Get It While It's Hot!

This week was a busy one – I observed in classrooms but had no time to debrief.  I didn’t want the feedback to get cold, so I sent brief e-mails that highlighted successes but also provided a quick recommendation.  Here are two excerpts:

“Thanks for inviting me to your class today! It was exciting to see students making connections with previous learning!  The opportunities for kinesthetic engagement support students’ concept formation, and providing students time to reflect on what they had learned gave both you and them formative information.  One thing you might consider focusing on is listening to and building from student comments. Continue to build a culture where students feel comfortable sharing what they know and their own experiences. Students’ own comments provide wonderful opportunities for authentic discussion that will build understanding - not just knowledge.”

“I enjoyed being with you and your students today! Using the 10-Frames supported students’ understanding of place value.  Having students share divergent solutions also supported their concept development – it was so helpful for them to think about different representations for the numbers.  I was also impressed with your flexibility in the face of technology blips!  Can you send me a quick response regarding where this lesson is going?  Keeping a clear focus on the big understanding and how each lesson you are teaching fits with future learning will be a guide for both you and your students.” 

Although providing feedback via e-mail isn’t my preferred mode (no opportunity to construct meaning together!), I decided it was important for these teachers to get the feedback while it was still “hot.”  When too much time passes between observation and recommendation, the teacher has a harder time making use of suggestions.  She is no longer in that moment.  A day or two later, although she’ll likely remember what she and the students did, she may find it hard to remember her reasoning.  And impacting decision-making is where coaches get the most bang for their buck. 

Good recommendations are timely.  Our work as coaches is more effective when instruction is still fresh in teachers’ minds.  They need to get it while it’s hot!
 

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

A video with ideas for using hand signals to encourage active listening:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-strategy-active-listening

 

An article about making the Common Core text exemplars accessible to middle school students:

http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/sites/default/files/making-the-ccss-text-exemplars-accessible_vm.pdf

 

Ideas for a close reading of Hamlet:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1910

A video with a quick and thoughtful approach to annotating while reading:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/student-annotated-reading-strategy

 

Research that describes how learning music closes the achievement gap in reading:

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/8472/20140809/music-training-improves-memory-reading-skills-children.htm

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

Equation for a Recommendation

Want recommendations that work?  Follow this equation:

Evidence + Advice = Recommendation

Making recommendations is a frequent and effective coaching tool.  However, the effectiveness of coaching recommendations rests on the teacher’s perception of their relevance.  Unless the reason for the recommendation is clear, there’s little chance that the suggestion will be used. 

Here’s an example:  In a debrief session after observing a very limited classroom discussion, the coach offered this advice:  “You might try using sticks with students’ names or some other random name generator to call on students.”  What made the recommendation effective, however, was the evidence that preceded it:  “When you called on only students with their hands raised, most of the students didn’t contribute to the conversation.”  This evidence provided the warrant for the recommendation.  The teacher first saw the need, then heard a possible solution. 

In our recommendation equation, evidence is information about how the teacher is doing.  The evidence is most effective when tied with student outcomes rather than being focused solely on the teacher.  Such feedback is deliberate, explicit, and opens the door for a recommendation. 

Rather than including an evaluative comment, information that lays the groundwork for a recommendation is provided In a non-judgmental way.  It awakens awareness of the need for change and increases the teacher’s receptiveness to advice.  Providing neutral, goal related facts* about performance in relation to a goal is an important “part one” of a recommendation.  Effective coaching begins with careful observation that yields evidence of the effectiveness of instruction. 

Evidence + Advice = Recommendation

*Wiggins, G. (2012).  Seven keys to effective feedback. Feedback for Learning, 70(1), 10-16.

 

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

A video with tips for teaching oral language skills:

http://my.hrw.com/content/hmof/language_arts/hmhcollections/resources/common/videoPlayer/index.html?shortvid=V_FLLIT_0303

 

Advice for having students document their learning while reading chapter books (includes photos of model charts that could be created with the class):

http://chartchums.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/so-your-students-are-starting-to-read-chapter-books/

 

A video with Carol Dweck on the importance of letting kids struggle:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/embracing-struggle-exl?utm_source=Teaching+Channel+Newsletter&utm_campaign=26366d3783-Newsletter_June_14_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_23c3feb22a-26366d3783-290610213

 

An infographic about remodeling literacy learning:

http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/sites/default/files/remodeling-together-infographic.pdf

Tips for creating digital citizenship:

http://plpnetwork.com/2014/06/26/primary-kids-digital-citizenship-skills/?utm_source=19966766&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=High+Road

 

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

A Solid Game Plan: Recommending

It’s football season again, and in pre-game interviews with coaches, there’s lots of talk about the game plan for each particular match-up.  Being flexible and responsive is an important attribute for any coach, but it’s also helpful to go into a coaching situation with a well-reasoned game plan. As an instructional coach, having a plan in mind will strengthen your performance in a coaching conversation. Important to the coaching plan is not only the content that you’ll be discussing but also the coaching move you’ll predominantly use. I asked several coaches their reasons for choosing the coaching move of making recommendations.  Here’s what they said:

·         She is starting a new unit.  She needed to understand the unit goal and steps to reach it.

·         As students’ levels became apparent, we needed to talk about how to meet their needs.

·         Most of the time she is asking questions about how I decide to do this or that. 

·         She needed to understand the importance of using a “turn and talk” to help students process what was just learned.

·         To share what I’ve noticed about kids and think about how to plan and guide the instruction they need in their current stage. 

·         I moved to recommending because she needs to be intentional about what she is teaching and why she is teaching it, as well as how she will be structuring her lesson.

·         When we are planning lessons I do more recommending. 

·         I think it’s important to provide support to her as she plans lessons.  For example, how I do it, where I look for resources, what I consider, etc.

As these coaches’ comments illustrate, recommendations can focus on teaching strategies, the content or skills being taught, developmental processes, or standards and curriculum.  As you think about your game plan for an upcoming coaching conversation, what will your move be?  If recommending is called for, the above illustrations might be helpful as you visualize the conversation.

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

This blog about the effective vertical team meetings:

http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/vignette/something-talk-about-teacher-led-vertical-teams-work

 

An article about how acting boosts learning:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-acting-out-in-school-boosts-learning/

 

Want to encourage differentiation?  Read this blog myth-busting differentiated instruction:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-myths-and-truths-john-mccarthy

 

A video showing how to use student-generated questions in a literary discussion:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/12th-grade-text-analysis-lesson

 

Two banks of ratio & proportion problems:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjIqyKM9d7ZYdEhtR3BJMmdBWnM2YWxWYVM1UWowTEE#gid=0

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkLk45wwjYBudG9LeXRad0lHM0E0VFRyOEtRckVvM1E#gid=0

 

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

Take a Very Close Look

If you want to ask good questions during coaching conversations, take a very close look during instruction.  Ground your observations in the specifics of what you see and hear.  Get right in the center of the learning.  Lean in to hear student conversations and interactions between teacher and student.  Look closely at student work.  What does that work tell you about the student’s understanding?  Does the student work look much the same, regardless of students’ ability level?  Are there common errors across student work?  Patterns of misunderstanding?  Is the teacher giving feedback that is general (“Great job!”) or specific (“Drawing the diagram really helped you solve that problem!”)?  Can students explain to you why they are doing what they’re doing?  Who is answering the teacher’s questions?  Gathering information during observations that is concrete and specific will provide food for thought.

After observing but before sitting down with the teacher, take some time to review your notes.  Highlight things that stand out to you.  What seems important?  Zero in on one or two ideas and craft thoughtful, open-ended questions to generate meaningful dialogue.  For example, if you decide to discuss teacher feedback, you might ask the teacher, “What aspects of the work were you focusing on when checking in with students?”  A discussion of patterns of student response might ensue from the question, “How did you decide who would answer your questions?”  Your question isn’t meant to be a “gotcha,” but rather an honest inquiry into the teacher’s decision-making processes.  Be careful that your tone and wording carry that positive, supportive message.

One or two thoughtful questions, if explored deeply, will provide the fuel for a meaningful coaching conversation.  Allowing ample processing time will increase the depth of teacher responses.  Then listen hard to the teacher’s answer, because you’ll want to carry that thread of conversation forward. 

Discussions that are grounded in insightful observation and careful analysis of classroom interactions are likely to be rich and meaningful.  Your insightful observations will help you and the teacher figure out together how to make instruction stronger. 

 

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

This video about an end-of-class formative assessment – the stop light method:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/daily-lesson-assessment

 

A video about effective systems for coaching:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/district-wide-coaching-system?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest

 

10 Tips for Professional Development:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/10-tips-delivering-awesome-professional-development-elena-aguilar

 

10 technology-enhanced alternatives to book reports:

http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/8529-10-technology-enhanced-alternatives-to-book-reports

 

Strategies for great student discussions about math:

http://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Research_News_and_Advocacy/Research/Clips_and_Briefs/research%20brief%2020%20-%20strategies%20of%20discussion.pdf

 

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!