School+-+Mahogany+Rise+PS

Mahogany Rise Primary school is located in Frankston North. It has 8 classes and an enrollment of about 170 students. In 2009 I was employed full time as the literacy coach. This year I am 0.5 at Mahogany Rise and 0.5 at Aldercourt Primary school about 2kms away. I have enjoyed continuing to work with teachers that I worked with last year. It is much easier when the relationship is already developed. This year at MRPS I have kept working with 2 teachers that I worked with last year and have 3 new staff members. I find every day different and every teacher different. I am looking forward to building more of my coaching skills over the next few days of this course.

Katrina

This year at MRPS we have looked at the way we teach writing. After lots of reading and several school visits, we developed the MRPS writing process. Part of my work is to ensure that all of the teachers understand what the other teachers are doing. We meet as a junior team on Thursdays and as a whole staff on Wednesdays. I have attached the writing mapping tool that we are using. The second page is directly taken from the literacy audit tool but the first page is for our program.

Hi Katrina,

I have looked at your mapping tool which is really useful for one of the things I am implementing right now. Just out of interest, what are the 4 parts you want teachers to discuss for each text type? Chanel Hicks

Hi Chanel,

I have not been great at checking the Wiki space. I need to get on it more. I will bring a copy of the writing posters that we use for you to see tomorrow.

Katrina

REFLECTIONS

I began my role as a Regional based Literacy Coach full time at MRPS in April 2009. I was fortunate enough to participate in the regional training days which I found extremely valuable. One thing that I was told is that the role of the coach was to make themself obsolete. I didn't really understand this concept at the time. At the end of last year I was given another year contract but this time I was split 0.5 at MRPS and 0.5 at Aldercourt Primary. Working at two schools bought new challenges.

In my coaching I have always worked hard to develop relationships and not be seen as the expert but rather someone who can see things from another perspective and can discuss new ideas. I have been a part of a huge change in the literacy program at MRPS and it has been really exciting. We have moved from what was called 'Rotation stations' to Independent Reading, we went to other schools to see their literacy programs and we totally modified the writing program from Prep-grade 6. I get 'thanks' from the teachers but it is not about me and I am not the one who has made the changes. I made the suggestions and they made the changes. It took me a while to get over the fact that teachers were celebrating their success and I was just sitting quietly in the background.

This course has allowed me to meet with many different people in many different situations. I have been able to see the different approaches to coaching and to get some ideas about how to work with more people. Coaching parent helpers and integration aides was never part of my job but it has tied in nicely. It is a different sort of coaching to what I do with teachers but I now think that it is ok to work differently with different groups. I have enjoyed the team coaching, especially when I also work with the teachers individually. I have developed my job into something quite different from what I began with.

Last week I was informed that I would not be continuing at MRPS next year due to staffing changes and budget cuts. This was a little expected but still a shock. I wanted to see the children progress through the school under the new literacy program and track their progress. I then wanted to compare the data to the old data to see if the changes were making a difference in the long term. It is sad that my little project has been taken away. )-:

Over the last week I have done a lot of reflecting. I have come up with the idea that I have done my job. The teachers here don't really need me anymore. They are all constantly reflecting on their practise. They meet regularly to discuss any issues and to share ideas. Everyone is excited by change and they are willing to look at new programs. Teachers visit each others classrooms to observe the way that others teach. Literacy readings are shared and discussed at team meetings. Student data is used to inform teaching. Planning is organised so that the students' needs are met. Integration aides work alongside the teachers. Peer coaching between teachers happens in the hallways and at planning meetings. I have helped to change the thinking of the teachers. The teachers are happy, the students are happy and the results are changing. I will keep in touch with the teachers at MRPS and see how they are going next year but I am now moving away content and look forward to my next challenge.