overview

Describe the processes, forms, and/or documents that you used to guide pre-observation and post-observation meetings (e.g., teacher response forms, observation tools, student work products, next steps for professional growth).

During the pre-observation of my coaching cycle with my volunteer teacher (VT), we chatted informally about this school year. It was her first year at our school and it was also her first official year as a full-time teacher; she had done two separate long-term substitute placements prior to this year. As a coach, this allowed me context and a better idea of who she was at the core and what she may need from me. We spent the next part of the pre-observation meeting discussing her lesson objective and the lesson plan. Though she had shared her lesson plan with me previously, I asked her to walk me through it, so that I would be able to visualize it. We, then, shifted to CSTPs to jointly select a focus. We decided to focus on CSTP Element 1.4 (Using a variety of instructional strategies, resources, and technologies to meet students’ diverse learning needs for this cycle). This was critical because VT wanted to address the needs of her ELLs in her classroom as well as her students with IEPs and she felt that as a newer educator, she wanted to ensure that her instructional strategies and practices were effective and accessible to all the students in the room. The VT planned to collect student sample work following the lesson to analyze how the students may have applied the learned strategies. She also planned to take some annotations as the students participate in partner work as a form of informal check-in.

During the VT’s lesson, I took notes framed into “Glows, Grows, and Wonderings.” I was purposeful in choosing this method of providing feedback because not only was I able to highlight and praise specific moments of the lesson, but it also was safe to pose questions or make suggestions to the VT. I also set up my camera in the back of the room to capture her lesson and shift midway to see how the students work in partnerships while VT roamed to provide support. This was done, so that she could also observe herself teaching at a later point to help her reflect in her teaching practices as well. I was able to share both my observational notes and video clips with the VT using our shared Google Drive. The expectation was that she would be able to review both prior to our post-observation meeting.

In our post-observation meeting, the VT and I came together with a common understanding that we were growing together. This was an important component to the coaching cycle; I truly wanted her to feel that she and I shared a common goal together. It was not about me coming in to tell her how she should change or what she should do differently, but rather that we come together as a team to identify ways she could grow or be stretched as an educator. I led the VT through a series of questions to have her reflect on her teaching and analyze her practice. VT shared that she was not aware of the different happenings that had occurred during the lesson, but watching the video of her instruct helped her “catch” things such as students not being provided ample thinking time or lacking the language to provide answers. We were able to make concrete connections to the CSTP we had selected together (Element 1.4) and thought of providing sentence frames to help the students partake in the retelling process. She also shared student work as well and noticed some trends across her Tier 2 and Tier 3 students when it came to elaboration and key details. We discussed that trends and patterns can provide insight to what concepts could be and perhaps should be retaught again the following day. The VT and I also worked together to determine the next steps together based on CSTP-related evidence. Rather than tackling all of CSTP Element 1.4, we agreed to solely focus on “instructional strategies.” We decided small group instruction was something she had been wanting to implement with fidelity and that I would be able to model this for the VT. I felt that this was an appropriate next step as small group instruction provides room for differentiation and structured time to meet the needs of all students in a smaller, intimate setting. The VT also provided some constructive feedback for me as a coach. As a first time coach, this was truly a critical component for me as it gave me some insight to how I can grow and adapt as well.

main activities

Describe any challenges you faced in conducting a coaching cycle and how you would address these challenges in the future. 

One challenge pointed out to me by my VT was not being able to provide immediate feedback. She shared that she would have liked to discuss her lesson right afterwards. I am cognizant that as another classroom teacher, it is hard to be present to unpack a lesson right after it happens as we have our own students to tend to; however, I also recognize that my feedback could have been of a written one (in a form of “Glows, Grows, and, Wonderings” or have come in a form of a phone call or a Zoom call. In full transparency, she had to wait about a week to go over the lesson. Next time, I would look to prioritize and consider the needs of others as well and work together to find a time that would work for both of us. Like any data, timely feedback is imperative for teachers to have to inform their next steps. My observational notes and my noticings would have provided my VT an additional set of eyes into what takes place in her classroom. It is something I have to work on because as a school leader, much of the school identity, culture, and everyday happenings will be shaped by immediate feedback and adjustments. As highlighted in Kraft et. al. 's work, “Can Teacher Evaluation Systems Produce High-Quality Feedback?,” the researchers recognize that regular feedback can be a key driver of high performance among teachers. It is important to note that it does not necessarily have to come in forms of formal observations. It could be peer to peer observations and low-stakes forms of feedback can also produce meaningful improvements in teacher instruction and student achievement (505). 

reflection

What are your coaching strengths and areas of growth? What would you do differently, why and how? Is there another coaching model/framework that you would have liked to use and if so why?

 Drawing on this coaching cycle and the feedback I received from my VT, one of my strengths included knowing where my VT was and meeting her there. I found ways to challenge and push her thinking all the while recognizing the vulnerable state she was in as a 1st year teacher who has not had the easiest year. It was crucial that I did not take a deep-dive into must-haves and must-dos, but rather took the time to better understand her classroom context and who my VT was as a person and as an educator. My VT expressed her gratitude for challenging her in a gentle, but a firm way. Another strength she named was our ability to collaborate together. I found ways to affirm her instructional choices while posing guiding questions that would lead her to think about elements in her teaching she had not thought about. Leading up to the lesson, we informally chatted about her class make-up, needs, classroom management, and etc. I did not step into her classroom space and demand things to be done in a certain way. We both came into these coaching spaces with much intentionality and humility, ready to work together.

An area of growth is to grow in my understanding of coaching. My VT noted in our post-observation meeting that as a 1st year teacher, she would have appreciated the opportunity to watch more seasoned teachers teach because this is how she learns best. This is something she and I had talked over and have agreed to as next steps as we jointly decided to linger at CSTP Element 1.4 again the next coaching cycle. I am also recognizing that coaching can look different depending on the needs of the teacher being coached. It is important that I look to ask and actively seek out what it is that they may benefit from before making assumptions on my own. If we recognize that all students have varying needs, this would also be something to recognize in our teachers as well. This would be beneficial for the one getting coached and I, as a coach and a school leader, would be able to best meet his/her/their needs if I know what the teacher’s goals are and how she/he/they would like to get there. This is an example of being able to lead a school and staff through an equity-lens. I would like to be able to provide abundant support for teacher development and adult learning, and I argue that having a system of support for teachers is absolutely crucial. It is from these systems in place where teacher growth takes place. In recognizing this, I would have started my coaching cycle from this point of inquiry of wondering and asking where my VT sees us going.

CAPES

Supporting Documents