Deep Data Dives

If you’ve spent some time digging into student assessment data with your team or faculty, your group will be prepared to uncover causes. It’s only when we really get to the cause that effective solutions start to surface. A combination of the 5 Whys protocol and a fishbone analysis can get your thinking going in the right direction.

The Fishbone is a structured team process for identifying underlying factors or causes of an event. The product of the team’s work is a cause/effect diagram that might look something like this:

Or this, if you’ve got a group of creative teachers!

Fishbones help us consider lots of alternate causes and sort ideas into useful categories.

Here are the steps in the process. Working in small groups, ask:

1.    What is the problem/effect? Be clear & specific. Be careful not to define the problem in terms of a solution!  Write this at the head of the fish.

2.    What might be the major categories of causes of the problem? (for example, materials, policy factors, people/staff factors, etc.). Write these on the large skeletal bones.

3.    Brainstorm possible causes for each category. These are the smaller bones.

4.    For each cause, ask, “Why does this happen?” Write these sub-causes as branches on your diagram.

Similar to the interview process described in last week’s post, asking “Why?” multiple times along the way can ensure deep causal thinking rather than more obvious solutions that get too-easily tagged. In the fishbone analysis, it means adding sub-causes to the “bone structure” through fine-grained analysis.

Here’s how it works: Someone states what they think is a cause. For example, if I ask someone why they were late for work, they might answer, “I was late for work because I ran out of gas.” Asking, “Why did you run out of gas?” reveals yet another layer to the problem: “I ran out of gas because I didn’t buy any on my way to work.” “Why didn’t you buy any on your way to work?” you might ask. “Because I didn’t have any money!” “Why didn’t you have any money?” “Because I bought these gorgeous shoes last night!” might be the response. “Why?” “Because when I see a gorgeous pair of shoes, I just have to have them even though I already have a closet full of shoes!”

Aha! Now we have revealed that the root cause of being late to work is a shoe fetish! Without the 5 Whys protocol, we would never have known! Of course, 5 is not a magic number. The point is, go deep enough to get at real answers to the question. The final “Why” should lead to a root-cause statement that helps the team take action.

The fishbone analysis, accompanied by the 5 Why’s, encourages a deeper consideration of the data and a focus on underlying problems. When we see dips in the data of student achievement, it’s most effective to solve directly-stated problems rather than proposing solutions to surface-level issues.

(More ideas for peeling back the layers coming next week.)

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

Rewinding to have hope at the beginning of a school year:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=2007

Incorporate movement while teaching about the water cycle:

http://corkboardconnections.blogspot.com/2012/04/move-to-learn-in-science.html

The power of written conversations (good for PD and classrooms!):

https://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/written-conversations/

Mentor texts with different organizational structures:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1102

Apps for the low- or no-Internet classroom:

http://classtechtips.com/2016/05/13/9-apps-for-the-low-or-no-internet-classroom/

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Like on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch for more coaching and teaching tips!

Getting to the Root: Identifying Causes

Last week’s post (check it out here) described protocols for digging into the mounds of data that will be waiting when we return to school. Because it’s easy to jump to conclusions when figuring out the causes behind those results, I try to slow down everyone’s thinking as we examine the data. Here are a few ideas to help you do the same.

You might laugh at this as a means of data analysis, but after doing the serious work of figuring out what the data says (summarizing and looking for patterns), we sometimes needed to lighten up – but stay on topic! So I ask everyone to take a full sheet of paper and write one reason – a possible cause – for something they’ve noticed in the data, be it good or bad. Once everyone has completed this task, we go to a large open space, paper in hand, and line up in two groups facing each other. Then I ask everyone to wad their paper up into a ball—and we have a snowball fight! After throwing your “snowball,” pick up one that has been lobbed your way, unwad it, read it, wad it, and throw it again. Call a truce to the blizzard when you start getting repeat snowballs. The snowball fight will get the thinking going, considering multiple alternatives.

Another way to open up the thinking is to do a fishbowl interview. You can select someone in advance or ask for a volunteer. You’ll be “interviewing” your teacher friend while everyone else silently listens in, taking notes about interesting potential causes that are uncovered. The key to a successful interview is asking the right questions. What intrigues you about the data? What are you left wondering about? What do you have hunches about that you’d like another perspective on? If you don’t ask the right questions, you don’t get the right answers, so plan carefully if you decide to take this approach. “Only the inquiring mind solves problems.”  Sometimes it helps to have a second interview, especially one that might offer a different point of view. Then have small groups meet and chart their list of possible causes. Comparing these lists as a whole group can also be helpful.

These two protocols help to generate ideas, but moving from possible causes to probably causes – really getting to the root of the matter—requires us to peel back other layers. More about that next week.

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

Ice breakers and warm-ups for the back to school faculty meeting (I like to tweak them to have an education theme):

http://www.nsrfharmony.org/system/files/protocols/icebreakers_0.pdf

Ideas for creating non-fiction text sets:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1905


Thinking critically about practice through classroom observations:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/problem-of-practice

Thoughts about using novels as anchor texts:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2015/05/15/teaching-novels-in-era-of-common-core/

Starting the year in reading and writing workshop: Surveys and community building:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=2023

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Like on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch for more coaching and teaching tips!

Digging into Data

When school begins, there will be mountains of data asking for our attention. Whether it is results of the state-required assessment from last spring or new IRI scores, we’ll need to dig through these mounds and look for patterns and trends. When I’ve supported faculties in approaching this task, several protocols have been helpful.

A simple favorite of mine is the Chalk Talk Protocol. It is a protocol of many uses, and one of them is examining data. I take different data reports and put each in the middle of a large sheet of bulletin board paper, then hang them around the room or place them on tables. (Choose enough different views of data so that there is at least one board per 5 teachers; they’ll move fluidly between charts during time for reflection.) Each faculty member has a colored marker, and during the silent thinking time, they leave a trail of comments on each chart. Anything they notice is worth jotting down. Teachers can draw arrows linking similar comments and use their pen to comment on or argue with the ideas that have been written. It’s a good way to literally get everyone’s thinking out on the table, which I usually end with a gallery walk to synthesize the thinking. 

I’ve also used National School Reform’s protocol for examining the data. Working in small groups, teachers are given a set of data to consider. Multiple rounds are sequentially introduced by the facilitator, asking teachers questions that encourage them to look at the data differently, first by responding silently in writing and then through discussion in their small group. During round 1, teachers record and discuss what the data tells them at first blush. What jumps out and seems significant? What surprises them? What patterns are noted? During round 2, teachers make inferences about the data. What is it telling us? What is it not telling us? They look beyond obvious relationships. Round 3 is a time to look for celebrations. What good news is there in the data? Round 4 looks at the flip side. What problems of practice might be underlying this data? This round of cause-and-effect thinking can be overwhelming and might require its own separate protocol. (More about this process in next week’s blog.) During the 5^th and final round, the group describes the key conclusions and recommendations that they will share. Taking this layer-by-layer approach stops us from jumping to unwarranted conclusions.

There are plenty of other protocols with merit for guiding data discussions (see http://qualitycommunityschools.weebly.com/data-protocols.html for some other examples). If using protocols is unfamiliar to your staff, the structured discussion formats may take some getting used to, but your data-digging efforts will be more fruitful because of their use.

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

A free preview of the entire book, The Author’s Apprentice, full of ideas for writing workshop:

http://cdn.stenhouse.com/emags/0941/index.html

This Pinterest Board with a back-to-school idea: Student Selfies!

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/85075880437369720/?utm_campaign=recs_150223&utm_term=6&utm_content=85075880437369720&e_t=91997596bee349da93ae3ba831a6a411&utm_source=31&e_t_s=pins&utm_medium=2004

Questions for choosing read-aloud titles (plus some great recommendations that fill the bill; these are meant for choosing texts to begin the school year, but good any time!):

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1812

Giving real feedback (lessons for writing and more):

http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/2012/02/09/power-of-feedback/

Implementing NGSS without reinventing the wheel:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2016/05/06/dont-reinvent-the-wheel-carnegie/?utm_source=newsletter20160507/

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Like on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch for more coaching and teaching tips!

To Open Closed Doors, Be Real

Today at #ILA2016, I attended #EdCampLiteracy and had a chance to sit around a table with instructional coaches from all around the country. The very first topic posed for discussion was how to work with reluctant teachers. This was the topic of my post last week, but the ideas shared today are worth passing along.

“It's all about power,” one experienced coach explained, when thinking about how to open the doors of resistant teachers. Her comment reminded me of what research tells us about motivation: Control and choice are important motivators. Your position as a coach may be viewed as a position of power. Teachers are often used to being the ones in control, so threats to that control by someone they consider to be in a position of power may be unwelcome. To soften this tension, find ways to offer choice. Create invitations for coaching that put control in the hands of teacher. Offer choices about where and when you will meet and the topics you'll address. Don't go in with a lock-step plan in place. Be ready to explore a topic from the teacher's point of view. It can be hard to lay aside our tried-and-true approaches and explore new ideas alongside a teacher, but such an approach may be the inroad you need to work with a teacher who hasn't been open to coaching.

Another big idea that surfaced during the EdCamp conversation about working with reluctant teachers is the idea of vulnerability. Teachers' reluctance to work with a coach may come from feelings of vulnerability. Being open about their practice – about their challenges as well as their successes – may be uncomfortable and anxiety-producing! If you sense this feeling may underlie a teacher's reluctance toward coaching, you may be able to shift the tides by making yourself vulnerable. If you model a lesson, for example, point out both before and after that you know there is always room for improvement. Talk about mistakes of judgment you make in the moment or things you would have done differently. You don't have to be self-deprecating or insincere – just open and honest. Posting a video of you teaching a less-than-perfect lesson, with you coaching yourself as a voice-over, is another way to show that you are willing to be open as well and that perfection isn't expected.

During our conversation around the table today we also talked about heavy coaching vs. light coaching. While I agree with Joellen Killion that relationships can be built through heavy coaching that focuses on student learning and probes for specificity and depth of thinking, some circumstances benefit from a lighter entry. The kinds of things districts often put on the list of things they don't want coaches to do (make copies, grade papers, etc.) may be the ticket in the door for that difficult-to-convert teacher. The best coaching decision I ever made was to stop and help with a bulletin board that was hastily being put up just before a surprise visit by the assistant superintendent. That gesture of help towards the highly-stressed teachers in this turn-around school dramatically changed the dynamic of our interactions.

Hopefully all of the teachers within your circle of influence will eventually be requesting to work with you. For those who start out dragging their feet, however, be real. Be open, be vulnerable, give the power to them, and relate as a colleague.

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

Pinterest ideas for organizing the classroom:

https://www.pinterest.com/hojostptstore/creative-classroom-organization-ideas/

This video with ideas for classroom lab visits to encourage thinking deeply about practice:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/problem-of-practice

Two podcasts about what it's like to be an instructional coach (scroll down for the audio):

http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/instructional-coach/

Why reading matters (a great post to share with parents):

http://www.readbrightly.com/why-reading-matters-for-kids/

Argumentative writing ideas for social studies:

https://nsargumentwritingblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/argument-writing-in-social-studies/

That's it for this week. Happy coaching!

Like on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch for more coaching and teaching tips! 

Why Some Teachers Don’t Change

In many classrooms, teachers are embracing active, collaborative teaching methods that are cognitively engaging for students, encouraging them to construct meaning about important concepts.

However, there are still some classrooms where teachers are desperately hanging on to practices that are less-effective for student learning. Some teachers still focus on content rather than concepts and delivery of information rather than building of understanding. In these classrooms, students are passive participants who learn content for short-term regurgitation. Teachers hang on to teaching strategies where they are the sage-on-the-stage for a number of reasons.

Most teachers have their students’ best interests at heart. The passive learning strategies they use are not the result of laziness or indifference; they, too, feel they are doing what’s best for kids. They genuinely believe that these passive learning strategies are the best way to teach because the content they are sharing is important. When teachers see learning as content-focused, a receptive stance for students makes sense.

Another reason teachers use these teaching strategies is because they are teaching in the way they were taught. So it may be all they really know. After spending years in classrooms where they were passive participants, some teachers offer this same experience to their students, feeling this is how we do school. Their apprenticeship into teaching was their own learning experience as students.

Another reason teachers use these teacher-oriented strategies is because such approaches make it easier to stay in control of the classroom. It is easier to monitor students when they take notes than when they collaborate, easier to manage the classroom when students sit in straight rows facing forward than in groups huddled around the room. A more active role for students may present classroom management challenges.

When teachers are reluctant to change, it is helpful to get to the root of the problem. If a teacher’s approach is guided by content, he might be more receptive to change if he experiences concept-oriented learning for himself and if he’s presented with lesson ideas that grow students’ content knowledge through concept-oriented approaches such as Understanding by Design. Teachers love getting new stuff, so another hook for content-oriented teachers might be to buy them some hands-on learning tools for the content they are attached to.

If teachers are reluctant to change because their teaching style is an extension of the methods they’ve seen, modeling lessons in the teacher’s room might provide a vision for a different kind of teaching. Visiting other classrooms (especially when part of a classroom lab visit) can also help teachers broaden their instructional repertoire. For teachers who struggle with classroom management, classroom visits can also be helpful, especially when coupled with supports for collaborative learning such as the Kagan strategies.

If you will be working with teachers who are reluctant to change, getting at the root of the problem can help new teaching approaches blossom!

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

Read more about coaching resistant teachers here:

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/coaching_teachers/2013/04/how_can_i_coach_a_resistant_te.html

Top 12 Ways Teachers Can Rock Summer Break:

http://www.teachhub.com/top-12-ways-teachers-can-rock-summer-break

Six ideas for using stuffed animals for literacy tools (beyond the primary grades):

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2016/01/stuffed-animals-reading-and-writing-buddies

How the workshop model includes the learning that matters most:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1818

This 7-minute video is about an elementary math lesson, but includes great ideas for supporting discussion useful across the curriculum:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/subtraction-math-lesson-ousd?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Like on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch for more coaching and teaching tips!