Coaching toward the SMART Goal - Week 3 EDUC 5243

    Over the past few weeks, I have been working with my colleague in my district to design smart goals. Working with a peer differs from working with students, but sometimes is the same. When I was teaching students, I tended to model everything for them and then have them repeat the process. However, that is now how I have been working with my colleague. Instead, I have been coaching her by asking questions and guiding her toward understanding. One thing that is similar is respecting the person I am working with. Keeping that in mind, and the fact that my audience for coaching will be adults, let's move on to the professional learning course I am working on to help my colleague, and eventually teachers, meet the smart goals we have planned.

    When building the asynchronous professional learning course, I will include a section about the Triple E Framework. It is important for my colleague to understand the Triple E framework (Kolb, 2020), but even more so for her to describe it when she instructs teachers. After reviewing the research article “Using the Triple E Framework as an Instructional Design Tool for the Assessment of Technology Integration in a Variety of TESOL Contexts” (Al-Khalidi, 2021), I saw that teachers could easily use the framework. However, I would like to help them quickly become familiar with it so that it doesn’t become another chore added to their work but rather a tool that they can see works and is helpful. To follow the cognitive coaching model, one of the beliefs is “that all behavior is determined by a person’s perceptions and that a change in perception and thought is a prerequisite to a change in behavior.” (Costa et al., 2015). Keeping this in mind, it will be important to have the perception of Triple E match the need for Triple E. 

    In addition, I will be the lead learner, and coach my colleague in how to use the asynchronous professional learning course with teachers. I will have her complete the course, but we will meet at least once a week to go over it and think through questions. I will model this for her, but my goal will be for her to think deeply and come to her own conclusions rather than me just giving her answers. 

    When working with my colleague (who will eventually be the one coaching the teachers), I want to present the professional development in the way I would expect her to present it to the teachers. In fact, I will model it in the exact way that I would like her to do it with them. The first module of the training will be spent discussing our technology use practices and how they are already aligned with ISTE Standards. We will meet one-on-one to discuss these, and allow her to create her own vision of how they work together. 

(Adapted from the ct.gov)

    Next, there will be a module over the Triple E Framework, and we will meet again, one-on-one. In this meeting, I will ask her to bring a lesson plan, but will only guide with questions that facilitate deeper thinking. As mentioned above, perceptions are important, so my goal within the asynchronous portion of the training will be to present the Triple E as a positive addition to the teacher classroom, and then when meeting one-on-one, continue to facilitate that mindset. 

    The last two module will be taking the technology (i-Ready) and applying what we know from ISTE, Triple E, and the data, to create a lesson plan that will lead to growth and high-quality learning outcomes. There will be one-on-one meetings during this time that will allow my colleague to construct her own ideas, with guiding questions from myself.  This process of facilitating peer learning has been interesting. In my roll as an Intervention Supplement Specialist, I have spent a lot of time helping teachers understand how to use the intervention supplements in my district, but I have fallen short of the ISTE Coach standards. During this process, I have been able to address the following Coach standards (some more so than others):

• 4.1.b. Facilitate equitable use of digital learning tools and content that meet the needs of each learner.

• 4.1.c. Cultivate a supportive coaching culture that encourages educators and leaders to achieve a shared vision and individual goals.

• 4.2.a. Pursue professional learning that deepens expertise in the ISTE Standards in order to serve as a model for educators and leaders.

• 4.3.d. Personalize support for educators by planning and modeling the effective use of technology to improve student learning.

• 4.4.a. Collaborate with educators to develop authentic, active learning experiences that foster student agency, deepen content mastery and allow students to demonstrate their competency.

• 4.5.a. Design professional learning based on needs assessments and frameworks for working with adults to support their cultural, social-emotional and learning needs.

• 4.5.b. Build the capacity of educators, leaders and instructional teams to put the ISTE Standards into practice by facilitating active learning and providing meaningful feedback.

• 4.5.c. Evaluate impact of professional learning and continually make improvements in order to meet schoolwide vision for using technology for high-impact teaching and learning.

• 4.6.b. Support educators to interpret qualitative and quantitative data to inform their decisions and support individual student learning.

• 4.6.c. Partner with educators to empower students to use learning data to set their own goals and measure their progress.

And I cannot leave out the importance of the Essential Conditions for Tech Integration in schools. Though I feel that all are at least brushed upon, the following are supported: 

• Implementation Planning

• Prepared Educators

• High-Quality Learning Activities and Content

• Ongoing Evaluation

Now, on to completing the Professional Learning Course!

 

Al-Khalidi, I. (2021). Using the Triple E Framework as an Instructional Design Tool for the Assessment of Technology Integration in a Variety of TESOL contexts. The Asian ESP Journal, 47.

Costa, A. L., Garmston, R. J., Hayes, C., & Ellison, H. (2015). Cognitive Coaching: Developing Self-Directed Leaders and Learners. Rowman & Littlefield.

Kolb, L. (2020, December 9). Triple E Framework. Triple E Framework. https://www.tripleeframework.com/