The Reluctant One and How to Help

The Reluctant One and How to Help

Everyone learns in their own way.  While this is something we typically keep in mind regarding how we present information for students, we sometimes forget the same idea applies to teachers as well.  Teachers who are brand new to the classroom may be more apt to have an instructional technology specialist/coach offer suggestions or ways to improve in the classroom.  A veteran teacher may not be as open to the suggestions.  As I have provided training and coaching this school year, I have found the above statement to be true.

I am working with two teachers for the coaching project.  Teacher A is a second-year teacher and eager to continue to improve her instruction and classroom management skills.  She is open to any suggestions that are offered and wants to learn new skills to share with her students.  Her coaching sessions have not been a struggle.

Teacher B is a little bit different. Teacher B is a 15-year teacher that has seen success in the way she handles her classroom.  She attends workshops, training and coaching sessions but has a more difficult time with accepting and implementing these strategies in her classroom. Once she implemented the first strategy and saw some success, she was a little more intrigued by the conversations in other coaching sessions.  During the first coaching session, the honor confidentiality technique was implemented.  I wanted to make sure she knew that I was there to offer my help and would not critique her or the outcomes.  

I know not all coaching experiences will be as easy as these two have been. However, the same mentality will need to be implemented with any coaching situation.  The text mentions six techniques for working with reluctant teachers (Marzano, Simms, Roy, Heflebower, & Warrick, 2013, p. 216).  These techniques ensure a classroom teacher the instructional technology coach is there to help improve teaching opportunities not evaluate the teacher or critique them.  Once this is established and agreed, the coaching conversations should be more enjoyable.

Regardless of the coaching situation, if a teacher's attitude to change is negative, the coaching experience will be more challenging (Marzano, Simms, Roy, Heflebower, & Warrick, 2013, p. 215). Keeping things honest and fun might help the situation. Since I work with elementary teachers, this video could be used to encourage reluctant teachers to at least try to improve their instructional practice. References:
Marzano, R. J., Simms, J. A., Roy, T., Heflebower, T., & Warrick, P. (2013). Coaching
  classroom instruction. Bloomington: Marzano Research Laboratory.

Pixar Life Lessons - Disney Top 10 [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from 
http://video.disney.com/watch/pixar-life-lessons-disney-top-10-510e036c45743d0e047be35a