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.
The Coach 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 Kristen’s Video
The Coach has impacted my coaching practice and the coaching program in my district so many ways and will undoubtedly continue to do so as we continue to work toward finding clarity and growing the culture of coaching here in SCCS. Throughout the course, I’ve picked up new tools and skills that I will continue to reflect on and practice, and I’ve bookmarked so many resources and reflections I want to return to as I head into planning for the next school year.
What goals did you set for yourself at the beginning of the program?
When I started the program, all I really knew was that I wanted to learn and grow as a coach, and that I needed and wanted the support of a course and colleagues in order to do that. Early in the course, I struggled to choose one goal because I think I was still in a place where I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Upon finishing the Foundations module, I was pretty sure I wanted to focus on increasing my confidence and capacity for providing professional learning for teachers and admin; on finding structures and creating documentation to support the coaching work being done across my district; and on creating and growing my local and global professional learning communities so I could always have people to continue to learn and work with.
How did each milestone support you in reaching your goal?
Each of the milestones have supported me in finding greater clarity and purpose in my coaching role–whether by creating ways for me to collect data about what I am doing and how I am spending my time or by giving me a chance to create artifacts I can use as third points in conversations with teachers during coaching cycles and with administrators about the status of and goals for coaching in the district.
What has been your biggest area of growth in the program?
I think my biggest area of growth has been in finding, implementing and revising concrete, research-based structures to increase clarity around coaching for all stakeholders. This has also increased my own confidence in my work because I am operating from a place of knowledge, using data, research and tools I am confident will have a positive impact on student learning outcomes, teacher learning outcomes and the overall cultures of collaboration and professional learning at sites across my district.
Where do you still have room to grow?
Everywhere: my district and I are still finding clarity, and I think that the learning journey of any instructional coach is ongoing and constantly evolving. It requires continuous reflection, growth, and development to be effective and impactful in a role like this, which is what makes this work exciting and fulfilling. To try to be more specific though: an area I will target for growth in the coming year will be dedicating concrete blocks of time in my calendar to write about and reflect on coaching meetings right after they happen. It’s easy to over-schedule yourself in this role, and I think assigning this time in the calendar at the same moment I am scheduling a meeting will ensure this important element of coaching happens with fidelity, and it will also be time I can use for generating ideas, questions and talking points for subsequent meetings as well.
What’s YOUR level of coaching mastery?
All coaches go through various stages of coaching mastery. Once you identify where you’re at, you can begin to build the skills needed to move to the next stage.
This quiz is based on real-life case studies compiled from years of working with coaches inside The Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program!
When you receive your results, you’ll also get your matching case study from the STRIVE Case Studies to see where you fit in the stages of coaching mastery.
Ready to tackle your challenges and move on to the next level in YOUR coaching practice?
The STRIVE Model of Coaching Mastery quiz will help you identify your level of coaching mastery by matching you with case studies compiled from years of working with coaches inside The Coach Certificate & Mentorship Program so you can easily see where you fit!
What surprises and/or challenges have you had along the way?
Time has been the biggest challenge, especially here at the end of the course because I constantly want to explore more resources, do more reading, revise a document or presentation in light of some ah-ha one more time, etc. etc. It’s a good challenge to have, and I look forward to continuing to dig into my notes, links, books and the bonus content of the course for months and years to come.
What would you do differently next time?
If I could go all the way back to when I was recruited for my current position, I would ask my bosses (and their bosses) to carefully consider the eight steps for building an effective coaching program as laid out in Coaching Matters by Joellen Killion, Cindy Harrison, Chris Bryan, and Heather Clifton before embarking on this journey.
How did the Coach support you in your learning journey?
The Coach provided me with resources to develop and grow my coaching practice on so many levels! The course materials themselves gave me the foundational knowledge to feel confident talking to anyone about the process and value of coaching and the resources for considering and developing my skills as a coach, The forum gave me a window into the thoughts, ideas and artifacts of other coaches around the world: they were amazingly thought-provoking and inspirational, and I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from such highly-skilled educators from around the world. The regular cohort meetings with Diana and the Americas team were also essential to my growth as a coach this year: they were positive, inspiring, supportive and collaborative. Having regular meetings with other coaches was the best professional development I could have asked for because they provided a safe, comfortable space for processing the learning from the modules, fleshing out ideas, and asking for help and resources.
How has your learning inside the Coach impacted your coaching practice & program in your school setting?
The Coach has impacted my coaching practice and the coaching program in my district so many ways and will undoubtedly continue to do so as we continue to work toward finding clarity and growing the culture of coaching here in SCCS. Throughout the course, I’ve picked up new tools and skills that I will continue to reflect on and practice, and I’ve bookmarked so many resources and reflections I want to return to as I head into planning for the next school year.
What next for your professional learning?
The next step in my professional learning journey will be to revisit and refine structures, systems and protocols as well as the documentation we have in place for coaching in my district and to keep refining the listening and speaking skills I use in coaching conversations as well as in meetings.
Level Up Your Coaching with The Coach!
If you are ready to develop your coaching practice over the next academic year, and explore topics like transitioning your work from individuals to teams, 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.
Registration for our next global cohort opens once a year – check the website for details!
Find out more at: https://edurolearning.com/coach/
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