You and your partner will hold four separate coach conversations throughout the RBPD training. Research shows that practicing the skills you are learning will help you to apply them. Engaging in these conversations ensures that you will have the skills of a beginning coach when you complete the class!
Each conversation will be one hour long. This gives 30 minutes for each person to act as a coach and the other person to act as the coach partner. That means you will act as both a coach and a coach partner in each meeting.
Each partner should prepare individually for each conversation. Consider what you will talk about, some reflective questions to ask your partner, and what completed documents you will turn in.
Instructions for when you are acting as the coach:
Take notes while your partner is speaking.
Use the notes to fill out the documents needed for the activity.
Take time to review your previous conversation’s notes before each coaching conversation.
Turn in your documents where you have acted as the coach.
Use text, email, or shared files to have before-and between-conversation communications with your partner, as needed.
Conduct your coaching conversations on the phone, in person, or in a virtual meeting. It is important to remember that the fourth and final coaching conversation must be done in a recorded video format that will be shared with your RBPD Trainer. For coach conversations two through four, you must use the CDEC Coach Partner Action Plan (CPAP) template.
During the first coaching conversation, you will engage in joint planning that meets the needs of both coaching partners. You both will create and turn in a Coaching Agreement with updates and both partners’ signatures.
Read the Coaching Agreement and prepare to discuss, individualize, update, and sign your Coaching Agreement.
Read the Recording Confidentiality Agreement (signing is optional).
Review "Getting to Know You", "Initial Planning Conference" documents, or additional resources on the CDEC coaching website, and choose questions you think will be helpful in building the relationship as you get to know your partner.
Introduce and discuss the coaching agreement you will use in your partnership. You can use the CDEC Coaching Agreement from this training, or a coaching agreement you use as a coach in your current role.
Add at least two unique details into your coaching agreement that reflect the individual qualities of your coaching partner and their expectations for the coaching partnership. Some examples include:
Your partner’s workplace website or other resource where the Program Mission, Vision, and Values may be stated.
Two ways to contact your partner, such as their phone number and email, as well as the best times and easiest way to reach them.
Dates and times for your next three coaching conversations.
Your partner’s stated or unstated preferences about forming a new professional relationship, meeting shared deadlines for assigned work, engaging in inquiry, reflection, and feedback, and resolving differences in preferences.
Organizational and personal mission(s), vision(s), and operationalized values of the coach and coach partner.
Initiative-specific requirements.
Director, Supervisor, or other program-specific requirements.
Circle or highlight these so your instructor can find them.
Both partners will sign and date both agreements.
Discuss whether you or your partner would like the CDEC Coaching Recording Agreement. For RBPD, this agreement is optional. If you sign this agreement, please turn it in.
Turn in the version of the coaching agreement documents where you are the coach using your trainer’s preferred method.
To inquire about your coach partner and learn about them to build a relationship. Record the information learned, such as their program and/or mission, vision, values, strengths, and vision in the Coach Partner Action Plan.
Review the “Encouraging Reflection Prompts” document.
Using the prompt, write down three questions that will help your coach partner build reflective capacity around their Guiding Frames of Reference and Strengths.
Read and review the Coach Partner Action Plan.
Prepare to fill out:
Identifying Information
Organization Name
Coach Partner Name
Coach Name
Date
Guiding Frames of Reference
Program Mission, Vision, Values (stated or unstated) and/or PD focus for the year:
Individual Mission, Vision, Values (stated or unstated) and/or PD focus for the year:
Summary of Strengths area during the conversation.
Summary of Teacher Strengths: I’m doing well on …
Vision for Improvement: I want to work on …
The coach will fill in the Organization Name, Coach Partner Name(s), Date, and Coach's Name.
Practice a coaching conversation focused on the following:
The three questions you wrote down before the meeting, and any prompts you think of as the conversation goes on.
The goal of these prompts is to deepen your partner’s reflections and help you, the coach, support the coach partner to identify their
Program Mission, Vision, and Values
Individual Mission, Vision, and Values
Summary of Teacher Strengths I’m doing well on …
Vision for Improvement I want to work on …
As the coach you will:
Take notes as their partners reflect.
Extend the conversation using the coaching skills you have learned so far
If this conversation does not last for 20 minutes, the coach should ask more open-ended questions.
As the coach partner you will:
Make final decisions about how the guiding frames of reference, strengths, and vision for improvement are written and completed.
Turn in the Coach Partner Action Plan where you are the coach using your trainer’s preferred method.
Identify a goal that the coach partner would like to achieve. Record it and the SMARTE action steps on the Coach Partner Action Plan.
As the coach partner:
Prepare to share a real-life challenge from your work in early childhood.
The challenge should be:
One where you want to grow in your practice, and you want a coach’s support with your practice or situation, and
Complex enough for two conversations. Coaching will start in conversation #3 and continue during conversation #4.
Revisit your Coach Partner Action Plan. Think about your Guiding Frames of Reference, Vision for Improvement. Based on your reflections and your topic, identify a Goal, and two action steps.
Review the Colorado Competencies for Early Childhood Coaches or any other Colorado Early Childhood Competencies that apply to your goal, and select competencies that may apply to your action steps.
As the Coach, you will:
Listen actively while your coach partner describes the details of their challenge.
Take notes or write what your partner is saying directly on the Coach Partner Action Plan.
Use reflective prompts and questions to help your partner reflect deeply and to support your partner’s goal and action steps to be SMARTE—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely, and Equitable.
Guide your partner through their decision-making and prioritization of their vision for improvement, goal, and at least two action steps.
As the coach partner, you will:
Describe the details of your challenge and how coaching could help you.
Respond to your coach’s reflective prompts and questions about how to make your goal and action steps SMARTE.
Give your coach the information needed for each Action Step column, including the Person(s) and Group(s) needed to complete the step, the Resources Needed, the Timeline to complete it, and the competencies that apply.
Make final decisions about how your Vision for Improvement, Goal, and at least two Action Steps are recorded on this draft of your CPAP.
The coach will complete the CPAP for their coach partner, email the document to their coach partner, and turn it in using their trainer’s preferred method. Note: You will need to turn in the partly completed document and then make updates to this document in conversation four.
Learn what the coach partner has worked on towards their goal since the last conversation and update the Coach Partner Action Plan. Review the recording of yourself coaching and use the Coach Fidelity Rubric reflectively to identify your strengths as a coach.
In your role as coach:
Reflect on conversation three and review your notes and your partner’s CPAP.
Read the Coach Fidelity Rubric that you will use to document your strengths as a coach when you watch the recording of your coaching.
Make sure that your method of recording your conversation works and can be shared with your trainer. Note: Each recording must be one 30 minute conversation per coach, for a total of one hour.
In your role as coach partner:
Take action on one or more of your action steps.
Respond to any between-conversation communications from your coach.
Be ready to talk about your experience working on your goal.
In your role as coach:
Record the conversation so you can turn it in.
Use reflective prompts and guide your partner through new or revised thinking, and next steps, including steps that have SMARTE features and are related to applicable competencies.
Take notes or write what your partner is saying directly on the CPAP.
As you add information to your conversation #3 CPAP, write the new information in a different color ink.
In your role as coach partner:
Reflect on your experience acting on your goal and respond to your coach’s prompts and questions.
In your role as coach:
View the recording of your coaching session and use the Coach Fidelity Rubric to highlight your strengths as the coach.
Using your trainer’s preferred method, turn in:
The recording of yourself coaching.
The updated Coach Partner Action Plan from conversation #4.
The Coach Fidelity Rubric is filled out by the coach.