If you've ever found yourself staring at a team member who is clearly struggling and

wondered, what do I even say right now? Then this episode is for you. Hello, friends, and

welcome to the Bright Morning podcast. I'm your host, Elena Aguilar. And in each episode, you will learn how to lead conversations

that build connection and spark real change.

So today we're talking about how to coach through the inevitable dips that have been during

the school year.

You know the ones when energy is low and

emotions are high and even the most dedicated educators start to feel like they are running on

fumes. So let's get into it. If you've been in schools for any amount of time, you probably know this rhythm by heart.

There's the optimism of August, then the momentum of September, and then somewhere around

late October or November, it hits. The dip. It's that stretch where morale fades, progress feels hard to see,

and people start saying things like, I don't know if I'm cut out for this, or when is winter

break coming? And if you somehow dodge the fall dip, then just wait, because for many educators, another one hits right around February or March.

Cold winter and long weeks and the grind sets in. So these dips are real and we need to tend to

them because they are often the moments when people start to disconnect from their purpose,

from their team, from their own belief in their capacity.

So the question becomes, what do we do as leaders and coaches in those moments?

So let me take you back to a coaching conversation that I had a few years ago with someone

I'll call her Rosa. She was a high school department chair. She was smart and passionate and

deeply committed. But when I met with her in early March, I could see that something was off.

She looked down.

Her voice was flat.

...