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ITEC 7460

Monica Gassman
COACHING JOURNAL
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Table of Contents

1- Journal Entry #1: Preparing to

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Coach
2- Journal Entry #2: Coaching
Session 1

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3- Journal Entry #3: Coaching
Session 2
4- Journal Entry #4: Coaching

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Session 3
5- Journal Entry #5: Coaching
Reflection

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Preparing to Coach

Before determining a teacher candidate for possible

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instructional technology coaching, I began by identifying a grade
level I was familiar with. I didn’t feel comfortable approaching
a Kindergarten, 4th, or 5th grade teacher as I have never
taught those grade levels. Although it isn’t critical to the
coaching sessions, I feel like I would have more expertise to
offer if my collaborative teacher is from a grade level I have

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taught.

After narrowing my focus to someone in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade, I

approached my administrator for prospective candidates. I
didn’t share the names of teachers I had in mind at first. I

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waited to see if the people I had in mind correlated to the
people she had in mind. Two teachers were the same for both
the administrator and myself.

I contacted both teachers asking if there was an area they

would like to incorporate technology in and would be willing to

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work alongside me. One teacher replied immediately wanting to
work together! The other teacher replied later in the day. The
teacher who first responded seemed very eager to get started
and already had some great ideas and questions regarding
technology in the classroom. However, shortly after, the
teacher experienced a family emergency. We couldn’t make
coaching around her circumstance work at the time. I have
promised her support and we continue to talk when her
schedule allows.
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The second teacher- Erica Greenwald- has worked with me in
the past to try new things to engage her students and further

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their understanding of content. She agreed to work with me
this semester to integrate technology into her Language Arts
block- specifically the Skills Block of our literacy pilot program.

Before beginning the coaching cycle, I met with Mrs. Greenwald

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to review what the coaching cycle would look like and what
coaching is. While I didn’t have a flyer or one-pager I could give
her, I was able to share that coaching would be a partnership
between us working together to achieve a specific goal
determined by her needs. I emphasized that the coaching

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process is driven by her goals for her classroom. I was there to
help provide strategies, model as needed, and meet with to
check in throughout the process. I’m grateful that Mrs.
Greenwald had previously completed a coaching class as part
of her own professional development, so she was familiar with

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the process.
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Coaching Session 1: Identify

Before our first recorded coaching session, I worked with Mrs.

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Greenwald to identify a good day and time to record her class

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during Skills Block- the content she wanted to focus on for

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instructional technology integration. While hesitant at first, she
understood the value in watching yourself in action and
focusing on what went well. I persuaded her by explaining that

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most teachers think their classroom is running in one way, but
in reality it may be the opposite. This is known as the Illusion of
Objectivity (Knight, 2018). I believe it is hard for people,
teachers especially, to watch themselves in action because we
tend to pick apart our teaching instead of looking objectively at

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how the students are learning and behaving.

After recording Mrs. Greenwald’s class on the agreed upon date

and time, I shared the recording with her. I also provided Mrs.
Greenwald with the “How To Get The Most Out of Watching Your

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Video” handout and the 2 rating scales- “Watch Yourself” and
“Watch Your Students” from Jim Knight’s Impact Cycle. I also
used the rating scales while reviewing the footage from Mrs.
Greenwald’s classroom. Each of us brought out rating scales to
our first recorded coaching session. I also brought a copy of the
identify coaching questions to keep our meeting focused.
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After our coaching session, Mrs. Greenwald and I continued
talking and discussing the impact her goal of differentiation
using technology could have on student growth. She was very

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excited to get started right away!

Prior to modeling for Mrs. Greenwald during the 2nd stage of

the coaching cycle, I met with Mrs. Greenwald to show her how
we would need to set up her eCLASS page for students. I was

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able to show her differentiation techniques on my eCLASS page
with release conditions by group. We met again to create her
groups, set up the content modules and submodules on her
eCLASS page, and attach release conditions to the appropriate
microphase submodule for each group. On her own, Mrs.

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Greenwald added the appropriate Skills Flex instructional
videos to each submodule microphase. We met one final time to
create Webtiles on her eCLASS page that students would use to
go directly to their videos.

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Coaching Session 2: Learn

After preparing Mrs. Greenwald’s eCLASS page for student

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differentiation, we entered our next stage of the coaching
cycle- Learn. During this stage I developed a technology
integration checklist to be shared with Mrs. Greenwald during
our recorded coaching session. We made adjustments as needed
during our session and determined that I would model for her

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first how to implement the differentiated videos with her

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students.

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After modeling with her students, we reviewed the checklist
and what Mrs. Greenwald observed when watching me. She

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decided on a date she would like to start implementing the
videos on her own.

After this coaching session and reviewing what had been

previously discussed in regards to her goal for students, I

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began wondering if this goal was attainable and realistic. I
decided that I would bring up my concern at the next coaching
session after she had some time to try out the videos on her
own. She had momentum and was excited to get started. I
didn’t want to sidetrack her enthusiasm.
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This time of year is VERY busy for a teacher! I wanted to make
sure things went as smooth as possible for Mrs. Greenwald
when she began implementing the strategy on her own so that

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she would see the value in our work. It is easy as a teacher to
get distracted by the monumental list of mid-year tasks to
accomplish! Thankfully Mrs. Greenwald has a wonderful
attitude and group of students. Everything went well when she
implemented the strategy on her own!

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Coaching Session 3: Improve

I was so glad that Mrs. Greenwald’s implementation of the

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differentiated videos went well! Her students did great and she
did amazing overcoming any bumps along the way.

As I stated previously, I mentioned reviewing her goal.

Originally, her goal was for all students to move to the

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consolidated microphase by the end of the year. However, after
the initial placement of students, we both saw that some
students were at a Kindergarten level. Neither of us thought it
would be realistic for these students to reach the consolidated
level at the end of the year. Would they make progress?

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Absolutely! But most likely they would not reach end of grade

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level expectations when they were starting so far behind. This

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could Mrs. Greenwald to reevaluate her goal and adjust the goal
to fit the reality of her students.

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Mrs. Greenwald also stated in the recorded coaching session
that she wonders if an additional aspect for accountability
should be added. She threw out the idea of a discussion board
for students to share what they have learned and still need
help with. I think this would be a great addition to the work she
is already doing! However, I believe her students need time to
become proficient with the differentiated instructional videos
BEFORE adding another layer too quickly.
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In the last coaching session, Mrs. Greenwald let me know she
got a new student and would need a refresher on how to add
the student to the correct group once she completed initial

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assessments. I’m happy to share that Mrs. Greenwald was able
to do this on her own without my guidance! WOOHOO!

Moving forward, Mrs. Greenwald and I will continue to monitor

student progress through microphases and adjust release

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conditions as needed. She plans to reassess student’s
microphases after Thanksgiving break. We will probably need to
meet to check groups and move groups as needed. It will also be
important for Mrs. Greenwald to review expectations during
Skills Block after long breaks. She has a great class, but all

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students need review and reteaching after breaks.

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Reflection on Coaching

As I reflect on my first experience with the coaching cycle, I find

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myself excited for the future! While the process was new and at
times stressful, I know that with time it will become second
nature. I have always believed that I have a good rapport with
teachers, but I’ve felt unsure about how to become a better
coach and not just a source of technology knowledge. Since the

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pandemic, I’ve felt that teachers want to try new technology
but are fearful of the time commitment involved. I’ve been
creating and providing resources to teachers but not really
working with them to create goals and implement new
strategies together. Throughout this class, I’ve learned more

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about the coaching process and how I can best serve the
teachers and students at my school.

I look forward to providing additional coaching to other

teachers or even grade level teams. I plan to pursue a coaching

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endorsement as part of my masters program to continue
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learning. Now that my position in my county (Instructional
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Technology & Innovation Coach) involves more time spent
coaching, I can only hope that a coaching endorsement will
refine my practice to better serve others.
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