First of all, I love reading all your comments, and I know others do too. When I read the success stories, I feel wonderful! These feelings replenish me on those days when I feel like I'm plugging a hole in a dam with my little finger!
1. Change takes time. Can you relate to Prochaska's "Stages of Change: Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, Maintenance, Termination"?
" At what stage are most of the teachers on the staff at your particular school?
2. I believe that all of us know the power of building relationships on a one-on-one basis. In fact, many of you have shared with us your conviction that successful change comes from meaningful, personal exchange. Have any of you formalized any of these one-on-one encounters in the form of an interview? Can you see yourself conducting interviews with teachers?
3. As we move in the direction of classroom visits during instruction, how can the idea of "The Big Four" help us in our observations? Do you agree with Knight that The Big Four represent the most important teacher practices to observe? Would you assess them in the order in which they are presented: Behavior, Content, Instruction, Formative Assessment?
4. Have you had occasion to use one of the Five Tactics for Translating Research Into Practice?
5. After visiting http://www.instructionalcoach.org/, tell us one of the most significant pieces of information you picked up there.
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5 comments:
I just visited the instructional coach website and it has some pretty cool things! There are a lot of articles, forms, templates and checklists that I think would be beneficial to us! (why reinvent the wheel?) Also, I watched a few minutes of some of the video conference clips and they were good too. Nice follow up to reading the Jim Knight chapters.
1. In terms of my working with teachers at my school, there are teachers at most every stage. Most teachers are probably range between precontemplation and action. There are not too many who have not tried any part of any strategy, so there are just a few in the first stage. Mostly those would be teachers who do not have traditional classrooms with desks, like the PE or weight training teachers. I think most would be in the contemplation stage, where maybe they have tried a strategy or two but have not really made any changes in their classroom to integrate new things. Some are in the action stage and are trying hard to integrate our strategies into their classrooms on a fulltime basis.
2. I haven’t done any formal interviews with teachers. My work has been mostly informal, but not with all.
3. Yes, I would put the Big Four in the order that Knight presents them. If behavior is not taken care of first, students can’t/won’t learn what is taught. I am sitting in a classroom at this moment, proctoring a test; the classroom next door is so loud and unruly that my students are having trouble concentrating on their work. No learning is going on next door because the behavior is out of control.
4. Sure, I think we all use those tactics whenever we take something hypothetical and try to put it into practice. First we clarify it, then we digest (synthesize) it, we break it down, make sure others will understand it, and simplify it. I’m not sure I always use this same order. Often I simplify first to understand the idea—I put it into my own words, maybe relate it to something I already know.
5. Well, we could go to Kansas and attend the Instructional Coaching Institute! Or, we could watch videos of some previous conference presenters—probably a bit cheaper. Under the Tools button there are all sorts of resources and articles, etc. that would be helpful, I think, if I have time to read them. Thanks for the site information, Nancy—I will go back there later.
1. I liked this breakdown of stages, especially coupled with the realization that most people "spiral" between different stages. At Pondo, we only have a couple in the first category, and the rest of us are spiralling, spiralling, reaching towards that termination...
2. Since I've been part of the staff for so long, I think it would seem awkward to do interviews. Maybe a questionaire? I can see these being incredibly valuable if you went into a school that you weren't familiar with!
3. The Big Four looks like a valuable way to organize an observation - these are clearly important areas, and the questions associated with them are complex enough that even veteran teachers would show areas in which they could improve. Maybe we could get a checklist together with this info?
4. Only informally - usually I read something or go to a seminar, process it a bit, try to put it into practice, and then go back to reread/notetake/etc.
5. My little one is waking up from her nap, so I will address this one later!
--Amy
OK, I'm back, hours later (both the kiddos are safely tucked into bed). So:
5. The site seemed to have quite a bit of useful information. I spent a lot of time looking at the tools/checklist section. There was a "Daily Coaching Record from Kaplan Learning Services" that seems to be a vision of the direction I should be moving in - the form looks at how you spend your coaching time in different areas. Really, this site along with the info in Chapter 5 gave a lot of examples of what we should be doing.
I personally need to be doing more of these types of activities, but I just don't have time since I really have 6 jobs: classroom teacher, RtI coordinator, TAG coordinator, School Testing Coordinator, Renaissance database manager, and (oh-yeah) instructional coach. I know that I am making a definite positive contribution to my school, and my staff is using me as a resource, but I'm still not really coaching. I am really hoping that there will be money for the IC program next year too, because I may be able to foist at least three of these jobs onto someone else so I can do more actual coaching. And then sometimes, too, I look at this list and wonder why we aren't getting a stipend for being an IC??? This has been my most difficult/stressful year since I first began teaching.
1. Yes I can relate, we have staff all over the place on these stages. I think most of the teachers are willing to try to contemplate, the data is helping this process a lot!
2. I have the informal talks with different staff members, but I really like the questions presented in the book and I'm going to start this in January with all my staff.
3. Yes the Big four are where we need to focus our attention. This is the direction we need to head at my school.
4. The five tactics for translating research into practice is great (IF WE HAD THE TIME!) I agreed with Amy on how much work this job has become. One of the quotes is ICs should read, reread, take notes, and reread the manuals and research articles that describe the instructional practices they are sharing. This is difficult to find the time to read, much less reread the material. I do agree the material is good, but its time intensive.
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