- This semester as I ventured into my first instructional coaching experience I felt a wide array of emotions. Some of these emotions included excitement, motivation and passion. On the other hand, I also felt nervousness, hesitancy and fear. Although I was excited to help integrate technology into other classrooms, I was anxious about the impact I would have on my colleagues. The process entailed much more than I previously thought instructional coaching would, and proved to be a learning experience for not only my coaching participants. As I reflect on the steps taken thus far and prepare for the continuation of our partnership, I consider the coaching systems, and behaviors that I've taken as an instructional coach.
Although my current coaching partnerships are for a class assignment, two colleagues of mine requested one-on-one assistance after participating in a technology training during our grade-level professional learning communities. This provided the perfect opportunity to transition into a teacher-initiated coaching system. According to Marzano and Simms (2013) this system is enacted when a teacher asks their administrator for a coach, or arranges for their own coaching (p. 211). I knew that my coaching experience would be that much more meaningful knowing that my teacher-coachees wanted to grow professionally, as opposed to mandated instructional coaching.
I am in a school that does not participate in school or district-wide coaching programs, so the basis of my coaching preparation was solely from my class and personal study. In areas where there are coaching programs in place, specific guidelines are often used to guide the selection of coaches. Additionally, these guidelines may specify expectations for the coaching partnership (Marzano & Simms, 2013, p. 212). I can definitely see the importance and need for these guidelines in formal coaching situations. In my personal study of instructional coaching, I came across the article, Things to Consider Before Becoming an Instructional Coach. I found that although I was not using the article as a guide before choosing to become an instructional coach, I could relate to the guidelines that were provided and found meaning behind each of them.
I am extremely lucky in my current coaching partnerships because I am working with two teachers who are motivated to grow professionally and ready for change, especially as it relates to technology integration. However, although they are both motivated and anxious to begin using technology in their classrooms, the need for differentiated coaching is evident. According to Marzano and Simms (2013) the process outlined in Coaching Classroom Instruction can be used with any teacher to improve instruction, but some aspects of the partnership should be tailored to fit the specific teacher and situation (p. 213). The experience level of my current coachees differ greatly with one of them having a great deal more experience than me and the other a couple years less than me. Marzano and Simms (2013) point out that coaches should take a teacher's level of experience into account when making coaching decisions (p. 214). I've noticed that in my current partnerships, the newer teacher wants more of a co-teaching/hand-holding relationship when it comes to integrating technology into her classroom, while the more experienced teacher prefers a brief tutorial with guidance and then time to work on her own. The difference in their styles naturally leads to different coach-teacher conversations. My conversations with the newer teacher are more direct and coaching, while my conversations with the veteran teacher are more reflective.
Both of my coachees chose beginning elements under the design question "What will I do to engage students?" (Marzano & Simms, 2013, p. 27) to become growth goals. This design question correlates nicely with technology integration. As we've progressed from forming trust, writing the growth goals, one-on-one coaching, modeling and co-teaching, I will continue to provide informal and formal feedback in order to move my coachees from beginning to applying and hopefully, ultimately, increase their use of technology in the classroom.
References:
Marzano, R. J., & Simms, J. A. (2013). Coaching classroom instruction. Bloomington IN: Marzano Research.
