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One of my top challenges in virtual literacy coaching is ensuring virtual coaching conversations are interactive and puts the teacher in charge of the conversation, not the coach. When coaching on-site, I might observe classroom instruction, but more often than not, I am modeling and co-teaching lessons with teachers. Our coaching conversations following those lessons is collegial and interactive, commenting and questioning the active roles we both played. But, in virtual coaching, I am typically observing instruction (although I have some ideas to change this!) to give helpful feedback to teachers. Therefore, our virtual coaching conversations can far-too-easily look like a one-sided conversation where I give feedback and the teacher listens. Even if energetic and productive, this is not coaching.

Coaching is a partnership where teachers and coaches learn from each other and from the students in front of them, in person or virtually. Therefore, our coaching conversations must be spirited, interactive and shared. I rely on a few conversation starters to spark interactive conversation:

What you think about the lesson? What went well? What didn't seem quite right?

How do you feel the students responded? What evidence do we have for their learning?

What do we need to do next to further student learning? What are they ready to know next? What lessons, materials and coaching might we plan for?

What did we learn about literacy teaching from our partnership?

I think it is important to remind ourselves the power of wait time. During in-person coaching conversations, we often give ourselves the time needed to think and reflect. While it can be difficult, waiting a few extra seconds for a teacher to initiate conversation is better than jumping in with another comment or question in fear of the silence. This wait time is even more important online. Depending on your connection, conversations may lag slightly as the wifi works to keep up with live conversation. If you don't give each other enough wait time, you end up talking over each other or worse yet, it seems like you are interrupting.

While it may seem odd to plan so carefully for something as natural as a conversation, doing so will ensure a successful virtual conversation and strengthen coaching partnerships.

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One of my top challenges in virtual literacy coaching is ensuring virtual coaching conversations are interactive and puts the teacher in charge of the conversation, not the coach. When coaching on-site, I might observe classroom instruction, but more often than not, I am modeling and co-teaching lessons with teachers.

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Virtual Coaching and Artifacts of Learning

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Virtual Coaching and Artifacts of Learning

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All aspects of literacy coaching have the potential to impact the classroom and student learning, but coaching in the classroom places the focus squarely on the teachers and students. Virtual coaching places particular importance on classroom instruction with a majority of interactions surrounding videotaped classroom teaching. But we must not forget about the power of examining artifacts of student learning as part of our virtual coaching cycles, just as we would if coaching in person. Every interaction, observation and artifact of learning is data we can use to inform our instruction and understanding of student achievement, even virtually. Here is a list of artifacts that could inform our virtual coaching:

As part of your coaching conversations, teachers can choose a sampling of student work to analyze. Together, you might evaluate writing pieces or review running record data as part of your virtual sessions. Teachers can email you a few pictures or even upload them into the private software you use to share videos. By sharing your screens virtually during online meeting sessions, you can analyze student work together and use the results to guide your next coaching cycle. I follow three simple guidelines for my work with teachers:

Link problems to solutions: It can be easy to focus on the things we cannot control, but we need to shift that mindset to one of action and train ourselves to immediately follow up negative thinking with positive possibilities. Our students deserve nothing less.

You might consider capturing these artifacts into a portfolio to showcase learning throughout the coaching cycle. You can compile them into a shared digital folder or even paste them into a simple Google presentation to archive the thinking and learning throughout your time together. What better way to celebrate a coaching cycle by seeing the impact coaching has had firsthand on student performance?

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Virtual Coaching and Artifacts of Learning

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All aspects of literacy coaching have the potential to impact the classroom and student learning, but coaching in the classroom places the focus squarely on the teachers and students. Virtual coaching places particular importance on classroom instruction with a majority of interactions surrounding videotaped classroom teaching.

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Essentials for Virtual Coaching Feedback

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Essentials for Virtual Coaching Feedback

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One of the reasons I am such a strong advocate for virtual coaching is because teachers have a great deal of control across the coaching process: They choose to enter the coaching partnership, they choose the day, time and location they prefer to meet, they choose the goals they want to collaborate on and they choose the videos of their instruction they want to share. When done right, virtual coaching puts teachers squarely in control of their own learning.

Video tools are a powerful way to provide feedback on classroom practices and I have been using video in my in-person literacy coaching for years. As part of my coaching, teachers record clips of their teaching they would like feedback on. By recording and sharing, teachers are in full control over what I see and provide feedback on, lessening the angst that some teachers feel when inviting coaches into their classrooms. In virtual coaching, this is the only way you will interact with teachers. There aren't opportunities to drop in live, to learn together in grade level meetings or to collaborate in professional learning. The coaching cycle is your sole form of coaching and therefore, must provide teachers with positive, effective and specific feedback related to their chosen goals. Therefore, feedback provided on these videos is incredibly important to the coaching process. Here are a few guidelines when giving this kind of feedback to teachers:

Make it interactive. Coaching cycles are build on conversations and the only way to have conversation through video comments is to invite interaction. While comments are important, be sure to ask questions, wonder and hypothesize and generate a conversation. Coaching is not a one-way street where coaches only coach teachers. Coaches also learn from each coaching partnership as co-learners for the sake of students.

So, how do I remind myself of these important guidelines when giving feedback? I used to list them on a piece of paper and tack it to the bulletin board next to my laptop, but I would often forget to refer to them. Now, I create simple table tents (inspired by Jennifer Serravallo's table tents for student conferences ) and prop them up wherever I am when I review the shared instructional videos. These are instant, tangible reminders to remind me what I want to accomplish when giving feedback. Like what you see? Go ahead and download it for your own coaching space!
This was the second post in a blog series on virtual literacy coaching as part of an exciting partnership with Sibme. Head here to read all posts in the series and join the conversation!

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Essentials for Virtual Coaching Feedback

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One of the reasons I am such a strong advocate for virtual coaching is because teachers have a great deal of control across the coaching process: They choose to enter the coaching partnership, they choose the day, time and location they prefer to meet, they choose the goals they want to collaborate on and they choose the videos of their instruction they want to share.

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Coaching is all about relationships. As a literacy coach, there are multiple things I do to ensure coaching in the classroom is a positive learning experience for all:

Be a good listener. I really listen to what teachers say they want and need in the classroom and ensure that their voices are heard.

Follow the teacher's lead. While we may have ideas for our coaching, I follow the teacher's lead and start there. Additional initial ideas can come later in the coaching process when the teacher is ready for them.

Be trustworthy. I maintain the teacher's confidentiality at all times. I jokingly tell the teachers I work with that our coaching space is like Vegas: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Teachers need to know they can trust you.

Seek out strengths. Find positives in any situation and build on them. Just as we encourage teachers to avoid taking a deficit view when looking at student data, we should have them do the same for themselves. Focus on what is right first and then choose goals together.

Celebrate growth. Big changes in instruction do not happen overnight. I celebrate the small steps of growth seen in the classroom and view them as momentum for larger changes ahead. Every journey starts with one step forward.

These actions to build strong coaching relationships are easily replicated online and virtually, but it is more challenging to build a comfortable, collegial relationship with someone that you will never meet in person. I have found a few coaching moves go a long way in building trusting relationships to support coaching:

Get personal immediately. I give the teachers I work with a glimpse into my life right from the first introductory email. Sure, I tell teachers who I am and what I do, but I also give them snippets of information about my family, my favorites and my quirks. This helps them get to know me as a person, not just as a coach, and opens the lines of communication. If we cannot easily share conversations and low-risk personal information, how will we ever get comfortable enough to share our classroom lives and teaching?

Find multiple channels of communication. While virtual coaching visits might be your primary method of communication, find additional channels to make brief, but consistent, contact with your teachers. This could be through email or even through social media. If you are on Twitter, create Twitter lists of the schools and teachers you work with to quickly connect or send resources and ideas they might appreciate. You might even connect as readers on Goodreads and share titles with each other. By connecting more often, you are sure to build more consistent and complete relationships with teachers.

Create spaces for digital sharing. When you are physically part of a school building, it is easier to share ideas and resources with teachers: at grade level meetings, in the faculty lounge even in the hallway. This sharing is easy to replicate online with Padlet and Flipgrid. Create Padlet walls that you can share with your teachers as if you were in the building. You might create a Padlet wall to share fantastic titles for read alouds or mentors texts. You might create a Flipgrid page for teachers to share ideas and reflections, ask questions, share a celebration or simply drop in to say hello in-between virtual visits.

Don't forget about old-fashioned communication too. One of my favorite things to do as a coach is to notice and name the fantastic things are teachers are doing and to give them bits of encouragement and self-care to fuel their teaching spirits. In person, I like to leave sticky notes on their desks or doors and even gift them small things I know they'll appreciate: a new book for their library, a velvety gel pen or a simple hand-written 'thank-you-for-being-you' note of appreciation. While it may take an additional stamp or two, sending these old-fashioned tokens of appreciation are sure to surprise teachers and warm their hearts.

By taking the time to build strong instructional relationships, you'll ensure a more successful coaching partnership. While we may never meet in the person, the bonds formed virtually can be just as strong as those in person.

This was the second post in a blog series on virtual literacy coaching. Head here to read all posts in the series and join the conversation!

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Coaching is all about relationships. As a literacy coach, there are multiple things I do to ensure coaching in the classroom is a positive learning experience for all: Be a good listener. I really listen to what teachers say they want and need in the classroom and ensure that their voices are heard.

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Planning and Preparation for Virtual Coaching Coaching Cycles

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Planning and Preparation for Virtual Coaching Coaching Cycles

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Planning and Preparation for Virtual Coaching Cycles

Every literacy coach I have ever met has a particular organizational and planning system they prefer. Some choose to have binders organized by grade level and teacher. Others live by their agenda and have different folders and clipboards for coaching. Still yet, others have gone digital and have organized folders on their computers or in their Google Drives. Me? I have a blend of methods to meet my need for digital organization, but also provide the comfort of hard copy notes and sketchnoting I crave. I bring my laptop, my coaching notebook and other coaching tools like sticky notes and markers to each coaching session. While these methods might work well for in-coaching conversations, they do not translate as easily to virtual ones. I have had to reimagine my entire planning and preparation process to best meet the demands of virtual literacy coaching. Here are my top recommendations:

Create a coaching space. Many virtual literacy coaches work from home, often meeting with teachers after-school and in the evening hours so the school day is not disrupted. This can bring an additional coaching challenge: finding a quiet place to meet virtually (other than hiding in the back of my closet to muffle the sounds of my family!). It is critical to carve out a space for your coaching, even if small or in an odd location. I have a small corner in my basement that I have outfitted with a small desk, chair and office supplies. This virtual coaching space is out of the way, fairly quiet and has a good wifi signal. I hung decorative shelves as a recording backdrop and added my favorite books, educational quotes and pieces of my children's school artwork. While I may be in a tiny corner of the basement, the professional feel energerzies my work. Can't find the space? A decorative tri-fold presentation board behind you works well as a backdrop to cover the stack of laundry that might be nearby. =)

Have the materials you need handy. When coaching in person, you might bring your notebooks, sticky notes, pens and lesson materials to enhance coaching conversation. While this kind of interaction isn't possible virtually, having the materials you need to ensure your virtual visits go smoothly is essential. I have my materials in my desk drawer, but you can keep them in a small box or bag so they are portable:

While you may not need them, have back-up earphones or earpods closeby to ensure you can hear online and a microphone to ensure others can hear you.

When coaching in person, I often take notes on a shared Google Doc, but this is harder to manage when working virtually. Instead, I take notes during our meetings in my notebook and then reflect digitally in a shared document instead.

Gather pens, pencils, highlighters and sticky notes and any other tools you like to use for note-taking.

It doesn't hurt to also have a water bottle or cup of coffee on hard to give the virtual meeting a more relaxed feel as well!

Get organized digitally. Virtual literacy coaches often work with multiple teachers in multiple schools, even in multiple states! If this describes your coaching, then you also work with multiple curriculums, assessment plans, teacher resources and more. To be effective, you must organize these materials and be able to access them when and where you need them. Consider creating Google Drive folders to organize your coaching materials, even color coding them if you wish. By doing so, you will have access to them for your virtual meetings no matter where you are or what device you are using. You can even access them without wifi access, as long as you enable offline access in your settings.

Live by your calendar. My Google calendar is my lifeline. It not only keeps track of my coaching life and virtual meetings, it helps me organize them color, sends me useful reminders and even has space for important information, such as the meeting link, agenda and even links to files and websites. When you work remotely, planning and time management is absolutely essential. Be sure to not only schedule in time for your virtual visits, but for viewing classroom videos, providing feedback and for your own reflection and notes for coaching.

Indulge yourself. I used to buy the plain notebooks, the functional supplies and limited 'frivolous' purchases, like velvety pens and colorful markers. Fast forward ten years and you will see my buying the largest set of Sharpie markers and the cute teacher stickers to decorate my supplies with. I have learned that color and shapes bring joy to my life, and to others. Give yourself permission to surround yourself with what makes you happy and that happiness will leap through the lines of your wifi to your teachers.

While being a virtual literacy coach brings unique challenges, think about the many teachers you are impacting with the work you do and their many students that will also benefit as a result. We may not have an in-person coaching space, but we have a far-reaching impact with the work we do. Celebrate!

I have a thing for notebooks. And colorful markers. And sticky notes. I use them in all aspects of my literacy teaching and coaching. During coaching conversations, I often find myself providing on-the-spot demonstrations with these tools. I might engage teachers in a brief lesson on phonemic awareness and ask them to sort sounds. I might walk teachers through word building activities so they experience a new way of engaging students. I might introduce books to teachers to model how they might do the same for their students. I might even create game boards on sticky notes as visuals for teachers to support instructional planning. These demonstrations and notes act as instant and tangible tools to further teacher learning.
Over the years, I've compiled these artifacts to create coaching toolkits for the teachers I work with. My toolkit for 'word work' might include a picture of an anchor chart created with students, a list of words appropriate to the alphabetic feature students are wor...

As August comes to a end, I am spending time gearing up for the new semester with the preservice, new and practicing teachers I will have the opportunity to work with and am setting my intentions for the year.

As a literacy teacher educator and literacy coach, I believe my role is to build teacher expertise and support teachers' spirits so they can do the same for their students. Alongside other literacy teacher educators and coaches, we work tirelessly to strengthen teachers' knowledge of literacy: how literacy develops, effective literacy intervention, authentic reading response and more. But as I sit here reflecting forward on the year to come, I am very aware of the need to focus on teachers' mindsets for learning (and my own!) as well.
I have had many conversations with fellow literacy coaches on the importance of lifelong learning and the impact it can have on our coaching. In my experience, teachers who embrace a lifelong learning mindset listen, think, act, teach and lead...

I have been lucky enough to facilitate an online children's literature book club for teachers. Over the past few months, we have read and discussed some amazing titles: Wishtree, The Crossover, Refugee and Lucky Broken Girl. Each teacher shared their reactions to the text in individual ways: text, audio and video responses, memes, diagrams, lists of questions, lists of related articles to share and more. It was truly a collaborative book club where the focus was on cultivating our own reading lives and of course, making connections to the classroom along the way.

As we end the project, I cannot help but think about the lessons I learned: the power of choice, the power of sharing our reading with others, the power in honoring our reading lives and more. One powerful lesson stands front and center and will forever change my teaching and coaching: reading is about living the reading experience, not about responding to the text. Let me explain.
As I prepared for this book club, I devoured ...

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Planning and Preparation for Virtual Coaching Cycles

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Planning and Preparation for Virtual Coaching Cycles Every literacy coach I have ever met has a particular organizational and planning system they prefer. Some choose to have binders organized by grade level and teacher. Others live by their agenda and have different folders and clipboards for coaching.

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Redefining Professional Learning. Are you looking for professional learning that fits your schedule rather than disrupts it?​ Learn with us - Eduro Learning

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Instructional Coaching Group | Progress Through Partnership

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Instructional coaches partner with teachers to help them improve teaching and learning so students are more successful. To do this, coaches collaborate with teachers to get a clear picture of current reality, identify goals, pick teaching strategies to meet the goals, monitor progress, and problem s…

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What Is Virtual Literacy Coaching?

I have dedicated my career to supporting educators and building shared teacher expertise for the sake of our students. More than ever, our students deserve teachers who understand how literacy develops, have strong content and pedagogical knowledge and connect with students to ensure instruction is engaging, authentic and relevant. And more than ever, our teachers deserve professional learning experiences that are built on the principles of adult learning, honor the knowledge and experience that teachers bring and cultivate a mindset of lifelong learning.

As a literacy coach, I create spaces for learning that build teacher expertise, spark intentional reflection and connect philosophy to pedagogy. Together, we work from a place of authentic inquiry to envision instruction and strengthen teaching and learning. My work is intentional, fosters professional curiosity and models the pedagogy advocated for in classrooms to re-imagine teaching and learning for students. All aspects of literacy coaching have the potential to impact the classroom and student learning, but coaching in the classroom places the focus squarely on the teachers and students. Previously, my coaching was confined by the boundaries of geography and location, but digital tools and technology have broadened what is possible: enter virtual literacy coaching. So, what is virtual literacy coaching?

Virtual literacy coaching is exactly what is sounds like: literacy coaching translated to an online, digital or virtual platform. Coaching conversations move online, classroom coaching shifts to video and professional sharing happens digitally, rather than in the hallways. Virtual coaching breaks down the walls of our classrooms and connects educators and coaches together in personalized ways unique to each partnership. What might virtual coaching look like?

Just as coaching partnerships can come in many forms, so can virtual coaching. But generally, educators and coaches engage in coaching cycles and conversations the same they would in person, but do so virtually through video such as Google Hangout, Zoom or Skype. Coaching cycles begin with a virtual conversation to get know each other and talk about shared goals for the partnerships. Since the coach cannot physically be present in the classroom, they observe teaching live through video streaming as if they were present in the room. Or, teachers record clips of their literacy instruction and upload videos through a private platform (I use Sibme) to share with the coach. The coach views these videos and gives specific, personal and time-stamped feedback specific to the goals of the partnership, often sharing articles, blog posts and resources to support teaching. The teacher and coach then come back together for another virtual visit to discuss the process and continue the cycle of learning together.

These virtual coaching cycles offer unique opportunities for coaches and teachers to partner around teaching and learning in the comfort of our own classrooms and homes on our own terms based on own goals as educators. It empowers teachers to take control of their own learning and share only what they choose, ensuring a low level of risk for teachers.

But it also brings unique challenges: fostering professional relationships with educators you'll never meet in person, planning and preparing for virtual coaching sessions rather than in person, facilitating coaching conversations through a computer screen, taking special care with printed feedback, examining artifacts of student learning digitally and more. In this upcoming series of blog posts, I'll tackle each of these challenges and offer suggestions to make the most of a virtual coaching partnership.

Are you a virtual literacy coach? Be sure to stay tuned for the next series of posts to explore our work together! I'll compile all of the posts in the series here and hope you'll join the conversation!

I have a thing for notebooks. And colorful markers. And sticky notes. I use them in all aspects of my literacy teaching and coaching. During coaching conversations, I often find myself providing on-the-spot demonstrations with these tools. I might engage teachers in a brief lesson on phonemic awareness and ask them to sort sounds. I might walk teachers through word building activities so they experience a new way of engaging students. I might introduce books to teachers to model how they might do the same for their students. I might even create game boards on sticky notes as visuals for teachers to support instructional planning. These demonstrations and notes act as instant and tangible tools to further teacher learning.
Over the years, I've compiled these artifacts to create coaching toolkits for the teachers I work with. My toolkit for 'word work' might include a picture of an anchor chart created with students, a list of words appropriate to the alphabetic feature students are wor...

As August comes to a end, I am spending time gearing up for the new semester with the preservice, new and practicing teachers I will have the opportunity to work with and am setting my intentions for the year.

As a literacy teacher educator and literacy coach, I believe my role is to build teacher expertise and support teachers' spirits so they can do the same for their students. Alongside other literacy teacher educators and coaches, we work tirelessly to strengthen teachers' knowledge of literacy: how literacy develops, effective literacy intervention, authentic reading response and more. But as I sit here reflecting forward on the year to come, I am very aware of the need to focus on teachers' mindsets for learning (and my own!) as well.
I have had many conversations with fellow literacy coaches on the importance of lifelong learning and the impact it can have on our coaching. In my experience, teachers who embrace a lifelong learning mindset listen, think, act, teach and lead...

I have been lucky enough to facilitate an online children's literature book club for teachers. Over the past few months, we have read and discussed some amazing titles: Wishtree, The Crossover, Refugee and Lucky Broken Girl. Each teacher shared their reactions to the text in individual ways: text, audio and video responses, memes, diagrams, lists of questions, lists of related articles to share and more. It was truly a collaborative book club where the focus was on cultivating our own reading lives and of course, making connections to the classroom along the way.

As we end the project, I cannot help but think about the lessons I learned: the power of choice, the power of sharing our reading with others, the power in honoring our reading lives and more. One powerful lesson stands front and center and will forever change my teaching and coaching: reading is about living the reading experience, not about responding to the text. Let me explain.
As I prepared for this book club, I devoured ...

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What Is Virtual Literacy Coaching? I have dedicated my career to supporting educators and building shared teacher expertise for the sake of our students. More than ever, our students deserve teachers who understand how literacy develops, have strong content and pedagogical knowledge and connect with students to ensure instruction is engaging, authentic and relevant.

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Sibme is a video coaching and resource sharing platform designed to improve teaching and learning for teams, schools, and education-related organizations.

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Erin's 10 years of experience gives her insight into the world of education that only comes from time in the classroom directly engaging with students. With a focus on the areas of social studies, history and political science, Erin is dedicated to helping students develop into the leaders of tomorrow. With a background in technology, via district technology coaching, she is excited to continue bridging the gap between education innovation and the classroom. Erin embraces the opportunity to work with other teachers to find the best solutions possible to create the ideal learning environment for students.

A seasoned social studies teacher for grades 7-12, Jeff became deeply interested in online learning design while completing his Master of Arts in educational technology at Michigan State University. Ambitiously, Jeff sought to create an entirely online experience for his 7th-grade learners. Through the experience of seeing students thrive, he developed an appreciation for the decision making required to effectively blend in-person and technology-aided learning experiences. Jeff specializes in assisting teachers develop a holistic mindset for blended lesson design, utilizing TPACK and SAMR as frameworks to scaffold their pre-existing lesson plan process.

Stacey's passion lies with the direct engagement of students and the development of relationships as an educator. When given the opportunity to work one-on-one with educators to provide the support they need to do more in the classroom, Stacey feels as though she's truly making a fulfilling impact. Stacey is a certified K-8 teacher and a National Writing Project trainer. Additionally, she has a master's in education and educational technology from Michigan State University. Stacey is a firm believer in the results that come from blended online learning when aid is provided to support objectives and goals for individual learning.

Emily comes to the Professional Learning Services team from a myriad of experiences. Having taught in elementary, middle and high schools, with a focus on literacy, she is happy to be having a new adventure with Michigan Virtual. Emily enjoys connecting with and learning from fellow educators, as well as learning new strategies to engage students and improve instruction. When she does not have her nose in a book, she is spending time with her husband and two sons, either attending MSU basketball games or playing in Lake Michigan.

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Erin's 10 years of experience gives her insight into the world of education that only comes from time in the classroom directly engaging with students. With a focus on the areas of social studies, history and political science, Erin is dedicated to helping students develop into the leaders of tomorrow.

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Erin's 10 years of experience gives her insight into the world of education that only comes from time in the classroom directly engaging with students. With a focus on the areas of social studies, history and political science, Erin is dedicated to helping students develop into the leaders of tomorrow. With a background in technology, via district technology coaching, she is excited to continue bridging the gap between education innovation and the classroom. Erin embraces the opportunity to work with other teachers to find the best solutions possible to create the ideal learning environment for students.

A seasoned social studies teacher for grades 7-12, Jeff became deeply interested in online learning design while completing his Master of Arts in educational technology at Michigan State University. Ambitiously, Jeff sought to create an entirely online experience for his 7th-grade learners. Through the experience of seeing students thrive, he developed an appreciation for the decision making required to effectively blend in-person and technology-aided learning experiences. Jeff specializes in assisting teachers develop a holistic mindset for blended lesson design, utilizing TPACK and SAMR as frameworks to scaffold their pre-existing lesson plan process.

Stacey's passion lies with the direct engagement of students and the development of relationships as an educator. When given the opportunity to work one-on-one with educators to provide the support they need to do more in the classroom, Stacey feels as though she's truly making a fulfilling impact. Stacey is a certified K-8 teacher and a National Writing Project trainer. Additionally, she has a master's in education and educational technology from Michigan State University. Stacey is a firm believer in the results that come from blended online learning when aid is provided to support objectives and goals for individual learning.

Emily comes to the Professional Learning Services team from a myriad of experiences. Having taught in elementary, middle and high schools, with a focus on literacy, she is happy to be having a new adventure with Michigan Virtual. Emily enjoys connecting with and learning from fellow educators, as well as learning new strategies to engage students and improve instruction. When she does not have her nose in a book, she is spending time with her husband and two sons, either attending MSU basketball games or playing in Lake Michigan.

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Erin's 10 years of experience gives her insight into the world of education that only comes from time in the classroom directly engaging with students. With a focus on the areas of social studies, history and political science, Erin is dedicated to helping students develop into the leaders of tomorrow.

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Online Teacher Coaching Services on the Rise

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Online Teacher Coaching Services on the Rise

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To help hone their skills and improve their classroom practice, a growing number of teachers are getting help from virtual-coaching services, according to a story in the Hechinger Report this week.

More startups and education nonprofits are developing professional-development programs that combine face-to-face interaction and online training, both for new teachers struggling with classroom management and veteran teachers looking to provoke deeper thinking from students. From the piece:

"Nothing in Linda Liptrap's teacher training prepared her for the pencil onslaught. In 2013, as a novice math teacher at Callaghan Elementary in rural Covington, Virginia, Liptrap was plagued by student requests to sharpen pencils, use the bathroom and other picayune interruptions.

"'They were penciling me to death,' Liptrap said. Lessons stalled. Test scores suffered. Callaghan's principal tried a novel solution to rescue her harried teacher-a virtual coach. A startup called EdConnective matched Liptrap with a veteran teacher in another state trained as an instructional coach."

According to the article, Liptrap and her coach at EdConnective observed and analyzed videos of her teaching, came up with personalized teaching strategies, and then reviewed videos of Liptrap implementing those strategies in the classroom over the course of six weeks. The training ultimately helped Liptrap reduce the interruptions that had plagued her teaching.

Lauren Vargas, an EdConnective virtual coach, describes the private coaching sessions as "very proactive and very action-orientated."

"For example, if a teacher wants to give clearer and more concise directions to students, Vargas will play back (or read back) the directions the teacher gave in a previous class. Then, she'll have the teacher practice a new approach "in their teacher voice" until the teacher gets the hang of it, and she'll follow up in the next session to see how it went in front of actual students."

Schools and principals are turning to online coaching because often they simply do not have the time or money to have coaches on staff, Hechinger columnist, Chris Berdik, writes. On the other hand, virtual instructional coaches can help from anywhere and at any time, promising teachers more feedback, personalized action plans, and follow-up- three aspects The Hechinger Report notes as often missing from teacher PD.

EdConnective is far from the only program offering virtual coaching and online professional development. The article mentions TNTP, a nonprofit teacher-training and advocacy group that offers virtual coaching in addition to providing in-school services and programs, and Teaching Channel, which offers a subscription service that enables mentors and teachers to hold online discussions and analyze teaching videos.

The Hechinger Report notes that there is little hard data that supports the notion that virtual coaching can improve student achievement, but that there are two independent studies underway by Teaching Channel Teams to be finished in three years.
More on professional development and teacher training:

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Online Teacher-Coaching Services on the Rise

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To help hone their skills and improve their classroom practice, a growing number of teachers are getting help from virtual-coaching services, according to a story in the Hechinger Report this week. More startups and education nonprofits are developing professional-development programs that combine face-to-face interaction and online training, both for new teachers struggling with classroom management and veteran teachers looking to provoke deeper thinking from students.

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Nothing in Linda Liptrap's teacher training prepared her for the pencil onslaught. In 2013, as a novice math teacher at Callaghan Elementary in rural Covington, Virginia, Liptrap was plagued by student requests to sharpen pencils, use the bathroom and other picayune interruptions.

"They were penciling me to death," Liptrap said. Lessons stalled. Test scores suffered. Callaghan's principal tried a novel solution to rescue her harried teacher-a virtual coach. A startup called EdConnective matched Liptrap with a veteran teacher in another state trained as an instructional coach. The pair spent six weeks dissecting videos of Liptrap teaching, then plotting classroom strategies in twice-weekly Web chats and reviewing videos of Liptrap practicing those strategies in class.

EdConnective is among a handful of startups and education nonprofits offering virtual coaching, both to new teachers struggling to control their classrooms and to experienced teachers hoping to boost critical thinking and engagement. Virtual coaching's backers promise teachers a sustained high dose of feedback, personalized action plans for their classrooms and follow-up during implementation, three vital features missing from most professional development according to a parade of recent reports.

As for those pesky pencils, Liptrap followed her coach's advice and now begins class by announcing that everybody should have two adequately-tipped pencils, because there will be no sharpening during the lesson.

"It didn't take but one day of that for the kids to get it," said Liptrap, whose coach helped her cure several other class-management hiccups.

"Teachers don't get nearly enough good feedback," said Will Morris, who founded EdConnective in 2013. Multitasking principals can drop by classrooms only occasionally. Many schools, especially in the low-income communities Morris caters to, can't afford in-house coaches beyond those focused on literacy or math.

But virtual coaches can be anywhere. Their services can be purchased a la carte, and they can observe a class any time a teacher uploads video. In most cases, teachers can make videos with an iPad or similar device with a wide-angle view that lets a coach see both teacher and students-noting how many kids raise their hands or stare out the window.

"We wanted to extend our reach and give teachers more feedback at a classroom level without always having to send in a large team of people," said Karla Oakley, senior strategist with The New Teacher Project (TNTP), a nonprofit that started offering virtual coaching in 2013, augmenting the in-school support services they have provided for nearly two decades.

"We understand the vulnerability that comes from videotaping your practice. It can be nerve-racking for a new teacher."

Erin Gilrein, teacher mentor, Oceanside High School, Oceanside, N.Y.

TNTP virtual coaches use BloomBoard, an application that lets them insert time-stamped comments and questions alongside teacher videos. Teachers can view, sort and respond to these comments, which include thumbnail links to the corresponding video clips.

Virtual coaching sessions are "very proactive and very action-oriented," said Lauren Vargas, a virtual coach with EdConnective. For example, if a teacher wants to give clearer and more concise directions to students, Vargas will play back (or read back) the directions the teacher gave in a previous class. Then, she'll have the teacher practice a new approach "in their teacher voice" until the teacher gets the hang of it, and she'll follow up in the next session to see how it went in front of actual students.

There's a stigma that teachers who need coaching aren't up to snuff, admits Oakley of TNTP, but she counters with an analogy to professional athletes. "They are the best and are paid millions, and they still have a fleet of coaches watching everything they do," she said.

"I always ask my staff if anyone's interested. It's opt in," said Michael Roth, the principal at Olney Elementary, a Philadelphia public school that uses EdConnective. "My mantra is that I want my teachers to go from good to great."

After several years of teaching, Roth joined a staff of teacher coaches at a charter school, positions made possible by a large federal grant. When Roth started at Olney two years ago, he wanted coaches but didn't have the funds to hire anyone full-time. EdConnective offers coaching session s of from one to six weeks, ranging in price from $835 to $1500. Roth makes sure teachers know that coaching is not an evaluation and that the sessions are private, a promise enhanced by using coaches who aren't on staff.

"My coach was almost like a fairy godmother," said Valerie Amer, a veteran teacher at Olney who wanted to push her third-graders to think more deeply about math. "I could try new things in class and talk about it with her, without worrying that she was reporting back to Mr. Roth."

Giving teachers ownership of professional development was the main idea behind a virtual coaching platform developed in 2013 by the folks at Teaching Channel, an online catalogue of videos that demonstrate great teaching and lesson planning how-tos. The subscription service, called Teaching Channel Teams, was developed with the Academy for Urban School Leadership, a Chicago nonprofit that pairs newer teachers in Chicago public schools with trained mentor teachers. The centerpiece is a video player that lets viewers insert time-stamped notes and hold online discussions with other teachers. Only team members have access to that content, and even within a team two teachers can keep their exchanges private.

About 50,000 teachers have so far used the platform to coach and be coached, and to collaborate, according to Erika Nielsen Andrew, Teaching Channel's chief academic officer. Two years ago, Jennifer Wolfe and Erin Gilrein, teachers at Oceanside High School on New York's Long Island, used Teams to create a teacher-mentoring program. Both Wolfe and Gilrein have been certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, a national nonprofit created in 1987 to recognize the highest standards in K-12 teaching. Now, every novice teacher in the Oceanside district is matched with a National Board Certified teacher who coaches the novice using five classroom videos uploaded over the course of the year.

"Being a good mentor means spending time in the classroom," said Gilrein, and the only way to do that in a district the size of Oceanside was through technology. She gives district administrators credit for supporting the program while also agreeing that only teachers could access the videos and feedback on the Teams platform.

"We understand the vulnerability that comes from videotaping your practice," said Gilrein. "It can be nerve-racking for a new teacher."

Whether virtual coaching can improve student achievement is the key question, of course. For now, there's little hard data to offer an answer. Two independent studies of Teaching Channel Teams, one funded by the National Science Foundation and another by the Spencer Foundation, are underway but won't be done for three years. Meanwhile, both EdConnective and TNTP's virtual coaches have increasingly asked teachers to upload scans of student work, along with teaching videos, to keep tabs on how new classroom strategies affect learning.

"The bottom line for every teacher I've worked with is that they care about improving student learning," said Vargas, the EdConnective coach. "And what's beautiful about teaching is that there's always room to grow. Every year is a new crop of kids and a fresh start."
This story was produced by The Hechinger Report Join us today. , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Read more about blended learning.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn't mean it's free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

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Hit rewind: Coaching teachers virtually - The Hechinger Report

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Nothing in Linda Liptrap's teacher training prepared her for the pencil onslaught. In 2013, as a novice math teacher at Callaghan Elementary in rural Covington, Virginia, Liptrap was plagued by student requests to sharpen pencils, use the bathroom and other picayune interruptions. "They were penciling me to death," Liptrap said.

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Professional Learning, Connected - BetterLesson

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Go beyond PD day with personalized professional learning that works. Connected professional learning supports every teacher, every day with the tools and resources they need to help all students succeed.

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EdConnective provides instructional coaching when principals don't have the time, money or human resources. Our unique platform and process provides your teachers with increased access to personalized coaching delivered by master coaches. Our process accelerates teacher growth through actionable feedback and practice.

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Development of a Virtual Technology Coach to Support Technology Integration for K-12 Educators

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In an effort to develop a virtual technology coach for K-12 educators, this article analyzed survey results from sixty teachers with regards to specific resources that a technology coach could...

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Nothing in Linda Liptrap's teacher training prepared her for the pencil onslaught. In 2013, as a novice math teacher at Callaghan Elementary in rural Covington, Virginia, Liptrap was plagued by student requests to sharpen pencils, use the bathroom, and other picayune interruptions.

"They were penciling me to death," Liptrap said. Lessons stalled. Test scores suffered. Callaghan's principal tried a novel solution to rescue her harried teacher-a virtual coach. A startup called EdConnective matched Liptrap with a veteran teacher in another state trained as an instructional coach. The pair spent six weeks dissecting videos of Liptrap teaching, then plotting classroom strategies in twice-weekly Web chats and reviewing videos of Liptrap practicing those strategies in class.

EdConnective is among a handful of startups and education nonprofits offering virtual coaching, both to new teachers struggling to control their classrooms and to experienced teachers hoping to boost critical thinking and engagement. Virtual coaching's backers promise teachers a sustained high dose of feedback, personalized action plans for their classrooms, and follow-up during implementation-three vital features missing from most professional development, according to a parade of recent reports.

As for those pesky pencils, Liptrap followed her coach's advice and now begins class by announcing that everybody should have two adequately tipped pencils, because there will be no sharpening during the lesson.

"It didn't take but one day of that for the kids to get it," said Liptrap, whose coach helped her cure several other class-management hiccups.

"Teachers don't get nearly enough good feedback," said Will Morris, who founded EdConnective in 2013. Multitasking principals can drop by classrooms only occasionally. Many schools, especially in the low-income communities Morris caters to, can't afford in-house coaches beyond those focused on literacy or math.

But virtual coaches can be anywhere. Their services can be purchased à la carte, and they can observe a class any time a teacher uploads video. In most cases, teachers can make videos with iPads or similar devices with a wide-angle view that lets a coach see both teacher and students-noting how many kids raise their hands or stare out the window.

"We wanted to extend our reach and give teachers more feedback at a classroom level without always having to send in a large team of people," said Karla Oakley, senior strategist with the New Teacher Project, a nonprofit that started offering virtual coaching in 2013, augmenting the in-school support services they have provided for nearly two decades.

TNTP virtual coaches use BloomBoard, an application that lets them insert time-stamped comments and questions alongside teacher videos. Teachers can view, sort, and respond to these comments, which include thumbnail links to the corresponding video clips.

Virtual coaching sessions are "very proactive and very action-oriented," said Lauren Vargas, a virtual coach with EdConnective. For example, if a teacher wants to give clearer and more concise directions to students, Vargas will play back (or read back) the directions the teacher gave in a previous class. Then, she'll have the teacher practice a new approach "in their teacher voice" until the teacher gets the hang of it, and she'll follow up in the next session to see how it went in front of actual students.

There's a stigma that teachers who need coaching aren't up to snuff, admits Oakley of TNTP, but she counters with an analogy to professional athletes. "They are the best and are paid millions, and they still have a fleet of coaches watching everything they do," she said.

"I always ask my staff if anyone's interested. It's opt-in," said Michael Roth, the principal at Olney Elementary, a Philadelphia public school that uses EdConnective. "My mantra is that I want my teachers to go from good to great."

After several years of teaching, Roth joined a staff of teacher coaches at a charter school, positions made possible by a large federal grant. When Roth started at Olney two years ago, he wanted coaches but didn't have the funds to hire anyone full-time. EdConnective offers coaching sessions of from one to six weeks, ranging in price from $835 to $1,500. Roth makes sure teachers know that coaching is not an evaluation and that the sessions are private, a promise enhanced by using coaches who aren't on staff.

"My coach was almost like a fairy godmother," said Valerie Amer, a veteran teacher at Olney who wanted to push her third-graders to think more deeply about math. "I could try new things in class and talk about it with her, without worrying that she was reporting back to Mr. Roth."

Giving teachers ownership of professional development was the main idea behind a virtual coaching platform developed in 2013 by the folks at Teaching Channel, an online catalog of videos that demonstrate great teaching and lesson planning how-tos. The subscription service, called Teaching Channel Teams, was developed with the Academy for Urban School Leadership, a Chicago nonprofit that pairs newer teachers in Chicago public schools with trained mentor teachers. The centerpiece is a video player that lets viewers insert time-stamped notes and hold online discussions with other teachers. Only team members have access to that content, and even within a team two teachers can keep their exchanges private.

About 50,000 teachers have so far used the platform to coach and be coached and to collaborate, according to Erika Nielsen Andrew, Teaching Channel's chief academic officer. Two years ago, Jennifer Wolfe and Erin Gilrein, teachers at Oceanside High School on New York's Long Island, used Teams to create a teacher-mentoring program. Both Wolfe and Gilrein have been certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, a national nonprofit created in 1987 to recognize the highest standards in K-12 teaching. Now, every novice teacher in the Oceanside district is matched with a National Board-certified teacher who coaches the novice using five classroom videos uploaded over the course of the year.

"Being a good mentor means spending time in the classroom," said Gilrein, and the only way to do that in a district the size of Oceanside was through technology. She gives district administrators credit for supporting the program while also agreeing that only teachers could access the videos and feedback on the Teams platform.

"We understand the vulnerability that comes from videotaping your practice," said Gilrein. "It can be nerve-racking for a new teacher."

Whether virtual coaching can improve student achievement is the key question, of course. For now, there's little hard data to offer an answer. Two independent studies of Teaching Channel Teams, one funded by the National Science Foundation and another by the Spencer Foundation, are underway but won't be done for three years. Meanwhile, both EdConnective and TNTP's virtual coaches have increasingly asked teachers to upload scans of student work, along with teaching videos, to keep tabs on how new classroom strategies affect learning.

"The bottom line for every teacher I've worked with is that they care about improving student learning," said Vargas, the EdConnective coach. "And what's beautiful about teaching is that there's always room to grow. Every year is a new crop of kids and a fresh start."

This story was produced by the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.

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A New Tool for Teachers: The Virtual Mentor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Nothing in Linda Liptrap's teacher training prepared her for the pencil onslaught. In 2013, as a novice math teacher at Callaghan Elementary in rural Covington, Virginia, Liptrap was plagued by student requests to sharpen pencils, use the bathroom, and other picayune interruptions. "They were penciling me to death," Liptrap said.

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October 2011 | Volume 69 | Number 2
Coaching: The New Leadership Skill Pages 42-48

Marcia L. Rock, Naomi P. Zigmond, Madeleine Gregg and Robert A. Gable

To explain how virtual coaching works and why it promotes strong teaching, let's look at an actual coaching session, drawn from our work. It's Friday morning, and virtual coach Leslie Burrows sees that she has one more session scheduled, with Annie, a middle school language arts teacher with whom Leslie's team has been working. The familiar Skype ring tone sounds. Clicking on the call receiver icon, Leslie establishes the connection; she can now see and hear Annie's classroom on her computer screen. Annie (but not the students) can hear Leslie's comments to her through her earpiece.

Leslie: Hi, Annie. I'm delighted to see you and your students. How are you today?

Annie: Good morning, I'm good. We just came in, so I'm going to get started.

Leslie: OK, great.

After a brief introduction, Annie jump-starts the lesson with a quick write, instructing students to write down everything they have learned so far about prewriting. All students engage in the task. The virtual coach praises Annie for activating students' prior knowledge, providing clear instructions, and establishing a positive classroom climate. Three minutes later, Annie conducts a brief question-and-answer review of three prewriting strategies with the whole class. She uses a think-aloud to model the brainstorming strategy.

Leslie: Wonderful job using the teacher think-aloud strategy to model brainstorming for the class.

Thirty-eight minutes later, Annie is still modeling brainstorming as a prewriting strategy. The coach has offered an occasional encouraging remark about Annie's questioning style and a few reminders that the objective of the lesson was actually to teach students how to use a rubric to evaluate their writing. But Annie seems lost in the details of her brainstorming. Her 28 6th graders have been sitting patiently, but they're starting to show signs of bewilderment. Annie doesn't seem to notice the time or pick up on the fact that most students are now passively disengaged. The virtual coach decides it is time to redirect the focus.

Leslie: Oh dear, Annie. I think we've lost them with too many details. They look confused and no longer seem interested in the lesson. Let's switch gears.

Leslie: Remember that your objective was to teach students how to use a rubric to evaluate their writing. Let's wrap this up with you pointing out how what you did was an illustration of how not to use prewriting. Be sure they understand that if they spent too much time on prewriting, as you did, they wouldn't have enough time to actually write.

Annie: Got it.

Leslie: Great! I know you'll do a terrific job with that. You have such a wonderful rapport with the kids.

Annie switches course as Leslie recommends, and the lesson proceeds more successfully.

This example shows how a virtual coach can support and strengthen a struggling teacher in mid-lesson, becoming what we fondly call an educational engineer-in-the-ear. In an interactive videoconference debriefing afterward, Leslie explained to Annie that to use the think-aloud strategy well, she'd need to manage the time she allotted to it. One way of doing so would be to jot down her brainstorming ideas and rehearse the demonstration a few times before the lesson.

Leslie guided Annie to reflect on this lesson, identify what went well and what didn't, analyze why the coach's prompt was effective, and decide what she hoped to improve for the next coaching session. (For more case descriptions of virtual coaching, see Rock et al., 2009.)

Virtual Coaching and Shared Leadership

Annie is a real teacher with whom we have worked. Like many novice teachers, she struggled to put into everyday classroom practice what she had learned through her teacher preparation. Her virtual coach wondered why teaching was so difficult for her. Was she not putting forth enough effort? Did she lack commitment? Annie herself wasn't sure what she needed to do to improve.

Many leaders puzzle about how to help struggling teachers. Does a not-quite-effective teacher need someone looking over her shoulder, giving critical feedback and whipping her into shape-the "Big Brother" treatment? Or does she need someone to nag her with constant reminders of what she should and shouldn't be doing? Drawing from our accumulated professional knowledge and experience, we think neither approach works.

What Annie needs is a coach, and virtual coaching may be the best way to get her one. We like to think of a virtual coach as an "important other" rather than a Big Brother or nagging mother. Virtual coaching is not a form of spyware, a game of "gotcha." Its purpose is not to accumulate evidence that can be used to terminate a teacher or undermine her self-confidence, nor is it to nag her into using correct techniques. Rather, a virtual coach is a supportive companion (Carson, Tesluk, & Marrone, 2007) who inspires and builds up teachers.

In the nearly 30 years that coaching has been around the education scene, we've learned that successful coaches don't focus time and energy on a teacher's deficits. Rather, the coach and the teacher come together in supportive, shared leadership. They see lesson planning and delivery as joint endeavors, co-constructed in the moment. Interactive virtual coaching sessions build a teacher's situational awareness of students' responses and shift the attention of both coach and teacher toward improved outcomes.

During Annie's wandering prewriting lesson, for instance, her coach did not reprimand Annie for getting off track; instead, she offered support. When Annie followed Leslie's prompt, the students began to respond differently and seemed to "get it." Annie learned something about the need to keep better track of how much time teacher-modeled activities are taking and to notice when students tune out.

Shared leadership focuses on facilitating a teacher's autonomy, self-management, empowerment, and cooperation-and is a perfect fit for virtual coaching. Because the leader and the teacher jointly pursue the goal of increased student achievement, virtual coaching provides social support for both parties, leading to enhanced emotional and psychological strength. It improves working relationships (Blackman, 2010). Equally important, it creates the opportunity for a common cognitive understanding to emerge, enabling teacher and coach to hear each other's voices in new and different ways. As Annie notes, "[The coach] has really helped me change the way I think while I'm in the middle of doing something, even when she is not in my ear."

From the Sidelines to Online

Traditional coaching formats rely on face-to-face or side-by-side interactions in which an instructional leader, acting as coach, joins the teacher in the classroom. Virtual coaching is a different ball game. It's legitimate to ask why schools should take on this virtual option when a growing body of evidence supports the efficacy of traditional coaching (Kretlow & Bartholomew, 2010). The answer lies in the unique benefits derived from a virtual coach.

The immediate feedback, which enables a teacher to make better decisions, rescue a shaky lesson, and learn as he or she teaches, is one important advantage of virtual coaching (Scheeler, McAfee, & Ruhl, 2004). Other benefits include savings in time, money, and travel. For instance, central office administrative specialists could conduct virtual coaching sessions with teachers in several schools without accruing travel costs or time. Professional experts in one district or state could virtually coach teachers or principals in another, to meet a particular need.

The technology and equipment our team uses for virtual coaching is not overly complicated or expensive, if a school already has relatively powerful computers. Both coach and teacher need a computer, either a Mac or a PC, with a 1 GHz Intel processor and access to a high-speed broadband connection. Depending on the participants' computers, either coach or teacher may need several other pieces of equipment (see fig. 1). Although this may sound complicated, it isn't. We provided the teachers with whom we worked only three pages of installation instructions, and they were all able to get the virtual bug-in-ear technology up and running.

Figure 1. Technology We Used for Virtual Coaching

A wide-angle webcam (Creative Live Web Cam Live! Ultra; $44.66)

A Bluetooth adapter (IOGEAR's Bluetooth USB Adapter with Enhanced Data Rate; $18.48)

A Bluetooth headset (Plantronics Voyerager 520 Bluetooth Headset; $49.99)

Coaches will need

An external hard drive (External Drive Maxtor OneTouch 4 1TB; $179.99)

A headset with microphone (Plantronics Audio 400 DSP Foldable USB Headset; $49.95)

A webcam and microphone, if these are not built into the coach's computer. We have used the Creative Live Web Cam Live! ($44.66) and Plantronics. Audio 400 DSP foldable headset ($79.95).

Coach and teacher generally connect through Skype, a free software program that enables people to make phone calls through a computer and lets the speakers see each other. The equipment we used to work with Annie (a wide-angle webcam, Bluetooth USB adapter, and a Bluetooth headset) cost a total of $113. However, the amount for each teacher's virtual bug-in-ear equipment may run as high as $140 depending on where it's purchased and the quantity ordered. We are now piloting mobile bug-in-ear technology using handheld devices, such as smartphones, which could extend the range of virtual coaching beyond the classroom to the playground, school hallways, or cafeteria.

Virtual coaching does take getting used to. We find that teachers need three or four virtual coaching sessions before they are able to simultaneously process the voice of the coach and the voices of students and other noises in the classroom (Korner & Brown, 1952). Our experience has been that students respond favorably to their teacher's use of the technology. At the start of each online coaching session, the coach typically takes a minute to warmly and enthusiastically greet students. Then, to keep from distracting students, the teacher either minimizes the Skype window on the computer screen or turns it away from students' view. Developing a routine around virtual coaching sessions reduces the novelty and helps everyone remain focused.

The advanced online technology poses occasional challenges, but these glitches aren't frequent. In the nine virtual coaching sessions we conducted with Annie between January and April, we encountered an audio technology problem in one session. Drawing on more than 800 virtual coaching sessions conducted over four years, we've experienced some kind of technical interruption about 30 percent of the time, most commonly frozen video capture, muted audio, and dropped calls.

Skills for Virtual Coaching

Any coaching relationship-traditional or virtual-builds on several underlying qualities of both teacher and coach. Chief among them are a willingness to change, a trusting relationship, a high level of initiative, and a personal and organizational commitment to the workplace (Blackman, 2010). Because of the occasional frustrations that result from technological problems, cementing this foundation up front is vital for virtual coaching.

Annie had all these qualities, as well as an amazing rapport with middle school students. As her virtual coach provided Annie with embedded, sustained professional development, both Annie's teaching and her students' work improved.

Through our virtual coaching experiences and our perusal of the literature, we have found that an effective virtual coach has four skills.

Saying More and Saying Less

This phrase refers to the coach's skill of knowing when to be highly directive with a teacher (to say more) and when to step back and let a teacher figure things out on his or her own. How direct a coach should be depends on several factors, such as whether a coach is supporting a beginning, midcareer, or veteran teacher (Horng & Loeb, 2010). However, not all beginning teachers require more intensive approaches.

A good coach will individualize the level of directness (Kerfoot, 2010), judging from a teacher's performance and students' responses how much guidance that educator needs. Some teachers will need explicit information about and instruction in using evidence-based practices. In Annie's case, we perceived an urgent need to "say more" because Annie was a struggling novice who was beginning to lose heart.

Setting and Evaluating Goals

There is consensus among researchers that coaching should be goal based (Blackman, 2010; Kerfoot, 2010). Together, Annie and Leslie decided on three guiding goals: (1) develop a standards-based writing unit aligned with the state course of study by "beginning with the end in mind"; (2) use varied instructional models and differentiate lessons on the basis of the lesson objective, students' unique learning needs, and learner progress; and (3) make "in the lesson" adjustments according to students' responses, and make "out of lesson" instructional and behavioral decisions on the basis of formative and summative assessments. Annie worked on the first goal with a mentor teacher at her grade level and worked on the second and third goals with her virtual coach.

Personalizing Feedback

There is no one-size-fits-all rule on whether the virtual coach should provide feedback on how well each teacher is meeting the chosen goals during each coaching session. The coach should consider the elements of each teaching situation in which that coach interacts and adjust his or her goal-related feedback accordingly. For example, the coach might consider what type of feedback would make the biggest difference in this lesson.

The virtual coach and the teacher need to decide how feedback will be provided. Sometimes a running dialogue, such as Leslie used with Annie, is best; other coaches (Scheeler et al., 2006) use codes. For example, a key word like fact might prompt a teacher to correct a student who responds erroneously to a question, and reinforce might remind her to praise those who answer correctly.

Remaining Positive

Unless a teacher places students in harm's way or engages in abusive or inappropriate behavior, it's important for the coach to offer far more encouraging, supporting statements than corrective or instructive ones (Carson et al., 2007). We have been successful using the recommended ratio of four positive statements for every one corrective statement (Sugai & Horner, 2002). Taking a predominantly positive approach creates positive momentum for behavior to change, which makes improvements in teacher performance more sustainable.

Final Thoughts

We recognize that school leaders have more than enough responsibilities on their plates. Why should they add a virtual coaching program? Because improving teacher performance is the plate. That said, we believe dedicating too much time to coaching, whether virtual or face-to-face, is counterproductive. No more than a few hours each week should be dedicated to virtual coaching.

We could have spent an inordinate amount of time coaching Annie, for example, but she was only one of 13 teachers in need of help. So we prioritized. We conducted 10 virtual coaching sessions of 30-60 minutes each with Annie over five weeks. On average, she received two coaching sessions a week.

Virtual coaching must be done in the right spirit. Unless handled with care, the virtual coach's role can quickly deteriorate into a Big Brother or a nagging mother. Monitoring and evaluating teachers' performance may fall under the job description of school leaders, but we caution against using virtual coaching for such purposes. When it's done in the spirit of shared leadership, we've found that virtual coaching is feasible and effective-and teachers love it!

Finally, virtual coaches need to engage in ongoing professional development and receive coaching of their own. Virtual coaches can support one another and help one another remain effective and committed to their role as strengthening companions for struggling teachers.

The lasting benefits of such coaching are immeasurable, not only to the teachers who are coached, but also to their students. Ask Annie. Quantitative and qualitative data confirmed that Annie's instructional effectiveness improved after her coaching sessions. More important, her students' skills increased: After her work with a coach, her students began using far more prewriting strategies and included more main ideas in their writing samples. Best of all, 74 percent of students reported having positive attitudes toward writing, compared with 54 percent before-all through an online relationship with a caring, knowledgeable "important other."

References

Blackman, A. (2010). Coaching as a leadership development tool for teachers. Professional Development in Education, 36(3), 421-441.

Carson, J. B., Tesluk, P. E., Marrone, J. A. (2007). Shared leadership in teams: An investigation of antecedent conditions and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1217-1234.

Giebelhaus, C. R., & Cruz, J. (1994). The mechanical third ear device: An alternative to traditional student teaching supervision strategies. Journal of Teacher Education, 45, 365-373.

Horng, E., & Loeb, S. (2010). New thinking about instructional leadership. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(3), 66-69.

Kerfoot, K. M. (2010). Listening to see: The key to virtual leadership. Nursing Economics, 28(2), 114-118.

Korner, I. N., & Brown, W. H. (1952). The mechanical third ear. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 16, 81-84.

Kretlow, A. G., & Bartholomew, C. G. (2010). Using coaching to improve the fidelity of evidence-based practices: A review of studies. Teacher Education and Special Education, 33(4), 279-299.

Rock, M. L., Gregg, M, L., Thead, B, K., Acker, S, E., Gable, R. A., & Zigmond, N..P. (2009). Can you hear me now? Evaluation of an online wireless technology to provide real-time feedback to special education teachers in training. Teacher Education and Special Education, 32(1), 64-82.

Scheeler, M. C., McAfee, J. K., & Ruhl, K. L. (2004). Providing performance feedback to teachers: A review. Teacher Education and Special Education, 27, 396-407.

Scheeler, M. C., McAfee, J. K., Ruhl, K. L., & Lee, D. L. (2006). Effects of corrective feedback delivered via wireless technology on preservice teacher performance and student behavior. Teacher and Special Education, 29, 12-25.

Sugai, G., & Horner, R. (2002). The evolution of discipline practices: Schoolwide positive behavior supports. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 24(1-2), 23-50.

Authors' note: This research was supported by Grant # H325K060310 from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs Research to Practice Division. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of that agency. All teacher and coach names are pseudonyms.

Marcia L. Rock is associate professor in the Department of Specialized Education Services, University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Naomi P. Zigmond is distinguished professor in the Department of Instruction and Learning, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Madeleine Gregg is professor at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Robert A. Gable is Constance F. and Colgate W. Darden professor at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia.

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October 2011 | Volume 69 | Number 2 Coaching: The New Leadership Skill Pages 42-48 Marcia L. Rock, Naomi P. Zigmond, Madeleine Gregg and Robert A. Gable To explain how virtual coaching works and why it promotes strong teaching, let's look at an actual coaching session, drawn from our work.

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Sibme Webinar: Virtual Literacy Coaching

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Sibme Webinar: Virtual Literacy Coaching

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Get On Demand Access to the Webinar Now!

Learn how technology has transformed teacher support and coaching. Dr. Stephanie Affinito, Author of Literacy Coaching: Transforming Teaching and Learning with Digital Tools and Technology discusses the four ways that is can impact practice and focus specifically on virtual literacy coaching.

Learning Objectives:

Explore the ways coaches and teachers can incorporate technology to:

cultivate and innovate teacher learning communities

redesign professional development

collaborate to impact and elevate student learning

find inspiration for their continued journey.

In this webinar, Dr. Affinito answers the following questions:

What are powerful practices for those who support teacher learning?

How has teacher learning changed with technology?

What are 3 ways we can use video tools to build teacher expertise?

What advice do you have for teachers and coaches starting to use technology to empower their own learning?

Get On Demand Access to the Webinar Now!

Stephanie Affinito, a former classroom teacher and literacy specialist, is a literacy teacher educator at the University at Albany. She has a deep love for literacy coaching and supporting teachers' learning through technology, and she presents nationally on this topic. You can find her online at stephanieaffinito.com and on Twitter. She recently published the book " Literacy Coaching: Transforming Teaching and Learning with Digital Tools and Technology."

To learn more from Dr. Affinito:

Get On Demand Access to the Webinar Now!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Get On Demand Access to the Webinar Now! Learn how technology has transformed teacher support and coaching. Dr. Stephanie Affinito, Author of Literacy Coaching: Transforming Teaching and Learning with Digital Tools and Technology discusses the four ways that is can impact practice and focus specifically on virtual literacy coaching.

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Literacy Coaching: Transforming Teaching & Learning with Digital Tools & Technology

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Literacy Coaching: Transforming Teaching & Learning with Digital Tools & Technology

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Literacy Coaching - Stephanie Affinito book

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In Literacy Coaching, Stephanie Affinito offers concrete steps to enhance coaching with both digital and non-digital tools to transform teacher and student learning. Special Offer: Save 30% off our list price automatically when you buy 15 or more. What does it mean to be an effective literacy coach?

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Empowering Literacy Leadership Through Cloud Coaching

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Empowering Literacy Leadership Through Cloud Coaching

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Empowering Literacy Leadership Through Online Cloud Coaching

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Literacy Daily-the blog of the International Literacy Association (ILA)-features education stories, teaching tips, book reviews, and more.

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The date on your computer is in the past. If your computer's clock shows a date before 1 Jan 1970, the browser will automatically forget the cookie. To fix this, set the correct time and date on your computer.

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Virtual coaching uses video to bring expert coaches to your classroom for tailored, trusted feedback. It's useful because it's yours.