Refereeing the Court of Learning

As I reflect on my week while watching a basketball game, I am struck by how much being a TOSA feels like being a referee on the court. You are constantly watching the action, listening to both sides, making judgment calls in real time and trying to keep the game moving forward in a way that is fair, safe and focused on the purpose of why everyone is there.

Working with a teacher on a Professional Improvement Plan is rarely about the game plan itself.

It is about listening, really listening when frustration spills out. It is about sitting with resistance, fear and exhaustion when a teacher feels unheard, overwhelmed and convinced that if just a handful of students were removed everything would finally fall into place.

This week, that was my work.

The teacher came to me first. Frustrated and overwhelmed, struggling to see how change could happen without removing students from the room. Years of disrupted learning had chipped away at trust and like many educators in high needs turnaround environments he felt blamed rather than supported.

So we slowed the conversation down.

Instead of reacting we listened. We named what was hard. We acknowledged what was not working. And together we began mapping out support rather than consequences.

Shortly after students began coming to me as well, equally frustrated. They needed space to vent and to feel heard. That led me to facilitate a responsive circle with students where they openly shared their experiences, what was getting in the way of learning and what they wanted to see change.

What emerged from that circle was clarity. Students did not ask for removal or punishment of a teacher. They didn’t ask for their schedules to be changed. They asked for respect, consistency and the chance to start fresh.

From those conversations a clear path forward took shape. We developed a plan for the teacher to lead a responsive circle with the class to reset expectations, restore relationships and reestablish the classroom as a place for learning. Alongside that we put a structured ten day behavior support plan in place to bring predictability, consistency and instructional responses to behavior.

The goal was not about control. It was a restoration of respect, predictability and learning time. The responsive circle created space for honest dialogue and accountability. The ten day plan gave the teacher clarity, scripts, routines and relationship focused strategies that reduced power struggles and increased trust.

Then something important happened.

When the conversations with students turned real about promotion, high school, and what comes next, their guard dropped. One student spoke quietly about needing to walk across the stage so his mom could take a picture. Another shared that no one else in their family had ever made it to an eighth grade promotion.

In those moments behavior was no longer about defiance. It was about fear, pride, hope and the weight of expectations they carried silently every day.

Students rallied. They agreed to give the class a fresh start even with a teacher they had struggled to find common ground with.

The teacher, feeling supported rather than attacked by administration, committed to trying new strategies with an open mind. Not because he was told to, but because he felt safe enough to do so.

Sometimes being a TOSA in a school actively working to turn around its culture feels like being a referee. Constantly officiating between teachers and students on the court of learning while also navigating the larger field of life skills, relationships, and accountability. Blowing the whistle when needed. Letting the game flow when growth is happening. Reminding everyone why we are here.

This weekend I am happy to hang up my whistle and recharge.

And on Monday I will be back on the sideline. Hopeful and ready to see how the players and coaches take the court with new game plans, renewed trust, and a shared belief that growth is still possible when people feel seen.

Because sometimes the real win is not removing players from the game.

It is helping everyone learn how to play it better together.