Laura Broadnax and Shannon McGrath, both Instructional Integration Specialists for District 101, had the opportunity last winter to strengthen their coaching skills by participating in a three day workshop as result of a teaching training WSFEE grant. The workshop was led by Elena Aguilar, a reputable author who wrote the text that much of District 101’s coaching practices stem from. Laura and Shannon were able to put the skills and strategies learned from the workshop into practice the day they got back and created the “Coach’s Handbook” for the district to use as a resource for teachers and future Integration Specialists.
“This conference was different from any other conference we had attended in the past because it was focused on adult learners and how to best reach teachers. Although many learning strategies are effective at any age, it was useful to zero in on how to best reach our target audience – teachers. The effective questioning techniques, alternative lens, and strategies we learned at this conference were very much aligned with our work with D101 teachers.”
– Shannon McGrath, Instructional Integration Specialist