October was an exciting month for us! Over the summer we met with some coaches from neighboring districts to discuss the idea of starting a network for instructional coaches. We weren't sure if there would be interest or if other coaches would have time. Then we remembered....

It looked as if there were going to be in the neighborhood of 30 or so participants.  Thinking we could "flip" the introductions, we had each person post an introduction video on a padlet. The videos were quick and informative.  This freed up some time during the meeting and really let us hit the ground running. It was also fun to see where everyone was coming from and learn a little bit about their background with regards to coaching and technology. You can take a look at our SSCN coaches padlet here!

As far as the day itself, we planned a Breakout Box activity to start off.  This usually takes around 30 minutes or so.  We have enough boxes to accommodate the large group of 30. So we created a Breakout experience unique to our coaches and this coaching network. The way we plan a Breakout mimics a UBD type lesson plan. We start with our end goal, and work backwards. For this particular Breakout we included:

 

After the Breakout Session, we hung up chart paper around the room and handed out markers. We told coaches that everyone should have a voice in how these meetings run and wanted their input. We then had a mini brainstorming session in which coaches added ideas for the following topics:

We wrapped up with a One Minute Wow share out where each coach shared something exciting that they saw or are working on in their district. We then determined some goals for our next meeting and decided on our purpose for meeting.

Purpose: To collaborate in a network of coaches in order to develop opportunities for professional growth for teachers as they use technology to enhance learning. To share observe and model best practices for coaching.

When not meeting at buildings or with a network of coaches, we like to meet with teams of teachers during their peer coaching sessions. Once invited we can bring a tech tool of the month, pair a tech tool with a team specific topic or share a variety of tools with teams. It really depends on the team though! 

This month in teams we worked a lot with Seesaw and Edmodo. Both are great sharing platforms for teachers to communicate with students as well as build a digital portfolio for each learner. We also created a Google Drivers License project for students to use to navigate through the different features that can be used in Google itself. After introducing the idea to classes, students then work independently on their individual Drivers License. Once they complete each task, they then take an assessment utilizing all the new tools they've now learned about and then can be considered a tech-pert (get it?--tech-expert)! 

At the Junior High's we shared our digital goal setting sheet with teachers as well as some tools to help support their goals. 

We explored different resources, communicated across grade level and content areas and shared some best practices. 

As coaches, we left with a plan in place for our next team meeting. After reviewing each of the goals it was clear that teachers were wanting some ideas for students to more Creatively Communicate with them. We plan on designing our next team meeting around that coaching standard.

Somewhere in between our coaching network, peer coaching sessions and team meetings, we were also able to attend the Everyone Can Code event hosted by Apple. There were a ton of great ideas shared and some really great resources for Swift playground. We are already thinking about Hour of Code for December!

Finally, to wrap up this very busy month we met with our Apple Vanguard groups. To learn more about this program, check out our post 2.0 Apple Vanguard Day 1.