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The Best Way to Grow as a Teacher
Nothing Else Even Comes Close
When I was a coach at a middle school, I was lucky enough to win a grant for my school. The grant entailed that teachers could apply to observe someone else across our district doing something they really wanted to learn more about. Observing other teachers is where it’s at, in terms of bang-for-your-buck learning.
Don’t get me wrong: professional development is great. I’ve attended many a session that I walked away from with great ideas, excited to experiment with my new learning. I’ve also delivered numerous PD sessions. As a coach, that’s a big part of my job. But the best learning, again and again, happens when a teacher wants to learn about a particular approach or strategy and they are able to see it in action.
Why? Because when you see it, you believe that, yes, you can do it, too.
For the grant, teachers had to tell me: What is it that you most want to learn? What are you wanting to be able to do in your classroom? How are you wanting to grow? Once they told me their wishlist, I went out and hunted it down by asking other coaches at other schools — who had a teacher who did X really well? Who did they have who did Z? I was able to match up my teacher’s wishes with great examples for them to see.
On the day of each observation, I went with my teacher. First, we had a pre-observation meeting where the teacher got to ask questions and get the lay of the land. We were there to learn, not to critique — we got to hear from the practitioner about their methods and reasons why. Then, we watched. As we each took notes on what we saw and heard, we gathered a wealth of data that we could compare and think on what we would do with this information: What would the teacher bring back to her classroom? After observing, we got to follow up with the teacher, to ask about certain moves or choices they made during instruction. My teacher got to gain greater clarity around what we saw and the thinking that went into each choice.
Every single teacher who got to observe another great teacher in the act grew as a result — it was individualized learning at its best.
I realize that it’s often tough to sacrifice a planning period to go into someone else’s classroom. And I understand that because the time is so precious, teachers guard it carefully. But when the coach assists with finding the match of what each teacher wants to learn most, excellent learning is practically guaranteed.
There is no doubt: teachers do amazing things in their classrooms every single day. But if they don’t share and connect with one another, how can they continue to grow? That’s where the coach can help — matching up wants with excellent examples, and being a thought-partner on implementation. That’s when a teacher can truly grow.
