I walked into a teacher’s classroom last week with the vaguest of intentions:
To see what was going on with her reading instruction… To try to “help out” with her small group work…
Thirty-five minutes later, I ended my work with the teacher certain she was more confused than before I’d visited her classroom. I felt horrible. It’s my job as a coach to help teachers get clearer and more confident about their work, not have them nod uncertainly and walk away with a jumbled assortment of “next steps.”
We’d kinda set an agenda for our work together. We’d been meeting as a grade to discuss how to best support first grade chapter book readers. We’d been discussing some ideas to support students to track the story structure and story elements on post-its as they read. I suggested I could come in one day to “see how it was going.”
So, how did it end in disaster unintended confusion? After reflecting about this a bit, I’ve come to the conclusion that it was my lack of clear intentions that inevitably ran us off course.
To see what was going on with her reading instruction… What was I looking at? What was I looking for? Was my intention to focus more on the students’ comprehension—in order to give the teacher a clearer picture of their understanding of the skills in question? Or was my intention to focus more on her teaching—in order to give her feedback on the clarity of her instruction or her questioning?
To try to “help her”… How was I intending to help? Would I be watching and note-taking, then sending her an email? Would I be co-teaching with her, taking turns leading the students in a discussion? Would we be trying “teach a little-talk a little,” pulling out of our teaching to discuss midstream how we felt students were performing?
This is Coaching 101 stuff, I know! But stumbling this hard was a reminder to me that intention is everything when we’re doing anything, really. Pausing to take a breath before we start, asking, “What is my intention for this moment, for these moments?” can make all the difference between clarity and confusion.
Writing Me Home 
What a great reflection! I’m using your questions when I’m in the classroom “What is my intention for this moment, for these moments?” Coaching is always navigating the waters…and those waters are sometimes smooth sailing and others…rough.
Yeah, I’ve been doing this for long enough now that I’m not so surprised by rough waters. But I still get disappointed! A colleague and I are challenging each other to write down our intention before entering a classroom, and to jot down a concise “coaching point” when we leave… Should be interesting! 🙂
Beautifully put; to make a difference between clarity and confusion. This one hit me squarely today. My position is a lot like yours :). Thanks for sharing your reflection with us; I’m glad you did.
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I love how reflective you are in your coaching. Even though this moment wasn’t the best coaching moment, being reflective will make the next one much better!
Yikes! I have made plenty of visits without enough intention. This is excellent advice. Thanks for the insight. You and your colleague have also challenged ME to ” write down our intention before entering a classroom, and to jot down a concise ‘coaching point’ when we leave.” I plan to use this idea in my work as well!