To open a recent coaching session with a team of coaches I asked them to bring a picture they were willing to share of someone that was close to their heart but far from them in distance. I shared an image of my brother, sister-in-law and baby niece. They moved to Boston about a year ago, where Kingsley was born, and Google chat, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook have all been daily windows into their life. Other participants shared that they connected with grandchildren via weekly Skype calls or daily text. The room was aglow of smiles and bright eyes Each one had a story of a relationship that thrived in a virtual world.
I opened with this activity in anticipation to some resistance on the day’s topic--virtual coaching. In the past when I had breached the subject I often heard both coaches and coachees say they weren’t excited about the idea because it seemed to impersonal and cold. One exasperated coach exclaimed, “Coaching is all about the relationships!” This statement couldn’t be truer, so was that the gap? Was there a commonly-held belief that the virtual world was devoid of personal connections?
Perhaps unbeknownst to them, the coaches of our cohort had already debunked their own possible misconceptions. We live in a virtual world and are highly capable of managing and navigating meaningful relationships. In fact, many of the same tenures of successfully coaching someone face-to-face (trust & relationship building to name two) are the same in the virtual world. There are, however, a few reminders and new skills to smooth the transition. And while virtual coaching has advantages over face-to-face, it also has its pitfalls.
The Platform
As with all technology, this field is constantly experiencing new updates and innovations. As you begin to consider which platform is best for you and your coachees, be sure to spend some time researching. I will briefly introduce two platforms that I have used. This is not to say that they are preferable to others, only that they are the only two I can speak to personally. For both methods, best practice is to commit to a coaching cycle inclusive of a pre and post conference; the only difference is that they will be conducted remotely.
The first method is called bug-in-the ear. During the observation stage of the coaching cycle, the coachee will set up a device to stream their lesson and wear an earpiece microphone. The coach will watch the lesson remotely and offer “reminders” to the teacher as the lesson progresses. The students do not know that a live coaching session is occuring.
I was working with one new-to-the-profession teacher who has asked for coaching around classroom management. He gave his class a set a set of instructions for an activity as released them to work, I reminded him to give some behavior expectations. He quickly stated, “Before we start, I want to remind you that you are allowed to work in pairs and that the noise level is a four. I will give one reminder for off-task behavior and then ask you to work alone.” A few minutes into the activity I reminded, “Give specific praise for students that are following instructions and expectations.” He began to move around the room, “I like the way that Zuby is asking her partner questions about the assignment. I appreciate the way Marquis and Jacob are speaking at a level four.” There were a few more reminders sprinkled throughout the lesson, but the class remained on-task and engaged. In the post conference the teacher was very upbeat, “I didn’t know if I would ever have a class in control.”
This method is definitely more directive and you will want to focus in on coaching questions and goal-setting during the pre and post conference. I prefer to use this method with new teachers to help them build confidence and visualize goals.
The second platform I used had educators record lessons and upload them to a secure website. On this platform a coach can watch the lesson and leave time-stamped comments and questions. Then the coachee can read the comments, watch their lesson and engage in virtual dialogue with their coach.
This platform worked well for a secondary ELA team that I was coaching. I was set to be on the campus once a week. Often I would show up at a classroom to find that it was a testing day, the teacher was out, there was a field trip or it was a writer’s workshop day which didn’t require a lot of coaching. When the platform was made available, teachers were able to check out equipment and record any one lesson during the week. In this sense, they didn’t have to work around a coach’s schedule and they could get feedback on a lesson of their choice. One teacher, who uploaded multiple lessons a week, loved the back-and-forth of the dialogue. I would ask, “What might you have done during the writing activity to provide a scaffold for you EL students?” She was very reflective, “I could have provided sentence stems for some, but I think others would have been fine just to speak through their thoughts first.”
Skills
It’s no surprise that nearly every resource speaking to virtual coaching lists trust as one of the principal skills of coaching. An article on the International Coaching Federation website by Clare Norman states, “Trust and intimacy, as well as coaching presence and active listening, can help create the right environment for our clients, giving them the best thinking experience possible.” In an interview, Jim Knight said that most people don’t turn down virtual coaching because of the cameras but rather due to the absence of trust. One suggestion, when possible, for building trust is meeting face-to-face with coachees for the first meeting. Meeting with building administration to ensure that they are on board confidentiality agreements is also essential. One thing to highlight is that the client is the sole owner of the virtual content, it is only shared with their permission. Some platforms even allow for the coachee to pull back the footage after they coach has provided comments. Interestingly, a number of virtual clients said it was easier to trust virtual coaches because they were one step removed from the school, and thus, school administration.
Likely the biggest difference with virtual coaching is a shift in your listening ability. Often times, virtual coaching will also include phone conversations. Suddenly facial and body expressions are no longer part of the mix and listening without visual cues is an entirely new skill. In education we often hear the expression “wait time” and speak to the skill of being able to sit in silence. When we are faced with silence in a face-to-face scenario, however, we can read the body cues of our coachee to determine the appropriate time, virtually these cues will not be available so you must use others. Sometimes this may mean paying attention to breaths and hesitations; and listening to what is not being said.
Advantages
Rural districts are what first made me interested in virtual coaching. At the time I was working with one school that was 1.5 hrs from my house each direction. They were also the one of the furthest districts from a regional training center and over an hour to the nearest urban city. This mean they they had much less opportunities for support and the disparities were notable. They were too small (as many rural schools are) to have their own coach, so they contracted out. The problem was that my schedule required me to be on campus on Thursdays, but school doesn’t pause on the other days of the week. By using virtual coaching I was able to see the lessons, struggles and triumphs the teachers wanted me to see--be in Monday or Thursday.
Pitfalls
Part of maintaining a relationship with a coachee/client requires that you check in with them. In the virtual world some argue that this electronic touch-base needs to be deliberate and intentional in order to maintain the same level of relationship that they would informally up close. In order to do this, I suggest setting a strict calendar and be consistent. I always start my day with check-in emails to virtual coachees. If I don’t, it is easy to push this task aside in favor of others.
Like any new skill, virtual coaching requires practice. I suggest practicing with an educator with whom you already have a high degree of trust. This will give you the space to get feedback and make mistakes. If you have a coaching colleague, why not record one of your coaching sessions (with permission of coachee) and get some feedback. Being in front of the camera will give you insight when you find yourself on the other end of the virtual stream.
