Not again, here I go leaving my comfort zone

If you read Chapter 8 of Student-Centered Coaching, you got to know my daring and fearless friend Cyndy. Cyndy is one of those people who pushes me out of my comfort zone on a regular basis. In chapter 8, we were mountain biking some insane trails in Colorado. This time, Cyndy and her husband Craig took me rock climbing near our home in Winter Park, Colorado. Craig is an amputee climber who recently broke the record for climbing El Capitan in Yosemite, and Cyndy is an amazing climber in her own right. They even coaxed our 8 year old son up the face of the cliff—truth be told he had a much easier time of it than I did.

So you are probably wondering what all of this has to do with coaching teachers. The answer is simple. As I literally dangled off the edge of a cliff, I got to thinking about how I take for granted the fact that many teachers we coach are metaphorically dangling from that very same place. I was honestly terrified, but as Cyndy boled me from below, she did all of the things a good coach does when taking teachers into the great unknown, such as:

- She made me feel safe within the risk. The moment I panicked, she instructed me to put all of my weight on the rope so I could feel her hold on me. This incremental feeling of security built enormous trust and helped me keep on going. Coaches can do this by showing teachers that what they are doing has merit and that growth is happening.

- She coached me to reach for certain holds that would provide the best support. This is no different than collaborating with teachers around their instructional decision-making. Breaking large and sometimes overwhelming tasks down to concrete steps can help to move a teacher forward.

- She told me to avoid other moves that she knew wouldn’t help me reach my goal. Sometimes as coaches we have to help teachers evaluate some things they are currently doing against their goals for student learning. We can’t view our work as only adding new practices, we also have to think about editing what someone is already doing that might not be working.

- She refused to let me wimp out, knowing that I would be so mad if I didn’t succeed. About half way up, I got pretty scared and was considering giving up, but she used her best coaching skills and talked me through what it would take to succeed. And I have to say, when I got to the top, it felt really good.

All of these moves that Cyndy used so naturally are what a good coach uses with teachers. Though their panic attacks might be more subtle, they are no less real and it is our job to pull them through towards success. Enjoy these photos from our climb.

© Spark Innovation, all rights reserved.

Learn more about Diane Sweeney and Spark Innovation by visiting www.sparkinnovate.com