Erin Bigler Administrative Internship
Do what you feel in your heart to be right–for you’ll be criticized anyway. —Eleanor Roosevelt
Curriculum, Instruction, & Assessment Artifacts
Reflection
I am fortunate in my role as an instructional coach to have many opportunities for growth and learning within this competency as well. One experience that has been impactful is my work with the Curriculum Content Review, in preparation for the new ELA standards that will be used in 2025-26. This experience has helped me understand the importance of a well planned process for unpacking benchmarks, analyzing current practices, identifying curriculum needs, and phasing in new materials and resources. The importance of backwards planning is huge - teachers first need to understand their teaching objectives (the “why”) before we can effectively choose what we will use to instruct. I never knew how many years of pre-planning work were involved to effectively implement new standards or look at purchasing curriculum for a district.
If I had to choose an experience that caused some discomfort, I would say it was the overall experience of leading my schools as an instructional coach during the Covid Pandemic. Remote learning is something that was new to everyone, including myself. Over the past year, many teachers have turned to me for ideas and support. When putting together professional development sessions, I have learned that it is best to share strategies that are both high-impact and easy to implement. I have also learned that I do not have to be an expert all the time. Some of the most valuable learning that occurred was when I set up structures for people to talk and exchange ideas of their own. In my virtual learning academy PLC work, I would utilize tools like google surveys to identify specific areas of interest among the teachers. Then, I would intentionally plan for artifacts or examples the group could look at together. Some of these shared experiences included taking tours of virtual classroom environments, watching short videos of one another teaching, and leveraging tools like breakout rooms on Zoom to have meaningful group discussions.
Overall, I have learned that effective instructional leaders must take into consideration many things, including a solid foundational understanding of standards and best practice, using data/observation to understand aspects of the school that are working well, knowing how to provide guidance that is high-impact, but also feasible for classroom teachers, and remembering to be flexible and responsive to the needs of the staff and students.
Math Scope and Sequence
I am especially proud of this particular project, considering the level of impact it had on classroom instruction across our entire district. My job was to create a scope and sequence resource that would provide recommendations for pacing, identify benchmarks taught by trimester, and pull together instructional resources (lessons, digital tools, etc.) in one central scope & sequence document.
I was challenged with taking the Bridges mathematics recommendations and modifications, and pacing it out according to our own district's calendar. The added layer of complexity was balancing the hybrid and virtual learning models, which happened simultaneously throughout most of the year. Ideally, students could easily move between the learning models without missing major pieces of content, if all teachers followed the guidance from the scope & sequence. The document was also intended to support the difficult planning during remote learning. I linked math resources by unit and created an "at a glance" weekly guide that called out priority benchmarks and key concepts being taught. Additionally, the document provided resources for differentiation.
As a part of this process, I learned that it was important to gather feedback from teachers to see what was working and what needs were still unmet. There were certain resources that came to be incredibly supportive, and other things I initially thought might have been helpful that ended up being under-utilized. In my team's work on these documents, we tried to keep open lines of communication by touching base in person, and offering a feedback form where teachers could provide questions/comments/suggestions as needed.
This project was one of the most time consuming projects I took on throughout the school year, but I think it went a long way in helping teachers feel supported during such an uncertain time. Over and over again, teachers would tell me "it's nice to know exactly what is expected" in regard to math instruction, when so many other pieces of their day were unknown, or frequently being changed as a result of new COVID protocols.
Curriculum Content Review Team
I am fortunate to have the chance to be part of our ELA curriculum review team. We have held just a few meetings as we begin the CCRT process. Initially, we started with visioning, discussing what we hope to see in the future in regard to our literacy instruction in South Washington County Schools. Next, we moved into standards work and started unpacking benchmarks for the updated MN Literacy Benchmarks, which will be rolled out in 2025. This process has helped me gain a better picture of the aspects that go into a curriculum review cycle, and how important it is to take time and build a strong foundation based on a shared vision and strong understanding of benchmarks (the how? and why?) before jumping into the curriculum (the what?)
Linked below is an example of some of the unpacking work I've completed with my team, looking at 2nd grade literacy standards.
Instructional Coaching
Meeting Teachers' Needs in Creative Ways
Working as an instructional coach has allowed me to grow so much in regard to curriculum and instruction. Teachers have utilized me in many different ways, ranging from co-teaching, planning, looking at data, modeling lessons, or simply having me observe their lessons and provide space for reflection, feedback, and improvement.
Coaching was new to our district, beginning in 2019, so I had to find many ways to share my vision for coaching and market myself to staff members. I have included a couple artifacts that have been helpful in soliciting my very first coaching clients. These include coaching menus and interest inventories.