E19 - Transitioning from Teacher to Coach with Erin Carr

On this episode of Blending In, I got to chat again with Erin Carr, who was my very first guest ever on the show!  Erin is a math-science teacher turned Instructional Coach, and we chatted about her transition from being inside the four walls of her own classroom to being able to see into the classrooms of other teachers. 

Erin and I chatted about how she is seeing blended learning being implemented in the classrooms of teachers on her campus.  Since the pandemic, we both have seen a major shift in returning to many traditional learning methods that do not involve technology; but as coaches we recognize the need for technology to remain present alongside traditional learning strategies.  We agree that finding that balance is challenging for teachers, and many teachers are just uncertain about when to use tech vs. traditional learning methods.  Teachers must have clarity around their learning intentions first and foremost, and then it can be decided which instructional tools and/or strategies should be used to best help learners achieve the success criteria that has been set forth. Erin also mentioned in our conversation that management of the technology is another barrier that causes some teachers to avoid the technology and revert to traditional-only methods.  We talked about the onboarding hesitancy that educators experience when it comes to allowing students to utilize a platform that the teacher may not feel like an “expert” in.  This is a very real fear that keeps us from allowing students to jump in to using something new.  I shared my opinion about releasing some of the fear and control, and allowing students to use district-approved technology platforms like Canva or Kami, for example, to allow students to explore, create, and even teach each other features of the platform.  When we “let go” as Erin says, this is when the magic can happen!

Next year, Erin will get to experience the magic of both worlds of teaching and learning, as our district has undergone some restructuring.   In her new role as a Learning Improvement Site Support Specialist (LISSS) She will be teaching a couple of class periods a day and coaching for the rest of her day at her school site.  I will also be going back to the classroom next year (which I’ll talk about in a later episode), so we talked a little bit about what we have learned outside of the classroom as coaches and what we will be changing in our practice as we go back into the classroom. And there was a small shoutout to our amazing CTO, Ben Markley, who is so supportive of putting high quality edtech tools and platforms at the fingertips of teachers in our district so we can provide the best possible instruction to our students.

Our advice as coaches is to go and see other teachers teach with an instructional coach if you have one; seeing other people do this job is one of the most powerful professional growth practices that you can engage in in our profession!  

Follow Erin on Twitter @ErinCarrDVMS or on Instagram @brianecarr

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