Running head: COACHING JOURNAL 1

Coaching Journal

Kelvin G. Pieze

Kennesaw State University

COACHING JOURNAL 2

Coaching Journal

Session 1

Date and Time: March 13, 2018 8:45-9:45AM

Goals/Targets:

1. Develop an instructional technology coaching plan

2. Identify instructional technology needs

3. Identify the current level of technology use in the classroom

Coach P is a health and physical education teacher at Sequoyah Middle School, in

Clayton County, Georgia. He has 20 years of military service and six years of experience

teaching special education. This is Coach P's first year teaching health and physical education.

To access Coach P's LoTi (Levels of Technology Integration) level, a LoTi questionnaire was

administrated. Coach P is having difficulty integrating technology into his lessons and the

school's administration has suggested he seek help with technology integration. Using the data

from the questionnaire, Coach P and I formed a coaching plan which followed the strategies

associated with the partnership approach to instructional coaching. The coaching model that we

chose to follow is the cognitive coaching model. Knight (2007) stated that the steps in the

cognitive coaching model were (a) a planning conversation; (b) an event, which usually is

observed by the cognitive coach; and (c) a reflecting conversation. We chose this model because

it offered a structured coaching approach.

Our planning conversation was held during the connection teachers' planning period in

the health classroom. The planning conversation was private with no one else in the classroom at

the time. We talked about the data from the survey and assessed his comfort level with new

technology tool use. As we talked, I asked about his concerns and what areas of technology he
COACHING JOURNAL 3

thought he needed help with. We also talked about the areas of technology in which he felt he

had a strong background. We continued our conversation and made arrangements for me to

observe a lesson he is teaching to his eighth-grade class tomorrow. During this lesson, Coach P

plans for the students to use laptops computers to research an upcoming.

Reflection

Our first coaching session was productive. A LoTi questionnaire was given to Coach P to

complete. I felt a little strange asking Coach P to complete the questionnaire, but he seemed

unbothered. Coach P seems eager to learn as much as possible about educational technology, and

he appears open to any suggestions I may offer. I told Coach P that I was as interested in learning

from him, as he was from me. Coach P and I have a good working relationship, and I believe that

the coaching sessions will go well.

Session 2

Date and Time: March 14, 2018 10:05-11:30AM

Goals/Targets:

1. Observe technology use during a lesson

2. Review and offer feedback on observation

I entered the classroom before the students arrived and took a seat in the back of the

class. As the students entered the classroom, they came in and set down in their assigned seats.

Coach P took attendance and began to explain to the students what their assignment was going to

be that day. Coach P then asked for a volunteer to go to the media center to ask for a laptop cart.

While the student went to the media center, the other students in the class started talking and

moving around the classroom. After ten minutes of waiting, the student arrived back to the class

with the laptop cart. Coach P proceeded to pass out the laptops to the students. As most of the
COACHING JOURNAL 4

students waited for further instructions, some of the students started going online to varies

websites that did not correspond to the lesson for today. Several students had to get another

laptop because the battery was dead on the laptop they received. Once all computers were up and

running, Coach P asked the students to get started, which they did. The students were left to

finish their assignments on their own with little input or feedback from Coach P. Before the class

ended. At the end of class, Coach P collected all of the laptops and placed them back into the

laptop cart.

Our second coaching session was held during the connection teachers' lunch break.

Coach P and I met privately shortly after his eighth-grade class was released to return to their

academic courses. During the meeting, we discussed the positives of the lesson, such as the

students being on task once they got started, and the negatives of the lesson, not having the

laptop cart in the class before the students arrived. We reviewed the LoTi "Snuff" Test (2011) and

went through the flowchart to grade the LoTi level of his lesson. We both gave the lesson a LoTi

level 2. As we continued our session, we discussed how we could use technology to engage

higher order thinking in our students. I asked Coach P if he minds if I modeled a lesson for his B-

Day eighth-grade class, which he agreed. I asked for a copy of his lesson plan to review, before

the model lesson.

Reflection

Our second coaching session went well. As we looked over the LoTi "Snuff" Test, Coach

P did ask for ideas on how to raise the LoTi Levels of his lessons. I told Coach P, I will gather

some resources to share with him. I gave Coach P a copy of the LoTi "Snuff" Test, to use with

future lessons. I am glad I got a chance to observe Coach P's teaching before I model a lesson for
COACHING JOURNAL 5

him. The observation notes will help me plan what strategies I need to use to best help Coach P

on his instructional technology integration journey.

Session 3

Date and Time: March 15, 2018 11:05-11:30AM

Goals/Targets:

1. Model a lesson

2. Receive and offer feedback on the modeled lesson.

I arrived at Coach P's class during the connections teachers' planning period. After

reviewing with him what I will be covering, we retrieved a laptop cart from the media center.

Once back in the class, we preceded to place the laptops on the students' desk, verifying that they

all were working and able to connect to the internet. I explained to Coach P that by distributing

the laptops before the students arrived saved time and allowed the students to get to work faster.

We then reviewed the PowerPoint I had created with an "Opening Sponge" to kick-start the

lesson for the day. An Opening Sponge is a way to engage students as they enter the classroom.

This type of activity helps with discipline problems because it gives students something to do

before the class begins. The Opening Sponge was a Kahoot.com review game which reinforced a

previous lesson from earlier in the week. I proceeded to show Coach P how Kahoot worked and

showed him the data that he can get on the students from Kahoot. I then started the Skype

application to ensure it was working, so we could receive a call from our guest speaker.

The students started arriving, and I instructed them to follow the directions on the LCD screen.

As the final students arrived in the class Coach P told them that they had five minutes on the

Kahoot game. As the students worked, Coach P explained that he and I would be co-teaching the

class together today. I started off the class talking about pandemics, the wide-spread outbreak of
COACHING JOURNAL 6

diseases. As we discussed the topic, I asked them to research the different types of pathogens that

can cause infections. The students were then asked to create and share a Google Sheet with

names of pathogens and the diseases they produce. The students then analyze the diseases and

their fatality rates and rated them in order from mild to deadliest. As the students were finishing

their assignments, we received a call on Skype from T. Hargrove, a former student of mine

majoring in Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Hargrove introduced herself,

told the students a little about her background and proceeded to answer questions from the

students. The question and answer session was held for 5 to 8 minutes. We thanked Ms. Hargrove

for her time and started to end the class. As Coach P monitored the students logging off their

computers, I asked leading questions to gauge understanding and what was learned from the

lesson. The students then shut down their computers and returned to their academic classes.

I asked Coach P how he thought the lesson went and he stated that he thought it went well. He

said he liked the idea of setting up the computers before the class started to cut down on wasted

time. He also liked the idea of using Skype for guest speakers. He stated that "a guest speaker

may not be as reluctant to talk to a class if they knew that could do it over Skype and not take off

from work." I asked Coach P to flowchart the LoTi level of my lesson, which he gave a LoTi 5.

Reflection

Coach P seem open to new ideas and to using technology in his class. I think I may have

thrown too much to fast at him with the lesson I modeled. I don't want Coach P to believe he is

not an effective teacher. He is an excellent teacher with his own style. I think by seeing me

model the lesson, it will help Coach P with his teaching and planning.

As a technology coach, I think I need to slow down a little. Sometimes, when change

comes to fast, the difference is not well received. I am going to take the next couple of days and
COACHING JOURNAL 7

reflect on my coaching sessions. Also, I going to ask Coach P if we are moving too quickly and if

he would like to slow down.

Session 4

Date and Time: March 20, 2018 8:45-9:30AM

Goals/Targets:

1. Sign-up for a Kahoot.com teacher account

2. Learn how to create games and quizzes

For a coaching partnership to be successful, there must be a transparent and honest open

line of communication between the partners. Knight (2007), stated that it is important that the

teachers know they are free to express their opinions. I asked Coach P how did he feel about the

modeling session after having more time to reflect, over the weekend. Coach P stated that he

enjoyed the class, but it seemed like a lot of work. He also said that he attempted to raise the

LoTi levels of this week's lessons using the LoTi framework.

During today's session, we used the kahoot.com website. Coach P had never used the site

before seeing it used during last week's modeling lesson. We signed Coach P up for an account

and started exploring the site together. The first section we investigated was the "Find Kahoot"

section. Here I showed Coach P how to find Kahoots that have been created already by fellow

educators. Coach P stated he thought that he would have to create all the content he used on

Kahoot and he did not know there was content already available. We continued our session by

creating a new Kahoot quiz for one of his upcoming lessons. The quiz creation was a little time

consuming, so we only entered a few questions. Next, we looked at the results section of Kahoot.

Here I show Coach P how to look at data by student and by class. By the time we covered the
COACHING JOURNAL 8

significant Kahoot sections, it was time to get ready for our first block classes. Coach P said he

would finish the Kahoot quiz during his lunch block and let me know if he needed any help.

Reflection

Today was productive, Coach P was eager to learn about the Kahoot website, and I

believe he will use it often in his lessons. I felt a little rushed while teaching Coach P about

Kahoot, but with students coming to class, we had to get in as much coaching as possible. I

always end my sessions with Coach P by saying that "this is an ongoing process, if you ever need

any additional help, please don't hesitate to ask," which he says he would.

Session 5

Date and Time: March 20, 2018, 8:30-8:45 AM

Goals/Targets:

1. Add printer to an employee's laptop

Coach P during morning duty ask me to hook his computer to the connection department's color

laser printer so that he could print off the results from his Kahoot quizzes in color. My reply to

him was, "I would rather teach you how to install the printer yourself." I taught Coach P how to

retrieve the IP address from the printer and how each device on the network has a unique

identifier for that network. We then proceeded to install the printer and drivers. We ran a test

print and completed the install. I ask Coach P if he felt he could install another printer without

my help and he said he thought he could.

Reflection

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for

a lifetime" (Author unknown). Today session for me was probably, the most rewarding. I felt as

if I taught Coach P something that he could use in and out of the workplace. Coach P said he had
COACHING JOURNAL 9

always wondered how computers and printers were identified on the network and my quick

lesson made it clear. Though this session was not about technology infusion into a particular

lesson, I feel it was just as important and any other session that we have had.
COACHING JOURNAL 10

References

Knight, J. (2007) Instructional coaching: A partnership approach to improving

instruction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

“LoTi ‘Snuff’ Test.”, (2011),

tulpytechteacher.wikispaces.com/file/view/LoTi%20Sniff%20Test%20flowchart.pdf.

Author unknown. Traditional Chinese proverb.

COACHING JOURNAL 11