SClarke

Find IT, Live IT, Coach IT...

IT refers to the indiviualization of an organization's vision.   The last third of the book deals with the importance of coaching IT.  Coaching is a horizontal process; everyone coaches and everyone is coached.  We all need coaching to keep each other on target.

In a traditional field such as education, coaching has not been encouraged.  Sure, mentoring a new teacher is acceptable.  After all, he/she needs to be shown "the ropes."  But to think that a new teacher can coach a veteran teacher, administrator, administrator, or even central office administrator...well, that would be impertinent!   According to Fish! Sticks, this kind of mentality hinders the realization of an organization's vision.    

For coaching to be effective, all parties would have to have the vision at heart and confident enough to accept feedback, positive or negative.  In education, we have feedback in the form of state testing results, and we have feedback from our yearly evaulations,  but what about feedback from each other?  Could we handle it?

I say "yes", we could and should have horizontal feedback.   Superintendents to administrators to teachers to cafateria workers to custodians.   Let this feedback provide coaching to all in the organization.  We can all learn from and encourage each other to the benefit of our stakeholders, children and society at large.

     As Rhonda and her staff begin to implement some of Ishy's nuggets of wisdom, they begin to sense a renewed energy on floor 6.  I found several nuggets that are applicable to us in the field of education.

    Ishy talks alot about external vs. internal vision.  In the field of education, the biggest external vision in our world in the No Child Left Behind legislation.  The is the vision that was given to us by the federal government.   Until we make No Child Left Behind our own, it remains an external vision.  When we take that NCLB vision, and adapt and modify it as our own personal vision.  We will not find profession success without internalized the vision.   There are parts of the legislation that we do not agree with, but it is our responsibility to pull the meat out of it and make it our own.

     The book also refers to being present in one's "work life."  We spent 1/3 of our day at school.  This is a substantial part of our life and who we are.  We all want our lifes to have influence, make an impact and be successful. As a woman, I tend to identify my life  more with my family life than my work life.  I think of myself as a wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend before a school counselor.  This spills over into my professional life, and I find myself not being "present"  in my school counselor role at times.  I can see that I need to be more present the 1/3 of a day that I spend at school.  

Week One

     Change is good.  Some people resist it, but most find change exciting.  This book focuses on maintaining that intitial excitement for change.  The first 37 pages of Fish Sticks  sets the stage of an organization that has gone through an exciting change.  Morale was high, customer service improved, and the work culture was kind, helpful and rewarding.   After a season, the exitement began to wan.   The manager of the organization sets out to discover how to keep the positive atmosphere of change fresh.

     The reader is introduced to a very successful sushi restaraunt that has stayed fresh in the competetive world of New York dining.  Some initial characteristics that emerged in the restaraunts style have relevance to an educational setting.  There are a few ideas to be gained to keep a school fresh.  One idea of note is to  make your customers (students and parents) feel welcome and excited to be your school.  One way to make students feel welcome is to greet them each morning with a friendly smile and comment.   As a school counselor, my challenge is to get to know all 450 students.  Names are pretty easy, but I try to find out something personal about each students.  That way, I always have material to form comments.  Knowing personal information, such as family members, hobbies,  etc., makes everyone feel important, children included.   I also need to learn parent's names.  In my role as school counselor, I tend to get to know a few parents REALLY well.  However, I don't have much contact with most parents.  Being able to smile and greet the parent by name would go a long way in making our school a welcoming environment.