Coaches’ Professional Learning Growth Mindset – The DT and STEM coaches held growth mindsets with respect to their own professional knowledge and skills. Together with the researcher, each separately engaged in book studies and immediately implemented new ideas from these resources into their own work with classroom teachers. Working together, the coaches’ goals were to increase their efficiency of practice and bolster impact on teachers’ classroom use of technology.

Hybridized Coach-to-Coach Collaborations – Bringing together coaches that have similar, but not identical roles, provided a rich experience. Coach-to-coach collaborations were impactful when the pairing included a veteran STEM coach and the K-12 DT coach who was comparatively novice to coaching. This pairing contributed to the hybridizing aspect of the collaborations.

Coach-to-Coach Authentic Discussion – Mutual benefits were realized by both coaches when they engaged in discussions about supporting teachers’ practice with technology, accomplishments, and challenges associated with technology coaching. These coaches were open to learning through interfacing their knowledge and experience. They were encouraged to selectively set goals for their practice and bracket priorities within their own districts.

Benefits of Cross-District Collaboration – Although their school districts were adjacent, there had never been opportunities for these coaches to collaborate; this needed to be formally coordinated by the researchers. There were implicit modelling opportunities, problem solving of implementation barriers and shared networking contacts for resources.

Resourcing Coaching: Common Challenges – The coaches discussed common challenges such as having the technology, financial, and time-related resources for effective coaching. They shared strategies for networking with industry partners and corporations, given that funds to pay for teachers to be released from their classroom responsibilities to attend PD sessions were limited.

Career-long Desire to Learn – Both coaches were life-long learners dedicated to continuing to enhance their practices as they shared ways to support technology-hesitant and enrich technology-savvy teachers. Growth and support are fostered when coaches are committed to continued learning and helping one another.

Time: Building and Sustaining Cross-Collaboration – Dedicated time was required to build coach-coach collegial relationships which resulted in a sustained commitment to cross-collaboration and professional learning. Herein, coaches experienced first-hand how it felt to have the collegial support they provided to teachers.

At the end of this year of the study, findings documented factors that impacted the participants’ coaching during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responsiveness – Both coaches were extremely responsive and worked tirelessly to support the unprecedented situation of transitioning all teachers within their school districts from face-to-face to online distance education. The coaches were charged with supporting teachers, students, and parents to use digital tools and platforms for all learning experiences.

Resourcefulness – Meeting teachers’ needs and those of their students necessitated procuring a plethora of resources such as devices and software, as well as teacher access to and licenses for use of publisher developed materials. Coaches were resourceful at securing copyrights from publishers, scanning texts, and assisting parents with device access and troubleshooting.

Relationships – Teachers quickly built trusting relationships with these coaches and turned to them for support. In addition to providing technology assistance and resources, both coaches provided emotional support for teachers who also needed a nonjudgmental listener with whom to share their trepidations and frustrations.