C3 Connecting, Coaches, Cognition

Michael Bungay Stanier: How to Begin

Michael Bungay Stanier helps people be a force for change. He’s best known for his book The Coaching Habit which has sold over a million copies and has thousands of 5-star reviews online. His latest book How to Begin helps people be ambitious for themselves and for the world and, find their Worthy Goal, and start something thrilling, important and daunting. He founded Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that helps organizations move from advice-driven to curiosity-led. They’ve trained hundreds of thousands of managers to be more coach-like and their clients range from Microsoft to Salesforce to Gucci. Michael left Australia about 30 years ago to be a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University … where his only significant achievement was falling in love with a Canadian … which is why he now lives in Toronto, having spent time in London and Boston. Balancing out these moments of success, he was banned from his high school graduation for “the balloon incident” … was sued by one of his Law School professors for defamation … and his first published piece of writing was a Harlequin Romance-esque story involving a misdelivered letter … and called The Male Delivery
Episode Notes:
-Trained with CTI but also connected with coaching as a teenager with his friends as well as being a youth crisis telephone counselor. The first answer is not the only answer.
-Living in England and graduating from university, discovered ‘coaching’ - intrigued and got transferred to Boston.
-Called himself a coach despite not knowing everything about it. 
-Trained in 2000 and started a practice, didnt love coaching all the time. Then started writing books, The Coaching Habit, as well as Box of Crayons. MBS.works is also helping others be a force for change.
-At a young age, Mum told him it helps if you ask a good question when interacting with girls…may be the start of it all! 
-How to Begin’s inspiration - Stemmed from The Advice Trap, wanted to add onto the topic. How do you actually change your behavior? It is so hard.
-”We unlock our greatness by working on the hard things” - MBS.
A nice restatement of an old truth.
-When we go out to the edges of who you are and what you are, that is where you learn more about yourself and grow in your confidence and capacity. 
-How do you think about goal setting to bring out the very best in you, as well make a contribution to the world.
-Worthy goal: thrilling, important, and daunting.
-Cheeky cartoon- originally for The Advice Trap Book but it was not a good fit, but he still loved the character.  It helped him to become the obvious guide for this book. 
-It is helpful to be the strongest signal in the room. 
-Two worthy goals: stopping being the CEO, as well as launching a podcast.
-How to Begin: 3 parts, each part has three chapters
Part 1: Draft and redraft your goal - examine, poke, interrogate, and redraft it. 
Part 2:Understand what you are committing to - When you are saying yes to a worthy goal you are saying no to other stuff. Wrestle with it for a bit and get very clear on this.
Part 3: Getting you going- Crossing the threshold. What is important is that you begin the journey. Do not do it alone, and don't think it will be three big leaps and you will be there. Find support, keep working towards the best version of yourself, and keep taking small steps to make progress. 
-Find your right band and check out the pilot light appendix
-Many goals? Hierarchy to organize your life. Prioritize.
-MBS vision: Infect a billion people with the possibility virus 
-What is my best way to achieve this bigger vision or mission?
-Aspire to one worthy goal, one great project! Tactics, strategies, project, vision, and worthy goals.
- “Plans are useless but planning is useful” -Eisenhower - You are doing the planning and that is where the power lies.
-So many chapters - what do I want to accomplish within each chapter?
-Worthy Goal for this year- Write three books! - 2023-2024
-Stay curious a little bit longer, and rush to action and advice giving a little bit more slowly.
-And what else? Because the first answer is never the only answer.
-I can translate knowledge to make it feel accessible for people. Taking the abstract and translate it for you! 
Connect with MBS:
Twitter: @mbs_works
Website: MBS.works
Year of Living Brilliantly - 52 weeks
HowToBegin.com

Jennifer Abrams: The Raw Fairy Godmother of Coaching

Formerly a high school English teacher and a new teacher coach in Palo Alto Unified School District (Palo Alto, CA), Jennifer Abrams is currently a communications consultant and author who works with educators and others on new teacher and employee support, being generationally savvy, effective collaboration skills, having hard conversations and creating identity safe workplaces. 
 
Jennifer’s publications include Having Hard Conversations, The Multigenerational Workplace: Communicate, Collaborate & Create Community, Hard Conversations Unpacked - the Whos, Whens and What Ifs, and Swimming in the Deep End: Four Foundational Skills for Leading Successful School Initiatives.  Her newest book is Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work.  
 
Jennifer shares her work in other mediums as a featured columnist on growth and change for Learning Forward’s The Learning Professional journal as well as contributing to The International Educator (TIE) focusing her writing on adult development and collaboration skills. 
 
Jennifer has been invited to keynote, facilitate and coach at schools and conferences worldwide and is honored to have been named one of the “18 Women All K-12 Educators Should Know,” by Education Week’s ‘Finding Common Ground’’ blog.  More about Jennifer’s work can be found at her website, www.jenniferabrams.com, and on Twitter @jenniferabrams. 
Episode Notes:
-High school English teacher for 9 years, then a New Teacher Coach, professional developer, Education, and Communications Consultant.
-Finding your voice around what matters- her mission
-Coaching in its purest sense is I am a thought partner, a cheerleader, a raw fairy godmother, all in service to whatever goal that the people I am working with have, which is to support students.
-Can you find your voice in a way that matters, in a humane and growth-producing way?
-It is about the development of the other person so that they feel more assured and grounded in how they want to make those changes. 
-New teachers need just-in-time training that is ongoing and that is an intentional experience.
-There is no one thing that helps to retain new teachers or any teachers. It is more about looking at your context and the challenges that you are facing in your area and saying how might we look at that. How do we go to the balcony to look at things with people?
-Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing Up at Work
-Purposeful, ongoing support for the development of an adult in a school will be so helpful, and something that needs to be focused on.
-Mrs. Kalman, “ Somebody is learning how to be a person by watching you.”
-We need to keep growing and developing, we are not done!
-We have credentials in how to teach, but we do not have credentials in how to talk to one another. We need to develop our skills in this area: being coaches, being a facilitator, being a team member. 
-We need to own our own development.
-Changing arenas in education can be a tough road. 
-Top 5 things to remember:
Your development needs to continue. Grow Yourself!
Know your identity and how you see the world differently than others. Know my biases and limitations.
Suspend my certainty that I have it the right way. Where can I inquire more?
Be quiet. Watch and listen. 
How can I be a more effective person in collaboration? How can I build up my skill set to be even more of a value add to my team members?
-Find your voice around what matters!
-Be quiet: Let people talk! The pause, the pause, the pause!
Connect with Jennifer:
Twitter:@JenniferAbrams
Website: JenniferAbrams.com
Email: jennifer@jenniferabrams.com
Instagram: @JenniferFAbrams
 

Rebecca Frazier: The Joy of Coaching

Rebecca Frazier, Ph.D., has centered her professional career around learning and sharing how to
become an effective coach in a variety of situations. When teachers feel encouragement and love as well as
being supported by a technically skilled and competent coach, both the positive energy to persevere and the skills needed to meet difficult challenges are produced. This holistic way of delivering coaching, which includes a focus on personal development, benefits all involved in the process: students, teachers, coaches, and leaders. Rebecca’s doctoral research included a qualitative and quantitative study dedicated to answering the question, “What makes an effective instructional coach?” The answers she found became the foundation for her book, The Joy of Coaching: Characteristics of Effective Instructional Coaches.
Her years as a classroom teacher, an instructional coach, trainer of instructional coaches, district facilitator for coaching program development, and a K–8 principal have provided her with a multi-tiered perspective of the coaching process. Rebecca sees coaching as the “go to” professional development a strategy that, when delivered with warmth and power, can inspire joy and professional success.
Episode Notes:
-Rebecca was a substitute in  K-12, became a K-12 instructional coach, was a 4th/5th-grade teacher,  a K-8 principal, Teacher coaching teachers program, district coach, coach, and coordinator as well as a trainer of coaches.
-Jim Knight’s work, What makes an effective instructional coach? Doctoral study focus and ten years as an instructional coach.
-Joy of Coaching Book, Coach Happy business
-Characteristics identified through research that would be helpful for coaches to incorporate into their lives and coaching practices: caring, competent, collaborative, authentic, a quality communicator, flexible, trustworthy, planned, able to provide models and inspiration.
-Team of coaches who were ready to dissect what was and what was not working.
-Caring and competency were needed for effective coaching 
-Needed intentional relationship building
-Add caring practices to our coaching due to the  data was  showing it was needed
-Processes for goal setting and progress in regards to data collection and softer skill protocols involving motivation,  commitment,  and connection.
-Dissertation: 69 coached teachers and 70 non coached teachers. Analyzed growth in teacher competency,  job satisfaction, and student growth.
-Taking a risk to gather this data, but coaching teachers outperformed non coached teachers in 22 areas of instructional practice by 4 to 5 times
– More growth in reading than non coached
-Teachers are struggling in so many ways, we need to walk with them forward
-Bite-size chunks of video reflection and video coaching
-New coaches, you were hired for a reason. If you have been hired as a coach you are good, don’t doubt yourself! Think back to what worked within your own classroom.
-Note specific things within the classroom. Praise what you want to see more of, and bring chocolate!
-Practice self-compassion
-Chip’s Tips- Coach Happy Inspirational Pup
-Coach happy, where caring and confidence meets
Connect with Rebecca:
The Joy of Coaching: Characteristics of Effective Instructional Coaches Book - Corwin and Amazon 
Twitter- @coachhappy
Website- coachhappy.com
Hello@coachhappy.com Email to be added to the mailing list

Kyle Schwartz: We See You...

Kyle Schwartz is in her tenth year of teaching, this year as a reading teacher at Doull Elementary in Denver, Colorado. Her first book, I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids focuses on realities that students face and how educators can respond to their students’ needs by building relationships. Her second book, I Wish For Change: Unleashing the Power of Kids to Make a Difference is a guide for educators, families, and mentors to help young people find a personal sense of power and use it to better their communities.
 
In addition to teaching, Kyle is a dedicated advocate for students. She has spoken nationally and internationally about supporting all students, differentiating instruction for students learning English, building strong classroom communities, and helping young people create change.
 
Episode Notes:
-Unlikely teacher, grew up hating school, who became her arch-nemesis, an elementary school teacher. But wanted to provide an experience she never had for students after falling in love with tutoring as well as teaching and learning.
-The ‘I Wish My Teacher Knew’ lesson went viral on Twitter - “I wish my teacher knew I did not have pencils at home to do my homework with”- grew into an international movement.
-Wrote the book, I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids as well as I WIsh For Change: Unleashing the Power of Kids to Make a Difference.
-The truth and vulnerability of seeing the words in kids’ handwriting struck a chord with educators.
-Kids pulled her to share with the class, kids were invited and not required to share notes, the power of community building came through. One child said, “I wish my teacher knew that I did not have friends to play with.” Yet, the students banded around this child and built connections with her.
-Kids are experts on childhood, we must understand that expertise. They are problem solvers and will engage with one another.
One student never shared, but later spoke to Kyle that she never knew other people’s parents were divorced. She saw herself in others and was able to build empathy through this practice.
-Teachers, we see you and all you are juggling right now.
-Have the courage to value all the things that are not being measured on a rubric right now: the relationships, the empathy, the connections - respond to what kids give you and hold sacred those times.
- A shift in education to meet kids where they are and look at the whole child.
-Impact story: trying this lesson, other strategies, and how kids take it over, as well as other industries all the way to the Vice-Admiral of the U.S. Coast Guard!
-We are a nudge in children’s lives!
-” Be the nudge you wish to see in the world!”
-” Notice what kids want you to see and be really thoughtful about noticing that.”
-Find the connection with kids!
-Let kids be experts no matter what, build one on one connections!
-Tips:
-Make it about the community in any way you can. Kids have to be vulnerable, so you should too. Be honest with kids about mandated reporting. Be honest with kids, Give them options about how they participate or add their name or share, serious or silly. Really round it out with community too and building connections and caring.
 
Connect with Kyle:
Instagram: @Kylemschwartz
Twitter: @Kylemschwartz

Coaching the Whole Teacher: Becca Silver

Becca Silver is the founder and CEO of The Whole Educator. She is a highly energetic and knowledgeable trainer who approaches leadership development with transformational coaching skills and strategies. Becca is a former educator, instructional coach, life coach, and executive coach. Her training programs and customized one-on-one coaching work focuses on fostering teacher buy-in and bridging knowledge gaps between leadership and staff. She believes that, when coaching teachers, adult mindsets and motivations matter.
 
The Teachers S.T.A.Y. Program is a group coaching, cohort-based 6 module program for school coaches. It systematically builds coaches' skills to understand and impact teachers' underlying motivations and mindsets that impact their behavior, buy-in, trust and resilience. This immersive program does not "add another thing onto the plate" of coaches. To inquire about a school or district-based cohort, message becca@thewholeeducator.com.
 
Episode Notes:
-Educators and coaches are whole human beings. We want to coach and lead them as whole human beings.
-The Whole Educator.com
-Teachers as diverse learners
-Top tips for supporting new educators: identify the speed of approaching growth and change, spend time listening to their concerns and build trust, and look for limiting beliefs or mindsets.
-Treat others the way they want to be treated.
-Use active listening or reflective listening, reflect back on what they are saying.
-Identify why they teach, what motivates them, and measure against that each day.
-Embrace your why
-Sorting needs: content knowledge, skills, or mindset issues.
-Utilize the mindset that people are diverse and complex, build trust authentically, treat people how they want to be treated.
-Assess what they need so you can individualize professional development.
-Mindsets and Motivations Matter
-Hear the limiting beliefs
Connect with Becca:
becca@thewholeeducator.com
Twitter: @BeccaSilver_edu

Dear Coaches...

This episode is a compilation of ‘Dear Coach Letters’ for you to enjoy and to help wrap up this year right for all our favorite coaches! 
 
Hear from our special guests:
Adam Geller
Website:https://www.edthena.com/
Twitter:@edthena
Suzy Evans
Twitter:@SuzannahEvans2
Betsy Ball
Twitter:@1BetsyBall 
Mary Phillips
Twitter:@growinglearners
Dr. Sean Corey
Twitter:@LegacyElem
David Baker
Twitter:@David63Baker
Miriam  Guerrero Cheuk
Website: www.EmpowermentCoachingMC.com
Instagram: EmpowermentCoachingMC
Linkdin: Miriam  Guerrero Cheuk
Twitter:@MiriamCheuk
Clubhouse: EmpowermentMC

Coaching Literacy: Karen Smith

Karen Smith is an Elementary Language Arts Coordinator in St. Vrain Valley School District and is Cognitive Coach trained.
Episode Notes:
-Model of coaching to onboard for literacy depends on the individual she is coaching and the context.
-Pull from Jim Knight’s Impact Cycle - Identify, Learn, and Improve
-Minimum Skills Competencies - What do our Students need to know, understand and be able to do.
-Elevation, refinement and improvement of instruction.
-Observation protocols
-Cognitive Coaching - conversations around goals and practice being the mediator of thinking
-Diane Sweeney’s Student Centered Coaching - Data driven coaching process around student work - needs to cultivate, look at data, talk about practice, and engage in teaching and learning cycle
-What is the most high leverage model to impact practice?
-All components of Scarbrough’s Reading rope are vital and teachers understand the synthesis of all of the components. Word recognition and language comprehension rungs are interconnected. We are cultivating the synthesis between all components and owning the science of reading.
-Support in the pandemic is acknowledging the work is hard right now. Opportunity to talk about high yield instructional practices
-Learning did happen last year, honor that.
-3 stages of Literacy proficiency: 1. MultiSensory instruction 2. Knowledge Stage 3. Automaticity Stage
-Are their literacy skills transferable?
-Being able to coach and mediate another person's thinking brings her to her core.
-Impact teams story 5th grade
-Coach, Collaborator, and Consult - intentional as to when and how we navigate these roles.
-The future relies in the science of reading and giving time for shifts in practice.
-Stay present in the moment, remain present in that moment!
-Pause, paraphrase, and pose a question
Connect with Karen:
Twitter: @smithkaren51

Leading Impact Teams: Dr. Paul Bloomberg

Episode Notes:
-Formative Assessment Expert started as a Band Director and Musical Performance specialty.
-Dr. Shelby Wolf - Children’s Literature
-Leading Impact Teams Building a Culture of Efficacy with Barb Pitchford
-Collective work of many coaches going in and seeing that on some teams one member may be doing most of the work, looking to create collective efficacy. It was always about what the teacher was doing, where the focus should be learner centered.
-At the center of everything needs to be the learner
-Formative assessment is a process, not a product and something that you partner with learners in.
-Take kids for who they are, see their potential, and we do anything to set ambitious goals with our kids and have clarity about what success looks like. 
-Impact Teams: Teams of educators that partner with students and families. They innovate to expand student ownership. They scale their collective expertise to make a difference for all. 
-Inviting parents into this process and into the protocols - Partnering in this process
-Impact teams work has grown across the world.
-Focus on the strengths- appreciative inquiry into the strengths they already have.
-Partnership principles - Jim Knight
-Coaches can help scale this important work
-Takes time to do this work well and have quality implementation. Use your feedback loops
-If you trust the kids they will always lead the way
-“If you trust the students, they will always lead the way!” - Paul & Mimi Erickson
-Look for the positive in others- strengths finder approach
Connect with Paul:
Twitter: @bloomberg_paul
YouTube: The Core Collaborative
TheCoreCollaborative.com

Compassionate Coaching: Kathy Perret and Kenny McKee

Kathy Perret is an instructional coaching consultant and co-author of The Coach Approach to School Leadership (ASCD 2017) and Compassionate Coaching (ASCD 2021). As the founder of Kathy Perret Consulting, she empowers school leaders, instructional coaches, and classroom teachers in their professional growth. With over 30 years of experience in the field, Kathy hosts onsite and virtual professional learning for educators across the world. Educators directly impact student growth and performance, and Kathy is dedicated to improving experiences and outcomes for both adults and kids. She believes everyone deserves a coach - and that includes teachers, instructional coaches,  and school leaders! Find out more at https://www.kathyperret.org/. Kathy is also the co-founder of the longest-running Twitter chat for Instructional Coaches. Join #educoach every Wednesday at 8 pm CST. You can find Kathy on Twitter @KathyPerret.
 
Kenny McKee is the co-author, along with Kathy Perret, of the 2021 ASCD title, Compassionate Coaching: How to Help Educators Navigate Barriers to Professional Growth. He currently works as a Content Designer for NWEA. Kenny has also served as a social media and professional learning consultant with Student Achievement Partners. Kenny’s coaching experience comes from working as a high literacy and instructional coach for eleven years in Asheville, NC. Kenny is a National Board Certified Teacher who has taught middle school and high school English language arts. He has also taught reading courses for college students in teacher preparation programs. 
He has authored educational blog posts for Student Achievement Partners, SmartBrief, Virtual Job Shadow, Sibme, TeachThought, and NEA. In 2014, Kenny was selected as an ASCD Emerging Leader, and he is still an active member in ASCD’s Emerging Leaders affiliate.
 

Tyler Tarver: Lean Into Your Lane and Build Your PLN

Tyler Tarver, Ed.S is the Dean of NLC College. Tyler speaks at conferences across the country on various topics related to teaching, administration, efficiency, technology, social media, and culture. He has amassed over 14 million views on YouTube and 60k subscribers. Tyler is a Dean of an HBCU College located in Arkansas. He also created and maintains TarverAcademy.com, where he helps students/teachers with math, tech, and an assortment of educational needs. He's written 3 books, produces podcasts, made award-winning short films, is an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Innovator, Google Certified Trainer, Google Level 1 & 2 Educator, Apple Foundations Certified Trainer, Google Forms Expert Team Member, has been featured on PBS, and also been featured on Tosh.0 four times. He's been a teacher, facilitator, principal, and Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Communications, Personnel, and Technology. Tyler loves teaching students, helping teachers, and building community and conversation around improving and innovating education to help students.
Episode Notes:
We spoke to the charismatic Tyler Tarver about his experience in education, speaking, and also engaging other educators to support them in any way he can!
Being a maker, but how do you become a person who spreads resources. The resources find the people who need it.
Baller Teacher Playbook
Engagement: What makes kids check out? Why do they stop watching a video? Two reasons they check out: A. They are confused about what is happening or they don’t see how it applies to them?
Flipped classroom to meet students needs, starting with an iPod then moving to YouTube
Connect with Tyler: 
Twitter: @tylertarver
https://www.tarveracademy.com/
Tik Tok: @SirTylerTarver