How High is Your Scaffold?

A scaffold is defined as “a supporting framework.”  In a physical sense, a scaffold is “a temporary platform used to elevate and support workers and materials during work on a structure or machine,” and according to Merriam-Webster, “scaffolding may be raised and lowered.”  Coaches are in the scaffolding business and are constantly deciding how high the scaffolding needs to be in order for the job to be accomplished – the important job of having students meet the standards or goals we have set for them.
 

At the beginning of a coaching cycle, coaches and teachers choose a focus for their work together, then the coach provides decreasing levels of scaffolding as teachers get more proficient in the support they are providing for their students.  In the schools and clinics where I’ve worked, the GIR model for coaching has been used as a guide for thinking about how much scaffolding teachers need, and the result has been sustained improvement in instruction.*
 

How much support do the teachers you are working with need?  Each teacher is different, and the support each teacher needs varies depending on the focus you have chosen.  A teacher who only looks to you for affirmation when focusing on guided reading may need modeling and recommendations when it comes to choosing effective student examples for a CGI math lesson.  The GIR coaching continuum describes coaching moves that give decreasing levels of support:  modeling, recommending, asking questions, affirming, and praising (see model below).  By considering a continuum of coaching moves that provide gradually decreasing support, you can provide the right scaffolding for completing the job at hand - – the important job of having students meet their learning goals.

Resources to explore:

Looking for math resources for SmartBoard?  Check out the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives:

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/category_g_1_t_1.html

(you can use the online version – no need to download anything)

Student-Centered Coaching author Diane Sweeney’s makes these recommendations for implementing the Common Core:

http://dianesweeney.com/seven-steps-for-coaching-to-the-common-core/?utm_source=December%202012%20Blast%20&utm_campaign=Dec%202012%20Blast&utm_medium=email

In this fast-paced world were good reading is sometimes defined by the number of words read in a minute, I love what’s happening with the Slow Reading Movement.  This Newsweek article gives an overview: 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/06/23/slow-reading-an-antidote-for-a-fast-world.html

An from Choice Literacy puts the slow reading movement into a broader context:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1122

You can read more about the slow reading movement at:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1758.cfm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/15/slow-reading

http://www.slowmovement.com/slow_books.php

It’s interesting to think about the connections between “slow reading” and descriptions of “close reading” that are getting emphasis with implementation of the Common Core. 

That’s it for this week.

Happy coaching!

 *See “The Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model: Coaching for Teacher Change” in Literacy Research and Instruction, 51(1), 27-47  and   “The Gradual Increase of Responsibility: Scaffolds for Change.”  ProQuest Digital Dissertations. UMI Number: 3475305, both by Vicki S. Collet.

 

Encouraging a Reflective Stance

The practice of reflecting on teaching marks a true professional.  One of the important roles of an instructional coach is to support the reflective process and encourage a consistent reflective stance.  Through reflection, teachers are able to consider the effectiveness of their work, recognizing things that went well and also areas for improvement.  Because there is no such thing as a perfect lesson, reflection always yields opportunities for growth and change.  Teaching is so hard that some aspect of it can always be enhanced. 

The first pause for thought centers around student learning.  Was the instructional goal met?  Did most students “get it?”  If not, why not?  Remember the piles activity described in last week’s blog?  A similar process can help you and the teacher think together about student learning as you reflect on a lesson.

Student engagement is another important consideration.  Engagement is not only student participation, but the degree to which students were really bending their brains around the topic.  Was there stimulating conversation?  Did they think so hard their brains hurt?  Was the brain-hurting followed by a light bulb moment?  Or is that light bulb moment yet to come? 

"Teachers make literally hundreds of decisions daily.  Some decisions are small and trivial; most are not" (Danielson, 2007; p. 88).   Reflecting on these decisions can yield some impoortant insights.  In what ways was the lesson different than planned?  Why did the teacher make the decision to take the lesson in that directioin?  What was the result of the change?  Asking questions like these during a debrief session can enhance reflective practice.

And, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander!  Take a moment to reflect on your coaching.  What things are going well?  Celebrate them!  What things aren’t going so well?  Brainstorm ways to change them, then chose a course of action.  As with teaching, the practice of reflecting on coaching marks a true professional.

Resources to Explore:

Food for thought about reading in the disciplines:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1091

If you are helping teachers beef up their nonfiction libraries, the Nonfiction Detectives blog is a good resource:

http://nonfictiondetectives.blogspot.com/

 

If you are looking for ways to collaborate more with middle and high school teachers, you might find some helpful ideas on this podcast with Penny Kittle:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1419

That’s it for this week. 

Happy coaching!

Danielson, C. (2007).  Enhancing professional practice: A framework for teaching. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

 

 

Coaching with a Focus:  Where Do We Start?

 Hooray!  You have a teacher who is willing to work with you!  Now, where might you begin?

Starting with a close look at student work can be a non-threatening way to engage with a teacher.  If you just have data, you can work with the teacher to interpret assessment results.  Better yet, gather formative assessment data.  Any student work will do.  With the teacher, sort the work into three piles:  those that don’t get it at all, those that kind of get it, and those that show mastery.  You and the teacher may decide that you need more piles to really show the range of mastery.  So, at the end of this sorting process, you end up with separated piles of student work. 

Now look at the biggest pile.  What is it these students need?  You might take this opportunity to model the expert thinking and problem-solving that effective teachers do when planning instruction. (Remember the GIR Coaching Model from my first post?  Modeling is the most highly supportive scaffold that a coach can provide.) 

Once you have determined an instructional focus, you'll have a meaningful direction for your coaching work with this teacher.  Together you can begin planning effective instruction, perhaps making recommendations about research-based practices that might be used.  (Making recommendations is another highly-supportive coaching move, frequently used near the beginning of a coaching cycle.)  Now the teacher is ready to put these practices into play, and you’ll be there to support application in a way that meets the unique needs of the learners.  By working with teachers where and when they are teaching, you can address problems of practice with an immediacy not possible in most professional development settings.  Coaching provides contextualized professional development.  Improvements can occur as coaches and teachers work together to plan, teach, and evaluate the effects on students’ learning. 

Resources to Explore:

The coaching questions at the end of this article (link below) could be adapted for use as you encourage teachers to think about any area of practice:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/457.cfm  

Be careful not to get sucked in by the Common Core hype.  Close reading still means reading closely to get meaning from a text!  Check out the discussion at this blog for more food for thought:

http://tomakeaprairie.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/a-close-look-at-close-reading/

 

Some fine literacy apps for little ones are highlighted on this Pinterest board:

 

http://pinterest.com/pin/262194009526942597/

 

That's it for this week. 

 

Happy coaching!

The Power of Coaching

Teachers, just like their students, benefit from scaffolding while they are learning something new.  Whether that something new is the Common Core, student-centered teaching, or Cognitively Guided Instruction in math, it’s beneficial to have someone helping while teachers give new practices a try.   As a coach, you fill that role, helping teachers plan for, deliver, and reflect on new instructional practices.  Teachers benefit when they are supported in the process of changing their practices.  And students also benefit from a coach’s participation because instruction becomes more effective and targeted on meeting students’ needs.  An ESL coach, for example, makes instruction more accessible to second-language learners by encouraging the use of appropriate learning strategies and culturally-responsive practices. 

As a coach, you provide targeted guidance within the real work of teaching.  Together, you and the teacher or small group you are working with reflect on and dialogue about instruction that you, as a coach, have participated in or observed.  Through these coaching conversations, you can encourage teachers to analyze their instructional decisions, the thinking behind those decisions, and the mindset behind their thinking.  Coaching encourages teachers to think about their own practice.  Can you think of a coaching conversation that you’ve guided recently that resulted in a teacher either becoming clearer about what she planned to do or making a change to a lesson plan?  That is the power of coaching at work!

Resources to Share:

 
Textual Evidence:

Sharing videos is a great way to provide a model for instructional strategies.  For teachers in any content area who want their students to use textual evidence, you might consider sharing this short video:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/analyzing-text-writing

The video also would be great to demonstrate how instructional support can be differentiated.

CGI & the Common Core:

Check out this blog post: Top 8 Reasons To Use Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) to Address the Common Core.

http://michellef.essdack.org/?q=node/139

Finally, you’ll find loads of great ideas to pass along to teachers on Choice Literacy’s Pinterest boards:

http://pinterest.com/choiceliteracy/

That’s it for this week!  Please comment to add your own thoughts to the conversation!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Coaches’ Couch!  This blog is a space to share information that might be of interest to instructional coaches who are working with teachers during these changing times in education.  I’ll share some of my own ideas about coaching and link you to others’ ideas that you might find useful or thought-provoking. 

            First, an introduction to my coaching model.  This model, the Gradual Increase of Responsibility (GIR) Coaching Model, is an adaptation of Pearson and Gallagher’s Gradual Release of Responsibility model, which you’ve probably read about and used.  Like the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model, the GIR model for coaching shows how support changes over time.  Just like in teaching, one size does not fit all when it comes to instructional coaching.  And coaching should change as teachers increase in confidence and competence.  These changes are reflected in the GIR model:

 

 

In GIR, coaches model, make recommendations, ask probing questions, affirm teachers’ appropriate decisions, and praise in order to provide decreasing scaffolding which moves teachers toward independent use of effective instructional practices.  I’ll share more about each of these coaching moves in the weeks to come.

 

Some resources to explore:

Listening is the heart of coaching.  Here’s a tip about what to set aside so that you can listen more fully:

http://www.cognitivecoaching.com/journey.htm

Here’s food for thought about conditions in your school that make coaching more successful:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/four-conditions-instructional-coaching-elena-aguilar

You can add to this Wiki for coaches; check out their suggested apps for coaches, and feel free to add your own recommendations:

http://instructionalcoachchat.wikispaces.com/App+Recommendations+for+Coaches

That’s it for this week!

References

Collet, V. (2008).  Coaching today’s teachers: Mentoring using new literacies.  Paper presented at the 2008 National Reading Conference, Dec., 2008.

Collet, V. (2011).  The Gradual Increase of Responsibility: Scaffolds for Change.  Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. UMI Number: 3475305.

Collet, V. (2012).  The Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model: Coaching for Teacher Change, Literacy Research and Instruction, 51(1), 27-47.Pearson, P.D., & Gallagher, M.C. (1983). The instruction of reading comprehension.  Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8, 317-344.