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.

Watch Reyna’s Video

Read Reyna’s Reflection

* What goals did you set for yourself at the beginning of the program?

I had both individual and team-focused goals coming into the program. My personal goals entered around facilitation skills and growing my confidence and capacity for middle leadership. The shared learning goals for our team were on the programatic level relating to being data-informed and to develop a peer learning culture at ASW while aligning to the schoolwide strategic areas.

* How did each milestone support you in reaching your goal?

Going through this program together as a team has helped us develop a lot of our foundational documents collaboratively. Being able to decide as a team which artifacts would be most useful to our collective work made a huge difference. The milestones were a way to apply our learning at each phase and set out intentional time to reflect on our individual and collective progress.

* What has been your biggest area of growth in the program?

I’ve seen the most growth in my facilitation skills, especially in my use of protocols during meetings and in a professional development setting. My time in The Coach challenged me to plan for interactions and conversations as intentionally as I can.

* Where do you still have room to grow?

I feel like there’s still a lot of growth ahead of me because self-reflection and awareness are deeply personal and emotional work that take a lifetime to develop. An area I continue to be challenged by how to effectively straddle the teacher/leader divide and understand that EVERYONE has a different comfort level with change.

* What surprises and/or challenges have you had along the way?

I was surprised by how difficult it was to get everyone on the same page about what coaching is, especially members of the senior leadership team. Some of the challenges this school year, for me and our entire community, included ongoing construction disruptions and a decline in staff morale/ wellbeing.

* What would you do differently next time? What did you learn?

Something I might do differently is saying ‘yes’ to taking on additional tasks and committee work. Saying yes to too many things has made it difficult to determine what tasks are most important so I know how to plan my time. I’ve learned a lot about myself and ways that I engage with others.

* How did the Coach support you in your learning journey?

The relevant resources, self-paced structure of the course and opportunities to connect with other coaches helped me feel supported in this learning journey.

* How has your learning inside the Coach impacted your coaching practice & program in your school setting?

Our shared learning throughout the Coach has helped us think through and build some key structures/processes to support the long-term growth and success of the coaching program at ASW. It’s provided us with a collective voice

* What next for your professional learning?

I’d really like to work on my emotional regulation and healthy boundary-setting because these will help me become an all-around better coach and human. On a more technical level, I plan to continue my work with AAICIS, begin my Apple Distinguished Educator journey and then moving into my new role and school in August.

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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!