Starting a Coaching Relationship With Teachers

1. Starting a Coaching Relationship With Teachers OSPI Workshop December 8, 2008

2. Guiding Principles of Content Coaching The long term goal: To develop teachers’ capacity to improve instruction and ultimately increase students’ learning. Content coaching focuses on guiding the teachers to examine: the student work, the mathematics, and the pedagogy related to mathematics

3. 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

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

5. 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 resourceful • The coach is NOT an evaluator in terms of employment status.

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. Building the RelationshipPhases of Coaching

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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!

13. Finding Time… • During lesson planning time • Roving Sub • Resource person/principal takes class • Email • Inter-district mail

14. 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)

15. 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

16. 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?

17. 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

18. Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative Mathematics Teaching Rubric Teacher’s Role in Discourse 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.

19. As a whole group count off A , B.

20. 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.

21. 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?

22. 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.

23. 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?

24. Student’s and Teacher’s Role in Discourse

25. Focus on Student Learning Focus on Teacher Moves Math Content Content Knowledge Learning Pedagogy Learning Environment Creating a Culture CoachingObservation Guides SVMI/Noyce Foundation

26. Make sense of 1 ÷ 2/3

27. 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.

29. Middle School Video Cases Connecting Mathematical Ideas:Middle School Cases of Teaching and Learning By Jo Boaler and Cathy Humphreys Published by Heinemann Available January 2005

30. 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.