This week we dove into the types of personalities you come across during PD sessions, the benefits of embedded coaching, how one district harnessed the power of instructional coaching, and more!

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Final Coaching Reflection

Marc Hodgkinson reflects on the first PD session he attended where everyone was "all in" and the types of personalities you typically come across.

"I was immediately struck by the level of engagement. It was clear, these educators were positively invested in both the presentations being led by our leadership team and the self-directed discussion opportunities at each table. . . . I have connected with people who believe they can make a difference."

Beyond the Workshops

Ann Hoffman, Michelle Harris, and Sharon Thomas explain the benefits of embedded coaching to impact professional learning.

"Workshops are often both the first and final step in professional development for educators because schools rarely have enough time and resources to do everything they need to do to move students forward. . . . Building a connection between workshop and classroom results in a much deeper implementation of the coaching model, improved instruction, and improved student learning."

Coaching for Flexibility

Vicki Collet shares how coaches can help teachers identify a lesson's goals and active ingredients for better real-time adjustments.

"When teachers can identify the active ingredients in the lesson, those key pieces that make it work, they can determine how other aspects of the lesson can be adjusted to interact effectively. Flexibility begins during planning as teachers created your plan and decide what materials to use. Encourage teachers to use curriculum resources flexibly to match their students, Then, as the lesson plays out, there will be more opportunities for flexible use of materials."

Collaboration Building Teacher Efficacy

Steve Barkley promotes a type of collaboration among staff focused on student progress.

"Having agreed on the desired outcomes, collaboration can now turn to identifying what teachers believe are the student learning production behaviors that will generate the learning outcomes. . . . My thought is that meeting curriculum content standards and success skills like empathy, perseverance, and collaboration is at least as complex as creating a sport team's success."

Which Are You?

Dr. Kandace Bethea identifies three ways her district improved their instructional coaching efforts to better support staff development.

"In the end, teachers are almost always their own biggest critics. You can't talk with them about their own practice for more than a couple minutes before they start saying, 'Well, you know, I need to…' Truly innovative instructional coaching really is about harnessing that drive to improve. If we can help our teachers look at their practice from new perspectives, they'll be telling us what needs work and what's worth doing more of before we know it."

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