The Collegial Coaching Experience

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Dantonio’s (2001) statement also resonated with me: “Maintaining effective instructional practices is as important as changing ineffective ones” (p. 82). I hope that Sasha continues to feel empowered by this experience. I also told Sasha that I would be happy to be a sounding board for her ideas in the future. Even though this formal coaching experience is complete, as a teacher, I feel that it is my responsibility to be there for my colleagues.
That leads to another takeaway from this experience, which is the power of collaboration between two educators. My coaching experience was so clearly focused on the area that Sasha wanted to develop and, even though there is still room for improvement in conducting reading conferences, Sasha demonstrated …show more content…

As a novice, I felt like I had very little credibility. I lacked confidence when going into this experience because I would ask myself, “Who am I to be the coach?” However, while I was more tentative at first, I felt more comfortable in the collegial coaching model as time went on. My advice for someone else who is about to begin their first coaching experience is to approach the coaching relationship as being two teachers, who are equals, embarking on an inquiry-driven process to refine their teaching practices. Within the collegial coaching model, the coach does not impart all of the knowledge, but rather facilitates the teacher’s growth.
Overall, I have learned so much from the experience of coaching Sasha. I gained the experience of working with another educator and problem solving together. Through being a coach, I also learned more about myself as a “teacher of teachers.” I found myself to be more nervous about it than I had expected, even though I have been friends with Sasha long before this coaching experience. Most of all, this experience has shown me that no matter where I am in my teaching career, I will be continuing to grow as an

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