Planning with the New Educators

Planning with the New Educator can be held when there is no intention of following up with an observation. The sole purpose, in this instance, can be simply to plan a lesson, unit, or map out a semester or course. When planning with a New Educator before an observation it is important to ask the following questions.

• What are the students suppose to know and be able to do?
• How are the objectives related to the State Standards.
• How will student progress be measured?
• What will the New Educator do?
• What will the students do?
• How will the assessments be used to adjust the lesson or re-teach the lesson?

Contributed by: Dr. Doug Miller

Mastery Learning

The idea of mastery learning amounts to a radical shift in responsibility for teachers; the blame for a student's failure rests with the instruction, not a lack of ability on the part of the student. In a mastery-learning environment, the challenge becomes providing enough time and employing the correct instructional strategies so that all students can meet or exceed standards. (Levine, 1985; Bloom, 1981)

Support Binder

To help the new educator in day-to-day activities, we have created an 8 x 5 spiral notebook for each new teacher that contains:
1) HELP-- who to call for assistance from discipline in the classroom to the location of erase markers
2) WHERE IS IT- locations of all the restrooms, classrooms, offices, gym, lunch room etc.
3)WHAT FORM- how to fill out the basic forms
4) GENERAL CLASS RULES THAT WORK
5) PROCEDURESWHEN YOU (the teacher) ARE ABSENT
6) LIAISON AND INSTRUCTIONAL COACH names, extension numbers, planning time, home phone number etc.

Source: Kate, Seagull School

Recruiting Instructional Coaches

A report in the Journal of Staff Development (Fall 2002) showed experienced teachers benefited in a number of ways from serving as coaches: through greater appreciation for reflective practice, a greater capacity for leadership, a new perspective on their own practice, and a renewed commitment to teaching.

Coaches offered testimony of the positive effects on their own practices: “I have had to re-examine my teaching practices,” said one. “I have found the remarkable enthusiasm of beginning teachers to be contagious.” One teacher spoke of the choice between being negative and a complainer . . . or being solution-oriented. What are your site’s criteria for selecting Instructional Coaches.
Source: Randall, Broward County Public Schools

Assessing New Educators Needs

I developed a ticket-out for our NESS support meetings.

• I first ask the NE to write and tell me one thing that is going well for them.
• Next I ask them to tell me what they need in order to best meet the needs of the students in their classrooms.
• Last, I ask them what would be a helpful topic for the next meeting, as well as providing a list of possible choices.

This ticket out serves as another way to prevent needs from falling through the cracks and empowers the NE.

Source: Melissa, Liberty Elementary

Guidelines for Learning Communities

With new guidelines for learning communities, one way to meet criteria is to have a "follow-up" time at each monthly meeting to chat about how suggestions from the prior meeting were implemented in the NE's classroom. Also, coaches can keep an informal log and follow up as well with how new ideas are being implemented in the NE's room. This also helps with aligning learning communities with the teacher real work in the classroom and it helps with accountability, encouraging regular on-going contact between coaches and new educators.
Source: Laura, Blanche Foreman Elementary

OBSERVING NEW EDUCATORS

During an observation some coaches fall into the trap of interpreting what they think they see rather than recording what they actually see and hear. The following is an excerpt from two coaches simultaneously conducting a drop-in observation of a new teacher on November 18, 2004.

Coach 1

• The lesson plan was ready to go at the bell
• The teacher explained the directions clearly and asks for questions regarding clarification
• The teacher used specific desist (names) to get students on task
• The teacher gave an excellent suggestion that another student read
• The teacher has good relationship with students but this could be misconstrued as loose discipline

Coach 2

• All students working on warm-up activity when bell sounded
• Teacher talked with a student who had been absent
• Warm-up activity stopped and transitioned to lesson for the day
• Looked for handouts to give to class
• Students began talking
• Found materials and redirected students back to task
• Reviewed material covered yesterday
• Objectives for today were addressed
• Directions given for today’s activity
• Checked student’s comprehension by asking two students to repeat directions
• Students took 4 minutes to transition to reading/activity groups
• Students were redirected back to task

Observations are important in providing data to strengthen a professional’s practice. Both coaches observed the same lesson. Questions for reflection:

• Which observation provides more detailed data?
• What areas of concern did the first coach reveal? The second coach reveal?
• Which observation provides the best information for writing goals or Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely (SMART) objectives for the new educator?

Are we as rigorous as we think?

The information in the chart above was gathered by Data Works Educational Research. Assuming this information is true and there is no contradictory finding in the research at present, "What are the implications of this data for political leaders, universities, school districts, administrators, teachers, students, and parents?" Respond to all or part of the question above in the comment section.

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

My Greatest Success

I think that my greatest success was taking a group of students that didn't necessarily get along well with each other and forming a classroom that learned to respect each other. When I first tried to have the students work in groups, they did not know how to work in a productive manner. There was conflict and they were unsuccessful at completing even simple tasks.

They now work very well with each other, after I have been consistent with rules and consequences. They clearly understand my expectations and we have talked about the need to be able to work with different types of people. They act as a team and help one another. We have reviewed the need to have good character traits such as respect, kindness, responsibility, self-control, tolerance and cooperation. They have come a long way and it makes me proud to see them take responsibility for their actions and their work.

Elizabeth, Hollywood Park Elementary

I Ain't Never Leaving

As a new educator I find myself facing new experiences - new challenges - every day. My greatest success is that I'm still here - I'd thought I'd make a good teacher ever since high school. People always have told me I explain math in a way they can understand it, so I thought that was all I'd need - a good personality and mathematical ability. I was wrong.

Education courses I took prepared me only slightly for the reality of being in the classroom with 25 eleven-year-olds at a time. Each of them carrying their own personalities and emotional baggage, I am only beginning to understand how to work with all of those personalities and how to have them work effectively with each other and myself. Every day is a new adventure for me in the classroom, and I'm loving every minute of it.

To paraphrase an old country music movie - "Look out teacher city - 'cause I'm here now and I ain't never leaving!" I've found my niche and I look forward to continuing this adventure for many years to come.

Source: Brian, Rickards Middle School

Effective math questions: to promote problem solving

What information do you have?
What do you need to find out?
What strategies are you going to use?
Will you do it mentally?
Will you need pencil and paper?
Will you need a formula?
What tools will you need? Will a calculator helps?
What do you think the answer or result will be?

Source: www.pbs.org/teacherline

Root Cause and Impact

When an intervention does show results in the classroom it is not necessarily the fault of the client or the students. It usually means that the appropriate intervention was not identified or implemented correctly.

Last year I was working with a teacher who shared with me that the students were always off task instead of doing their classwork. I visited his classroom and he was right many of the students were off task. As a result of several conversations with the teacher we implemented several interventions that focused on procedures and classroom management strategies, but each time I return to measure impact of the interventions many of the students were still off task. I will admit that both of us were very frustrated and every intervention we had tried so far had not worked.

Then one day I happened to observe his class during a question and answer period. He was allowing unison responses from the students. Unison response occurs when groups of students shout out the answer to the teacher's question. What this means is that no student is being held responsible for his/her learning because there was always a student who knew the answer and would shout it out. Common sense says just because one student knows the answer it does not mean that all the students in the class know the answer.

I met with the teacher and we implemented a strategy. He use a clip board to call on students by name and he redirected those who shouted out answers. After two weeks these strategies reduced the amount of unison response by two thirds. This change in his practice caused a major change in the students’ behavior during questing sessions and the students became more involved in their classwork because they never knew when they would be called upon to respond.

This example does not mean that all the other interventions were ineffective it was just that once the root cause of the problem was identified and the appropriate combination of interventions were implemented the learning environment improved.

Prior Knowledge

One of my colleagues stressed that “teachers need to know what the student’s prior knowledge is so they can understand at what point the student is at in the learning process.” There was little disagreement on that issue, what followed was just an engaging conversation of strategies to determine student’s prior knowledge.

Then I began to wonder what support would look like if coaches determined a teacher’s prior knowledge. Coaches should not assume the teachers that they are supporting are lacking in knowledge or skills, when their barriers just might be experience. As part of the coaching process, what strategies have you used to determine a teacher’s prior knowledge?

Plan, Do, Study, ACT

In the ACT stage of PDSA, if the result was not achieved, examine the interventions and adjust or change them using knowledge obtained from the Study phase of PDSA. If the interventions were successful and the expected result was achieved, then the client incorporates the new strategy or procedure into his/her practice. The question then becomes, “What is the next steps in continuously improving the clients practice?”
Source: http://www.rootcauseanalyst.com/

Quotes from Outstanding Coaches

Coaches in sports sometimes say things in the most insightful ways . The quotes below were collected from several sites on the internet. As you read these quotes think about how they apply to our work as teachers. Please respond to one or all the quotes in the comment section.

"If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes." -- John Wooden

"People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don't know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to." -- George Allen

"Coaches have to watch for what they don't want to see and listen to what they don't want to hear."
--John Madden

"A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are."
--Ara Parasheghian

"Great teamwork is the only way we create the breakthroughs that define our careers."
--Pat Riley

" Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer." --Rick Pitino

“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”--Lou Holtz

“It's not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference.”--Bear Bryant

"Sit up straight, listen, and participate."--Pat Summitt

Coaching in Stages

Coaches emphasize that many beginning teachers progress in stages. The first stage focuses on practical skills and information -- where to order supplies, how to organize a classroom, where to find instructional resources, what kind of assistance the teacher association can provide, etc.

During the second stage, coaches and clients concentrate more intently on the art and science of teaching and learning and on polishing classroom management skills.

In stage three, the coach and new teachers's relationship evolves from coach - client to peers working together as equals on a deeper understanding of instructional strategies and ongoing professional development that is based on the needs of their students.

Where a new teacher enters this matrix and how long each stage lasts vary according to the knowledge, experience, and skills that the new teacher brings to the job. A skillful coach works with the new teacher to determine what level of assistance to provide and when to provide it.

Source: http://www.nfie.org/publications/mentoring.htm - content

Coaching Styles

The DIRECT STYLE has advantages it is efficient but does little to develop the new educators self-evaluative skills. The direct style should be used if the issue is safety, specific site-based policies, and deadlines. Using the direct style coaches could make statements like:
• I know you feel that students should have the freedom to sit anywhere they wish but….
• This is the way we teach …… here is a sample you can follow.
• I am aware that you are trying to have your materials, chemicals, etc., as close at hand as possible. However, those chemicals are not stored properly. You must move them right away.

The INDIRECT STYLE uses questions to encourage new educators to recognize problems and develop solutions. This empowers the new educator to assume ownership and responsibility for needed change. Coaches make statements like:
• Am I correct in assuming that you have decided to group the students homogeneously next time? When you try this, how will you know if you are successful?
• How do you plan to put that unit together? What outcomes are you looking for?

In the beginning, when working with an educator new to the profession it is necessary to be direct. In most cases the teachers first day of work is only four or five days before the students first day of school. Therefore, new teachers have very little time for discovery method. However, as the year progresses it is important for the coach to recognize that the new teacher is a peer. The indirect style helps new educators develop a more reflective practice an important skill needed to meet the ever-changing needs of their students.

Source: Clinical Educator Training

Plan Do STUDY Act

In previous articles we examined the steps of PLAN and DO in the continuous improvement process (CIP).
Plan includes:
• Identifying the “Desired State”
• Selecting appropriate “Assessment Tools”
• Measure “Current Reality.”
• Determine Goals and/or measurable objectives

DO includes:
• Identifying possible interventions or solutions
• Implementing the interventions or solutions.

The next step in the continuous improvement process is STUDY. In this step impact is measured to determine if the desired results were achieved, what if anything went wrong, and what was learned. When gathering data during the STUDY stage use the same or focused parts of the assessment tools that were used to determine the clients “Current Reality.” After gathering the data take time to organize and analyze the date then publish or share the findings with the appropriate audience.

Source: Dr. Doug Miller

Support Group Activity: Surfing the Net

Objectives:
• To explore the internet for resources on teaching and learning
• To use internet resources and web resources for teaching and learning

Materials:
A computer lab with a computer for each participant (or each pair – of participants)

Essential Question:
How can the Internet be used to improve a teacher’s practice?

Procedures:
Step 1 – The group brainstorms educational terms or phrases for searching the Internet. (Terms such as Classroom Management, FCAT, instruction strategies and so on.) Chart responses.
Step 2 – The group determines criteria for selecting a useful website. (For example, easy to navigate, relevant content.) Chart criteria.
Step 2 - The group has 30 minutes to explore the Internet using the search words from the brainstorming list.
Step 3 - Each participate will use the criteria to select at least two promising sites.
Step 4 – Each participate shares one site they selected and why they selected it as a promising site. (If you have a large group, divide the group into teams of four to share, then the teams can present one of the sites they discussed to the large group.)
Step 5 - Closing Questions: How can this activity help improve a teacher’s practice?

Source: Dr. Amy Tsukuda