In this episode of “Ask the Tech Coach,” Jeff and Nick welcome Educoach cofounder Shira Leibowitz and Tech Coach Kitty Tripp onto the podcast to help us learn how to create a culture of professional learning in our school districts.

In this episode, we discuss:

Creating a Culture of Change in your School District

How do you help create and shape a culture when you are not in a position of power?Yes! This is where most of us are and even when I was a director, I still had do several things to create and shape culture. Be vulnerable as a learner. Grab fellow enthusiast and jump into the unknown. Focus on how you can be a creator and promote “creation” based learning as opposed to the consumer focus. Be a consistent encourager and supporter! It’s amazing what people hesitant to buy-in will try once they trust you and know you’re there to support them.


EdTech Integration Plans

How to create a plan for Tech Coaches that is “bought” by the district and followed by everyone?
What documents or plans help Tech Coaches create their job descriptions and master plansHaving worked at the both the director and coaching level, buy-in is a long-term process involving many people that must come together on one page for an extended time. In my 8 years of working in instructional technology, I’ve rarely seen this successfully modeled in a sustained manner with fidelity. What I have learned through these years is I’m in control of my personal buy-in and can affect my sphere of influence and their potential buy-in. All it takes is a small pocket of enthusiasm to ignites change. Then the snowball effect begins to take over. I have successfully seen that occur in each job I’ve been a part of.


How to Stop Doing Things for Teachers

How to encourage but not empower them to sit back and let you do the work
How do you keep your role of a coach when they don’t want you but know you are going to help them out
How do you NOT go into classrooms to teach kids but instead go in to coach teachers.When I’m working with a student, teacher, or administrator, I always start by putting them in the driver seat. I expect them to run the device, and I’m telling them how to accomplish what we’re trying to do. While this may be small, it sets the tone of every interaction. My job is in transition from what the expectations of the position used to be to now changing over to the “coaching cycle.” As I build better rapport with a teacher, the authenticity of the coaching cycle occurs more with each interaction. As a coach I have to be intentional in reading each one of my interactions with those needing help. Everyone is at different stages of support and I’ve got to accept them where they’re at in the process and continue to move them forward. The graphic below is my ultimate goal and while each interaction is not there yet, it’s what I’m moving towards with each time I support an individual:


Creating Systems to Help Tech Coaches

How can we create systems to help us get more done each week?Teacher’s book appointments through my calendar which has been amazing for helping me in planning and preparing for each week. I also put my personal planning time on the calendar, so I’m not left without time to organize and prepare for upcoming interactions