I have always been a should have kind of person. You know, the kind of person who overthinks everything and spends far too much time thinking about what I should have said and done in a particular situation rather than simply letting things go. After many years of this negative thinking, I was ready to think forward instead of backward.
Quite frankly, I was tired of “shoulding” on myself. As I researched just how I would go about changing my personality, I stumbled on the idea of vision boards, an idea that had a powerful effect on my thinking.
What Is a Vision Board?
A vision board is a visual representation of images, text, and even objects of what you envision for yourself in the future. These sacred collections of words, phrases, and images are posted where we will view them often, offering tangible reminders of what we are working toward. Vision boards represent what we might want and where we want to be, but they also capture how our hopes and dreams feel, often providing inspiration when we need it the most.
Although I have always used a vision board in my personal life, I had never considered using one in my professional life until recently. Take a look at two vision boards that I created below. One vision board specifically showcases how I will support creating access to books and volume of reading as a coaching goal. Another sparsely outlines what I know for sure and want to hold on to in my work.
Not too long ago, I was invited to work with a large group of literacy coaches and their administrators as part of a daylong session on building the coach-principal relationship. Based on my experience and research, I have found that the success of a coaching role in a building depends on this very relationship and the coherence in visions between both parties. Literacy coaches need to have a clearly articulated philosophy and vision to guide their work. Principals need to have a clearly articulated philosophy and vision to lead coaching within their building. And one step beyond that, those philosophies and visions must be shared, aligned, and visible for teachers.
I decided to start the day by introducing the idea of vision boards to coaches and principals: what they are, how we might create them, and why they matter to our work. We then spent time actually creating our own vision boards. Some people pulled out their notebooks and markers and started sketchnoting. Others decided to digitally create their vision board using a simple template I created using Google Slides. I urged each coach and principal to think about the new school year and create a goal and vision for what they hoped the coaching role could be. They chose images to represent their vision, added text and inspirational sayings, and chose a color scheme to match their personality and mood for the coming year. You could feel the energy in the room as they crafted their own unique visions.
Next, I asked each coach-administrator team to share their vision boards with each other and describe the choices they had made. I urged them to think about how their coaching visions aligned and how they could each support their shared visions. I also urged them to think about how their visions varied and the implications for the teachers they work with. Now, coaches and principals do not have to have perfectly aligned visions, but they do have to respect and acknowledge any differences to ensure coaching can be productive. By talking through each other’s visions, we can better understand where the other is coming from and gain insight into each other’s decision-making processes. Talking through our goals and visions openly and honestly can foster communication and set the tone for a powerful learning community.
The activity was a success, and since then, I have shared it with other coaching groups and school communities with great results. Happily, this work has had a beautiful domino effect. Some coaches returned to their buildings and created vision boards with their teachers. What did they want their classrooms to look, sound, and feel like? Some replicated this activity in grade-level teams: How might we create a shared vision for reading workshop in our grade level? Some even tried it with students: What goals did they have for the third grade? How did they want to think and feel about reading and writing this year?
There is something powerful about giving educators time to simply reflect and create a vision for their work, a vision designed to fuel their hearts and minds. Start with yourself. Give yourself the gift of time to reflect on your philosophy and create a vision for your coaching. Choose a method that fits your personality, and post your vision board where you will see it often.
Acknowledge that your vision board is a continual work in progress, just as we all are, and use it to offer inspiration for your coaching ahead. We all deserve this kind of self-care that will have immeasurable effects on our professional well-being.
