We would like to introduce you to one of our graduates of The Coach Certificate and Mentorship Program! With over a hundred graduates since 2019, educators taking The Coach come into the program with different backgrounds, experiences and goals. Because the program is designed to be flexible and practical in nature, each graduate is able to customize their learning experience for exactly their needs – with the support of a mentor and the global community the whole way!
The Coach follows the Thrive Model for Sustainable Instructional Coaching, a proven framework for success in developing your coaching practice – for you as an individual coach and for your coaching program in your school. These educators have graciously given us permission to post some of their learning and reflections from the private coursework they are undertaking during this program.
Meet Andrea
Andrea came to The Coach as a Grade 4 classroom teacher. She had been supporting her colleagues in a mentorship capacity for years, and was ready to move into a formal instructional coaching role. Her goal in the course was to learn as much as she could about coaching – and to make sure she practiced a coaching cycle. Andrea achieved all of her goals – and more!
She says:
My biggest area of growth is the confidence I gained in myself in being a coach.
Getting the practice of going through a coaching cycle was a turning point for Andrea, she says…
While each milestone pushed me towards achieving my goal of conducting a full coaching cycle, I’d have to say that having the actual coaching conversations was the milestone that pushed me to achieve my goal, because everything in the course prepared me for this moment. Having coaching conversations is the element of coaching that takes the most practice, so it was the most challenging, but impactful milestone for me.
As a result of her time in The Coach, Andrea was able to bring the idea of coaching to her colleagues, many of whom were not familiar. By coaching her teaching partner, he felt supported in his first year at the school. He felt like he “was getting free PD.” Her experience helped her envision the impact a full-time coach could have on a faculty. Being able to support her teaching partner at this level helped Andrea believe that her support can make a difference.
After she graduated, Andrea says…
Being a part of the Coach supported me in my journey because it connected me to great resources, content, and educators at all different stages of their coaching journey. During the cohort meetings, it was insightful to listen to those with more experience. It helped me understand the role of a coach better as well as the challenges a coach faces. I also enjoyed how flexible the Coach is. Every participant has an individual journey. The Coach makes the journey authentic and applicable to anyone.
Watch Andrea’s Final Project
At the end of The Coach, all participants complete a Learning Journey Video Reflection…
The Learning Journey Video Reflection is a chance for you to reflect on everything you’ve learned and/or discovered throughout this Certificate Program. You will create an 8-10 min video sharing on the goal that you set, documenting the process of working towards your goal, reflecting on your achievement and sharing the process/outcome with our learning community. The most important part of your personal project is that it’s relevant to you, and you can demonstrate, through documentation and video, the impact your work has had on your school.
Watch Andrea’s Learning Journey Video Reflection here.
Learn more about Andrea’s Learning Experience
Andrea was recently featured on the #coachbetter podcast in a Case Study episode. These case study episodes are designed to share the story of a coach, and the development of their coaching program and practice in their unique setting. At the time of recording, Andrea had just graduated from The Coach, and we talk about how she started exploring instructional coaching, what surprised her as she was learning, and how she’s been applying her skills all year. If you’re curious about making the move from classroom to coach, this episode is for you!
Andrea says…
A big learning I had in The Coach is that coaching is a partnership. In my mind I was thinking more that coaching would be like consulting. It’s not all about me, it’s about us. Getting people to think and come to their own realizations rather than me giving them to them. I’ve done more consulting in the past, but in coaching you want people to come to those realizations on their own.
Ready to create a thriving coaching culture that improves student learning and builds belonging?
Come learn with me!
I help educators, instructional coaches, informal or positional leaders work together to create thriving coaching cultures that improve student learning and build belonging.
Coaching programs based on the Thrive Model, with clarity, consistency and community, can create time and space for educators to feel seen, heard, respected and valued for the experts that they are – creating a sustainable system of educator professional growth that ultimately improves student learning.
For this kind of coaching to thrive we need to focus on both the micro view of your coaching practice and the macro view of your coaching program, so while you’re developing your individual coaching practice you’re also intentionally developing a sustainable coaching culture.
If you’re ready to build this kind of coaching culture in your school community, join us for the Thrive Coaching Certificate program!
Wherever you are in your coaching journey, we can support you!
When you’re ready, there are three key ways we can work together:
- in the Thrive Coaching Certificate,
- in a private mentoring package, or
- through work directly with your school.
Leave a comment below, or reply to any of my emails and let’s start a conversation to see how we can work together to create a thriving coaching culture in your school setting!
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