Instructional Coaching

How to Prep for the Next School Year [5 Actionable Strategies for Instructional Coaches]

July 21, 2020

Educators nationwide are holding their breath waiting for information about what school will look like in the fall. Some districts are offering both face-to-face and remote learning options, other districts are hopeful that school will be able to resume as normal, and even more are planning for complete distance learning. Regardless of what the physical educational environment looks like in the coming days, here are some tips for educational coaches to prepare for a new school year that apply in both face-to-face and remote learning environments.

Strategy #1: Develop Your Goals and Vision

Each year, school administrators typically develop a shared goal and vision for the campus to adhere to that year. As an instructional coach, it is important to develop your own goals and vision for working with the teachers you serve. It is important that coaches support campus initiatives and have a clear direction as to how they want to best support staff. Perhaps this year you will focus on integrating one tech tool into each classroom. Maybe you want to get the entire English department using Google Classroom. Your goal may even be to serve a certain percentage of teachers or to coach at least one teacher in every department.

Whatever your goal may be, it is important that you be clear and precise and develop actionable steps for reaching that goal. Maybe you need to plan out your cycles ahead of time to ensure you can serve everyone. Maybe you need to prepare some learning materials or handouts for teachers to keep on hand as they facilitate lessons. Maybe you need to develop instructional videos for your campus so teachers can refer back to them after PD. Whatever this goal may be, this is a great time to look ahead and plan so you’re ready for whatever the fall may bring. Coaches can also use this time to conduct their own research or study topics that interested them from the past year, that they never got around to looking into. Now is a great time to play with different digital tools, read about different instructional strategies and really fill up that toolkit. With your toolkit full, you’ll be ready to tackle any issue regardless of the physical learning environment.

Strategy #2: Target Your Teachers

The start of the school year is a great time for coaches to begin recruiting teachers for instructional coaching. Unfortunately, many teachers are often resistant to participate in coaching at the start of the year because they are trying to get their classrooms up and running themselves and just see coaching as a burden or hindrance to that. Try connecting with some of those new teachers and offer to partner with them at the beginning of the year in order to make their transition to the school year more seamless. To get these teachers on board, it is important that you have developed your hook – or reason to encourage teachers to be coached. You might consider contacting these teachers even before the year starts and sharing with them the services you offer and the benefits you can provide them through a partnership. Many new teachers may feel less overwhelmed at the start of the year if they know there is someone there to help them with whatever challenges they may face.

Ready to get prepared now to support your teachers in blended, remote, and face-to-face learning?>>>

Strategy #3: Develop Universal Resources

Because no one knows what school may look like in the fall, it is important to develop tools and resources that can work in both face-to-face and remote settings. Preparing handouts, one-pagers, screencasts and other professional development resources that are asynchronous are always a good idea. If you have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with teachers on campus, you will already have these resources ready to go, but if you are working in a remote setting, it is easy for you to share your research for teachers to go through on their own.

This is also a good time to explore different tools that may help you achieve your coaching goals, whether that’s using video conferencing tools, collective documents or some other means of communication.

Strategy #4: Determine Teacher’s Needs

As this pandemic swept the globe, teachers were asked to make a lot of adjustments very quickly and with little resources. As an instructional coach, you have the opportunity to support teachers through these difficult times. At the beginning of the school year, it might be beneficial to conduct a needs assessment for your teachers to determine how to best serve them in the coming year. If you don’t want to wait, reach out to your teachers or your PLN and ask them what they anticipate their needs to be in the fall. That way, you can be prepared before students begin learning again and are ready to help with whatever is necessary.

Strategy #5: Be Flexible and Take Care of Yourself

Though last school year didn’t have a clean end like the years usually do, it is important that as you begin to think about next year, you take time to have a break. Yes, there continues to be anxiety over what decisions lawmakers will make about the return to school, but you need to take time away from the worry. Make time to unplug for the summer and not think about school. Take a vacation or stay-cation to unwind and relax. Clear your mind with your activity of choice and set yourself up to come back to the school year refreshed. There is no doubt the fall will require flexibility and it is easier to be flexible when your mind and body have been nourished.

As I have often told my technology reluctant teachers during coaching – good teaching is good teaching, regardless of the tools. Instructional coaching is no different. Good coaching is good coaching, regardless of the educational situation. Whether schools decide to resume face-to-face instruction or continue with remote learning, your position as a coach remains the same – to provide guidance and support to teachers.

Megan Purcell is a Digital Learning Specialist and Certified Dynamic Learning Project coach in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD located in Carrollton, TX. She enjoys working with teachers to help them elevate their teaching through the use of impactful technology tools and strategies. Megan holds a masters degree in Educational Technology, which she earned overseas at the National University of Ireland in Galway, in addition to being a certified Microsoft Innovative Educator and Apple Teacher. She is a former high school English teacher who loves learning, technology, and helping make life easier for her teachers. She believes that every student should have access to current technology in order to develop 21st century skills necessary for participating in a global society.

Coaching Chronicles: What’s Working During Distance Learning

June 2, 2020

One of the things I have heard the most throughout this time of COVID-19 is that teachers and coaches feel a sense of inadequacy. Defeat. Frustration. Hopelessness. Most of all, coaches feel a sense of overwhelm. In the transition to remote learning, instructional coaches – especially those with an emphasis on digital learning – have become the most sought after resources by teachers and administrators. While this is great for job security and satisfaction, it can feel incredibly isolating. Aside from these feelings, the other thing I have noticed is that many instructional coaches assume they are the only ones with these feelings. I am here to tell you that you are not alone. There are teachers and coaches everywhere who are feeling the same frustrations you are.

For this post, I wanted to do something a little different. I know I can sit here and tell you that you’re not alone, but what the heck do I know, right? I mean I’m just one person sitting in a room by myself typing on the computer – my viewpoint is limited to myself. For this post, I wanted to share someone else’s experience other than my own, so I reached out to a fellow Dynamic Learning Project Coach – Teresa Engler.

Teresa is an instructional coach in the McGuffey School District in Washington County, Pennsylvania. She was gracious enough to answer some questions for me about her experience during COVID-19, share what’s working for her and her teachers, as well as tips she has learned along the way.

Below you will find the questions I asked her, followed by her response; Teresa and I shared this exchange via email.

Megan Purcell: What has gone well during your transition to remote learning?

Teresa Engler: I’ve been able to field questions from my teachers instantly. When they need me, they send an email, they text, or they call, and I’m able to give them one on one coaching almost on demand. I’ve created personalized PD by using Loom or Screencastify to create tutorials and mini lessons on how to use specific apps or tools to help teachers troubleshoot issues they may be having. I hold office hours via Meet every morning, so I’m accessible to every teacher as they have questions or request help with their lessons. I actually feel like I am getting a lot accomplished by not having to travel in my car back and forth to each school. More quality time is devoted to working on researching a tool, setting up meetings with teachers, or coaching the teachers as they work through the remote learning process.

MP: What has been your greatest challenge during the transition to remote learning?

TE: Working from home has its own distractions. My husband is also working from home, so we are navigating around one another. I have a puppy who is also demanding my attention at times. It’s hard to be away from a physical work environment. I can’t just pop in to help a teacher or check in with how a lesson is proceeding. Sometimes you need that in person collaboration to work through the challenges. Holding meetings on Zoom and Meet are helpful, but they cannot replace the personalized meetings and the “ in the moment” classroom visits.

MP: What tools or resources are you finding most useful to you during this time?

TE: I love Loom. I’ve used it in the past, but I haven’t really appreciated how useful it is until now. I’ve been giving one to one instructions and tutorials to teachers by simply recording a quick Loom video. I send the teachers the links to the tutorials as they need them. I also cannot live without Google Classroom and Meet. I love that the office hours link is posted directly to Google classroom. No one has to search for it or ask me to send it. They just access it in the classroom. I’m also able to keep my resources organized by topic in Google Classroom. I post one or two tips a day and one or two tutorials a week directly to the Classroom stream.

MP: How are you setting boundaries for working from home?

TE: I have a schedule that I’ve shared with our teachers. Office hours are early in the morning and at the end of the day. This way, I am able to answer questions before teachers post lessons to their own classrooms each morning, and I’m available at the end of the day in case there were issues that need to be addressed before the next day. I’ve been offering #LunchOnLine PD sessions every Tuesday in order to keep offering meaningful remote learning opportunities for staff. The teachers are welcome to contact me via email or text before or after school, but there is an understanding that I may not respond until regular business hours the next day. Honestly, though, I feel like a doctor who is on call for my patients, and if someone is in a bind, I don’t mind helping, even if it is after hours. I don’t make it a habit, but as the coach, I feel a little bit of a responsibility to the teachers if they need me….now that we are all using some sort of remote working/learning schedule, I also have to be respectful of teachers and their time. They themselves may be working with helping their own children learn from home, there may be other adults in their homes working as well. The evening or the early morning may be the only time they have to contact me for help. Teachers can always make an appointment with me if they’d like to set up personalized coaching times.

MP: What is your favorite brain break or de-stressing activity?

TE: I take three breaks a day to walk my dog, to make a cup of tea, or to sit outside if the weather is nice.

MP: If you could give other coaches one piece of advice for navigating this challenging time, what would it be?

TE: No one is perfect and no one has a perfect way to handle the situation we are in. Do what is best for you. The one piece of advice is to make a schedule. In that schedule give yourself “me” time. Make sure you add a designated lunch break. Give yourself “normal” time at night to decompress. If you keep to a schedule, you’ll feel like you are maintaining control over your time during the day.

MP: Anything else you want to share?

TE: I try to look at all of the positives. My glass is always half full. That mad rush in the morning is gone. I love that I do not have to drive to work. I’m saving money on gas. I don’t stress over what I’m wearing or getting to work on time. I’m happy to connect with so many teachers right now. They all have access to me throughout the day, whereas before, I was scheduled in specific buildings every day and working with only a few teachers at a time. I love the on-demand personalized coaching I’m able to offer the teachers. I feel useful, almost like I am one of their lifelines. Everything is online now, so an instructional technology coach has a lot to offer in terms of helping teachers use tools in meaningful ways with remote lessons.

My hope is that this interview with Teresa has affirmed any feelings you have felt during this time. As I read through her responses, there were so many moments I was nodding in agreement or just thinking to myself, “YES!! I feel the EXACT same way!” I’ve said it before that instructional coaching can be lonely, especially if you are the only coach on your campus or in your district, but rest assured, coaches everywhere stand with you.

COVID-19 has been unexpected, it has been challenging and it has really pushed the limits of what we thought we were capable of. For every inadequacy, frustration or defeat, just remember that you are not alone. We are all navigating the same uncharted territory and we are all in this together. I’m sure you’ve heard that cliche more times than you’d like to count at this point, but the sentiment still stands. You are not alone.

Permission to go Rogue – How to Adapt your Coaching Cycle

May 19, 2020

If you’re anything like me, you’re a rule follower. I can’t help it, that’s just the way I was programmed. One of the things I love about being a Dynamic Learning Project Coach is I have a clear direction to follow in the ways in which I schedule coaching cycles and conduct coaching meetings. While some of you have been able to do this on your own, I wanted to address the rule followers in the room. You hereby have my permission as a fellow instructional coach, to go rogue. Now, if my credentials are not enough for you to feel comfortable throwing the Dynamic Learning Project coaching cycle out the window, I assure you I was given permission from Heather Dowd herself to let you know you may go rogue.

Though having a structure is a great benefit to being a Dynamic Learning Project coach, the other benefit of being part of this program is the network of support. Nearly all the leaders that have designed the Dynamic Learning Project and mentor coaches within the program have, or continue to be, classroom educators themselves. These leaders have been in your shoes so they understand the enormous amount of stress you are under. These leaders understand that, just as teachers do, we are sometimes forced to change our approach.

One of the greatest skills a teacher can possess is the ability to be flexible – we don’t lose that ability when we become instructional coaches. Coaches, like teachers, need to remain flexible and adapt their practices to suit the needs of their learners. In the case of COVID-19, flexibility will continue to be the greatest asset you can possess. Though I have two teachers request that I keep their cycle intact as much as possible, most of my teachers feel too overwhelmed for traditional coaching at this time. Some teachers will have different needs and requests, and as a coach you need to be able to be flexible and adapt along with them.

Now that you have permission to go rogue – seriously, please do – I wanted to share some adaptations you can make to your coaching cycle to better suit the needs of teachers during this time.

Tip #1: Host Webinars or Professional Development Trainings

Just because you aren’t meeting with teachers face-to-face anymore, doesn’t mean you can’t continue to help them grow. I am sure many of you have already taken advantage of video conferencing platforms to increase communication across your campus or district. You can use these video platforms to host webinars or professional development training for your teachers, and show them tools or tips that will help them engage in remote learning.

My district has hosted several webinars centered around the three main learning management systems available in our district. We had training for brand new users to help them get started, as well as training for high flyers in which we could show them the latest updates or hidden features. The purpose of these training sessions was to help teachers get up and running with remote learning and establish some level of continuity across the campuses and the district.

Hosting these webinars was another great way to connect with teachers and uncover issues or questions that may not have otherwise been addressed. You can discuss best practices for the tools you are using and troubleshoot any issues a teacher may have. It is also not uncommon for teachers to reach out to you at a later date asking for more tips and tricks that you may have, which is a great way to continue building relationships with your staff during this time.

Tip #3: Demo Slam

As instructional coaches, we all have our favorite tools that help make our lives easier. If you are unable to, or uncomfortable with hosting a training webinar, you can start small with a demo slam. Pick your favorite trick or tool and screencast yourself explaining or demonstrating why you love it so much. You can send that screencast to your staff letting them know that if they have questions about the tool or would like more training, they can set that up with you. Some teachers will be able to take your ideas and run with them on their own, but there may be some that need a little more support. Demo slams are a great way to show teachers the tools available to them, and allow them to continue adding tools to their own toolbox.

Tip #4: Check-In via Email

This one may seem like a duh, but I wanted to mention it anyway. I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time these days in my email. Email is the text message of the professional world. What I love about doing email check-ins is that I can send emails and respond to emails at my leisure. This is great for teachers as well. We know that many have additional responsibilities while at home, so email is a good way to leave a quick note for a teacher and let them respond when they have a moment.

Now, what I don’t want you to do is send an email to everyone on your campus at once and get flooded by 500 replies. Every week I reach out to a handful of teachers – literally a handful – and just let them know I am checking in to see how they are doing. I ask if they are healthy and if there is anything I can assist them with at this time. Short and sweet is best. Even if the teacher’s don’t need any support at this time, keeping the lines of communication open will go a long way in maintaining the relationships you have already developed with your staff.

I also wanted to add a note about email for my type-A coaches out there – it is okay to walk away from your inbox with unread messages. Just because you have an email, that does not mean you need to respond to it at that exact moment. Remember, email is a great tool because it allows you to respond when convenient – it’s like that answer message when you call the doctor’s office. Make an appointment when you are available and call 911 for emergencies. If a teacher has an emergency, they need to contact their campus principal or your district help resource. Emails can wait.

Tip #5: Celebrate on Social Media

One thing people need during a time of crisis is to be reminded of all the good happening in the world. If you are like me, remembering to celebrate your teachers was something you struggled to find time to do while we were on campus. Take all of those celebrations you saved up and use this time to post them to social media. You can highlight awesome things teachers have done, or are currently doing to support their students. These celebrations don’t have to be just about instructional practices or technology tools teachers are using, you can celebrate your teachers with a shoutout of kind words. Many of you have worked with a teacher previously this year and you just want to remind them how awesome they are – share that with the world. Teachers, now more than ever, need to feel appreciated and supported. During this time we have the opportunity to share with the world how amazing and valuable our teachers are.

Tip #6: Start Planning for Next Year

Another way you can adapt your current coaching cycle during COVID-19 is to use this time to plan for next year. I have had a few teachers already reach out to me and say something along the lines of, “Now that I know how to do _____, maybe next year you can help me with ______.” As teachers continue to grow and learn new things during this time, it might spark an interest in seeking out future coaching opportunities. Maybe there are teachers who were reluctant to coaching the first time around, but after this situation have recognized a need for it in the future. Maybe this crisis has illuminated some gaps in teacher’s knowledge and understanding of key instructional tools, which you can leverage as areas to focus on with the campus once classes resume.

Personally, my district was supposed to have been using a learning management system for the last couple of years. Naturally, not everyone was and that was okay at the time, but COVID-19 quickly changed that. I have often joked that when I facilitate training next year I’m going to refer back to COVID for the importance of staying ahead of the curve – or at least staying within the ballpark. My goal is for my teachers to not feel as unprepared as they did when schools closed. I know that’s a pipe dream, but I think it’s possible.

Even though COVID-19 has disrupted our ability to adhere to the Dynamic Learning Project coaching cycle as it was originally designed, it does not stop us from using pieces of it to continue supporting professional growth. Take this time to go rogue, to adapt to your needs, and to support teachers in the way that is best for them. If you have the opportunity to go back to the coaching cycle structure, that is great, but if you can’t that is perfectly fine as well.

Self-Care for Instructional Coaches: How to Set Boundaries When Working from Home

May 13, 2020

Working from home can be as challenging as it is comfortable. As an educator, I never thought I would be working from home. That’s just not the way our industry was designed. Teachers are social creatures – even the introverted ones. We thrive on the ability to connect with our students and coworkers and we yearn to be present during life-changing learning experiences. Unfortunately, those opportunities have been taken from us and the future is uncertain.

If you have been following the news during this time of COVID-19, you know that there is a lot of discussion about what learning will look like for the near, and distant future. With online and remote learning keeping education afloat, there is some argument for completely redesigning the way we educate students. Now I’m not saying that remote learning will be the new norm, the socialization of children is an essential part of their growth and development, but this period of remote learning has shown that education is possible in any context and there may be opportunities to expand upon that context in the future.

If you have been in education your whole life and career like I have, then you are a rookie at working from home. I’m sure at one point or another you thought to yourself how wonderful it would be to work from home – no commute, staying in your pajamas, eating and using the bathroom whenever you want, and not hearing that dreaded bell every 42, 57 or however many minutes. Now that we have been forced to work from home, we realize it may not be as advertised. It took me several weeks to adjust to working from home, a few of those weeks coming with depression periods in which the only things I wore were my daytime pajamas and my sleep pajamas. After some learning and growth, however, I was able to establish some boundaries for working from home that have helped normalize my life during this time.

What I’m not going to do in this post is give you the same generic information every other speaker of this subject gives. You know that you need a designated space to work. You know that you need to get out of your pajamas. You know you need to take brain breaks. This is not anything new or unconventional. What I want to share with you are some of the smaller details you may not consider. I want to share ways to get over those emotional hurdles of discomfort and lead you to feelings of productivity and a sense of calm.

Tip #1: Create a Schedule and Stick to it

Working from home has plenty of perks. Your schedule can be more flexible, you can design your office space however you’d like, you have the ability to cook yourself a fancy lunch that would never survive the microwave – and take more than 10 minutes to eat and enjoy it. You can use the restroom when you want, and every day is a jeans day! Okay, I’ll be real – every day is a sweatpants day! While working from home can offer a lot of advantages in maintaining a work-life balance, if you do not have boundaries in place, working from home means that work can overwhelm your life and create a lot of feelings of anxiety.

One of the greatest challenges about working from home is separating yourself from work at the end of the day. When working from home, you can get caught in this feeling that you’re always at work. If you are a workaholic like I am, that can be a difficult mindset to break. I felt like I had to check my emails every time I walked by my computer. I thought I had to be available for teachers 24/7 because I was stuck at home and had nothing else to do. I saw a meme on social media that stated, “We are not Jake from State Farm. Do not call, message or Remind App me at 3 am and expect a response.” While I know the meme is exaggerating a little bit, it was not uncommon to get questions at 10 pm that I thought I had to address right then. Pro tip: Don’t.

Setting your hours of availability and sticking to them is imperative to creating a healthy work-life balance. Now I know what you’re thinking – I said I wouldn’t tell you anything obvious – but this one has to be stated because the hardworking teachers of America don’t know when to stop, even on campus. Think about how many hours teachers put in on a normal school day – get to the building early to get your classroom and lessons set up, teach a full day, sponsor or coach extracurriculars at night, provide tutoring before and after school. Teachers have a hard time with work-life balance when conditions are normal, this balance becomes even harder when working from home. I guess when students always joke about teachers sleeping at school, they didn’t realize that would actually happen one day.

Tip #2: Stick to the Same School Day Hours

Another thing to consider when setting your hours of availability is to think about your routine throughout the course of a school day. If you had to get up at 6 am for your commute to work, that doesn’t mean that now you get up and begin working at 6 am. Try to stick to the same school day hours you had before. Use the time you’d usually reserve for commuting and do something else. I know I have enjoyed cooking balanced breakfasts to have before my first meeting of the day. I no longer have to eat peanut butter toast in the car or grab a protein shake on my way out the door.

Speaking of food – remember to take a lunch break. If you were at school you wouldn’t be working for eight hours straight, you’d have passing periods, PD periods, conference periods, lunches, etc. Working from home doesn’t mean that you now fill all those gaps with work. Take those breaks. If your typical day at school included the occasional gab with coworkers, keep doing that too. You can schedule these activities throughout the day, or just pick up the phone and call someone. Get up and walk around when you feel like it. This is your chance to not live by a bell.

That being said – remember the joy students would have watching the clock at the end of the day just counting down the minutes until that final bell? Remember that feeling of the last class being over, packing up your stuff and heading home? Just because you aren’t commuting back home, doesn’t mean you can’t pack up and leave work alone. Most of us had a set time in the afternoon that we would pack up and head home no matter how far along we were on our work. When working from home it’s easy to get caught in the “one more thing” mindset and before you know it, you’ve spent the entire day working.

When working from home, you need to develop cues that will help you wind down and let the work go until tomorrow. Decide on a time every day to close out your email. Write yourself a note of things to do tomorrow and plan out your tasks for the next morning. Making a to-do list will help alleviate some of that guilt you might feel about stopping work. Keep weekends sacred. If you simply can’t – workaholics I understand – then choose one day a week as a day off. On that one day, you need to unplug completely. Don’t answer emails, don’t check-in, just spend that day resting and recharging for the following week.

If this is something that will be difficult for you, consider finding yourself an accountability partner. My first few years in the classroom, I was often the last teacher in the parking lot after school because I wanted to finish everything before I went home for the night. After a while, one of my coworkers would walk by my classroom around 5 pm and yell, “Go home! It’s time to go home!” Having someone gently remind or nudge you when it’s time to wrap things up for the day can help you separate work and life.

Tip #3: Celebrate Yourself

One of the other challenges of working from home is the feeling of isolation. When I first became an instructional coach, I loved not having 200 kids a day giving me excuses about their homework, or bugging me about grades, or redirecting student behavior. After some time, however, I began to miss those things. People would often ask me if I liked what I do more than being in the classroom. I would tell them I love the work I do, but I also miss building those relationships with the kids. It never mattered how unappreciated I was by admin or the public, the kids would always make me feel special. Whether it was sharing an inside joke, getting a Starbucks gift card, or just hearing a student say, “That was a really cool lesson” made everything worth it.

As instructional coaches, we don’t have the same opportunities for recognition or fulfillment because our job is about recognizing the achievements of those we coach. We are celebrating our teachers, but who is celebrating us? Especially now that we are working from home and are physically isolated from our staff, it is important for us to create our own fulfillment. It is up to us to make our work experience pleasant and to keep ourselves feeling appreciated – even if you are the only one that appreciates you.

One way you can create this feeling of fulfillment is to break down your daily tasks into small goals and reward yourself for taking each step. I remember when I first began teaching, I was incredibly overwhelmed whenever it came time to grade essays. I was always jealous of the math teachers who could give multiple-choice tests or use scantrons. (Please don’t hate me math teachers, I know that’s not all that you do) When it came time to grade 200 essays – or especially 9th grade essays – I was one of those, ‘for every 10 I grade, I get to eat an Oreo’. Believe it or not, that was enough to keep me motivated to power through. Rewards don’t always have to be food related. Perhaps you reward yourself for completing a few tasks by taking a 30-minute break to paint your toenails. Maybe your reward is to schedule a 30-minute nap, to take a bubble bath or watch ONE episode of your latest Netflix binge. This will help to keep you motivated and excited to continue working despite a monotonous routine.

Tip #4: Feel all the Feels

My last piece of advice for setting boundaries when working from home is to not ignore your thoughts and feelings. It is okay to feel tired, overwhelmed or even frustrated. It is important to acknowledge those feelings and then let them go. If you have trouble doing this, schedule yourself some worry time each day. When a worrisome thought arises, write it down and continue about your business. You can come back to that thought during your scheduled worry time, and once that is over you have to agree to just let that thought go.

While working from home is incredibly difficult when you aren’t prepared for it, it can be a great asset to maintaining a work-life balance that will best suit your individual needs. Working from home allows you to be flexible and tailor your schedule and your environment to what works best for you individually. If you are struggling with working from home, start with the basics. Create norms, develop a routine and stick to it. I know it can be tempting to treat every day like Saturday, but that only increases anxiety in the end.

4 Video Conferencing Best Practices for Instructional Coaches

April 5, 2020

Video conferences, webinars, hangouts and virtual chats – much of this is uncharted territory in K-12 education. As educators, we thrive on connections and relationships, especially those developed in the classroom. Unfortunately, when crisis strikes, that opportunity can be fleeting. As an instructional coach, it is important to maintain those relationships with your teachers and continue the growth that has already occurred this year. More personally, it is important to continue being a constant presence for your teachers during a time of crisis to continue providing that ‘therapeutic support’ teachers need.

If you are new to video conferencing or have apprehension about it, please understand that is normal. Your teachers will likely feel some apprehension as well, as these tools and platforms are unfamiliar to them. The more times you are able to video conference with your teachers, the more comfortable both of you will become.

Here are some tips and best practices for instructional coaching by video:

Tip #1: Know Thy Etiquette

We all know there are certain rules and etiquette that govern appropriate behavior during face to face interactions. Video conferences also have some standard rules of etiquette that are important for you to understand, but even more essential that you communicate with those you are working with. Consider using your first video conference as a “test meeting” where you and the teacher can ensure the platforms are working correctly, you can make certain teachers understand all the buttons and features in front of them, and that teachers know the social norms and rules acceptable for this new type of interaction.

Luckily, many of the same rules of face-to-face coaching apply to virtual coaching conferences. First and foremost, it is important to be on time. Video conferences allow the teacher and coach to meet from home at a convenient time, so it is important to honor that. You don’t want to be late to a meeting taking place on your own couch.

General courtesy is another face-to-face norm that can apply to virtual conferences. In a face-to-face meeting, courtesy can be demonstrated by silencing your phone, closing your computer, and giving your full attention to the teacher you are coaching. In virtual conferences, it is still important to silence your phone and limit any other distractions. Turn off the TV, find a quiet area, and put away anything that isn’t directly related to the conversation at hand. Another way to show courtesy in virtual meetings is to mute yourself when you are not speaking, and limiting any background noises. A general rule of thumb to consider is, if you wouldn’t do it during a face-to-face meeting, don’t do it during a virtual meeting. This includes having side conversations, checking email and social media, or walking away from the conversation.

In addition to general courtesies, it is important to speak clearly and maintain eye contact during virtual conferences. Because you are not sitting in the same room with the teacher, your body language and tone may not be as clear through video as it is when sitting together. Though technology is an incredible tool, it cannot replace the atmosphere of a natural conversation. When video conferencing, you want to be sure to speak more clearly and perhaps more slowly so the technology can pick up as much of your voice and tonal subtleties as possible. You also want to make sure that you maintain eye contact with your audience, and don’t spend your entire video conference watching the video stream of yourself. If possible, try to hide your personal video feed or position your feed near your camera so that you are always maintaining eye contact with your audience. Though you may be paying close attention to your teacher, if you are looking somewhere other than the camera they could assume that you are not giving them your full attention.

Though this may seem silly, a crucial element to video conferencing etiquette is to dress appropriately. Note that not all clothing will appear the same on camera as it appears in person. Stripes and intricate patterns may produce a “glowing” effect on camera which can be distracting to the audience. You don’t necessarily need to be dressed to the nines, but put on something you wouldn’t be embarrassed to go out in public wearing. One benefit of video conferencing is that you control what is in the frame, so leave on your sweatpants and slippers if that makes you more comfortable. No one will ever know.

The last, and arguably most important piece of virtual conference etiquette is to consider and control your environment. You want to make sure meetings are happening in a private or semi-private location so that you do not have unannounced visitors interrupt your meeting. Though some visitors may be welcomed, like the family dog, others may not be appropriate. To avoid any embarrassing intrusions, try to find a space that is secluded. You also want to make sure that you are aware of your background and what appears on camera. If you don’t want your teachers to see that pile of dirty dishes or the unfolded laundry piled up in a chair, consider moving to a different location or completing these tasks before you meet. Controlling the environment allows you to maintain an appropriate level of professionalism, while also keeping the teacher-coach confidentiality intact.

Tip #2: Have an Agenda

Just like face-to-face coaching meetings, it is important to have an agenda for video conferences. It may be important to share this agenda with teachers beforehand, or develop a shared document between the two of you to keep track of everything that needs to be discussed. Because you are not sitting in the same room, it is easier for the conversation to lull. During video conferences, there are so many additional distractions that face-to-face meetings do not typically have. It is easier to ‘zone out’ during a video conference, because you feel a literal barrier (the computer screen) between you and the teacher you are talking to. Having an agenda will help keep the conversation focused to maximize the time you are spending together. An agenda will also help you as the coach prepare resources for your teachers ahead of time, as well as allow the teacher to prepare any questions they may have for you during the conference.

Tip #3: Share Your Screen

One of the most difficult elements of virtual conferences is the inability to walk teachers through the use of digital tools, side by side. As an instructional coach, we often help teachers learn about new tools by sitting with them, showing them where to click, and helping them develop lessons and activities with that tool. In a virtual conference, it becomes more difficult to collaborate because you aren’t necessarily seeing what the teacher is seeing. This is why sharing your screen is an essential tool to virtual coaching.

Recently, I was on the phone with one of my teachers and they were having an issue with a Google Form. I kept asking if they saw a particular icon to click on, and they just weren’t finding it. After an extended conversation, we realized that we were not looking at the same thing. Once we both got on the same page, the conversation was able to run smoothly, but having the ability to share your screen is a huge benefit in problem solving and working cooperatively with your teachers. Most video conferencing platforms will have a button within the video conference to engage this feature. What is great about screen sharing, is anyone can share their screen so you and your teacher can take turns showing what you’re looking at based on the needs of the conversation.

Tip #4: Smile and Have Fun!

Last, but certainly not least, just smile, be yourself and have fun. These are the same teachers you have been working with all year. You have already done the legwork to build a relationship with them, this is just about maintaining that relationship. There will likely be a natural awkwardness in your first few video conferences, but I promise that your teachers do not care if you are in your sweatpants, and they don’t care what your hair looks like. In times of crisis, teachers just need their support system. I had a teacher FaceTime call me the other day just so she could see and hear a real person. Video conferencing is about your connection with the teacher and helping them through these times as best you can.

Need more video conferencing support? Learn how to use Google Meet in 1 hour from an experienced trainer in our live, interactive Distance Learning Design Sessions.