Distance learning has turned our world, education in particular, upside down. My job as an edtech coach looks much different than it did before March 13, 2020. A term that has gone viral since then is "new normal". I am not a fan of that term. I prefer to use the term "new temporary". Much of what we have done in the last six months have been reactionary to the situation. They are temporary changes, but many of these changes will have long lasting effects on how we do our jobs when things go back to "normal".
Pre-COVID, as an edtech coach, I prided myself on being a "walking coach". To best serve my teachers and students, I walked classrooms daily to observe teachers and students in their natural habitats. On my visits, I left observed and left feedback. Click here to learn more about being a "walking coach" by registering for virtual Fall CUE and checking out my (with my wife Katherine Goyette) edtech coaching sessions.
My observations powered my coaching. Since the shutdown and move to distance learning, my coaching looks markedly different. Many of the adjustments I have made are temporary while others will continue to affect the way I coach. Below are four adjustments I have made in distance learning that aren't temporary. Each adjustment can be synthesized for the needs of admin and other instructional coaches.
Admin Google Classroom
Before the shutdown, administrators and coaches in my district, and across the world, made a habit of visiting classrooms to leave feedback for teachers and see students engaged in learning. COVID has definitely changed how admin and coaches do this. One way my schools have pivoted is by creating an "Admin Classroom" account for the site administrators.
Early on, teachers shared "co-teacher" rights in their Google Classrooms with admin and coaches. This allowed admin and coaches to pop in on Classrooms to see pedagogy and student work while leaving feedback to students and teachers. Quickly, we realized teachers adding coaches and admin as co-teachers is a logistical nightmare on the part of the admin. Their Google Classrooms and inboxes quickly became overrun with information, assignments and notifications.
To remedy this, I created a separate "Admin Classroom" account for the site admin to share. Teachers added the "Admin Classroom" account as a co-teacher. As teachers added this account, as tech coach, I went in and organized the hundreds of Classrooms alphabetically by teacher last name and class period. The site admin simply login to Chrome as this account and go to Google Classroom when they want to do virtual walkthroughs.
Setting this up for my school sites was a little bit time consuming, but definitely worth it in the end. This just one example of how edtech coaching has evolved in distance learning and elements of this evolution will continue as we transition to a hybrid model and back to face to face.
Blog & Email
Social distancing has made it impossible to meet one on one with teachers they way I used to. Video calls on Google Meet or Zoom are helpful, but not always convenient. Teachers don't always have time to jump on a video call. A more convenient way of getting support and new ideas is to read a coach's blog.
Since the beginning of distance learning, I have received countless emails for "how-to's" and other ideas to improve student engagement and workflow. As each request for support comes in, I have done my best to write blogs addressing teacher needs. The blog has become a living, evolving resource for teachers to refer to. In addition, I copy and paste each new blog post into an email to teachers. Those who cannot meet during on-call video hours, or find time to go to the blog site, can pick up some support and new ideas in their inbox.
Below is a screenshot of my Cardinal Innovation Center Blog. This blog houses all the requests, support and new idea blog posts. Teachers can access it at cardinalinnovationcenter.org and in their inbox when a new blog post is published.
Coach On-Call Video
Due to social distancing regulations, meetings with teachers or groups of teachers have to take place virtually. Before the shutdown, teachers knew when I was available in my learning space to come get face to face, one on one support. Those physical office hours have now gone virtual. In Google Calendar, I scheduled 2-3 blocks of time daily where I am available on Google Meet. All teachers have been invited to the recurring Calendar invites. All they need to do is open their Calendars and click the link on the event. In addition, I schedule emails to go out each morning with a greeting and the Meet link as a reminder for teachers.
In between classes or on their prep periods, teachers can get some virtual, face to face support. What has made this surprisingly effective is having teachers share their screens with me. This allows me to walk them through, step by step, different tools, apps and strategies. Often times, in person, teachers would ask me to show them on their computer. With screen share, they are the ones doing the work under my coaching and supervision. This seems to be more effective.
Answer with a Screencast
One of my go-to coaching sayings over the years is "answer emails with a screencast". As an edtech coach, many emails I receive are asking how to do something. If I don't have a how-to video already made, I make a quick screencast and reply to the email with the video. Usually, I post the video on YouTube and send the link
In my experience, people don't always want to have to click on a link to be taken to a video. About a year ago, I stumbled on a great Chrome extension by Cloud HQ that allows me to embed YouTube videos in the body of an email. Being able to see the video without leaving the email has led to an increase in teachers viewing my videos.
Below is a step by step guide getting started with Cloud HQ's Embed YouTube Videos in Gmail Chrome extension.
Step 1: In the Chrome Web Store, search for "embed YouTube video Gmail".
