As a Literacy Coach..... - Reader comments at The New York Sun

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Coach Class
in response to reader comment: Just more destruction by those who are old enough to have been taught well!

Submitted by Jibby Brown, Jul 31, 2007 07:51

As an urban middle school literacy coach who works with 600 students and 40 staff members, coaching is all about "relationships." However, from a coach's perspective, if you are not welcome in a classroom - you know it. Most often it is the veteran teachers who do not want your help, and the younger teachers are hungry for instructional strategies that work. As a coach, the burning question I ask myself is.... "How will this help the students?" Teachers have to be willing to see coaching as on-the-job professional development and not evaluative. I reiterate every year to the staff I work with, "My job is not to evaluate you - but to help you accomplish every goal you set for your students in the classroom." Nevertheless, we have to realize there are people in this profession who really are not cut out for the daily business of working with kids. We, as a community, must never forget "Teaching is a Calling and a Worthy Profession." Our job is not to be taken lightly. We influence thousands of minds every day. To become a teacher - you must be a life long learner. Otherwise, how do we move into the 21st century and keep pace with our world? If we want our students to become Life Long Learners, we mus be willing to model that behavior.

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
Actually, utilizing a literacy coach in schools is a research based strategy that improves instruction. The coach should be a... [MORE]	Patricia	Apr 30, 2007 18:42
While I am not denying the validity of the process, success aldo depends on the capacity of the teachers to... [MORE]	Mike Vizzo	May 3, 2007 20:02
How can you teach so-called professional teachers to teach literacy, when those same public school teachers are illiterate themselves? The public... [MORE]	Mike Vizzo	Apr 30, 2007 18:07
As a former New Yorker who has made a home in Los Angeles for the past 26 years, I can... [MORE]	Charles McCleary	May 1, 2007 16:21
I work in a lot of schools that draw upon the approaches Lucy Calkins and the people who work with... [MORE]	Terri Ruyter	Apr 27, 2007 23:05
How much more $$$ must go down the drain, and how many more children must be hurt before those at... [MORE]	Rena Stanford	Apr 27, 2007 21:49
As an urban middle school literacy coach who works with 600 students and 40 staff members, coaching is all about...	Jibby Brown	Jul 31, 2007 07:51
... myopic articles such this. The author seems to suggest that coaching professions to hone their craft is somehow bullying the... [MORE]	Brett	Apr 27, 2007 20:31
Clearly, either the choice of the coach or the training of the coach did not involve a key component of... [MORE]	Kerin	Apr 27, 2007 11:37
Teacher's College has had a long, profitable relationship with NYC public schools. They have capitalized on their reputation as a... [MORE]	ann	Apr 27, 2007 10:37
Dos this course promote Whole Language, or a mix of methods, or synthetic phonics-first and only? [MORE]	Mona McNee	Apr 27, 2007 08:06
God, what a disappointment: I though this article was about 'Coach' bags, or shoes or other stuff, stuff that's important.... [MORE]	Maury Leon	Apr 27, 2007 14:40
This is in response to the comments of Maury Leon. You said, "So, you have a "coach" coaching a teacher, who... [MORE]	Marie	May 7, 2007 12:04