Uso del Coaching Companion

(En inglés)

Techniques for Improving Instructional Support Part III

Cori: Have you heard of the Coaching Companion?

No?

Well, let me tell you, it has changed my life. The Coaching Companion is this cool online platform that lets the teachers record and upload videos of themselves implementing the practices that they're working on.

One teacher filmed a small-group activity where she focused on asking open-ended questions and helping children brainstorm creative ideas and solutions to problems. Another teacher recorded his interactions at a learning center where he used advanced organizers to help children know what to focus on. This helped the teacher engage in back-and-forth conversations that deepened children's understanding and extended their thinking. Our coaches used it in between face-to-face observations and as part of a group coaching meeting where teachers viewed and provided feedback on each other's practices.

The thing I love most about the Coaching Companion is that they include a media and resource library I can use in my trainings, coaching, and other PD events. It's also organized by the class domains so I can quickly access video and resources on instructional support. All these tools really helped me and my team focus on our goal of improving our class instructional support scores. And I'm here to tell you it made a huge difference for us. Using these tools tied things together and allowed us to avoid using them in isolation so it wasn't just one more thing to do.

Now, a lot of this was due to our year-long focus, and I had to keep our team motivated and on track by making sure they felt supported and excited to be improving their teaching practices. That was on me and our coaches to remind the team of their strengths, to support them when they were trying new practices, and to reflect on their progress.

These resources helped me lead this group and develop a focused learning community where, together, we improved the instructional interactions and supports we were using in our classrooms. And most importantly, we helped children ask questions, wonder about the world, think deeply, and get excited about what we were learning in our classrooms. Class wasn't our goal but rather the tool we used to get to our goal of high-quality environments and interactions.

If you asked my team, they would tell you having focused observation and the opportunity to receive feedback helped them build their knowledge and implement effective teaching practices.

So, go for it. Talk with your team, look at your data, find out where your challenges are, and then use the free resources Head Start has developed on the ECLKC. They'll make your job easier and help you get where you want to go.