Coaching Journal

Coaching Journal
Brandon Garcia
ITEC 7460
Kennesaw State University

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Entry #1
The coaching experience began with a conversation about the current
state of technology in education between an instructional coach and
his colleague. The colleague made it a point to say that he was looking
forward to the experience because although he has a good
understanding of technology he wanted to know how to use it to better
his students learning experiences. This would be the first time the
colleague had gone through a coaching experience and he was slightly
curious as to how the process began. The instructional coach explained
to his colleague that the coaching experience would take the
partnership approach, which as Jim Knight (2007) states is built on the
principles of equality, choice, voice, dialogue, reflection, praxis and
reciprocity(pg. 37). The IC wanted his colleague to know that both of
them would put in the same effort in the experience and that together
they would come up with solutions to help benefit students and
understanding of technology. To get the process started, the two
focused on the immediate needs that had to be addressed in order for
the colleague to meet his goal. By collaborating ideas and using
experiences from the instructional coach and the colleague, the two
decided the areas the coaching would focus on. Those are: The
Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) learning management system
called Eclass, Actively Learn, and Google Education/tools. Eclass is
relatively new to GCPS and many of the teachers still need help

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learning some of the organizational tools with it. Google Classroom is
being pushed heavily at the school and more learning needs to occur
with that and learning the Google tools will help the colleague with
organization since all three sites can be linked together. It was decided
at the end of the meeting that the Instructional Coach would model a
lesson for his colleague so that he could see how the IC implemented
all the components into one lesson to engage students.
Entry #2
The technology coach and the colleague had a brief meeting about the
classroom observation. They wanted to get a date down so that the
model lesson would take place and there be enough time to review the
colleagues observation and discuss any areas the colleague had
questions about. The IC made sure the coaching experience covered
Knights (2007) five components of coaching which are: model,
observe, explore, support, and reflect (pg. 109). Since this was the first
technology coaching experience for the colleague the IC wanted to
show what the colleague should be looking for during the observation.
The IC used Knights (2007) observation form for the colleague to
reference and fill out during the model lesson. Its important for the
lesson plan to be discussed prior to the experience and so the two
went over the plan and the IC made notes for the colleague to show
what tool would be used during the lesson and the goal for the tools
and the lesson as a whole. The IC and colleague reviewed some of the

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colleagues class goals and hopes for technology integration during
this time. The lesson focused on using the online technology tool called
ActivelyLearn to engage students during a reading assignment and
practice essential reading skills to help retain information while
differentiating the learning experience for each student. After the
reading, the IC demonstrated how to take the work and sync it to
Google Classroom and for those grades to be synched to the GCPS
Eclass page for students and parents to review. Reading
comprehension and reading skills have become a hot topic for the staff
at the Collins Hill High School and the IC and his colleague explored
this issue using data from the previous year. The IC offered ways to
support the colleague when he decided to implement his changes and
the two explored other support resources. Reflecting on the model
lesson was beneficial to both as they understood what would work for
the colleague and what could be adjusted to meet his needs. The
colleague was relieved to know that there was a tool that could help
engage students during readings and which allowed them to learn and
practice reading skills such as annotating. With the different types of
learners and learning abilities the colleague teaches daily, he was glad
that the tool offered plenty of ways to differentiate the learning for all
students and adjust assignments to meet the needs of students with
accommodations. The lesson was able to bring about specific
challenges regarding technology and teaching strategies. The

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colleague asked the IC about how he determined the amount of time to
allow for the tool to be used and how much time would it require for
the students to learn the tools before using them in a lesson similar to
the one that was demonstrated. The colleague mentioned that they
would like to understand the components of synching work and data
into Google Classroom as well as the tools that were used in the
program. The IC made it a point to face these challenges and provide a
clear lesson on time management and Google Classroom. The two
determined that the next meeting would cover a more in-depth
learning experience on Google Classroom.

Entry #3
The third coaching experience covered Google Classroom and Google
tools that can be used in education. CHHS has pushed for every
teacher to learn the tool as it would soon be directly used with
Gwinnetts Eclass. Both Eclass and Google Classroom have been the
focus of professional learning meetings throughout the year but with
time constraints, some of the important components of each havent
been thoroughly discussed and taught. Google Classroom offers a
platform that can allow for more collaboration, communication,
differentiation and organization within the classroom so the colleague
was excited to learn more about it. The lesson focused specifically on

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synching work from common programs used in the school, especially
ActivelyLearn, to Google Classroom and Eclass where students and
parents can view grades and feedback. The lesson was successful and
there was lots of positive feedback from the colleague. The colleague
was thrilled to know that multiple tools that can be used to enhance
students learning experience could be linked together so that
additional time wouldnt be needed to transfer back and forth through
programs to organize student work and grades. The colleague
indicated that the amount of additional time to do so in the past was
overwhelming and turned him off from using many educational tools in
his classes. This is one of many challenges faced when instructional
coaches are trying to implement change. The IC was able to gain trust
and build off each experience to put the colleague at ease and to share
their thoughts. Refering to Knights (2007) teachers core concerns of
appreciation, affiliation, autonomy, status, and meaningful role, the IC
was successful at fostering change and not the colleague resisting it.
The colleague indicated that learning more about Gwinnetts Eclass
would increase the confidence to use more tech tools in his classes and
to help him be a better communicator to both students and parents.
The two decided that the next meeting would cover Eclass and the
components that are involved with grading and communication.
Entry #4

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The fourth coaching session focused on Gwinnett County Public
Schools Eclass. The countys learning management system will be
going into its second full year of use this upcoming year and there are
still lots of questions teachers have about the program. The colleague
indicated that he is interested in learning how to implement online
tools that his students will use regularly into the LMS. At this point in
the coaching experience the colleague has moved from the
contemplative stage to the preparation stage of Prochaskas Stages of
Change (2007, pg. 87) Before going into some of the more challenging
components of the LMS, the instructor and colleague reviewed some of
the fundamental parts of the program. After the review, the IC showed
his colleague how to implement Google tools and organizational
components such as the class calendar into the LMS workspace and
how to easily import data from both ActivelyLearn and Google
Classroom into the Eclass gradebook. The learning was successful and
the colleague was glad to learn how he could enhance his class Eclass
page to make navigation and use of tools easier for his students. The
colleague did have questions about other components of the LMS and
since the program is relatively new to the county the IC and colleague
worked and learned together to come up with the answers, which was
a good partnership experience.

Entry #5

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In the last meeting for the coaching experience, the IC and his
colleague sat down to discuss how the colleague can put all of his new
knowledge on the tools to use to help enhance his students learning
experience. The two decided that they would use the last four lessons
along with teaching experience to help guide ideas. Rather than have
one person coming up with ideas the two shared their thoughts and
built on the ideas and strategies each person mentioned. The IC has a
background in teaching kids with disabilities and that was extremely
helpful when sharing how these tools could benefit the students his
colleague taught. The colleague gave plenty of feedback on how the
tools could be used in ways the IC didnt think of previously which will
help the IC in the future when he coaches others. Reflection and
evaluation is an important part of the coaching experience and the two
shared what was successful and what was not during the learning. This
was valuable to both the coach and the colleague as the coach was
able to learn how to improve his methods and the colleague was able
to improve on communicating and understanding what areas are
important to focus on when learning and teaching new tools and using
new strategies. The colleague has now moved to the action stage in
Prochaskas Stages of Change (2007, pg. 88) and the IC will now
continue to interact with the colleague and provide support in Knights
(2007) maintenance stage (pg.89).

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References:
Knight. J (2007). Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to
improving instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: NSDC.

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