Roxi Thompson

What are the elements that make coaching an effective form of professional development? The Google for Education Certified Coach Curriculum identifies four main elements: Partnership Active Learning Personalization Sustained How might you build a coaching partnership? So, let’s look at the first element, partnership, along with some suggested strategies from the curriculum. 🙋‍♀️ Make coaching voluntary This seems super important, but I’m not sure how common it actually is in school districts. I think it is fairly common in some districts that coaches are assigned to teachers who don’t necessarily want or think they need coaching. A lot of that has to do with the fact that coaching is often seen as only meant for “struggling” teachers, and many teachers don’t understand how it could benefit their teaching practice or their students. I know I didn’t when I was a classroom teacher. So, how might we change that narrative and create a positive culture of coaching? 🤝 Make coaching non-eva...

Next year, my district will be launching its first "Distance Learning Program," and I am super excited that I will be taking on a new role as the Instructional Tech Coach for our DLP teachers! I'm a little nervous, but I know this is going to be an awesome opportunity to learn and grow.  My goal this first year is to focus on the following advice I have received from experienced coaches: Connect with other coaches as much as possible Focus on building relationships with teachers Reflect, reflect, reflect!  I'm going to dig deeper into each of these topics in future posts, so more to come on that! =)

   Ms. Morgan Kerley Ms. Morgan Kerley is a 7th/8th grade Science teacher at Mountain Sky Junior High. She shared the following quote: “ This school year, the forced integration of technology has opened the eyes of educators to create meaningful and engaging lessons for concepts that cannot simply be researched by students. With this challenge, teachers have been more flexible than ever to not only transition their lessons online, but design new lessons that engage students in a different way. As a TTL this school year, I am truly blessed to be at Mountain Sky with a staff that was willing to learn new skills and take on the challenges that this year brought. I am excited to continue learning next year!" Thank you, Ms. Kerley!

   Ms. Gillian Baumener Ms. Gillian Baumener is a 6th-grade Writing and STEAM teacher at John Jacobs Elementary. She shared the following quote: “Don’t ask your students what they want to be when they grow up. Ask them what problem they want to solve.” - Jaime Casap Thank you Ms. Baumener!

I recently listened to a great podcast episode called “The Power of the Pause” from the 3 Caffeinated Coaches podcast . One of the pauses they discussed was the “processing pause.” We commonly refer to this type of pause as “think time” when using it with students. They pointed out that we don’t often give the same thinking time to adults during meetings, training sessions, coaching conversations, etc. However, it is really important to make sure we incorporate processing pauses into our interactions with the adults we support. Some takeaways I had from this discussion: 1.  Some adults take longer to process new ideas than others, so we need to make sure we build in the time they need to analyze and think about the new information that has been shared. (I am one of those adults 🙋🏻) 2. When including processing pauses, be deliberate and set norms. Otherwise, the pauses could feel forced or stifle creativity. Also, we need to consider the context and reflect on whether the occasi...

 Ms. Marlee Korishev Ms. Marlee Korishev is a 7th-grade social studies teacher at Orangewood Elementary School. Looking back on the year, she shared the following:   “Meaningful technology integration in the classroom opens up new avenues of learning and demonstrating knowledge. With established routines, procedures, and expectations, I've witnessed technology's ability to add wonders to a classroom! I've learned that stepping outside of the traditional classroom framework is so important as an educator, especially in this unprecedented year--teaching is a constantly evolving artform! It's been seamless switching from online instruction to in-person instructions thanks to the integration of technology. Programs like Pear Deck and Nearpod have allowed me to provide instant feedback to my students, as well as give them a place to elaborate on their thinking during our Social Studies instruction. WESD's kids will grow up tech-literate and able to add so much to their c...

I recently took the exam to recertify as a Google Educator Level 1. It got me thinking about the many benefits of obtaining this certification. Here are my top five reasons: 1. Learn New Skills Whether you utilize the free training resources in the Google Teacher Center , or you find resources outside from colleagues or social media, you will absolutely learn new skills as you prepare for certification. Check out the resources linked below to practice some specific skills that you will be tested on in the exams: Level 1 Basic Tasks Level 2 Basic Tasks Google Workspace Skills Checklist 2. Increase Your Efficiency There are so many great time-saving skills that you gain as you become more proficient with the Google tools! Once you figure out how to save time with the little things, then you can put that time to better use creating amazing learning experiences for your students! Here are just a few tips to save time: Comment bank in Google Classroom Starring files/folders in Google Drive ...