A Partial Definition

Best friends are the people who make your problems their problems just so you don't have to go through them alone.

— Legofans (@Legofans_pa) November 10, 2015

I saw this Tweet in my feed, and it spoke to me.

First, because I feel it is the truth.
Second, because this is partially what I hope to be as a coach.

I want to be there for teachers, and support them through difficult times.
I want to be able to offer insights that will help them achieve their goals.
I want to be helpful.
I want to be a good teammate.

These are all the reasons I love being a coach and what drew me to the position in the first place.

These are not all that a coach does though, it's only a partial definition.

Defining Coaching at KAS

Now that structures for the coaching program at KAS have been built, it's time to deliver the message to the teachers and explain what coaching is, can be, and will mean for them.

Victor and I (with Diana's guidance) have decided in this first year of the coaching program to focus on the Tech Ambassadors at KAS. The Tech Ambassador is a team of teachers who are able and willing to help their peers with learning technology. Diana instantly recognized that we have a built-in group of teachers who are willing to take risks. So that's where we are starting.

I spent a lot of time in the past few weeks looking over resources and decided SIS had the most easy-to-follow definition I could find.

Something I am going to work on is creating an elevator pitch I can use to briefly explain the program whenever I am asked about it.

I have done this preparing for job interviews but didn't think of it as an option for explaining what you do until I saw Geoff Derry's post where he mentioned the idea.

So, I spent some time considering my options for the vision statement (the first slide) ...

• I support teachers by providing advice and in-class support.
• I help teachers choose appropriate technologies to integrate into their classrooms.
• I am there to support teachers when they need it providing professional development, in-class support, and act as a silent partner.

... and the coaching cycle ...

• The coaching cycle follows a lesson or unit through the entire process.
• The coaching cycle allows the coach to be involved in a lesson or unit from the beginning to the end, helping to increase student outcomes. 
• The coach helps guide the teacher through the planning process, the delivery of the lesson, and reflects with the teacher on the lesson.

Time and Space

The Learning Technology Strategic Plan has three parts: Lead -- Collaborate -- Share.

When drafting the coaching plan for KAS, I kept thinking of how teachers currently feel disconnected from teachers in other departments or parts of the building. Yet, when I observed teachers or learning working together, I saw great collaboration and idea sharing.

KAS has had a group of teachers called the Tech Ambassadors (TAs). The TAs are the innovators of the school, knowledgeable with tech, and able to help others when they had questions. When I arrived, the Tech Ambassadors met every other month.

From my point of view, these teachers needed to spend more time together. I thought long and hard about creating some sort of discussion forum where conversations could take place, but there is something magical that happens when ideas are shared face-to-face.

I read something about time and space needed for innovation to take place. (This might have been from Sam Sheratt from the blog Time Space Education.) So, I figured if we could make the time in the form of more frequent and focused, 20-minute meetings where teachers have a chance to bring lessons they are doing in the classroom to get feedback, it would help create a culture of sharing.

We begin our journey in a few weeks at our next meeting.

Just Listen

The other day I felt like talking with my best friend. That term is a little strange since I haven't lived near him in 13 years, and it might be a one-way feeling, but that's how I feel all the same.

So I was feeling that I needed to email him to talk out some things I had on my mind. Then the next day I got an email from him.

Then when I replied to his message, I unloaded.

That was probably the wrong timing and I know I caught him off guard.

I explained my issue and he replied and all was going well until it wasn't. Suddenly he was offering advice I didn't want. All it seems I wanted was someone who I could trust with airing my issue rather than looking for advice.

I wonder how much I jump in and offer advice when teachers are not looking for it. I wonder if that is an option teachers should have when meeting with me. I wonder what I could look for to determine if that is how someone feels during a coaching meeting.

How to Better Communicate?

When I was a homeroom teacher, communication and understanding took on a different form than my current role as a technology coach. 

I feel like communication in my lower elementary classroom was me as more of an authoritative figure who could dictate when and how students would make themselves clear when I did not understand them. I was also directing the learning, so I knew, or could predict their lines of questioning.

This picture really has nothing to do with this post.

SJSA Fourth Grade - The Longest Year in My Life!, 

by Michael 1952, via Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Now, however, I am on the outside and people come to me with ideas. The role is new to the school, so a culture is still being established. This has meant a lot of what I am doing is last-minute, can-you-come-in-later-today-to-teach-X?-type lessons. I'm not complaining, I just realize that the program needs to move to one of the coach joining planning sessions if there is to be a mind-shift in people's perceptions of coaching in the school.

Knowing I cannot change others, what can I do ot better communicate?

• Don't jump to answer right away
• Instead of answering with a solution, answer with a question
• Ask better questions
• Better empathasize
• Approach conversations looking for a win-win