I went to spin class sporadically since having my dear daughter Gracie over a year ago. I was ready to hop in the saddle again both literally and figuratively. I knew it was going to be rough and probably painful but worth it. That is a bit of an understatement. I was ready to leave about 20 minutes into the class. The instructor (who I have had before when I was in much better shape) is awesome and plays great music, but he has a really loud voice that can come across as "barking orders". Here's a bit how the class went and what I was thinking:
Instructor: If you're not on a hill, get on a hill. If you're on a hill, get on a steeper hill.
Me (in my head): I think I'm going to die.
Instructor: Get into position 2. Push it, push it!
Me: I wonder how long it would take the ambulance to get here and the paramedics to get upstairs?
Instructor: Put more resistance on your wheel and go into an all out sprint!
Me: Does anyone here know CPR?
Instructor: Blah blah blah blah...insert Charlie Brown teacher voice.
Me: I have no idea what I was thinking except I wanted out of the room.
This went on for a little bit longer. I was seriously ready to book it. I had brought a book that was downstairs in the locker room that I was totally prepared to read so that my family thought I had stayed at the gym the whole time instead of leaving class early! I was at the point of no return, I was so close to unclipping my pedals.
Then the instructor got off his bike. Oh crap, he's headed straight towards me I thought. Go away, go away! I didn't make eye contact, I kept pedaling and my goal was to become invisible. The instructor did not come to me, rather he went from person to person giving feedback. He started each interaction with a positive such as thank you for being here, great hustle. And followed it up with a point for improvement such as keep your shoulders down, don't let them come up to your ears. This was beyond helpful. In all the years I have gone to spin class I never got individual feedback. The instructor would make general comments and I never knew if they were directed at me or someone else in the room or just a prompt in general. It was hard sometimes to take that feedback to help improve my form or speed. I also thought about how everyone in that room was a different physical fitness point and how powerful this was that each person got individual attention to help push their spinning to the next level. Everyone in that room got something to help make them a better spin student.
I thought about how this transferred to my teaching when I was a classroom teacher. I tried to give daily feedback to all students. This was difficult some days to give verbally, but so essential. I made sure to give feedback to my students who were not meeting standards, but I took it for granted and did not push the students who were meeting standards or who were exceeding standards. They deserved to be pushed. I'm not sure if I did this on a daily basis.
I also thought about how this relates to my role as an instructional coach. This is essential, the feeback piece. However, so are relationships. I am working really hard on developing those relationships and trust, so I'm nervous to suggest something to improve on right out of the starting gate. The role of an instructional coach is such a tight rope to walk. As a teacher I was always looking for feedback and another set of eyes, but that feedback had to be from someone I trusted and respected.
So I'm hoping to take this lesson that I learned from spin and develop the art of feedback into my current role. I'm glad I stuck the class out, and I'm looking forward to going back!
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