Focused Observations: A Component of the Practice-Based Coaching Cycle

Focused Observations: A Component of the Practice-Based Coaching Cycle

Joyce Escorcia: Welcome, everyone, to the Coaching Corner webinar. Today we're going to be discussing how to make the most out of focused observations, one of the PBC components. While hopefully you know us, I am Joyce Escorcia, and I am joined today by my wonderful colleague Sarah Basler, and we are excited to be here with you today. You're going to hear from Sarah in just a few minutes, and, again, thank you for joining us for today.

By the end of our time together today, we really hope that you're able to walk away with some of those best practices for conducting a focused observation and also just some resources and strategies to support focused observations, whether it's in person or virtually. Now, we want to dig into some best practices for focused observation, and Sarah, I just want to start off by asking you: Why is a focused observation so important?

Sarah Basler: Yeah. A focused observation is really where the coach and the coachee can see the action plan come to life, so we're going to hone in on some of the things that a coachee can do and that the coach can do. The coachee gets the opportunity to practice a new skill – that new skill that they've identified in their action plan or strategies that they laid out to try out in their new learning environment. The coach can provide in-the-moment support if the observation is live and gather information about how the coachee is using that new skill or practice. We really know that practice is key for helping coachees reach their goal. Then, the focused observation also can promote accountability. It helps the coach and the coachee develop a plan and know what their roles are for setting the plan in motion. The observation … The coach can check in on progress related to their action plan, really see it unfold in the classroom, the family childcare setting, or during a home visit or socialization. Then, the focused observation can lead to reflection and feedback. Without a focused observation, there wouldn't really be any performance feedback, or it would really be difficult to prompt reflection and provide that meaningful feedback related to the context.

If you want more information about focused observations, we have ... You can download the focused observation brief in the resource list of this webinar, and this resource can provide a coach or education staff more information about best practices related to conducting focused observations, which we're going to discuss more about today.

Joyce: Wow. Great, Sarah. Thank you, and what makes an observation focused?

Sarah: Well, it's focused on the action plan, which is likely not new information for you if you're familiar with PBC or if you've been coaching for a while. But why is it important to focus on the action plan? Because the coach observes the practices and strategies that are laid out in the action plan. It really helps to maintain that collaborative partnership with the coachee and the coach because there's no surprises. The coachee is fully aware of why the coach is coming and what they're there to observe. It really creates that transparency, and it can contribute to making coaching feel like a safe place for the coachee. It can also help the coach know exactly what to look for. Head Start programs are busy places, and if a coach isn't clear on the practice that they're observing, it can be difficult for a coach to look for and know what their focus is. We tend to, when we don't have a focus, sometimes focus on the things that maybe aren't going well, and likewise on a home visit, if we have a clear idea of what a coach is observing in a home visitor-parent interaction, we can help put families at ease. If home visitors are comfortable sharing their goals and focus for the observation, it can help the coaches hone in on the practices that the home visitor wants feedback on. Having a clear focus can really help everyone know what to look for and what to not attend to. Then, looking through the coaching units ... Yes.

Joyce: No, I was just going to say that sounds great.

Sarah: Looking through a coaching lens based on a coachee's action plan, it can become challenging if a coach has a dual role and the coach has other things that they might observe or be responsible for when acting in a role other than coach. That's why it's also very important to have a clear focus, so for instance, if you are a supervisor or a manager and also a coach, you might be responsible for compliance, so checking on health and safety, lesson plans, adherence to curriculum, the food program in addition to coaching. If you routinely check in on those compliance things while you're in a classroom or a socialization space, it might be really hard to focus in on only what the coachee's action plan goals are during the observation because you're used to looking for those other things.

Being clear about what the focus of your observation is can help you stay in the moment and really focused on those specific skills or the practice your coachee is asking for feedback on. It can also help the coachee feel confident that you are in a coaching role versus in a monitoring role so that they feel freed up to try new things and take risks and to be open for feedback because it can be a little scary and not feel as safe if they think that it could be used punitively or for performance review.

Joyce: Yeah. Sarah, whenever ... We talked a lot about what makes an observation focused. When we're thinking about coaches and coachees and what they should do during a focused observation, can you give us some kind of tips and tricks or some strategies of what both the coach and the coachee should do during that time?

Sarah: Yeah. It's really important to schedule a time that the coach would be most likely to see the coachee using the practices laid out in the action plan. For example, if the coachee is working on increasing the number of conversations with children, a good time to see that happen might be at free play, center time or outdoor play. By selecting a time where the coach would be able to see this, it helps the coachee feel prepared and not surprised by a pop-up visit, so really being transparent. It also helps to ensure that the coach is going to be able to observe the practices laid out in the action plan goal, and the coach and the coachee also need to agree upon the data that the coach is going to collect so that the coach and the coachee know exactly what the coach will be looking for, so there's no surprises.

Finally, when a coach is conducting a focused observation, they really should be taking that objective, fact-based notes. This can really help take the judgment out and opinions out of the observation and relies really on the specifics of what are happening – what can be seen and heard. This type of data could be what the coachee says, what they do or how children and families are responding to what the coachee is doing during the observation. Data can also be related to action steps, so it could be something that the coachee was supposed to put in place. Maybe if the coach and the coachee decide that the coach will collect data on the number of children that the coachee has three or more back-and-forth conversations with, then maybe that's what the coach is taking the data on.

The three things that we just talked about have one thing in common, and that's really that it helps the coach to be transparent. Transparency about the process really helps to continue to really nurture and grow that collaborative partnership between the coach and the coachee because there's no surprises. Everyone knows why the coach is there, and the coachee can be put at ease to know that they're not looking for things that can be used for performance reviews or anything of that nature. They feel safe to try out new practices.

We're going to practice a little bit, and Joyce is going to have us look at some statements and think about which ones are objective and fact-based and not opinions.

Joyce: Yeah, thank you, Sarah. I love how you talked about just being transparent and how that's kind of the key to one of the keys to a successful focused observation, and you're right. We wanted to kind of give us a chance to put these things into practice. On your screen, you're going to see a poll pop up, and we're going to ask you just to identify which of the statements that you see there – which one of those statements is objective? Just take a look at those and just pick which poll is objective

As you're looking at those and responding, just remember that data collected during the focused observation should be related to the goals and those action plan steps. Just think about, what is their goal, and what are those action plan steps? When you're looking at those statements, what would that be?

We're just going to give you a few minutes to kind of answer that, and then also remember that the type of data that a coach might collect based on a goal could be tallying the number of times that a coachee uses as a practice, timing the length of an activity or a routine, and it could be also kind of direct quotes of what was being said during that observation time. It could be: “What are they saying to staff?”, “What are they saying to other children?”, “What are those interactions there?” Again, we just wanted to create some space for you to kind of answer the poll. Just kind of keep our responses going there, and we're going to go and get the responses to our poll now. Just know that if you selected, "The teacher said, 'Remy, nice listening ears. He's following our rug rules,'" then you selected your right answer, right? Like winner-winner, because that is kind of that objective kind of observation statement that we're looking for. Now, also you may have kind of looked at that statement related to the artwork that was hanging and it was cute, maybe that one. But when we look at that statement, really it kind of implies some judgment, and it sounds like it could be related to an activity over a practice. That's why that one wouldn't be the most kind of objective statement to say. Now, when you look at that statement, think about how you could reframe that one into being more objective. We're going to invite you to put those in the Q&A for us, and we'll take a look at those, and we can share some of those out as well.

When you're thinking about that statement, maybe you're thinking that you could note that the artwork included all of the children's work, or it was kind of hung where they and their parents could view it, so not just that it's cute, but what is some specific feedback about either where it is – those kind of things. Then, just remember also that information about the length of a transition being too long is great data to collect as well, but the way that statement is written in the poll is more of an opinion. When we see "I think," that's a clue. What I think … That's not very objective, right? I think is more about kind of our own personal feeling about something. If we want to share data with coachees about the amount of time something takes, then we can actually time that transition and provide them some very specific feedback. "That transition from circle to snack – it took 15 minutes from start to finish, which means the last child on the carpet waited 15 minutes to wash their hands with nothing to do.” Again, that's just very specific about this is actually what happened, what we saw, what we observed. Just some things to kind of think about then when we're thinking about focused observation.

Sarah, to kind of keep our conversation going, do you have any tips or considerations for focused observation and distance coaching? Because we know that that's part of our reality, as well, is distance coaching and focused observation.

Sarah: Yeah. Something that many of you might be trying to do or have done previously is even when we're trying to return to fully in-person services in Head Start, it could be to limit the number of adults that you have coming in and out of child and family spaces, or it might be that over the past year you've done distance coaching, and you've realized that you can increase efficiency if coachees are dispersed over a large distance within your program. Regardless of the reason for choosing a coaching strategy implementing at a distance, it's still possible to really implement highly effective coaching, whether it's in person or at a distance.

In most distance delivery models, the focused observation is typically conducted through video. Just as in an on-site observation, the coachee and the coach would still agree upon the time and the activities that are going to be the focus of the observation. Then, the coachee can either set up a camera and film the predetermined activity themselves. They could have someone else, maybe someone else in their environment, can assist with filming the observation. Then, the coachee could share that video focused observation with the coach, and that can be done several ways. One way would be that the video could be uploaded to the Head Start Coaching Companion and then uploading that video to a secure server. Maybe your program has a special place where you upload things and keep things secure. You could do an e-mail with the copy of the video, or it could be possible to use some type of screensharing technology. Once the coach has the video, the coach would then view the video and have the intentional focus of the action plan goals, and while they're watching, just as they would on-site, they would record notes and the data that the coach and the coachee have decided that the coach will collect. The coach is going to use that information to prepare for reflection and feedback.

Later on, we're going to talk a little bit more about the Head Start Coaching Companion, but another way that coaches could conduct a focused observation, which we're going to get a chance to watch a video here in a moment, at a distance is using what is called bug-in-ear coaching. This type of coaching requires a coachee to wear a Bluetooth earpiece, and the observation is livestreamed. The coach could be at a distance but watching real time what's happening. This type of coaching would allow the coach to provide that in-the-moment support that a coach might not be able to do with a video because this is real time. It's happening in the moment. Then, the coach and the coachee would still meet, maybe at a distance or in person, for that reflection and feedback. For coaching at a distance to work, it's really important that you have access to technology. Often, coaching at a distance can't be possible if you don't have a device with recording capabilities or a way to get the video to the coach, so you might need a digital camera or an iPad if the observation is going to be conducted via video or some sort of technology that allows the coach to really livestream in real team.

Now, we're going to watch a video about the research that Kathleen Artman Meeker has conducted using bug-in-ear coaching. One thing I want to note is the education staff that she's working with in this video are K-12 paraprofessionals. Even though these staff are working with a different age group than OHS serves, this video really provides some information about the possibilities related to virtual coaching. When we actually asked our friends on MyPeers if some of them were using bug-in-ear technology, and many of them said that they were using some sort of livestreaming, whether it be via Zoom or actually using this bug-in-ear technology. As you watch, we kind of want you to think about, is this something that might be beneficial for your program, or is this something that could make coaching more accessible for your program for coaching at a distance?

[Video begins]

Kathleen Artman Meeker: We've been doing a project on real-time coaching using bug-in-ear technology with paraprofessionals or instructional assistants in classrooms in the area. We are really excited that this work is kind of broadening the way we think about professional development in our schools to a population that is not often thought of first in professional development, the paraprofessionals who do a lot of the daily instruction for kids with disabilities and children without disabilities in elementary and secondary school settings.

Arianna Kruchowski: The setup of it was to have a camera that was tracking my movements with my student and a microphone and a Bluetooth earpiece that I could hear ... We could communicate two-way, and she could observe everything that was happening with my student. Having that instant feedback is really helpful with the student I was working with in particular because things can change very quickly just based on her mood or attention span, so it was nice in that moment knowing that there was somebody tracking this who was there with me and could suggest a different route.

Van Le: For me it's just what … Especially in this field in particular, there's going to have to be a lot of adapting and a lot of adjustments on the fly. Just receiving that instant feedback right away just allowed me to see what ways we can improve on as well as "Oh, this is going well. Like, let's continue to do that, or maybe we can tweak it or adjust it in another way so for the next time we can see some improvements, or we have to make up a different plan as we go along with this.”

Kathleen: Traditional coaching – where I go into a classroom every week or two and observe in a classroom, have a conversation with the teacher afterwards, make a plan, come back in the next couple weeks – that's a really resource-intensive model and one that ends up usually taking a considerable amount of time. What we're seeing with bug-in-ear coaching is that we're focusing on really small, concrete teaching practices and giving staff just the right amount of information about it. They're able to try those out, really build confidence in it, and keep using those skills. Intense coaching up front, we actually end up spending less time, so we're having more efficient coaching through this processing.

[Inaudible]

Shelly Huntington: Nice correction. That was great.

[Inaudible]

Arianna: You're doing really great with these. Nice job.

Shelly: That was nice positive reinforcement.

[Inaudible]

That was good processing time, waiting. Improve things in the moment. It's fun to be able to see the effect on the learner and my student right in the moment. It gives us a chance to do some really positive practice. I think that's really helpful. I think that this project is going to be really influential. In my professional work, I'm a behavior analyst. Being able to reach to clients in remote areas, schools in remote areas that don't necessarily have support I think is going to be really important. I think the impact of bug-in-ear coaching in general is wide. If we can just get technology to them, we can get support and coaching to them that they wouldn't have otherwise had, and I think that's really important.

Kathleen: It's been a really fun learning experience for faculty researchers and for the doctoral research team.

[Video ends]

Sarah: Right. That video really showed us a specific way to implement focused observation by using bug-in-ear coaching, and we realize that that might not be something that your program could utilize, or it might not be a good fit. But now, at least you have some information about this type of coaching, and if you decide to utilize it, you can research it a little bit more and determine if it is a good fit. But one thing that is, regardless of if you're doing bug-in-ear coaching observation or if you are using video or you are live, the coach still needs to record information about the coachee's progress towards the action plan goals. Observation notes are a way to do that. They help a coach intentionally and systematically gather that information so that it can later be shared with the coachee during reflection and feedback. These notes really can help to organize a coach's thoughts and can be used to aid the coach in determining what they want to share with the coachee. They can be as simple as running notes or a form that you have created yourself or with your program, or you can use one that's already been created. The one that you see here is the observation notes log and reflection, and it's included in the resource widget of this webinar. Feel free to take a look and use if you want, or if you have a system that works for you, go ahead and you can use that as well.

Joyce: Sarah we've talked a lot about and you've shared a lot of really great kind of tips and strategies on how observation notes can help prepare for reflection and feedback and how to support reflection and feedback with those notes, but are there other benefits to kind of taking notes or having your own kind of system to do that?

Sarah: Yes. Another benefit is that you can really track your coaching activity, so it can be used as a way to determine who the coachee is, the date, the time that you spent preparing for the observation, the time spent observing, and the time set aside for reflection and feedback, any time that you spent following up, and also you can record the focus as well. This information is important for a coach and a program to track because it lets a program know if they're implementing coaching the way that they had intended or planned. Then, once they have this information they can look at the data and make decisions about the dose of coaching that their coachees are receiving. They could make decisions about the format or delivery method and other decisions that might come up related to the data that you collect during your focused observation.

Joyce: Wow. Thank you, Sarah, for sharing all that. Now, we want to just hear from you and find out, what kind of observation kind of notetaker form or systems do you use? You're going to have another poll that's popped up there for you. Just take a look. What kind of notetaker do you use? Do you use a focused observation form, maybe like the one that Sarah was just talking about, and it's with the resources? Do you use a form that you or your agency developed on your own, or do you just do running notes, like pen and paper?

All of those are right. We just want to kind of hear from you and see what our friends out there are using. We also asked this on MyPeers. Sarah popped this into our MyPeers community to see kind of what was happening with focused observations and kind of the notes, and, Sarah, can you share kind of what we heard from our MyPeers community?

Sarah: Yeah. It was really interesting. It was very close. It seems like everyone kind of uses what works best for them, so it was pretty much evenly distributed between all three of those choices. We had 31% of MyPeers participants using a focused observation log, like I showed before. We had 37% of participants using something that they or their agency had created. Then, we had 33% that were using just running notes, like pen and paper. There's really no right or wrong way. The important thing is that your notes are objective and focused on the practice that you're there to observe.

Joyce: Wow. Great, and I think we're using some of that variation as we see results come back from this poll here. Thank you for sharing. We always to make those MyPeers connections. Another question for you, Sarah, kind of picking your brain today. What are some coaching support strategies that can be used during focused observation?

Sarah: Yeah, there are … If a focused observation is conducted on-site, the coach may be able to provide a variety of coaching supports during the observation. Some of those strategies might include modeling of that home-visiting practice. It could be that side-by-side verbal or gestural support. They might engage in problem-solving discussions in the moment or provide help in the setting. As a reminder, modeling is when a coach would demonstrate a specific practice or strategy. This could be modeling during a home visit. You might also think about setting the stage for the parent so that they aren't surprised by the coach offering input versus the home visitor. The coach should also think about the relationship with the family and home visitor, and make sure that you discuss the best way to provide these strategies as well as with the coaching. You want to make sure that coachee is comfortable with the supports you're providing.

We could also provide side-by-side support, so that could be verbal prompts or cues. It could be … This action can be used to acknowledge the appropriate use of the strategy or remind a coachee to use a particular strategy. A problem-solving discussion could be where the coach and the coachee identify the problem, think about some options to how to solve the problem, come up with some solutions, and then implement that solution.

In an observation, one or multiple steps could occur, but you just want to be careful with problem-solving that it doesn't take too much time away from the coachee's focus on the children or the family. Then, of course, other help in the setting, that would be if the coach assists with activities. It could be that they're not directly related to the implementation of action planning. It could be that a coach helps clean up a spill of milk, or it could be that a coach steps in so that a coachee can implement a strategy. Maybe the coach goes and reads to the group of children so that the coachee can implement in the moment. But you really only want to use this type of strategy if your coachee is OK with it, so you could ask if you're comfortable with you stepping in, if needed.

We're going to put three links in the Q&A box so that you can take a look at some coaching strategies related to different environments. These are from challengingbehavior.org. It focuses on coaching strategies. There's definitions of each … and talks about how you might use these in different environments. There's a classroom and early intervention and a family-centered link. Feel free to check those out.

Unlike an on-site observation, the coach can't provide the same support. For example, verbal or gestural cues, if you're watching a video, it's really hard … You wouldn't be able to provide that in-the-moment support, unless you're using some sort of livestream technology, like the bug-in-ear coaching that we watched in the video earlier.

Bug-in-ear, as a reminder, it's that delivering specific and descriptive feedback directly into the coachee's ears while they're teaching or implementing those practices. But the coach can also provide support prior to the observation. If you are distance coaching, and you have received the video, or prior to receiving the video, the coach could send a video model of the practice that the coachee is planning on using. The coach could send the coachee some questions to answer while viewing the video or even provide resources to help prepare them for utilizing the practice in their action plan.

All coaching partnerships are going to look different and unique, and coaches and coachees are going to really find the best combination of strategies and supports that's going to work for them. Regardless of the form the observation takes, it's important to remember that the goal of focused observation is to collect that information that is going to support the coachees' use of those teaching and home-visiting practices, to promote that school readiness for all children.

Right, so we are going to do another poll, and we just kind of wanted to get a pulse from the group here and see how you are conducted focused observations and what format you use. Take a moment and fill out this poll. We want to know … What focused observation format do you use? Do you use live and in-person? Do you use virtual, video or some sort of bug-in-ear livestream coaching? Or do you use a combination of both?

We asked this question in MyPeers, and we actually heard that most people were using some sort of combination of focused observation, that they found that, at a distance, they were able to be more efficient with some distance coaching. If they were closer to a certain coachee, then they utilized that in-person. It's important to kind of assess the needs of your program and think about where everyone is located and what will work best for your program. I see that you guys have similar responses, that we've got a variety of some doing live, some doing virtual, but most I see are doing a combination. Yeah. What … I'm going to turn it over to Joyce so that she can show us how … follow a coach and how they might implement.

Joyce: OK, thank you, Sarah, lots of great kind of ideas and strategies today. Thank you so much. Now we wanted to use our last few minutes together just to kind of check in with our coach and kind of follow – Yen is her name – so this is our coach. She's been a coach for 6 years. We wanted to follow her a little bit in her journey and kind of peek in to see some of the things that she's doing with focused observation. That's what we're going to spend our last few minutes doing.

Here we see that Yen, she's been a coach for 6 years. She has 12 education staff that she has on her case load, and that includes four home visitors that receive individual coaching at a distance. She's got five Early Head Start teachers that are also participating in a TLC, and she has three Early Head Start teachers that are receiving on-site individual coaching. You can see she's doing different kinds of coaching. She's also utilizing the Head Start Coaching Companion for the home visitors that she's coaching at a distance. Because her home visitors are utilizing video recordings of themselves for the focused observation, Yen really found that having them upload their videos to the Head Start Coaching Companion was an easy and secure and free way to be able to kind of upload and share videos in a way that would kind of give everyone access to them. Once those home visitors … Once they uploaded their videos related to their action plan goals to the Head Start Coaching Companion and to those cycles, then Yen can watch the videos and make notes about kind of implementation of the specific practices and even make comments right there within the video.

We're going to watch a little video clip of how to kind of time stamp videos that are in the Head Start companion in just a few minutes. Today we're going to follow Yen as she conducts a focused observation at a distance with one of her home visitors that she coaches, so really excited to kind of see into Yen's kind of journey.

Again, she's using the Head Start Coaching Companion. Just as a quick reminder, the Head Start Coaching Companion is a video sharing and coaching feedback application that can be used for early care and education programs, that they can use to kind of support their coaching works. Programs are quick access. We set up their accounts, and then, they can assign accounts to coaches and coachees and a few other roles, and then you're ready to go. The Coaching Companion really helps to kind of facilitate those coaching cycle. They can really help to facilitate different types of coaching, whether it's peer-to-peer, intense team coaching. Head Start Coaching Companion can really help do many things there. You can upload videos. You can ask questions. You can exchange feedback. You can build action plans. All of those things can happen all right there. For more information about the Head Start Coaching Companion, please take a look at the flier that we have uploaded to the resource widget for today, so be sure to and check that out.

Now, we want to introduce you to Maya. You see Maya here. She's one of the home visitors that's coached by Yen. Maya has been with her grantee for 15 years, and she was previously an Early Head Start teacher, and she's been a home visitor for about 4 years. Maya really knows her stuff. She's full of knowledge and love for what she does. She's a veteran, and people kind of look to her. She's really known for the relationship and those relationship-building skills that she has with families and children. The families that Maya serves, they don't really want to have a coach observe on-site, but they were OK with Maya recording specific parts of the visit that were related to her action plan goals. That's the way that she is capturing her video clips that she's going to use for her coaching with Yen. Then, those video clips … She's going to upload to the Head Start Coaching Companion to get feedback. Now we're going to take a look into one of Maya and Yen's cycles. Here, you see Maya and Yen. They decided to write a goal on a practice that Maya really wants to work on. She's really skilled with her interactions with parents, but she really wants to work on supporting parents to plan activities. Maya's goal is to ask open-ended questions to guide the family to plan activities with the children after the home visit. Maya and Yen kind of discussed how to accomplish that goal, what's the best way forward? They kind of have a plan, and they kind of set it up within the Head Start Coaching Companion. They've done all of that kind of good work. Yen asked Maya what resources and supports that she may need, and Maya thinks that it'd be helpful to see a demonstration video of a home visitor using the practice during a home visit. She wants to kind of see it in action so she can enhance her own practice and kind of accomplish her goal. She also wants to brainstorm open-ended questions to ask during the home visit, so that way she'll have some of those in her pocket to be able to use. Maya plans a day that she's going to video herself. She feels like, "All right. I'm ready. I can do this.”

As Yen plans to support Maya, she kind of keeps in mind that she's coaching at a distance and wants to kind of think about, "How can I best support that?” In order to help Maya prepare for her home visit, she uploads a list of those open-ended questions that they kind of brainstormed into that Head Start Coaching Companion. She also sends a video that she found of a home visitor using this practice during a home visit. She wanted to upload those to the Head Start Coaching Companion, so she did that. In addition, she also e-mailed Maya the week before to make sure that Maya has everything that she needs and that she's feeling ready and prepared for her next home visit. Maya decides that she wants to practice uploading a video to the coaching companion. They can have a video call, so they can practice and work through that. Since Yen's been utilizing distance coaching and using videos of coachees, she found it important to help coachees plan out exactly what they're going to be filming so they don't feel overwhelmed in even knowing what they need to film.

They talked through that. They talked through how to upload the video. They've talked through what time during the visit would be the best to kind of record. Maya decided that she's going to start off the visit just with some kind of conversation with the family before she just jumps into asking open-ended questions. After that conversation, she's planning to kind of start asking some of the questions and kind of helping them to think about activities for their child. They even talk about where Maya plans to set up the video camera. Even small details like that, Yen thought about "What would Maya the most comfortable in working on this goal and videoing kind of this interaction?”

Maya and Yen, they also talk about getting family buy-ins. Just as a reminder, that that is still so important, to be able to record that interaction. Again, the family already agreed to this, but Maya just wants to be sure and kind of encourage them and reaffirm to them, that what she's recording is about her own personal PD and not anything about something that's happening within that home. Again, just having buy-in at all levels. After the meeting Maya feels ready to go. She feels like she's ready to conquer, that she's ready to collect her video observation.

Let me switch slides here. We want to kind of pause right here and say, we know we've been following in and are coaching Maya as they plan for their focus observation related to their goal. We want to hear from you and how you prepare for your focused observations. If you want to type those in that Q&A widget, that would be great. We want to hear from you. Then, Sarah, I'm just going to ask you as a coach, what are some of the things that you do to prepare for your focused observation?

Sarah: Yeah, one of the things I make sure to always do is to review the action plan and steps so that I am prepared and know what the practices are on that you're going to be observing. I would definitely recommend reviewing the action plan, making sure that you're focused in on that and that the coachee has agreed upon the day and time. You want to make sure that you're not popping in. Even sending a reminder text or e-mail can help. Then, you want to prepare any materials that you said that you would bring to the coachee. Maybe you were making some visuals or bringing some resources. You want to make sure to have those gathered. Go ahead and prep your observation log, so it has all the information that would be helpful to you so you can just jump right in and observe. Then, if you're observing at a distance, you want to be sure the coachee is aware of exactly what they're going to be capturing via video or how to use the technology. Just like Yen did with Maya, she helped Maya practice uploading a video, and they talked out really everything that was going to happen, so that Yen would be able to see that practice that in the video.

Joyce: All right. Thank you, Sarah, so much. Thank you for all the kind of wonderful feedback that's coming in, in our Q&A. We're going to keep an eye on that. Now just quickly in our last few minutes, we just want to check back in. We want to say Maya recorded a portion of the home visit. She uploaded that to the Head Start Coaching Companion. When she did that, Yen got an e-mail saying, "Hey, Maya has uploaded something for you to look at, " and also kind of gathers observation notes as she's looking of things that she wants to share with Yen when they do reflection and feedback. She's also able to make some notes in the Head Start Coaching Companion. She did that.

She was able to add to the timestamps featured there within the Head Start Coaching Companion. That's great that she did all that, and she's got her notes. She's kind of thought through that conversation of what she wants to talk with Yen about during reflection and feedback. She feels like she's prepared and ready for their meeting together.

As we mentioned, one of the features of Head Start Coaching Companion is the kind of the time stamp comment so that's something that Yen kind of took advantage of. To kind of wrap up our time together, we're going to play this quick video that shows you how to do that, how to add a time stamp comment within the video. I'm going to pop that up there real quick, and then we're going to get ready to go to Q&A.

[Video begins]

Narrator: To add a timestamped comment on a video, click directly on the video while it is playing, and a comment field will appear.

To make comments, which are not directly linked to a video, select “Add Comment to Step or Observation,” if you are in the focused observations page.

To reply to an existing comment, click on “Reply” under the comment.

You have the options to edit and delete comments that you have made.

[Video ends]

Joyce: As well, thank you for joining us, and remember to put on your calendar, September the 15th. We're going to be coming back, and we're going to be talking about the new, hot-off-the-press, the Head Start Coaching Companion that – Coaching Companion. I'm still thinking about the Coaching Companion – the practice-based coaching competencies. We will see you in September to have that kind of exciting conversation and kind of big reveal. If we don't see you here, we will see you on MyPeers, so thank you.