Seeing Instruction Through the Outsider's Lens

There is no more powerful way of learning and improving on the job than by observing others and having others observe us.

Roland Barth

In last week’s post I suggested the idea of lab visits – opportunities for a group of teachers to visit another’s room.  I gave suggestions about the logistics of making these visits happen.  Today’s post focuses on the structure of the visit itself.  Over the years I’ve tested and tweaked the format of these observations, so I thought I’d share with you the structure I eventually landed on for a successful lab visit.

A good lab visit starts with giving teachers a chance to catch their breath – something they rarely get to do while they are teaching!  Review the agenda, including purposes and general learning targets for teachers.  These targets will connect with other work you have been doing at the school or district level (using Socratic seminars, think-alouds, conferring, etc.).  I generally list five or six related targets and ask each teacher to choose the one that interests her most.  Then I ask them to craft a focus question or wondering related to that learning target.  Each teacher who will be part of the lab visit reads her question aloud, and we chart those questions so that we can support each other’s learning throughout the day.  Next we read a quick article about taking a respectful stance while observing, and we review norms for focusing our observation (no talking – to each other, students, or the teacher being observed; trust that the teacher knows her students; shift your focus during the observation; etc.).  If possible, the host teacher joins us to give a quick overview of what we will see.  Before going to the classroom observation, we also talk about structures for note-taking.

Then we go observe a lesson!

After the observation, but before talking to each other, each teacher reviews her own notes, highlighting things that seem important.  Then we take time for written personal reflection – I might provide a writing prompt they can use to get started.  The purpose of the writing is to think about what they have just seen and how it relates to their focus question.  I also ask teachers to jot down any questions they have for the teacher about planning, on-the-spot decision making, and instruction. 

Before asking the host to join us, we review norms for collaborative work that include, for example, pausing before responding, polite probing (“I’d like to hear more about…”) and presuming positive intentions.  The host teacher then joins us.  With her present, we read a short quote that encourages respect when observing in another teacher’s classroom.  The host’s shoulders often visibly drop, and you can see her tension leave, as she realizes we are there to support her.  We want to eliminate, “you should have” comments, recognizing that we can’t change the lesson that was taught – we can only change ourselves.  Next, each participant shares a noticing and tells why it is important (noticings begin with the words, “I saw,” or “I heard” and steer us away from evaluative comments). 

The host then reflects on the lesson, including what she learned from kids.  Teachers follow up by asking her their questions.  Then she leaves.  Participants reflect again briefly (in writing) on what they are thinking now about their focus question.  Then they share their current thinking.  About that time we take a brain break!

After the break, we bring the discussion back to the topic of interest (using Socratic seminars, think-alouds, conferring, etc.).   We break into groups of three and do interview triads.  I provide a few questions related to our topic that are used to frame the “interview,” and the three participants take turns being the interviewer, speaker, and note-taker.  At the end of three rounds, they talk about the similarities and differences between the interviews in their group.  Then we come back together and have a whole group discussion that integrates what they just discussed with what they previously observed in the classroom. 

If time allows, we’ll do a fishbowl or try the approach we’ve been studying so that we experience it from the learner perspective.  For example, one participant might volunteer to read a complex text, sharing their thinking aloud.  Or we might read a related article and then have a Socratic Seminar about that text. 

As closure for our time together, participants write, and then talk, about their learning:  What have you discovered about your focus question?  About your learning target?  What might you do differently tomorrow?

If you’re interested in having teachers observe in each other’s classrooms, I hope you’ll find these suggestions useful.  Lab visits are powerful because when we watch instruction through the outsider’s lens, we are more able to recognize and name key components of effective instruction.  Following up with shared conversations helps us make meaning of what we have seen.  Although it may not be easy to open classroom doors to colleagues, it will be worth it!

This week, you might want to take a look at:

The NCTE Literacy Leader Award application. Two $2,500 scholarships will be given to support professional development in children's literature.  Due June 30!  (Requires a letter of recommendation from a supervisor.)  Sorry for the short notice – I just found out about this!
http://www.childrensliteratureassembly.org/teacher-leader-award.html

If you sometimes provide large-group professional development, you are probably part facilitator, part presenter.  This blog includes ideas to support you as a presenter – by thinking like a comedian!  Studies indicate that laughter boosts memory, so you may want to incorporate some of these ideas:

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/how-to/growth-strategies/2014/05/be-a-better-presenter-by-thinking-like-a-comedian.html?page=all

New series books for early readers:

http://litforkids.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/early-readers-series-new-additions-for-your-book-shelf/

A blog post about using graphic novels and comic books:

http://www.middleweb.com/15846/teaching-literacy-with-comics/

50 top books for teachers:

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/06/13/50-top-books-teachers-545/2/

“I need help”  Read about coaches who were willing to say these 3 little words:

http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/blog/i-need-help-three-words-educators-must-be-more-comfortable-saying

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

Dreaming

Although there are several reasons to like year-round school, I’m a proponent of the traditional calendar for a number of reasons.  From the teacher perspective, it offers something that is critical to continuous improvement:  time to dream!  If your dreams for next year include opportunities for teachers to observe in one another’s classrooms, the ideas below might help those dreams become a reality.

First, dream up a way for teachers to be released from their own classrooms.  Substitute teachers are the obvious choice, but can be costly.  To reduce the cost, work out a schedule where subs move from room to room.  I went to my principal with a plan for every teacher in our book study group to get into another classroom for under $200, and he readily agreed.  Some years I was able to come up with a small grant to cover the cost.  Here’s how it worked:  Two substitute teachers and I were floating subs for the day.  That meant that at least three teachers were observing at the same time.    Teachers signed up for a half-hour time slot to visit another class; then, during the half-hour immediately following their observation, they got together and talked about what they’d seen.  By the time the day was over, 18 teachers had stepped outside of their classroom walls, shared their own practice, and debriefed together.  It was a powerful day of learning!

Your dreams should include a specific learning focus for the observations.  Because our observations were initiated by our book study group, teachers used the strategies we had been reading about when they were observed.  This focus was important, because it allowed for fruitful follow-up conversations among the three teachers who got together each half-hour, even though those teachers had usually been observing in different rooms (they chose which teacher from the group they wanted to observe).  Although the formal debrief time didn’t include the teacher/observer pair that had been together in the same room, I found that these duos nearly always found some time on their own for a brief conversation, so the learning was extended. 

If you can find more money for subs, a “lab visit” is a powerful option for observation.  During lab visits, up to 10 teachers observe a lesson together in the same classroom (as wall flowers – no interaction with students, teacher, or each other).  The observation is both preceded and followed by time to talk with the teacher they observed and with each other.  As a coach, you facilitate these important conversations, including related professional readings and time for planning how they’ll implement what they’ve learned (see link below for learning protocols).  I’ve scheduled half-day lab visits, and these have been, by far, teachers’ favorite professional learning opportunities. 

If getting substitute teachers is not an option at all, don’t give up on your dreams!  Be creative about finding ways to get teachers out of their own classrooms and into the rooms of others.  Part of your coaching time can be used to free up one teacher to observe another.  Or two classes can be combined while one of their teachers visits another room.  Book buddies or writing buddies, where young children are paired with an older student, is one way to make this happen, If all the fourth-grade classes buddy up with all the first-grade students, then the whole fourth-grade team can observe and debrief together.  The purposes and possibilities for combining classes are endless and worth the effort!

Teaching is sometimes an isolated profession.  Dream up some ways to get teachers outside of the four walls of their classroom, and you’ll see good things happening for both teachers and students!

This week, you might want to take a look at: 

6 Ways to harness the power of daydreaming:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3026536/dialed/6-ways-to-harness-the-power-of-daydreaming

Protocols for professional learning:

http://www.nsrfharmony.org/protocols.html

This handy tool from North Carolina provides a great visual of how the CCSS standards change across grade levels (be sure to click “Highlight changes at each grade level”):

http://rt3nc.org/objects/standards/cclitmap/ela.html

Mix-up your exit slips with these printable templates (use with students or modify these for a PD exit slip):

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/printouts/Exit%20Slips.pdf

Download this free webinar on scaffolding the reading of complex disciplinary texts:

https://secure.ncte.org/digital-locker/92da55d0-53a0-41aa-a533-b172b13c5937

That’s it for this week.  Happy Dreaming!

Teacher Evaluation: What is the Coach’s Role?

For teachers in many states, next year marks the beginning of new teacher evaluation systems that are tied to standards, student achievement, and sometimes pay.  These higher stakes certainly increase the stress level of formal and informal classroom observations.  In this environment, it’s important for both coaches and principals to be crystal clear about the coach’s non-evaluative role as she works with teachers.  Instead, coaches can play a supportive role, in the teachers’ corner as they become familiar with new evaluation processes.  The message for teachers is, “I’m here for you!  Let’s make sure you and your students are looking good!”

Teachers will be confident about your support if you are knowledgeable about the evaluation system.  This summer might be a good time to dig in and read all you can about your new evaluation system, watch any accompanying online videos, and make a plan for how you will support teachers in the fall.  It’s essential that you know the components of effective instruction as defined by your new system and can support teachers as they refine their instructional practices within that system.  Your work with teachers should be in alignment with the expectations of your school, district, and state. 

Regardless of the specific evaluation model being implemented, coaches can help teachers develop an understanding of that model through interactions with the faculty, work with teaching teams, and one-on-one interactions.  What are your plans for working with the new model in each of these configurations?  Coaches can create opportunities for teachers to collaboratively make meaning of the new system.  You can support the implementation process as a facilitator of learning rather than an evaluator.  Structures that you have used to help teachers learn about instructional strategies can be adapted for considering the new evaluation system together. 

If coaches approach the new evaluation system from a learning stance, we can help mitigate some of the potential fear and stress associated with the implementation.  In this way, teacher evaluation can facilitate a shared understanding of effective instruction among teachers, coaches, and principals.

This week, you might want to take a look at:

The “Talk with Teachers” Online Summer Book Club.  Join other teachers in reading a novel, a non-fiction text, and a professional book during June, July, and August:

http://talkswithteachers.com/twt-summer-book-club/

14 Questions to guide our curriculum mapping and lesson design, by UBD’s Grant Wiggins:

http://www.teachthought.com/learning/curriculum/14-questions-to-guide-your-curriculum-mapping-and-lesson-design/

Although this blog post is for principals, the 5 Ways to Influence Change described are equally important for coaches:

http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/10465

10 Great tech tools to use while reading (check them out now so you feel confident sharing with teachers or using with students in the fall):

http://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2014/04/19/my-students-top-ten-essential-digital-reading-tools-list-by-sara-kajder/

5 Ways Instagram can improve learning:

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/05/14/instagram-boosts-learning-235/?ps=138192-0013000000j0YOB-0033000000q5swv

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

Appreciative Inquiry

School’s out for many of us, providing a much-needed opportunity to relax and refuel.  It’s also a time to enhance our coaching tool kits and plan for making our coaching in the coming year even better!

Posts on My Coaches’ Couch this summer will revisit important topics related to coaching and the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model.  I hope my comments will provide food for thought as you road trip, relax in the sun, head to the hills, or put your own house in order.

Today I’m passing along some new ideas I’ve learned about asking questions.  There’s a leadership approach called “appreciative inquiry” that I’ve been reading about.  I liked the sound of it right off – so positive and upbeat!  The positive principles incorporated reminded me of some of my more successful coaching conversations. 

In order for coaches to facilitate instructional change, they have to help teachers overcome habitual ways of thinking and unleash their imaginations.  Coaches can help teachers conceive and construct better learning experiences by taking an inquiry approach that includes these four D’s:

Define the topic of inquiry:

*What specific learning goal do you want to focus on? 

Discover stories and experiences about past successes leading toward this learning goal.

*Can you remember some past students who really improved in this area?  What lead to their improvements? 

*What lessons have worked well in the past?

           

Dream together about the desired future.

*What will you see and hear your students doing if students reach this learning goal?

Design what it will take to bring the dream to life.

*What’s the learning progression students will need to follow?

*What learning experiences will help students move in this direction?

Coaches can ask questions that set the stage for discovery, uncover the stories of past successes, and guide the creation of a workable plan.  Having a dream of the future to work toward is a powerful motivator and mobilizer.  As coaches ask positive, affirming questions, teachers gain the momentum for lasting and effective change. 

This week, you might want to take a look at:

Two contests for teachers from NCTE – do something for yourself:

Middle and high school teachers are invited to submit works of creative nonfiction for a $5000 cash prize and travel to NYC:

http://www.ncte.org/awards/nmwa?roi=echo4-26683200738-39903576-cf26e38b877aeb08567be7e264672996&

There is still time to apply for the Donald H. Graves Writing before the June 15 deadline. This award recognizes teachers in grades K-6 who, through the teaching of writing, demonstrate an understanding of student improvement in writing: 

http://www.ncte.org/awards/graves?roi=echo4-26725086423-40031578-8e18e22bf318c683fe62d56cdea9bace&

This commentary about allowing teachers to develop their own lessons when teaching the CCSS:

http://edsource.org/2014/districts-must-give-teachers-the-time-opportunity-and-guidance-to-develop-common-core/62773

Confessions of a CCSS Assessment Field-Tester:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/05/21/32lloyd.h33.html

Books for teaching about theme to review and add to your collection this summer:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=547

Join the NCTE twitter chat on summer professional learning on June 22: 

#nctechat

That’s all for this week.  Happy Coaching!

*Cooperrrider, D. L., Whitney, D., & Stavros, J.M. (2008). Appreciative inquiry handbook: For leaders of change (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.