The Power of Coaching
Coaching EdTechTeacher

Guest Post by Jess Brittingham (@ELA2TISJess) and Jen Thomas (@BlendedLibGirl)

Coaching can feel isolating, even outright lonely at times. In a district full of teachers and administrators, there may only be one coach (the case in my district) and conveying your role and responsibilities to teachers and administrators may often prove challenging. Teachers may not understand the services a coach offers them, resulting in the coach assuming the dreaded label of the “password reset person” or worse yet, “the Chromebook fix-it person”. Often coaches lack colleagues to talk to, to collaborate with, or to seek advice from.  

Despite this, coaches hold great power to affect change in teaching and learning. When effective, coaches have the opportunity to change the mindset of teachers, move districts forward, and inspire innovation. This type of influence is unique to coaching; administrators who evaluate teachers, have full agendas, and complete buildings to run, often lack the time to engage in the one-on-one professional development and training that coaches do.  Though administrators desire the transformative outcomes, working one-on-one with teachers the way coaches do is more than impractical. Coaches must do this work; advancements occur as a result.

So…how does a coach do it?  What does a coach do with this great power?

Coaching must start with relationships.  No relationships = No coaching program.  It’s really this simple.  Jen and I discuss this at great length during our presentations and training sessions. Without established relationships between coaches and teachers, no hope for progress exists.  In the wake of COVID, however, relationship building has become more and more challenging. Technology burnout after remote teaching has resulted in teachers turning inward  in many cases, rather than reaching out for coaching.  Additionally, after a few years of technology saturation, many teachers desire to cut screen time and continue to find a balance between what was in the classroom and what should be. On a purely human level, many teachers still struggle to return to “normal” socialization after a period of isolation. This should come as no surprise; experts in education have extensively discussed the post-pandemic social-emotional changes in students. We keep hearing how teachers no longer work with the same students that they did before quarantine. But who is talking about the teachers?  Are we building relationships with the same teachers?  I think not. 

Prior to the pandemic, coaches built relationships with teachers through details: hobbies, family stories, birthdays, music, and other topics that could establish common ground between coach and teacher. I do not recommend that this changes; however, now–as with all things–we need to do more, but in saying that what I really mean is that we have to focus on less.  In the wake of the pandemic era in education, the relationship process must become two fold: on one hand the coach needs to do more, while on the other hand, the coach needs to do less. This may sound like an oxymoron, but let me explain.

In doing more, coaches need to work harder to connect with other coaches. The lone coach on an island approach will no longer work, as our positions have evolved into something so much bigger than we could have imagined prior to COVID. Most coaches I know realize this, and they are aware of the influence and role they can play in innovative instructional practices. But just as we built our planes while flying during remote learning, we must do the same now as we work to redefine our positions.

This realization inspired Jen and me to begin the EdTechTeacher Coaches Collaborative. We desired to form a PLN comprised of coaches, and only coaches, from across the country.  While there is content we intend to disseminate to participants, and we promise to share all of our strategies and resources, we hope to learn from the participants as much as they learn from us. We hope to build lasting relationships, establish a safe space to discuss our unique positions, and to tackle the feelings of loneliness, isolation, and misunderstanding that often plague coaches. We hope to work together to build this plane, and to support one another as we do it. These relationships are now a must.

Building relationships with other coaches fulfills the “more,” but what about the “less?” Well…burnout in education is a very real phenomenon.  Coaches are no exception. I see coaches all the time who carry a giant weight of responsibility and want to transform everything right now.  Everything is urgent.  I myself am quite guilty of this.  While this stress comes from a place of strength and integrity, we owe it to ourselves to take care of our mental health and to celebrate our smaller successes rather than focusing on the big picture all of the time.  In terms of relationship building, this becomes essential.  No coach will successfully engage every teacher in a building or district right now. It simply is not possible.  Rather than focusing on the teachers who may not be ready and obsessing over how to break through the barriers, coaches should focus on one relationship to start building or rebuilding.  By focusing on one, by really nurturing one, a process naturally begins where other teachers will see the fruits of your collaboration, they will hear about the successes from the teacher and the students, and naturally a program will build.  We must narrow our focus and be effective where we can.

Jen and I are currently adopting the philosophy that less is more.  I will admit that the struggle is real with this.  We both have lofty goals, as most coaches do, and we want to do everything in our power to support teachers and students in communities we deeply care about.  We both obsess over details, things we don’t do perfectly, one piece of negative feedback, or one teacher we simply can’t reach.  We are making the effort though, together, through our relationship with one another to focus on “less is more” and to remind ourselves that we do great work, we do affect change, we are helping, and that we do matter.  We encourage you to do the same: focus on less, be kind to yourself, and know that you do make a difference one relationship at a time.

Jess Brittingham and Jen Thomas

RefreshED Coaching

@ELA2TISJess & @BlendedLibGirl

Jess and Jen have partnered with EdTech Teacher to offer enriching professional development programs for coaches across the United States. If you are interested in learning more about Jess and Jen’s coaching program and ideals, or in exploring current professional development offerings, visit the EdTech Coaching Collaborative website.  Jess and Jen offer a year long cohort aimed at supporting Instructional and Technology Coaches by creating a space for collaboration, reflection, and networking.


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