February 22, 2024 • 30 mins
In this exciting episode of the EdCuration podcast, we are joined by Jeffrey Bradbury, an influential figure in educational technology. We discussed his journey from being a music teacher to a predominant instructional coach, highlighting the importance of adaptability in learning dynamics. We also tackled the misconceptions about the role of instructional coaches and their potential to tackle district-level challenges.
Bradbury’s commitment to open dialogue across all levels of the educational field is emphasized throughout the podcast. He stresses the necessity of better communication between administrators and teachers, as well as the need for a strategic approach to maximizing the efficiency of the resources available. The conversation also explores the contents of his book, in which he outlines his vision for the future of instructional coaching.
This episode also emphasizes the significance of the vertical approach, as opposed to the traditional horizontal one, when it comes to instructional coaching. We discuss how such an innovative method could be implemented from the central office level and the importance of collaboration across different departments.
Moreover, we explore how instructional coaches can prove their value using definable performance data. We discuss in detail the challenges faced by coaches in different situations, whether being the sole coach in the district or a member of a centralized coaching team. We also touch on goal identification, the building of support networks, and more.
Towards the end of the episode, we emphasize the importance of a unified strategic plan from the administration. We wrap up with a call to action for coaches to remember that they are not alone and to continually seek ways to assert their value within the education sector. Tune in to get a wealth of knowledge on instructional coaching and its potential to reshape the educational landscape.
Resources:
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Reach out to Jeffrey Bradbury on LinkedIn
Learn how to leverage your strategic goals and Vision through your instructional coaches, to create a Standards-Based Culture for future-ready digital learning at Teachercast.net
Take your coaching to the next level with Jeffrey Bradbury at Ask the Tech Coach.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, everyone. This is Christy, and this episode of the EdCuration podcast is
sponsored by EdgeU Badges from Forward Edge,
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(00:24):
You'll find EdgeU through the the links in the episode notes or by searching
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Sign up for a free trial today.
Our guest today, Jeff Bradbury, has worked in many roles as an educator for 23 years.
(00:45):
He's an ISTE award-winning and globally recognized digital learning strategist,
an educational broadcaster, a public speaker,
an entrepreneur whose powerful message has inspired thousands of educators through
the TeacherCast Educational Network,
where he uses future-ready skills to promote digital innovation in the classroom
(01:05):
with a focus on equity and diversity.
Created as a passion project to assist teachers in understanding educational technology,
Jeff recorded the first TeacherCast podcast in the summer of 2011,
and since then, the TeacherCast Educational Network has been recognized in 180
(01:26):
countries and has amassed more than 50,000 followers on social media.
With more than 2,000 audio and video podcasts recorded featuring more than 500
edtech companies and thousands of educators, TeacherCast is rated as one of
the top 50 educational websites.
In 2018, Jeff created the TeacherCast
(01:49):
Tech Coaches Network to support instructional technology coaches.
He loves working with teachers, and especially instructional coaches,
particularly in the area of technology.
In fact, Jeff is in the process of completing a book to guide districts in doing this work effectively.
Instructional coaching is still a fairly new field in many districts,
(02:12):
which is why we wanted to learn from Jeff today.
It's something that's changing you know for the last 12
years i've done a podcast called ask the tech coach and
a while ago i kind of opened my eyes a little bit and turned around and said
there's not really anything called a tech coach anymore like you know instructional
(02:35):
coach is now the term and instead of school districts and look there's exceptions
of course but instead of school districts finding like you are the google person
or the microsoft person you You know,
there's a lot of you're the reading coach, you're the interventionalist, you're the...
So it's fun to see that the term has matured and grown up.
Jeff himself moved into instructional coaching after getting certified in the
Google Teacher Academy in 2012.
(02:57):
And because Jeff doesn't do anything halfway, he immediately launched TeacherCast
as a way for coaches to collaborate, share best practices, and offer support and training.
And he very quickly became a national voice on the topic.
Teachercast.net is an instructional technology resource. I started off as basically
doing a roundtable podcast, bringing teachers on to talk about how to use instructional technology.
(03:21):
But it certainly morphed into that. I do a lot of productivity tips and tricks.
So how can you do your job more effectively and efficiently?
And we do a lot of coaching. Like I said, I do a lot of Microsoft and Google and video production.
And basically, if you look at all my archives, it's where have my interests gone?
That's the type of content that pops out of it. But really, I want to help you
(03:43):
do your job to the best of your abilities.
And if that's helping you build data dashboards, great.
If that's helping you learn how to use Microsoft Teams or OneNote or SharePoint, great.
And if that's also how do you become more effective as an instructional coach
to be able to help your teachers out, I think that's a wonderful thing.
It's interesting that you say that because, and maybe this is changing,
you probably have your finger more on the pulse than I do of this.
(04:05):
But there has been no certification or qualification for teachers moving into
instructional coaching, which has always seemed a little odd to me.
Do you feel like that's shifting?
It is. And it's a shifting in, I think, both a positive way and,
and I don't want to say negative, but positive and in other ways.
(04:27):
You know, back when I first got started, you know, I became an instructional
coach because my resume said Google Teacher Academy, Google Certified Trainer.
And then you turn around and everybody's a Google.
So now you have your Microsoft trainers and now you have your so-and-so ambassador
for all of those wonderful things. So I love the fact that the process has matured.
(04:49):
We now have official, you know, a Microsoft trainer badge.
We have a Google trainer badge. We have Apple trainer.
And they all now have their certified coaches badges.
So the process is evolving and it's making it easier.
The biggest thing that I'm looking forward to seeing is where does it evolve
from here? I found it interesting that Jeff's background is actually in music
(05:13):
education with a master's degree in orchestral conducting.
And he describes the progression into coaching and professional learning as
a pretty simple transition.
An orchestral conductor band teacher whatever wants
to have a ton of people in the room and they're all doing different things
at a different time your only job is to do
project-based learning and you realize that some people
(05:34):
have the skills and some people are learning the skills and some people are
not paying attention and but you all have a focus at the end of the session
which is it's a concert or you need to learn the skill or teach the what you
know it really is a seamless list transition,
I remove the violin and I put a Chromebook in front of them.
(05:55):
And all of the skills to become a conductor, whether it be large group ensemble.
Small group sectionals, or one-to-one private lessons, that's instructional coaching.
The philosophies that I have today as a professional educator are the same that
I have as a music educator.
I remember when instructional coaching.
(06:18):
First was in vogue, right? And it was trending and everybody was jumping on
the bandwagon of doing and having instructional coaches and they were just ushering
teachers into those roles.
And there was this impression at the beginning of this learning curve that the
teachers who were assigned or who were receiving instructional coaching were like remedial.
(06:43):
They were teachers who needed extra help, who were not being successful.
Successful and then that sort of turn, because we know that honestly,
professionals who are at the top of their game all have coaches, right?
So the way to stay at the top of your game is to have a coach.
But what would you say as far as tips in building just a really good,
(07:06):
productive relationship as an instructional coach with the teachers that you
work with and vice versa.
In the conducting world, we have this phrase, it's the illusion of power, right?
You got 40 or 50 or 100 musicians in front of you and they've got their music
(07:26):
and they've got their instruments and they know exactly what they need to do.
And you're just the guy with the stick making no sound.
Your job is to get them to all want to work together. And can they do that that without you?
Yes. So it's the illusion of you really have no power, yet you have the opportunity
to build something wonderful and to make it a cohesive unit and team so that
(07:49):
way it can move forward to the best of its abilities.
In the classroom, it's the same thing. That person can teach whether you're there or not.
So you need to go in there and work with them as people and get Get them to want to work with you.
And you had mentioned, you know, great leaders have coaches.
(08:11):
Those leaders are asking for those coaches.
Those leaders know that in order to get better, they, so in other words,
they're employing their own coaches and whatever form of conversation you want
to say, they want to get better.
So they are asking in the K-12 world,
the coaches brought to them your ability to move move the mountain is completely
(08:36):
dependent on the mountain being willing to move. Right. You can't force coaching on somebody.
But so often the position of the coach is not taught to the teachers.
The principal doesn't go to the teacher and say, Christy, this is Jeff. He's your coach.
I've asked him to work with you because you have a deficiency in using Google Classroom.
(09:02):
I'm going to come back in three weeks, I'd like to see that you have progressed in Google Classroom.
Jeff is here to work with you on.
Now, Christy automatically says, oh, well, in order for me to please my boss,
I need to go work with this guy.
Instead, what ends up happening is the principal says to Jeff,
go work with Christy. She's got a problem.
(09:22):
And then Jeff just walks into Christy's room cold and says to himself,
I'm going to I'm going to get this one.
But then Christy looks at Jeff and goes, I'm busy. Yeah. What you're getting
one more thing to do. You're just give me one more thing to do. Thanks.
See you later. or my other favorite one, will sit down, but then there's no change.
(09:44):
And there's no change because there's no expectation for change.
And these are difficult things.
But every coach needs to understand one important thing.
They are the solution to a problem.
Now, if the principal doesn't give the teacher the problem, then they're not seeking the solution.
(10:05):
You are the answer to how do I do my job better.
So it's like you're trying to answer a question that hasn't been asked to fill
a need that hasn't been felt.
So it's the administrator that needs to make that need felt for the teacher.
And where does the administrator get those goals?
Your SIP, your DIP, and your strategic goals?
(10:29):
SIP is School Improvement Plan. Man, DIP, District Improvement Plan,
just in case you're not up on those specific acronyms.
The district says we're going to raise math scores. So you buy an instructional
coach for math to help out with those scores.
Then you go to the teacher and say, you better raise the scores.
And then you go to the coach and say, you're here to help the scores.
(10:52):
Well, unless the teacher is told that the math coach is the answer for how she's
going to do that, you've just wasted $100,000.
Right. Yeah. So you're really talking to administrators right now. A hundred percent.
I've tried to make a mission out of this. I wrote a book. I can officially say
that. Yeah, let's talk about that.
The entire thing is devised around how do you create a vision for this?
(11:16):
How do you staff that vision? How do you make the connection in the classroom?
And then how do you know that you're doing the right job? So it's a little cycle of all of that stuff.
Yeah. So a process and a structure for success, it sounds like.
It's a process, a structure, and a strategy.
What school district right now doesn't want to raise their test scores Well
they can't raise their test scores without support Who's the support?
(11:38):
You're the answer to the strategic plan. Every district has a strategic plan
that says we're going to do this.
You are the answer. But if the structure is not there, it's just frustrating for everyone.
The instructional coach feels like they're intruding.
The teacher feels intruded upon.
Why are you coming in my room? Why are you watching me teach?
(12:00):
Why are you here? Why are you running my faculty department PLC Monday afternoon meeting? Why?
Right? So we talk a lot about the purpose for things.
And quite often you see a principal say to you, as an example,
the literacy coach, Christy, you're going to do next Monday's meeting on this topic.
(12:23):
And you do. And then what happens?
Well, then Tuesday happens. No, you're doing Monday.
So that way at the end of that 20 minute PD little thing, you and the principal
can stand next to each other and say, this is what Christy just showed.
Christy is actually going to be coming into your grade level department,
(12:44):
whatever meetings already scheduled the rest of the week. This was the,
this was the little taste.
She's going to be doing X, Y, and Z because this is our next mission.
So she's showing you this for the whole group tomorrow she's showing it to you
for sixth grade seventh grade and eighth grade and then she's going to be in
your classroom and then she.
(13:05):
Right and the only reason she's going to the
department meetings is so that way as a department six or seven or eight people
are going to go now how do we want to see this in our sixth and seventh eighth
grade classrooms and now you're going to do the one so we talk about large group
middle group small group it's that whole pyramid thing but if you get up on
a monday and you do your 20 minute dog and pony and that's it yeah,
(13:27):
Then, then, then what's the purpose of that?
You've wasted my time, both as a professional presenter, but also as a teacher.
Now, like, why am I, but if I know that you're showing me something that I'm
going to be discussing to, and by the way, don't you expect this in the,
like, this is a teaching lesson.
You have your anticipatory set, which goes, you're just doing it over three weeks. Right.
(13:52):
Because we know that instructional coaches are those educators who are interested
in continually improving practice, their practice, the teachers they work with,
and ultimately students.
We're excited to tell you more about today's sponsor, EdU by Forward Edge.
Hi, I'm Jill DuBois, a professional learning specialist for EdU,
(14:12):
and we are proud to sponsor this episode of the Ed Curation Podcast.
EdU is an ed tech-based professional development program composed of micro-credentials
that allow you to choose the topics you want to learn about.
Our mission is to empower instructional coaches and educators around the country
(14:34):
like you to reach tomorrow's learners with enthusiasm and engagement.
Most people use the term coaching cycle incorrectly. Okay.
They think of it as a horizontal thing. Today, we're going to do this.
Tomorrow, we're going to do this. The next, no, no, no. It's a vertical process.
(14:56):
We're going to do big group. So that way we get everybody there and the leaders
are going to get us bought in.
The next step is that medium group. and then
the final stage is this because the following
week the principal is going to go around and do observations to make
sure that they've got that right that it's happening so the cycle is actually
(15:17):
vertical not horizontal and if i do it horizontal the way that we kind of think
of it it's me and you i'm gonna do a coaching cycle with you what about the
other hundred people in the building.
If I think of it vertically, then I get everybody.
So if we think about the instructional coaching cycle vertically, you get everything.
(15:42):
You impact everybody. And you're doing that with the backing of the administration.
Because by the way, you are the answer for what does the administration want
to see when they walk into the classroom.
Well, Well, after week four...
(16:02):
You know that you've already gotten one-to-one with things. You've gotten the department meetings.
You've got this and you've got everybody and you've got the principal at the
beginning of the ballgame going, this is what I'm going to look for.
Here's how we're getting there.
Yeah. Then you can go back to your principal and say, did you do your walkthroughs?
Yes. Did you see? Yes. No.
(16:22):
How should we course correct? Now let's do the next cycle. Let's do the next cycle.
Who do you want me to look for? Not what do you want me to look for?
Who? who now you can start to go horizontally because now you're picking out
the person who didn't get it after four times of seeing this in a variety of lessons.
(16:43):
Okay. And then you go in and get the one-to-one support with those teachers.
Obviously all of this is covered in your book. You haven't yet said the title. Yes.
I don't know what that is yet, but, but basically the basic,
I think it's going to be called impact standards because all of this is,
are you meeting the ISTE standard for digital learning?
So I can tell from listening to you talk that you have some great examples and
(17:08):
non-examples of success.
So I'd love to hear where you have been that this really worked.
I've been very successful, I think, in working at the central office level and
working with the C-levels of this is what these people are here for, right?
(17:29):
These people are here to help you meet your goals.
Well, how does that happen? And then there's the cycle, right?
It's where we don't have higher up level people having conversations with each
other where it breaks down. I'll give you an example.
(17:49):
Tech person wants to spend a ton of money to bring in a certain piece of technology.
The director of curriculum is building out a PD day.
But they're not building in sessions that teach
about the stuff that the tech guy is spending hundreds
of thousands of dollars on where's the
(18:11):
conversation that says if you want to raise your scores shouldn't the teachers
know how to use that interactive board that you just spent $2,500 on why are
we not doing training on that yes and the answer is well because I need them
them to get better at math,
but they're going to get better at math because they're going to know how to
(18:31):
use the tech. By the way, over here, right?
I don't realize that I have, making this up, Microsoft Whiteboard,
which by the way, can be used on the $2,500 interactive panel.
Why are we not talking to each other? And that's because the PD piece,
people are thinking of curriculum and the technical person's thinking about
(18:53):
technology and no one's there.
What's the the word. We need the, I'm going to make this one up.
We need the educational corpus callosum.
This can be easily changed.
That's been my mission for the last 10 years is how do we do this?
I bet we could save a ton of cash.
I have to teach math and I'm being told I need to use Google Classroom.
(19:16):
Well, and that sounds like more work to me. Yeah. Instead of this is a tool
to support that instruction.
So if I can teach something with, that's so powerful.
But we use things like and, and here's a Chromebook, right?
And here's Google Classroom, and here's Microsoft Teams, and here's, I don't want to hear and.
(19:38):
Yeah, we're just contributing to the teacher overwhelm.
We use the wrong vocabulary. And again, that's when we're thinking horizontally,
not vertically. we bought Chromebooks for everybody so that they can be masters
of the curriculum through the use of this as opposed to you need to go teach literacy.
And I'm going to give you this Chromebook. So much of Jeff's work has been focused
(20:02):
on helping schools and districts make these shifts.
And in order to broaden his reach,
as we mentioned earlier, he founded the Instructional Coaches Network.
I became an instructional coach
and realized very quickly that I needed to grow my own support group.
And so from there, we grew an instructional coaching network.
And I started doing one-to-one coaching sessions. And we built out a network
(20:26):
and we had a whole thing. And it was great.
We turned it into a membership site. It was great.
Then the world shifted. And I said to myself, I can't be charging for this.
And when the pandemic hits, we just every week I did a live live show,
but I just did office hours every Wednesday night from seven to nine o'clock
(20:47):
after the kids got to bed.
I just turned on this and we just started housing live conversations for instructional
coaches to how do we do this? and it was awesome.
I mean, sometimes we had 60 people, sometimes we had five people,
sometimes we had 150 people.
I just said, look, the pandemic is changing us all.
(21:07):
I need to be able to help out as many people as possible.
If you're interested, there is a Facebook group, there's a LinkedIn group and
stuff like that. It's been a crazy last few months.
And so I haven't been tending to it, but when you write a book,
you kind of put some things away, but it's still there.
But you know what? But there's also many other amazing coaching opportunities out there.
(21:30):
So I'd rather be in a position of helping and supporting than creating something
that's going to segregate from other.
In my world, there should only be one coaches network. I don't care whose name
is on top. I don't even care if a face is on top.
I just want to come up with one place where we can find what we need,
have those conversations, and most importantly, support. You've spoken to those
(21:54):
educational leaders, the administrators about how to create a successful structure.
But I'd love to have you just spend the last few minutes talking to those coaches, because,
there's so many coaches, and you've described it so well, of,
you know, I hired you to solve this problem, now go do it, is I think probably
(22:15):
the position so many instructional coaches are in.
So can you talk to them for a few minutes?
Here's what I've learned. And this is so important.
You're not alone. And the reason why I started all of this is because I felt alone.
My first coaching job was in a regional school district, K-12.
(22:38):
Nobody knew what a coach was supposed to do. My superintendent hired me and just said, go.
But there was never an opportunity given to explain to the administration.
So the principals didn't know what to do with me.
If the principals don't know what to do with me because the super never gave
(22:59):
that answer to the question, then the teachers certainly don't have a clue.
And everything that we've been talking about here on the program has because
I needed to build that for myself.
Right. So, number one, you're not alone. loan.
And the other thing I would suggest is be very open-minded about what type of
(23:24):
coaching you're looking at and you're looking for.
You have people who are, again, I'm the one person for my entire district.
And then you have the, I'm on a coaching team.
And how do you build a coaching team when you're really good at this and you're
really good at this and you're really good good at this.
And so I built a section of the chapter of how do you build a baseball team for coaches, right?
(23:47):
You need a center fielder, and you need a right fielder, and you need a first
baseman, and you need a catcher, and you need a, right?
So you need a STEM person, and you need a video person, and you need a Microsoft
person, and you need somebody who's good at organization.
So you're not alone. And you need to find what works for you.
And you need to find that support. ports and you need to make sure that,
(24:13):
you have a good relationship with the people that brought you to the dance.
So how do you show your value?
And there's only one way to show your value and that's through data.
Right. Right. I worked with X teachers X number of times. And because of that,
this happened. Right. Pay me.
Right. It's not a dotted line. What the job is. You look at the strategic plan
(24:37):
and how can I help solve that?
It's that simple. simple. It really is that simple. Yeah. And any instructional
coach has the right to have that provided, right?
What have you brought me in? How are we going to measure my success?
What are the goals for my work with these teachers? And I've seen a lot of coaches do that.
You always have to have your goals based on what your boss's goals are.
(25:02):
You are there to help your boss look good.
Have you ever seen the video of the guy dancing on the hill?
It's a very popular YouTube video, 25 million hits, but essentially they're at a concert.
There's a, there's a guy who's dancing on a hill and he's going crazy and stuff like that.
And there's a narrator and basically he's the lone nut.
(25:22):
He's out there doing it by himself. No one else is doing it.
And then suddenly a second person comes up and the first guy is now validated
in his craziness because somebody else is doing it. Then a third person comes up.
And then by the time you have three, then three extra
people come along so you have a small group and now
you've got five or six people and then because you've got five or six or eight
(25:42):
people now suddenly like 10 people get up and now you've got a group and when
you have a group you have the start of a movement and the question i always
ask is who's the first guy that has to dance superintendent ah this is my strategic
plan this is the direction we're going.
Who's the second guy to come up and validate the strategic plan?
(26:04):
That's your principal. If the principal isn't going, you're not going to move a building.
Yeah. Now, who's the third person? And everybody gets this wrong.
The third person is your coach.
Because the superintendent waves his hand and dumps around.
The principal says, yes, my building is on board. I need somebody to show the group how to do this.
So they bring on their instructional coach. So the instructional coach is getting
(26:27):
their directions from the superintendent and the leadership.
Yeah. But he's one of them. He's a teacher.
And because he's a teacher, he can get three people, which is your grade level
leaders. You know who you're, you know who you're. Yes. Right.
And if I can get the third grade grade level leader to go, I can get all the
third grade leaders to go. Yeah.
And so then you have your movement. Yeah. But if people say,
(26:50):
oh, the first person to dance is the coach, you're missing the whole point of the story.
The coach can't be the first to dance well because
the coach doesn't have the power exactly they
don't have the power you have to have the person up there standing now in a
building situation yes principal lead teachers coach yeah kind of changes around
(27:11):
a lot of instructional coaches are not district employees they're consultants
they're brought in for like a specific reason or a specific thing.
And usually when that's happened, Christy's here. She's a consultant.
She's here to help us with math.
Okay. At least I know who you are and what your deal is, which is different
than at the beginning of the year.
(27:33):
Christy, can you stand up and introduce yourself? And Christy goes, hi, I'm a coach.
I'll be, I'm happy to work with you. I'm looking forward to it.
Yeah. What does that mean?
What does that mean? Hi, I'm an instructional coach. I'm going to be coming into your classes.
No, you ain't. Yeah. Right. So I don't, I'm not too far off.
(27:55):
I don't, and tell me if I'm wrong, but that's the book, right?
How do you build a culture for digital learning, instructional learning,
that's standards base that you can be successful because the position is needed now more than ever.
You can find Jeff Bradbury at teachercast.net, askthetechcoach.com and his various
(28:21):
social media channels listed in the episode notes,
along with the YouTube link to the leadership lessons from a man dancing on a hill.
And now that we're all engaged in thinking about instructional coaching and
how to make it as effective and efficient as possible, you're also going to
want to check out today's sponsor, Edge U from Forward Edge.
(28:42):
ISTE certified educator Jennifer Mitchell said, Edge U has become my go-to when
there is a skill I'm looking to learn.
As my school's ed tech integrationist, I am the first person teachers turn to
when they need help with anything tech related. You can learn more about Edge
U badges at edcuration.com by searching forward edge.
(29:06):
Simply click the let's talk or the schedule a demo button to learn more about
their one month free trial.
Ed Curation is part of the Education Podcast Network, where you'll find similar
shows addressing all the broad and specific aspects and angles of education.
You can find us pretty much anywhere podcasts are found, including our website,
(29:26):
and you'll you'll find a lot of additional content on our YouTube channel.
If you found this episode helpful, we hope you'll take a minute to like, comment, and share it.
And if you have a topic or tool that has reshaped learning in your classroom,
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simply reach out to us through the comments or on our website, edcuration.com.
(29:47):
Thanks for joining us today, and we hope you'll come back for our next episode
of Reshaping Learning with the EdCuration podcast.
Music.
Hi, everyone. This is Christy, and this episode of the EdCuration podcast is
sponsored by EdgeU Badges from Forward Edge,
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Our guest today, Jeff Bradbury, has worked in many roles as an educator for 23 years.
(00:45):
He's an ISTE award-winning and globally recognized digital learning strategist,
an educational broadcaster, a public speaker,
an entrepreneur whose powerful message has inspired thousands of educators through
the TeacherCast Educational Network,
where he uses future-ready skills to promote digital innovation in the classroom
(01:05):
with a focus on equity and diversity.
Created as a passion project to assist teachers in understanding educational technology,
Jeff recorded the first TeacherCast podcast in the summer of 2011,
and since then, the TeacherCast Educational Network has been recognized in 180
(01:26):
countries and has amassed more than 50,000 followers on social media.
With more than 2,000 audio and video podcasts recorded featuring more than 500
edtech companies and thousands of educators, TeacherCast is rated as one of
the top 50 educational websites.
In 2018, Jeff created the TeacherCast
(01:49):
Tech Coaches Network to support instructional technology coaches.
He loves working with teachers, and especially instructional coaches,
particularly in the area of technology.
In fact, Jeff is in the process of completing a book to guide districts in doing this work effectively.
Instructional coaching is still a fairly new field in many districts,
(02:12):
which is why we wanted to learn from Jeff today.
It's something that's changing you know for the last 12
years i've done a podcast called ask the tech coach and
a while ago i kind of opened my eyes a little bit and turned around and said
there's not really anything called a tech coach anymore like you know instructional
(02:35):
coach is now the term and instead of school districts and look there's exceptions
of course but instead of school districts finding like you are the google person
or the microsoft person you You know,
there's a lot of you're the reading coach, you're the interventionalist, you're the...
So it's fun to see that the term has matured and grown up.
Jeff himself moved into instructional coaching after getting certified in the
Google Teacher Academy in 2012.
(02:57):
And because Jeff doesn't do anything halfway, he immediately launched TeacherCast
as a way for coaches to collaborate, share best practices, and offer support and training.
And he very quickly became a national voice on the topic.
Teachercast.net is an instructional technology resource. I started off as basically
doing a roundtable podcast, bringing teachers on to talk about how to use instructional technology.
(03:21):
But it certainly morphed into that. I do a lot of productivity tips and tricks.
So how can you do your job more effectively and efficiently?
And we do a lot of coaching. Like I said, I do a lot of Microsoft and Google and video production.
And basically, if you look at all my archives, it's where have my interests gone?
That's the type of content that pops out of it. But really, I want to help you
(03:43):
do your job to the best of your abilities.
And if that's helping you build data dashboards, great.
If that's helping you learn how to use Microsoft Teams or OneNote or SharePoint, great.
And if that's also how do you become more effective as an instructional coach
to be able to help your teachers out, I think that's a wonderful thing.
It's interesting that you say that because, and maybe this is changing,
you probably have your finger more on the pulse than I do of this.
(04:05):
But there has been no certification or qualification for teachers moving into
instructional coaching, which has always seemed a little odd to me.
Do you feel like that's shifting?
It is. And it's a shifting in, I think, both a positive way and,
and I don't want to say negative, but positive and in other ways.
(04:27):
You know, back when I first got started, you know, I became an instructional
coach because my resume said Google Teacher Academy, Google Certified Trainer.
And then you turn around and everybody's a Google.
So now you have your Microsoft trainers and now you have your so-and-so ambassador
for all of those wonderful things. So I love the fact that the process has matured.
(04:49):
We now have official, you know, a Microsoft trainer badge.
We have a Google trainer badge. We have Apple trainer.
And they all now have their certified coaches badges.
So the process is evolving and it's making it easier.
The biggest thing that I'm looking forward to seeing is where does it evolve
from here? I found it interesting that Jeff's background is actually in music
(05:13):
education with a master's degree in orchestral conducting.
And he describes the progression into coaching and professional learning as
a pretty simple transition.
An orchestral conductor band teacher whatever wants
to have a ton of people in the room and they're all doing different things
at a different time your only job is to do
project-based learning and you realize that some people
(05:34):
have the skills and some people are learning the skills and some people are
not paying attention and but you all have a focus at the end of the session
which is it's a concert or you need to learn the skill or teach the what you
know it really is a seamless list transition,
I remove the violin and I put a Chromebook in front of them.
(05:55):
And all of the skills to become a conductor, whether it be large group ensemble.
Small group sectionals, or one-to-one private lessons, that's instructional coaching.
The philosophies that I have today as a professional educator are the same that
I have as a music educator.
I remember when instructional coaching.
(06:18):
First was in vogue, right? And it was trending and everybody was jumping on
the bandwagon of doing and having instructional coaches and they were just ushering
teachers into those roles.
And there was this impression at the beginning of this learning curve that the
teachers who were assigned or who were receiving instructional coaching were like remedial.
(06:43):
They were teachers who needed extra help, who were not being successful.
Successful and then that sort of turn, because we know that honestly,
professionals who are at the top of their game all have coaches, right?
So the way to stay at the top of your game is to have a coach.
But what would you say as far as tips in building just a really good,
(07:06):
productive relationship as an instructional coach with the teachers that you
work with and vice versa.
In the conducting world, we have this phrase, it's the illusion of power, right?
You got 40 or 50 or 100 musicians in front of you and they've got their music
(07:26):
and they've got their instruments and they know exactly what they need to do.
And you're just the guy with the stick making no sound.
Your job is to get them to all want to work together. And can they do that that without you?
Yes. So it's the illusion of you really have no power, yet you have the opportunity
to build something wonderful and to make it a cohesive unit and team so that
(07:49):
way it can move forward to the best of its abilities.
In the classroom, it's the same thing. That person can teach whether you're there or not.
So you need to go in there and work with them as people and get Get them to want to work with you.
And you had mentioned, you know, great leaders have coaches.
(08:11):
Those leaders are asking for those coaches.
Those leaders know that in order to get better, they, so in other words,
they're employing their own coaches and whatever form of conversation you want
to say, they want to get better.
So they are asking in the K-12 world,
the coaches brought to them your ability to move move the mountain is completely
(08:36):
dependent on the mountain being willing to move. Right. You can't force coaching on somebody.
But so often the position of the coach is not taught to the teachers.
The principal doesn't go to the teacher and say, Christy, this is Jeff. He's your coach.
I've asked him to work with you because you have a deficiency in using Google Classroom.
(09:02):
I'm going to come back in three weeks, I'd like to see that you have progressed in Google Classroom.
Jeff is here to work with you on.
Now, Christy automatically says, oh, well, in order for me to please my boss,
I need to go work with this guy.
Instead, what ends up happening is the principal says to Jeff,
go work with Christy. She's got a problem.
(09:22):
And then Jeff just walks into Christy's room cold and says to himself,
I'm going to I'm going to get this one.
But then Christy looks at Jeff and goes, I'm busy. Yeah. What you're getting
one more thing to do. You're just give me one more thing to do. Thanks.
See you later. or my other favorite one, will sit down, but then there's no change.
(09:44):
And there's no change because there's no expectation for change.
And these are difficult things.
But every coach needs to understand one important thing.
They are the solution to a problem.
Now, if the principal doesn't give the teacher the problem, then they're not seeking the solution.
(10:05):
You are the answer to how do I do my job better.
So it's like you're trying to answer a question that hasn't been asked to fill
a need that hasn't been felt.
So it's the administrator that needs to make that need felt for the teacher.
And where does the administrator get those goals?
Your SIP, your DIP, and your strategic goals?
(10:29):
SIP is School Improvement Plan. Man, DIP, District Improvement Plan,
just in case you're not up on those specific acronyms.
The district says we're going to raise math scores. So you buy an instructional
coach for math to help out with those scores.
Then you go to the teacher and say, you better raise the scores.
And then you go to the coach and say, you're here to help the scores.
(10:52):
Well, unless the teacher is told that the math coach is the answer for how she's
going to do that, you've just wasted $100,000.
Right. Yeah. So you're really talking to administrators right now. A hundred percent.
I've tried to make a mission out of this. I wrote a book. I can officially say
that. Yeah, let's talk about that.
The entire thing is devised around how do you create a vision for this?
(11:16):
How do you staff that vision? How do you make the connection in the classroom?
And then how do you know that you're doing the right job? So it's a little cycle of all of that stuff.
Yeah. So a process and a structure for success, it sounds like.
It's a process, a structure, and a strategy.
What school district right now doesn't want to raise their test scores Well
they can't raise their test scores without support Who's the support?
(11:38):
You're the answer to the strategic plan. Every district has a strategic plan
that says we're going to do this.
You are the answer. But if the structure is not there, it's just frustrating for everyone.
The instructional coach feels like they're intruding.
The teacher feels intruded upon.
Why are you coming in my room? Why are you watching me teach?
(12:00):
Why are you here? Why are you running my faculty department PLC Monday afternoon meeting? Why?
Right? So we talk a lot about the purpose for things.
And quite often you see a principal say to you, as an example,
the literacy coach, Christy, you're going to do next Monday's meeting on this topic.
(12:23):
And you do. And then what happens?
Well, then Tuesday happens. No, you're doing Monday.
So that way at the end of that 20 minute PD little thing, you and the principal
can stand next to each other and say, this is what Christy just showed.
Christy is actually going to be coming into your grade level department,
(12:44):
whatever meetings already scheduled the rest of the week. This was the,
this was the little taste.
She's going to be doing X, Y, and Z because this is our next mission.
So she's showing you this for the whole group tomorrow she's showing it to you
for sixth grade seventh grade and eighth grade and then she's going to be in
your classroom and then she.
(13:05):
Right and the only reason she's going to the
department meetings is so that way as a department six or seven or eight people
are going to go now how do we want to see this in our sixth and seventh eighth
grade classrooms and now you're going to do the one so we talk about large group
middle group small group it's that whole pyramid thing but if you get up on
a monday and you do your 20 minute dog and pony and that's it yeah,
(13:27):
Then, then, then what's the purpose of that?
You've wasted my time, both as a professional presenter, but also as a teacher.
Now, like, why am I, but if I know that you're showing me something that I'm
going to be discussing to, and by the way, don't you expect this in the,
like, this is a teaching lesson.
You have your anticipatory set, which goes, you're just doing it over three weeks. Right.
(13:52):
Because we know that instructional coaches are those educators who are interested
in continually improving practice, their practice, the teachers they work with,
and ultimately students.
We're excited to tell you more about today's sponsor, EdU by Forward Edge.
Hi, I'm Jill DuBois, a professional learning specialist for EdU,
(14:12):
and we are proud to sponsor this episode of the Ed Curation Podcast.
EdU is an ed tech-based professional development program composed of micro-credentials
that allow you to choose the topics you want to learn about.
Our mission is to empower instructional coaches and educators around the country
(14:34):
like you to reach tomorrow's learners with enthusiasm and engagement.
Most people use the term coaching cycle incorrectly. Okay.
They think of it as a horizontal thing. Today, we're going to do this.
Tomorrow, we're going to do this. The next, no, no, no. It's a vertical process.
(14:56):
We're going to do big group. So that way we get everybody there and the leaders
are going to get us bought in.
The next step is that medium group. and then
the final stage is this because the following
week the principal is going to go around and do observations to make
sure that they've got that right that it's happening so the cycle is actually
(15:17):
vertical not horizontal and if i do it horizontal the way that we kind of think
of it it's me and you i'm gonna do a coaching cycle with you what about the
other hundred people in the building.
If I think of it vertically, then I get everybody.
So if we think about the instructional coaching cycle vertically, you get everything.
(15:42):
You impact everybody. And you're doing that with the backing of the administration.
Because by the way, you are the answer for what does the administration want
to see when they walk into the classroom.
Well, Well, after week four...
(16:02):
You know that you've already gotten one-to-one with things. You've gotten the department meetings.
You've got this and you've got everybody and you've got the principal at the
beginning of the ballgame going, this is what I'm going to look for.
Here's how we're getting there.
Yeah. Then you can go back to your principal and say, did you do your walkthroughs?
Yes. Did you see? Yes. No.
(16:22):
How should we course correct? Now let's do the next cycle. Let's do the next cycle.
Who do you want me to look for? Not what do you want me to look for?
Who? who now you can start to go horizontally because now you're picking out
the person who didn't get it after four times of seeing this in a variety of lessons.
(16:43):
Okay. And then you go in and get the one-to-one support with those teachers.
Obviously all of this is covered in your book. You haven't yet said the title. Yes.
I don't know what that is yet, but, but basically the basic,
I think it's going to be called impact standards because all of this is,
are you meeting the ISTE standard for digital learning?
So I can tell from listening to you talk that you have some great examples and
(17:08):
non-examples of success.
So I'd love to hear where you have been that this really worked.
I've been very successful, I think, in working at the central office level and
working with the C-levels of this is what these people are here for, right?
(17:29):
These people are here to help you meet your goals.
Well, how does that happen? And then there's the cycle, right?
It's where we don't have higher up level people having conversations with each
other where it breaks down. I'll give you an example.
(17:49):
Tech person wants to spend a ton of money to bring in a certain piece of technology.
The director of curriculum is building out a PD day.
But they're not building in sessions that teach
about the stuff that the tech guy is spending hundreds
of thousands of dollars on where's the
(18:11):
conversation that says if you want to raise your scores shouldn't the teachers
know how to use that interactive board that you just spent $2,500 on why are
we not doing training on that yes and the answer is well because I need them
them to get better at math,
but they're going to get better at math because they're going to know how to
(18:31):
use the tech. By the way, over here, right?
I don't realize that I have, making this up, Microsoft Whiteboard,
which by the way, can be used on the $2,500 interactive panel.
Why are we not talking to each other? And that's because the PD piece,
people are thinking of curriculum and the technical person's thinking about
(18:53):
technology and no one's there.
What's the the word. We need the, I'm going to make this one up.
We need the educational corpus callosum.
This can be easily changed.
That's been my mission for the last 10 years is how do we do this?
I bet we could save a ton of cash.
I have to teach math and I'm being told I need to use Google Classroom.
(19:16):
Well, and that sounds like more work to me. Yeah. Instead of this is a tool
to support that instruction.
So if I can teach something with, that's so powerful.
But we use things like and, and here's a Chromebook, right?
And here's Google Classroom, and here's Microsoft Teams, and here's, I don't want to hear and.
(19:38):
Yeah, we're just contributing to the teacher overwhelm.
We use the wrong vocabulary. And again, that's when we're thinking horizontally,
not vertically. we bought Chromebooks for everybody so that they can be masters
of the curriculum through the use of this as opposed to you need to go teach literacy.
And I'm going to give you this Chromebook. So much of Jeff's work has been focused
(20:02):
on helping schools and districts make these shifts.
And in order to broaden his reach,
as we mentioned earlier, he founded the Instructional Coaches Network.
I became an instructional coach
and realized very quickly that I needed to grow my own support group.
And so from there, we grew an instructional coaching network.
And I started doing one-to-one coaching sessions. And we built out a network
(20:26):
and we had a whole thing. And it was great.
We turned it into a membership site. It was great.
Then the world shifted. And I said to myself, I can't be charging for this.
And when the pandemic hits, we just every week I did a live live show,
but I just did office hours every Wednesday night from seven to nine o'clock
(20:47):
after the kids got to bed.
I just turned on this and we just started housing live conversations for instructional
coaches to how do we do this? and it was awesome.
I mean, sometimes we had 60 people, sometimes we had five people,
sometimes we had 150 people.
I just said, look, the pandemic is changing us all.
(21:07):
I need to be able to help out as many people as possible.
If you're interested, there is a Facebook group, there's a LinkedIn group and
stuff like that. It's been a crazy last few months.
And so I haven't been tending to it, but when you write a book,
you kind of put some things away, but it's still there.
But you know what? But there's also many other amazing coaching opportunities out there.
(21:30):
So I'd rather be in a position of helping and supporting than creating something
that's going to segregate from other.
In my world, there should only be one coaches network. I don't care whose name
is on top. I don't even care if a face is on top.
I just want to come up with one place where we can find what we need,
have those conversations, and most importantly, support. You've spoken to those
(21:54):
educational leaders, the administrators about how to create a successful structure.
But I'd love to have you just spend the last few minutes talking to those coaches, because,
there's so many coaches, and you've described it so well, of,
you know, I hired you to solve this problem, now go do it, is I think probably
(22:15):
the position so many instructional coaches are in.
So can you talk to them for a few minutes?
Here's what I've learned. And this is so important.
You're not alone. And the reason why I started all of this is because I felt alone.
My first coaching job was in a regional school district, K-12.
(22:38):
Nobody knew what a coach was supposed to do. My superintendent hired me and just said, go.
But there was never an opportunity given to explain to the administration.
So the principals didn't know what to do with me.
If the principals don't know what to do with me because the super never gave
(22:59):
that answer to the question, then the teachers certainly don't have a clue.
And everything that we've been talking about here on the program has because
I needed to build that for myself.
Right. So, number one, you're not alone. loan.
And the other thing I would suggest is be very open-minded about what type of
(23:24):
coaching you're looking at and you're looking for.
You have people who are, again, I'm the one person for my entire district.
And then you have the, I'm on a coaching team.
And how do you build a coaching team when you're really good at this and you're
really good at this and you're really good good at this.
And so I built a section of the chapter of how do you build a baseball team for coaches, right?
(23:47):
You need a center fielder, and you need a right fielder, and you need a first
baseman, and you need a catcher, and you need a, right?
So you need a STEM person, and you need a video person, and you need a Microsoft
person, and you need somebody who's good at organization.
So you're not alone. And you need to find what works for you.
And you need to find that support. ports and you need to make sure that,
(24:13):
you have a good relationship with the people that brought you to the dance.
So how do you show your value?
And there's only one way to show your value and that's through data.
Right. Right. I worked with X teachers X number of times. And because of that,
this happened. Right. Pay me.
Right. It's not a dotted line. What the job is. You look at the strategic plan
(24:37):
and how can I help solve that?
It's that simple. simple. It really is that simple. Yeah. And any instructional
coach has the right to have that provided, right?
What have you brought me in? How are we going to measure my success?
What are the goals for my work with these teachers? And I've seen a lot of coaches do that.
You always have to have your goals based on what your boss's goals are.
(25:02):
You are there to help your boss look good.
Have you ever seen the video of the guy dancing on the hill?
It's a very popular YouTube video, 25 million hits, but essentially they're at a concert.
There's a, there's a guy who's dancing on a hill and he's going crazy and stuff like that.
And there's a narrator and basically he's the lone nut.
(25:22):
He's out there doing it by himself. No one else is doing it.
And then suddenly a second person comes up and the first guy is now validated
in his craziness because somebody else is doing it. Then a third person comes up.
And then by the time you have three, then three extra
people come along so you have a small group and now
you've got five or six people and then because you've got five or six or eight
(25:42):
people now suddenly like 10 people get up and now you've got a group and when
you have a group you have the start of a movement and the question i always
ask is who's the first guy that has to dance superintendent ah this is my strategic
plan this is the direction we're going.
Who's the second guy to come up and validate the strategic plan?
(26:04):
That's your principal. If the principal isn't going, you're not going to move a building.
Yeah. Now, who's the third person? And everybody gets this wrong.
The third person is your coach.
Because the superintendent waves his hand and dumps around.
The principal says, yes, my building is on board. I need somebody to show the group how to do this.
So they bring on their instructional coach. So the instructional coach is getting
(26:27):
their directions from the superintendent and the leadership.
Yeah. But he's one of them. He's a teacher.
And because he's a teacher, he can get three people, which is your grade level
leaders. You know who you're, you know who you're. Yes. Right.
And if I can get the third grade grade level leader to go, I can get all the
third grade leaders to go. Yeah.
And so then you have your movement. Yeah. But if people say,
(26:50):
oh, the first person to dance is the coach, you're missing the whole point of the story.
The coach can't be the first to dance well because
the coach doesn't have the power exactly they
don't have the power you have to have the person up there standing now in a
building situation yes principal lead teachers coach yeah kind of changes around
(27:11):
a lot of instructional coaches are not district employees they're consultants
they're brought in for like a specific reason or a specific thing.
And usually when that's happened, Christy's here. She's a consultant.
She's here to help us with math.
Okay. At least I know who you are and what your deal is, which is different
than at the beginning of the year.
(27:33):
Christy, can you stand up and introduce yourself? And Christy goes, hi, I'm a coach.
I'll be, I'm happy to work with you. I'm looking forward to it.
Yeah. What does that mean?
What does that mean? Hi, I'm an instructional coach. I'm going to be coming into your classes.
No, you ain't. Yeah. Right. So I don't, I'm not too far off.
(27:55):
I don't, and tell me if I'm wrong, but that's the book, right?
How do you build a culture for digital learning, instructional learning,
that's standards base that you can be successful because the position is needed now more than ever.
You can find Jeff Bradbury at teachercast.net, askthetechcoach.com and his various
(28:21):
social media channels listed in the episode notes,
along with the YouTube link to the leadership lessons from a man dancing on a hill.
And now that we're all engaged in thinking about instructional coaching and
how to make it as effective and efficient as possible, you're also going to
want to check out today's sponsor, Edge U from Forward Edge.
(28:42):
ISTE certified educator Jennifer Mitchell said, Edge U has become my go-to when
there is a skill I'm looking to learn.
As my school's ed tech integrationist, I am the first person teachers turn to
when they need help with anything tech related. You can learn more about Edge
U badges at edcuration.com by searching forward edge.
(29:06):
Simply click the let's talk or the schedule a demo button to learn more about
their one month free trial.
Ed Curation is part of the Education Podcast Network, where you'll find similar
shows addressing all the broad and specific aspects and angles of education.
You can find us pretty much anywhere podcasts are found, including our website,
(29:26):
and you'll you'll find a lot of additional content on our YouTube channel.
If you found this episode helpful, we hope you'll take a minute to like, comment, and share it.
And if you have a topic or tool that has reshaped learning in your classroom,
school, or district that you'd like to share with our EdCuration audience,
simply reach out to us through the comments or on our website, edcuration.com.
(29:47):
Thanks for joining us today, and we hope you'll come back for our next episode
of Reshaping Learning with the EdCuration podcast.
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