Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Teachers as Coaches: Organization?

To teach students well, it is important to know and understand each child well.  With large numbers of students and multiple teachers, that can be a challenge.  Supporting these efforts with optimal organization and communication patterns will set the stage for success. Hence, as teachers move to a more concerted effort to coach students well, organization matters.

What documents will structure your coaching efforts and collaboration with multiple students.

Next year, I want to organize these efforts with greater care so that I meet the following goals:
  • Regular individual student coaching meetings.
  • Succinct notes to inform the process.
  • Regular goal setting.
  • Accurate and organized assessment lists that are easy to access and share.
Hence, I created a Team 15 2013-2014 coaching website.  I will use this website to collect notes, set goals, and communicate with the learning team: students, families, teachers, and administrators.

Specifically, I will use this site in the following ways:
  • To invite teacher collaborators to view and add to the site regularly when working with students.
  • To reference the site when meeting with individual students and families to share challenges and successes as we review and create goals.
  • To share with administrators and colleagues for evaluation purposes, analysis, and goal setting.
  • As a reference point for writing student report cards and other assessments.
I offer you this model to review and consider as you think about your coaching systems for the fall.  Once late August arrives and I begin inputting specific data related to students, I will change the privacy settings. 

Let me know what you think.  I'll revise and enrich this site during the summer months.

Note:
Extensive individual coaching sheets' effort outweighed their effect. Yet a simple individual coaching sheet and class chart served this purpose better in the end.