” (Routman 4). Wow what a comment. When was the last time so many of us were
just overflowing with joy to get to work?
I’m not saying that I do not enjoy my job or coming to work and teaching
children, because I do, but when you read that sentence…it makes you
think. Then the next sentence, in the
same paragraph, was just as much a wow factor to me. “None of this is possible if we’re constantly
exhausted from an overstuffed curriculum and have no time to collaborate,
reflect, and renew ourselves” (Routman 4).
Now, after reading that sentence from the text, how many of you went
WOW?!? Another point that stood out from
this chapter was the beliefs and practices of not only using the science backed
studies and knowledge, but also teachers using their own personal knowledge and
judgement to teach the students that they know best. “Instead of focusing on ‘Is it right?’ or ‘What’s
the best way?’ let’s think about and focus on what’s right and best for a
particular student or group of students at this point in time as indicated by
what we’ve read, the conversations we’ve had with our colleagues, valid
research we’ve consulted, our teaching experiences, and our students’ needs and
interests” (Routman 6). That is taking a
lot more factors into action than just science and curriculum, and the
suggestion is that you need to take all of these factors into account to get
the most out of your students. It makes
me think about all of my time in coaching middle, junior, and high school
athletes. We cannot recruit the players
that we want to fit our offensive or defensive styles or playbooks, a lot of
times we have to adjust our methods and focus on using the styles and plays
that will fit the personnel that we have.
We have to compete with what we have, so fit the plays to get the most
and best out of the abilities that our current players possess. The approach here is to utilize and adapt to
get the most and best out of your players, same thing with our students in our
classes. Each year, each class, each
student is different, and a “cookie cutter” approach may not be the best way to
handle our teaching responsibilities. “Without
devoted teachers to individualize instruction for the students in their
classroom, any program – even a scientifically proven one – will be, at best,
minimally effective” (Routman 10).
You captured how many teachers fill on a daily basis perfectly. While I love my job, I cannot say that there aren't days where it is the toughest thing I do all day! Most day it isn't the actual teaching that gets me, but all the other "stuff" that comes along with being an educator. I'm interested in hearing more about this book as the semester goes on!
ReplyDeleteWow is all I can say about your comment from the book, “If we want our students to be excited about literacy, they need to have teachers who love coming to work, who are literacy learners themselves, who find ways to make curriculum relevant to children’s lives, and who can put high-stakes testing in perspective” (Routman 4). This really makes me think about my attitude some mornings when I come to work. We are the only positive influence that some of these children see.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I saw the title of your post, I knew this had to be yours! I admit that I did not foresee the depth of these connections until I read each word, but your analogy was spot on. I was especially moved by your comments "We have to compete with what we have, so fit the plays to get the most and best out of the abilities that our current players possess. The approach here is to utilize and adapt to get the most and best out of your players..." Thank you for this blog post!
ReplyDeleteLove the quote “If we want our students to be excited about literacy, they need to have teachers who love coming to work, who are literacy learners themselves, who find ways to make curriculum relevant to children’s lives, and who can put high-stakes testing in perspective”. I so agree with this, as we are the only positive influence so many of our students have on a daily basis. If we come to work mad about being there, how can we expect our children to love being there, thrive in our classrooms, and even be able to concentrate on anything. I, too am reading this book.
ReplyDeleteLove the quote “If we want our students to be excited about literacy, they need to have teachers who love coming to work, who are literacy learners themselves, who find ways to make curriculum relevant to children’s lives, and who can put high-stakes testing in perspective”. I so agree with this, as we are the only positive influence so many of our students have on a daily basis. If we come to work mad about being there, how can we expect our children to love being there, thrive in our classrooms, and even be able to concentrate on anything. I, too am reading this book.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading this book as well Scott, but my thoughts went in a completely different directions. I love the analogy you mad to sports and it completely makes me think about making my curriculum fit my students. I'm interested in hearing more of your views as you continue reading.
ReplyDeleteScott, I loved your analogy with football! With all that we have on our plates on a daily basis, it is easy to lose sight of the joy of teaching. Bringing ourselves into our classrooms--including our beliefs!--is an important way to keep that joy! Thank you for your concern about reaching each student in the way that s/he learns best. :-)
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I read your title, I knew I had to read. Perfect analogy! You nailed it when you said, " The approach here is to utilize and adapt to get the most and best out of your players, same thing with our students in our classes. Each year, each class, each student is different, and a “cookie cutter” approach may not be the best way to handle our teaching responsibilities." As a former coach, I totally understand this thought.
ReplyDelete