How video coaching helps us support teacher growth and retention

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In it Van Winkle Early Childhood Center inside Jackson Public School District In Mississippi, we enroll students for one year to prepare them for kindergarten. Family engagement is critical to a student's success throughout their academic career, so we also help prepare families to support their children every step of the way.

We believe that successful mentoring and educational advising sustain teachers, especially new ones, throughout the year and enhance their ability to build strong relationships with students and families. To ensure our mentoring and coaching is intentional, focused, and fits into everyone's busy schedules, we recently started using video. Is that how it works.

How video coaching works

Because video coaching is new to our school, I have been making the recordings myself this year. I'm just asking if I can record a few minutes so the teachers can see themselves from a different perspective.

Next year, I plan to ask teachers to volunteer to record part of a lesson. They can capture a few minutes of their class to get feedback on an instructional practice they would like to improve or to highlight something they do particularly well and would like to share with their colleagues. Everyone is good at something and it's important to focus on what teachers do well, as well as the areas where they need a little more support.

Another way we used video this year is to improve the effectiveness of model teaching. In that case, I will register the lead teacher or another teacher who excels in the instructional practice we are targeting. We then watch the video in a professional learning community (PLC), talk about it together, and have teachers model the skills they saw in the demonstration. We ask you not to imitate the model teacher exactly, but to give it your own approach. When teachers are creative and put their own personality into their teaching, they have more fun and build stronger connections with their students. We don't want them to simply follow in the footsteps of excellent teaching, but to make effective practices their own.

One thing I like about using videos recorded in real classrooms is that it includes all the complications and interruptions of real life. When we started, one of our teachers felt bad because a student came up to talk to her in the middle of recording her. But that's a classroom. Especially in a classroom full of very young students, there will be distractions and interruptions to deal with. Including those moments portrays the reality of the work and sometimes provides their own teachable moments.

Build a good relationship to support teacher growth

At first, some teachers were hesitant to be recorded because they worried it would be used to negatively criticize them. When I emphasized that the video I was capturing was only intended to help them develop their capacity as teachers, they became more comfortable and, in many cases, even eager to see themselves teaching.

I already have a pretty good relationship with my professors, so there was a foundation of trust to build on. To get the most out of video coaching, teachers need to know that you are there to support them and give them what they need. If they understand that you are not there to judge them, but only to help them improve so they can have a long and successful career, they are more likely to be vulnerable and reflective about their practice.

To be most effective, we have found that video coaching must be consistent, intentional, and timely. Being consistent means we collect videos regularly, but it also means checking in with teachers on their progress. I like to check back once a week to see if they need any additional support in the teaching practices they are currently working on or if they are ready to start focusing on another area of ​​improvement.

When it comes to video coaching, for us, being intentional means we focus on one area of ​​improvement at a time. If you give someone a long list of things to work on, they will feel overwhelmed and may even become demoralized. I find it is more effective to focus on one thing at a time, such as teacher-student interaction, facilitating center rotation activities, or small group work.

When providing feedback, the first thing to keep in mind is that it must be timely. If you wait too long, you may start to seem less relevant. We use Teaching Channel Platform capture videos for coaching and allows coaches and mentors to leave comments on the video itself. This helps teachers see exactly what their coach is referring to while watching their own video.

I have found that feedback is most effective when teachers take the initiative to observe themselves. It ensures they are working on something that motivates them to improve and helps them develop the habit of self-reflection on their own practice. I like to watch their videos with them and ask them what they see that could be improved before I say anything. Then we talked together about what they could do differently to achieve that improvement. Again, I'm sticking to one suggestion at a time to avoid overwhelming you with too much to do. If it doesn't work, we go back to the drawing board (or a new video) and come up with a new plan to improve. Once they are happy with their growth in that area, we move on to something else to improve.

Growing teaching support for the future

I believe that everyone is capable of growing and improving, so I am also working on ways to improve our coaching and mentoring techniques. I plan to introduce pre- and post-assessments to ensure that teacher growth translates into student growth.

I also plan to improve teacher retention by offering new teachers as much support as possible from the beginning of the school year. We'll start collecting videos right away so we can show you later this year how far you've come.

Most new teachers leave the field after a few years, so we want to make sure they know they are getting better at their job. Starting right as the school year begins will also ensure that we reach out to them to talk about issues that new teachers tend to have in the early childhood classroom. Questions like: “What do you see in your circle time? Are your rules intentional? When you have to correct a student, are you talking to them about why you have your period? can go a long way in helping a new teacher feel more comfortable in the classroom and find the rhythm of it.

With the assurance that it will only be used to support teacher growth, video coaching is a great way to encourage teachers to reflect on their practice. With timely, specific, and teacher-directed feedback, it is an incredible tool to foster educator growth that feels relevant and important to every teacher.