Starting a Coaching Relationship With

Teachers

OSPI Workshop

December 8, 2008

Guiding Principles of Content Coaching

The long term goal: To develop teachers’ capacity to improve instruction and ultimately increase students’ learning.

Content coaching Content coaching focuses on guiding focuses on guiding the teachers to the teachers to examine:examine:

the student work, the student work,

the mathematics, the mathematics,

and the pedagogy and the pedagogy related to related to mathematicsmathematics

Fundamental Requirements for Successful Coaching

• A trusting, honest, respectful relationship between coach and teacher.

• Time for preparation and reflection

• Clearly defined roles, responsibilities and expectations

• Effective listening skills • Strategic questions that promote

thinking• Data collection (teacher/student

behavior) and thoughtful feedback

The key to successful coaching is to tie all ideas back to student work.

• There is power in examining student thinking, students’ understandings and misconceptions.

• Asking teachers to articulate the mathematical concepts students’ lack and develop strategies to address those needs is fundamental to teaching and learning.

Building Trust• A safe, confidential space

is built gradually• Focus on student thinking

and student products• Trust is built from small

“things”• Hold coached teachers

responsible• Teachers and coaches

are trustworthy

The belief that teachers are capable and resourcefulThe belief that teachers are capable and resourceful The coach is NOT an evaluator in terms of The coach is NOT an evaluator in terms of employment statusemployment status..

The Ideal Coaching Situation• Coach and teachers attend the

SVMI Coaching Institute and the SVMI Professional Development Meetings

• More than one teacher at a school site and at a specific grade level

• Limited number of sites at which the coach is coaching

• Opportunity to be coached for two or more years

• Principal-teacher-coach partnership

Logistics

• 20 or more coaching sessions with a teacher over a year

• 10-12 target teachers• Target Teacher: experienced and

successful• Support of Principal• Partnership with Principal• Other Duties

Logistics of Coaching

• Majority of our time is spent supporting in-class coaching– Observe lessons, team teach, provide demo

lessons

• Pre-conference, Lesson, Post-conference• Lesson planning, examining student work,

content training, formative assessment evaluation

Building the RelationshipPhases of Coaching

Year 1           Year 2

AugustSept. to Dec. Jan. to June

September to June

Coaching Summer Institute(relationship building-teaching rubric-planning)

Coach as a Model (Demo Lessons ThenTeacher Practice)

Coach as aCollaborator(Coach often collaborates & observes)

Coach as Leader(Guide/Collaborate/Observe/Model)

Role of Demonstration Lessons(Model Lessons)

• Lessons conducted by coach during early coaching sessions – set the stage for relationship building

• Based upon student achievement and learning needs• 1 – 2 lessons that give a picture of a different learning

environment or technique• Well-planned: the teacher is given specific duties or

areas to focus on• Post-conference supports goals and purpose of

lesson• Teacher follow-up with teaching lesson of their own.

Coaching Conferences

• Ideal Situation– Pre-conference set after last post conference or

during lesson planning session

– Lesson given (Student Work Collected)

– Post Conference at the end of the lesson day after school with lots of time for discussion regarding student work and student understanding.

The Conference is the Key• Staff development

without talk time is ineffective

• The talk time is non-negotiable

• If only enough time for one – post-conference!

Finding Time…• During lesson

planning time

• Roving Sub

• Resource person/principal takes class

• Email

• Inter-district mail

Role of Principal

• Meeting at the very start of process - share philosophies

• Ground rules - (protect coaching role, partner for improved instruction)

• Consistency on what is valued in the classroom (often principal PD may be needed)

• Creating a long-term plan (to reach all teachers).• Selecting teachers - (no quick fix, building capacity)• Tracking progress (careful not to get involved in

evaluation)

Initial Meetings

• Long Term Goal: All students learn at high levels

• Exploration – getting to know– Strengths and styles– Professional dreams and goals– Philosophies and beliefs– Self-Evaluation (Math Teaching Rubric)

• Define work together– Work relationship– Framework of your work together

Initial Meeting – Discussion Prompts

• How long have you been teaching?• What are your favorite subjects to teach? How often

do you teach mathematics?• What are your feelings toward mathematics?• Share an anecdote from your personal mathematics

history.• Tell me about your students.• What are your goals as a learner? What are you

curious about in relation to teaching and learning?• What specifically are you interested in working on

together?

The Mathematics Teaching Rubric

• Worthwhile Tasks

• The Learning Environment

• Teachers Role in Discourse

• Students Role in Discourse

• Tools for Enhancing Discourse

• Teaching and Learning Analysis

The Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative

Think about and select a teacher you are currently coaching

• Think about how the teacher thinks and assume their persona.

• Go through each dimension of the Math Teaching Rubric.

• Use a highlighter to mark the rubrics as that teacher would mark it in preparation for a self-evaluation conference.

4 – Exemplary Teaching 3– Successful Teaching 2– Improving Teaching 1– Limited Teaching

The teacher orchestrates discourse in the class. The teacher poses questions and tasks that elicit, engage, and challenge each student’s thinking. The teacher listens carefully to the students’ ideas and discerns mathematical meaning and relevancy from student responses. Students are asked to clarify and justify their ideas orally and in writing. The teacher decides what to pursue in depth from among the ideas that students bring up during a discussion. Care is given by the teacher to develop concepts thoroughly and insure students’ ownership and understanding. The teacher decides when and how to attach mathematical notation and language to students’ ideas. The teacher has full understanding of the mathematical goals of the lesson and decides when to provide information, when to clarify an issue, when to model, when to lead, and when to let a student struggle with difficulty. These decisions are consistent with the goal and pace of the lesson. The teacher monitors students’ participation in discussions and decides when and how to encourage each student to participate. These decisions are predicated on insuring all students will learn and be successful in mathematics.

The teacher often orchestrates discourse in the class. The teacher often poses questions and tasks that elicit, engage, and challenge each student’s thinking. Often the teacher listens to the students’ ideas and makes sense of their responses. Often students are asked to clarify and justify their ideas orally and in writing. The teacher may decide what to pursue in depth from ideas that students bring up during a discussion. Some care is given by the teacher to develop concepts and to encourage students’ ownership and understanding. The teacher attempts to attach mathematical notation and language to students’ ideas. The teacher has good understanding of the mathematical goals of the lesson and is often successful in determining when to provide information, when to clarify an issue, when to model, when to lead, and when to let a student struggle with difficulty. These decisions are often consistent with the goal and pace of the lesson. The teacher attempts to monitor students’ participation in discussions and decides when and how to encourage students to participate. Attempts are made to reach all students.

The teacher directs the class and attempts to foster discourse. Sometimes the teacher poses questions and tasks that elicit,

engage, and challenge students’ thinking. The teacher listens to some of the students’ ideas. The

teacher may have difficulty following students’ math

thinking. Sometimes students are asked to clarify and justify

their ideas orally and in writing. The teacher rarely deviates from lesson plan to pursue ideas that

students bring up during a discussion. Some care is given

by the teacher to develop concepts and to encourage

students’ ownership. The teacher follows the textbook in deciding

when and how to introduce mathematical notation and

language. The teacher follows the curricula math goals of the

lesson. The teacher is improving their questioning strategies. The teacher is developing the pacing and generating good questioning. The instructional decisions may

be aligned with lesson goals. The teacher attempts include all

students.

The teacher directs the class. The teacher poses questions and tasks that focus students’ work. The teacher may listen

to some of the students’ responses. The teacher may

have difficulty following students’ math thinking and

usually ignores those responses. Rarely are students

asked to clarify and justify their ideas orally and in

writing. The teacher rarely deviates from the textbook to

pursue ideas that students bring up during a discussion. The teacher usually follows

the textbook in deciding when and how to attach

mathematical notation and language to students’ ideas.

The teacher follows the curricula math goals of the lesson. The instructional

decisions may be aligned with state standards and with the

goal of covering the topics on state test. The teacher

modifies expectation from student to student.

Teacher’s Role in Discourse

Silicon Valley Mathematics InitiativeMathematics Teaching Rubric

As a whole group count off A , B.

Seek someone out you don’t know such that A and B pair up with A being the Teacher and B being the Coach

Engage in a conversation where the teacher explains how and why they selected certain sentences/phrases on the rubric in their self assessments of their teaching. The coach may ask clarifying or probing questions to learn more about teachers’ beliefs, assumptions and expectations for teaching mathematics.

Quick Write

What did you experience in the role of the teacher?

What did you experience in the role of the coach?

Is this a valuable exercise to do with the teachers you coach? If so why? If no what are the issues?

Now, re-group into a different pair, yet still having an A and B participant in each group. The role of coach and teacher are reversed A being the Coach and B being the Teacher. Please engage in another conversation using the same format.

Small Group Discussion

• How was your experience different in the opposite role?

• What are your thoughts at this time about engaging in a self-assessment process with the teachers you coach?

Student’s and Teacher’s Role in Discourse

CoachingObservation Guides

SVMI/Noyce Foundation

Focus on Student Learning Focus on Teacher Moves

Math Content Content Knowledge

Learning Pedagogy

Learning Environment Creating a Culture

Make sense of

1 ÷ 2/3

Students’/Teacher’s Role in Discourse

• Use the Math Teaching Rubric to discuss the students’ and teacher’s role in discourse.

• Match excerpts from the video (transcript) to descriptors in the Math Teaching Rubric.

• Discuss attributes of effective classroom discourse.

QuickTime™ and aMPEG-4 Video decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Middle School Video Cases

Connecting Mathematical Ideas: Middle School Cases of Teaching

and Learning

By Jo Boaler and Cathy HumphreysPublished by Heinemann Available January 2005

Students’/Teacher’s Role in Discourse

• Use the Math Teaching Rubric to discuss the students’ and teacher’s role in discourse.

• Match excerpts from the video (transcript) to descriptors in the Math Teaching Rubric.

• Discuss attributes of effective classroom discourse.