Coaching Journal-Brock 1

Coaching Journal

Chris Brock

PL & Technology Innovation (ITEC7460)

Kennesaw State University

Ed.S. Instructional Technology, Fall 2017

Coaching Journal-Brock 2

Coaching Session 1:

Strategies

For my coaching journal, I am following the instructional coaching approach outlined by

Knight (2007), and the Technology, Coaching, and Community: Power Partners for Improved

Professional Development in Primary and Secondary Education (2011). According to Knight

(2007), the first component of a successful instructional coaching plan is the enrollment stage.

The most important aspect of the enrollment phase is teacher choice. I used one-to-one informal

meetings with the fellow Social Studies teachers to create our professional learning community

(PLC). Mr. Scott, Mr. Byrd, Ms. Owens, and Ms. Cayetano agreed to create a small group

learning community to gain better understanding on how to use instructional technologies in the

classroom. In the first session, I described Knights instructional coaching phases to the groups so

that they understood the coaching process before they committed to the learning community. As

a group we discussed Knights (2007) enrolling, identifying, explaining, modeling, observing,

exploring and refining phases. The second phase of the meeting was spent collaborating with

teachers on an instructional issue that could be improved on with the use of technology. After

several suggestions, the group narrowed the focus to improving grouping strategies by using

Canvas Learning Management System (LMS). After narrowing our focus on improving grouping

strategies, we discussed several grouping strategies that we liked and would like to see enhanced

with technology. Then, each individual spent time discussing their level of experience with

technology in the classroom and their use of Canvas LMS. All of the teachers agreed that I

should provide them with a small workshop on grouping strategies and Canvas LMS at the next

collaborative meeting. Finally, I introduced the group to our Google survey. I explained that we

would use the survey at the end of each session to gain feedback on each stage of the
Coaching Journal-Brock 3

instructional coaching project. The feedback from the assessment would be used to improve or

modify future instructional coaching practices to meet the needs of each teacher.

Skill and Affective Changes

The biggest change I observed was in Ms. Cayetano. Even though she agreed to

participate in the PLC, she was very reserved during the open discussion portion of the first

meeting. Luckily, I have worked with Ms. Cayetano for several years and I was able to recognize

that she was not resistant to the collaborative process. Ms. Cayetano is an experienced special

needs teacher and she tends to be more reserved during collaborative meetings than other

teachers. When the PLC started to discuss grouping strategies and uses of technology, Ms.

Cayetano was more than willing to express her students’ positive and negative experiences with

a variety of instructional practices. When we discussed the next steps of the instructional

coaching process, she was more than willing to participate and accept any future challenges.

Reflection on Challenges and Solution

During the enrolling, identifying and explaining stages of instructional coaching, I found

the explaining stage to be the most challenging portion of the meeting. As discussed by Knight

(2007) with his Five Tactics for Translating Research into Practices, I found the clarifying and

breaking it down portion of the explaining stage to be confusing for the teachers and myself. I

have presented a number of professional developments over the year, so I felt comfortable

having open conversations with a small group of teachers about instructional strategies and

technology. But, I quickly realized that it was difficult to communicate the technical aspects of

using Canvas LMS to improve grouping strategies. When I attempted to break technical concepts

down into simpler terms most teachers responded in a positive manner, but I’m not sure if they
Coaching Journal-Brock 4

truly understood the information that was presented to them. I now realize that I need to provide

teachers with more resources, modeling, and instruction to improve their knowledge and

understanding of Canvas. For myself, I don’t need to rely solely on my communication strengths

when developing a coaching plan. I should have written out a plan for the exploring phase of the

instructional plan so I could support needs of teachers during the technology portion of the

meeting.

Coaching Session 2:

Strategies

In the second session, I will use the modeling and observing strategies outlined by Knight

(2007) in his instructional coaching model. I invited Mr. Scott and Ms. Cayetano to observe my

second period U.S. History class, so they could watch an instructor model a technology based

grouping strategy. Before Mr. Scott and Ms. Cayetano entered the classroom, we met to

construct an observation form so that we could have a simple chart to remember to stay focused

on just a few tasks during the walkthrough. The two tasks we focused on were maintaining

classroom management during the grouping activity and student use of the Canvas discussion

board. During the observation, both teachers participate with students in Canvas LMS group

project. Each teacher was assigned to work with a group during their observation. Students

explained the instructions of the assignment and helped Mr. Scott and Mrs. Cayetano complete

one or two steps of the assignment. After they participated with their assigned groups, both

teachers walked around the room observing how technology can be used to enhance grouping

strategies.
Coaching Journal-Brock 5

After the modeling session, Ms. Cayetano agreed to let me observe her version of a

Canvas based grouping assignment. Since Ms. Cayetano teaches the same subject, we used the

same digital based lesson from her observation of my classroom. We agreed that I would work

with her for several days to get her groups and instruction set up in Canvas. Ms. Cayetano and I

agreed to use the same observation form that was used during her observation of my classroom.

Using the same assessment form will help us communicate better and maintain consistency when

evaluating each other. It was obvious Ms. Cayetano had prepared for her observation because she

did a great job of modeling the assignment with her students. The few times she struggled with

instructions or use of technology, I was able to step in and manage her class while she fixed her

instructional issues. I think Ms. Cayetano was a little bit nervous working on her grouping

assignment, but when I helped manage her class during her struggles she seemed to become

more relaxed. While, co-teaching through the activity was not discussed during our pre meeting

it was very beneficial because it helped her present a successful lesson and it showed her I was

willing to collaborate with her during the learning process.

Skill and Affective Changes

At the beginning of our professional development, it was obvious that Mr. Scott and Ms.

Cayetano were not the most confident users of technology in the classroom. Both were very

interested in learning about the benefits, but somewhat reluctant to make the change to a digital

classroom environment. After Mr. Scott and Ms. Cayetano observed my classroom, I began to

see signs that they were willing to take the time to figure out how to implement some of the

digital strategies I showed them. On several occasions, Mr. Scott stopped me in the hall to

discuss some of the issues he was having with grouping his students in Canvas. He even visited

my room worked through a couple of his technical problems during planning. When I met with
Coaching Journal-Brock 6

Ms. Cayetano to prep with her for her presentation, I noticed she must have spent some personal

time using Canvas LMS because she had set up most of her grouping lesson by herself. Even

during my observation of Ms. Cayetano’s class it seemed as though the students were prepared

and willing to participate in her experimental lesson.

Reflection on Challenges and Solutions

One of the main challenges of this session was the writing of an assessment form. Since I

regularly use Canvas with students to complete grouping activities, I felt that many of Mr.

Scott’s and Ms. Cayetano’s questions and concerns were hard to understand. After noticing our

discussion over goals for observations was starting to go nowhere, I tried to use one of the

partnership communications strategies mention by Knight (2007) called authentic listing. Then I

realized I was struggling to actively listen to their point of view because their issues did not align

with mine. In order to makes the collaboration meaningful for my co-workers, I decided to agree

with an assessment form that addressed most of their concerns. After the observations, I was glad

that I made the decision to create a collaborative assessment form. Many of the concerns that Mr.

Scott and Ms. Cayetano were worried about were addressed with the observation and confirmed

using the instructional coaching form. One of the issues both teachers were concerned with was

off task behaviors of students such as too much walking and talking during the project. Ms.

Cayetano was excited to see students working in online groups of three or more while students

were sitting in their regular assigned seating. I was happy to see that Ms. Cayetano was seeing

the student and teacher benefits of using online group strategies. Using authentic listing

strategies was also helpful because I never saw the some of the classroom management befits of

online grouping. Next time I present this professional learning, I will use online groups strategies

as a selling point for teachers who struggle with classroom grouping strategies.
Coaching Journal-Brock 7

Coaching Session 3:

Strategies

In the third session, I will use the exploring and refining strategies outlined by Knight

(2007) in his instructional coaching model. During the exploration of data phase, Ms. Cayetano

and I used the partnership approach to share our opinions of her Canvas grouping activity. We

picked the partnership approach because we felt it gave us the best opportunity to grow as

teachers and instructional coaches. While using the partnership approach Ms. Cayetano and I

used our feedback form to provide a more structured approach to the one-on-one meeting. The

feedback form was very valuable because it gave both of us the opportunity to review our

opinions and discuss the strengths and weakness of the lesson.

After my collaborative meeting with Ms. Cayetano, I began to work on the reflection

portion of Knights instructional coaching model. Knight suggests his instructional coaching

model is designed so that “both the teacher and the coach should be learning” (p. 130) during all

phases of the process. Throughout the collaborative process, I really noticed the benefits of a

structured approach to instructional coaching. I followed Knights suggestion and developed a

journal for the instructional coaching experiences. I found that constant refection on each phase

of the instructional coaching model gave me more confidence with working with others improve

the use of technology in the classroom.

Skill and Affective Changes

The exploration phase of instructional coaching with Ms. Cayetano was extremely

helpful. One of the major issues Ms. Cayetano noticed was her concern about the flow of

classroom instruction because she stumbled a few times getting students to log into their
Coaching Journal-Brock 8

computers and groups. I happened to make the same comments on my feedback form. In an

attempt to support Mrs. Cayetano, I asked her to visualize most of the new instructional

strategies she has attempted with students. Then try to remember if they were successful

strategies the first time she attempted them. I also try to explain the students were still actively

participating in the lesson while she was making adjustments. Near the end of the meeting, Ms.

Cayetano thank me for the positive observation and indicated that she would continue to practice

the Canvas grouping strategy. I believe opening dialogue and helping Ms. Cayetano with specific

issues has made her feel more positive about working with instructional coaches and more

willing to use technology in the classroom.

Refection on Challenges and Solutions

Working with the small group of Social Studies teachers to implement Canvas grouping

strategies in the classroom has been a very rewarding experience. Specifically working with Ms.

Cayetano has been beneficial because we were able to work efficiently and collaboratively to

make adjustments to our instructional strategies. As a teacher, Ms. Cayetano was able to develop

a better understanding of Canvas LMS and online grouping strategies. She even became less

reserved with her opinion during our meetings and more willing to take an active role during

small group and one-on-one interactions.

Personally, my confidence has grown as a result of the instructional coaching activity and

the use of Knight’s (2007) coaching model. Working with a small group of teachers to

implement an instructional coaching plan was helpful because it gave me a chance to practice

and experiment with a manageable working environment. I had worked with most of the teachers

on previous projects, but it was interesting to develop as a leader among peers that I have great
Coaching Journal-Brock 9

respect for. One other factor that I found extremely helpful was the instructional coaching model

that I used throughout the process. The model provided me with the support I needed to take a

more active leadership role in my current school and hopefully start inspiring change with fellow

teachers.
Coaching Journal-Brock 10

References

Beglau, M. Hare, J. G., Foltos, L., Gann, K., James, Jobe, H., & Knight, J. (2011). Technology,

Coaching, and Community: Power Partners for Improved Professional Development in

Primary and Secondary Education. Retrieved October 04, 2017, from

https://www.softchalkcloud.com/lesson/files/GRyv9swdxK8zkr/ISTE_Whitepaper_June_

Final_Edits.pdf

Knight, J. (2007). Instructional Coaching: a Partnership Approach to Improving Instruction.

Thousand Oaks, CA; Corwin Press.