Forward Edge Presents:
Coaches Camp
Professional development designed specifically for instructional coaches, like you!
Navigate the coaching wilderness with us at Coaches Camp.
Experience a jam-packed interactive training designed specifically for instructional coaches.
Are you...
- An instructional coach passionate about impacting teaching & learning
- Craving a more systemic approach to coaching
- Trying to align your work to broader goals and initiatives within your school or district
- Wanting to make your coaching conversations with teachers less threatening and more effective
- Contemplating launching coaching cycles
- Ready to build professional learning experiences that lead to actual classroom implementation
- Searching for a network of like-minded individuals to support you for years to come
You’ve found your place at Coaches Camp!
Instructional coaches support nearly every educator across a school district, yet they are rarely ever provided any professional learning opportunities on how to be a coach. We’ve got the solution you’ve been looking for. This is where coaches go to grow!
Coaches Camp was created specifically to support instructional coaches. Coaches are the drivers of professional growth in their districts. They assist in identifying areas of need, establishing short and long-term goals for teaching and learning, and designing and implementing the professional development needed to crush transformation goals.
They are change agents, instructional leaders, and near superheroes.
Upcoming Coaches Camp Locations & Information
Virtual Coaches Camp
July 22nd, 23rd, & 24th, 2024
9:00am - 2:00pm EST
Synchronous Virtual Learning Experience
Cincinnati Coaches Camp
July 29th & 30th, 2024
8:00am - 4:00pm
Cincinnati, OH (location details coming soon!)
*Your spot is not reserved until payment is received. We accept payment via PayPal, Credit Card, or PO from your school. PO payments must be received at minimum one week prior to the start of camp.
2024 Learning Outcomes for Coaches Camp:
Understanding Relationship Importance in Coaching: Acknowledge the crucial role of strong relationships in coaching, impacting teaching practices and student learning.
Building Relationship Skills: Acquire and practice fundamental skills for strong relationships, including active listening, empathy, and effective communication.
Overcoming Relationship-Building Challenges: Identify and tackle common challenges in developing relationships with teachers using practical strategies.
Evolving Role of Coaches: Grasp the changing dynamics of instructional and technology coaching roles.
Navigating Coach-Administrator Dynamics: Understand the influence of administrative support on coaching effectiveness and develop strategies for effective communication and partnership.
Differentiating Collaboration and Coaching: Distinguish between collaboration and coaching in education, and explore the limitations of collaboration in driving sustainable instructional change.
Empowering Teachers through Coaching: Enhance skills in reflective questioning, facilitating teacher autonomy, and transition from modeling to empowering teachers. Formulate a personal action plan for applying coaching techniques.
Andragogy in Adult Learning: Define andragogy, differentiate it from pedagogy, and apply its principles to design effective professional learning experiences.
Creating Positive Learning Cultures: Develop strategies to foster a supportive learning environment in professional development (PD) sessions.
Coaching in High-Stress Environments: Formulate strategies to effectively support teachers in high-stress settings without overwhelming them and address instructional improvement amidst resistance.
Peer Coaching and Leadership: Understand the benefits of peer coaching, identify potential teacher leaders, and develop strategies for a peer coaching model that enhances continuous professional growth.
Cultivating Collaborative Learning Cultures: Foster a culture that supports shared learning and ongoing improvement.
Need Some Help Getting to Camp?
Asking for funding (even when we know it will tremendously help our work) can be a bit… awkward.
We believe that you deserve high quality professional development.
We believe that your professional growth will have a direct impact on the quality of support you’re able to provide teachers.
We believe that you impact student learning for the better.
We’ve created a letter template to help you get the support you need to coach to your full potential.
Explore the 2024 lineup of sessions offered at Coaches Camp this summer!
What will YOU discover at Coaches Camp?
The Core of Coaching
If we were to ask you, “How important is your role to the success of your school, what would you say?” What would your teachers say? How about your district and building leadership? Effective coaches are critically important to the success of teachers. Effective coaches can transform the student learning experience for the better on a massive scale. YOU can transform the learning experience for every individual student in your district. That sounds a tad dramatic and a moderate level of scary. This camp opener is going to stretch your brain, challenge you to plan for scalability, position you to be the ultimate change agent in your school community.
Navigating the Nuances: Clarifying the Coach's Role & Fostering Healthy Admin/Coach Relationships
This professional development session is designed to address the evolving and often ambiguous role of instructional and technology coaches, while emphasizing the criticality of fostering a strong, supportive relationship with administrators. Participants will explore strategies for defining their coaching role within their school communities and learn effective methods for enhancing communication and collaboration with administrative staff. This session aims to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of their professional identity and practical tools to build productive partnerships with administrators.
From Collaboration to Coaching
Riddle us this… Coaching is always a collaboration, but is collaboration always coaching? We think not! Often we find ourselves leaning into the comfortability of collaboration without truly coaching. We provide recommendations, but don’t create waves with reflective questioning. We model a new strategy or resource, but never take the training wheels off and challenge the teacher to give it a try on their own. For improved instructional strategies and technology integration to be sustainable (and continue to be utilized after we leave), we must get more comfortable with coaching teachers towards independent mastery. How do we move from the shared responsibility of collaboration to transformative and sustainable coaching? Let’s find out.
There are a Few Things You Should Know About Andragogy...
Professional development has earned a pretty tough reputation. A recent national survey reported that only 29% of teachers are satisfied with their PD offerings. How do we design professional learning for adult learners that both meets their developmental needs and promotes a positive culture for learning? This session explores how to mesh andragogical best practices with the needs of the modern teacher.
Transform Teaching & Learning Through Coaching Cycles
Coaching cycles are proven to be highly effective in creating sustained change in teacher instruction. They can also be extremely nuanced and intimidating to start. Through this interactive session, participants will explore the foundational principles of coaching cycles, understand the stages involved, and learn strategies to effectively implement and customize these cycles to meet the diverse needs of educators they support.
Moving the Needle in Resistant & Overwhelmed Environments
Progress must be made- for our teachers & for our students. We MUST coach and improve instruction. But how do we grow our staff when they are buried in tasks, student behavior issues, and over-loaded calendars? This session will challenge you to identify barriers to coaching in high-stress environments, help you develop strategies to support teachers effectively without overwhelming them, and identify techniques that foster instructional improvement amidst resistance.
Building Your Bench: How to Amplify Your Impact Through Peer Coaching Models
A coach is responsible for the growth of an entire district or school, but there is never enough time to reach every educator. Explore the untapped potential of teacher leaders in your schools to expand your impact on teaching and learning. There are many effective peer coaching practices that can help you identify and nurture talent within your school to amplify your influence and create a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement!
Impact Acceleration Workshop
This workshop is designed for instructional coaches looking to deepen their understanding of how to align their coaching strategies with their school district's overarching goals, thereby enhancing their effectiveness and accelerating their impact. Through a mix of collaborative activities, guided planning, and reflective practice, participants will learn how to better integrate district objectives into their coaching plans, ensuring their work not only supports teacher growth but also contributes to the broader educational mission. Leave this session with your own strategic plan for coaching!
Coach Camp Sponsors
