Coaching for EL Education

Focus Area: EL Education
Attendees:

Instructional Coaches, Leaders, Teachers

Phase: Launch, Targeted Support

Available Now

Overview

Our coaching methodology centers on the principles of action research, and job-embedded best practices to provide the most personalized and differentiated approach to meet the needs of our participants.  This professional learning is designed to support each participant with what they need, not a one-size-fit all approach.  In curriculum implementation, the needs of educators vary greatly based on their experience, implementation level, and mindsets.  Our EL Education coaches use the “Try, Measure, Learn” approach to encourage narrow, actionable shifts as they refine their knowledge of the curriculum, make formative decisions around student learning progress, and build their own student centered literacy skills. These areas, and others, fall into three key aspects of coaching around EL Education:  Content, Craft, and Instructional Leadership.

Audience

This coaching model and support was developed for teachers, instructional coaches, and teacher and school leaders implementing the EL Education curriculum. 

Specifications

  • Bi-weekly, 30 Minute virtual session scheduled directly with a BetterLesson Coach
  • 4 Session Coaching Packs around one topic (tied to a virtual workshop) or Targeted (half-year) and Unlimited Coaching with flexibility is available
  • Participants will need a computer with access to Zoom, a camera, a microphone, and stable Internet connectivity
  • Participants will register for access with the BetterLesson Lab
  • Participants will schedule 1:1 coaching calls with their coach

Outcomes

Because coaching is personalized, participants will move through awareness of the curriculum, to understanding and application, to ownership.  Curriculum coaching usually moves from support with materials, to support with content, to support with craft, but not always in that order.

Learning Experience

We have seen that common challenges in a standards-based, student-centered curriculum include pacing, assessing mastery, supporting student independence, and structuring discourse.  We believe that the only way to support implementation for teachers and leaders is to prioritize both content and craft support, as these ideas are interwoven and connected.  For example, pacing challenges may arise from a need to understand how skills spiral throughout and across Modules and/or structuring protocols effectively with clear routines and expectations.  In supporting participants with implementation of the EL Curriculum, certain Design Principles guide our work.  These principles serve as undercurrents to the type of support and coaching we aim to provide:

  1. Honoring that implementation of a curriculum is among the most challenging things that educators do requires empathy and understanding.
  2. Cyclical:  Because support can be needed across multiple areas at once, we will strive to be flexible but also ensure we are returning to key paths or themes to ensure reflection and learning after a ‘try’
  3. Minimizing Asks: Trying a new curriculum with all new materials requires we minimize and narrow the things that they try, and reduce any barriers to meeting, documentation, etc of our support