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 TinaThe Topic: Coaching from Theory to Practice
The Task: Share the effectiveness of a coaching strategy you used.
I’ve been connecting with my colleague casually for a while before I joined her remote class. Some of our conversations include catching up about our situations as we are both working remotely, what are the challenges in terms of time zone difference, and what can I support her and her team with (she’s a grade level leader). I would like for her to see me as someone she can reach out to when she needs help because building relationships, as we all know, is key to coaching. Then I asked if I can join her remote class which she gladly said yes to and even added I’m welcome to join anytime I want. After her class we had a conversation where I asked a few questions like what are the learning objectives and what would she like the students to be able to do at the end of the unit. We began to unpack her challenges in remote teaching and how she can design learning experiences for her students given that they learn best when provided with concrete and tactile objects. Understanding the learning needs of her students and what she can do as a workaround were the main points of our conversation. She then mentioned working collaboratively with her learning assistant in China and her Chinese colleagues teaching the same IPC unit but in Chinese Mandarin language. To make sure that students are not missing out on rich, hands-on learning experiences, the Chinese teachers are the ones implementing them during their Chinese lesson. I then asked how the students were documenting their learning. She said using Seesaw, the students were given activities to sort and label or take photos. Knowing all these I suggested that when students take photos, they can annotate them, they can also use videos to do interviews with parents and friends about what they are learning, it could be about Chinese New Year traditions, cooking food together or weekly photos of their plants.
I am so grateful to be able to have coaching conversations with Lara because she’s able to connect what she already know about how students learn best and what she can do to design richer learning experiences for them even though she is working remotely as I do.
Read more from The Coach participants as they share their learning from the certificate & mentorship program…
Tracey: Tech Coaching Menu
Nicola: A Coaching Vision
Kristen: Coaching Menu and Calendar
Kelly: Math Coaching Menu
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!
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