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.
Follow David on TwitterThe Coach Mid-Point Reflection
The Topic: Mid Point Reflection: Around half way through The Coach program, we ask participants to reflect on their journey so far. The purpose behind this task is to help them acknowledge how far they’ve come and prepare them for the Personal Project at the very end of the program.
The Task: Create a 3-5 minute video reflecting on your journey so far within The Coach. Share your responses to the prompts below:
- Think back to the initial goal(s) you set for yourself at the beginning of this microcredential program. Have your goals changed? If so, briefly explain how/why?
- What has impacted your thinking so far?
- What are you excited about?
Reflection by David Sheppard, Innovation and Learning Coach at Shekou International School
While my overall personal goal for this course has not changed, my personal project has. My personal, long-term goals are still to clearly define my role (or come to peace with it being loosely defined) and to become more knowledgeable about how to coach (as opposed to merely consulting). When I started this course I had a hard time articulating the later part of this goal. I knew something wasn’t quite right – I knew I could be coaching “better”, I just wasn’t sure what was wrong in order to fix it. Understanding the different types of coaching has impacted my thinking a great deal and has helped to pull my thoughts into focus.
As for my personal project, I had an opportunity to couple this with a professional goal that I am currently working on. The chance to check two things off my ‘to-do’ list at once was just too good to pass up. I believe it’s going to hit on a lot of areas that I want to improve on while also being a lot of fun. I’ll be collaborating with the PYP coordinator (*ding* coaching!) to develop unit provocations that we will co-facilitate with teachers (*ding* coaching!) that will promote opportunities for student choice and voice (*ding* passion!).
I’m also excited that this will let me flex my own creative muscles a bit, one of my favorite parts of the job.
Watch David’s Mid-Point Video Reflection
Read more from The Coach participants as they share their learning from the microcredential program…
Sandra’s post: Coaching In Practice
Cary’s post: The Coaching Cycles
Jo’s post: The Coach Approach
Amy’s post: What is the Value of a PLN as a Coach?
Level Up Your Coaching with The Coach Microcredential
Are you ready to make a bigger impact in your school community? If you are ready to commit to your professional growth, please join us for our next cohort of The Coach Microcredential.
Let David explain why he would recommend you take The Coach:
“If you are on the fence about joining the coach, I would say you should definitely do it. You will not regret it. The coach is unlike any other program I’ve seen out there. What I like about it is that it teaches the same way that I would teach students in my classroom. The activities that we do are challenging, they’re authentic, and they’re before I joined,
My mentor Diana has been with me every step of the way, and she has worked with me to create a program that’s meaningful to me. And, that’s, that’s really important. The mentors will work with you to make a program that will meet your needs.
Some of the things that I’ve learned throughout this course, I’ve already been able to put into practice as a coach. Most importantly, I feel like this course has really helped me improve my communication skills with my colleagues, and it’s helped me to work with them to benefit student learning.
Overall, this has been a great experience and it’s been a really fun experience too. And I think that you will definitely find benefit in this course, no matter if you’re a classroom teacher or a coach or an administrator, there’s, there’s something in here for everyone. The course is personalized so that you can get out of it exactly what you want to. So do it.”
David Sheppard, Innovation Coach, Shekou International School
If you are thinking now is the time to invest in a coach for you, please join us for The Coach Microcredential! Registration opens only once a year, and we would love to have you in our next cohort. Of course, these kind of mentoring conversations are included in The Coach, that personal connection and guidance is built into the Academy and Premium cohorts.
After a very unusual year, now is the time to invest in yourself, to build up your professional learning network of educators around the world and connect with a community that inspires you! Plus, you’ll have a mentor who is an outside sounding board who will help you get outside of the group think or tunnel vision you might be stuck in, in your school context.
Since the program is sustained over an entire academic year, you are growing with your coach over that time, helping deepen your learning throughout the course of the program. The regular meetings with your mentor will help you reflect on the coaching challenges and opportunities that you find yourself presented with.
Of course The Coach is totally customized learning. We have standard content that we share with everyone, but then each time you meet with your mentor, every conversation is tailored exactly to your needs, including regular check-ins that will help provide you with customized resources that you need to help you keep growing in your role.
If you are ready to make a bigger impact in your school context, The Coach is for you! Learn more here!
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