Adventures in Coaching and Technology
So. Very. Hard.
In January of 2021, I embarked on my newest adventure in the education world and became a reading coach, instructional coach, Local Reading Specialist (LRS). I have been diligently working toward fulfilling my goal of becoming a coach and when I actually landed the job, I had no idea where to begin. In my mind I envisioned coaching as a world of rainbows and butterflies where I got to assist teachers in learning all about curriculum and data and being the best teachers they have already come to be….. Ha! Those rose-colored glasses took a very big turn; not a bad turn, just a very different turn!
My first coaching “assignment” was to be the LRS aka instructional coach for remote kindergarten through 5th grade teachers across our district. Technology has always been a passion of mine and something I tend to be pretty knowledgeable about, so I thought this was perfect! Let me just tell you, this was hard and I soon found that teachers did not have a lot of support because this virtual thing was so new and out of the ordinary, and quite frankly, they were lost, stressed, overwhelmed, and needed help.
After a lot of tears (on my end), I took a breath and remembered why we (educators) do what we do: the STUDENTS. I thought back to my group of remote students and reflected on my teaching from the previous August to December and decided to essentially create a coaching cycle for myself in order to wrap my brain around how I could not only help teachers but also help teachers help their students grow and thrive in an online environment. Stopping and taking a minute to remember that instructional coaches are simply partners with “...teachers to help them improve teaching and learning so STUDENTS become more successful” (Knight, 2017, p. 2) helped me to process my thoughts and breathe a little easier.
Coaching Cycle? Come Again?
We all know Nick Saban and we all know he is basically the king of college football (sorry, not sorry… I’m an Alabama fan). Well, there is actually a queen of instructional coaching and her name is Diane Sweeney. Let me just tell you, she is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Go ahead and Google her, you will thank me later! Sweeney has written numerous books regarding all things coaching: cycles, student-centered, virtual, and so on. Knowing that students are, or at least should be, at the center of all decisions and practices, I decided to dive into her books, blog posts, and articles and landed on the article, “Student Centered Coaching in a World of Digital Learning”. To my surprise, the queen of coaching had to redefine her coaching role in the same manner teachers had to change their approaches in order to deliver instruction remotely. Sweeney began by asking herself the questions that were very similar to the ones I had asked myself about my own teaching (Sweeney et al., 2020, para. 1):- How can I propel teacher and student learning forward when we aren’t together in the same physical space?
- How can we use student evidence to drive instruction if we aren’t teaching new material or giving grades?
- How can we use existing resources to elicit learning and give students meaningful feedback?
- How can I be a partner and collaborator in this work?
After reading and watching and reflecting, I ended the school year with a tremendous amount of knowledge coaching virtually and in person but knew I wanted to take things a step further and go even deeper into the “what’s”, “why’s”, and “how’s” of coaching and even bring technology into the mix.
New School Year, New Learning, New Goals
As I previously mentioned, I LOVE technology and working with teachers and students in any capacity. Due to legislative changes and requirements for Local Reading Specialists, I am actually required to complete 4 coaching cycles within a school year. My goal for the school year is to figure out a way to also introduce teachers to new ways of using technology not just to integrate technology into their classrooms, but to “engage students in authentic problem-solving, using the most effective and efficient tools available” (Ehsanipour & Gomez Zaccarelli, 2017, p. 11) in order to improve instruction and student learning. Students who are engaged become empowered and empowered students want to succeed and typically do (Merrill & Merrill, 2020).
According to research from Ehsanipour and Gomez Zaccarelli (2017, p. 10), “When students are using technology to create multimedia projects (such as digital storytelling or video production), they are not only learning valuable technology skills and developing critical/ creative thinking skills, they are also actively engaging in their learning.” Trying to shift teachers’ mindset away from technology simply being a delivery tool is going to be a difficult task; however, I am fortunate to work in a district that supports collaboration and building capacity in one another. Our technology department’s team of leaders has created a Coaching Book Study to create a deeper collaboration between them and instructional coaches. This is going to be a phenomenal opportunity for me and will set the stage to begin the process of shifting teachers’ paradigms regarding technology in the classroom while also providing valuable learning for all of us in the process.References
Ehsanipour, T., & Gomez Zaccarelli, F. (2017). Exploring coaching for powerful technology use in education. Dynamic Learning Project. Published. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12265/47
Knight, J. (2017). The impact cycle: What instructional coaches should do to foster powerful improvements in teaching (1st ed.). Corwin.
Merrill, J., & Merrill, K. (2020). The interactive class: Using technology to make learning more relevant and engaging in the elementary classroom. Elevate Books Edu.
Sweeney, D., Casey, J., & Harris, L. (2020, April 26). Student-Centered coaching in a world of digital learning. Diane Sweeney Consulting The Place for Student-Centered Coaching. https://www.dianesweeney.com/student-centered-coaching-in-a-world-of-digital-learning/
2 comments
According to Hilaire & Gallagher (2020), "the integration of technology into classrooms at all levels of education is ubiquitous, however, some educators are experiencing challenges in implementing technology into their instruction". This is so true for so many. Technology can be very daunting but so powerful when used in the classroom. I love technology (I am not very good at it, but I do love it) and the elevated element it brings to a lesson. I have had indirect technology coaching from the one and only April Maner in the past. LOL. It helped me see that if I just slow down and try to figure it out, some things are really that simple. According to Knight (2018), “when we grow, improve, and learn, when we strive to become better version of ourselves, we tap into something deep in ourselves that craves that kind of growth” (p. 14). Instructional coaches cannot only transform teachers to be better versions of themselves, they can also encourage and empower the technology aspect as well. Getting out of own way and being vulnerable to try new things can create a spark that can engulf the education world and allow teachers to do things they didn't think were possible. Thank you for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Hilaire, R. S., & Gallagher, T. L. (2020). Coaching kindergarten educators through design-based research to enact technology-enhanced reading instruction. International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education, 35(1).
Knight, J. (2018). The impact cycle: What instructional coaches should do to foster powerful improvements in teaching. Corwin.
April,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your journey into coaching for online teachers and students. When schools shut down in March 2020, we all had to learn a lot about new ways of teaching. Fortunately for me, I was already good with the use of technology for myself. The problems we faced in my district were the lack of technology available. We only became a 1:1 device district this year, so at that time we were scrambling to find devices for students in need. The other biggest challenge was internet services availability. Hotspots had to be ordered and distributed. Now that we are using more technology in classrooms, I hope that we can begin having more instructional coaches to guide teachers in the best ways to incorporate it in meaningful ways. Knight (2020) says, “coaches and teachers work as equals with the goal of making a powerful, positive difference in children’s lives.” (p. 4). You quoted an article saying that students will be more engaged in learning through creating and using problem solving strategies. This is what we need to strive for in our teaching with technology. I hope you are able to guide many other teachers in your future.
Knight, J. (2018). The impact cycle. Corwin.