Leigh A Murrell

Student Centered Coaching

My work as an instructional coach is focused on Student Centered Coaching. It is a collaboration between the coach and the teacher. We work together to create a standards based goal and we focus on the students learning. We plan instruction, monitor progress by looking at student data, and celebrate learning. It is a reflective process that focuses on measuring the learning of students and teachers. The partnership with my principal is key to the success of coaching. Together we build a culture of coaching and celebrate the learning that is taking place. 

Teaching

I am a constructivist and a connectionist. I believe that learning is social and that students need to collaborate to create meaning. My classroom is an inquiry based classroom where students discover, ask questions, and develop schema to guide their learning. My students use the ACTFL can do statements performance indicators to personalize and guide their learning and understanding. Technology is ubiquitous in my classroom. I help my students use technology tools to differentiate and meet their needs. I model my learning and connections to other educators. My classroom is a community of learners that supports and explores the content together. 

Technology Integration Leadership

A successful educational technology school site plan begins with knowing the vision and direction of the school. The role of the integration coach is to work closely with the curricular departments. I believe that technology professional development without the content is not meaningful. Technology professional development without the content helps perpetuate the idea that technology and content are separate and not two parts of a whole. Technology integration is, for me, about instructional change and best practice. To that end, the ADDIE model (analysis, development, design, implementation, evaluation), the SAMR (substitution, augmentation, modification, redefinition) technology integration model , and TPACK (technological, pedagogical, content knowledge) framework are tools I use as a technology integrationist. 

I use the ADDIE model  as a guideline for building effective training professional development. I believe that all professional development and coaching should sever the overarching instructional goals of the organization. I use the SAMR Integration model to support and enable teachers to design, develop, and infuse digital learning experiences that utilize technology. And I use the TPACK framework as a tool to understand and describe the kinds of knowledge needed by a teacher for effective pedagogical practice in a technology enhanced learning environment. 

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) developed the following definition of digital literacies in 2013. These fit closely with my philosophy of education and educational technology:

Active, successful participants in this 21st century global society must be able to Develop proficiency and fluency with the tools of technology;

• Build intentional cross-cultural connections and relationships with others so to pose and solve problems collaboratively and strengthen independent thought;

• Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes;

• Manage, analyze, and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information;

• Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts;

• Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments.