Jonathan Haidt’s, “The Happiness Hypothesis,“ presents a helpful metaphor for coaching: the elephant and the rider. The elephant symbolizes our emotional, intuitive self—the instinctive reactions that show up when a lesson flops, a student refuses to engage, or a new initiative feels overwhelming. The rider represents our rational, planning, problem-solving self that sets goals, analyzes […]

Mattering is the feeling that we are valued and have value to add to the world. When we build a mattering ecosystem that helps adults feel valued and significant, we’re creating the conditions for children to feel they matter. What are coaching actions that signal mattering to their coachees and help build an ecosystem of […]

The authors of, “High Five to Thrive: 5 Proven Practices to Unleash Your Passion for Teaching” share their strategies to assist teachers to experience thriving in teaching. Their strategies tackle these issues: A loss of purpose – Is the passion that once fueled you fading? A feeling of hopelessness – Have you ever felt like no matter […]

How do the words teachers hear from school leaders, instructional coaches and peers provide an uplift and motivation? Are there time that the words teachers hear create a subtle source of stress, confusion, or disengagement? Our language can be a vehicle through which expectations, emotions, and commitments are transmitted.  What we say—and just as importantly, […]

As educators, stress is an ever-present reality. But what if we could reframe stress—not as a threat—but as fuel for growth and purpose?  I was introduced to the concept of hardiness in a podcast with instructional coaches and coaching trainers, Lana Cecil and Angela Buckingham, from ESC 13 in Austin, Texas. They shared how they explored […]

Dave Stuart posted a video where he explores five key beliefs as crucial in fostering student motivation.  He identifies these as central to creating a learning environment where students feel inspired and driven to engage in learning. As I explored his beliefs, I thought that they could each be applied to school leaders and instructional […]