Encouragement Is Inspiring

Everyone has a story that makes me stronger. I know that the work I do is important and I enjoy it, but it is nice to hear the feedback of what we do to inspire others.          –Richard Simmons
As a literacy coach, “encourage” is so much a part of my life.  It causes me to live positively, look forward, dream of what could be, and believe in others—and, consequently, in myself.

I am encouraged by so many people in my school district for a plethora of reasons.  My work is supported and my time respected by administrators, who also encourage teachers to work beside me, at each other, as professional learning communities in most every situation.

My immediate supervisor makes me feel as though she always “has my back,” protecting me from myself (when needed) and gently but firmly guiding me onto the path that is most likely going to help me to succeed as a coach—which is not necessarily the Path of Least Resistance!  I have trust in her and believe that she respects my work and wants me to succeed; she knows that this exponentially supports our staff as they benefit from having a literacy coach who is able to do her best each day.  Feeling trusted and being allowed to do my work—while being sustained with information, guidance, and professional development—is encouraging.   

As I work with teachers each and every day, their stories really do make me stronger...  and I hope that I reciprocate.  By virtue of traveling to and working in a variety of schools, grade levels, and settings, I have had the blessing of getting to know many of our district’s teachers.

I treasure our communication and ability to work together in across varied circumstances.  However, the true magic in this struck me when I realized that one person’s story often belonged to all of us.  For 20 years of my life, through teaching four different grade levels and a variety of summer school and enrichment classes, I often felt alone.  This contributed to discouragement, evidenced in working too-long hours and probably not being as good of a co-worker as I might have been.  I wish this understanding—that one teacher’s story often belongs to all of us—had come sooner. 

When I think about the teachers with whom I work and find myself considering their reality while I dream of what could be, I remain cognizant of how life-changing it has been to have the realization that we all truly have so much more in common than not.  Working long hours, feeling wonderful when lessons go well or when blessed with the proverbial “good class,” or feeling low when faced with adversity is all wonderfully normal.

So what can encourage us?  How do we get through it all and still love our jobs, our students, and maybe even each other (professionally, of course)?

Encouragement surely requires feeling supported as we deliver our “best” each and every day—knowing that our “best” probably differs each day.  We dedicate time and effort toward:

·         open and honest communication, building trust with colleagues whose word is impeccable (as yours must be, as well).


·         thoughtful and reflective collaboration with peers that champion our work.   This provides opportunities forego making assumptions about teaching;  instead, we can begin to recognize each other’s realities in our own, building a compassionate, caring, SAFE work environment that with a focus on students’ learning.


·         daily interactions that bolster our acceptance that our best is all we can ever give—and that each person’s best is surely unique in how it looks and sounds—and that is the beauty of our work.


·         finding resources—including human ones like literacy coaches—that can help us keep students interested and engaged while strengthening our teaching.



As Ralph Waldo Emerson says, “Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”   

As a coach, I hope that I am one of those people; inspiration brings encouragement.  Encouragement makes for a positive work environment and builds a sense of trust that supports the risk-taking that must happen in order for us to grow.  That is another story that we all share.