Today we’d like to introduce you to Jean Ducey.
Hi Jean, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have always known I wanted to be a teacher. When I was 9 years old and in 3rd grade, I came home and proudly announced this to my parents. I held to that youthful declaration – I am a lifelong educator. With my undergrad in Early Childhood/Elementary and a master’s degree as a Reading Specialist, I’ve been fortunate enough to have taught preschool to the university level. I have learned so much along the way from this wide span of the student cohort and believe wholeheartedly that if we are doing it right out there in education, we become “the students of our students!” My teaching career has not been my only life focus; my husband Timm and I have been married for 30 years, have 4 children, and recently added a wonderful daughter-in-law to our family.
Our oldest 3 are triplets and are out of the nest adulting, and our youngest is a sophomore in college. Eight years ago, when our triplets were entering their senior year of high school, my principal at the elementary school where I was teaching Kindergarten approached me with a new position he wanted to add and placed me as an Instructional Coach. An Instructional Coach works alongside educators embedding professional learning into the classroom much like an athletic coach does with athletes with practices and from the sidelines – with the overall goal of improved outcomes for both student and educator. Whether it’s support needed in curriculum design, implementation, classroom management, or innovation, the Instructional Coach and teacher work together to get “the win.” At the time, the position was only slotted as part-time, which ironically was an ideal fit. I needed flexibility in my schedule to help our triplets navigate college visits, decisions, and transitions. In time my role as an Instructional Coach within my building developed and grew; I so loved this work. I had a friend who also worked in the education industry share some of my work with the districts she worked with.
Subsequently, curiosity and interest from several outside districts emerged. They began bringing me in to coach, train and develop their staff. For a few years, I managed to work part-time as an Instructional Coach for my district and part-time for other clients, but my plate became full. I became aware that I was potentially going to have to turn away clients at a time when my business was truly catching hold and building momentum. I decided to take a giant leap of faith and leave the security of my district where I had worked for so long and work solely for myself – and build my business – JM Ducey Educational Consulting was born! I was scared, but I knew in my heart and gut that I was doing the right thing, and I just had to lean in and trust the process.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been fairly smooth?
It’s funny how life can change on a dime! Looking back, one day, I was working for an amazing school district in St. Louis as an educator, and the next day, everything completely changed. I was working for myself as a business owner and had to check the box “Educational Consultant” when forming my LLC because that was the description closest to Instructional Coach! While the initial transition was easy, the journey, as it certainly always does, had many bumps along the way. The first hurdle I faced was “selling myself” out there. No one was just going to knock on my door and hire me, and I needed a website to build my exposure and curate a credible professional platform. One district wanted to hire me but was unable to get Board approval unless I had a website. This process was very intimidating for me. While I love to write, I was so uncomfortable writing about myself and putting together a visual profile (ugggh). I wanted my website to “look and feel like me” and not like every other site. I hired phenomenal website designer Holly Butler of Butler Web Bistro and photographer Heidi Drexler. They took this daunting task off my plate for me. I’m thrilled with my website and its portrayal of my work, philosophy, and personality.
Another struggle I faced was the many hats I had to learn to wear in the “back-office pieces” of running a business. I oversaw paying the bills, sending the invoices, depositing checks, making all the copies, and responding to every lead, call, and email, all alongside researching, writing, and developing the content, collateral, and power points I was using with teachers. I learned to departmentalize my many roles and created specific times in my schedule for each of these responsibilities so I didn’t drop the ball. I learned that every hour of content I presented took about 2-3 hours to research and create. I learned that I needed at least 10 days of lead time before presenting – and I built this into the nuts and bolts of my work with clients. As a former classroom teacher, I knew the amount of work teachers put in every time they left their classroom in the form of sub plans and would never show up to work without being completely prepared, organized, rested, and ready to give them my all. The final hurdle that gave me the most anxiety was becoming a self-taught tech guru. I always had the best tech support when I worked in my school district and had become so spoiled by their quick ability to problem-solve any issue I had at the drop of a hat.
Most districts I work with have firewalls to keep people like me from the outside, off their internet. Concurrently, a never-ending myriad of options exist when using technology and audiovisuals in each district. Whether it was coordinating HDMI chords and settings, gaining access and becoming proficient with projectors, or connecting to Apple TV, I needed to know what I was doing and become the expert! This is where my kids helped so much – I leaned on them to “teach me up,” and they did a great job. I now travel with an arsenal of tech accessories and troubleshooting knowledge and always have a backup of my presentations on a zip drive, just in case! Finally, and most importantly, I learned to be kind to myself as I developed and created my business. I tried to look at mistakes I made along the way as learning opportunities instead of failures. When I needed help (often), I didn’t waste time seeking it – other people make you better if you let them! In every presentation, I made it a point also to share these stories and this aspect of myself as I, too, am a learner!
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about JM Ducey Educational Consulting?
When I share with people that I’m an Educational Consultant and Coach, they tend to ask the same follow-up question: “So, what does that mean? What do you do?” Others confuse my work with college admissions consultants hired privately by parents or think I am an athletic coach. I understand the questions and confusion. Here’s my elevator speech about my work and business: “I’m an instructional coach hired by administrators who come in from the outside to train and develop educators.” I do not work for a school district or a curriculum company, and I sell nothing. We are currently facing difficult times for educators. Many are leaving the profession with burnout as the job has become almost unsustainable.
My goal in my work is always to teach, train, coach, and celebrate learning. I pursue impact, transfer, and joy. I am a proponent of balancing the workload on teachers through sustainable systems, and if something is added, something must be removed – not simply piling on more. No two days or clients have ever been the same for me. I have run the gamut from large group presentations with hundreds of educators in a theater to working alongside a single teacher in her classroom, modeling a lesson. When clients contact me with needs, I do not approach them with a quick preset “boxed” solution. I begin by building a trusted relationship. I am a strong communicator and natural connector. I believe building trust is paramount, and so is leaning into vulnerability. I begin by gathering around the table to discuss the issues and establish a narrative of needs – I do not believe in wasting time “admiring a problem.”
From here, I work backward from the desired outcome and curate a responsive plan and manageable timeline. If we know that teaching is not a one-size-fits-all with students, we need to honor this same mindset when teaching and developing educators. To quote Jim Knight’s recent tweet, “Coaching is one size fits one.” I have a huge advantage in being local to my client base with a fluid, flexible schedule. The greatest impact occurs when my work with teachers is done in smaller chunks that we can chew on over time, rather than a one day 6 hours of slide-after-slide training. Learning, growth, and transfer happen when we focus, practice, and work through things portion by portion instead of the whole plateful. My work stems from being able to observe teachers in the craft of their work and provide timely feedback. Following the work of Jim Knight in his book Focus on Teaching, the most effective, unbiased way to gather this information is with videotape. The camera lens is the most neutral observer and creates a truly valuable, accurate data set. Technology has come so far- our students scarcely notice an iPad set up recording a lesson. The teacher and I review this film independently, noting frames where goals were met, and opportunities missed. Often teachers miss important feedback from their students during the lesson because they are “on stage” instructing. Once this information is disseminated, the teacher and I meet to plan the next steps, tweak teacher moves and celebrate growth. Reviewing the film is an invaluable catalyst for improved and informed instruction. While my master’s degree is in Reading, an initial focus of my work was in literacy, but my scope has greatly expanded beyond this single lens. This year I have been fortunate enough to manage and help design a project that will be my career’s Magnum Opus.
Over the past several years, I have been coaching and training the teachers at The Principia Lower School. Our focus has been establishing and implementing the best literacy practices. Recently an alum donor contacted the administration wanting to fund an impactful project. Having a passion for literacy, he requested his gift be used in tandem to both extend and enhance literacy instruction by teachers while also supporting the growth and development of students. With these two goals in mind, “Project Reading” was created. Over the 2022-2023 school year, the faculty worked with me to carefully plan and curate exemplary videos showing the many components of reading instruction in their classrooms. My brother, Marty Reider, of Redline Creative, was brought in to film, edit, and revise the videos using narration and studio voice-over; each video is, in essence, “a bite-sized piece of professional development” covering the many essential areas of reading and writing across the K-5 curriculum. Project Reading will have a local impact with the videos used for onboarding new teachers and coaching existing teachers. It will also have an extended impact by allowing free access to any educator yearning to improve or refine instruction in their classroom. Another aspect of Project Reading will be using the video library as a catalyst to connect with reading teachers across the area. This partnership of educators will allow teachers from various districts to collaborate, learn from and grow throughout the year. This entire project has been an inspiring learning journey for me personally and professionally. The ability to work alongside such dedicated and talented educators who unselfishly took on this project on top of their existing workload for the betterment of others while also welcoming cameras into their classrooms – well, it has simply been nothing short of transformative! Whenever I work alongside educators, I always leave smarter. I am indebted to them for what they have taught me and the impact Project Reading will have on educators and students around literacy!
Who else deserves credit for your story?
I have been greatly impacted by every educator I have worked alongside over the years. I believe “all of us are teachers and all of us are learners” and have nothing but sincere gratitude for all who have shaped me. I was extremely fortunate as a first-year teacher to attend a literacy workshop given in my district by a Reading Facilitator named Vicki Johnson. Vicki was bright, engaging, and funny and modeled effective reading instruction in such a way that I couldn’t wait to learn more. Her workshop had an immediate and lasting impact on me. I walked out of her hour-long workshop with effective strategies in my toolbox and a sense of agency in my heart. I said, “When I grow up, I want to be just like Vicki Johnson!” Years passed, I got married, moved away from St. Louis, and Vicki and I lost touch. But her impact did not leave me. I continued my education and specialized in Reading Instruction. I took on leadership roles in school districts and tried to mentor educators in the same genuine, authentic way Vicki mentored me. It was not divine fate or a colossal coincidence. Still, several years later, Vicki and I reunited again when we found ourselves back working together in the same district and eventually the same school and instructional team! My favorite thing about Vicki is her listening ear, trusted advice, and unwavering support of me as an educator and friend. I hope to have the same impact on the educators I work with. Thank you, Vicki, for always showing up and believing in me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jmduceyconsulting.com
- Facebook: JM Ducey Educational Consulting LLC
- Linkedin: JM Ducey Educational Consulting LLC
