Every year, WCC holds refresher workshops for coaches who have trained and coached in the classroom who want to prepare for the coming school year, as well as new trainees who simply want a booster. This year's discussion at the first Berkeley session was particularly vibrant — perhaps the best ever!
CAFL Director of Curriculum Jayne Walker presented the new material from the training manual, which sparked rich conversation around the tenet: "you are a coach, not a friend". Jeanne Schuman did a terrific job of presenting the "err on the side of caution" point of view while coach Laine Demetria gave a therapist's perspective on being open to hugs from emotionally needy students.
Later, a newly trained coach asked veteran coaches to talk about their greatest challenges. A number of coaches spoke about the challenge of working with students with negative attitudes or low skills. And while some coaches suggested coaching a modified version of the assignment or praising students for what they have done even if it doesn't meet the requirements or ideals of the assignment, coach and WCC board member Cynthia Barnes-Slater offered a thought-provoking argument for conveying high expectations and not letting students off easily. What followed was a terrific, nuanced discussion about when and how coaches should purely encourage or start to challenge students.
Veteran coach Bob Gomez also offered insightful perspectives as a coach and as a former struggling student. He told some of us the story of how one person encouraged him against all odds and his own sense of himself to go through the rigorous study and test-taking to get his civil engineering license, and how important his eventual success was to him.
It's wonderful to have this exchange of ideas among our coaches, and heartwarming to see coaches bringing their personal experiences, wisdom, and success to pass on to our students.
If you missed this session, please join us for the second Berkeley session:
Coaches Refresher Workshop 2October 2, 6:30 pm Correction: 7-8:30pm
King Middle School teacher's lounge
1781 Rose St, Berkeley CA
Kathleen Hallam
Site Coordinator, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School