“Swim or swim!”: A lesson on teaching

I was maybe 9 years old, and had gone to a Girl Scout outing for swim lessons at the YMCA. I remember little about the details of the outing, except that I was the only one there from my troop, but I entered the cold pool room to see the swim coach waiting. I started in shallow water, but then he instructed me to get out of the water and walk down to the deep end of the pool where the diving board was. I’d never jumped from a diving board, nor had I ever been in more than 5 feet of water- this was 10! I was terrified! 

I remember waiting at the edge, trembling. When I finally jumped, I panicked, sank to the bottom, looked around frantically under the water for anything to grab onto, and finally swam to the nearest wall I saw and felt my way up that wall back to the surface. I held the wall, completely out of breath, as my coach approached me and said, “Good job. Now you know you can save yourself.”

This experience had a huge impact on the teacher and leader that I have become. As a leader, I fell in love with the development side of leadership. Seeing potential in my staff inspired me, and made me want to see them do everything I thought they could do, and more! Many of them would likely testify to my use of the phrase, “Swim or swim!” I felt that the best way to learn is to be taught, and then do. No time to get nervous, just jump in and do it! But I never wanted anyone feeling what I felt when I was under the water- looking for help and finding none. The option wasn’t to “sink, or swim” because I would simply not allow them to sink! I would be there. I didn’t need to hold their hand, but I could be present the whole way through. Cheering them on, celebrating small and big milestones, and be there at the end to celebrate the journey. Swim or swim!

This has been my approach to coaching and training. It drives how I develop curriculum. It is also how I approach my students. I realized long ago that students need this same coaching. That’s my role, always. I train my team to do the same. Instruct. Inspire. Motivate. Celebrate.  

By the way, I never went back to swim lessons… I love water, and swimming, but my reaction in very deep water has remained the same- just survive. I know I can do it, but I don’t enjoy it. That’s not the kind of teacher I wanted to be.

So, swim or swim! Teachers and students alike trust me to do so because they know I won’t let them sink. We swim together until they can swim alone.