Morgan Akin

Dr. Lokey-Vega
ITEC 7460
Coaching Journal
Session 1
Strategies:
In our first meeting together, we established that our relationship in
this endeavor will be based on the peer coaching model that Jim Knight
outlines in his book Instructional Coaching: A Partnership Approach to
Improving Instruction (2007, p.1). I believe that this strategy will work well
due to its amiable nature. We discussed her current reality in the classroom
in regards to where she excels as well as where she hopes to improve.
We decided to first take a look at how to enrich direct instruction that
takes place in her classroom. She really would like to bring technology into
her lessons in a way that would present the material in a fun, motivating
manner for her students. She has taught for many years and has more than
enough worksheets and typed grammar notes she could project onto her
board. However, she wants to move past the projecting and start
incorporating interactive lessons that engage the students through
technology.
Skill and Affective Change:
My peer and I teach the same subject, so it has been very nice to be
able to share some materials/sites online together in order to reach this goal
concerning direct instruction. Again, I think the peer coaching model is going
well. We collaborated to find a music video done by Coca-Cola that displayed
our current grammar point and also had a fun dance for the students to learn
while also singing the song. We used the music video and grammar
enrichment activity in our classrooms and both had great success!
Reflection on Challenges and Solution:
I am looking forward to continuing to find ways to enrich our direct
instruction through technology. I think such a positive reaction from her
students will motivate her even more to be a part of this partnership and to
integrate technology.
Session 2
Strategies:
For our second meeting, we recalled our goal to work on technology as
it related to direct instruction. After using music to give students practice
with the grammar point, she wanted to really hone in on the DIRECT part of
direct instruction and try to find a way to bring technology into the actual
teaching part of a lesson. She found a video that we both believed correctly,
and appropriately outlined the grammar point of her/our next chapter. I

wanted to really work to give her a voice (as outlined by Jim Knight on p.43
of his book Instructional Coaching: A Partnership Approach to Improving
Instruction, 2007) and allow her to implement this technology especially
because she had taken time to find it! We went for it, and it went very well.
Skill and Affective Change:
In this session, we decided to try and implement a new device for
teaching a particular topic. We wanted to make sure that we didnt replace
the role of the teacher, but use technology to either introduce or reinforce a
grammar point. The video Reflex Your Verby found on Youtube was perfect
for both the chapter and the strategy we were trying to implement.
Reflection on Challenges and Solution:
I think this video will be something that she continues to use in the
future(I should also include myself). The students reacted very well to it and
honestly, its a song that gets stuck in your head very easily. We decided this
time to use the video as a reinforcement for the grammar lesson that was
going to be taught immediately before. We both thought this was the best
timing for the video, and agree that it went well.
Session 3
Strategies:
During this session, we talked more about formative assessment rather
that direct instruction. After spending two sessions on instruction, we were
ready to shift gears and take a look at her formative assessments. This
element of a classroom according to Knight in his book (2007, p.102) focuses
on the teacher and student alike being able to gauge their understanding of
the material. Proposed again by my colleague, she wanted to try a class
Quizlet. This way, students could practice the vocabulary and also complete
these quizlet activities in class using the Promethean board with their
classmates.
Skill and Affective Change:
Having a class quizlet allows the students the opportunity to go online
while they are studying individually and practice the vocabulary words. Then,
in class the teacher is able to have students interact with the Promethean
board and gauge each students understanding of the content. This is also a
quick review strategy before a test or quiz to allow the teacher time to see
how prepared her students are for the assessment. Using this technology
benefits both the students and teacher in content and formative assessment.
Reflection on Challenges and Solution:
Once a set of quizlet cards are created online, she will be able to keep
that stack of vocabulary cards for classes on the future. This technology
was well received by the students and also gave them another tool that they
could use to create more vocabulary review cards in the future for other

chapters and even classes. We both enjoyed that this tool can be used to
greatly benefit both the teacher and the students in knowing where they
stand before an assessment or even just as the chapter progresses.
Session 4
Strategies:
Continuing with the strategy to tackle formative assessments, we
wanted to give students a chance to realize their own progress. We also
talked about the importance of teachers knowing their students current
understanding of the material. I created a Google Form for both of us to use
as a class opener for the day after notes on a new section.

Skill and Affective Change:

After making the Google Form, we both found it to be an effective way
for us as teachers to check for progress. However, when I created the form, I
didnt input the information for the correct answers. It wasnt hard for us as
teachers to check through the responses to see if people were getting the
correct answers, but that meant the students couldnt see how they did. This
can be easily remedied in class be simply pulling up the survey to review as
a class, but I think it would be much more effective for students to receive
their scores from the survey immediately after taking it. I believe another
program will be necessary to accomplish this in the future.
Reflection on Challenges and Solution:
I do believe that we will continue to use these Google Forms to gauge
comprehension. Overall, it was a good experience for our students to quickly
assess where they stand with the newly acquired material. It was also nice as
a warmup for the day after notes were presented. However, the element of
giving them results right after they took the survey is mostly likely the part
that would benefit them most, so it will be vital to have a program that can
supply them with that. We agreed to look into other programs that may be
able to accomplish this for us.
As a coach, I needed to employ the tactic of detachment that Knight
discusses in his book (2007, p.198). Although I did spend a lot of time to
create a Google Form for our classes, I needed to realize that it does not
meet the desired goal and that should not be taken personally.
Session 5
Strategies:
During our fifth meeting, I thought it would be important to regroup a
bit and talk about the changes that have taken place, or not taken place in
her classroom. After the last initiative did not have the best results for what
she wanted for her classroom (for students to have the ability to selfmonitor), I felt that it was important to go back to our original notes on what

she wanted for the classroom. The coaching role that I really wanted to shoot
for in this meeting was attentiveness. On page 62 of Knights book (2007), it
talks about listening being an act of will. It may not come completely
naturally and therefore it must be cognitively done. I wanted to make sure I
paid close attention to what my collaborating teacher wanted for her
classroom so that I could provide her with more options of technology that
could accurately and effectively help get her classroom to where she wanted
it.
Skill and Affective Change:
I was very glad that I chose to really employ the act of attentiveness in
this meeting. I feel that now we have found something that does not quite
meet her expectations, we have been able to more accurately define what
she wants for her classroom. Sometimes you have to see something not
work in order to figure out what you actually wanted in the first place.
I think that after better meditating on what exactly it was that she
wanted to see in her classroom, I was able to more accurately clarify my
message to her of what program I was recommending and why it would be
the best option for her classroom. This tactic is outlined by Knight on pages
204 and 205 (2007).
Reflection on Challenges and Solution:
After looking at the different options out there to improve on using the
Google Forms, we really wanted to look for a technology that would allow for
students to see their results of online games and quizzes to help them to
self-monitor. After researching a few different choices, we decided to go with
Socrative. It was extremely appealing to us for its ability to openly
collaborate teacher to teacher in using each others work while in the
program. It also is very user-friendly and students can see their results
instantly on their personal devices. I am excited to continue this partnership
and see how we grow together in this journey.