The #educoach hashtag is used by instructional coaches around the world. We chat each Wednesday at 8pm CST on Twitter and use the hashtag throughout the week to share resources, ask questions and collaborate with instructional coaches.
I'm Kathy, one of tonight's moderators. Success for the week was another productive planning meeting for our area upcoming Teacher Leader Network meeting! #EduCoach
Austin from SC, here! I serve as a Title I Math Academic Specialist. My success story this week has been celebrating increases in student performance based on new formative assessment results. #educoach
Hi, #educoach! Lauren, Instructional Coach, Indiana and one of our moderators for tonight’s chat. My #eduwin is collaborating on some new ideas with colleagues after coming back from two weeks of spring break! Ready to finish the year strong! 💪🏻
Good evening #educoach! Fran Rogers, GCS Middle Level Academic Specialist, checking in. Success story: I started two new coaching cycles this week and both teachers are very receptive to collaboration. High will, for sure 😊
Hi! Cory here! educator, coach, and trainer. My success this week - starting my new job with @SibmeApp I've been telling y'all how passionate I am about the power of video in coaching - now I get to live and breathe it every day! #educoach
I'm Lauren - Elem Asst Principal in Indiana. My #eduwin this week has been observing teachers collaborate as they navigate some tricky situations, & also observing our music teacher as he inviting families in to the classroom for music performances! So fun and creative #educoach
Shayla from SC. I serve as ELA Academic Specialist. My success story from this week has been celebrating student growth and positive results from am impact study. #educoach
A1: I would define teacher leadership as the empowerment of teachers to share strengths in order to build capacity within the organization. Learning and growing from one another is pivotal to our success. #educoach
Hi #educoach! Ashley, instructional coach in TX. My #eduwin was seeing the teams at both of my campuses celebrate their progress and share ideas at their end of the year PLC showcases🙌.
A1 I feel all teachers are leaders. Actually all in school are leaders. In a collaborative culture of growth - each can lead in their own way. #educoach
Q2 Browse through these ten roles of teacher leaders in this @ASCD article. Which teacher leadership roles are your strengths? https://t.co/S46X9JrHUd#educoach
A1: A teacher leader models exemplary instructional practices, motivates and inspires others, encourages and coaches, is an ambassador for their Ss and schools, and much much more to positively influence the learning outcomes in a school community. #educoach
A1: Teachers who not only seek out best practice, but take time to freely share it. Even though this can be exhaustive (and sometimes frankly diminishing if their voice is disregarded), they always take steps to do what's best for students. #educoach#edchat
A1: Participating in the process of reflection, goal setting and progress monitoring to impact student achievement- extending from their own classroom to school teams. Tasking risks, learning from mistakes, and refining practice- encouraging others to do the same #educoach
A1: Having teachers take ownership over important projects like accreditation committees, observing peers, leading school initiatives that they are passionate about. #educoach
A1: T's willing to learn new things for their S's. T's not keeping track of what they do for others, but what they can do to make school better for everyone! #educoach ROGUE T"s #4OCF
Hi fellow Iowan! What part of Iowa are you from. Love the concept of Learning Walks. Have you been doing throughout the year? Do you use a specific model? #EduCoach
A2 Hard to narrow down which of the 10. I've worked in all capacities over the last 10+ years. Right now my strongest hat is Learning Facilitator #educoach
Q3 Browse through these ten roles of teacher leaders in this @ASCD article. Which teacher leadership roles are your areas for growth? https://t.co/S46X9JrHUd#educoach
A2: I believe my greatest strengths and passions are being an instructional specialist, a data coach to monitor progress and a school leader. #educoach
A1: Ts who are always seeking for a way to better themselves for their students; always willing to share and ask for feedback. Often those who take action first but who are highly reflective #educoach
Q2 Browse through these ten roles of teacher leaders in this @ASCD article. Which teacher leadership roles are your strengths? https://t.co/S46X9JrHUd#educoach
The ten roles are:
Resource Provider
Instructional Specialist
Curriculum Specialist
Classroom Supporter
Learning Facilitator
Mentor
School Leader
Data Coach
Catalyst for Change
Learner
#educoach
Q3 Browse through these ten roles of teacher leaders in this @ASCD article. Which teacher leadership roles are your areas for growth? https://t.co/S46X9JrHUd#educoach
A3: I would definitely say an area that I always strive for growth is being a curriculum specialist. Serving at the elementary level, I look for strategies to help me deconstruct of standards for any grade level and subject area K-5 . #educoach
A3: I would definitely say an area that I always strive for growth is being a curriculum specialist. Serving at the elementary level, I look for strategies to help me deconstruct standards for any grade level and subject area K-5 . #educoach
A3: As a HS school coach, I can only be a curriculum specialist in some areas. Always brushing up on standards and leaning on teachers in some content areas! #educoach
Q4 Chicken or the egg question! Do teacher leaders improve a school’s culture, or does a school’s culture improve teacher leadership? Or both? Neither? Explain your thoughts. #educoach
A3. Classroom supporter is one are I have room to grow and am working on doing better. I do a lot to prep and support outside of the CR, but I want more opps to be inside of the CR #educoach
Q2 Browse through these ten roles of teacher leaders in this @ASCD article. Which teacher leadership roles are your strengths? https://t.co/S46X9JrHUd#educoach
A4: i think they both influence one another, but I think strong teacher leadership affect culture more often. The culture of teacher leaders can often outlast administrators influence in some schools! #educoach
Q2 Browse through these ten roles of teacher leaders in this @ASCD article. Which teacher leadership roles are your strengths? https://t.co/S46X9JrHUd#educoach
A4: Both! Culture creates the conditions for teacher leaders to rise. But, teacher leaders also have a responsibility to create a culture conducive to student and teacher learning. #educoach
A3: As a middle level generalist who supports all content areas, I always work diligently to beef-up my specific subject content knowledge. With this said, instructional specialist is an area of growth. #educoach
Q3 Browse through these ten roles of teacher leaders in this @ASCD article. Which teacher leadership roles are your areas for growth? https://t.co/S46X9JrHUd#educoach
A4: Without a school/district culture that is supportive of growth & leadership, it is difficult for teachers to have the opportunities to develop leadership skills. Admin support is key. #educoach
Absolutely agree. I actually think that is a great goal for all admin/principals...develop a system and culture that sustains long after your no longer there...it’s what we want from our Ss as learners too #educoach
A4 Both are important and I think it depends on the school. A strong culture will continue to grow TL. In schools where culture isn't about growth, TL can influence - but with admin support. In toxic cultures TL have a hard time stepping up. #educoach
A4: I believe the two relationships are symbiotic and feed off of one another. It’s hard to sustain quality teacher leadership development when the school’s culture is off. #educoach
Q4 Chicken or the egg question! Do teacher leaders improve a school’s culture, or does a school’s culture improve teacher leadership? Or both? Neither? Explain your thoughts. #educoach
A4: While I think they occur symbiotically, it's always all about the people. The people create the culture. Culture can't exist without people operating in a system together, generating the culture as an outcome of the human enterprise itself. #educoach
A1: I would define teacher leadership as a collaborative way to connect with teachers, co-teach lessons, observe trends, and hold reflective conversations. #educoach
Q5 Teacher leadership teams are one way for schools to effectively leverage the influence of their teacher leaders. What are some examples of an effective team for doing this? #educoach
A4: I believe they go hand in hand; however, I do believe teacher leadership is hard to sustain in a culture that does not embrace and promote teacher leaders. #educoach
A4: It starts with the teacher leaders! #innovatorsmindset and supportive admin. make it spread quicker, but positive classroom env'ts are contagious! #educoach#FOMO will set in.
Q4 Chicken or the egg question! Do teacher leaders improve a school’s culture, or does a school’s culture improve teacher leadership? Or both? Neither? Explain your thoughts. #educoach
A4: TLs can definitely improve & influence school culture. But if the school culture is negative, it is difficult for TLs to make a large impact. #educoach
I think that building relationships and trust with staff is the first step and being a true partner in learning and help support staff goals. #educoach
A5: An effective team is open, honest, and vulnerable with other another. They share their goals and desired student outcomes and work together to attain those goals with the guiding belief that they have the ability to influence S outcomes #educoach
A5: being transparent is key to having effective teacher leadership. Working to analyze data and current work, gaining collective buy-in, implementing strategies, determining how to measure impact and then reflecting on impact requires it. No one can do it alone. #educoach
A5: Knowing the strengths and growth areas for each individual teacher leader and how he or she impacts the leadership team can help you appropriately network others, as well as provided targeted support to continue their individual/collective growth as leaders. #educoach
A4 Honestly depends on your definition of TLs. If TLs (i.e. instructional leaders) are just perceived as favored by admin but not respected by staff, then they will not be as influential. TLs need to be well appreciated by other Ts to change culture #educoach
A5: An effective team has a shared mission and vision. The team is collectively committed to correcting a problem of practice in order to move closer to the vision. #educoach
A5: Teacher Leadership Teams operating as highly-functioning PLCs is a demonstrative way to gain credibility and influence. Harnessing the power of peer observations/instructional Rounds is another way to build capacity and shine a light on TL. #educoach
Q5 Teacher leadership teams are one way for schools to effectively leverage the influence of their teacher leaders. What are some examples of an effective team for doing this? #educoach
A5: I agree the clear vision and mission are important. Norms and data help make these teams powerful too. Our best teams have been Literacy Leadership teams and PLC Leadership Teams. #educoach
A6: I feel like this is the power of coaching cycles where teachers set their own goals! Taking on the role of data collecter and thought partner can be very valuable for the strongest teacher leaders. #educoach
A6. There is a great tool called “situational leadership” which basically helps coaches map what type of support TLs need based on the situation. It helps to understand when you need to be more hands on as a coach and when let go and empower TLs to drive an outcome #educoach
A6: Providing differentiated PD that meets their needs, having them be in the driver's seat for determining the focus/structures/etc. for coaching cycles, being willing to try new things together & grow together as a learner w/ them. #educoach
A6: Coaching our teacher leaders sends the message that ALL teachers engage in reflecting and refining their practice in response to student performance. Having teacher reflect on a lesson based on student performance to determine next steps is beneficial to all #educoach
A7: Be their own personal cheering section & encourage Ts to step into advocacy roles. Often someone just needs to know another person believes they can do it. #educoach
A7: Listening and encouraging them through the process. There is absolutely no replacement for knowing your teachers- their strengths, areas of growth, praise preference...the list goes on #educoach
A7: Ensuring we allow for autonomy and provide effective tools for reflection. I love schools transition to #personalzedPD and the use of video for self-reflection and coaching we are seeing more and more of! #educoach
A8: I often find that supporting teachers in presenting at an in-service or conference often is the gateway to building their confidence to keep sharing their expertise beyond their schools. #educoach
A8. I’m actually working on this problem right now in grad school :) I think the solution is giving TLs the tools to codify best practices and systematically share them with other Ts for feedback, review, and improvements. TLs will always drive PD #educoach
A8: Give them opportunities to lead and get them a coach! Coaches aren't just for struggling teachers, every teacher deserves a coach. #teachersdeserveit#educoach
A6: Supporting all Ts is critical to the coaching process. Everyone deserves a coach! Providing strong TLs w/ a progression of skills/strategies/etc. defines success criteria & provides a learning progression. These teachers are often eager & this allows for self-reg. #educoach
A8 Supporting teacher leaders and coaches is at the heart of what I do. Skill development is one thing. Time to reflect and grow is equally important. Accountability along the way helps anyone reach goals faster! #EduCoach
