Confession: Our coaching cycle was scheduled for what turned into an extremely busy day, and something that I had written down in my plans but forgot about until almost the last minute. When I flipped to that day's page in my planner, my first thought was, "Oh man...that's TODAY?!" And while I always look forward to talking and reflecting with Dawn, it felt like it would be one more thing to check off the list on a day when I was already drowning in to-dos. We were planning to work on assessment, but I did not feel like I was prepared to be all that productive when Dawn showed up.
But as usual, our time together ended up being productive, inspiring, and motivating (I now have a much longer list of to-dos to begin working on for the upcoming year!). After discussing my reflections of our first PBL trip, we discussed some ideas for how this could translate into the work I could do with our teachers next year. I am eager to bring a stronger emphasis on PBL, coaching cycles, and an emphasis on personalized learning into my work with students and teachers. This is the time of year when I finally start to come up for air, as teachers are generally in test-prep mode and don't demand much of my time again until later on in May. So it's when my wheels start spinning about what we could attempt and accomplish in the next school year. Dawn and I worked out some rough plans that could bring about some really big and exciting changes, and it was SO worth taking that time out of my day to bounce my ideas off of her, and get some great feedback and encouragement as well.
I've taken a lot of great classes with Dawn, but this course--and the creativity, encouragement, and excitement that have gone along with it--has been my favorite by far. My coaching cycle with Dawn helped to set an example for me of the kind of supportive, validating coach that I want to be for our teachers at FES--and our students, as I work with them on PBL experiences.This was such a valuable experience for me, and I am excited to see what comes of our brainstorming and planning session in the next year!
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI am thankful that you found the pbl coaching cycle beneficial to you. I knew from the observation of the fourth grade pbl sound unit that you have a solid understand of pbl pedagogy and had experience implementing so I am glad that you were okay with us branching out from the current unit you were working on to considering possibilities for the coming year to provide ongoing project based learning support for each grade level in a collaborative partnership with Heather. I know that on any given day the to do list is full and any additional meeting during planning can be hectic but I am glad that this one proved to be worth the time and proved fruitful in terms of the possibilities it could provide teachers and students with next year.
I also want to thank you for your continued encouragement and support of my work. Whenever I see your name on a roster my heart lights up because I know how much I will grow from collaborating with you. I appreciate your kind words towards my work and our collaboration and I am excited about what the future holds.
Sincerely,
Dawn