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IMG_9414.movSupporting Teacher Growth Through Relationships, Collaboration, and Celebration
Supporting Teacher Growth Through Relationships, Collaboration, and Celebration
This collection of videos and photographs captures a first-grade teacher’s reflection on a year of focused professional growth. By the end of the school year, every student had produced a piece of writing, culminating in a celebration where families joined in recognizing their children’s accomplishments as young authors.
The collection also includes a photograph of us attending a basketball game—one of the teacher’s passions—which she invited me to share as an end-of-year celebration of her growth. Her invitation was a meaningful reflection of the trust and connection we had built through our work together.
These moments illustrate my commitment to relationships as a foundation for instructional coaching. I strive to know educators as people, support their development through collaboration and clear expectations, and celebrate their progress. Together, these artifacts connect teacher growth, student voice, and family participation, reflecting my belief that meaningful school improvement is both instructional and deeply human.
Joy As Coaching Currency.pdfCoaching Best Practice
Coaching Best Practice
Initiated and Established the IS 383 Teacher Center
Teacher Center Grand Opening.movAfter reflecting on various aspects of our school community like student engagement both academically and socio-emotionally, attrition, and professional learning I realized that educators needed support. The educator's voice was the drive of this initiative for me. I wanted to ensure that, just like the students - the teachers were learning and growing in the areas they deemed essential for their pedagogical practice. I created a survey that served as a needs assessment for the teachers, data that proved the need for the teacher center. Consequently, all stakeholders had an informed conversation which led to the opening of our school's very first UFT Teacher Center. All of the materials in our teacher center were donated to our school community through grants and resource acquisition.
The Teacher Center has equipped me with crucial skills like conducting needs assessments for educators, identifying areas of pedagogical opportunity, developing and implementing professional learning sessions to address these areas of opportunity.
Teacher Data Presentation
Teacher Data Presentation
The educator's voice was the drive of this initiative for me. I wanted to ensure that, just like the students - the teachers were learning and growing in the areas they deemed essential for their pedagogical practice. I created a survey that served as a needs assessment for the teachers, data that proved the need for the teacher center. Consequently, all stakeholders had an informed conversation which led to the opening of our school's very first UFT Teacher Center.
The educator's voice was the drive of this initiative for me. I wanted to ensure that, just like the students - the teachers were learning and growing in the areas they deemed essential for their pedagogical practice. I created a survey that served as a needs assessment for the teachers, data that proved the need for the teacher center. Consequently, all stakeholders had an informed conversation which led to the opening of our school's very first UFT Teacher Center.
TC Grand Opening
Student Centered Instructional Coaching in action!
Click here to see coaching work in action! The coaching done is teacher-led with their student's academic progress in mind. As the coach, I support educators by creating standards-based goals and research-based instructional practices. These cycles end by measuring the impact on student and teacher learning.
With this specific educator we are collaborating on Danielson Domain 1E: Designing coherent instruction. Our collaborative goal is to see an increase in the Spring observation report from developing to effective. We believe that with this goal, we will optimize student learning.
Additionally, below you will find a sample coaching cycle for an educator who may have one specific goal they are looking to achieve.
The following schedule is accompanied by a minimum of bi-weekly classroom visits.
Session 1: Introductory meeting
Session 2: (1) Classroom visit and (2) establishing standards based goals through the analysis of learning targets and unit pre-assessment.
Session 3: (1) Disaggregating (or sorting) pre-assessment data and (2) Modeling in classroom
Session 4: (1) Co-Planning instructional practices related to student centered goals and (2) Classroom visit
Session 5: (1) Shared learning (ie review literature) and (2) in class modeling/co-teaching.
Session 6: (1)Teachers choice - ie Collaborative Planning, analyzing student work, etc. (see “student centered coaching" for options).
Session 7: (1)Analyzing student work for impact and beginning to craft individual next steps.
Session 8: Reflection and measure the impact on student and teacher learning.
Video_ALTFramework.movDistrict Wide Initiative Lead: ATL Framework
District Wide Initiative Lead: ATL Framework
Within my role as a teacher leader and instructional coach I am passionate about engaging in and turn-keying information on district innitatives. This specific district initative was the implementation of the ALT Framework. I was able to present our teams learning through this video which was presented at the districts end of year reflection meeting.
Literature based SEL Best Practices
Literature based SEL Best Practices
Vibing and Thriving: A SEL Best Practices Series is a transformative five-part series designed to equip educators with essential tools for fostering a positive school culture and enhancing social-emotional learning in the classroom. Through engaging discussions and practical strategies, teachers will explore the importance of self-care practices, cultivating joy in teaching, and implementing effective social-emotional regulation techniques to support student well-being and improve classroom management. This series serves as a comprehensive guide for educators seeking to create a nurturing environment where both students and teachers can thrive emotionally and academically. Our work will be centered around the priciples of Unearthing Joy: A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Curriculum and Instruction by Gholdy Muhammad.
Click on our group Padlet to watch us learn in real time!
Intervisitation Cohort Meeting # 3.pdfSchoolwide Intervisitation Protocol
Schoolwide Intervisitation Protocol
As a school based literacy coach, I had the honor of developing and implementing a schoolwide intervisitation protocol. This was developed through extensive research and data analysis about our school community. Here you will be able to see the presentation for one of the cohort meetings. These cohort meetings were used as a moment for reflection and instructional advancement
Professional Contributions
Professional Contributions
As a member of the UFT Teacher Center professional organization and the educational field I believe it imperative to share experiences and best practices.
I am honored to receive this Certificate of Appreciation for sharing my experiences with fellow educators. By sharing my insights and knowledge, I believe in the power of collaboration to enhance professional development, promote best practices, and ultimately contribute to the growth of our students. It is through this exchange of experiences that we can collectively improve teaching methodologies, inspire innovation, and advance the field of education. For these reasons, I seize all opportunities to share and hear from fellow educators.
Professional Book Studies
UFT Teacher Center Welcome - Ms. Vergara.pdf
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