We wrapped up the last week of April by learning about the 5-D Cycle of Appreciative Inquiry, a day in the life of an instructional technology coach, why principals can benefit from coaching, and more! 😀
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Mia Pumo explores the 5-D cycle of Appreciative Inquiry and shows how you can use it with your team to lay a solid foundation of communication and collaboration.
"Appreciative Inquiry is a strengths-based approach to both personal and organizational development. For teams in education, it's a way to build trust by creating positive emotions around the team's past successes and building on those successes to design future projects. . . . If there is a specific issue a team needs to address, you can use it as an alternative to gap-analysis and problem-solving approaches to change."
Teresa Engler walks through a day's responsibilities and her role in ensuring every teacher has opportunities to learn professionally, no matter where they are at in their career.
"I make it a point to visit all four schools—two elementary schools, one high school and one middle school—and walk room to room, personally checking in with everyone. . . . One of the key elements is that I make it a point to tap into our district's expertise, asking teachers to share their own best practices and preferred strategies for implementing meaningful lessons with students in their classrooms."
Peter DeWitt believes principals can benefit from coaching if they truly lead with collaborative, growth, and innovative mindsets.
"There are leaders who believe that coaching can be just as important for them as it is for teachers. This is the collaborative, growth and innovative mindset leaders should have. If leaders truly believe in being collaborative, they also understand that they have a blind spot (Scharmer) which they lead from on a daily basis, and they may need outside guidance on how to get through that blind spot."
Steve Ventura offers a few tips for leaders to build trust and credibility within their organization.
"The ability to influence is an essential skill for school leaders. Through influence, leaders impact team members’ behaviors, attitudes, and actions. Leaders also build influence through growing the trust of their staff or team. This trust can be formed through subject-matter expertise, credibility, or charisma. . . . As a leader in the educational field, your ability to influence others can directly impact student learning and performance."
Fiona Hurtado provides four themes ICs should keep top-of-mind when planning their next group coaching session.
" There is something special about the process of finding common ground among a group of educators who each have a different class of students with their own interests and learning needs. It takes your coaching skill set and asks you to supercharge it, listening to multiple voices, acknowledging and connecting sometimes diverse ideas and values and elevating that sense of togetherness that is so powerful in schools."
Nicole Turner encourages ICs to seek feedback from teachers on their performance to continue to grow their skillset professionally.
" Reflection is an instrumental part of education. When we observe teachers, we ask them to reflect on what went well and what they can improve on. Expecting this of our teachers means we should expect this of ourselves. . . . While it may be scary to see the bad, you might be surprised how big of an impact you're making in the classroom wherever that may be."
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