Platforms for Coaching

As teachers and students settle into the routines of a new school year, coaches are also figuring out structures that will best support their work. Being responsive to the unique context where you are working means there is no “one way” that coaching should be done. Coaching needs vary based on how your position is defined, who you are working with, and the demographics of both the teacher and the student population. Whether you are working at the district or school level, whether your mentees are student teachers or have years of experience, the following questions bear consideration.

When will you take a team approach to coaching, and when would working with individual teachers be best? Team work has the advantage of efficiency and collaboration, while working one-by-one can offer coaching customized to the needs of a specific class or teacher. Finding the right blend depends not only on the population with whom you are working, but also on the time you have available.

How much time will you spend in classrooms during instruction? How much time should be scheduled for conferring? This balance might vary based on your relationships with teachers, whether they’ve established personal goals for instructional improvement, and the type of support that  is needed (modeling vs. questioning, for example).

Will taking a student-centered approach be comfortable and effective? Would time spent on curriculum or lesson planning yield broad and impactful change? Data discussions might lead us in one direction, and planning lessons as a team would have a different outcome. Choose structures for coaching that match the outcomes you’re aiming for.

Each of the above decisions will be guided by the way your focus shifts between assessment, curriculum, and instruction. Many coaches begin the year with a look at last year’s summative assessment results and then launch into assessment for screening and diagnostic purposes. Don’t overlook the power of day-to-day formative assessments and kid-watching! These provide data that can truly guide instruction and help determine curriculum needs.

As you establish a schedule for your work this year, there are many factors to consider! Although improved student learning is always at the core, there are many ways to get at that focus. Choose a plan based on your unique situation, and then be ready for the plan to evolve as improvement you’ve worked for leads to new platforms for coaching!

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

Cheap and ingenious classroom organizers:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mallorymcinnis/teachers-are-great#.oxdN5Z5Dm

Why adults observe children - a letter to the class:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=2125

Blog post: What close reading isn’t (or shouldn’t be):

http://christopherlehman.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/blog-a-thon-post-1-what-closereading-isnt-or-at-least-shouldnt-be/

Share this with students (intermediate and up) at the beginning of the school year to help them stay organized:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Stay-Organized-For-School/

If your first day of school hasn’t happened yet (or even if it has!), check out this post:

http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2015/08/07/what-to-do-the-first-day-of.html

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching

On the Same Page

In a recent post, we considered how a principal – coach agreement can get the school year off to a smooth start. Creating agreements – formal or informal –  with the teachers with whom you’ll be working is another important step at the beginning of the year. As you establish expectations with teachers, you might consider the following:

Communication: Ongoing communication supports the coaching work, but I’ve noticed teachers have their preferred means of communication. Email is an effective way to communicate, since relevant documents can be attached. If you’ll be communicating regularly through email, make sure teachers are aware so they’ll be on the lookout. For some teachers, email is a bottomless pit; hard-copies in the mailbox work better. And texting may be the preferred option for other teachers. If you’re open to different modes for communication, ask the teachers you’re working with: What’s the best way for us to communicate?

Time: Effective coaching takes time. There is no way around that! If you and your principal built time into the day when coaching can occur, it’s easier to manage this aspect of coach-teacher agreements. Beyond that, it’s good to know what works best for individual teachers. Some teachers arrive early but must be out the door quickly at the end of the day. For others, it’s the reverse. Some teachers take a professional break at lunch time, but for others, that’s the best time to meet. When the timing is right, teachers will be more open, so respecting teachers’ timing increases the effectiveness of coaching. Ask: When are the best times during the day for us to get together?

Focus: How will the focus for your coaching work be determined? Even when there is a designated emphasis for coaching work (e.g., a school-wide emphasis on small group instruction), there is room for teachers to define the work in ways specific to them and to their students. As you begin a coaching cycle, check to see: What are your priorities for our work?

Data: Once a focus has been established, you’ll want to gather data to support the work. Check with the teacher to see what information about student learning she would like to consider. Will she bring anecdotal records about classroom observations? Running records? Recent work samples? Would it be helpful to analyze scores from standardized assessments? Considering what assessment information would be useful will give your work a solid foundation.

Resources: Teachers may have specific resources in mind they’d like to work with, and they’ll likely be open to additional materials you can offer. Blending the familiar with the new will make the work more manageable. Although you’ll probably expand the resources you access as you move through a coaching cycle, it’s helpful to begin by considering: What resources might we need for the work?

Whether you collect the above on a form, through email, or in a quick conversation, gathering information about communication, time, focus, data, and resources will put you and the teacher you’re working with on the same page as you start a coaching cycle.

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

A classroom full of invitations:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1317

Helping students set academic goals right from the start:

http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/our-hopes-and-dreams-school-0

Charts as instructional anchors:

https://chartchums.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/do-less-to-do-more/

Classroom hacks – tips for organizing the room:

http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/57514/classroom-hacks

Writing workshop routines:

https://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2014/08/09/sharpen-your-workshop-routines-dont-skip-share-time/

That’s it for this week. Happy coaching!

Lessons from Haiti

I spent this week on an educator exchange in Port-au-Prince Haiti, and what I learned likely outweighed what I taught.

I learned that an asset-based approach is necessary for progress. Starting the new school year by considering what we have, rather than what we have not, is more likely to result in positive change.

I learn that saying less is better than lengthy monologue. This realization was emphasized as I worked through a translator and thought about the most clear and concise way to share a message – a method that I realize I should broadly apply.

I learned to listen with eyes wide-open. Language barriers encouraged me to listen with my eyes and tune in to all of the information being offered, not just the specific words that were spoken.

As I listened to the harmonious voices of my new Haitian friends lift together in song, I learned that expressing gratitude leads the heart forward.

I hope that tomorrow, when I fly away from Haiti, these understandings will go with me and guide me as I launch another new school year. For you, I hope they will do the same.

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

Praising the positive with students:

http://www.corwin.com/highimpactinstruction/videos/v14.1.htm

10 Ways to sabotage your classroom management (with positive alternatives!):

http://www.middleweb.com/19037/10-ways-sabotage-classroom-management/

An anchor chart example for plot and setting:

http://chartchums.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/image-4.jpg

Using photos to inspire writing:

https://www.theatrefolk.com/spotlights/introducing-scene-spurs-photos-as-writing-inspiration

Coaching as hands-on PD:

http://www.reading.org/literacy-daily/classroom/post/engage/2015/02/10/literacy-coaching-as-hands-on-pd?utm_source=02172015&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ThisWeek&utm_content=PopularOn-3

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Agreements for Smoother Sailing

For many of us, the school year is about to get underway. If you’ve had expectations for coaching in place in the past, you can smoothly step back into old routines. But if coaching is new for your school or there has been confusion about the coach’s role, a principal-coach agreement might make for smoother sailing in the year ahead.

A partnership agreement between principal and coach helps to define the working relationship between the coach and the principal and outlines expectations for the coach’s work. Because the partnership between a principal and coach is crucial to success (Wren & Vallejo, 2009), having a shared understanding of the work at the outset of the school year can set a tone for inquiry that makes coaching effective.

A principal-coach agreement might consider the following:

*How and when will the principal and coach communicate?

*How many and which teachers will the coach work with? (preferably all!)

*What is the scope of the coaching work? (subject areas, topics, etc.)

*What are the coach’s roles? (modeling, co-planning, data discussions, etc.)

*How will time be made in the teachers’ day for coaching work?

*How will confidentiality in the teacher-coach relationship be maintained?

*How will we measure the effectiveness of the coaching work?

*What resources are available to the coach?

Codifying these expectations removes the fuzziness that sometimes surrounds a coach’s role. Once you’ve arrived at agreement about these important ideas, plan for how this information will be shared with teachers. When the principal and coach model a collaborative relationship, the tone is set for similar collaboration as coaches and teachers undertake their shared work.

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

Letters from home:  Letting family & friends teach us about students:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=73

The Bedley Brothers podcast on collaboration:

http://bedleybros.podomatic.com/entry/2015-05-30T01_00_00-07_00

Coaching to model the GRR approach:

http://www.corwin.com/highimpactinstruction/videos/v3.2.htm

Retelling rubric for themes and ideas:

http://chartchums.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/image-2.jpg

A lesson plan for using FQR think sheets to respond to non-fiction:

http://lessonplanspage.com/using-fqr-think-sheets-to-respond-to-nonfiction-3/

Assessing students’ understanding during book club using “Think Sheets”:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1554

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!