Embedded Files
“What is design? It’s where you stand with a foot in two worlds — the world of technology and the world of people and human purposes — and you try to bring the two together.”
~ Mitchell Kapor
Plan of Action
Plan of Action
Video Leadership Teams consist of reflective educators that trust the members of the group. They are educational leaders looking for self improvement. There are educators nearing this stage, but I knew I would not be able to fully implement the 2018-2019 school year. I knew that it would need to be a progressive process and many steps taken prior to implementation. Relationships needed to be established, educators needed to understand what instructional coaching meant, I needed to log observation hours and have conversations about instruction with teachers, I needed to model lessons so that the educators could see that I was competent, and I needed to become involved in coaching models to promote reflective practices.
Obstacles are a sign of success. I anticipate meeting any challenges arise with understanding and thoughtfulness. I have many people supporting the work, many who desire to find the success I do with this project. Challenges and obstacles will be brought back to the coaching team, shared with the curriculum director, and worked through as they are encountered.
The first step was to provide clarity for teachers about instructional coaching. On the first day back for educators, the building administrators offered an opportunity for myself and my partner coach to talk about instructional coaching and what that would mean/look like in the buildings. I integrated a new technology tool and collaboration by asking the teachers to work in teams to answer the questions! The link to the Kahoot! game is posted below.
Agenda for Monday.pdfThe plan could not begin without developing solid relationships with the educators. To establish these relationships, I established weekly meeting times with each grade level team. These were designate times, aside from PLC time, to meet and speak with the educators about instruction, needs, and anything else they may need support with. I was able to form strong relationships with the educators because I invested time into listening to them and following through on requests and support. During these meetings, I focused on reflection and talking about how instruction was reflected in the students progress and I shared agendas via e-mail. This wasn't the best use of technology, but it was a starting point until I could figure out a better way to collaborate with them. This also provided a way to informally coach and mentor the educators. I could provide suggestions, engage in reflective conversations after observing their instruction, and ask facilitate collaborative work between them.
This practice was also implemented with the building principals. By setting aside a weekly meeting time to discuss instruction and educator needs, we were insuring that they were looking at instructional leadership as a necessity and offering even more support. I sent out structured agendas a day prior to our meeting time.
Whole School PLC
Whole School PLC
As a leader, it was important that the same message be given to all educators. Our focus with the instructional coaching work was writing, but it was also an opportunity to implement reflection and technology use. We met with educators once a month during whole-school PLC's to deliver literacy specific instruction and content. I was sure to always include a new technology tool that could be incorporated in their practice. Further, our exit tickets provided a way for them to reflect on the current reality in their classrooms and advocate for a need they may have after the learning.
Whole School PLC structured agenda January 7th.pdfCurriculum
Curriculum
As important as it is to get educators to be reflective and collaborate to improve instruction, it is even more important that the curriculum is being taught. There were many educators straying from the English Language Arts curriculum, even more that did not understand the standards the students were being assessed on. These two pieces were another hang-up. We needed to go back and make sure the teachers were getting the professional development they needed to be effective and understand the curriculum. Also, we needed common assessments so that we could look at data as well as instructional practice to improve students performance. I was able to meet with 5 curriculum teams this past school year to identify standards to be assessed, align assessments, and create the common assessments for grade level teams to use. I am pictured bottom right.
Coaching Cycles
Coaching Cycles
One large component of this plan is the involvement of educators in coaching cycles. For them to be remotely interested in Video Leadership Teams, the educators must be willing to be coached and mentored. I was able to work with four educators in a coaching cycle this year. Each educator thoughtful in their practice and in the emerging stage of reflective practice, I was able to help them find ways to be even more reflective. I will be seeking their assistance in promoting coaching the next school year and becoming teacher leaders to join the Video Leadership Teams.
thank you - Alberts, Justine.pdfCentral Literacy Newsletter.pdfCommunication
Communication
Weekly newsletters were going to be a means of delivering reminders, content, and collaborating. We would share out successes, great ideas, and highlight those working hard.
What does success look like?
What does success look like?
Success will come in the form of people engaging in coaching cycles, educators seeking out my leadership to support their instruction in the classroom. Success will be measured through student growth, evidence of educator growth. I believe success will be most evident by the change in culture and attitude toward the coaching model. Our educators will seek each other and the coaches for guidance and questioning, asking them to observe each other teach and actively seek feedback for reflective purposes.
Google Sites
Report abuse