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Coaching

Journal

LaNadia R. Pugh

Kennesaw State University

ITEC 7460 Professional Learning and Technology Innovations

Dr. Angela Bacon

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Session 1

Time: September 25, 2015 1:00-2:30 PM

Goals/Targets

1. Discuss the  Individual Teacher Technology Assessment questionnaire results to identify

teacher current level of technology/integration.

2. Discuss the Early Adopter survey results  to determine teacher attitude toward the adoption

of new technologies in her classroom.

3. Employ the partnership principles, effective communication skills, building a strong

relationship, and introducing the “Big Four” (behavior, content knowledge, direct instruction,

assessments), and set goals for each.

Strategies

The main goal for session one was to build a great relationship my colleague, practice

the partnership principles, sets goals, and create a strong emotional connection. Knight (2007)

asserts that barriers to change are often removed when coaches start working one-on-one with

teachers.  During my first session with Mrs. E, we discussed the Individual Teacher

Technology Assessment questionnaire along with the Early Adopter survey results. Since Mrs.

E was unaware of the LoTi Framework,  we went to the LoTi Connection site and explored all

of the resources. She gave examples of the kinds of technology used in her classroom such as

the smart board, projector and student laptops. We dialogued about what each LoTi level

would look like in her classroom. In addition, Mrs. E said that she had not fully adopted

technology, because she felt her “traditional methods” of teaching  were effective. Knight

(2007) asserts that coaches must work in the partnership principles, because it is at the core of

effective instructional coaching. She told me that technology was not very new to her, yet she

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didn't feel it helped her student’s learned. Throughout the coaching session, I explained to

Mrs. E that when technology use is effective, students think more critically, are engaged in

what you are teaching, and are able to demonstrate their learning with various authentic

assessments.

In this first session, I tried to silence my inner thoughts so Mrs. E had the opportunity

to express her point of view about technology use and early adoption in the classroom. I also

employed great listening and communication skills to make sure my colleague felt

comfortable with all of the information she was receiving during our coaching session. Lastly,

we talked about the “Big Four” and set goals for how she would like to improve on behavior,

content knowledge, direct instruction, and assessments.

Outcomes

After completing our coaching session, Mrs. was assigned a LoTi level based on her

survey results. Mrs. E is moving between a LoTi Level 0 None Use/ and LoTi Level 1

Awareness, because she is using technology to enhance direct instruction and reach Bloom’s

lower levels. Technology is also being used to enhance Mrs. E’s presentation of materials,

rather than promote higher order thinking.

We also discussed target goals for each of the “Big Four”. Mrs. E stated that she wanted

to improve in her classroom management by creating common classroom expectations, and

posting them up in her classroom/eClass shell. She also wanted to improve in her content

knowledge by exploring more on what Blended Learning is and how it looks in the classroom.

We also set a goal for her to use a Web 2.0 tool (Padlet or Popplet) in the classroom, to

enhance direct instruction. In addition, Mrs. E wants to create some type of assessment piece

such as a rubric for her R.A.C.E. (Restate, Answer, Cite, Explain) writing strategy and upload

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her R.A.C.E. into eClass rather than using a handout.

Mrs. E felt very comfortable discussing her survey results with instructional coach,

dialoguing, and setting target goals for future sessions. In addition, the coach was able to

build a strong emotional connection with colleague, and kept the differences in personalities in

mind. Knight (2007) asserts that effective IC’s help teachers create a plan for realizing their

professional goals, while being able to listen empathizes, build relationships and trust.

Reflection

This coaching session went far better than I imagined. Being that Mrs. E and I worked

one-on-one was rewarding, because I had the opportunity to focus all of my time, attention

and energy on her needs. In addition, describing the LoTi levels to my colleague made a

difference in her reaction to the LoTi levels I assessed. As a instructional coach, I thought it

would be challenging to employ all of the partnership principles, effective communication

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skills and setting goals for the “Big Four” at one time, but everything happen very naturally.

There is a great connection between my practice and what the literature says, because if you

model and experience effective coaching, the sessions between the colleague and yourself

will be very rewarding for both. I hope to help Mrs. E reach the target goals set and also gain

the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to be an effective instructional/technology

coach. For our next session we will continue to explore one of the Big Four, which is

classroom management, in hopes to improve behavioral issues in Mrs. E classroom.

Next Steps

1. We will look at more examples of the LoTi levels and I will also introduce the Indicators

of Engaged Learning.

2. Create common classroom expectations and post them in eClass. We will review PBIS

(Positive Behavior Intervention Support) strategies to reinforce appropriate behaviors in the

classroom.

3. Explore more resources and examples of Blended Learning and prepare to introduce a web

2.0 tool in her direct instruction.

Session 2

Time: October 2, 2015 1:00-2:30 PM

Goals/Targets

1. Utilize the “Big Four” to organize interventions and provide focus to our coaching

sessions.  Develop and teach expectations for the classroom.

2. Explore resources on Blended Learning and choose a Web 2.0 tool to explore.

3. Engage in more examples of LoTi levels and introduce the indicators of engaged learning.

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Strategies

The strategies to be used this week are the power of focus. Knight (2007) assert that

instructional coaches need to identify teaching practices, learning strategies, tools and other

inventions that has the greatest likelihood of helping  teachers  and students. The instructional

coach and colleague worked together to create positive classroom expectations for students.

Since Mrs. E works at an alternative school, and students have a wide variety of academic and

behavioral problems, she stated that students should “already know how to behave at this level”.

The coach listened and dialogue with  colleague about creating a positive learning environment,

that’s orderly, and where students have a clear understanding of what is expected of them.

Coach also suggested that Mrs. E could create and teach classroom expectations. Knight (2007)

states that teachers need to clarify, activity structure by activity structure and teach what is

appropriate behavior and what is inappropriate behavior.  We then created a Classroom

Management Plan to establish rules, expectations, rewards and consequences. The instructional

coach set up two classroom observations, to observe colleagues behavioral management with

students.  In addition, we also dialogue about the ratio of positive interactions in the classroom,

using corrective comments and documenting the time the students are on task.

Outcomes

We posted a PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention Support Matrix) in Mrs. E

classroom as well as on her eClass shell. I observed her on October 7, 2015 as she taught

classroom expectations to her students. Her students seemed very receptive to the

information presented to them. On October 9, 2015, I used something similar to the

Classroom Academic Engagement Form to record if students were engaged or not in her

lesson. Results showed that the students were mostly engaged when she referred to her smart

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board or some kind of technology during the lesson, when students got to use their laptops,

and when they were working with their elbow partner . Students seemed more disengaged

when they had to write the essay independently, and when she was giving a 10-minute

lecture on the literature content. When students seemed disengaged she still gave positive

corrective comments, rather than lashing out or removing students from the room.

I discussed these results to Mrs. E and she seemed very open to what I had observed.

In addition, I gave her the Indicators of Engaged Learning handout so she could see all of the

elements that are required for a well-engaged lesson. She said she wanted to work on making

her lessons more authentic, culturally responsive, challenging and student centered. I

suggested that we choose a Web 2.0 tool to explore in her class during her next lesson and

suggested Padlet or Popplet. After Looking at both Web 2.0 tools, she felt that students

would benefit from Popplet, because they could collaborate, organize ideas, focus on their

writing and still use some form of technology.

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Reflection

At the conclusion of this coaching session, I felt very empowered as an instructional

coach. My colleague was very receptive to the conversations we had and the strategies used.

Knight (2007) suggests that instructional coaches can help teachers increase the amount of

attention they pay to the behavior they want to reinforce. Since Mrs. E taught in a traditional

style, and other students were used to blended learning in their other classes, she would see

more misbehavior due to inconsistencies. Now that Mrs. E is aware of her LoTi level, and is

incorporating more technology into her lessons to engage students, most of the classroom

behavior of students are improving. In addition, creating classroom expectations for students

was a great way for Mrs. E to focus on the behaviors she wants to see. Students were not

aware of what she expected, because there were no expectations posted, and she never

explicitly explain what she expected in her class. Now that we dialogue about positive

classroom interactions and I observed when students were engaged, Mrs. E is now more of

aware of which classroom strategies are suitable for her students.  

       During this coaching session we also focused on one of the “Big Four” which was

behavior. In addition, we looked at classroom expectations and strategies she could use to

improve student behavior.  These included documenting student engagement, teaching

appropriate behaviors, using corrective commenting, and focusing on positive behaviors. Knight

(2007) asserts that instructional coaches can provide teachers with suggestions or model how to

be attentive to more positive behaviors. It is very evident that Mrs. E along with her students

benefits from this powerful coaching session.

Next Steps

1. Explore a Web 2.0 tool Popplet and model a language arts lesson with the tool.

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2. Delve into the “Big Four” again, but this time we will focus on assessment strategies.

3. Explore Blended-Learning uses in the classroom, and how it enhances the learning process

for students.

Session 3

Time: October 9, 2015 1:00-2:30 PM

Goals/Targets

1. Model the use of a Web 2.0 tool Popplet into a lesson to ensure student engagement,

learning and critical thinking.

2. Create a new formative, summative, and diagnostics assessment to use daily in the

classroom.

3. Define and explore more aspects of blended learning, and how it can be integrated into

Mrs. E current teaching practices.

Strategies

The strategies to be explored this week were modeling and assessment strategies. Knight

(2007) states that in order for teachers to master new teaching practices, instructional coaches

should go into the classroom and show the teacher exactly how the practice works with their

children. Mrs. E stated that she would like to integrate more technology into her lessons. The

coach suggested that Mrs. E try to integrate a web 2.0 tool into one of her lessons. Once we

dialogued about the outcomes of web 2.0 tool use, which was student engagement,

collaboration, and critical thinking, we set up a day for the coach to model the lesson. Before

conducting the model lesson the coach talked with the students and reviewed content to make

sure they acquired enough background information. In addition, the coach interacted with the

students and checked frequently for student’s understanding. Knight (2007) asserts that model

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lessons are very beneficial and help teachers teach with fidelity in their research based

practices.

Mrs. E also dialogued with coach about integrating new assessment strategies.

Assessment strategies are important because they provide the teacher with valuable

information about how the student is progressing throughout the learning process. We first

identified the three major types of assessments, and then decided to create one of each to

integrate seamlessly in her daily teaching practices.

Outcomes After modeling the lesson, Mrs. E seemed very confident about using a web 2.0 tool into

her lessons. I also believe her students benefited thoroughly from the experience, because

technology was used to create a product meaningful to them. Here is an example of a Popplet

below that a student made on the literature readings from this week (i.e. My Dear Loving

Husband).

A diagnostic reading assessment was generated to see what reading level her students fell

under. A R.A.C.E (Restate, Answer, Cite, Explain, Edit) formative assessment rubric was

created, so students could write a constructed response from a topic she chose, and let the

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rubric guide the proficiency of their final products. Lastly, we created a summative assessment

in the form of a document-based essay, so students could demonstrate their reading, writing

and comprehension skills. These new assessment strategies could better help Mrs. E

understand students targets/objectives to be mastered, and drive the teaching process so

students meet their learning goals.

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Reflection

This coaching session was very rewarding because I got to step out of my comfort zone,

and model a lesson for a different subject area that I was not 100% familiar with. The students

seemed to really like the use of the web 2.0 tools, because they got to be more involved in the

learning process. One student said “I get it now”, as if before they never really understood

what the text was conveying. In addition, Mrs. E stated that the stop light strategy and

R.A.C.E rubric was working very well in her classroom, especially with the students writing.

She thinks the students are able to visualize and then verbalize what they understand, and she

can refocus her lesson on the things they struggle with. Also during this week’s session, I got

the opportunity to support Mrs. E by modeling a lesson, and improving her assessment

strategies. So far everything that we have done is already having a positive impact on

student’s behavior, learning, engagement, and my colleague’s instructional practices.

Next Steps

1. Explore Blended-Learning uses in the classroom and what it looks like in practice.

2. Utilize the “Big Four” to help colleague build on her content knowledge.

3. Start collaborative strategies for Mrs. E to use with her students, and outside of the

classroom with colleagues.

Session 4

Time: October 16, 2015 1:00-2:30 PM

Goals/Targets

1. During this session we will explore Blended Learning resources, and how we can

integrate blended strategies into Mrs. E’s classroom.

2. Dialogue about content knowledge and devise a plan to utilize other resources to help

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colleague get a thorough understanding of what to teach. Coach will introduce the

“Backwards Design”.

3. Create collaborative strategies to use in the classroom with students, and work

collaborative with colleague to create a unit organizer.

Strategies

During this week session we explored resources on blended learning. Coach and

colleague discussed what blended learning is and how it would look in her classroom. We also

watched different videos from Blended Learning Resources Roundup Edutopia.org. The main

coaching strategies to be used this week were collaboration and exploring content knowledge.

Knight (2007) states that collaboration is the “lifeblood” of instructional coaching. Through

collaboration, the coach makes it possible for the teacher to engage in reflective dialogue

about teaching (Knight, 2007). Helping Mrs. E understand the importance of collaboration

would not only be advantageous for her, but her students as well. Collaboration tools I

suggested for Mrs. E to use with her students include Google Docs, Padlet, and Edmodo. I

also told her that I would help her create accounts for all of the web 2.0 tools through

Symbaloo so she could use them in the future. Collaboration was also very critical this week,

because it made our relationship come alive (Knight, 2007). In the past we had personality

differences that caused us to clash, but now we both are benefiting from a give and take

relationship while bouncing ideas off of each other.

To help Mrs. E enhance content knowledge, we researched the “Backward Design”

learning model. Coach informed colleague that this design allows you to identify enduring

understandings first, and then develop lesson essential questions, assessment evidence and

then a learning plan. Knight (2007) contends, that coaches should help teachers make smart

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decisions about the content they teach. This ensures that learners explore the key concepts and

deepen their understandings. Coach and colleague then created a Unit Organizer to identify

the essential questions and enduring understandings. Unit organizer would be shared with

students to ensure they would have an overview of the content to be covered during the unit.

Outcomes

After exploring the resources on blended learning, Mrs. E said that she now understand

what it is and how it looks with in the context of a classroom. She thought that blended

learning would not allow her to teach in a traditional way, and she learned that this is a myth.

She also stated that in the near future she wanted to try “a web quest or some type of online

learning assignment”, because she has heard of other teachers using them, but did not because

she was not confortable with students learning online. In addition, Mrs. E created accounts to

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three collaborative tools for her students to use. Since Mrs. E does not feel confortable at this

time with using Edmodo, coach explained that she could model its use in a future lesson.

Lastly, we created a unit organizer for the lesson she would be working on in upcoming weeks

and it really help Mr. E gain a thorough understanding of the Backwards Design. Knight

(2007) explains that unit organizers is a map or word web that depicts and connects all of the

information to be learned in a organizational, yet sequential fashion to what content will be

taught. She believes this unit organizer will benefit her students, because they get to see the

enduring understanding and essential questions throughout the unit. This helps Mrs. E clarify

confusing points to students, while also helping them learn how to self-assess their own

understanding or curriculum standards.

Reflection

I really enjoyed this week’s coaching session even though my colleague did not feel

confortable using some of the new tools and strategies I introduced. As a instructional coach,

I tried to make sure I was using great partnership principles along with effective

communications while taking a chance on different strategies that would be useful with her

students. Since Mrs. E is at a LoTi level 0/1, I wanted to make sure we were advancing at a

confortable pace of technology integration. In time I think she will be receptive to using the

collaboration tools on Symbaloo soon, she just stated that she needs more time to practice.

The unit organizer we created through collaboration was very helpful to students. I believe

they will refer to it throughout the unit to get the overarching concepts to be learned. Mrs. E

also stated that she liked creating the organizer as well, because it keeps her on tracking with

the pacing calendar as well.

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Next Steps

1. Concluding the focus on “Big Four” by exploring strategies for direct instruction,

questioning, and high quality assignments.

2. Employing the five tactics for translating research into practice (clarify, synthesize, break

it down, see it through the teacher/students eyes, and simplify).

3. Engage in reflective process with colleague to ensure teacher and coach is learning.

Session 5

Time: October 23, 2015 1:00-2:30 PM

Goals/Targets

1. Review strategies to enhance direct instruction through questioning, high quality

assignments, and graphic organizers.

2. Employ the five tactics for translating research into practice for our last coaching session.

3. Reflect on the coaching process and experiences.

Strategies

During our last coaching session, the main strategies used were to enhance direct

instruction given in Mrs. E class. In addition, the coach wanted to explore the five tactics for

translating research into practice while both colleague and coach engaged in meaningful

reflection over the whole coaching process. Knight (2007) believes that teacher that have a

deeper understanding of the content they teach and manages classroom behavior effectively,

can shift their focus to enhancing instruction so students can master more content. Mrs. E and

I sat down and looked at resources on use of advance organizers, high level questioning and

quality assignments. When done we reflected on the coaching experiences we had over the

course of the month and how it has changed us both for the better.

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Outcomes

Mrs. E explained that she was already giving student high levels of questioning and

quality assignment, but she was not making use of advance organizers. I talked with Mrs. E

about how advance organizers guide the student’s context of learning, assess prior knowledge,

can be useful for her low-level readers and struggling students. In addition, coach also

explained to colleague that advance organizers can be used to describe learning activities

students will be experiencing or even review old and unfamiliar content.

Coach also wanted to support Mrs. E during the last coaching session by utilizing the

five tactics for translating research into practice. This was done by clarifying anything I was

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not sure of through extra resources and peer review literature. In addition, we synthesize the

various teaching practices learned over the course of the coaching session. Next, I was able to

break down strategies that we used so she could get a better understanding of when and how

to use them in the context of her classroom. Lastly, the coach made sure to keep the teacher’s

and student’s perspectives at the forefront, rather than listing a bunch of weaknesses and poor

classroom observations. Simplifying the process into easy to do routines and procedures

would ensure that Mrs. E could utilize these new effective practices even after the conclusion

of our coaching sessions.

Mrs. E and coach engaged in reflective practices as to not forget what we learned (Knight,

2007). Reflecting on this process for Mrs. E and myself has allowed us to understand what

happened, why it happened, how to sustain strengths and improve weaknesses. We used a

form similar to Knights After Action report to discuss what we learned and what we will do

moving forward. Mrs. E expressed that although our scheduled coaching sessions were over,

she would still like to meet with me periodically to receive help.

Reflection

This coaching experience was very beneficial for Mrs. E, her students and myself. Not

only did we grow in building a meaningful relationship with improved communication skills

than in years past, but I also truly believe Mrs. E has grown in her use of technology is well.

She express to me with more practice she will get better and hopefully will need my help less.

I often tell her that I am always here for her. Weeks after our coaching session concluded, she

still sees me weekly for help in adding new technology elements to her instruction. She has

also started using Padlet, and has created the next unit organizer for her upcoming text on the

Native Americans. In addition, this experience has taught me that coaching can be challenging

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if there are personality clashes and no one would be willing to grow from them. Although we

didn’t see eye-to-eye in the past, none of that affected our coaching relationship this year,

because I made true and genuine efforts to impart the partnership principles, listen and

communicate effectively. Hopefully, the reflection process has engrained my experiences with

Mrs. E and I will be able to recall them in the near future as I began to coach more colleagues.

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References

LoTi Frameworks. (2015). Retrieved October 4, 2015, from

http://www.loticonnection.com/index.php/school-improvement/frameworks

Knight, J. (2007). Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to improving instruction.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Knight, J.(2012). Technology, Coaching, AND Community. Retrieved September

30, 2015, from ISTE Whitepaper Final

Roblyer, M.D., & Doering, A. H. (2013). Integrating educational technology

into teaching. USA: Pearson Education Inc.

The Professional Learning Association (n.d.). Standards for professional learning.

Retrieved October 1, 2015 from Learning Forward

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