Implementing the Baby Steps

So far, in my last five posts, we have learned: 

Dream AND Act:  This brings us to today’s post: Implementing the baby steps.  

I have a little plaque on my refrigerator with one of my favorite quotes.  It says, “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe,” by Anatole France.  I believe each of these suggestions go hand in hand.  Implementation is the most important step of the vision-making process. 

What are the baby steps?  How do you know what the baby steps are?  Your plan will reveal what most of them are, but if you still have difficulty recognizing them, talk to other coaches, and respected teachers.  They will provide insight as to what methods work best in your school and which strategies the teachers at your school prefer.  List all suggestions.  Then, put them in order of implementation. 

Examples of baby steps:  Baby steps may involve lesson studies, workshops, book talks, modeling, make and takes, creating resources, think tanks, and small focus groups. This may sound challenging.  That's because it is!  But, that's also why it is so much fun.  At first, you may “strongly encourage” participation.  When a person is so close to a situation, he may not see the urgency of the change.  It may take some encouragement on your part.  Once the teacher sees a positive change in the instruction and the data, he will want to continue implementing the plan.  Just remember, you're not all alone in this.  

Literacy Coaches Share the Vision with Administration

Share your vision:  Once you have your plan of action written out, go to your administration and discuss it.  This ensures your vision aligns with your principal’s.  This is key.  You want the support of your administration.  You want your principal to be aware of the goal for your teachers.  And you want her to know what to look out for, encourage, and correct when she does her walk throughs.  

Don’t be intimidated:  Some may feel intimidated with this step.  This is completely normal.  When you put your goals out in the open, someone may not agree with them.  What’s wrong with that?  Not everyone has to agree with your goals.  If you have conducted focused observations, assessed your current situation with data, studied what successful implementation looks like, and planned out your baby steps, then your goals are thoughtful and purposeful.  You have been wise with your goals.  No need to fear.

Feedback:  You have to make sure not to get defensive if your administration does not agree with your plan.  The purpose of this meeting is not to have your principal agree with everything you present.  The purpose is to present your data and goals and then receive feedback.  Notice, I wrote feedback and not criticisms.  This is key to not becoming defensive.  Ask questions for clarification.  You are each in the position you are in to improve student achievement.

Reflect:  After the meeting, reread your notes.  Add your principal’s feedback to your plan.  If there were any concerns with your plan, take a couple of days to reflect as to why your principal shared those concerns.  Don’t throw away your plan and don’t ignore the concerns of your principal.  Your principal is the ultimate authority of the school.

Coach/Principal Relationship:  I personally have a great working relationship with my principal.  Many have commented that we are very close.  We are friendly and professional, but this does not mean we have agreed on everything that goes on in the school; however, I understand her position and the amount of responsibility she has on her shoulders.  I also understand my position and my job.  My job is to lead the curricular initiatives in the school.  She is my boss and her job is to lead the school.  I support her.  

Baby Steps to Successful Implementation of your School-Wide Vision

In this series of posts, I've been walking you through how a literacy coach casts a curricular vision for their school, and turn it into a reality.  This is not a process that will be done overnight.  How will you lead your teachers to excellence?  What next steps would make the biggest impact in this area?

Only the best: Dream a little.  Think about what would be the ideal demonstration of this area.  What resources would be involved?  What components would it have?  What would the teachers sound and look like?  What would the kids be engaged in?  Write all of this down.  This is where you want to take your teachers.  This is the goal.   You will lead your teachers towards this goal.

Baby Steps:  Next, come up with the baby steps to help your teachers reach that goal.  These baby steps could take years.  Once you have these written down, you will be able to divide them up into a yearly plan and then a quarterly plan.  My personal plan is every 3 months.  The next time you conduct school-wide walk throughs you will assess if the baby steps you implemented in this time period have been successfully implemented.  You will determine if the current plan of action has been effective or not.  Writing down your plan of action ensures that you will remain focused and it allows you to go back and check to see what if your current goals were attained or if further instruction is required.  

Assessing the Current Situation in Your School

I’ve been talking about building a vision for your school.  Coaches must be leaders when it comes to the teaching and curriculum at your school.  We must take ownership of these areas and lead our teachers to excellence.  So far, I’ve talked about the importance of vision and given you the 7 Easy Steps to Creating Your Vision.

My next post talked about Purposeful Observations, where you hone in on each of the critical areas in a classroom.  The 3^rd step to creating your vision is to Assess the Current Situation.

This part of the process is often overlooked.  Coaches must debrief with their teachers about their findings.  It is not always easy.  You must remember to be specific, honest, and polite.  If a teacher becomes defensive, don’t become defensive back.  Instead, touch them nicely on the arm and say, we are all in this together.  Let’s figure this out.  If the teacher still does not want to listen, then you may have to present him with some data.  (I will discuss this at a later time.)  Take notes about what was discussed, what resources you will provide to assist the teacher, and what the teacher says about the situation as well as what their next steps will be.  This is not to be used against the teacher.  It is to be used to work together to figure out the best way of addressing the area of concern.

After the debriefing, I use all of the notes and information from my notebook to assess where we currently are and what my next steps will be in the school.  I ask myself these questions:

I write all of the answers down.  Do not skip this step.  Then, I think about what would be the ideal demonstration of this area.   What components would it have?  What teachers would be doing and what the kids would be doing?  I also write all of this down.  This is where I want to take my teachers.  This is the goal.  

Next, I have to come up with the baby steps to help my teachers reach that goal.  These baby steps could take years.  Once you have these written down, you will be able to divide them up into a yearly plan and then a quarterly plan.  My personal plan is every 3 months.  Why 3 months?  I conduct walk throughs every 3 to 3 1/2 months.  The next walk through will determine if my plan of action has been effective or not.  Writing down my plan of action ensures that I will remain focused and it allows me to go back and check to see what my goals were.