Woohoo! You made it through another year!
Are you using this time to prepare for next year?
It might seem far away, but now is the perfect time to think about how you can continue to improve your practice before you take a well-deserved mental break this summer!
As coaches, we are so busy working with teachers that we rarely stop to reflect on
- how things are going,
- what data we’re collecting about our workand
- how that data can inform our next steps.
By building in a practice of reflection – even just by starting with one time at the end of the year – you’ll be able to see how taking some time to stop and reflect can really help you refine and adjust your practice as a coach.
One of the keys to making good use of the data you collect is to check in on how you’re going at multiple points throughout the year – but even if this is the first time you’re trying to look at your coaching practice objectively through a data review process – you will still be able to gather good insights to inform your practice in the upcoming school year.
If this is something you’re struggling with in your coaching practice, or you’re ready to be more intentional with all the work you do as a coach, we can support you! You can find all of our learning opportunities here on our website at coachbetter.tv/learn
On that page you’ll find professional learning options that are just right for you – no matter where you are in your coaching experience. We have courses for brand new or aspiring coaches, experienced coaches who are ready to be more intentional and strategic in their practice, and coaches who are ready to leverage their leadership and lead a team! Head over to coachbetter.tv/learn to find all the options!
Reflection: 2 Ways
When you’re thinking about reflecting on the year, as a coach, you’ll likely want to consider two facets:
1: the amazing work your coaching partners have achieved, and how coaching has supported them
And
2: Your own growth as a coach,
This video will highlight some reflection prompts you can apply in each situation.
1: With Your Coaching Partners
When reflecting with your coaching partners, the goal is to find a way to create positive momentum so they want to continue to grow.
In structuring your conversation, you might want to consider:
Starting with success by bringing a lens of appreciative inquiry to the conversation, you might want to ask
- What were successful experiences we had together this year?
- What went well?
- Where and when did we make the biggest jump together?
Once you have highlighted the successes, you can dig a little deeper into questions that focus on potential growth, questions like:
- What was our goal for working together?
- What did we observe the students doing?
- Where was the gap? Where are we now?
- Where do we want to go next?
- What might be some next steps to help us close that gap?
- How can we work together next year to make progress?
After having that reflecting conversation focused on successes and areas to grow, you might also want to prompt your coaching partner to be reflective about how they can use these kinds of practices for their own growth throughout the year:
- What reflection practice do you have in your classroom?
- How can you be reflecting on data you collect on a regular basis over the year?
- How can you help students look back over the year?
This kind of reflective conversation provides an opportunity to pause and appreciate the moment we’re in, so we can move forward with clarity and purpose.
Even if you don’t have time to have a full reflective conversation like this, you can consider sending a quick email to your coaching partners saying:
“You’ve had such a great year (consider sending each semester), what’s one big highlight or takeaway for you this semester – hit reply to this email and let me know, and while you’re at it, what’s your next step, when would you like me to check in with you to get that started next semester”
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!
When you complete the quiz, you’ll get:
- Your matching case study,
- Specific strengths & challenges aligned to your result;
- Suggested next steps for each stage;
Plus the Case Study Document includes:
- Case studies leveled by coaching mastery;
- A framework to identify essential stages of professional growth & key areas to focus on in your professional learning;
- Alignment with the THRIVE Model for a Successful Coaching Culture;
- Space for you to reflect & prioritize so you can take action immediately!
You’ll go straight to the Quiz, and get the Case Study Document via email.
2: Independently, reflecting on your own work
When you’re thinking about reflecting on your own work as a coach, you might want to think about…
- What data do we have to review?
- Does the data give us the information we need?
- If not, what data should we collect in the future?
- Based on the data:
- What worked?
- What could be improved?
- What can be carried forward to the next opportunity?
- What needs to be removed / refined / adjusted / added?
- What are our next steps forward
The best thing about looking at data as a tool to inform your practice is that you’re thinking about data as information – this is not an evaluation. This is simply information that you’ve collected to help you make the next decision.
When you look at it that way, it’s valuable to have these kinds of conversation more frequently throughout the year.
You might consider starting with quarterly (or marking period) based reflections, and over time develop your reflective processes to be more regular (even down to a monthly or weekly level)
Reflecting on the data you collect will help you inform the next steps you take as a coach and with your coaching partners. Taking the time to track and reflect on your progress over time will be so validating for you and a great way to share the success of coaching with others.
There’s a lot more to share about collecting data to measure your impact, so I’ve planned another QuickTips episode on this topic for next semester!
Taking the time to reflect on the year – both with your coaching partners and independently about your coaching practice is an important way to value the time you spend working together.
If we just continue to move on to the next thing it can feel like we’re on a never-ending hamster wheel always running & never knowing where we’re going.
Taking the time to reflect allows us to…
- solidify what we’ve accomplished,
- to feel a sense of pride and completion in the work we’ve done, and
- set better goals for the upcoming year.
If you can make data collection and reflection part of your regular routine as a coach, you will essentially be coaching yourself on how to grow, making more intentional choices and document the impact you’re making as a coach!
Watch the Video
Ready to Start Measuring Your Impact?
Now you know you can get started anytime, but if you’re ready to be more strategic and intention in the way you collect and track data so you can see if your coaching is “working” to improve student and teacher learning, I have the next step for you!
Our Mini Course: Measuring Your Impact
Measuring Your Impact as an Instructional Coach is an essential skill for all coaches. Tracking the impact of coaching allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, to ensure the continuation of the role, and to continue to build a coaching culture.
Three key data points allow coaches to collect data and feedback on their work to measure their impact on student and teacher learning.
This short course focuses on exactly HOW you can:
- collect the exact right data you need
- measure your impact by correlating three essential points of data
- share that data to continue to build a culture of coaching
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- identify the three key points of data coaches need to measure their impact
- effectively collect data from all three key points
- connect and correlate the data they collect to determine their impact on student and teacher learning
Connect with us!
- Subscribe to the podcast iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher
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- Join our #coachbetter Facebook group
- Explore our courses for coaches
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