The Power of Reflection

Our Department of Instructional Innovation in Berwyn South District 100 follows Jim Knight’s coaching model The Impact Cycle. Through the work in our department last year, a critical component was to share the impact our instructional coaches were having in the classroom as they partnered with classroom teachers. As part of our journey last year, our team was challenged with sharing their story with our district and school community by using a storytelling arch of their partnership. Coaches were given a template of sentence stems to guide their story. In the example here, our instructional coach, Ms. Liz Given partnered with one of our second grade teachers, Ms. Jenna Jungels. Using the Keynote template, they created a movie which discusses their partnership, their instructional goals, strategies, the impact on student learning, and their final reflection. This powerful storytelling prompt allowed an opportunity for our partnership to have a deep reflective conversation on their journey together and how their strategic planning fostered success for all of their students.

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6 replies

September 14, 2022

Love Jim Knight's work. What steps is your District taking next to ensure it stays embedded and a sustainable practice?

September 19, 2022

I meet with our coaching team twice a month to collaborate on best practices in utilizing this coaching cycle framework. Coaches report their dialogic cycles in greater depth in order to ensure we have having a direct impact on student learning.

September 19, 2022

Sounds like a great system you have set up.

September 22, 2022

Thank you! We are looking forward to growing and improving this process as we engage in more coaching experiences together!

September 22, 2022

I love reading about this! Our coaches, too, are doing amazing things with our teachers and students, but we aren't always great about sharing our success stories with the greater community. Your post has me really thinking about how each of our coaches needs to share at least one of their collaboration stories with our district and school community. When we don't share the awesome teaching and learning that's going on, others fill in the blanks with their own thoughts or beliefs about what is (or what is not) going on. Telling and sharing our stories in unique and creative ways helps to keep all stakeholders in the know about what's actually going on in our spaces. Thank you for sharing!

September 29, 2022

Thanks for sharing. I'm a big fan of Knight's work, as well as Aguilar's. Reflection is absolutely—for me—the most important part of the coaching cycle, and sharing your learnings with peers from the coaching process is key to changing the culture of teaching in my work. It's often undersupported as a step in the process and I never budge on insisting we do it with intention.

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