Coaching Journal Entry #2

For my observation, I was able to see Mrs. Boland’s lesson during her writing
block. Students were working to finish an informational piece of writing at the end
of the unit. Mrs. Boland conferenced with 1-3 students at a time to make
suggestions for how students could improve their writing. As she conferenced, she
also made call outs to the students who were working independently to make sure
they were on task. There was enough time for Mrs. Boland to call one student
back from her initial meeting to follow up and see if the student had made changes
to his writing.
I was very impressed in the behavior I saw with students. It was clear that Mrs.
Boland had set behavior expectations in her classroom. All students had their
materials prepared in front of them and were working on their writing. Students
stayed in their seats and had minimal talking. During her conferences Mrs. Boland
was able to assess students’ writing and give students further instruction for
revision and editing.
During our “Identify” Coaching Session, I was able to share with Mrs. Boland my
observation notes that I took during her writing lesson. I allowed Mrs. Boland to
do the majority of the talking as I asked her the Identify Questions. As I listened I
made sure to follow Knight’s coaching tips for listening effectively, such as not
interrupting, even if I agreed or had a personal thought to add.
One challenge I am having so far is that my college has not necessarily identified a
goal that is technology based. I tried to avoid asking any leading questions or
advice disguised as a question, as advised by Knight, so was unsure of how to help
her to identify a technology based goal without doing these things or making a
direct suggestion. However, this may be necessary if she is unaware of the
resources that are available to assist her with her writing lessons. If during our
next meeting she is unable to shift her goal to one that is technology based, I will
offer a technology tool or idea that could support her and the needs of her students.
Another challenge is the subject area my mentee has chosen. Writing is the least
technology based subject, as it is rooted in handwriting, which is one of my
mentee’s main concerns. However, my mentee also mentioned that it was difficult
for students to stay on task to get their writing done, which could be due to a lack
of ideas or details to add to their writing. It was evident that students had received
direct support in coming up with subcategories of the type of information to tell
about their topic and the type of topic to choose from, plants or an animal. This is
part of the planning process. I think if we could incorporate an element of
technology to help students see more examples, get more information, and/or
verbalize their ideas prior to the actual writing, it would help resolve this issue and
allow students to come up with their own ideas independently.

References

Knight, J. (2018). The impact cycle: What instructional coaches should do to foster powerful
improvements in teaching. Corwin, A Sage Company.