Thursday, September 17, 2020
Written by Joseph Kanke & Rachel Fregien
Take a deep breath. Release your shoulders. Pull your tongue off of the roof of your mouth. These days have been trying - at best - for many. With the start of a new school year looking nothing like any of us have ever imagined, we are faced with new challenges and different celebrations. As coaches, many look to you for advice, resources, support, reassurance and connections. But, here you sit, in your new virtual space wondering how you can show up at your best when you can't even see the whites of your colleagues eyes or sit toe to toe.
A foundational piece of coaching is building trust and relationships and doing this in a virtual environment may feel clunky at best. Across the state requests for what virtual coaching looks like have been pouring in. The International Coaching Federation has a landing page with resources for coaching during covid 19. On this page you can find a series of videos that walks you through making the shift to virtual coaching.
If you are anything like me, though, you probably want to know what Wisconsin coaches are doing to adapt to this new virtual world. Check out some of their learning, tips and advice below:
Learning from Research to Practice Inclusive Communities Project Coaches:
First, listen very carefully and ask questions that keep a laser light focus on learning and the impact instruction has on it whether that is virtual or in-person. There are an unusual number of stressors coming at teachers, administrators, and families right now. It is easy to get bogged down in those details and lose track of the focus of school, high levels of learning both social-emotionally and academically for all students. Whether virtual or in person, what is it we want all students to know and be able to do and then plan from there based on the environment.
Second, support, advocate, and protect time for collaborative teams to meet and support structures that focus their work. Now more than ever, we need to work together in our schools towards common learning outcomes and build off of each other's strengths and expertise. We must share our work load and lean on each other even while virtual.
Third, when coaching teams or individuals who are making system level decisions ask questions about how those decisions might impact our most vulnerable learners, their families, and our staff. Whenever possible, but a face to a story to make it personal. In order to ensure equity for all, we must explicitly consider the consequences of our decisions on our most vulnerable. There are more moving persons when learning is virtual and it requires more thought about the consequences of our systems and policies.
It's been helpful modeling different technology resources during virtual coaching sessions. Educators not only get support with their specific goal but also leave with a new resource or strategy to use in the classroom. Some examples include: Padlet, Google Forms, integrating videos or music, break out rooms, screen sharing, utilizing the chat feature, etc.
It’s all about relationships...again. Even if we are entering into virtual coaching with a client whom we’ve worked with and had an established relationship, the virtual world is a new world. Don’t try to plough forward like everything is the same.
Listen, listen some more, listen again and repeat.
Don’t forget, even the most extraordinary coaches need coaching support too! Make sure you are finding space to lean in to your own personal and professional needs. Reach out to your trusted colleagues and lean on one another.