School+-+Elwood+Primary

September 16th 2010 Brighton Beach Primary is very excited to be part of this program. Having been to the first three days, I am feeling like I have a lot to learn and am only just starting out on my 'Literacy Coaching' journey. One of the great benefits of the program so far has been the conversations that have been happening between teachers. We often don't have the opportunities to talk to one another and it has been great to hear what is happening in other settings. My session with Jill Flack was absolutely fantastic and after this session I went back into my Grade Two class and facilitated a discussion about what a good learner looks like. I am aiming to give them more ownership of their learning and let them make more decisions. They were a bit freaked out when they wanted to know if they could use texta, and I said "You can decide". I am very interested in the student to student coaching and this empowerment of kids will help this be set up effectively. Looking forward to the next session in October and the visit to school from an expert to help find out what direction our school wants to go in. Sara.

October 23rd 2010 It is so motivating to attend the PD sessions in the city. Every time I leave I am inspired to trial something new and read more about Literacy.One thing that really stood out to me this time was the concept of Team Coaching. I thought that this method of coaching would be extremely beneficial in my current setting. The idea of coaching for a term, one team of teachers would be sure to show some improvements in teaching practice and student outcomes. Viewing the video made it quite clear about how you could go about it. Next week we have our school meeting with Joan Connor-Cox, so that will give us a chance to share our thoughts and ideas with the Principal and perhaps start formulating a vision of Literacy coaching for our school. Sara

Sara I'm looking forward to listening to you and your Principal share your thoughts towards a literacy vision and verbalising ideas for next year. I find coaches have all enjoyed the time to talk through their thinking with the Principal and sharing the many good practices embedded in your school. Joan

November 3rd 2010 Today we met with Joan to discuss our vision and the program with each other and the Principal. Every time I have the opportunity to discuss the ideas that this course has given me, I get so excited and motivated! So thank you! Something that I have been working on is developing the empowerment of my students. Refering back to my first wiki entry on how I was giving the kids more ownership, I have further extended that now. Each child is monitoring their own learning in relation to what they had decided were essential factors of being a good learner. There are no prizes, no certificates, no extrinisic motivations. It is purely a self reflection tool that allows my Year Two kids to think about their learning and then focus on areas to improve. I have been amazed at how honest and keen they are about the whole process. This reflection process is becoming embedded in the class culture which will then help the kids be more ready for student-student coaching. On another note, I have recently applied for and was successful in getting a leading teacher job starting next year at a new school. The information and knowledge that I have gained from this BASTOW Literacy course, was, I believe a huge reason why I was successful! What does it mean in terms of what I will be doing next year? Only time will tell, all I can say is that it seems like there is some informal student-student coaching already happening, so I am sure they will embrace some of the ideas I have....eventually! One thing we have learnt from this course is about relational trust and that is what I will be working on first. Till next time.....Sara. See Elwood PS link for 2011 updates from me!

﻿19th of February 2011 Well, my journey continues at another school! My previous entries have been made about Brighton Beach Primary and now I am at Elwood Primary, as a Leading Teacher. It will be interesting to see how my journey in Literacy coaching develops, as the school has this year hired another Leading Teacher in the area of Coaching. This is fantastic for me as I can be coached and also see a different way of going about it, but it does lead me to question of what I will be able to bring to the school? There is another very passionate Literacy teacher at the school as well that trialled some informal student-student coaching last year. She will be a great resource to use and I think that this is the direction that I might head in. I am currently in a Grade One class and could easily set up a relationship with the 4's or 5's.

This is where my thinking is at the moment so we will wait and see after days 7 and 8 on where I go. Sara.

Sara, I am very interested in knowing how your intention to start at Elwood PS with a focus on building relational trust, has positioned you with your new peers? I look forward to visiting you in your new setting. Joan

23rd and 24th of February 2011 My focus is on developing relational trust and this ties in well with Elwood Primary Schools vision as well. I am in the process of getting to know the staff, more team, tapping into their expertise and acknowledging that they have a lot to offer. I want to be able to share my knowledge from the course in a way that empowers others.

**This is what I used to think before the course** that my focus would be on teacher coaching as this tied in with role as a Peer Coach at my previous school. **Now I think that my focus** has shifted to implementing student - student coaching within my own classroom and then sharing the process with other teachers across the school.

**I used to think that** student - student coaching was easy to set up, surely it was about just setting up a structure and program. **But now I KNOW** that student-student coaching is about the big picture. It is first about empowering children in their own learning, given them back control, teaching them how to set goals and ensuring that structures are in place that support the children to the 'coach' others. I have started allowing my chidren more 'choice' and teaching them how to articulate their thoughts and goals. I look forward to meeting with my Prin, AP and Joan to further develop what I can do at Elwood PS.

13th of May 2011 The final day has been and it was quite interesting to reflect back on what I have learnt and how my thinking has changed, particularly in regards to the coachee being the most important person in the relationship of coaching and to always remember that it is not about the coach! I attempted a prezi for the first time to illustrate my journey.I am in the process of putting the student coaching in place and once I have done this I will collect data on attitudes and their understanding of reading and then compare to the earlier information.