Where Do I Start?

As a coach, do you ever find yourself wondering, “What should I be doing right now?” I’m sure you’re usually quite busy. And any other task aside from coaching can swallow your time. But every once in a while, things slow down a bit and an odd time of the school year comes along.

Like being out of school for an extended time and returning back to work. Or diving into testing and being part of the all hands on deck. Or when teachers are busy with grades at the end of a quarter. Then, it’s time to come back up for water and you’re wondering, which direction do I need to go?

I did find myself needing direction recently. I had been on maternity leave and came back trying to figure out how I could jump back in. I couldn’t necessarily pick up from where I left. Much of that was outdated and done with. So how could I best gauge where I was needed?

By using Google forms! I absolutely love creating Google forms to gather input, feedback and ideas.

I created a simple Google form with just a few concise questions that would help guide my time for the coming weeks. I keep them short for a few reasons. Teachers have a lot on their plate and I want to respect their time. Too many options can be overwhelming for all involved. And I always leave the last question open ended.

So for this particular Google form, I asked teachers to choose the areas they would like coaching help. I picked a few areas that we had been addressing all year, since they lined up with our school improvement goals. I reassessed the time of day teachers liked to attend professional learning since we are gearing up for the last quarter of school. And then I asked if teachers preferred in person PD or a video screencast to view at their own convenience. As I touched upon earlier, my last question asked teachers how else I could support them with instruction.

I shared the Google form via email. As responses came in, I exported them into a sheet and sorted by need. I first addressed the most popular choice in both an in person PD and by making a screencast. I made myself available all day for this particular need. I explained to teachers that this PD was based on their needs-the topic, the format and the time. Then, I addressed the next need and so forth. I added a column that says “Addressed?” on the sheet in order to track my follow-up with teachers. Some teachers had an individual need, for which I individually contacted them to schedule a meeting or ask for more details.

Within three weeks I was able to solicit feedback, review the data, address the needs and get back on board with Instructional Coaching. Judging by the numbers of teachers who expressed their excitement of my return, I think it’s safe to say I’m on the right track.

Feel free to reach out if you need some guidance!

Building Authentic Relationships

I have been on a happy hiatus from blogging. My husband and I had the blessing of getting to adopt a baby girl! We are so in love with her and she is absolutely adorable.

I say this because part of this life event ties back to my position as an instructional coach. I am fortunate to be in a position where I can get to know all of the teachers and staff at my school and I have had several opportunities to work on district-wide projects. As I navigate my different roles, I work hard to build authentic relationships. I am a people-oriented person, as many educators are just by the nature of our chosen profession. However, at times I wonder what kind of impact does this have on others? Do my colleagues know how much I care for their success and how much respect I have for their hard work?

With the arrival of our daughter came an outpouring of love and happiness from our colleagues, past and present. It was such a beautiful feeling that I will remember for the rest of my life. Our colleagues, whom I would also call friends, met our daughter, showered her with gifts and love, sent us messages of happiness, exclaimed their excitement for us in person – you name it, the love and kindness happened.

This reminded me of the power and importance of building authentic relationships. This life experience was a great reminder, and encouragement, to keep pressing on and invest in the lives around me.

How do I do this? Whether I’m working with beginning or experienced teachers, I take the time to get to know them. I find out their interests, their goals, why they chose education and learn about them as a whole person. I build trust so that they can take risks in the classroom and learn from their risks. I keep a close eye on my mentees so that I know when they need notes of affirmation and/or encouragement. I send gifts or cards or messages for birthdays and holidays. I invite colleagues over to my house and host dinner with crafts or games or to just simply socialize. I help introduce new teachers to each other and help them build friendships. I do random acts of kindness at school, sometimes anonymously. I find out each person’s appreciation language and make efforts to “speak” to them in their language. I try to notice when others are “speaking” to me in their love language and I appreciate their efforts. I make eye contact and put aside distractions when colleagues speak to me. I assume good will and find the best in others. I also keep healthy boundaries, which are just as important.

So, as an instructional coach, I work hard to build authentic relationships. Sometimes it’s just a natural habit and paves the way to successful working relationships. But when a huge life event happens and so many are so excited, it causes one to reflect on the why. And this is why I wrote this particular blog. To offer up some advice and encouragement on the impact you have, can have and do have on all of the amazing educators you have the opportunity to work with. As coaches, we keep up to date on the latest research-based best practices, we share what we learn and we navigate how to best help others. Why? I know my reasons. To help others be the best they can be, help them reach their goals or at least get them in that direction. To share in their success without selfish ambition or feelings of entitlement. I truly relish in the opportunity to meet others where they are and help them along their path. It’s one of my personal goals in life. And I am forever grateful that I was able to see some of the fruit of my labor. Sometimes reflecting on the impact we can make will give you the energy to keep pressing on. Especially on a day like today, the first day back after a lovely maternity leave.

Lightning Talks - Sharing Best Practices

Do you love learning from others? Do you enjoy the opportunity to share what you learn with others? I know I do! I recently implemented a new initiative at our school. I loved it and the teachers involved enjoyed it as well! In anticipation for the Twitter chat I have the opportunity to co-moderate tonight, which revolves around the idea of making practice public, I wanted to share this blog. 

My sister attended a Google/YouTube conference in New York City and heard several amazing entrepreneurs share how they kick-started their YouTube channels. They each had a slide template and ten minutes to share. I put this idea in my back pocket and recently connected it to an idea I could try at my school.

Each of our core subject teachers get a planning day with their department to plan for the coming quarter. During this time, we incorporate professional learning opportunities. I also observed a trend in the feedback I received from teachers when I asked for their input about what they would like to learn: content specific instructional strategies. Combining all these thoughts created the “Lightning Talks” initiative.

“Lightning Talks” was a way for teachers to share with their colleagues an instructional strategy they tried and were having success with in their classes. Success was defined as increased student learning and engagement.

My sister helped me build a Google Slide template. The Google slide deck was shared in edit mode so that each teacher could edit a slide.  Within each slide template, teachers identified an instructional strategy that was positively impacting student learning and engagement. Teachers wrote a description of the strategy, the process of doing the strategy and the impact the strategy made on student learning. There are stats that can be included, such as the time it takes, the increase in engagement observed, anything that gives teachers stats at a glance. Then, teachers can include a picture of what it looks like, a video of it in action, or a link to resource material. The top of the slide contains the title, which centered around how the strategy meets the needs of all students. In the upper right hand corner it says “time slot” because multiple teachers signed up to share and this was a fair way to allow them to choose the order they wanted to present. I created a separate slide deck for each department, but linked all slide decks on a common agenda so that teachers could refer to other ideas.

Here is what the template looked like:

During the presentations, I set a timer for two minutes and loosely stuck to it. After each set of presentations, some modifications I made were adding a Q&A time and extending the two-minute timer, depending on how many teachers signed up to present.

After one department’s Lightning Talks, at the very next meeting I heard teachers telling each other how they tried out someone’s idea and how much they loved it and saw how much the students benefited from it. PLCs shared with me how they tried an idea and saw the impact it had on student learning.

Teachers shared brain break ideas, Kagan Structures, cooperative learning strategies, review activities, and new ways to incorporate digital tools. While teachers were learning new ideas, the teachers presenting were gaining confidence with their presentation skills. Some asked for feedback and I was happy to share. One teacher in particular enjoyed receiving feedback that she asked to do another lightning talk during that day’s afternoon session.

At the conclusion of the planning day, I asked teachers to complete a Google Form and in it I asked which aspects of the planning day were beneficial to their learning. Most teachers cited the lightning talks and the opportunity to share and learn from each others. We will definitely be using Lightning Talks again, and I will continue exploring new ways to share our learning.

I enjoy learning highly effective strategies from others and how it unites what we strive for in education: to continuously improve our craft to benefit the students we impact.

What if? The Influence You Can Have as a Coach

We just finished our first quarter of school. As I prepare my quarter two goals, I reflect on new initiatives I’ve been able to implement, new teachers I’ve been able to coach and new relationships that have strengthened me as a coach. I absolutely love being an instructional coach. Some of the tasks I do with various people are so enjoyable to me; I don’t even consider it work. I’m known by some of my colleagues as Mary Poppins because I find the element of fun in every job that must be done. Yes, I try to look on the bright side of situations. But I wasn’t always this way. I definitely had to train myself to find the positive, to see the good in others, to persevere when things may block my path. And that’s why I want to share this blog you. Perhaps by sharing my thinking, it might encourage or remind you to realize the influence you have to positively impact change at your school and on your school’s culture.

When I went through the OCPS Advanced Coaching Academy, we learned how to conduct coaching cycles. It often came up that we as educators will say, “Oh those students won’t get it or they can’t do that.” And one of the best coaches I have the privilege of learning from, Claire Steele, countered this thought and taught us to say, “What if they can?” This is not only having a growth mindset, but having an outlook on what could be possible.

“What if they can?” comes to my mind when I’m in professional development sessions and learn amazing ideas. Sometimes I’ll hear, “Oh this teacher won’t do that.” However, I think “I know which teachers will love this idea and will jump on board right away.” When I learn new ideas, I tend to think of which teachers will immediately be affected by learning this idea too. And then, as I practice sharing it, I think, “What if I could reach more teachers?”

Recently I developed a new initiative at my school, which I’ll blog about in the future. Anyhow, many teachers jumped on board right away. Some didn’t. Some wanted to after they saw it in action. And maybe just one or two were not interested at all. So, what is my mindset when it comes to the few not willing to try new ideas or take risks? Well, first, I have to be mindful of what could possibly be going on in their lives. They may not have the knowledge, confidence, time, ability, enthusiasm, or “fill in the blank”. None of these are meant to be insulting or negative, it’s just that we as coaches have to be empathetic, sympathetic, understanding, compassionate, or “fill in the blank”. We become coaches to help teachers grow to be the best they can be. I find other ways to help the resisters and eventually the trust builds, or the time comes when they jump on board, or the knowledge is shared with them in other ways. Just as every child can learn, every teacher can learn. Sometimes it takes creativity and innovation to do so.

As I develop my goals for quarter two, I brainstorm ways to reach all teachers. I will conduct coaching cycles. I will develop teacher leader training. I will facilitate sessions targeted towards beginning teachers. I will organize online reading studies. I will create in person training, how-to guides and video tutorials. Eventually, my many outlets for sharing my learning will reach most, and sometimes all teachers. That is how I am a change agent at my school.

You too, are a change agent. Instead of saying, “That teacher will never try that”, train your mind to say, “Which teachers would love to do that and what if I get all teachers on board?” You are in a position to influence the culture of your school, to make the workplace more enjoyable, to help teachers become more effective, to share the latest research and ideas at your school. “What if?” is such a great question. What if they will try it? What if they would be excited to learn a new idea? What if I tried a new initiative? As you create some goals for this next part of your school year, what are some “What if” questions you could challenge yourself with? I know you, too, can find the element of fun in every job of yours that must be done.

Using Video Recording as a Coaching Tool

Have you ever been given feedback that you passionately wanted to defend and reason with? Perhaps the person observed you at a bad time or that person didn’t see everything? Have you been on the giving side of that feedback and been met with an unenthusiastic reaction to your insight? I know I have been on both sides. Glenna Wyatt recently shared a blog series with me that helped me better understand the emotions that can go with receiving feedback. It gave me more of an understanding of the science behind the emotions that take place when receiving feedback about one’s teaching and vice versa. There are several blog posts in a series about this topic from Thinking Collaborative. I encourage you to read them to learn more.

In this blog post, I'll share my experience of using video to help a teacher reflect and grow.

I was discussing a coaching observation with a teacher about how he managed response rates and monitored students’ understanding. One observation I made was that when he posed a question to the class, multiple students were calling out and it wasn’t clear what the correct answer was and it wasn’t clear the students knew what the correct was. When I discussed this with the teacher, he was satisfied with the number of students participating and thought it was an effective strategy. He was passionate about his abilities and I didn’t mean to make him feel otherwise. It was difficult to explain with objectivity the lack of monitoring, so I suggested we record a portion of his lesson. He was open to that and we set up a time period, along with a focus question for me to collect data about. As I learned from Jim Knight’s 6 Big Ideas of Coaching, in order for the teacher to have buy-in, the teacher has to create the goals he wants to focus on.

On the day of the recording, we used the teacher’s iPhone and I brought an iPhone tripod. We decided to record the first ten minutes of class. While his iPhone recorded the class, I collected data in a two column chart, capturing the teacher’s actions and the students’ actions.

We met again the next day and watched the video together. I asked him to share with me what he noticed in regards to his focus question. He also wanted to learn more about the instructional framework in regards to managing response rates and monitoring students. This was related to the initial coaching observation he received. He was able to identify a few aspects but missed a crucial moment. I asked him to pause it and asked what he thought about the question he posed to the class. He said he heard one student call out the correct answer and that was all he needed so he moved on. I asked, “How did you monitor what the rest of the students knew about that question?” He thought for a moment and said he had no idea if they knew it or not. That was an Aha moment for him and he was able to make a connection to the scale on our instructional framework in regards to monitoring students' understanding. I asked him to brainstorm more ways he could increase the number of students he monitors. We had a discussion about purposeful questions and ways to manage response rates in order to maximize how he monitors students’ understanding and engagement.

We continued watching his recording and had a few more discussions and ahas. It was a good exercise in objectivity and being able to focus on the actions taking place rather than just hearing what I had to share.

As an instructional coach, I differentiate my coaching techniques to meet the needs of the teachers I work with. Some may need the recording option, some are able to reflect on data displays. I find that knowing, learning and experimenting with a variety of coaching methods has a great impact on my effectiveness as a coach and ultimately on teachers' effectiveness in the classroom. And it all impacts our students in positive ways, which is my ultimate goal as a coach.

Team Building and Building Teacher Leaders with a Fun Friday Gathering!

Are you looking for an easy way to host a low cost team building event that also provides an opportunity for teacher leaders to share their skills and ideas? How about implementing a monthly Fun Friday at your school?

I started this at my school this year and am loving it! I created a Google sheet with a tab for each month. The dates are set and I added a little fun by filling in the cells with the colors for that season. The first two columns are where staff members can sign up to bring in a breakfast item. Depending on the size of your school staff, each person will most likely only have to sign up once during the year. But I emphasize that bringing in an item is not required for attending the Fun Friday. The last two columns are used for teachers to sign up with a team building activity they would like to lead. This Google sheet is shared in edit mode, so that anyone can add to it. I send this through email and it is posted on our staff canvas course.

Here's what it looks like:

The first month of our Fun Friday, a third year teacher led an activity where we had to work in teams of four, each with a string taped to a single marker, and we had to draw our school mascot. The second month, a second year teacher led a “Who Am I?” activity, where each person had Disney characters written on an index card and they had to go around asking yes or no questions to figure out who they were. We have our activity lined up for October - another third year teacher is going to walk us through a calming technique she learned an at OCPS Trauma Informed Training and one of our veteran PE Teachers is going to lead us through stretching techniques.

When teachers volunteer to lead the activity, I meet with them ahead of time. I ask for the gist of the activity and how it enhances team building. Then I ask what questions will they ask their participants afterwards. Example questions include, “How else could you do this activity?” and “How could you use this in your classroom?” Not only are we team building, but we are giving teachers team building ideas to implement with their own students.

This whole Fun Friday takes just about twenty minutes. The first ten minutes are used for eating and chit chat. The last ten minutes are for the team building activity. The Fun Friday is an optional gathering and those who attend appreciate the time to build relationships and some enjoy sharing their amazing cooking skills! Pictures are posted on a Google Site I created for our staff, under the “Fun Stuff” page.

It’s a win-win use of time. While I’m the one to coordinate it, others chip in their help with setting up, preparing the activity, and getting food items - it’s a great way to build distributive leadership.

Do you have other ideas for a Fun Friday? I would love to hear them!!

Time Management Tools: Using a Weekly Calendar

Do you find yourself trying to manage your time with all of the tasks required of you? Or as Roald Dahl wrote in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, “We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that, reverse it.” I consider myself an organized person, efficient planner and perfecter of to-do lists. Three years ago I created a weekly calendar using Google Sheets that would help our coaching team meet the needs of our teachers.

Here’s what it looks like.
OCPS Domain Link
Outside of the OCPS Domain Link

Why did I create it?
We were in our third year of being a digital 1:1 school and had a huge range of needs for our teachers. Technologically, we had some who were extremely proficient, some who were mid-way there, and some who were at the beginning stages. When it came to experience, we had brand new teachers with education degrees, some working on an alternative certificate, some with 20+ years of experience, and those in between. With so many varying needs and the desire to help all teachers grow, we needed a way to track what we could do and when we could do it. This need gave way to the weekly calendar I created. It has since been tweaked and improved and if you use it, feel free to continue to improve it to meet your individual needs.

How do I use it?
The template explains what to fill out in each cell. I create a new sheet for each quarter so that the tabs don’t become too overwhelming. The tabs are labeled for each week and within each sheet it is labeled Monday-Friday with the respective dates. Since we have seven periods in the day, there is one row per period, plus the morning time slot. The top row is for notes for that day, such as professional learning opportunities or notices of which coach is off campus.

Where is this calendar posted?
The weekly calendar is posted on the staff canvas course so it is accessible to everyone anytime. It is also shared individually with teachers when the need arises. The link to the weekly calendar is included in agendas, such as PLC meetings and department meetings as a reminder to use it. It is always shared in edit mode so that anyone can add to the calendar. We have a bi-weekly coach’s meeting and we review it there, as well as open it each morning to set our schedule for the day.

Who can sign up and what can they sign up for?
Any teacher and/or PLC can sign up on the weekly calendar for help with anything in relation to their teaching and their responsibilities. If a teacher signs up for help with an instructional strategy, I will add my name next to their request. If a teacher signs up for help with Skyward or Canvas, the coach who is an expert in those areas will add her name next to the request. We ask the teachers to fill in their name and a short description of their need. That way we know who can best help the teacher. You may want to set a parameter such as signing up on the calendar at least the day before so that you aren’t caught unprepared that same morning.

How does this manage my time?
When I have scheduled meetings or responsibilities, I darken the cell so that it is not available for sign up. When I have time slots that no one signed up for, some of the things I use that time for is preparing professional development content, giving input electronically to teachers who ask, creating data displays for the ongoing coaching cycles or finding resources for teachers to help their professional learning. I also use the weekly calendar to help structure the multiple coaching cycles I have going on at any given time. When I facilitate professional learning, I can use the weekly calendar to schedule follow up help when necessary.

Why does this help me as an Instructional Coach?
During the second year of using this weekly calendar, I started to see the buy-in and culture shift to understanding the importance of prioritizing my time to teachers and not being called in last minute to lower priority tasks. Now that I’m using it for the third year, I have others ask me if I am available for a time and if I’m not, I’m able to say what is already scheduled on my calendar and this is respected. Or if a teacher stops me in the hallway while I’m on my way to meet/coach another teacher, I’m able to say, “I would like to help you and give you my uninterrupted time, but another teacher has already requested me. If you could please sign up on my calendar, I can meet with you during that time.” This is a tool that gave me a concrete way to shift the mindset of coaching and working with teachers as a high priority use of time.

I hope that you find that it can help you too! Feel free to reach out to me with any questions.