SERVING AS A "COGNITIVE COACH"

Cognitive coaching can be applied to specific areas of teacher professional development through three phases of interaction with teacher-learners:

• A Planning Conference
• Lesson Observation
• A Reflection Conference

During the Planning Conference, coaches should help teachers think through their planned lessons using the 8-step process and helping them to anticipate what might happen during the lesson.

I. Planning:

• Identify standard and objectives
• Determine how student will demonstrate mastery
  
• Select appropriate learning strategies and content
  
• Identify how the teacher will determine effectiveness of lesson
  

The Lesson Observation coaches keep notes about what happened during the lesson so that this information can be shared with his/her new educator.

II. Lesson:

• New educator gathers information to share with the coach in the Reflecting Conference

o Evidence of student achievement
o Their own strategies and decisions

• The coach observes the new educator present the lesson and gathers information to share with the new educator at the Reflecting Conference

o Observation Instrument
o Analysis of observation

During the Reflecting Conference, coaches should discuss the lesson, with the new educator sharing information that was collected, and the coach encourages the new educator to reflect on what happened and consider ways to apply what the new educator has learned through teaching the lesson.

III. Reflecting:

• Summarize impact of the lesson
• Identify evidence that supports those impressions
  
• Compare planned with performed teaching decisions, and student learning