Attending Coaches Camp is a Non-Negotiable. Here’s Why.

Written by Forward Edge Instructional Design Coach, Brooke Conklin.

Instructional coaches support nearly every educator across a school district, yet they are rarely ever provided any professional learning opportunities on how to be a coach. We’ve got the solution you’ve been looking for: Coaches Camp.

Coaches Camp was created specifically to support instructional coaches. Coaches are the drivers of professional growth in their districts. They assist in identifying areas of need, establishing short and long-term goals for teaching and learning, and design and implement the professional development needed to crush transformation goals. They are change agents, instructional leaders, and near super-heroes. 

But, amidst all of the training and support coaches provide, they are rarely provided with opportunities to engage in their own training and professional growth. 

Enter, Coaches Camp. Coaches Camp is a targeted two-day learning experience that directly addresses the needs of instructional coaches. 

It is every tool, strategy, and exercise that an instructional coach needs to maximize the impact of their coaching program- regardless of coaching specialization.

 It’s a non-negotiable, and here’s why:

1. One investment, bottomless impact

An instructional coach works daily to deepen the skillset of teachers and improve instruction for students. Investing in creating a better coach improves the support they provide and shapes the student learning experience.

Coaches Camp is an investment in improving instruction and the student learning experience across your district. Whether by providing formal professional development, offering job-embedded coaching through co-teaching and modeling, working intensively on a specific educator professional goal in a formal coaching cycle, or facilitating departmental training and guidance, an instructional coach’s impact is vast. For each educator that a coach supports, there are tens to hundreds of students that benefit from the work and relationship of the coach and educator. Making the choice to invest in improving the skills of the coach, is a choice to invest in the educators they support, and the students that receive that instruction. 

Check out our impact calculator to see just how far your dollars will go when you sign yourself or your coach up for Coaches Camp this summer! 

Enter the number of teachers in your district/building that you support:

Coaches Camp can impact your district for only $ per teacher!

Of the teachers you support, enter the number of students that they teach:

Coaches Camp can impact your district for only $ per student!

2. 10+ Years of Connections

Instructional coaching is a unique beast. Often, coaches are the only individual in their position within a school or district, but they are tasked to serve educators from all different content areas, experience levels, personalities, and skill needs. Coaches Camp creates a network of support that coaches can lean into throughout their entire coaching career.

The expression “learning to fly the plane while you’re in the air” does not apply to instructional coaches. Instructional coaches build the plane as they learn to fly it WHILE responding to the unique needs of all passengers on board. Similar to a classroom teacher, coaches are responsible for advancing their staff toward a common goal or initiative. (Technology integration, literacy, equity, data-informed decision making, and the list goes on.) Unlike a classroom teacher, professional development for coaches is limited (if not non-existent), there are not “coach departments” or teams to co-plan and bounce ideas between, and coaching resources are typically not provided at the district level. Coaches Camp is equal parts core instruction, choice sessions, and networking. At coaches camp you can expect to meet and form relationships with your fellow coach campers that will last long into your coaching career. You will be connected with like-minded individuals who will provide invaluable support as you are building, flying, and serving your plane for years to come.

3. Rock Solid Content

Teachers teach students. Coaches teach teachers…. Who teaches coaches?

Teaching and learning has changed quickly and dramatically over the past five years. Change accelerators like untethered access to resources and connectivity, increased demand for the personalization of learning, and a focus on social-emotional health have completely redesigned the learning landscape. The needs of students and optimal structure of learning is completely different than what teachers experienced as students, AND what coaches likely experienced as teachers. Coaches must engage in continued professional learning to maximize their impact and meet the needs of today’s teachers and students. Coaches Camp is a two-day training designed specifically for instructional coaches. It was developed (and updated each year) by a community of instructional coaches that actively coach in districts facing similar challenges as your district. From core content to choice sessions to networking opportunities, Coaches Camp is the learning experience every coach needs to stay ahead of the evolution of education- AND there is absolutely nothing like this on the market for coaches today. 

4. Coaching with a Systemic Approach

Sustainability is our top priority.

One of our core values at Coaches Camp is creating sustainable coaching programs that achieve systemic transformation. Often coaching is viewed from a siloed approach. The literacy coach advances the district’s literacy initiative. The tech coach advances the district’s technology integration initiative, etc. The issue with a siloed approach to coaching is that it leaves all parties feeling stretched thin and juggling more than they can handle. Teachers burn out. Administrators lose focus. Any initial momentum is quickly lost. At Coaches Camp, coaches will adopt a new view of coaching and a coaching skillset that equips them to implement systemic change through their work as instructional coaches. They will be drivers of SUSTAINABLE change and transformation.

Join us this summer at Coaches Camp! We are offering two camps: right before ISTE in New Orleans, Louisiana on Saturday, June 25 - Sunday, June 26 or in Cincinnati, Ohio on Thursday, July 28 - Friday, July 29. Spots are limited! 

Need help asking your boss to cover the cost? Check out our convince your boss template letter.