Mission and Vision
I coach because I believe in the power of awesomeness. Everyone has strengths, so my role as a coach is to draw out those strengths in order to facilitate transformational change. I want to walk into any classroom in the district and see teachers and students maximizing engagement through digital, personalized learning. I want administrators to promote a digital environment where everyone - teachers, administrators, parents, and students - can take risks and feel supported to integrate technology. We should see and feel a shift to systems-oriented, intentional digital leadership, learning, and teaching. I coach because I want the community to feel empowered to innovate and create.
Core Values
CoachingPrinciples
1. Everyone has awesomeness.
I firmly believe in the power of awesomeness. Each of us has strengths, and my role is to help find those strengths and build upon them.
2. Just do you.
In my experience as a Link Crew coach, I shadowed my mentor, a brilliant and inspirational teacher from Detroit. I wanted to be him. I wanted to get his results. In my first coaching experience, I tried to be him. It was like putting on an awesome pair of shoes that were one size too small. It looked great; it felt awful. I am by no means an expert, and my goal is that participants come to their own understandings, practices, or beliefs, not mine. I achieve this with a lot of directed and reflective questioning and through active listening. My focus in every interaction is on my interactee, and my goal is to be authentic. My hope is that by showing my true self, I allow others to show theirs.
3. For every action, there is an equal and (sometimes opposite) reaction.
There's an old adage - sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. I disagree. To quote Susan Scott from her book Fierce Conversations, "The conversation is the relationship." What we say matters. By remembering this, I know that everything a participant says to me is important. I must listen to it and understand why it is said. My words also matter. We create connection through our words. My goal is to always create a positive connection with my participants.
4. Intention = purpose
One of my favorite questions is why. I'm like a 3 year-old who constantly asks why no matter what you say. I do this because our intentions create purpose and vice versa. Everything we do has an intention and a purpose and is tied into the larger vision of who we are and who we want to be. If we want to grow, we must continually reflect, and to do that, our actions have to have meaning and purpose. Answering why helps my participants to clarify their actions and intentions. Once we know something, we can't un-know it. We are forced to act upon it, and that's how we grow.
5. This is an adventure.
Wikipedia defines adventure as, "an exciting or unusual experience. It may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome." Our district is becoming a digital learning leader. That's exciting. It's bold to say we've been good, now we're going to be even better, and here's why. It's also risky. We don't know if this will work - our outcome is definitely uncertain. The point is that we're trying. In every adventure, a hero has his loyal sidekick who helps him see the bigger picture, picks him up when he falls, and shares in his struggles and triumphs. My coaching lets me be your sidekick.
6. Be the best FOR the world, not IN the world.
I once had a brillant professor who said, "Take yourself off the it's all about me shelf and start putting other people on it." Every day I strive to be the best that I can be so that I can make life better for those around me. What good is it if you're number one, if you're not sharing that with others? In coaching, I can help my participants to be leaders for others.
7. Duty, Honor, Family
This saying goes to the core of everything I do. I coach because it's my duty to empower others. I coach because it's an honor to work with and learn from amazing educators who work very hard to do what's best for our students. I coach because we're the Panther family, and family means we take care of each other and support each other.
8. We're all in this together.
We will succeed or fail together. My role as a coach is to help my participants understand their relevance in the larger system so that we can grow both individually and as a system.
9. This won't be easy.
Willingness to be coached requires a certain amount of vulnerability. A participant has to say this is who I am and this is who I want to be. Can you help me get there? It takes trust and perseverance. I want participants to know that I recognize their vulnerability, and that while the coaching process may at times be uncomfortable or challenging, I support their efforts every step of the way.
10. I believe that we will win.
I know that we can achieve great things. I coach so that my participants can believe it too.
I firmly believe in the power of awesomeness. Each of us has strengths, and my role is to help find those strengths and build upon them.
2. Just do you.
In my experience as a Link Crew coach, I shadowed my mentor, a brilliant and inspirational teacher from Detroit. I wanted to be him. I wanted to get his results. In my first coaching experience, I tried to be him. It was like putting on an awesome pair of shoes that were one size too small. It looked great; it felt awful. I am by no means an expert, and my goal is that participants come to their own understandings, practices, or beliefs, not mine. I achieve this with a lot of directed and reflective questioning and through active listening. My focus in every interaction is on my interactee, and my goal is to be authentic. My hope is that by showing my true self, I allow others to show theirs.
3. For every action, there is an equal and (sometimes opposite) reaction.
There's an old adage - sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. I disagree. To quote Susan Scott from her book Fierce Conversations, "The conversation is the relationship." What we say matters. By remembering this, I know that everything a participant says to me is important. I must listen to it and understand why it is said. My words also matter. We create connection through our words. My goal is to always create a positive connection with my participants.
4. Intention = purpose
One of my favorite questions is why. I'm like a 3 year-old who constantly asks why no matter what you say. I do this because our intentions create purpose and vice versa. Everything we do has an intention and a purpose and is tied into the larger vision of who we are and who we want to be. If we want to grow, we must continually reflect, and to do that, our actions have to have meaning and purpose. Answering why helps my participants to clarify their actions and intentions. Once we know something, we can't un-know it. We are forced to act upon it, and that's how we grow.
5. This is an adventure.
Wikipedia defines adventure as, "an exciting or unusual experience. It may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome." Our district is becoming a digital learning leader. That's exciting. It's bold to say we've been good, now we're going to be even better, and here's why. It's also risky. We don't know if this will work - our outcome is definitely uncertain. The point is that we're trying. In every adventure, a hero has his loyal sidekick who helps him see the bigger picture, picks him up when he falls, and shares in his struggles and triumphs. My coaching lets me be your sidekick.
6. Be the best FOR the world, not IN the world.
I once had a brillant professor who said, "Take yourself off the it's all about me shelf and start putting other people on it." Every day I strive to be the best that I can be so that I can make life better for those around me. What good is it if you're number one, if you're not sharing that with others? In coaching, I can help my participants to be leaders for others.
7. Duty, Honor, Family
This saying goes to the core of everything I do. I coach because it's my duty to empower others. I coach because it's an honor to work with and learn from amazing educators who work very hard to do what's best for our students. I coach because we're the Panther family, and family means we take care of each other and support each other.
8. We're all in this together.
We will succeed or fail together. My role as a coach is to help my participants understand their relevance in the larger system so that we can grow both individually and as a system.
9. This won't be easy.
Willingness to be coached requires a certain amount of vulnerability. A participant has to say this is who I am and this is who I want to be. Can you help me get there? It takes trust and perseverance. I want participants to know that I recognize their vulnerability, and that while the coaching process may at times be uncomfortable or challenging, I support their efforts every step of the way.
10. I believe that we will win.
I know that we can achieve great things. I coach so that my participants can believe it too.
I want to send a big thank you to Elena Aguilar for her book The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation which guided me through the process of creating this philosophy.