Skip to main content

Impact Cycle of Coaching: Learn and Improve

This whole idea of Instructional Coaching is something new to me. I had never heard of it until recently. I knew of mentor teachers but that is not exactly the same thing. Instructional coaching requires a relationship that is trusting and honest. It will be one where all people involved will benefit. The video below is a brief overview of what instructional coaching needs to be.

            

After reading chapter four of The Impact Cycle, I feel that making a checklist will be a great starting point for the coaching process. I will be coaching a veteran teacher. We have discussed that she wants to get more student engagement for the whole class period. Her struggle is with the use of technology in meaningful ways that provide the engagement she wants. I use checklist for myself in other ways all the time. Knight et. al (2018) says, "Checklists help a coach remember everything by providing a clear structure and map for explaining the teaching strategies to teachers." (p. 86).

We will use the checklist and then use modeling. My approach to modeling would one centered around co-teaching. Co-teaching is something common in my school and for my specific job as an inclusion teacher. Students are usually comfortable with multiple teachers in the classroom and it will not be teaching a whole lesson. The plan will be to introduce students to the technology aspect of a lesson and make sure that they are able to get started. This will benefit the teacher by showing the students more ways to accomplish goals also.


My main goal will be to assist on technology implementation and issues. I will not be there to teach for her. I want her to feel like it is her classroom and I am just visiting to help with something. This is most beneficial to all parties involved. 

Glover et. al (2019) talks about using a technology based platform to track the coaching process and keep things moving. About the program they say, "Teachers’ intention to implement interventions and sustain implementation across time and contexts is reinforced within the coaching platform by prompts for coaches to engage in modeling, role play, and provision of feedback in response to teachers’ practices." (p. 99).

The next thing to look at in coaching is to improve. Teachers can now be ready to use these new strategies on their own. Walsh et. al (2020) says, "Through this progress review, coaches intentionally encourage and assist teachers to find success and remain encouraged in their improvement efforts." (p. 1145). Teachers can modified if they need to for students with different needs at this point. They will know what is best for their students. 

I feel like I am becoming more prepared to coach others. Each step of the way has carefully laid out plans and ideas. This helps me make decisions and keep focused on what needs to be done. I hope to continue to grow in my coaching efforts and am able to coach more teachers in the future. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ohssmq5tIE

Knight, J. (2018). The impact cycle: What instructional coaches should do to foster powerful improvements in teaching. Corwin, A Sage Company.

Knight, J., Knight, J. R., & Carlson, C. (2018). The Reflection Guide to the impact cycle: What instructional coaches should do to foster powerful improvements in teaching. Corwin.

Walsh, N. R., Ginger, K., & Akhavan, N. (2020). Benefits of Instructional Coaching for Teacher Efficacy: A Mixed Methods Study with PreK-6 Teachers in California. Issues in Educational Research, 30(3), 1143-1161.

Glover, T. A., Reddy, L. A., Kurz, A., & Elliot, S. N. (2019). Use of an Online Platform to Facilitate and Investigate Data-Driven Instructional Coaching. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 44(2), 95-103. 

Comments

  1. April ManerOctober 21, 2021 at 11:27 AM

    Hi Barbara,
    I am also a checklist fanatic. I truly do not think I'd be able to get through an entire day if I didn't have some sort of list to follow! Coaching can be a daunting task and there are often times I feel very scattered, especially because I am assigned more than one K-5 school. My lists help me stay on track and help me remember the important things I need to do. Keeping my lists short, sweet, and to the point, which is a point Knight (2017) states, are the key to helping me focus.
    I am glad you are becoming more comfortable with the idea of coaching and I appreciate your insights!

    References

    Knight, J. (2017). The impact cycle: What instructional coaches should do to foster powerful improvements in teaching (1st ed.). Corwin.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 26, 2021 at 8:49 PM

    I love a good checklist. I think it is the thrill of marking things off and feeling accomplished that really gets me. It also helps me maintain focus (Knight, 2017). As teachers we have ALL the things. A checklist helps center you. As I am moving into an instructional math coach position (serving all k-5 schools in my district), I will rely heavily on a checklist to keep me on task.
    I enjoyed reading your blog.

    References

    Knight, J. (2017). The impact cycle: What instructional coaches should do to foster powerful improvements in teaching (1st ed.). Corwin.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Student Records, Training, and Security

                      via GIPHY Who? How? Where? Great questions to ask about all the student data that has to be input, stored, and protected in schools today.  As the education system has moved to electronic records and data storage, some schools have had to make decisions about who, how, and where all the data will be stored. The best way to do all those things easily is to use a student information system (SIS). This varies in schools, districts, and states immensely. There are many SISs to choose from. Some schools may have the choice to use what they think is best, while others may have to use whatever their district office decides on. Others may be required to use a system that the whole state has established.  I know that in my district we have to use the state's choice of SIS. I feel like that is a good decision because some students may move schools and this helps with transferring records. We also had a recent c...
3 comments
Read more

ED 610 Blog Reflection #2

Thinking back on this last year in education, it has been a crazy, mixed up experience for all. I was only in my first full year of teaching (I had started in the middle of the year before), when the Covid 19 pandemic shutdown happened. I don't follow much news and so, the whole thing came somewhat of a surprise to me. I was planning out the end of the year and just thinking about how to finish out the year. Like everyone else, my district shutdown very quickly with the intent to reopen in 3 weeks after our Spring Break. We all know that did not happen.  The district had to plan out a way to finish out the year in a big hurry. We had paper packets and gave out any device we could to accommodate. Students without internet access were provided with hotspots in hopes that they would work. The district had the infrastructure within the schools to provide access but the students did not have that at home. The reality of the socioeconomic differences throughout our district was made very...
3 comments
Read more

Why do we give teachers tools if we do not take the time to train them how to use them?

I know how most teachers feel about professional development. Ugh! In my experience as a teacher, I've been given a lot of tools, software, devices, programs. You name it and I probably have a teacher account that my district has provided. What is lacking is the training in how to use all of them or even most of them. So many times, teachers are sent tutorial videos to watch on their own time when given something new to learn. Other times, teachers have to teach themselves or find videos online to learn things. Something that I have noticed is that training is given for things that teachers do not even use on a daily basis. We have to change this. As a future technology coordinator, I want to make it a mission to provide training for teachers often and make sure that it will actually be relevant. Teachers do not want to feel like their time is wasted on training for "nothing." This means that leaders need to get input from teachers on what they need and what will be the...
3 comments
Read more