What is the role of any coach? The role is to make there players better in what they do. In listening to Anders Erickson the leading authority on what makes people great at something he mentions two things. First of all he talks about deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is practicing a specific skill which you are not very good at. You would practice this skill enough until you master the skill. Secondly he talks about getting feedback about what you are doing. You need that feedback to make sure that you are working on the right things and doing the right things to make the skill better.
As a teacher I get formal feedback from the administration maybe twice a year. Hardly the amount of feedback that you would need to really improve your craft. So in an attempt to provide a better product for my students I have asked someone to coach me. Yes, you read that correctly, I am getting a coach.
Today, my coach is observing my teaching techniques. Tomorrow we will sit down for our first discussion on what I am good at (hope they can find something) and more importantly what I can improve on to make my lessons better for students. After this discussion I will try to implement the suggestions in upcoming lessons so that I can improve these skills. I am sure at first I will be frustrated (a true sign of learning) but with the help of my coach I will hopefully master this skill and be able to move on to the next one.
I am truly excited to start this process because I can only imagine how beneficial this can be for all the students that I teach. If I can provide them with more engaging lessons, which helps them learn the material better than it is a win for all of them. I can not wait for my meeting tomorrow morning and it really has energized me.
Despite having this new coach I will continue to use my old coach also to mentor me. The old coach is students who I will continue to use as a source of feedback to help me grow in my profession. H
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