Coaching is a Marathon not a Sprint!

By Martineric from Lille, France (Marathon de New York : Verrazano Bridge) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Really any coaching position within education can follow this metaphor.  As most instructional coaches, I've found there are several great new strategies, techniques, and initiatives that I want to sprint forward with and then I quickly realize perhaps the course is a bit longer than I anticipated.  Not to mention some road blocks along the way.

Yes, I have run a few marathons and YES it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever signed up for.  Instructional Coaching has several strong similarities with running a marathon.  It takes time, planning ahead is necessary, relying on others is essential, and you will meet unforgettable people along the way.

Time is crucial to planning, implementing, and refining what goes on in the classroom.  Achieving instructional goals or running goals does not happen overnight.  It happens with time.  Making time and time management assists the runner and the coach to achieve their goals.  Time is something that the instructional coaches I work with are hungry for on a constant basis. I’ve yet to hear a coach mention that they get bored at school and need to take on another “duty” within their school just to fill in their planning time.  The same as I have yet to hear a fellow runner state that they have an excess amount of time that day, so why not add on another 5 miles today just because.

Having a plan for the run/school year assists the coach and runner to develop the best strategies as to how and when they will meet checkpoints or water stops along the way.  Additionally, quality planning helps the coach overcome and anticipate the peaks and valleys along the course.   

Sometimes a long run can be a very isolating experience if you do not invite others along for the run.  Having someone to train with and provide new course options pushes the runner to increase mileage, improve form, and build morale.  Being the only instructional coach on campus or for the district can be very lonely.  Coaches need a network of other coaches to help push one another along the course.  This network of coaches can help one another plan, gather resources, or deal with the peaks and valleys along the way. 

The people I ran alongside on mile 2 pushed me to speed up or encouraged me to keep going just as much as those I encountered on mile 25.  Runners on along the course came in different sizes, shapes, ethnicity, and backgrounds.  All had the desire to finish in their own different ways.  An instructional coach differentiates constantly as they encounter a variety of educators, students, and administrators along the way.  Each individual bring new successes and challenges with a constant thread to improve student learning.

Now, that I may have taken it a bit too far with this metaphor or perhaps you could replace the word coach with teacher, administrator, parent, student, etc.  The fact that I’m both a runner and work as an instructional coach I like to push myself.  So, the idea behind starting this blog was to bring instructional coaches together in a collaborative space as we refine our craft.

I’ll be starting a book study/club on Jim Knight’s book, Instructional Coaching: A Partnership Approach to Improving Instruction April 28^th.  Join in the conversation on this blog or via twitter #ccoach