Last week, I finished up an 8 day course in cognitive coaching. It has been spread throughout the school year and I LOVED every minute of it. The first two days I was transitioning from the classroom and thought my brain was going to explode with information. However, walking into days 7 and 8, I held a sense of clarity and excitement. I almost giggled though, as I thought back to the previous weekend in which I wish someone would have been with me to cognitively coach me through a situation.
I am currently remodeling my kitchen and have been working on this since last August. I have free help (my dad) available to me and in his line of work, I have to be patient. So the day finally arrived in which the major remodel would take place. We were moving appliances and electrical outlets. I did as much prep work as I could in order to utilize our time as best as I could. Plus I really love DIY projects and the chance to knock out a wall that drives me crazy was just too tempting. I have had the image of what I want my kitchen to look like mapped out for months. My dad measured things and said that my plan was not going to work. I am not really sure why it wasn't going to work, something about cabinets being too big. My world came crashing down. I was at a loss. He kept trying to throw ideas at me and all I could think was how I wasn't gaining anything. Just moving things around. My resourcefulness was a thing of the past.
It was the craziest feeling. I knew what was happening to my brain and almost giggled out loud. As much as I scrambled, I could not think of anything other than "my plan is not going to work". I was stuck.
Now, if I would have had a coach start asking me questions, I think I would have been able to get through it. But I just called on the next best thing... my mom. And just like I was 5 years old again, she came running to the rescue and was able to think of a new plan. Once she made a suggestion, it was like someone had restarted my brain. Ideas were racing through my mind and finally I found myself able to think clearly and come up with a new plan (that I might even love better than the first one).
As I sat through days 7 and 8 of Cognitive Coaching, there were several references to controlling yourself and your own personal emotions as you coach someone. It had a connection to a class I am teaching right now. If you can't control yourself, how do you control a classroom. Or better yet, how can you function as a team or group of teachers working together. Can you control your emotions and stay consistent? Are you able to monitor yourself and make smart choices on the fly?
So I challenge you. Get to know yourself. What strengths do you have? What weaknesses do you have? What are your values and are you doing your best to stick to them? How will this affect your relationship with your students? How will think affect the relationship you have with your staff or team of teachers? Consider having this discussion with the teachers you work with and see if your team grows.
Could you be more effective as a whole if you knew yourself as individuals? Think about it!
Jenna
