Coaching by listening

One of the best parts of my position is discussing what teachers are doing with students in their classrooms. I enjoy the conversations had between colleagues about the choices, practices, and results in their classes. It is a great chance to reflect and I encourage the teachers with whom I work to see the observation/evaluation cycle as the most honest professional development in which they will participate.

As I reflect on my own practices, I stumbled across the Partner Discussion Protocol from a conference I attended. When there are partners working together, here is how it generally works:

·        A shares, B is an active listener (then switch)

·        A shares need, goal, or ideas for evidence

·        B’s role is to probe and push with ?’s

o   What’s going on now?

o   Why do you want this to change?

o   What exactly is your goal (desired change)? 
o   How will you know is changed?

 In the administrator/teacher dynamic, there may not necessarily be the reversal of roles, but idea of identifying the wanted change, defining the reason for the change, and being able to assess if the change has actually occurred is definitely valuable.

As the concept of peer evaluators gains popularity, this model can be applied after a pair of observations has been completed. The role of the active listener is key.

As it has been said: "We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak".

What do you think the blocks represent?

I have recently gotten on the bandwagon of the importance of the instructional coach to improve both the teaching and learning in the classroom. As I search for ways to improve my coaching skills and time available to coach, I have begun to recognize challenges that have been presented in the book Taking the Lead.

Before I delve into the challenges, people new to the concept of instructional coaches might have some basic questions. Michelle Russell posted a quick introduction resource to coaching. She found the resource from Larry Ferlazzo and Elena Aguilar . This 4 minute video describes some of the key components of the coaching relationship.

As I have explored and learned more about coaching, it is very important to understand that it is a relationship that is being cultivated between the coach and the teacher. It is a very different relationship than than of the administrator/teacher and also different than the relationship between mentor and mentee.

Because it is all based on the relationship and expectation between the teacher and the coach, both participants need to know and establish the expectations with the administration to the former does not get violated.

I found the video to have some quality symbolism, some overt and some more covert. The safety net is one of the overt examples. A teacher and coach learning together should be able to fall in front of one another and know that they will not get hurt. The covert symbolism is in the vagary of the blocks. I think the blocks represent resources, pedagogy, data and the deeper understanding within each and how they build upon one another.

What do you think the blocks represent?

DRIPs can lead to good conversation

This post is a commentary on the shifts that are needed in schools in order to make the role of a data coach more effective.

The shift that I will comment on is this:

• Optional data discussions need to become essential parts of teaching and learning

If you aren't familiar with the acronym, DRIP stands for Data Rich, Information Poor. This tends to be a common problem found in schools. Schools collect so much data (student achievement, attendance, tardies, discipline, etc) that before you get results from one data collection, you are already looking to collect a new set. There seems to be no time to desegregate the data and get to the meaning of it. In the rare occasions that there is a chance to look at the meaning of the numbers, often it is an autopsy with little chance to make mid-course corrections. If this is our only experience looking at data for meaning, we may make the mistake the the data is an ending point and we just move on.

I had the chance to attend and present at the ESEA/NCLB conference in Chicago yesterday. At the luncheon, we listened to the keynote address of Dr. Robert Meyer from UW Madison. He has worked with multiple large urban school districts to develop the value-added model for student achievement. He had stated the educator effectiveness can be measured using multiple data sources, including student growth, instructional observations, and student surveys (would this include data from the 5Essentials survey?). He also recommended that you check out the Measurements of Effective Teaching from the Gates Foundation.

I think one of the best thing stated in this keynote address was his recognition that NCLB fails to recognize that when a student enters your classroom 4 grade levels below expectations and leaves only 2 grade levels below that the teacher has been effective. NCLB only looks at the benchmark score of readiness and, regardless of any growth, if you didn't hit that benchmark, you didn't do anything. The value-added model can make corrections to this error in reporting.

Meyer stated that it is meant to be teacher friendly and supportive for new teachers. Essentially, value-added is a statistical model that can separate out external factors that might lead to student growth and narrow in on the effect of the teacher. It takes the results of the previous year's assessment and will predict what the student will score in the current year. The value-added comes in when the student scores higher than what was predicted and thus, indicated the effectiveness of the teacher.

If it will work that way, great...

The other thing that Dr. Meyer stated that was beneficial is that the data report is the beginning of inquiry and not the answer to a question.

This fed right into my presentation about digital classroom walkthroughs. Walkthroughs are a great method of collecting instructional data and providing good and timely information to teachers and buildings to make mid-course corrections from the difference between our perceptions of what goes on in the classroom and what is really happening.

We have used walkthroughs for over 4 years now and when the information is presented to the staff, they begin asking questions...this is the key! They take what is now know through observations and attempt to make instructional changes in order to get more desirable results. The examination of the data leads to great questions in a non-threatening manner because individual teachers are not named. When we share the data, it is aggregate for the school or department.

Get connected to other educators

This post is a commentary on the shifts that are needed in schools in order to make the role of a data coach more effective.

The shift that I will comment on is this:

• Teaching in isolation NEEDS to shift to collaborating with colleagues

Happy New Year!!!

We are now well into the 21st century in case you were not aware...because of this, here are some resources of which you should be aware:

• A Framework for 21st Century Skills
• Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (and the intersection thereof)
• Learning Forward (formerly the National Staff Development Council)
• Professional Learning Communities

Even this:

• Common Core State Standards

All of these resources can help alter the instruction and learning for students and educators. Strangely enough, all of these resources emphasize, in one way or another, the necessity and (dare I say it) mandate, that teachers need to remove the barriers of communication between themselves and the best practices of their colleagues. Moreover, teachers need to be connected to not only other educators within their school and district, but across their county, state, country and the entire world! I feel like I am preaching to the choir right now...if you are reading this, chances are that you got to this link from a post on a social network (Twitter, Plurk, etc).

There have been many discussions about education in the ivory tower and staying isolated from the real world. Connected educators can bring that real world directly into their schools and classrooms in order to make the learning that occurs more meaningful for the participants of that learning. I feel like I am repeating myself from --> this blog post

When teachers  ALL educators get connected, coaching can be more effective. It cannot just be teachers, the instructional coaches, administrators, psychologists, social workers, deans, counselors, need to be connected to each other and other professionals within their field. Everyone needs to demonstrate to students what continuous learning looks and feels like. Just as teachers encourage students to ask questions, the best coaching conversations get the coach and the person being coached asking questions and seeking answers to learn together!

Let's make 2013 be the year of learning together!

Leave your Twitter handle in comments, I would love to connect with you and learn together! And, other readers can connect with you to increase their learning potential!

Being the data coach

I have had the opportunity to attend a 6-day coaching institute from Learning Forward. For those who may not know, Learning Forward is the new name of what was formerly the National Staff Development Council (NSDC). Learningforward.org has some wonderful resources surrounding the latest research in providing professional development and professional learning. (e.g the newest version of professional learning standards can be found here.) Each standard begins with the stem of "Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students...". Within the stem of each standard exists the emphasis of professionalism, continual learning, increasing effectiveness, and equity for all student...and that is just the stem!

I digress...

The coaching institute has provided me with the opportunity to reflect on how I have worked with teachers in professional development, evaluations, and even day-to-day interactions. One of the great things I have learned is that in the coaching role, as opposed to the administrative/evaluator role,  there is no preconceived answer or solution. The coach is a support and an equal partner in the learning that will occur between the two professionals. While there are times that the administrator is needed, I think leaders should emphasize the coaching aspect more often.

My current position involves looking at all of our data and making it meaningful to those who need it. There are a lot of spreadsheets, equations, and bar graphs. Luckily, I like exploring Excel.

One of the things discussed today in the workshop were the critical shifts that needs to happen within an organization in order to make the role of a data coach more effective and successful. They are as follows:

• Individual accountability needs to shift to collective responsibility
• Optional data discussions need to become essential parts of teaching and learning
• Placing blame needs to shift to inquiries in examining potential solutions
• Teaching in isolation NEEDS to shift to collaborating with colleagues
• Adults need to focus less on the teaching and more on the learning

In the next few days, I will elaborate more on each of the bullet points above. How do you accomplish these in your school? Has the shift happened? Has there been a realization that the shift needs to happen?