Coaching Journal

Jenny Leclair

1st Session: Office 365

Strategies:

The teacher’s needs for this session is to be more comfortable using the
technology tools that she has available in her classroom for student and teacher
use. She is a veteran teacher new to our school, and she is eager to learn but
struggles with time constraints and craves time to try it out and practice. The first
session we discussed was web 2.0 tools such as Office 365, Microsoft Online, and
One Note. In our school we collectively share, upload, and create templates in
our shared folders. After each PLC meeting, teacher’s will record PLC minutes on
templates and post in the correct shared drive. She had questions about where
to find shared folders and how to add to the shared drive folders if asked. I used
the strategy from Chapter 6: Modeling, Observing, and Collaboratively Exploring
Data, “Educators have known for decades that modeling is an important
component in learning, and numerous research studies have demonstrated the
power of modeling.” (Knight p.110, 2007) We sat side by side in front of the
desktops in her room and I would model steps to find the documents, and I
would give her time to locate it.
Once I located the folder, I demonstrated how to use the basics of Office
365. I have spent time this school year taking an Microsoft Innovative Educator
class and it was fresh on my mind. Accessing folders through Office 365 was
easier every time I used it. I knew that usage was the key to remembering the
steps of how to use the tools in this program.

Skill and Affected Change:

The skill of adding to the folders was evident when I was sitting with her
one on one, but little change was shown in the coming days. She was able to
show me how to locate and add to the Notebook, but in my observation since
our session I did not see that it affected change. I think no changes occurred
because she needs more experience and additional chances to practice with
using the tools. We needed another session on the tools and I think it could
make improvements in change if any. I felt ok about the coaching session, I
think with more sessions like these where she can openly discuss areas in which
she can improve on will help with feeling comfortable with Office 365 and using
the tools. There are so many tools within this program to explore and learning
one feature doesn’t mean that you can use it effectively in teaching practices. I
did see a connection between my practice and what the literature says about
adapting change. Adapting change, “The IC’s job, in large part, is to make it as
easy as possible for teachers to implement a new practice.” (Knight p.32, 2007)
Coaching Journal
Jenny Leclair

Reflections on Challenges and Solution:

I hope that I have at least given her an opportunity for technology growth with
using the web 2.0 skills. I know that she seemed very thankful with taking time to
walk with her through the many steps through the program. These web tools are
always changing, and different versions have added features. It is no wonder
that teachers adapt change on it very slowly and the tools change themselves
making it hard to get used to using it efficiently. There are even different
versions of Microsoft on every machine. We have a wide variety of new and old
technology within our classroom. This past summer all our laptops were updated
with the newest version of Microsoft. Some teachers have old laptops that did
not receive an update. This challenge of keeping technology consistent with
students and teachers is ongoing as new laptops replace old ones and the
school’s funds to purchase new equipment for students and staff. In Knights
reading Chapter 7: Focusing on the Big Four: Behavior, Content Knowledge,
Direct Instruction, and Formative Assessment instructional coaches can support
teachers by helping them write essential questions for their courses. I think this
could be a possible solution. Starting from the beginning of the school year to
map the most important content to be taught “this would provide teachers and
coaches an overview of the content to be taught so that they can make
decisions about where to use teacher practices.” (Knight, 2007)

______________________________________________________________________________

2nd Session: Laptop use in pairs

Strategies:
Our next session seemed to flow a little better from beginning to end. We
used the co-communication strategy to discuss the best way to use laptops in
her classroom. One way to integrate technology that we discussed is to
distribute laptops at each table group for the duration of a 30 minute lesson to
teach reinforce or even extend a reading or math skill practice. Then, we
collaborated on websites that students could access such as Starfall, Raz-kids,
and Spelling City. These websites are available through funding from PTA and
are free educational websites that I have seen works for students at this level. I
shared my experience with the websites given and thought it was most definitely
worth the time to model and demonstrate for students. The technology sites
would meet and exceed learning standards by increasing student reading
Coaching Journal
Jenny Leclair

fluency. Lastly, we wrote a lesson plan that fits the time allotted for the day. We
came up with having students explore and talk at their tables for the first 10
minutes to engage them in the activity. The next 15 minutes would be to take
one of the websites, Starfall and demonstrate the basics of the website. I had
her tell me a little about her class needs with reading instruction. She said that
she has many low kids who just need the basics of letter sounds and
identification. The rest of the lesson consisted of the students taking turns with
choosing the letters and exploring.
She absolutely decided that this website was one she was going to
implement in her next week’s plans. She was excited to integrate one laptop at
each table for students to share as they learned how to navigate to the website
and collaborated with one another. We touched on the other learning websites
that students could do independently such as Spelling city.com that have sight
word games for students learning their sight words. This website offers an option
to upload a customized list for use of the games. Based on the technology
questionnaire that our group compiled I referred back to what she knows and
what she wanted to know is what our goals are for each session. I found that
content mapping helped me to evaluate and identify the best practices toward
integrating technology using laptops in small groups to increase student
performance. I used Knight’s, Critical Questions Checklist on page 153 when
planning the content for this coaching session. I thought these questions were
helpful when I had the plan in place. I later observed the class for a short time
and used the Engagement Form on page 147 in Knight’s book in order to
determine if the students were on task during the lesson. The students were
getting it and used the laptops in pairs accomplished high engagement and
learning of reading skills.

Skill and Affected Change:

The plan went wonderfully! The students and the teacher were successful
in this skill during my time of observation. The students were engaged in working
together and looked confident in their way of navigating around the website.
Some students looked like they were familiar with this website and taught the
other students where to locate items. I felt that the students were on task the
entire time during the student work time. The teacher seemed glad that the
students were able to pick it up so easily, and I could tell by her body language
that she was going to use the laptops in this way in future technology lessons.
The skills the students gained were met through the technology website that was
introduced and implemented. The from the website had content related to our
curriculum which made this lesson a reliable one. There were many benefits of
using the laptops in pairs, one is that they could talk and learn from each
another benefit is that technology has the ability to reach differentiated
learners. Students who were emerging readers could stay in the ABC’s other
Coaching Journal
Jenny Leclair

students would be ready for reading short stories. Change was evident as a
result of our coaching session.

Reflections on Challenges and Solution:

I absolutely thought there was a connection between my practice and what
the literature says about modeling. An approach to instruction, “I Do It, We Do
It, You Do It is a simple way of helping teachers structure instruction so that
students see a model, get a chance to test their knowledge, and then have a
chance to practice their new knowledge.” (Knight p.163-164, 2007) is powerful
when modeling during teaching. One challenge I noticed during the
observation was that one student would take over the laptop and others would
watch. This shows that technology skills are varied among the peers. In a
situation where students need to share a laptop, established roles can be
modeled before the lesson, which is an area that we can talk about in planning.
Student pairs could be given card to determine who will drive the laptop and
then switch after a while to give each student fair share of deciding where to go
next. These collaboration skills are important for all students to learn for future
technology opportunities.

______________________________________________________________________________

3rd Session: OSMO

Strategies: In this session, we decided to get her OSMO up and running as

quickly as we can so that students could use this immediately. First, we
established a plan to set up, and play with the OSMO which she had sitting in a
box prior to our coaching session. The strategy I used was to manage change
effectively. In Knight’s book, in Chapter 9 on Coaches as Leaders of Change, I
used “strategy in a box,” to bring all the materials in a box so that the teacher
can implement the OSMO in her day to day routine. First, I demonstrated how I
would use the OSMO genius kit and its pieces. She still had her OSMO in a box
when I came in with mine. I was ready to set up everything for her as I brought
my iPads and the OSMO kit and laid them all on her desk. Next, I took time to
discuss the possibilities of the kit, I remember her saying that she needs to know
everything before she starts it. I carefully went through each app as I showed
her OSMO numbers, words, and tangrams. We used mine to play together and
to get her acquainted with the technology. This was helpful to sit one on one
with her so that she could ask questions if she got stuck and I could connect with
her based on her needs. She was glad that someone was taking time to coach
her through this new technology. She seems to like the functions, ease of use,
Coaching Journal
Jenny Leclair

pictures, and flexibility the OSMO offered. She walked over and took hers out of
the box. I used the strategy on delivering setting up and leaving the kit there for
her to try out for a week with her students. I also discussed ways in which I use
the OSMO in my class for reading and math and have it set up as a station for
students. These stations are a part of the daily rotations that I have
implemented in my class.

Skill and Affected Change: We went through the steps of setting up the OSMO,
which really only took 10 minutes from the session. She picked up on the app
very easily as I knew she would. She used her desktop to sign up for an account,
and the OSMO sent her an activation code. This code was used to activate her
OSMO and she was excited that this was ready for her students. I left my OSMO
kit so that she could adapt the change in her classroom and get a feel for
integrating into lessons across the curriculum that she could see fit. We discussed
how OSMO words can be used for phonics review or as a way to introduce a
new word family. In math, students are learning how to decompose numbers to
10. This OSMO can be another tool toward student success in this math skill. She
liked that there was a fun factor and a little challenge too. In Chapter 8, “An
idea will catch on much quicker if it is (a) powerful and (b) easy to use.” (Knight,
2007) I came in to check on her students use of it, and she explained that the
students just loved the new technology and found that they were enjoying
learning at the same time.

Reflections on Challenges and Solution:

The challenges that OSMO faces is that the iPad has to be out of its protective
case when placed on the stand. This means the iPad can be vulnerable to
drops and can break without the protective case. I shared that in my class, I
have all the pieces in a basket with handles. I have carefully modeled how to
use and how not to use the OSMO. I have not had any problems with students
dropping it, but I can see how this could be a concern for teachers working with
younger students. A solution would be to have a temporary protective case
around the OSMO when students are not using it. I recently saw one of my
colleagues carrying around her OSMO that she ordered recently. I was surprised
and delighted that she was excited to integrate this change. The company has
recently made improvements to keep all the tiles in one place. This was a huge
problem with my OSMO with the pieces all over. The OSMO can now be
purchased with a partitioned container for the pieces. This container is clearly
labeled with the OSMO app on the side of the container. This coaching session
has also challenged me to seek other ways to use OSMO. I went to the OSMO
community website and found lesson plans to use for my technology workshop
and gave me inspiration to dig a little deeper with this technology tool.
Coaching Journal
Jenny Leclair

4th Session: See Saw

Strategies: In this session, we looked closely at seesaw and analyzed the iPad
app for usage and integrating with lessons. We learned that the microphone
that is used to record students is very sensitive to outside noise. She showed me
an example of this, when she used it to record students. We navigated through
some lesson plan ideas, but we didn’t see anything that Kindergarten students
could do easily on their own. She thought the prep work involved in setting up
the lessons would be time consuming and would add little value to student work
and achievement. My strategy was to identify how she was using See Saw with
students and then make suggestions on how it can be used more effectively. I
discussed how See Saw can be used as an assessment tool. I demonstrated
how she could take a picture of an assessment, and students could actively
write on the sheet using its annotation features. She could then respond with
feedback in the comments section for each student.

Skill and Affected Change:

I think the technology skill of using See Saw as a technology tool in the
classroom was accomplished. However, this tool at the kindergarten level
would need to be something teachers use as an instructional tool in small
groups. It can also be used for giving feedback through sending comments via
the website and letting students read your comments through them to individual
student accounts. Students need many opportunities to try new technology
especially with this advanced application. I think little change or none at all
resulted from this coaching session.

Reflections on Challenges and Solutions:

If each student had their own iPad, students could more likely be able to use
See Saw more frequently. The challenge with See Saw is that there are other
technology options for students to share work and feedback than See Saw. For
example, Microsoft Office tools has features sharing to others by simply sending
each other a link to view. Another option to share work, is to access links and
pages from a class blog. This year many teachers are using edublog to create
their class webpages instead of See Saw. I think that a teacher needing a blog
or a place where she can post student work is the best practice for this website. I
think students on the kindergarten level will need to spend too much time
showing students how to do it, and less value is placed on the work produced.
Teachers can set up a See Saw account to be able to show parent recordings
Coaching Journal
Jenny Leclair

and QR codes for projects that they do in class. This is a nice feature of the
technology and can be a solution to the best way to use this in class.

5th Session: Use a word document to insert pictures and type sentences about
the picture.

Strategies: My main focus for this session was to plan an effective lesson with my
colleague and to be able to expose students to this Kindergarten technology
standard. Students will apply the technology skills and practice them. I used a
peer coaching approach to collaborate with my colleague to come up with
the best way to teach this technology skill for our kindergarteners. In our plan,
we began the lesson with directed instruction and compiled a list on chart
paper of the class’s favorite animals. Then, students needed to choose one
animal from the list to insert this animal. The strategy we used was to model this
skill was I do it, we do it, and you do it. Each student would then use the
Microsoft tools available for each student desktops to insert, type the animal in
the search bar and choose the animal to type sentences on that animal. This
technology standard can be adapted across the curriculum. In writing, we are
learning about how to write an opinion and how to provide reasons that support
the opinion. This lesson was done in the computer lab where every student had
access to a desktop, and the teacher modeled how to use a document and
begin to explore the tools within the document.

Skill and Affected Change: The skill of delivering, demonstrating, and listening to
steps was difficult for younger students. The affected change was difficult to
measure because students were exposed to this for the first time. Students
seemed a bit frustrated with trying to get it right the first time. This method of
instruction for teaching this skill could affect change but very slowly. This
standard was met by all the students using this delivery method of I do, we do,
you do during this lesson. I think that change would occur if there were options
of ways to teach this standard by using more kid friendly applications. Another
website called abcya could have been an alternative tool for teaching this
technology standard. On the web page, students can open a blank document
and insert images. The rubric does not have a specific technology guideline of
which application to use for the document and using Microsoft word is too
difficult with emerging readers.

Reflections on Challenges and Solutions:

The technology delivery method could have been improved with more
preparation. The teachers could have composed a power point including snap
shots of how each screen would look when navigating within the document. I
Coaching Journal
Jenny Leclair

think this would be a good idea for the next session for technology
development. This is a huge challenge for teachers to know when technology
skills are not specified enough to know how we will access them. The
technology standards are up for a huge interpretation, and this leaves teachers
including me with unanswered questions. The solution to this challenge could
be for the district to provide more specific details in stating which applications
are necessary for each student to know at this level. There is little consistency
with what to teach and little resources with how to teach it according to grade
level. In Knights book, “traditional forms of professional development are not
effective, usually getting no better than a 10% implementation rate” (Bush,
1984). The literature would categorize this as a One-Shot Professional
Development. Teachers need to be appropriately trained with teaching these
standards as to convey a message and to embrace programs that will improve
student’s experiences in the classroom.