Coaching

To truly embed new strategies into regular classroom practice, a comprehensive professional development plan needs to be implemented. Research (Darling-Hammond, L. & Richardson, N. 2009) concludes that to be effective professional development must:

• Provide opportunities for active, hands-on learning.
• Enable teachers to acquire new knowledge, apply it to practice, and reflect on results with colleagues.
• Be collaborative and collegial.
• Be intensive and sustained over time.

Schools that utilize a consultation, collaboration, co-teaching and coaching model are more likely to have initiatives deeply grounded in the work of teachers.  

Diane has extensive experience as an instructional coach and co-teacher in inclusion classrooms. She personalizes professional learning experiences both in classrooms and with teachers. Diane works with school leaders and teachers in a variety of capacities. She is able to:

• Facilitate co-planning sessions with teachers.
• Offer curriculum, instruction and assessment strategies to resolve student learning issues.
• Recommend resources, technology, and materials to highly engage learners.
• Model effective instructional practices through co-teaching with educators in their classrooms.
• Increase teacher effectiveness by working as an instructional coach visiting classrooms and providing descriptive feedback.
• Work with professional learning communities facilitating and modeling lesson study.
• Provide “shadowing” opportunities in instructional coaching for principals and teacher leaders.