The Power of Instructional Coaching - 2019 Model Schools ...€¦ · 23/06/2019 · on how to create structures for successful classroom coaching. Coaching schools to best meet the

The Power of Instructional Coaching

Sherry St. Clair Senior Consultant and Author, ICLE Twitter: @Sherrystclair 1

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About the Author

Sherry St. Clair is the founder of Reflective Learning LLC, an educa-tional consulting agency based in Kentucky. Her organization works with schools around the world, creating specialized training and coaching ser-vices for school administrators and educators. Additionally, Sherry serves as a Senior Consultant for the International Center for Leadership in Edu-cation and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She holds a master’s degree in Instructional Leadership, as well as a Rank I in Instructional Supervision.

As an international consultant, Sherry draws from her rich experience at various levels of public education–teaching elementary school, being an administrator in a high school of 1,300 students, working as a state consultant, and creating and facilitating virtual courses. Sherry is a highly regarded national speaker and consultant, providing educational agencies with expertise in the areas of instructional leadership, effective classroom practices, classroom walkthroughs, effective use of data, and guidance on how to create structures for successful classroom coaching. Coaching schools to best meet the needs of all students is Sherry’s passion.

Sherry is a contributing author to Effective Instructional Strategies Vol-ume 2, published by the International Center for Leadership in Education. She has published numerous professional learning activity guides and facilitated webinar series focused on leadership and effective instructional practices. Additionally, Sherry developed virtual instructional workshops for the CTE Technical Assistance Center of New York. In partnership with the Successful Practices Network, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and AASA—The School Superintendent Association, Sherry has recently been a part of bringing innovative practices to scale.

CONNECT WITH SHERRY Follow her on Twitter: @SherrystclairVisit her website: www.reflecttolearn.com to sign up for her newsletter and receive instructional ideas and support. Follow the hashtag: #CoachingRedefined

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http://www.reflecttolearn.com

Most Valuable Career Skills by 2020

Per the annual World Economic Forum report, the most valuable career skills by 2020 will be the following 10 skills:

1. Complex problem solving: To solve complex problems requires being able to identify the problem, evaluate all pertinent information and factors, consider a range of possible solutions, think critically through different solution options and their potential outcomes, and then make a judgment as to which solution to select. A series of skills go into complex problem solving, including observation skills, analysis, creativity, innovative thinking, evaluation, perseverance, and resilience, to name some.

2. Critical thinking: To think critically is to think deeply. Critical thinking requires that you first suspend judgment to evaluate all related factors and perspectives as objectively as possible. It entails taking time to think through what you might not be considering or yet seeing. Reason, logic, and judgment are all used to analyze and evaluate information to, ultimately, probe far beyond the surface of the matter at hand.

3. Creativity: To be creative is to imagine something new from the information and data available. Creativity emerges from a capacity to view the world differently, connect seemingly disconnected dots, and unearth unseen patterns to conceive something new. To be creative is to apply critical thinking and empathy to imagine experiences, ideas, and things from other perspectives.

4. People management: To manage people effectively is to see their strengths and weaknesses, guide them to develop their skills, help them grow, and motivate them through setting and reaching goals. Successful people management rests heavily on emotional intelligence, particularly empathy; to manage each individual effectively requires imagining her circumstances from her point of view and making decisions and recommendations accordingly.

5. Coordinating with others: To coordinate with others well requires strong collaboration skills. Productive coordination can only happen when you can empathize with those with whom you are coordinating to discern their needs, assess how they can and cannot contribute, and understand their values. From there, you must adapt your thinking, responses, and behaviors accordingly if coordination is to be productive.

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Most Valuable Career Skills by 2020 Continued from previous page

6. Emotional intelligence: In most distilled terms, emotional intelligence is empathy; it is your capacity to stand in the shoes of another person and imagine her experience. The application of emotional intelligence is taking this imagined experience and using it to adjust decisions, behaviors, and actions appropriately. To be emotionally intelligent is to adapt your actions for each person based on your empathetic analysis of their perspectives and needs. Emotional intelligence also includes your ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own emotions.

7. Judgment and decision making: Sound decision-making skills rest first on sound judgment skills. To judge smartly is first to analyze and evaluate information or a circumstance as objectively as possible. Then you analyze and evaluate it from a perspective of emotional intelligence to consider all human components at play. Taking this full appraisal, you make the most reasonable and justifiable decision. The final factor of effective judgment and decision-making skills is knowing how to get buy-in and from whom.

8. Service orientation: To have a service orientation is to proactively seek ways to help others and be of value to them. It is to become known as someone who is available to assist others, think together, and grow together. It is also to become known as someone who adjusts her contribution and deliverables based on the needs and preferences of others. However, a service orientation requires a boundary of not sacrificing one’s own values and principles.

9. Negotiation: Strong negotiation skills require a range of skills, including creativity, to see new potential ideas and possibilities; emotional intelligence, to imagine the needs, values, and priorities of all those at play and anticipate their actions; and judgment and decision making to keep negotiations moving forward. It also takes strong communication skills and the ability to listen actively to those involved. Negotiations require emotional control and interpersonal skills so that they can remain respectful and productive. Ultimately, to negotiate is to problem solve; it is to find a way for all involved parties to be included and advantaged in a reasonable solution.

10. Cognitive flexibility: To show cognitive flexibility is to be able, swiftly, to switch thinking between and among multiple concepts, topics, or ideas, such that you ultimately can process all factors simultaneously. Those with strong cognitive flexibility can quickly adapt their thinking and comprehension as circumstances and information change around them.

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Coach asks teacher to brainstorm how to revise a lesson to increase its relevance. Teacher can choose to implement.

Coach meets with teacher to tell them how they can improve their practice.

Coach provides teacher with sample learning tasks and asks the teacher to rate their level of relevance.

Coach provides three ways to increase relevance, asks teacher to research one of them, adapt it to their class, implement it, and then meet with the coach know how it

went.

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Quadrant A:__________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Quadrant B:__________________________________________________________

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Quadrant C:__________________________________________________________

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Quadrant D:__________________________________________________________

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Copyright © 2015 by International Center for Leadership in Education. All rights reserved.

Rigor RubricSupport teachers in building effective instruction based on rigorous expectations. The three indicators for rigor are: thoughtful work, high-level questioning, and academic discussion.

Thoughtful Work 1 – Beginning 2 – Emerging 3 – Developed 4 – Well Developed

Student Learning

• Studentsdemonstratetheirlearningbycompletingrecallandretelltasks.Mosttasksdrawonmemorizationandfocusonansweringrecall-typequestions.

• Studentsdemonstratetheirlearningbycompletingtasksthatrequirecomprehension.

• Thereareopportunitiesforstudentstodemonstratemasterythroughlearningtasksthatrequirethemtoapplyknowledgeandcomprehendcontent.

• Studentsdemonstratetheirlearningbycompletingtasksthatvalidatetheirabilitytoanalyze,synthesize,and/orevaluatenewinstructionalcontent.

• Tasksincludetheopportunityforstudents to respond to contentthrough inquiry and interpretation.

• Studentsdeveloptheirownlearningtasksthatstretchtheircreativity,originality,design,oradaptation.

• Tasksincludetheopportunityforstudentstoassesstheirownlearningandmoveforwardtoadapttheirknowledgetonewactivities.

Instructional Design• Learningtasksincludeoneassigned

wayforstudentstodemonstratetheirthinking.

• Learningtasksincludeoneormoreassignedwaysforstudentstodemonstratetheirthinking.

• Learningtasksallowstudentstoself-select options to best represent theirthinking.

• Learningtasksextendstudents’learning,inspiringthemtopursueself-discovery.

High-Level Questioning 1 – Beginning 2 – Emerging 3 – Developed 4 – Well Developed

Student Learning

• Studentsrespondtoquestionsthatmainlyfocusonbasicrecallandretell.

• Fewstudentsaskquestions,andmostquestionsaskedfocusonbasicrecallor retelling of content.

• Studentsrespondtoquestionsthatdemonstrateacomprehensionofcontent.

• Studentshaveopportunitiestoaskquestionsduringthelessonandmostquestionsfocusoncomparingandcontrastinginformation.

• Studentsfullyexplainandjustifytheirthinkingwhenrespondingtoquestionsthatdemonstratedifferentlevelsofthinking,includingquestionsthatrequireanalysis,synthesis,andevaluationofinformation.

• Duringthelesson,studentsgeneratequestions about content thatdemonstraterigorousindependentthinking.

• Studentsactivelyengageindeveloping rigorous questions tochallengethethinkingoftheirpeers.

• Studentsareabletorespondtorigorous questions generated by peerswithlittleguidancefromtheteacher.

Instructional Design

• Lessonmainlyincludesquestionsattherecallandretelllevel,and/ornotall students are required to respond toeach question.

• Lessonincludesquestionsatarangeoflevels,butnotallstudentsarerequired to respond to each question.

• Lessonusesquestioningtocarefullysupportstudentsinmovingtohigherlevelsofthinking,ensuringthatallstudents have an opportunity torespond.

• Lessonisdesignedtoinspireallstudentstoengageinhigh-levelquestioningaroundthelearningtaskwiththeirteachersandpeers.

Academic Discussion 1 – Beginning 2 – Emerging 3 – Developed 4 – Well Developed

Student Learning

• Studentdiscussionisdrivenbytheteacherandmainlyremainsattheretelllevel,mostlyusingeverydaylanguage,withlittletonoevidenceofacademicordomain-specificvocabulary.

• Studentdiscussionfocusesonavarietyoftopicswitheachstudentofferinghis/herownthinkingwithoutusingideasfrompeers.

• Studentdiscussion,structuredbypromptsfromtheteacher,includesacombinationofretelling,analysis,and/orstatingaclaimanddefendingitwithevidence.

• Studentsprovideexplanationsorevidenceoftheirthinkingandrespondtotheirpeers’comments.

• Studentsengagewithpeersinteacher-guidedacademicdiscussionsfocusedonanalysis,synthesis,andevaluationofcontent-driventopics,usingacademiclanguagetoexpresstheirthinkingregardingthemajorconcepts studied.

• Studentssupporttheirideaswithconcreteexplanationsandevidence,paraphrasingasappropriate,andbuildon or challenge the ideas of others.

• Studentsprimarilydrivethediscussion,consistentlyaddingvaluetothedialoguewiththeirpeersandteacher,andrespectingtheopinionand thoughts of both; the lesson shiftsto conversation rather than a Q&Asessionregardingthemajorconceptsstudied.

• Studentsareabletostayfocusedonthe activities of inquiry and engageindialogue,usingcontent-richvocabularywiththeirpeers.


• Lessonmostlystructuresdiscussionasteacher-led,withthemajorityofinteractions as teacher to student.

• Lessonstructuresdiscussionasamixofteacher-ledandpeer-to-peerwiththeteacherfacilitatingthemajorityofdiscussions.

• Lessonmostlystructuresdiscussionasindependentpeer-to-peer.Theteacher facilitates and redirectsthediscussionasneeded,whileevaluating the quality.

• Lessonisdesignedtoinspirestudentsto independently engage in dialogueandaddvaluableacademiccontentaroundthelearningtasks.

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Relevance RubricSupport teachers in building effective instruction based on relevance of experiences to learners. The three indicators for relevance are: meaningful work, authentic resources, and learning connections.

Meaningful Work 1 – Beginning 2 – Emerging 3 – Developed 4 – Well Developed

Student Learning

• Studentworkisproceduralandstructured,reflectingabasicunderstandingofinformationlearnedduringthelesson/unit.

• Studentworkfocusesonclass-specificcontent,withanemphasisonbuildingskills,developingcomprehension,orotherfoundationalskills.

• Studentsthinkcriticallyaboutcontentandapplyinformationlearnedtoaddressaspecifictask.Studentworkdemonstratesoriginality.

• Studentworkrequiresapplicationofknowledgelearnedduringthelesson/unit.

• Studentsthinkcriticallyaboutcontentandapplyinformationlearnedtoaddressarangeofcross-disciplinarytasks.Studentworkdemonstratescreativity and originality.

• Studentworkrequiresreal-worldpredictableand/orunpredictableapplication that has a direct connection to a career in the related fieldofstudy.

• Studentsthinkandactcriticallytocuratecontentandapplyinformationlearned to address a range of cross-disciplinarytaskswhichareboth creative and original.

• Studentworkrequirestheabilitytoselect,organize,andpresentcontentthroughrelevantproductswithmultiplesolutions.


• Lessonprovidesstudentsanopportunitytodemonstratefoundational understanding of content.

• Lessonprovidesstudentsanopportunitytocompleteaspecifictaskthatrequiresapplicationofknowledge.

• Lessonprovidesstudentsanopportunitytoselectfromarangeofreal-world,relevanttasks,usingcriticalthinkingaboutnewlearningtocompletethetask.

• Lessoninspiresstudentswithanopportunitytothinkcriticallyaboutnewlearningtocreatetheirownreal-world,relevanttasks.

Authentic Resources 1 – Beginning 2 – Emerging 3 – Developed 4 – Well Developed

Student Learning

• Studentsmainlyengagewithonesourceofinformationforthelessonand/orunit.

• Studentsuseonesourcetocompletetasksfocusedonmakingsimpleconnections to content.

• Studentsengagewithoneprimarysourceofinformationforthelessonand/orunit,andusesecondaryresources to support it.

• Studentsuseoneormoresourcestocompletereal-worldtasksfocused onmakingsimpleconnectionstocontent.

• Studentsengagewithmultiplesourcesofinformation,bothprimaryandsecondary,duringalesson/unit.

• Studentsusemultiplesourcesofinformationtocompletereal-worldtasksinvolvingcomparisons,analysis,argument,andresearch.

• Studentsengagewithmultiplesourcesofinformation,bothprimaryandsecondary,duringalesson/unit,includingmulti-formatresources.

• Studentsselectanduseavarietyof resources to solve predictable or unpredictablereal-worldscenarios.


• Lessonreliesononesourceofinformation.Theunit/lessonisorganizedaroundthestructureofthecontent-specifictext.

• Lessonisstructuredaroundanessentialunderstanding/question,usesprimaryandsecondarysources,and includes opportunities for students to connect content to a content-specifictextandanadditionalresource.

• Lessonisstructuredaroundanessentialunderstanding/questionandreliesonmultipleauthentictextsandresourcestoconductcomparisons,analysis,arguments,research,andotherrelevant,real-worldtasks.

• Lessonisstructuredaroundanessentialunderstanding/questionandreliesonstudentstoselectmultipleauthentictextsandresourcestoengageinreal-worldproblemsolving.

Learning Connections 1 – Beginning 2 – Emerging 3 – Developed 4 – Well Developed

Student Learning

• Studentsseldomhavetheopportunitytoengageincontentthathasexplicitconnectiontoreal-worldapplication.

• Somestudentsmayattempttomakeconnectionsbetweencontentlearnedandreal-worldapplication,buttheseconnections are volunteered rather than included as part of the lesson.

• Studentsoccasionallyengageincontentthathasexplicitconnectiontoreal-worldapplication.

• Somestudentsbegintoarticulatetheconnectionsbetweencontentlearnedandreal-worldapplication.

• Studentsengageincontentthathasexplicitconnectionstoreal-worldapplications.

• Studentsclearlyarticulatetheconnectionsbetweencontentlearnedandreal-worldapplication.

• Studentsdiscoveropportunitiestoapplycontenttotheirlivesaswellasreal-worldapplication.

• Studentsindependentlymakethoughtfulconnectionsbetweencontentlearnedandreal-worldunpredictable situations.


• Lessonprovidesappropriatecontent,butwithoutexplicitconnectionstoreal-worldapplication.

• Lessonprovidessomeopportunitiestoconnectcontentlearnedtoreal-worldapplication.

• Lessonprovidesmultipleexplicitopportunities for students to connect contentlearnedtoreal-worldapplications.

• Lessoninspiresstudentstocreatetheirownopportunitiestoconnectcontentlearnedtotheirlives,aswellasreal-worldapplications.

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Learner Engagement RubricSupport teachers in creating and implementing an effective learner environment that is engaging and aligned to learner needs. The three indicators for learner engagement are: active participation, learning environment, and formative processes and tools.

Active Participation 1 – Beginning 2 – Emerging 3 – Developed 4 – Well Developed

Student Learning

• Limitedstudentengagement,withtheexceptionofhand-raising.Somestudentsareoff-taskorhavedisengagedfromthelessonandarenot redirected.

• Lessonisteacherledandstudentsprogressthroughnewlearningwithsomechallengeswithproductivity.

• Moststudentsremainfocusedandon-taskduringthelesson.Studentsanswerquestionswhenasked,butnotall students have the opportunity toactively respond.

• Lessonisledbytheteacher,andstudents productively progressthroughnewlearning.

• Allstudentsremainon-task, responding to frequent opportunities foractiveengagementthroughout the lesson. Lesson is led by both teacherandstudents,andstudents productivelyprogressthroughnew learning.

• Allstudentsremainon-taskandproactively engaged throughout thelesson.

• Studentstakeownershipoflearningnewcontent,activelyseekingwaystoimprovetheirownperformance.


• Lessonreliesmainlyondirectinstructionwithfewopportunitiesforstudentengagementthroughapplication.

• Lessonreliesononeortwostrategiesdesignedtoengagestudents,withthelessonfocusedmoreondirect instruction than on studentengagementthroughapplication.

• Lessonprovidesmultiplestrategiesdesignedtomaximizestudentengagement,andcontributionismonitoredtoensurefullparticipation.

• Lessonachievesafocusonstudent-centeredengagementwherethestudentsmonitorandadjusttheirownparticipation.

Learning Environment 1 – Beginning 2 – Emerging 3 – Developed 4 – Well Developed

Student Learning

• Studentsrelyonpeersorteacherforanswerstoquestions.Thereisalackof evidence of students being requiredto persevere in responding to rigoroustasksorquestions.

• Studentsdemonstratealackofrespectforpeers,teacher,and/orlearningenvironment.

• Studentsexhibitsomeevidencethattheyarebeginningtotakerisksandpersevere in learning rigorous content.

• Studentsdemonstraterespectforthelearningenvironment,butchallengesexistindemonstratingrespectforpeers.

• Studentsareencouragedtotakerisksand persevere through productivestruggle.Studentsarepraisedfordemonstratingcommitmenttolearning.

• Studentsdemonstraterespectforpeers,teacher,andthelearningenvironment.

• Studentsareencouragedtotakerisksand persevere through productivestruggle.Studentsareprovidedwitheffectivefeedbacktoguidethemintheir learning.

• Studentsdemonstraterespectforpeers,teacher,andthelearningenvironment.


• Classroomlearningproceduresand routines are inconsistentlycommunicatedand/orimplemented.

• Classroomlearningproceduresandroutinesarevisible,butarenotconsistentlyimplemented.

• Clearclassroomlearningproceduresand routines are visible and areconsistentlyimplemented.

• Classroomlearningproceduresandroutinesareclearlyestablished,butremainflexibleandfluidtoadapttothelearningtaskasneeded.

Formative Processes and Tools 1 – Beginning 2 – Emerging 3 – Developed 4 – Well Developed

Student Learning

• Lessonincludesfewinstancesofformativeassessmenttoevaluatestudents’masteryofcontent.Assessmentresultsindicatethatstudentgrowthisminimal.

• Studentsarepartneredorgrouped,butallstudentsreceivethesamelessoncontent,process,andproduct.

• Studentsdemonstratemasteryofcontentbyengaginginformativeassessmentsthatallowforreciprocalfeedback.Assessmentresultsindicatethatstudentgrowthisprogressing.

• Studentsarepartneredorgroupedandreceivesomeopportunitiesfordifferentiated learning based onadjustingcontent,process,and/orproduct.

• Studentsdemonstratemasteryofcontentbycompletingavarietyofformativeassessmentsthatallowforreciprocalfeedback.Assessmentresults indicate that students aremeetingexpectations.

• Studentsarestrategicallypartneredor grouped based on data. Lessoncontent,process,and/orproductis clearly differentiated to supportvaryingandspecificstudentneeds.

• Studentsdemonstratemasteryofcontent through opportunities toself-reflect,setlearninggoals,andshare responsibility for their learning.

• Assessmentresultsindicatethatstudentsareexceedingexpectedoutcomes.


• Resultsfromformativeprocessesandtoolsareusedtomonitorprogress.

• Resultsfromformativeprocessesandtoolsareusedtoplanandimplementaspects of differentiated instructionandmonitorprogress.

• Resultsfromformativeprocessesandtoolsareusedtostrategicallyadjustinstructionalpacing,plandifferentiatedinstruction,andmonitorprogress.

• Resultsfromformativeprocessesandtools,alongwitheffectivefeedback,areusedtoimmediatelyadjustinstructionalpacing,plandifferentiatedinstruction,andmonitorprogress.

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Coaching Redefined

Strategies & Tools for Elevating Rigor in Instruction and Learning

What follows are strategies and tools, with brief descriptions, that are effective in incorporating higher levels of rigor into instruction and learning. This is a starting point and by no means a complete list. In your own ongoing commitment to shoring up your coaching and instructional skills, you will surely come across other strategies and tools you can use to improve rigor. Use your judgment.

Note that a rigor strategy or tool could also support relevance and engagement—and vice versa. While it happens, it is rare that a strategy or tool will strictly support only rigor, only relevance, or only engagement. It is typical that a strategy or tool will be capable of driving the largest impact in one area (e.g., rigor) and drive smaller impacts in others (e.g., relevance and/or engagement).

When I coach for rigor, I will often suggest to teachers that they apply these strategies/tools, as they are strong drivers of rigor. Depending on where a teacher is on the GRC spectrum will inform how explicit I am in how to use a strategy/tool expertly. For example, if the teacher would benefit from instructive coaching, I will outline in detail how to use the strategy/tool. If he is at the point of self-directed coaching, I will leave that learning to him.

Academic Vocabulary Cards: To promote academic discussion, the teacher provides students with an index list of academic vocabulary words that correlate with the topic they will be discussing in groups. The teacher places the index card in the middle of each of the groups. As groups engage in discussion, they are expected to accurately use as many vocabulary words on the index card as they can. As the teacher circulates the room to listen to all group conversations, she makes note of the terms she hears students use correctly.

Agree/Disagree: To promote academic discussion, the teacher asks all students if they agree or disagree with a student when an answer is given to the teacher’s question. Students can give a thumbs up if they agree or a thumbs down if they disagree. To start a dialogue, the teacher follows-up with, “Why do you disagree/agree?” and “What evidence can you provide to support your answer?”

I Know, You Know: This strategy allows students to recall what they know about a topic and build on that knowledge through small group academic conversation. The teacher gives students a text and the I Know, You Know graphic organizer, which you can find at

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Coaching Redefined

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Strategies & Tools for Elevating Rigor in Instruction and Learning Continued from previous page

leadered.com/coachingredefined. Students are asked to skim the text. They silently record what they already know about the text’s topic in the numbered rows on the graphic organizer. Next, they have a conversation with group members to discuss what each knows at this point. Then, students silently read the text in full, annotating newly learned information in the text. The group has a conversation about the information they learned from the reading, and each person notes on her graphic organizer what her peers shared. Finally, each person records any questions that come up while discussing the text.

Improve This!: This strategy encourages students to think through different ways to solve a problem. The teacher gives students a text, object, or complete answer to a problem and asks students to enhance or improve it in a specific way. For example, the teacher could give students a published story and ask students to improve the dialogue in the story to show more of the characters’ emotions. Or a teacher could give students a car that was designed during a science lab and ask students to make it run faster. Another teacher might give students an answer to a math problem and ask them to explain the steps that went into clearly and specifically.

Jigsaw: This strategy, which has a 1.2 effect size, provides students a structure to assist with meaningful academic conversations based on material they’ve read. When working in small groups, students are assigned roles. Students will divide a text, read their assigned sections of the text, and make note of any important information on the jigsaw graphic organizer. Once everyone in the group has finished reading his or her section, all group members will use their roles to take turns sharing important information from what they read. Finally, the group collaboratively writes a summary of the text and records it on the graphic organizer. You can see an example of the Jigsaw graphic organizer at leadered.com/coachingredefined.

Not Quite, But Close: To promote the idea of growth mindset, a teacher selects a student answer to share that isn’t one hundred percent correct but has many correct qualities. The teacher first asks and gains permission from the student to use his work-product, without his name attached. Then the teacher displays the work without the student’s name on it. Students engage in a conversation to discuss what is correct about the answer and what could be corrected to make the answer one hundred percent correct. The teacher takes time to praise the student for sharing his work as a learning opportunity for the whole class.

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Coaching Redefined

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Rate the Work: A teacher gives students several samples of completed work from their peers and asks students to have an academic discussion about the work samples. Students are expected to ask their peers rigorous questions about the completed work and provide their classmates ideas for improvement. Then, time is given to their classmates to use the feedback to improve their work.

Reciprocal Teaching: This strategy gives roles to team members, typically around the cognitive strategies of predicting, summarizing, questioning, and clarifying. As a group, students read a text and then record their thoughts in a graphic organizer about it based on their role (summarizing it, making a prediction about it, etc.). Group members then take turns sharing what they wrote on the graphic organizer and discussing everyone’s contributions. Note that this strategy can also be carried out by individual students. Please go to leadered.com/coachingredefined to see the Reciprocal Teaching graphic organizer.

Socratic Smackdown: The Socratic Smackdown uses research to promote academic debate. During this game, which mimics a Socratic Seminar, students are divided into teams. Each team is given time to research a topic related to an essential question. Then all teams participate in an academic debate on the topic. Points are given when students make valid arguments based on evidence, and points are subtracted if students interrupt each other. (The full Socratic Smackdown teaching guide can be found at www.instituteofplay.org/learning-games.)

Student Conversation Starters: The teacher provides students with conversation-starter questions to assist them in learning how to have more meaningful and rigorous student-to-student conversations and academic discussions. Please go to leadered.com/coachingredefined to see a list of Student Conversation Starters.

Technology Integration: Teachers can integrate technology into instruction to promote rigorous learning. Various interactive learning technologies—such as EDpuzzle, PlayPosit, and Nearpod—help a teacher to embed rigorous questions into PowerPoints, videos, or gifs. Teachers, then, can pause instruction at intentional learning moments to ask rigorous questions, giving students opportunities to think critically about content and teachers opportunities to assess their understanding. Always keep in mind that technology is only as strong as the pedagogy behind it. Take care to consider the levels of rigor in the questions and learning tasks that are incorporated into any tech tools.

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Coaching Redefined

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Trade-a-Thought: This activity is meant to help students reflect on their own thoughts, share those thoughts with others, and actively listen to their classmates as they share their thoughts with them. On a graphic organizer, students will write their responses to a prompt given by the teacher. Students in grades K–2 may draw a picture and write a sentence under the picture. They will trade papers with one partner and each will take turns sharing and listening to thoughts. After, the teacher will lead an academic discussion where students explain to the class what their partners shared with them. For students in grades 3 and up, they will write their thoughts as complete sentences. Students will then join groups of three students, where each student will ask the other two to share their thoughts while recording both classmates’ responses on their own graphic organizer. After group work is complete, the teacher may choose to lead a whole-class academic discussion where students are asked to share and reflect on the thoughts they gathered from their classmates. Go to leadered.com/coachingredefined for an example of the Trade a Thought graphic organizer for students in grades K–2 and for students in grades 3 and up.

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Coaching Goal Tracker

© 2019 by Reflective Learning, LLC. All rights reserved.


Teacher Name

Goal: Make sure that you co-create a SMART goal. Describe the goal here with specificity, including how progress will be measured and in what time frame you and the teacher agree the goal will be met.

Coaching cycle # for goal

You will sometimes need to use multiple full coaching cycles to guide your teacher to meet the goal. Keep track of them by logging the number in this chart.

Step 1: Design Date of this meeting:

Record what you and your teacher discuss in step 1. Note here any and all plans made pertaining to the modality you’ve chosen for this cycle.

Step 2: Develop Date of this meeting:

The modality that will be used to help the teacher develop skills related to the goal. As needed and where appropriate, note here what you and the teacher will reflect upon after step 2 has been completed to discuss in step 3.

Step 3: Discuss Date of this meeting:

Note what you and the teacher discussed pertinent to step 2 and progress toward meeting the goal. If the goal was not met, identify tools or measures that can or must be taken to keep the teacher progressing and growing.

Resources shared: Every time you suggest a resource to the teacher, list it here so that the teacher can easily reference each one in their ongoing learning. (It also helps you remember what the resources you suggested.)

Action steps: List follow-up action steps you and/or the teacher agree to take to continue to make progress toward this goal. Make it clear what is expected by you and the teacher, and by when.

Date for next meeting: With the teacher, set a date for your next meeting/ coaching cycle and list it here.

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http://www.reflecttolearn.com/

Coaching Goal Tracker Continued from previous page


Teacher Name

Goal:

Coaching cycle # for goal

Step 1: Design Date of this meeting:

Step 2: Develop Date of this meeting:

Step 3: Discuss Date of this meeting:

Resources shared:

Action steps:

Date for next meeting:


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Teacher Visitation Form

Goal of Visit: Teacher Visited: Day / Time: Teacher Actions Student Actions

Goal of Visit: Teacher Visited: Day / Time: Teacher Actions Student Actions

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http://www.reflecttolearn.com/

Coaching & Observing Learning Engagement: Reflection Questions


Active Participation

• What evidence demonstrates that students stay on task and actively engaged during the entire lesson?

• How do students take ownership of learning new content? • How do students demonstrate active listening during the lesson? • How do students exhibit respect for their classmates? • To what extent is class time utilized wisely with minimal

disruptions or lost instructional time? • How do students seek to improve their own performance? • What evidence demonstrates that students monitor and adjust

their own participation? • What evidence demonstrates that students collaborate with

others to accomplish assignments? • What evidence demonstrates that students corrected each other

respectfully when off task? • To what extent do students exhibit signs of valuing the content

taught? • What evidence demonstrates that students are given

opportunities to interact and collaborate with their peers? • In what ways is active participation creating opportunities for use

of today’s career skills, and which ones?

Learning Environment

• To what degree are the classroom learning procedures and routines well established yet remain flexible to adapt to the learning task as needed?

• How are students participating in the development of classroom expectations?

• What evidence demonstrates that students are provided with timely and effective feedback to help them guide their learning?

• What evidence demonstrates that students persevere through productive struggle?

• To what extent do students exhibit signs of feeling safe to make mistakes?

• To what extent do students demonstrate care and respect for peers, the teacher, and the learning environment?

• How effectively do students transition from one learning task to another?

• To what extent do students pay attention to the details of their learning tasks?

• What evidence demonstrates that high expectations are set for all students?

• What evidence demonstrates that students exhibit pride in high-quality work?

• How is the learning environment promoting use of today’s career skills, and which ones?

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Coaching & Observing Learning Engagement: Reflection Questions Continued from previous page


Formative Processes and Tools

• What evidence indicates that students demonstrate mastery of content through opportunities to self-reflect and set goals?

• To what degree do students demonstrate the ability to share responsibility for their learning? • What evidence demonstrates that students understand and can articulate how their work is

assessed? • How do assessment results indicate that students are exceeding expected outcomes? • To what extent are formative assessment results used to adjust instruction immediately? • How is differentiation utilized in the classroom and to what impact? • Are students aware of the criteria that will be used to assess their learning? • To what extent are students engaged in self-reflection? • How are formative processes and tools contributing to the use of today’s career skills, and

which ones?

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The Power of Instructional Coaching - 2019 Model Schools ...€¦ · 23/06/2019 · on how to create structures for successful classroom coaching. Coaching schools to best meet the