Coaching in the Classrooms

Tech Coach. Digital Learning Coach. Technology Integration Specialist. Digital Curriculum Specialist.

Call it whatever you want, but so many schools have decided it is important to add some sort of a digital coach to the payroll. Hence, how I even have the job I have right now.

I've always been proud that I am in at least one classroom every day; some days I just run from room to room and never make my way back to my office. Those are the best days.

But the sad news is, looking back at my calendar, I seem to be in the same rooms over and over again. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE that these teachers trust me enough and see the value in my being in their classrooms and trying new things. 

But, then there are those teachers. 

Any tech coach knows what I'm talking about. And if you don't, I want to hear your secret. 

Seriously. I want to know the secret. 

No matter how many ideas I bring their way or offers I give to just be an extra set of hands, I feel like I am begging them to open up their classroom to me. 

For some it is that they don't like the inclusion of digital curriculum and blended learning. The old way worked just fine.

For some it is a sense of control and that they would, in some way, be giving some of that up.

For some it is purely be overwhelmed with everything else going on that they don't know how to fit in one more thing and struggle seeing that I want to try to streamline something and make their life easier.

For some it is a sense of pride. 

For some it's fear of the unknown.

So to them, no matter their reason, I say this. I am here when you are ready. I will continue to send emails with ideas related to the topics you are covering in class. I will continue to share opportunities I see online and through social media. I will continue to swing by your classroom and touch base with you. At the end of the day though, you need to invite me in. I am not going to force myself into your classroom, nor do I want it to feel that way. 

To the teachers who just aren't sure about letting a coach in, just try it. Take something you already have planned and let's blend it together. 

To the teachers who are always looking to try something new and let me in, I hope you have found it helpful. 

And, thank you. The moments I get to spend in your classrooms working with you and your students are truly the best moments of the day. I would rather be running through the hallways trying to make it another classroom in time than be sitting in my office. 

Anyone want to try something fun today?

Breakout Box! with Social Emotional Skills

Over the past couple of weeks, my mind has been racing with ways to better implement social emotional learning within the classroom. I look at the students walking the halls of our K-12 building and I wonder if we are doing all that we can to help them become good people. In the past, I truly believe this has rested on the shoulders of parents, but not anymore. Like so many other things, teaching kids to be good kids (for quite a few) is now a responsibility placed upon teachers.

Are there standards to cover teaching social emotional learning? No.

Do I think if there were, things would be different? Not really.

With the pressures of state mandated testing, there are plenty of standards, like Indiana's newly adopted computer science standards, that are not being taught. And I get it; I really do. If you are going to be evaluated as a teacher based on your students' test scores in reading and math, why wouldn't you focus your class time on those standards?

So while in now way is this Breakout Box meant to solve the world's problems or be an answer to teaching social emotional learning, I created it with the hopes that students would at least be exposed to different concepts and begin to think about things like empathy, joining a group, managing frustration or worry, or diversity. Overall, I want kids to think about being a good and kind person to others.

So, here it is. A Breakout Box on Social Emotional Learning. To be upfront, all of the locks include a QR code that will take students to a Flocabulary video about the concept before they get started on the lock.

If you haven't tried Flocabulary, you totally need to do it. Beyond these social emotional videos, there are tons of videos and resources for all subject areas and all grade levels.

If you have never tried a Breakout Box, think of it like one of the super popular breakout rooms right now. Students have to solve puzzles and complete tasks in order to breakout! They are extremely engaging and the kids, no matter their age, have a great time!

Here is the Google Folder with all the resources.

We are going to be trying this breakout box and I will be sure to post pics and revise the breakout to make it work even better!

The whole breakout kicks off with with this slide being projected to the class. And, then... off they go!

My Own Ponderings on Social Emotional Learning

I'm going to start this by saying this is not meant to a political post in any way, shape, or form so please don't take it as that or turn it into that.

With the recent tragedies of our country, I am left, like so many others, to ponder the why. And while I know there is no single answer as to the why, we, as educators, are left to wonder what we can do to help in any way at all.

In my own small world, I see children who struggle with so many basic social emotional skills and lack the coping skills to deal with difficulties that present throughout their life.

To be honest, I don't remember who taught me about being a good person, overcoming adversity, persisting, accepting all people, and so much more. I think it was my parents, but I'm sure the school played a role.

Maybe it is time for school's to focus more on creating good human beings than analytical readers. (And, I taught high school English and thrived on analytical annotations for ten years).

Maybe it is time for the school to focus more on helping kids learn to persist through adversity than graph complex equations. (And my dad taught high school math for years.)

So we add social emotional learning standards to the already pumped full curriculum. It won't do anything. We added computer science standards in Indiana and I can tell you most teachers "don't have time" to teach something not tested.

This needs to be a collaborative acceptance that maybe we are focusing on the wrong things. Do kids need to learn reading, writing, math, science, and social studies? Absolutely.

But I think we need to ask ourselves: beyond everything else, what is the one thing we want our children to leave schools with?

And for me, as a parent and a teacher, I want my kid to graduate from high school and be a good person. That's more important to me than his reading level or his test scores or anything else someone can use to rank my child.

So I leave you with this; how do we help our children grow and mature into good people who help and support each other in their times of needs? I'm not talking a canned food drive at Christmas or giving items to those that are less fortunate; I'm talking at our core being the good in the world.

Lofty? Yes. Impossible? I sure hope not.