Instructional coach teaches teachers

Editor's note: This is one in a series profiling local educators each week.

Clovis Municipal Schools Middle School Instructional Coach Nicole Hahn still educates, but her students are not typical learners; they are teachers.

Hahn sees her role as helping the students to become better learners and better people through collaboration with teachers.

"My number one job is to increase student achievement. That's our number one priority, but what I'm doing is I'm actually helping teachers to do that," she said. "I'm kind of that link where we can all kind of get better at teaching kids individually."

Hahn received her bachelors degree from Eastern New Mexico University and her masters degree from Wayland Baptist University. She has taught at CMS for 15 years.

How is teaching teachers different than teaching students?

It's not much different. You have students in your classroom that feel like they don't necessarily need help, but then they realize you're there, so they can come to you for help. l'll have teachers that do the same thing. They're like, "No, I think I'm OK," and then, all of a sudden, I get a knock on my door or an email, and say, "Hey, could you come by?" I'm able to help them.

I have the "deer in the headlights" students in my classroom. I've had kids that come up to me and tell me, "I've always hated science. I don't like science," and I'm like, "Well, we're gonna change that."

I have brand new teachers that are like, "I have not taught before. I need help. I don't know what I'm doing." I do the same thing. I say, "You know what? We're gonna get in there and we're going to do it, and you'll be able to."

It's kind of nice. It's almost the same thing. You have all the same personalities, you have all the dynamics of a classroom, it's just now with adults. Every person I've run into, in all the middle schools, really, really wants to be the very best they can be, and that's so encouraging to me, because I go in there and they're like a sponge. "Tell me what I can do. I really want to be able to do something."

I think that's what educators do. I think that's why we like it so much, is because we always want to get better, and we're always willing to listen to new things.

Why do you think you have gained greater appreciation for teachers from your position?

Because I see that Clovis has absolutely fabulous teachers. I thought I was a pretty good teacher. I had pretty good feedback from my principals, I had good feedback from my peers. I thought, "Oh yeah, I'm pretty good," but I go into rooms and I still learn from the people here, and I have an absolute appreciation for the teachers in Clovis. They're good. They're really good."

I'm really familiar with the middle schools, and they're all passionate about getting better and doing the right things for their students and helping them learn and not be stressed out.

I also notice, too, that it's not just their subject, but they want them to be better people. When I see them as they're teaching, they're not just trying to get their subject matter across, they're actually trying to make these kids be good citizens, and to understand what's going on in the world, and how you're a part of it. I think, to me, it's actually encouraged me more to be in the field of education, because sometimes you get stuck in your classroom and you feel a little maybe isolated or lost. Now, I kind of get to go around and see excitement everywhere. I have a total different appreciation. I thought that I knew, but I didn't. I think I'm probably going to continue knowing more and more and more.

Describe a moment that reaffirmed your love of teaching.

I think, honestly, the last one that happened that was recent, I was actually here for Marshall's registration, and I had parents bringing their students in that I taught when they were here at Marshall. So, they were bringing their own kids back. They saw me and they gave me a hug, and said, "This was my teacher," and the kids were like, "Really?" They would explain something I taught them, which I maybe didn't remember those exact words, but I actually left an impact on them that they could then remember and tell their child, which to me just shows that it's one of those things that's very cyclical.

You just get this cycle of hopefully encouragement that you can continue going through. To see those parents come in, it makes me realize that I've been in education a while when I've been teaching kids of kids.

It's nice to see them come in, and they do remember me, and I've had them stop me and say, "When you said this to me, it really meant a lot," and it made me think about my life. I think most teachers understand the impact we have in our words every single day, and we realize it, but to actually hear it affirmed, even if it's been 20 years, to hear it affirmed back to you makes a big difference.

What advice would you give someone who is interested in pursuing a position like yours?

I would say, be able to make sure that you can help with communication. That you are able to hear some criticism, but you're also able to give some good critical feedback. I would say also that there's nothing wrong with saying you don't know and that you will find out and get an answer for someone, and that you are very consistent about following up. My job is all about trust, and I need to be there for those teachers, and so, if a teacher's depending on me, then I need to make sure that I'm there for them.

I don't necessarily know everything about every single subject, but if I need to find something out or research it, I will. This year, I read all of the English books that the students have to read at the middle schools, because if I went in the classrooms, I wanted to understand what the kids were talking about. I'm constantly having to say, "I haven't read that book. Can I have it so that I can read it and have a discussion with the kids?"

Whatever the school needs at the time that I'm there, that's who I am. With education, normally, when you go into your classroom, you have your lesson plan, you know how it's set. Sometimes you have to adjust and change things, but with being an instructional coach, you're kind of going 15 different directions all the time and you have to be organized, to make sure that you get back to where you're supposed to be and you haven't forgotten something.

- Compiled by Staff Writer Eamon Scarbrough