Connected Coaching Reflection

My 6 Word Story from the
 first week of class

These past few weeks I have been taking the Connected Coaching course through PLP network and it has really been an eye opening experience for me. At first it was a little rough, I was trying to do too many things at once. When I took a step back from other commitments and really focused on this course, it began to click for me. I've learned that I need to be patient with myself and not try to do it all at once.  By doing that it allowed me to really jump into the content and think deeply about the connected coaching process.


To help me reflect, I decided to take all of my responses(or at least most of them, I think I got them all) and put them into a wordle...here is what I came up with...I've obviously been doing a lot of thinking, lol. I'm happy with some of the "big" words (although I'm not sure about really...or like, but I think like has to do with me saying "I like this...or I like that, so apparently I'm liking the content and how I'm learning), but the rest of the words...coaching, think, brainstorming, questions, people, teachers...are to me all important words in the connected coaching process.

 We were asked to talk about some of the coaching standards below...

Persevere in exploring ideas and concepts, rethinking, revising, and continual repacking and unpacking as they build upon and assist in uncovering strengths of those they coach.

I have really seen this first hand in our experiences through the course. Many of our discussions have required us to go through these steps, which has given me a greater appreciation and understanding of how it would affect someone I'm coaching.

Engage in discussions on difficult or messy topics from an appreciative inquiry perspective to increase confidence and self efficacy.
After learning about and practicing appreciative inquiry, I can see how this would be an ideal way to approach difficult or messy topics. It requires you to see the topic in the most positive way as possible and utilize that to find a solution.  I do wish I was aware of this concept and practiced it when I was in the classroom. While I always strived to focus on the positive things my students were doing, I feel like AI takes it one step further in using that positive energy to move forward and be successful in other areas.

Use activities to create a connection to the content and context, to oneself, and to those who are part of the learning community at school and online.
Once again, I see how valuable this is because this is what we have been doing throughout the course. I think the tool kit that we are creating as a class is going to be very helpful in planning my own activities as I begin to teach and coach. 

Collectively review and analyze with an open mind and without judgment all and many perspectives on coaching.
While I've only been exposed to the perspectives that we've talked about in class, I feel that I have gone into this course as a whole with an open mind and that if I was approached with other perspectives I would continue to have this mindset.  

What surprised you? What, if anything, has significantly influenced your thinking around coaching?

Photo by Sand_and_Sky

What has surprised me is that coaching is much more intricate then I thought it was, I have great appreciation for the process and how supportive it is. I wish all schools had someone in their building with these skills...or even if all teachers went through training like this, I feel like it would counter act a lot of the negativity that surrounds education right now. 

I chose to add a picture of an intricate lace project(not one of mine) because of the complexity of the pattern and the patience it takes to knit a lace item....the complexity represents the purposeful steps of the coaching process and the patience is a reminder to not rush change, change takes time especially if it is going to be a lasting change.