Peer Coaching Program at a Glance

Coaching Preparation
Sessions 1-5 provide coaches with the basic coaching skills needed to collaborate with peers in their school building. It is best if these sessions are delivered in a fairly short time frame since the content in each of these sessions builds on the learning from previous sessions. At the end of these five sessions, coaches have the planning tools and skills they need to begin coaching.

 
Session 1
This session is designed to give participants and principals an introduction to the Peer Coaching Program and to engage them in activities that provide a sense of why peer coaching is an effective professional development strategy. Principals and participants work through a series of exercises to help them define what peer coaching might look like in their school, and how coaching activities will be aligned to support the school’s educational goals.

Possible barriers are discussed, and a Coaching Plan is developed by participants and principals to ensure that coaching will receive the support it needs to be successful in their schools. Principals leave after the morning activities. During the second part of the session participants are introduced to the online discussion board used to encourage collaboration and community building among coaches.

Session 2
Participants focus on three areas in this session. First, participants create a presentation they could use to explain their Coaching Plans to their colleagues.

Second, coaches begin to find a hook: one or two simple resources they can share with teachers that will help them use technology to more effectively reach classroom goals. These resources might include lesson plans, rubric-building tools, or great resources related to specific classroom content. As they find these resources, participants learn how to create a personalized Coaching Portfolio. The Portfolio is a Web-based tool used to list resources that are immediately useful to coaches and their collaborating teachers.

Third, coaches work on developing their coaching skills. They experience a series of activities to help them develop communication/collaboration skills they can use when building strong collaborative relationships. Coaches refine these skills throughout the Program.

Session 3
Participants review research and examples of promising practices for integrating technology. Working in teams, they use a Learning Activity Checklist to evaluate the lesson design of several activities. Participants find strengths and weaknesses, and then offer suggestions for improvement. Participants will use the Checklist throughout the program. They also learn a new coaching skill and practice skills introduced earlier. Finally coaches examine a lesson improvement process and explore resources for coaching the development and improvement of lessons.

Session 4
Participants collaboratively improve a piece of classroom curriculum to make it more standards-based, technology-rich, and authentic and engaging for students. Participants select a partner and a lesson to improve and then review coaching skills useful for collaborative lesson improvement. In teams they begin to revise the lesson, pause to engage in reflection on their lesson improvement process and use of coaching skills, and then complete the lesson revision process. Teams enhance their Web lessons and publish them to a searchable database of Peer Coaching Program Web lessons.

Session 5
Participants present their improved lessons to their peers and defend how the Learning Activity Checklist and lesson improvement steps were addressed. During this time, participants continue to practice coaching skills while providing each other feedback about the improved lessons. Participants then have time to complete revisions or enhancements, share their work with their peers, and plan their next steps as coaches.

Refining Coaching Skills
Sessions 6-8 provide an opportunity for coaches to reflect on their coaching practices, refine their collaboration and communication skills, and further develop their abilities as a coach. These sessions are typically spaced out over time, within a school year.

Session 6
Participants integrate new skills and knowledge gained during Sessions 1-5 by focusing on issues related to implementing coaching into their everyday school life. Participants use a reflection protocol to discuss and reflect on ways they have worked with collaborating teachers. During the protocol participants practice coaching communication skills. A guided tour and exploration of resources on the Coaching Tools Web site provides participants a chance to review resources not used in earlier Peer Coaching Program sessions and to add new resources to their Coaching Portfolios. Finally, participants set goals they will implement before Session 7.

Session 7
Session 7 has two components. During the first half of the session, principals and coaches work together to review the attributes of effective school-based professional development (SBPD) and discuss how coaching can be a key to the success of this model. Participants then have an opportunity to outline steps they could take in the near future to help them implement some of the attributes of effective SBPD.

In the second half of the session, the principals leave and the coaches focus on their experiences as coaches. Participants present an improved lesson from a successful coaching collaboration and learn how to use a protocol to reflect on their work. Participants start an exploration of online professional development resources. This activity provides an opportunity for coaches to review resources that can help meet the needs of their collaborating teachers and other coaches. They conclude the session by picking topics and dividing into teams for the e-Zine articles they will write in Session 8.

Session 8
Session 8 is designed to help participants reflect on their coaching work as they explore resources related to collaborating with local and global communities. Participants celebrate their work as coaches and experience collaborative work first hand by producing an online e-Zine featuring examples of coaching collaboration, success stories, tips, resources, and ideas.

Participants then discuss the benefits of engaging students in collaborative work that connects them to people outside of the classroom. The group reflects on the experience of creating a collaborative e-Zine and discusses the benefits and drawbacks of including these strategies in the classroom. There is time to explore the Community Connections resources on the Coaching Tools Web site and to add some resources to their Coaching Portfolios. Finally, participants debrief the Peer Coaching Program, celebrate their growth, and plan ways to continue collaborating about and improving upon their local coaching programs.

District Focused Sessions
District Focused Sessions are designed to align coaching with district goals and provide coaches with additional training and support they need to assist teachers. Unlike the Peer Coaching Sessions, District Focused Sessions are organized and planned by a district staff person responsible for coaching. These sessions might take the form of after-school or half-day meetings.

Many districts use these sessions to provide coaches with just-in-time training on new software or hardware that supports district content objectives. The sessions also provide coaches with structured opportunities to discuss the successes and challenges they face as coaches and to continue to learn from one another. District Focused Sessions also give coaches opportunities to develop and refine coaching skills. These sessions provide coaches with guidance to rethink their coaching plans and goals.