After you’ve completed the pre-work, it’s time to start putting it all into practice during the coaching implementation stage, also known as the observation and data-collection stage. There are surely numerous resources available to assist teachers in this process.

Making a Lesson Record

While it is not a great technology, your appearance at the start of implementation can tremendously increase a teacher’s confidence! If you are unable to be present and have earned your teacher’s trust, it may be advantageous to record the class in operation using a tablet mounted on a frame with a mic connection. This should be done only if your teacher is pleased, and solely for reflection. We do not advise bringing this up until you have established a good rapport with your instructor.

Student Polls

Meanwhile, who better to criticize than students? When attempting anything new in class, doing brief surveys with Google Forms or commenting with FlipGrid can be incredibly beneficial. If you use a student poll, make sure it would take no more than five minutes to complete.

Reflection Tools on the Internet

Ultimately, for the reflection/identification part of the coaching process, you’ll want to give your instructor a place to talk about how the session went: what worked, what didn’t work out, what they still have concerns about, and what their next steps are. We propose using a shared Google Doc where the instructor can comment on the encounters, and you can provide brief comments. Some coaches offer surveys. In our perspective, those have a poor response rate, but if you decide to use surveys, Google Forms is a terrific resource. 

All of the virtual tools mentioned in this post are inexpensive to utilize and have a low learning slope. If you’re trying a new tool, be open and upfront with your trainers about your progress. Presenting your skill integration is the best method to demonstrate to instructors that they can gain new skills. We urge that all school coaches consider incorporating a bit of technology into their work to support their instructors and give them online technologies that may make their situation a little simpler.