Reflection Paper 1

Collegial Coaching Reflection Paper for Technology Advanced Design

Kali Fluke, Graduate Student, Bachelors of Science

Texas Southern University, Houston Baptist University

Author Note

There was no funding for this research.

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Abstract

The purpose of this reflective paper is to show the state of education today, in respects to

technology use by teachers and professors. To get a better understanding of this, the method of

an internship was used in the form of peer coaching. This collegial coaching process took place

over the course of five weeks and required lots of patience, time-management and commitment.

There are three different coachees who will be discussed during this paper and they are as

followed: Gabrielle Floyd, Luther Fluke and Maria Cook. Each come from a different

background, and were used in my peer coaching internship to help them build, grow and redefine

their views on technology within both the classroom and real world. This internship allowed for

me to work with each one of my coachees on focused areas that they chose a liking to. Some of

the resources used for research and creating purposes were the books for the course, which

include “Naturalizing Digital Immigrants” and “Coaching Approaches and Perspectives.”

Through our combined research, creativity and coaching time we could see both major success

and slight failures, but both produced helpful lessons to show us what works and what doesn’t

work, and what can be done to adjust/fix different things to generate better results.

Keywords: Technology, Coachees, Peer Coaching, Collegial Coaching, Internship,

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Collegial Coaching Reflection Paper for Technology Advanced Design

Have you ever thought about the state of education in today’s world and wondered about

the impact technology makes? Think about it, all around the world there is technology and it is

growing rapidly, but what about everyone else, are we growing with it too? Furthermore, where

technology is usually deemed more important, are schools, teachers, universities, and professors

keeping up with it? These are the questions that must be thought about and handled to better

prepare individuals to live and function in a world that is very dependent on technology. Without

the means and reasoning for knowledge about technology, individuals are left clueless and

behind times. This is a perfect reason to prove how peer coaching can be successful and

beneficial for all parties involved. Peer coaching can be useful in the development of an

individual’s technology success on many different levels. For example, the expansion of a

teacher’s technology integration inside the classroom using Web 2.0 tools, a smart board, or a

digital microphone. Also, it can redefine an individual’s confidence when using technology by

bettering their understand of social media, or showing them how to create and navigate websites.

This paper examines various areas of technology and the role that peer coaching plays when

incorporating it with coachees in the classroom as well as with coachees in the real world who

teach others in an unformal way compared to the classroom.

Literature Review

As stated in the abstract two resources were used during the peer coaching process. These

two books made the process slightly less stressful and provided great advice and information on

how to be a successful peer coach, and how to use collegial coaching and technology together.

As stated in “Naturalizing Digital Immigrants”, “Within classroom settings, the promise of

technology is immense. It holds the potential to enhance educational opportunities for leaners
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across the globe. When implemented effectively, technology frequently enriches the extent and

impact of skillfully executed teaching, It offers educators useful tools for re-envisioning the

delivery of vital concepts, thereby enabling students to become cocreators of their own learning

experiences.” This spoke to me because it shows the importance technology holds and the

potential it has of being very beneficial for any and every child that enters a classroom. Not only

can this be applied to K-12 students, but adult learners too. They all hold their own creative

capabilities and many can come to light if educators can relay this type of information in

efficient ways. However, to produce technological savvy students, educators must be skillful and

effective when integrating technology based content. Another part of this book stuck with me as

well because we always talk about wanting change, but do not always know how to go about it.

It states, “An imperative focus among today’s school administrators involves creating

professional cultures more responsive and receptive to technological innovation and its

implications.” This proves that there is a common thought that many school admin. are starting

to share amongst each other regarding the peer coaching process. The fact that, that idea is being

discussed on the administrative level is a good start for change because we all know that if we

want something to change we usually must follow the chain of command in a formal setting. One

of my coachees expressed her thoughts about this quote as it related to a school setting and this is

where the idea of being open minded came to be one of the critical elements needed for a

collegial coaching program. She thought about those schools who are ran by close minded

people and the schools that have teachers ready for a program like this, but not their higher ups.

We discussed how important it is for not only the teachers to be responsive and receptive, but

also the administrators due to their part in possibly accepting or rejecting a program like this

among their campuses. Therefore, we agreed that this “imperative focus” must be recognized on
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all levels of the school/campus to create the appropriate culture and set the tone for a successful

program. Since working with adults sometimes comes harder than working with children, or

young adults, it is important to know how adults learn best. The book talks about three principles

that directly help the adult learning process. As stated, “Because adults learn best in situations

through which they have the opportunity to address a set goal or goals, well-defined projects

should be determined early within the coaching process. In doing so the coaches and coached

teachers will be able to more readily progress with focus toward a set target…” For the most part

my coachees knew what they wanted to get out of our time together, and even if they did not

state it at first, we eventually came up with a common goal for all, and that was to learn

something new and implement it. It is a very generic goal, but again it is something concrete that

they looked at as reasonable and practicable. The journal questions made it easier to define goals

and focus areas of each coachee, and since that was stated in the beginning they were excited to

progress towards their goals. Stated goals can make or break a peer coaching program due to the

risk of coachees being less receptive based on fear of wasting time and working towards

something aimlessly. Moving on to the next book for the course, “Coaching Approaches and

Perspectives” this resource was very beneficial for determining what kind of coach was needed

for each coachee. We all know people are different and that their learning styles vary, this book

presented diverse approaches for coaching. Knowing my role for this peer coaching program was

essential and this section of the book helped me to realize all of what was in store for me, it

states, “Coaches will need to be familiar with research-based interventions and strategies of

classroom management and understand the dynamics involved in classroom behavior and

misbehavior, recognizing the variables that can be manipulat4ed to bring about positive

outcomes for students. In addition to being knowledgeable about effective classroom

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management, coaches should be helpful, supportive, and nonthreatening. An effective coach uses

good communication skills and interpersonal rapport to build and maintain effective

relationships with teachers.” This was very relatable in all aspects. For one, the rapport between

my coachees and I was already established, we all have good relationships with one and another

and I was thankful for that because it made it easier to agree and disagree on things without

losing complete trust. My familiarity with effective classroom management all came from

previous classes taken and on field experience, which in turn made my confidence for handling

these situations high. Being their effective coach was very important and every day whether we

met or not, the goal was to be the best form of me that each one needed, while keeping in mind

to always be helpful, supportive, and nonthreatening. The theory of incremental intelligence is

one discussed in chapter six of this book, and it is said to be the ongoing emerging theory of

intelligence where it deals with biology, brain research and cognitive psychology. The book

states, “The theory posits that we can indeed become smarter by becoming cognizant of who we

are as learners and by applying the right kinds of effort and metacognitive strategies to whatever

it is we want to learn or accomplish. In practice, this theory of intelligence implies that

educational models should be more effort based and less ability based.” This quote hit me deep

because it set the realization in that we can do whatever we put or mind to, and with a mentality

like this enforced in a collegial coaching program there’s no way you will not succeed. It starts

with the coach having the fire to pass on to the educators who in turn pass it on to the students.

Everyone must realize that mental effort comes first and then physical effort can be exerted

easier to learn/accomplish any goal.

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Methods

My three coachees were from all different backgrounds and areas of expertise, but they

were alike due to the fact they all were touching different types of learners. Through research,

creating/collaborating and coaching we all experienced different success and failure. Even

through obstacles, my coachees remained faithful in me and I remained diligent to see this

program through. Gabrielle Floyd was my first coachee and she is associated with Texas

Southern University. I met her my freshmen year in undergrad ack in 2013, she was my assistant

coach for volleyball. She is a professor there in the health education department under

kinesiology and has 10.5 years of experience. Our three focus areas were virtual classrooms, web

2.0 tools, and online study tools. These seemed to fit her classroom well as she deals with both

traditional and non-traditional college students. Her confidence level with technology was

strong, her only fear was when technology does not act right. Our first technology integration

involved the use of a smart board to incorporate a sense of a virtual classroom. She did not

acquire any online classes this semester but she has in the past and will in the future, therefore

she wanted to better prepare for that while I had the time to help her. It went well, classes started

to pick up how it worked faster as the day went on, although she pointed out that for her bigger

classes she would like if more than one person could use the board at a time. It was a good point

made, but reminded her that in a virtual classroom everyone will be able to respond and interact

at any time. Another integration we tried was GradesFirst, it is an online tool that is very

beneficial for both the students and the teacher. We both had prior knowledge to how it worked,

but we shared different ideas about how to further the experience for her and her students.

Another integration process was the use of the roll call app, which was helpful but not as useful

as we thought it would be and thought about how to expand this app for college classes.
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My next coachee was my dad, Luther Fluke. He is a retired army combat medic, who is

now an instructor at Camp Bullis in San Antonio, TX. He has ten plus years in experience and

teaches soldiers about medical operations. Since he is my dad I’ve known him all my life, and he

was very confident in his technology level. Although, I was set out to show him he still had a

few things to learn. Our three focuses were adult learning, digital microphones and smartboards.

These seemed relatable to his line of work, apart from the smartboard. That was one of the

obstacles we faced because none of his teaching facilities had a smart board, so it was more

about just discussing with him the pros and cons of a smartboard and hypothetic teaching with it.

One integration we used was the of the digital microphones tool while presenting about the

socrative tool that I did a screen-cast for. My coachee shared the video with his class and

presented a PowerPoint on it while using the digital microphone to see the differences in student

participation, how well students retain the information and student attention rates. He shared

with me that many students took a like to it because it had little room for error within instructions

since he was so clear and precise and everyone could hear whether he was doing the talking or a

fellow peer was.

My third and final coachee was my aunt, Maria Cook. She works with adults to prepare

them for the real world and their quest to attain jobs that require knowledge about technology in

many aspects. She has eleven plus years in experience and lives in Topeka, KS. Since she is my

aunt I also have known her all my life. She specializes in work skills, communications and

resume building. Our three focuses were social media/ cellphones, networking sites, and online

media. My screen-cast proved very efficient in her quest to learn more about navigating a

website. She even tried her own screen cast to show me what she had learned and how she could

plan to use it to show her trainees. That integration piece was highly successful and beneficial for
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all. We had an informal discussion about social media and cell phones and we just spit ideas

back and forth about how we could get millennials and young adults to use these sites and their

devices for more than just pleasure. She realized that at times she puts all younger people into a

category that we all do not fit in, but most do. She got a better understanding about why they are

so attached to their phones, and she gave me a better understanding of why it is okay to give

yourself a break sometimes.

Results.

This entire process was truly a blessing, and the fact that I got to experience it with

people I truly care about it made it even more worth it. I learned many things about the coaching

process. I knew from my athletic career that it would take patience and communication, but I

think I underestimated exactly how much of each it would take from my coachees and me. I

realized that the beginning questions for my coachee's helped me to prepare for coaching them. I

learned that people mean what they say, and appreciate when you think of them and their

likes/dislikes. Taking what my coachee's said and using it worked in my advantage because it

helped to keep all of us in a good space. My coachee Gabrielle discussed with me about different

professional developments she attends, and explained her views in comparison to mine. My

opinion for the comparison is that collegial coaching compared to traditional professional

development is above subpar because it is far more helpful and goal orientated. Collegial

coaching is very beneficial because it is one on one and more focused than professional

developments that can be quick with many, many people. Therefore, PD's do not always have

ample enough time for those trying to expand their teaching. The coaching process can be more

helpful because coach's can be required to have experience in a certain area, or trained in a

certain area, compared to PD's that are usually broader in subject/content area. Thinking more
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about how well this collegial coaching program went, I shared with my coachees my thoughts on

how they could implement one by listing critical elements. Some of the most critical elements I

would say to think of when/if anyone decided to design or implement a peer coaching program

would be communication, time management, organization and an open mind. I would say

communication is key, especially if you are meeting and working with someone new. It takes

some time to feel out people and see what they like and dislike and what they respond and why.

Time management is also key because of deadlines. There is nothing worse than not being

prepared or even pre-planning because things pop up all the time and can cause stress.

Organization would be helpful to use because a successful peer coaching program should be well

organized to be beneficial and have continued success. Finally, I would say an open mind is

needed because every person is different and some people are stubborn and stuck in their ways.

Therefore, you will need to be open to how and what others like to maintain a balance between

you and your coachees.

Conclusions.

All in all, this was a wonderful experience and the growth I attained has made me

extremely grateful. The best qualities I could have and suggest for a coach would be to be kind,

patient, helpful and approachable. There is nothing more important than being fully there for all

your coachees. On the flip side of that qualities I would suggest for a coachee to demonstrate

would be patience, open minded, favorable and acknowledging. There are many other qualities

for both that can attribute to a successful peer program, but in my eyes, these are the most

important and the ones my coachees and me possessed during our time together. Some of the

best things about this experience that my coachees shared with me were one, that they got to

learn without even being in school and two that they got to do it with someone they care and
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respect. Some of the best things about this experience from my coaching point of view was

learning how to be a different coach for each one of my coachees and having to work through so

many obstacles without giving up. If I were to do this all over again, the only thing I would

change would be to ensure I would have the money to meet up with my dad and aunt just

because I know I could be more useful to them in person.

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References

Alaniz, Katie. Wilson, Dawn. (2015) Naturalizing Digital Immigrants. Lanham, MD: Rowman

and Littlefield

Cornett, Jake. Ellison, Jane. Hayes, Carolee. Killion, Joellen. Kise, Jane. A.G. Knight, Jim.

Reinke, Wendy. R. Reiss, Karla. Sprick, Randy. Toll, Cathy. A. West, Lucy. (2009) Coaching

Approaches and Perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

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Tables

Table 1

Time log

MTT Internship Timesheet

Time Period Coach Gabby Luther Maria Total
Jan. 23 - Jan. 29 2.5 1.5 2.5 6.5
Jan. 30 - Feb. 5 3.5 2.5 2.5 8.5
Feb. 6 - Feb. 12 2 4 3 9
Feb. 13 - Feb. 19 4.5 3.5 4 12
Feb. 20 - Feb. 26 2.5 3.5 3 9
Total 45

Note: This was the duration of my time with each coachee. I was required to provide a total of 15

hours with each and a complete 45 hours all together. As you can see in the table I complete both

requirements.

Table 2

Coach Gabby Logs

Time Period Time Time

Activity or Spent Time Spent Spent Total for
Topic Coaching Researching Creating the Week
Jan. 23 - 29
Virtual
Classrooms 0.25 0.25 0.5
Web 2.0 Tools 0.25 0.25 0.5
Online Study
Tools 0.25 1 0.25 1.5
0
Total 2.5
Jan. 30 - Feb. 5
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Virtual
Classrooms 0.25 0.25 0.5
Web 2.0 Tools 0.25 0.25
Online Study
Tools 1 0.25 1.25
Interview 1.5 1.5
Total 3.5
Feb. 6 - Feb. 12
Virtual
Classrooms 0.5 0.25 0.75
Web 2.0 Tools 1 0.75 1.75
Online Study
Tools 0.25 0.75 1
0
Total 3.5
Feb. 20 - Feb.
26
Virtual
Classrooms 0.5 1 0.5 2
Web 2.0 Tools 0.25 1 1.25
Online Study
Tools 0.25 1 1.25
0
Total 4.5
Oct. 26 - Nov.
15
Virtual
Classrooms 0.5 0.5 1
Web 2.0 Tools 0.5 0.5
Online Study
Tools 0.5 0.5
Interview 0.5 0.5
Total 2.5
Final Total 16.5

Table 3

Luther’s Log
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Time Period Time Time

Activity or Spent Time Spent Spent Total for
Topic Coaching Researching Creating the Week
Jan. 23 - 29
Adult Learning 0.25 0.25
Digital
Microphones 0.25 0.25
Smartboards 0.25 0.25
Interview 0.75 0.75
Total 1.5
Jan. 30 - Feb. 5
Adult Learning 0.25 1 1.25
Digital
Microphones 0.75 0.75
Smartboards 0.25 0.25 0.5
0
Total 2.5
Feb. 6 - Feb. 12
Adult Learning 1.5 1 2.5
Digital
Microphones 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.75
Smartboards 0.75 0.75
0
Total 4
Feb. 20 - Feb.
26
Adult Learning 0.5 1 1.5
Digital
Microphones 0.5 0.5 1
Smartboards 0.5 0.5 1
0
Total 3.5
Oct. 26 - Nov.
15
Adult Learning 0.25 0.25 0.5
Digital
Microphones 0.5 0.5
Smartboards 1 1 2
Interview 0.5 0.5
Total 3.5

Final Total 15
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Table 4

Maria’s Log

Time Time
Time Period Spent Time Spent Spent Total for
Activity or Topic Coaching Researching Creating the Week
Jan. 23 - Jan. 29

Social
Media/Cellphones 0.25 0.5 0.75

Networking Sites 0.25 0.25 0.5

Online Media 0.25 0.25 0.5
Interview 0.75 0.75
Total 2.5
Jan. 30 - Feb. 5

Social
Media/Cellphones 1 0.75 1.75

Networking Sites 0.25 0.5 0.75

Online Media 0.25 0.5
0
Total 2.5
Feb. 6 - Feb. 12

Social
Media/Cellphones 0.25 1 1.25

Networking Sites 1 1
Online Media 0.75 0.75
Total 3
Feb. 13 - Feb. 19

Social
Media/Cellphones 1 1 2

Networking Sites 0.75 0.75

Online Media 0.25 0.25
Interview 1 1
0
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Total 4
Feb. 20 - Feb. 26

Social
Media/Cellphones 0.25 0.25 0.5

Networking Sites 1 1 2
Online Media 0.25 0.25 0.5
0
Total 3
Final Total 15
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