In reflecting on my own teaching experience, I have never really had the chance to get stuck in a routine as I was making changes fairly regularly. I have been in 4 different educational roles in my 12 years of teaching and almost yearly changing curriculum or level. I have found this to be very rewarding and although there can be great rewards with teaching the same level/same curriculum for many years, that's just not my style. I need a change of pace, a new adventure, a new challenge ever so often. That was one of the driving forces behind me apply and taking this role as an Instructional Coach. I wanted a new challenge, a change of pace.
In reflecting on the past year in this new role, specially this last quarter of the school year, it has been inspiring to see other teachers realize the progress that can be gained through even a little change. Recently we had teachers reflect about something that went well this year through professional development. It was rewarding reading the different comments that teachers had written and exciting to see how they noticed that with a little more effort and working on just even one specific goal (teachers created a SMART goal for the 4th quarter) that student achievement can be affected for the better. Teachers were asking themselves if they were providing the best opportunities/experiences for their students.
It is not ALL there yet, but we are closer then we were before we had Instructional Coaches, and it is really exciting to look ahead at where this program can take our teachers and our students in the future!
