.theneedforimmedi
These steps seems to be focused on addressing a very specific problem of practice. I see this step as being very important to establish buy in. If it were just general instructional improvement or with our teacher candidates I suppose this could maybe be goal setting or establishing the areas of coaching focus.
notherchallengeiswalkingthefine linebetweenbeinganadministratorwhomonitorsthechangeand beingamemberoftheteach-ingranks.
At most schools I have worked at coaches primarily work as coaches and do little instruction. I can see the benefit of having coaches as a member of the teaching community as well.
“Myheadwouldnotbeabovewatetwithoutmycoach”;
So often in the schools I have been in coaching is seen as more of a burden. While many teachers would say their coaches give them good advice, the coaching is also a major source of stress for already overwhelmed teachers. I wonder how to shift this practice so that this "my head would not be above water without my coach" can be a reality.
Asamemberofthesegroups;thecoachandotherteacherleadersbringtheperspectiveofmanyclassroomsratherthanjustone’sownclassroom.
How could this be implemented for mentor teachers as they are most always with their classroom? Maybe if classroom teachers are part of a peer coaching model themselves they would be able to bring the perspective of other classrooms as well. This would also prepare student teachers to address a variety of classrooms as only having the perspective of one classroom is rather limited.
[T]he work of coaches is squandered ifschool principals are not instructionalleaders.
This is why I think it is so important for principals to have a lot of experience teaching in a classroom setting. Principals cannot be instructional leaders without years of instructional experience.
#6 Classroom supporter
I feel like this sums up the role of a teacher mentor for student teachers.
coaches need to monitor things closely so that teachers learn how to locate and evaluate resources that will improve student learning.
I love when formal or peer coaches provide resources. However, I also think general teachers are usually good at finding resources for themselves when needed. I do think being careful about providing too many resources is true when coaching student teachers. I have often found myself giving a lot of resources to student teachers without showing them how i found those resources in the first place. I think the skill of finding (or creating) appropriate articles, worksheets, etc is not something that is taught. This type of coaching might be better described as coaching around how to find various resources as well as providing some.
eencoaching“i
I love the idea of doing this more. It would lower some of the stress that is present with admin is coaching. Does anyone do this in your district? If so, how does it work in practice since teachers are actively teaching throughout the day?
Hedefinesreciprocalsu;incoachingasteachersobservingand coachigwe.a.each othertojointlyimproveinstructio
I would love the opportunity to observe more of my fellow teachers. This practice is done during student teaching and then rarely ever again throughout a teacher's career. Doing this could cause a lot of stress and a feeling of unsaid competition so it would need to be set up well. I think in the right learning communities this could be very powerful.
Coach-inginvolves professional,ongoingclassroommodeling,supportivecritiquesofpractice,andspecificobservations”
I have rarely had coaches model but I think this practice would be very helpful.
nd,manyprogramsidentify onlybroadcoachinggoals,thusincreasingthedifficultyofidentifyingwhich coachingmodelworksbest.
In DPS the coaching I have received has also been around the leap framework. This is helpful for LEAP scoring but I wonder if it is the best or only coaching system that should be implemented. I am curious what other districts do and if there are researches backed coaching models.
chievement allow teachers with: © 15 to 25 ho urs a W eek ... to plan cooper atively and engage in analyses of student help them continually improve
This sounds like it would have a major impact. This would have to shift the school day to being shorter. We get less than 6 hours at my school. These are often taken up by meetings but I suppose the 15-20 hours would also probably be taken up by meetings at times. This amount of planning is most effective and would definitely help with teacher burn out.
rs. The evaluation demonstrated that it was these former teachers who were informing the parents about the language of schooling that made big differences — that is, the parents learned the language about the nature of learning in today’s classro learned how to help their children to attend and engage in learning, speak with teachers and school personnel.
This sounds impactful but how was this done?
re there mindsets that inhibit the impact that we need to have on learning (for example, ‘Give me bright students and I can achieve’; ‘But it is all about poverty and the home’; ‘If they do not come to class prepared, that’s not my fault’; ‘We know
I agree that it is critical to dismantle these mindsets, however this can be challenging. These mindsets are not often said outright but are said in some form. As a leader how would you work to shift this mindset in a teacher especially if they do not recognize it themselves?
phasis on current and lit imediate classroom needs, robles satisfactions instead of on | i ong-term impact and plans.
I think the reason for this is because teachers are so often burdened by the day to day it is challenging to find the time to think of long term solutions. Again more time needs to be allocated to this in staff meetings, etc to make this possible.
Think of reasons why a my; leadership; staff relations; the nature of the students; facilities; and safety.
I think this is often missed in discussions around school retention. Many people go back only to money when so often the biggest reason for retention is school leadership. I have been at schools with 95% retention and 20% retention and school leadership was the biggest difference between these schools.
The repornns st tion and consequences), is rich in detail while highlignting t a aan sheen din many schools to help to drive teacher debates about their me Se th
I appreciate the idea that there is not a number tied to the feedback. I agree that both as an evaluator and as someone getting evaluated the numbers get in the way of the rich feedback and growth discussions.
( Cc nta using test results to aj raise, unish or ard);
For teachers or students? I see both being done often.
effective engagement with the broader community.
I have not seen this aspect done very well in any school. I see schools engage well with the parents but not much with the broader community. I would love to see what this could look like in practice.
a rich and engaging formal and informal curriculum;
I agree with all of these practices to support positive outcomes. I am curious what is meant by a formal and informal curriculum?
that the culture of the school is the essence of sustained success.
I completely agree with this. How is this set and maintained? I have worked in schools with great cultures and those without and it largely depends on the principal. However, I do not know how much oversight principals get on how they establish culture. I know they have coaches that look at their data but I have yet to have a principal's boss sit in on a data team meeting.
or example, there is not a lot of evidence that ae improving teacher education colleges has improved th i of course, this is not to say that we should stop tryin os educate teachers to have these impacts).
As I am not as familiar with higher education, what is required for teacher prep programs? I know the inclusion of the science of reading in Colorado has been a recent change but I wonder what else? I also wonder what the teacher prep programs look like in other countries? How do our programs differ? Having worked with a few student teachers I do think there is some growth that can be made in the teacher prep programs. This is part of the reason why I am here as I know I am part of the issue.
ccepted body of learning, the excessive emphasis on teaching isolated facts, and the lack of atten- tion to higher order skills and concepts.
It's interesting because I think with the emphasis on testing that there is still a lack of attention to higher order skills and concepts. I do not know what it was like prior to this reform but I still think there is some emphasis on this now.