We want to give you a peek inside our Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program. Coaches taking part in this academic-year-long journey have graciously given us permission to post some of their learning and reflections from the private coursework they are undertaking during this program. Where possible, we have shared the course and the action task to give context for the guest post.

Watch Brenda’s Video

Read Brenda’s Reflection

What goals did you set for yourself at the beginning of the program?

I really wanted to gain clarity about coaching, coaching cycles, and the roles of a coach. At the start of this course, I was very unsure of whether I could do this job. I knew I wanted to do it, and I knew I would give it my best effort, but I was still very unsure of myself. And I wanted to learn all I could about coaching!

How did each milestone support you in reaching your goal?

The milestones I created gave me clarity and confidence in all of the aspects I was nervous about. The coaching logo and definition, coaching job description, coaching monthly plan really helped give me clarity. The learning walks and coaching cycles helped me gain confidence in myself as a coach. These artifacts, while basic items, were the tasks I needed to complete so that I could learn the basics of coaching.

What has been your biggest area of growth in the program?

My biggest area of growth occurred during the coaching cycle practice and learning walks. I learned how to structure a coaching conversation, work through a coaching cycle, and build relationships with staff. I also built a lot of confidence through this course and as I built relationships through the coaching cycles and individual coaching conversations with teachers.

Where do you still have room to grow?

As a new person in this role, I still have a lot of room to grow! I think the biggest hurdle that I and others on our team will face is working with administration, creating a partnership with them that will help grow coaching work at our school.

What surprises and/or challenges have you had along the way?

I’m surprised at how satisfying this work can be. I really enjoy working with teachers, in all the varying coaching roles. I want to help in their growth as a teacher, and more importantly, improve student learning. The challenges I faced were mostly internal challenges, because I was so unsure of myself, I allowed that to hold me back instead of pushing forward and realizing I can do this work. Eventually, I got to that point, especially during the coaching cycles, but it was certainly a challenge at first.

What would you do differently next time? What did you learn?

If I had to start this again, I would tell myself to put myself out there and take the chances, to look for more opportunities to lean into coaching work. I learned that coaches have to be a bit pushy! And that’s okay.

How did the Coach support you in your learning journey?

This course gave me the foundational pieces to be a coach. As a new coach, it taught me all the parts of coaching that I needed to learn to begin my journey. It gave me confidence that I could do the job. This course scaffolded each part of being of coach very simply for me to understand and put into practice.

How has your learning inside the Coach impacted your coaching practice & program in your school setting?

This course has given our coaching team some great ideas to build partnerships with our teachers and to help build relationships with our administration. We have struggled with school-wide administration support, so this is something we will focus on next year.

What next for your professional learning?

I would like to continue working with the learning coach work I began this year. I have worked with the literacy alignment committee; we are beginning work on this with math next year; I want to join in that work. I would like to continue leading learning labs; I found this work to be very satisfying and it was a great in-house PD for teachers. To stretch my learning coach skills and build more confidence, I would like to engage in more coaching cycles.

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Level Up Your Coaching with The Coach!

If you are ready to dive deep into your coaching practice, to help you #coachbetter and build a thriving coaching culture in your school, please join us for our next cohort of The Coach!

Wherever you are in building a coaching culture in your school, The Coach will give you the strategies, skills and tools you need to make coaching a success and will empower you to confidently apply instructional coaching strategies in any situation – from building a coaching program, to having coaching conversations, to being a leader in your school community. We facilitate only one cohort each academic year so we can offer individualized support for each participant.

Coaches of all levels are welcome: you’ll start the program with a self-assessment to determine exactly what the next steps are for you!