Reflective Journal for Coaches

In my role as the Regional Educational Technology Coordinator for ISBE‘s LTC, one of the perks is I get to work with instructional technology coaches. As a coach for 10 years prior to this position, it is where I feel most at home. In Chicago, coaches aren’t plentiful. I was the only one in my building, in a city without many others. All of my professional personal growth came from opportunities I sought outside of my district, and on my own: volunteering, serving on boards, Twitter chats, conferences, etc.

Recently in one of my meetings, there was a discussion about how there isn’t much out there for coaches to improve on their own practice. After all, many coaches strive to improve the practice of educators in their school building. In response to this, I created a reflective journal for coaches to use if they were interested in improving their practice on their own. The journal contains 8 sections:

1. Learning Style & Connecting with Others: an area for coaches to identify where they go for personal growth and how they like to learn.
2. Your Job, Today: coaches have a space to reflect on their current role.
3. Deep Dive into Evaluation: the journal contains a safe space for coaches to reflect on the most recent evaluation from their administration.
4. Goal Setting: a template for coaches to focus on one particular goal.
5. Read & Reflect: articles related to coaching with a space for reflection.
6. ISTE Standards for Coaches: the new standards are broken down into an editable table where coaches can add comments, resources, and links.
7. Resources for Coaches: books, podcasts, Twitter chats, and other digital resources for coaches.
8. Final Reflection: a space for coaches to wrap up their reflection journal.

If you are interested, please make a copy and share it with those you think could benefit from this professional growth opportunity. I wish I had something like this when I was coaching.

Coaches Reflective Journal Link

Upcoming LTC events for Coaches:

IETC Meet & Greet for Coaches
November 14 | 4:00 pm | More information will be available online

West Cook County Instructional Technology Coaches Meeting
November 6 and December 3|1:00-3:00 pm | Hillside

ROE #39 Instructional Tech Coaches Roundtable
December 11| 9:00 am-noon | Macon/Piatt ROE#39

North Cook ISC Instructional Technology Coaches Meetings
December 19 | 1-3 pm