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As illustrated in the District Focused Sessions: Index, part of your administrative support should already include having a school plan for how you, as a coach, are to be supported with professional development dollars, whether that be additional pay, a building paid position, or extra release days. An application process will assist in finding those willing participants. Using these four structures; willing participants, administrative support, attention to time and money, schools will experience success in peer coaching.
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Patricia, Sajael, Rebecca, Pauline

So, when working with teachers to strengthen the teaching and learning processes we must keep these things close at hand. Use all steps of the coaching cycle to ensure that nothing is left out. Use of the Lesson Improvement Rubric is a must when developing the lessons to be taught. In all these wonderful aspects of Coaching, Communication is the key to a successful
collaboration in building strength in teaching and learning.
Reference Links:
Effective Communications Cue Card
Learning Activity Checklist

How {robot.JPG} How Can Facilitators
Optimizing support for coaching is a challenge that all schools face. Especially during the tough economic times and the budget issues that are ever so apparent, we are faced with the question of how facilitators can optimize support for coaching. In this article, our team has identified four resources from the Peer-Ed Coaching Program, two ideas for application, quotes from members of facilitator training, and an image that demonstrates the readiness for coaching.
Through the Peer-Ed Facilitator Program, our team feels there are four resources from the Coaching Handbook that could be easily used at any school site. In discussing communications skills, the Coaching Skills Cue Card (Session 2) is a quick reference to remind coaches the types of communication skills that are effective in coaching programs. Secondly, the Peer Coaching Plan (Session 1) is a framework to develop your coaching program that can allows interaction with the Principal, coach, and collaborating teachers. The Planning Worksheet (Session 2) is a more detailed record of planning the coaching time. Norms are documented, lesson improvement is discussed, and action items are recorded to help support the process and follow up that is needed. Lastly, the team felt the Lesson Improvement Rubric (Session 4) gave a detailed rubric of the actual lesson improvement process. This page is critical to use when discussing lesson improvement and helps guide the lesson improvement process for teachers and in a clear manner detailing expectations.
the program.
During the training, we had the opportunity to acquire feedback from other members on our issue, and Group Six: The Muppets offered us valuable insight. They said,
“Facilitators can optimize support for coaching by getting administrators and school leadership behind the program. Having them on board from the beginning will help in many areas of the program, such as providing PD and teacher collaboration opportunities during the school day. They can also optimize support by providing a sustained collaboration over time with coaches to ensure the program overcomes the initial dip in participation. Constantly communicating and providing resources to coaches will certainly aide their efforts.”

With or Without Bananas
Signs of peer coaching readiness can vary from site to site, however there are many things that sites can do to pave the way for peer coaching success. We have identified, with the help of our peers, factors that define readiness for coaching. The primary factors that define readiness are administrator willingness, facilitator/coach ability, and site-based embedded efforts to sustain ongoing training and support structures for the coaching model.
create a **PeerPeer Coaching Plan**Plan (Session 1:
Although, continuous and sustained administrator support is important, facilitators and coaches play an important role. The ability of the facilitator/coach is integral to the success of the peer coaching program. If the peer coach is able to effectively demonstrate the characteristics outlined on the Coaching Skills Cue Card (Session 2: Activity 2): Active Listening, Paraphrasing, and Questioning Techniques the site will be on the right path. The role of effective communication cannot be understated in the implementation of the peer coaching program. Ultimately, the site would grow a community of effective collaborator/communicators.
Sustainability of the peer coaching program can be determined and planned for from the beginning. The Coaching Goals Planning Worksheet (Session 1: Activity 4) can help open the door to job-embedded professional development discussion. The worksheet determines needs and goals of collaborating teachers that leads into a discussion of the time table and plan for incorporating these steps into the peer coaching model. Identifying the long-term plan and needs of the program will benefit the longevity of the program.