Coaching Along the Pathway of Change

As I begin my second year as a digital learning coach (DLC) for the Tustin Unified School District, I am reflecting on a few strategies that really seemed to work for me last year. The goal is to help those I coach to change, to look at curriculum in a new light, to integrate technology in a way that  may have seemed unimaginable one decade ago. Ed tech has come a long way, but many teachers are just beginning their journey along their own pathway of change.

Steve Regur, CEO and co-founder of Educators Co-Operative, has spent several days over the past year preparing the DLCs of TUSD with communication techniques and coaching strategies to help us connect and promote positive change in those that we coach. The following lessons learned all come from insights gained from our master coach.

Lesson #1
"Change is like the grievance cycle, they have to let go of something." 
I have found that teachers grieve when they give up the systems and assignments they have used for years. Often, they try and design their digital classroom to look and feel similar to their traditional classroom. Although this may be a good starting place for the novice, I have learned to provide multiple examples of how workflow and assignments can be re-defined to try and get them away from their patterns of thinking. We then narrow it down, through cognitive coaching and questioning methods, to the one idea that seems to have generated the most interest and just pushes the boundaries enough to make the teacher feel comfortably uncomfortable. After a good trial run to really get an idea of workflow, lesson design, and management of this new strategy, we reflect and re-evaluate whether we want to stay on this path or change course.

Lesson #2
Self-efficacy is an important tool.
According to Kendra Cherry, "self-efficacy, or the belief in your own abilities to deal with various situations, can play a role in not only how you feel about yourself, but whether or not you successfully achieve your goals in life." Teachers seem to respond well when you build on their current abilities, rather than always trying something new. Apps are great, but they are secondary to the concepts we teach.  I have learned to build tech integration skills through focusing on the  concepts and curriculum teachers know so well, thus also building confidence and motivation through the tool of self-efficacy. Never forget that veteran teachers are content experts!

Lesson #3
Be aware of cognitive overload!
As described in a highly quoted article by Miller in 1956, our working memory has the ability to process about seven elements of new information at one time (plus or minus two). After this, we reach cognitive overload and have a hard time processing these elements into schema to store them in long-term memory. Luckily, long-term memory does not have the same limitations of working memory and expertise can develop as we learn to automate these schemas. The trick is to figure out when the person you are coaching has reached the magic number seven. I have learned to ask teachers repeat steps and processes on their own to help gauge if they are able to take on any more elements of instruction. Those that catch on quickly probably already had some of these schemas archived in long-term memory.

Good luck to all the Ed Tech Coaches out there as we begin a new school year. It just keeps on getting better every year!