What Do You Think?

“What do you think?”

It can be the perfect question to broaden thinking, expand options, and brainstorm solutions. It can also be the question that sinks the swimmer who is sending out an S.O.S.

This week, I talked with a novice teacher about help she was receiving. Although young in years, she was astute when articulating her needs. “When I’m stuck,” she said, “I want someone who can offer help and support.” She described an experience of feeling genuinely baffled, out of ideas and ready to throw up her hands. When she went to a mentor for help, she was met with the well-intentioned question, “What do you think?” This burgeoning teacher recognized the appropriateness of that question at times -- “if I’m at the cusp and need to push myself.” But when she felt she really didn’t know, she wanted to walk away with a solution. “I want an answer, eventually,” she said. She was looking for a recommendation rather than a question.

In coaching, there is tension between showing respect for the teacher’s own thinking and nudging her to new ideas. Between expressing empathy and challenging respectfully. Between experience in the field and contextually different realities. Finding balance amid these tensions is the finesse of coaching. Being both an expert and a sounding board, and picking which one to lean towards, depends on the teacher, the coach, the topic, and the timing. The Gradual Increase of Responsibility model, with moves that offer varying levels of support, can be a guide in navigating this tension. Having the five moves (model, recommend, question, affirm, and praise) ready in your head can help you know what to throw when you hear the SOS.

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

Thoughts about what shouldn’t be on classroom walls:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1975

Establishing expectations in the classroom:

http://www.corwin.com/highimpactinstruction/videos/v13.1.htm

Inviting one by one:

http://heatherrader.com/archives/996

School supplies are in the stores, so here’s a back-to-school podcast to share with parents:

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/gg_live/happiness_matters_podcast/podcast/back_to_school

Retelling rubric for vocabulary and figurative language:

http://chartchums.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/image.jpg

Why To Kill a Mockinhttp://heatherrader.com/archives/996gbird endures:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/high-school-english-teachers-on-why-to-kill-a-mockingbird-endures_55a02146e4b0ecec71bc269f?utm_source=Inbox+Issue+-+2015-07-14&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Inbox&

I can’t help it – another perspective on Go Set a Watchman:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/teachers-new-homework-a-watchman-plan-1436917909?utm_source=Inbox+Issue+-+2015-07-21&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Inbox

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Read the Room

During one of my previous lives in a district-level position, my supervisor caught me by surprise when, after a meeting with a group of decision-makers, he cautioned me that I needed to take better care to “read the room.” What he meant was, I needed to attend more to how people were responding, using their body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice, in addition to the words that were said.

The reason I was surprised by my supervisor’s suggestion is because I thought that attending to these features was something I’d refined while coaching. I thought I had learned to proceed with caution, listen for openings, and recognize what was hidden. I thought I had learned to be totally present and give others my full attention. I thought I had learned to use all my senses to guide me through a conversation. As I reflected on my supervisor’s suggestion, I realized that in my district position I often felt I had to fight for what I believed in when it came to literacy instruction. I had gotten into the habit of being on the offensive, and it had impacted my “listening” skills.

There are so many roadblocks to reading the room. If my focus is on my own thinking and opinion, I will miss too much. But if my focus is on another, I will notice her eyes, her smile, and her posture. Her messages will speak loud and clear to me, even if she is silent. And in that listening, I’ll find a way forward. If the conversation is an instructional coaching one, that way forward will improve teaching and learning.

Although subtle, the ability to read a conversation with all of our senses is a valuable coaching talent. As with any talent, it takes time and practice to develop. The good news is, we probably have many opportunities daily to practice this talent. Any conversation, in any context, can help us develop the full-body listening skills that will make our coaching stronger.

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

Fun ideas for reading nooks (classroom construction is underway!):

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/cozy-makeshift-reading-nooks#1cqslf1

Don’t overdo it on classroom décor:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/05/28/classroom-clutter-a-distraction-to-students/70471.html

A Vote for Tried-and-True Running Records (in case you have a few literacy battles of your own to fight!):

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1155

Graphing content-area word walls: What’s the coordinate?

http://www.burkinsandyaris.com/breathing-life-into-content-area-word-walls/

And, if you are drawn in (like I am) to all the conversation about Harper Lee’s recently-released book, here are a couple of sites to check out:

Memories of Harper Lee: a podcast

http://will.illinois.edu/player/audio/memories-of-harper-lee-from-former-tribune-reporter?utm_source=Inbox+Issue+-+2015-07-14&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Inbox

An in-depth look at Harper Lee and Go Set a Watchman:

http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-harper-lee-go-set-a-watchman/?utm_source=Inbox+Issue+-+2015-07-21&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Inbox

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

Essential Questions for Teachers

A hallmark attribute of the Gradual Increase of Responsibility (GIR) Model is its emphasis on differentiating the support that is provided when coaching. If we believe instruction should be differentiated to meet students’ individual needs, it’s reasonable to suggest that the same is true for teachers. The GIR model offers different entry points, different types of scaffolding, and the recommendation to adjust support over time as experience and expertise are attained.

The GIR model provides for differing support as individuals or groups move through a coaching cycle. The idea of differentiated support for teacher learning can also be applied in a more traditional professional development setting. When any group of teachers comes together, there’s bound to be diverse background knowledge represented. If one of your responsibilities is to facilitate professional development, you’ve probably considered this, and perhaps scratched your head about how to move the group forward together while meeting individual needs. I faced that situation this week when meeting with a group of teachers to talk about Socratic Seminar.

These ten teachers not only taught different grade levels (K – 10) and subjects (literacy, math, art, history, etc.), they had had significantly different teacher preparation experiences. Some did not have teaching licenses; others had master’s degrees. Some had taught for many years, and there were brand new teachers in the bunch, too. So, as I planned for our time together, I knew a differentiated approach was important.

I decided my method for differentiating teacher learning would capitalize on two components that are also important for students: Essential questions and choice.  

I became familiar with essential questions when using Understanding by Design to craft units of instruction for students. Essential questions are meaty issues that promote inquiry and “uncoverage” of a subject. Rather than yielding a single answer, they encourage thoughtful and divergent responses. I’ve found that essential questions support student engagement and support teacher engagement equally well. For our professional development experience on Socratic Seminar, I offered the following essential questions:

*What instructional strategies encourage students to support their thinking with evidence?
*How can I encourage my students to build on each other's thinking?
*What is the role of discussion in building connections between new and previous learning?
*How might Socratic Seminars differ across grade levels?
*What prerequisite skills do students need to successfully participate in Socratic Seminars?

Near the beginning of our time together, I asked each teacher to pick the essential question that they were most curious about and write a tentative answer. This opened up opportunities for self-selected differentiation through choice. Throughout our morning together, teachers used their essential question as a lens for viewing each aspect of the professional development experience. They observed a demonstration lesson looking for interactions that related to their question; they read an article while looking for information related to that question. During whole group, small group, and partner discussion, they talked about how what they were seeing, hearing, and thinking expanded their response to their personal essential question and enriched their understanding of the role of dialogue in student learning.

As our time together neared an end, each teacher again wrote a response to their essential question. Comparing their more developed response to their thinking earlier in the day, teachers expressed satisfaction about the learning journey they’d taken – a journey that was differentiated to meet their own individual needs.  Our learning was a social, collaborative experience, but essential questions and choice had helped teachers take a path that was suited to their unique needs.

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

As teachers get their classrooms ready for the upcoming school year, you might share these ideas for organization: 

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1890

This brief Daily 5 Video about having students model appropriate independent reading behaviors (and then non-examples!):

http://www.stenhouse.com/html/up-and-running-with-the-daily-5.htm?r=sb10r181

10 Ideas that get kids writing – from the National Writing Project:

http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/8944/10ideas.pdf?x-r=pcfile_d

Organizing a notebook: a life-hack that could be applied to the Writer’s Notebook and beyond:

http://www.fastcompany.com/3035911/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/productivity-hack-of-the-week-keep-a-more-organized-notebo

Choosing 7: Making technology manageable by limited apps:

http://www.teachingquality.org/content/blogs/william-tolley/who-s-control-minimalism-modern-learning-classroom

That’s it for this week. Happy coaching!

Changing Times: Goals Set & Met

In the last few posts, I’ve been discussing the inevitability of change as the new school year approaches. Previously, I’ve listed common pitfalls for change initiatives and how to avoid them. Research on change provides another important step to consider on the road to positive change: Short-term success.

Making sure short-term goals are set and met keeps the change process moving. Business literature talks about the importance of a “big win” within the first 60 days, and I’ve found the same holds true in schools. If teachers don’t see the “something new” making a positive difference by the end of the first term, momentum is likely to run out.

So, how will you measure success within the first two months? It doesn’t have to be a standardized test score. It could be a writing sample, an audio recording of students reading, or students’ visual representations of their mathematical thinking. The short-term goal needs to tie directly to the initiative itself and its long-term goals. If your goal is focused on PLC’s, an October faculty meeting could be dedicated to sharing products of their constructive work. Or, if your focus is on vocabulary word walls, you could do a classroom tour during the meeting, seeing how these walls have been put into practice across the grade levels.

However short-term successes are defined, find a way to celebrate them publicly. Success breeds success and it will keep the positive energy going!

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

Getting the classroom ready? Save room for the children! Ideas for bulletin board borders by and for children:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=2217

Share this blog post about modeling to improve students’ writing:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teach-and-model-effective-writing-david-cutler

Promote learning of academic vocabulary across academic areas by “catching words:”

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=520

Teaching chess builds students’ cognitive skills:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865620084/Chess-in-the-schools-bringing-the-classic-mind-game-to-life.html

Understanding the games kids play to avoid failure:

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_help_kids_overcome_fear_of_failure

That’s it for this week. Happy July!

Declaring Victory Too Soon

In the last two posts, I’ve talked about the inevitability of change and why changes fails to take root. Lack of explanation, specificity, and communication put change on a sure-fire path to failure. Another reason changes fail to achieve the desired outcome is that victory is declared too soon.

Change is arduous, and sustained improvement requires support. Research shows that significant change in education takes three or more years. Substantive changes take root gradually, not suddenly. Not until the third year do teachers realize the full potential of a change and make modifications in instruction that result in measurably-increased student achievement. Although targeted innovations sometimes experience academic improvements quickly, sustained change requires support over time.

Schools and districts often do not meet implementation goals because they lack perseverance and commitment to the process.* Despite the best of intentions, schools often get sidetracked when, “in response to a multitude of pressures from state or district mandates, they shift from topic to topic, hoping that somehow their actions will add up to a solution.”** As this research indicates, with a sustained commitment to efforts in improving instruction, educators can realize the growth in students' ability that they are under so much pressure to achieve. Change initiatives that lead to improved student achievement are focused on instruction. To experience success that leads to increases in student achievement, leaders must develop a multi-year plan for professional learning that is focuses on instruction. A review of research indicates that “schools must stay the course for three years or more to make the improvements that are necessary to achieve substantial gains in student learning.”***

Although pressures abound in today’s school climate and initiatives come from many sources, instructional leaders can find ways to minimize influences of less-important requests and maintain a long-term focus on the instructional changes that matter most. As the new school year approaches, it’s important to reconsider initiatives introduced last year and the year before. Is there momentum for improvement that you can sustain and support? Starting the year with a solid plan in place for supporting previously-introduced innovations will ensure that efforts made last year are not negated by the next new thing that comes along. By evaluating change initiatives both past and present, you can determine how best to focus your efforts and the efforts of teachers you support.

* Deshler, D & Mellard, DF (2006)www.nrcld.org/about/presentations/2006/DeshlerScalingUpCEC2006.pdf

Hatch, T. (2001). Incoherence in the system: Three perspectives on the implementation of multiple improvement initiatives in one district. American Journal of Education, 109(4), 107–137.

** Taylor, B. M., Pearson, P. D., Peterson, D. S., & Rodriguez, M. C. (2003). Reading growth in high-poverty classrooms: The influence of teacher practices that encourage cognitive engagement in literacy learning. Elementary School Journal. 104, 3-28.

*** Minnesota Center for Reading Research(2011). http://www.cehd.umn.edu/reading/projects/school-change.html

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

Scenarios to get teachers thinking about room arrangement:

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/ICS-001.pdf

A podcast about close reading:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1851

Video examples of smooth classroom transitions:

http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/transition-times

Setting SMART goals with students:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/smart-goal-setting-with-students-maurice-elias

To drill, or not to drill – that is the question posed in this blog post:

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/01/19/memorize.aspx

That’s it for this week. Happy Independence Day!