Virtual Coaching

2/23/2015

Technology allows people to connect from different cities, states, and even countries. While working with teachers to implement blended learning, I set up weekly virtual meetings to check in on the progress of the blended learning classroom. Below are just some of the highlights and challenges while working from miles away.

Benifits of Virtual Coaching

After providing professional development onsite, I set up virtual meetings with the teachers to touch base, provide resources, and just to answer questions. Below are just a few of the benefits for virtual meeting.

Questions: Teachers have a chance to ask questions in small groups about how to implement blended learning for their specific classroom environment.
Relations: I am able to continue to build relationships with the teachers throughout the blended learning process.
Resources: While working and talking with the teachers virtually, I am able to showcase tools, websites, and resources to use within the individual classrooms.
Support: Sometimes teachers just need to know that someone is in their corner and when things get tough they have the ability to talk and work out the roadblocks.
Visual: Teachers can see me, I can see them. By using video conferencing tools, I am able to read faces, watch for interactions. Teachers are able toes me, so they know that I am a person not just a voice.

This is a virtual meeting with teachers from New Jersey. We are looking at the data from Achieve 3000 to determine the different groups for the 3rd grade blended learning classroom. Even though we are all in the same room, we continue to personalize the learning based on the different classrooms. While working with one group of teachers, other teachers are finding resources based on their classroom data.

Challenges of Virtual Coaching

Technology is fantastic and allows us to connect but there are some challenges that stand in the way when miles separate the learners.

Snow Days: Yes, it might be sunny and warm where I live but snowy and cold where the teachers are teaching. I need to be on the snow day call list.

Tools for Virtual Coaching

Tools for Virtual Coaching meetings. Below is a list of tools that I use to virtually meet with the teachers after the professional development workshops.

Google Hangout: I love Google Hangouts. We can invite a lot of people to the meetings, teachers can log in from their classrooms, and I can share out my screen with the participants.
Swivl: Using the swivl to video tape the classroom. Teachers set up the Swivl take the videos and then share out the videos to me. We watch and talk about ways to continue to improve the blended learning process.
Google Communities: To continue the discussion after the virtual meeting, I set up a Google Community discussion board. Teachers can post pictures, answer questions, and review the tools that were showcased during the meeting.

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