Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Change is Good

Here I go restarting my career  once again. Andy Warhol once said, "They say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself." So true. I love teaching; the daily interaction with the kids, the high you get from the lesson that just freaking nails it. Teaching. I'll still be certified, I can still jump in and teach it up, but now, I'll be coaching teachers. What the hell does that mean? Coaching teachers. Several years ago our school district opened up a new avenue for educators; Instructional Facilitators. IF's. IF's were meant to help teachers become better teachers through observation, collaboration, and feedback in a coaching cycle. The concept caught on, and some great work was done. I jumped right in. My partner in crime Stephanie and I decided we could do this shared gig. One of us would be coaching, the other would be in the classroom. The theory here was we could keep our noses in the classroom, where they belonged, and still coach our colleagues up a little. The practice was we both ended up with two full-time jobs. After two years I gladly took over the classroom and Steph took the IF role over. In other schools principals began taking liberty with the role and responsibilities of the IF's. Some became assessment coordinators others organized book rooms, took on the At-risk files, and filled any position the principal needed filling. Fast Forward to 2012. NCSD, in a move I applaud, decided they would not kick in money to fund an IF in every building. Whatever money the state supplied for IF's is what the district would fund. The number of IF's went from about 50 to 25. These coaches would be operating under a different model, and anyone present IF or not, would have to interview for the job. I did, I was hired, time for a change. I'll keep you posted on how it is going.

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