Transcript

Text on screen: Building Rapport with Coachees.

Logo: Count, play, explore—for early education.

Millie Tolani, Coordinator and Coach: I establish rapport with coachees primarily by building relationships. I think the same way that we focus on relationships in early childhood with our students and our children that we have in our classrooms, it’s really important to build relationships with those that we coach. At the end of the day, it’s not about coaches telling our coachees what to do or how to do it. They’re the experts in their own field as well, and experts in what their children are doing, what their children’s development is in their classroom, their classroom context, their site’s context. And for us as coaches, I think it’s really important to help them hone in on what it is that they want to improve upon and help them upon their journey doing that. Between a coach and a coachee, it’s very much a give and take kind of relationship. It’s a back and forth.

We expect out of our coachees exactly what we would expect out of our children. We want to have open conversations with them, we want to ask open-ended questions, we want to follow what their interests are, what their own personal goals are. And so, one thing I really try to establish with my new coachees is I kind of ask them, “Where would you like to see yourself going? What are your goals for your students in your classroom? What do you want to improve upon in your own self, and what do you feel like are your strengths? Where do you see room for improvement?” And we move forward based upon those things. So it’s a partnership, really. My primary goal with my coachees is to make them feel more confident in applying the skills that we’re working on together, because that’s really how they make magic for their children.

Text on screen: A special thanks to Millie Tolani from the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education, without whose help these videos would not have been possible.

Logo: Count, play, explore—for early education.