Strategies 9 and 10:
Strategy 9 is about reviewing assessment data to plan instruction. By reviewing assessment data teachers can change, modify, or examine their current teaching practices. When assessment is reviewed it can ultimately help improve student achievement. The chapter goes on to explain how a literacy coach can conduct an assessment meeting. I liked the agenda given. I also like the emphasis on managing time. Having someone keep time is crucial. It keeps the meeting flowing and keep everyone on track. The discussion questions help guide the meeting too. It was very straight forward.
Strategy 10 is very similar to 9, but it's more specific. With this strategy, the teacher examines specific student work not an assessment, yet can include assessments/test. Routinely examining student work should be a common practice. Sharing work of students with other teammates and coaches helps have a new set of eyes to see if teaching practices are helping students meet their goals of learning. As a group, you use a critical eye to examine the work to determine not only if the students are meeting the standard, but if the teacher needs to tweak their instruction. The chapter gives 5 guiding questions that should be asked when examining work. These questions keep the group on track.
How do you think these strategies support each other in program improvement?
These strategies are very similar to me. Strategy 9 seems to be broader, like you are looking at the assessment as a whole to see trends. Strategy 10 is more student driven by looking at the individual. Each strategy meets different needs, yet both strategies need to be implemented to see true improvement.
What are the strengths and challenges of doing each, do you think, in your setting?
I will begin with challenges. I think a big challenge is finding the time. Assessing data doesn't seem to be as big a time issue as examining student work. I think most schools implement an assessment data review one way or another. It's easy to look at assessments and quickly see where the holes are in teaching instruction. I think finding the time to assess student work is more difficult. To have this strategy work, I would suggest only bring one student at a time and the one who needs the most help. Strengths of these strategies, especially when meeting in a group, is that a fresh set of eyes can see things you can't. As a teacher you can feel defeated by trying to come up with ideas on your own. By working with a group there are lots of ideas you might not have thought of. Another strength is if the agenda is implemented with each, the time is used efficiently. I think in the past the reasons these strategies haven't been as successful in my settings were because people got off topic. At times it was a grip fest. We needed to appoint positions and have an agenda. When I'm a literacy coach, I think I might bring a poster with the agenda on it and give everyone a job title: time keeper, strategy recorder, etc. This will keep everyone on track.
How would they help the faculty you surveyed to make change?
I'm not sure if the school I surveyed in using strategy 10. I do know they were implementing data teams and meeting with grade levels. I think assessing student work would help look deeper into a child's struggles along with looking at the assessment data. Seeing their work would help the team make more specific changes for that specific child. I think when RTI meetings are happening, student work is brought to the meeting, but I don't think student work is the main focus. I think having meetings that used the work as the main focus would be more helpful.
If I was the literacy coach at the school I surveyed, I would sit in on these meetings and take notes. I would write down common challenges I heard and possibly develop a PD based on those concerns.
Questions:
Does your school setting use data assessment to change instructional teaching? Have you ever used student work as the main culprit for change?
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
WSQ 5
Ch. 5 Synopsis
This chapter focuses on a school wide literacy approach system. For a literacy curriculum implementation to be success 3 pillars must be in place: principal and curriculum leader involvement and a vertical leadership team. The principal needs to be apart of the development. Not only do they support teachers, they encourage. Principals are to be active participants in the implementation and sustainment. Curriculum leaders over see the main details of the SBC process. Last, the leadership team, which is comprised of teachers, must be sold on the idea. They help get other teachers on board. With these 3 pillars in place, the next steps will come easier. In this chapter a "To Do Cylce" was introduced. Basically it discussed the school having a school wide vision plan that is a living and breathing vision that everyone knows. Once the vision is established, teachers and staff come up with the end of year goals. These goals keep everyone on track and give a clear picture of where everyone is headed. During the evidence based systems stage, teachers develop tasks, text, and scoring tools tied to the end of year goals. These gather students progress 3 times a year. It also helps with differentiating instruction. Using the evidence based systems, teachers can develop evidence based teaching. The way to sustain these pillars and "To Do Cycle" is by allowing teachers to dicuss their assessments 3 times a year. Then the last step comes in, Curriculum documentation. Teachers create a reference guide to help keep practices in place. At this stage teaches are able to see the fruit of their labor. It all comes together. With SBC process teachers are able to maintain a literacy program that works for their school.
Questions 1
I think the school I was before basically used this model. We had principal, literacy coach, and leadership team support. This group did a good job winning the acceptance of the teachers. There was a lot of planning and collaborating . I remember making a vision statement. We were required to learning and practice it. So all in all it was set up very similar. The problems began when we had a new principal come in 2 years into the process. She was not a proponent of the new literacy. She didn't really support. At that point it began to be placed on the back burning of the priority list. I'm not sure how you keep a program movement going when the principal doesn't see the importance of it. I think if I'd been the literacy coach, I'd try to lay out evidence of how it had improved the school. Try to get data of before the implementation and data of the school now.
Question 2
When we implemented literacy 1st, we were all required follow a similar whole and small group lesson format. This made grade levels pretty similar is the way they taught and what they taught. We weren't told what to teach. We were just suppose to all follow similar outlines. This helped with curriculum alignment and across grade level planning. Everyone in the school was required during the summer to attend a 2 week professional development workshop on the new program. This really helped everyone understand what the goal was.
Question 3
This was a hard question. I don't feel the school I was at did a great job with teachers reflecting . Maybe this is because I was only their for the first two year of implementation. Therefore it was pretty intense completely changing a schools curriculum. The time was used to talk about what to add and change, instead of what you could do better. We had a state rep for Literacy First come and observe each of our classrooms. She would post conference with us and give us quick suggestions. That's really the only time I remember specifically focusing on reflection. I got to observe peer teachers in their classrooms teach. This helped me reflect on my own teacher, which allowed me to improve.
Julie- At a child development center, do you have school wide literacy curriculum? Or is it more open to allow teachers to choose what they want? Either way, how do you implement and monitor that? Have you ever had to implement new curriculum. how did that go? Would an SBC process be beneficial in your setting?
Erin- Have you been involved in a SBC process? If so, was it similar to this SBC process implemented. Did it help with the transition? If it wasn't, do you think this process would have made it a smoother transition?
This chapter focuses on a school wide literacy approach system. For a literacy curriculum implementation to be success 3 pillars must be in place: principal and curriculum leader involvement and a vertical leadership team. The principal needs to be apart of the development. Not only do they support teachers, they encourage. Principals are to be active participants in the implementation and sustainment. Curriculum leaders over see the main details of the SBC process. Last, the leadership team, which is comprised of teachers, must be sold on the idea. They help get other teachers on board. With these 3 pillars in place, the next steps will come easier. In this chapter a "To Do Cylce" was introduced. Basically it discussed the school having a school wide vision plan that is a living and breathing vision that everyone knows. Once the vision is established, teachers and staff come up with the end of year goals. These goals keep everyone on track and give a clear picture of where everyone is headed. During the evidence based systems stage, teachers develop tasks, text, and scoring tools tied to the end of year goals. These gather students progress 3 times a year. It also helps with differentiating instruction. Using the evidence based systems, teachers can develop evidence based teaching. The way to sustain these pillars and "To Do Cycle" is by allowing teachers to dicuss their assessments 3 times a year. Then the last step comes in, Curriculum documentation. Teachers create a reference guide to help keep practices in place. At this stage teaches are able to see the fruit of their labor. It all comes together. With SBC process teachers are able to maintain a literacy program that works for their school.
Questions 1
I think the school I was before basically used this model. We had principal, literacy coach, and leadership team support. This group did a good job winning the acceptance of the teachers. There was a lot of planning and collaborating . I remember making a vision statement. We were required to learning and practice it. So all in all it was set up very similar. The problems began when we had a new principal come in 2 years into the process. She was not a proponent of the new literacy. She didn't really support. At that point it began to be placed on the back burning of the priority list. I'm not sure how you keep a program movement going when the principal doesn't see the importance of it. I think if I'd been the literacy coach, I'd try to lay out evidence of how it had improved the school. Try to get data of before the implementation and data of the school now.
Question 2
When we implemented literacy 1st, we were all required follow a similar whole and small group lesson format. This made grade levels pretty similar is the way they taught and what they taught. We weren't told what to teach. We were just suppose to all follow similar outlines. This helped with curriculum alignment and across grade level planning. Everyone in the school was required during the summer to attend a 2 week professional development workshop on the new program. This really helped everyone understand what the goal was.
Question 3
This was a hard question. I don't feel the school I was at did a great job with teachers reflecting . Maybe this is because I was only their for the first two year of implementation. Therefore it was pretty intense completely changing a schools curriculum. The time was used to talk about what to add and change, instead of what you could do better. We had a state rep for Literacy First come and observe each of our classrooms. She would post conference with us and give us quick suggestions. That's really the only time I remember specifically focusing on reflection. I got to observe peer teachers in their classrooms teach. This helped me reflect on my own teacher, which allowed me to improve.
Julie- At a child development center, do you have school wide literacy curriculum? Or is it more open to allow teachers to choose what they want? Either way, how do you implement and monitor that? Have you ever had to implement new curriculum. how did that go? Would an SBC process be beneficial in your setting?
Erin- Have you been involved in a SBC process? If so, was it similar to this SBC process implemented. Did it help with the transition? If it wasn't, do you think this process would have made it a smoother transition?
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Ch. 4 and Ch. 6
Ch. 4
Literacy Learning in the Early Years
This chapter discuss how important fostering the emergent years when learning literacy. Research has shown that early literacy skills prove later success in school. The chapter cites a source that mentions children who are not reading by 3rd grade are in grave danger of not graduating high school. It's important to get this message out about how important emergent literacy is to policy makers, administration, and parents. Early Childhood programs have increased over the years. More money from the state is used to fund these programs. Yet, not all programs are created equally. A new idea has emerged called Kindergarten Early Assessment. It was developed to meet and identify the needs of income children. Another important area is for on going professional development that allows teachers to learn and exchange ideas. The chapter discusses the importance of standards, specifically CCSS, for early childhood. The success of programs largely depends on teachers who understand and meet these standards. To foster a quality early childhood program there are a few strategies that are typically included in curriculum. Literacy should be a source of enjoyment. When reading is kept enjoyable, students are motivated to read. Working on vocabulary and discourse patterns help children build knowledge. It also activates their prior knowledge. One way to do this is by sharing and discussing books. Use print anyway you can. Children will begin to learn that print means something and that you can make meaning of that something. Allow children to read a variety of text. Students will understand that text is a part of everyday life. Explicit teaching can be taught in the following areas: comprehension, alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, phonics and writing. Giving children hands on opportunities to practice this ideas will help develop the necessary skills. Also keep learning fun by offering experiences. Another important aspect of early childhood is monitoring progress and assessing students. Assessment should be a part of the lesson. It should take a lot of time for preperation. It's also on-going. Keeping records, checklist, and observing are easy ways to assess students.
I think the role of the literacy coach within early childhood is to educate parents and the public. Early childhood education is beginning be an important issue to policy makers and society, but there still is education needed to tell why it's important. Literacy coaches can become involved in early childhood programs, such as OPAT, that go around and help educated parents about the importance of early literacy skills. I think a literacy coach becomes an advocate in a since. Having been an early childhood educator, parents did not seem to understand they were their child's first and foremost teacher. I can remember explaining to a parent that they could go to the library and borrow books. She'd never been to a library. I've done a little research in this area and I'm passionate about emergent literacy within the home and school programs. I think informing administration and law makers would help with the fight for quality early childhood programs.
Ch. 6
Adolescent Literacy
This chapter begins by discussing the evolution of adolescent literacy. In the 1960s and 1970s the idea of content area reading emerged. Literacy was a part of all disciplines. "Every teacher a teacher of reading" become a phrase well known. Though instructional practices worked against this idea of literacy was a part of all content areas. Therefore the segregation of reading class and content area classes began. This idea of teaching reading was the reading teachers problem. In the 1990s content literacy evolved. This approach showed students how to read with meaning and purpose in any area. Students learned to think within disciplinary text. Therefore today, there is a debate between old school and new school ways of teaching. For students today it's important they read a variety of reading materials. Explicit teaching needs to happen in middle school. Assessments need to show students strengths and weaknesses. Teachers need to be about to model and provide explicit teaching of comprehension and studying strategies. Reading specialist are needed more than ever in the adolescent reading setting. It's clear there needs to be a revolution of continue support of literacy throughout a child's schooling. Literacy coaches are needed to help teachers develop to help a growing population of children who do not know how to read. Literacy coaches need to understand their role within each discipline. Each content area the coach takes on a little bit different role when supporting teachers. Professional developments need to be tailored to supporting teachers in learning reading strategies with their content area.
A literacy coach's job is to understand their role within each content area. They support and listen to teachers frustrations with their classes. They help develop plans that will help students understand literacy with each content area. Literacy coaches that work collaboratively with content area teachers will see successful teachers and students.
Connecting the chapters:
At first when I read these chapters I thought these topics couldn't be more different. Yet, the more I thought about it the more I realized they are very similar. Early childhood, like adolescent literacy seem to be left out of the great debate when it comes to supporting literacy within these areas. Policy makers are not talking about these ages typically when mandating reading instruction and laws. They usually focus their efforts on 1st through 6th grade, the main age span literacy is taught. It is important as a literacy coach to advocate for both ages. I had this visual pop in my head. In a way I see early childhood, elementary and adolescent as a bell curve. The majority of instruction and attention in directed towards the middle of the bell curve, which would be elementary. Then the outliers would be early childhood and adolescent. Yet, what parents, administration, and policy makers aren't understanding is if we begin supporting emergent literacy, maybe some of these adolescent struggling readers wouldn't have the problems they are having. Another key point I thought about was what happens to student just fall through the cracks in elementary because they didn't receive emergent literacy. Then once out of elementary, they will have little to no support in middle and high school. Therefor as literacy coaches, we need to commit to getting the word out and educate the importance of fostering both areas.
Questions:
Julie: As a director, what have you seen within the emergent literacy development? Have you noticed within the last 10 years an increase in funding? An increase within parent awareness of emergent literacy skills? Do you have parents that seem clueless on what it means to foster literacy?
Erin: As a first grade teacher, do you see kids coming to your class having little to no early literacy skills? What is their biggest weakness when they arrive to you? Do you think having more early childhood programs would make teaching them to read easier?
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Week 9 Professional Development 3
After meeting with everyone via adobe connect this weekend, I am on track for developing my PD. I did not realize how far off I was. I was developing task 3 and my task 3 was not very specific. Thank you guys for your input and I feel better now.
I have developed my task 2 around the top two topics based on my survey. They are technology integration and student motivation. My school also liked the idea of large group setting with small group discussions. The 2nd most popular PD setting was teacher observation. After reviewing these needs, I figured they were pretty open to all types of PD settings. For technology integration I suggested a faculty meeting that would allot 30 minutes for several weeks to discuss strategies. Then the teachers could get into small groups and adjust the material to fit their grade level. I also thought having stations set up in the library, during the day, that teachers could attend while on planning. The stations would have videos playing that showed how certain technologies were being implemented. Also handouts would be present on the table. Teachers could take the papers and implement the ones they thought were useful. If teachers wanted to attend a small group PD for technology integration, they could go to an article study or participate in an online discussion. I'd make the online similar to how we blog each week. I also thought a lesson study would be helpful.
The 2nd topic teachers wanted to learn more about was student motivation with literacy. If teachers attend a large group they could for to a faculty meeting with peer demonstrations. I also thought using a 2 minute PD video at the beginning of each faculty meeting would be fun. It's a way to showcase teachers and what they are doing in the classroom. If teachers wanted to attend a small group PD, they could do a book study over You Gotta Be the Book. I think this book would help with literacy motivation and gives a lot of great ideas and would be good to have a discussion about. I also would like them to be able to watch the literacy coach modeling a lesson that incorporates motivational strategies for literacy.
I haven't started task 3, I'm still deciding which part to elaborate on. I originally began elaborating on the lesson study, but I realized I would be able to make it as personal as I needed to. I thinking of talking about a book discussion as my task 3. Any ideas which would be the best to do a task 3 on?
After view the video I think all the types of leadership roles are present in my task 2 except moderator. I don't have any PD that would include many speakers that I'd have to plan to link them together. But after learning about the moderator role, I think I could definitely add some type of PD that included this role.
Questions: Do we need to mention in task 2 what role we take on in each PD plan? or do we only mention this is task 3?
I have developed my task 2 around the top two topics based on my survey. They are technology integration and student motivation. My school also liked the idea of large group setting with small group discussions. The 2nd most popular PD setting was teacher observation. After reviewing these needs, I figured they were pretty open to all types of PD settings. For technology integration I suggested a faculty meeting that would allot 30 minutes for several weeks to discuss strategies. Then the teachers could get into small groups and adjust the material to fit their grade level. I also thought having stations set up in the library, during the day, that teachers could attend while on planning. The stations would have videos playing that showed how certain technologies were being implemented. Also handouts would be present on the table. Teachers could take the papers and implement the ones they thought were useful. If teachers wanted to attend a small group PD for technology integration, they could go to an article study or participate in an online discussion. I'd make the online similar to how we blog each week. I also thought a lesson study would be helpful.
The 2nd topic teachers wanted to learn more about was student motivation with literacy. If teachers attend a large group they could for to a faculty meeting with peer demonstrations. I also thought using a 2 minute PD video at the beginning of each faculty meeting would be fun. It's a way to showcase teachers and what they are doing in the classroom. If teachers wanted to attend a small group PD, they could do a book study over You Gotta Be the Book. I think this book would help with literacy motivation and gives a lot of great ideas and would be good to have a discussion about. I also would like them to be able to watch the literacy coach modeling a lesson that incorporates motivational strategies for literacy.
I haven't started task 3, I'm still deciding which part to elaborate on. I originally began elaborating on the lesson study, but I realized I would be able to make it as personal as I needed to. I thinking of talking about a book discussion as my task 3. Any ideas which would be the best to do a task 3 on?
After view the video I think all the types of leadership roles are present in my task 2 except moderator. I don't have any PD that would include many speakers that I'd have to plan to link them together. But after learning about the moderator role, I think I could definitely add some type of PD that included this role.
Questions: Do we need to mention in task 2 what role we take on in each PD plan? or do we only mention this is task 3?
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Week 8 PD 2
I enjoyed this weeks readings. I think these chapters have been the most helpful for me. It seems to be exactly what my teachers are wanting according to the survey I conducted.
I really liked the idea of the lesson study. I thought the chapter explained it in good detail. I am considering using this for my PD plan. My survey indicated my teachers wanted to observe a teacher as their primary way of attending PD. I think the lesson study would give them ownership of the material. They could come up with their own ideas and collaborate on ways to implement the ideas.
My survey also indicated that the teachers I surveyed would attend a large group with small group discussion PD. I have been thinking of using a faculty meeting setting to introduce the idea of lesson study to my teachers. This way we could, as a group, discuss what a lesson study is and how to implement.
What do you think about having a faculty meeting and then doing a lesson study as my PD plan? Is this the right direction of task 2?
I really liked the idea of the lesson study. I thought the chapter explained it in good detail. I am considering using this for my PD plan. My survey indicated my teachers wanted to observe a teacher as their primary way of attending PD. I think the lesson study would give them ownership of the material. They could come up with their own ideas and collaborate on ways to implement the ideas.
My survey also indicated that the teachers I surveyed would attend a large group with small group discussion PD. I have been thinking of using a faculty meeting setting to introduce the idea of lesson study to my teachers. This way we could, as a group, discuss what a lesson study is and how to implement.
What do you think about having a faculty meeting and then doing a lesson study as my PD plan? Is this the right direction of task 2?
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
week 7: Professional Development 1
WSQ 9:
This chapter helped clear up some questions I had involving PD. The qualities that stood out to me for professional development that seemed to be the most successful:
Sustained- I had never thought about PD being something that needs to be sustained. Most
of the professional developments I've been to have been workshops. We'd go once and
learn something and that was it. This idea of intensive process is interesting to me.
Active learning- I think this is important. Teachers need to be involved in the learning. It makes it
more meaningful.
Follow-up/Feedback- I think this would help teacher implement ideas. To have a group to bounce
ideas off of would be helpful.
Acknowledge Participants beliefs/teaching practice- This would help foster a trusting environment.
Teachers would feel valued. They'd also feel like the PD would fit into their lives. I can
remember some PD I've attended were the ideas were so off from my pedagogy that it was
hard to implement.
The section that talked about ways to support change was good. I think a lot of times when people develop PD, they forget this component. This might be one of the most important pieces. The idea of observing a teacher to help build understanding would really help teachers see a lesson in progress. Peer support groups would help teachers feel supported and have a community to ask questions. Even an online forum to help have an ongoing thread to ask questions would support teachers. This chapter really summarizes why PD needs to be an ongoing task. To really see change, you must sustain the effort of PD by supporting, listening, and helping teachers.
Article Sustained:
I really like the idea of training better teacher instead of just teaching another strategy. This is a novel idea. Many districts think giving teachers materials and strategies and they will be better teachers. Yet, there is more to it. By introducing an instructional framework for teachers, helps teachers become more consistent. Also there is a commonality across the school. The PD introduced in this article helps support teachers and their growth. They no longer depend on the curriculum to do all the teaching; the teachers now has support from administration and peers. The results from this school over a couple years showed how successful this idea of PD has been. I also thought it was interesting that this implementation was conducted over years not just a semester. I think real change comes from committing to an idea over several years.
Question:
Has your school or district ever bought into this idea of sustained PD? I was in Norman Public, I'm not sure if they have. NPS did implement technology over several years, I'm not sure it was like this though. This might have been their goal though!
This chapter helped clear up some questions I had involving PD. The qualities that stood out to me for professional development that seemed to be the most successful:
Sustained- I had never thought about PD being something that needs to be sustained. Most
of the professional developments I've been to have been workshops. We'd go once and
learn something and that was it. This idea of intensive process is interesting to me.
Active learning- I think this is important. Teachers need to be involved in the learning. It makes it
more meaningful.
Follow-up/Feedback- I think this would help teacher implement ideas. To have a group to bounce
ideas off of would be helpful.
Acknowledge Participants beliefs/teaching practice- This would help foster a trusting environment.
Teachers would feel valued. They'd also feel like the PD would fit into their lives. I can
remember some PD I've attended were the ideas were so off from my pedagogy that it was
hard to implement.
The section that talked about ways to support change was good. I think a lot of times when people develop PD, they forget this component. This might be one of the most important pieces. The idea of observing a teacher to help build understanding would really help teachers see a lesson in progress. Peer support groups would help teachers feel supported and have a community to ask questions. Even an online forum to help have an ongoing thread to ask questions would support teachers. This chapter really summarizes why PD needs to be an ongoing task. To really see change, you must sustain the effort of PD by supporting, listening, and helping teachers.
Article Sustained:
I really like the idea of training better teacher instead of just teaching another strategy. This is a novel idea. Many districts think giving teachers materials and strategies and they will be better teachers. Yet, there is more to it. By introducing an instructional framework for teachers, helps teachers become more consistent. Also there is a commonality across the school. The PD introduced in this article helps support teachers and their growth. They no longer depend on the curriculum to do all the teaching; the teachers now has support from administration and peers. The results from this school over a couple years showed how successful this idea of PD has been. I also thought it was interesting that this implementation was conducted over years not just a semester. I think real change comes from committing to an idea over several years.
Question:
Has your school or district ever bought into this idea of sustained PD? I was in Norman Public, I'm not sure if they have. NPS did implement technology over several years, I'm not sure it was like this though. This might have been their goal though!
Monday, September 22, 2014
Week 6: Coaching and Communication
L&T Chapter 5 (questions 1 and 2)
Question 1:
I feel confident in critical communication. I feel like every time I would plan with a teammate (weekly), this was a type of communication that came up. We’d bounce ideas off each other. We’d ask each other for help in a certain area. We’d give each other ideas to try. Given, trust had to form to be able to do this. But after I’ve set the climate in my school, hopefully open and honest, I will be able to talk with teachers this way. I think the important part of this is asking teachers for their help and suggestions too. Not thinking, “because I’m the reading specialist, I need to know all the answers.” I feel my personality is good at admitting when I don’t understand, and I’m good at asking others for their help.
Questions 2: I think the area I’m struggling most with is the “speaker’s message” on page 89. I am going to be pre-conference, observing, and de-briefing a teacher on Thursday. She is so nervous. This chapter has helped me learn some ways to ease that anxiety. I’ve talked to her and tried to explain some of the questions I might present her with and this helped her grasp the ideas. She feels better about picking a goal and/or standard to focus on now. Before she’d never thought of teaching this way. The chapter helped me choose terms to use. For example, saying “ this sounds like an exciting lesson, can’t wait to learn from you.” Trying using “we” instead of “I”. I’ve already decided to bring a little treat to help break the ice! I’m thinking in the future a candy basket that comes with me to classes would be fun! Candy always makes me happy! I think my needs are just practice. It’ll get easier the more I do it!.
Finally, think about how communication skills are important as you read about working to create a shared knowledge base.
It’s vital to foster an open and honest environment within a school. Knowing how to communicate in different situations will help in resolving conflict, delivering, information, and helping the environment learn. The coaching atmosphere is really dependent on the reading specialist. The reading specialist job is to listen, provide feedback, teach, model, discuss, persuade, encourage, create written documents, and present information. For each of those areas, communication in required. Reading specialist must be poised and precise with their words. I kind of think of a reading specialist as the ring leader. They get everyone excited. They help create an organized environment; while showcasing the special talents everyone obtains. They have to keep peace and help everyone get along. The reading specialist can improve or hurt the environment of a school depending on their attitude and communication skills. Allowing everyone to voice their thoughts and knowledge opens a shared knowledge base. Everyone can learn from each other. Teachers must feel heard and valued. Knowing your knowledge can help others, builds confidence. When your skills are acknowledged, you feel respected. Feeling free to be the teacher you are, helps everyone feel appreciated.
Meeting:
My birthday is Saturday, don’t plan it around me, BUT if at all possible I have family in all day Saturday to celebrate and would love to be able to see them! Other than that I can do any day in the evening to discuss our results. I would love to have Dr. Beach facilitate too! I’m feel unsure of exactly what needs to be done! How long do we need to set aside for this conference?
Also, for our survey results…
Dr. Beach, do you want us to send you the actual google excel form that the results collected in? Or would you like an organized chart showing the top results for each section? or both?
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Coaching 2
Goal Setting:
This chapter helped ease some of my concerns when beginning a coaching cycle. I liked how it gave an approximate time schedule (20minutes). I feel like that is doable. Actually I could see a lot of conversations going longer than that. I also liked the SMART format. That will be helpful.
Questions:
Are you going to have your teacher pick a standard (PASS) this semester for their goal? Would that be something we need to usually focus on when goal setting? or can it be anything they are wanting to work on for example implementing an iPad?
Modeling:
I like this idea of modeling instructional strategies. There were a few times when I was teaching, I would have liked someone to just have showed me what it looked like to use the ideas I'd learned. Then having a brief post conference to review the purpose of the modeling and share notes.
Co-Planning:
I use to co-plan weekly with my grade level colleague. I loved this time. We used it to fire off ideas and help each other. I think if you built a good relationship with others, as a literacy coach, it'd be helpful to co-plan with grade levels. This would be helpful to do once a month with each grade level during their plan. I think this would be a good start when trying to implement a school wide cohesiveness.
Co-Teaching:
I honestly had never heard of doing this with a literacy coach. This was a new concept for me. I've never had a coach that did this. I think this would be effective if you established a good relationship that allowed for open communication. I could imagine this going south, if the coach just came in the classroom and told the teacher what they were doing wrong.
Observing:
It is important when observing to let your teacher know you are coming to give support, not evaluate. This would ease a lot of tension. It would be beneficial to a school if there was a sense of help coming from the coach, not judgement. If teachers were able to be honest, to the coach, about their weakness and ask for help.
Repsonse
**This whole process is beginning to make sense. I am eager to begin my coaching cycle. Just waiting to hear back from my teacher when she is able to meet. I really like how the book has the template pages and next to the template is an example. This has been the most helpful when learning this cycle. One question I did have is, are we suppose to video all the meetings with our teacher :goal setting and debriefing? For some reason I only thought were were recording the debriefing session. Also is the debriefing session the same as the post observation conference?
This chapter helped ease some of my concerns when beginning a coaching cycle. I liked how it gave an approximate time schedule (20minutes). I feel like that is doable. Actually I could see a lot of conversations going longer than that. I also liked the SMART format. That will be helpful.
Questions:
Are you going to have your teacher pick a standard (PASS) this semester for their goal? Would that be something we need to usually focus on when goal setting? or can it be anything they are wanting to work on for example implementing an iPad?
Modeling:
I like this idea of modeling instructional strategies. There were a few times when I was teaching, I would have liked someone to just have showed me what it looked like to use the ideas I'd learned. Then having a brief post conference to review the purpose of the modeling and share notes.
Co-Planning:
I use to co-plan weekly with my grade level colleague. I loved this time. We used it to fire off ideas and help each other. I think if you built a good relationship with others, as a literacy coach, it'd be helpful to co-plan with grade levels. This would be helpful to do once a month with each grade level during their plan. I think this would be a good start when trying to implement a school wide cohesiveness.
Co-Teaching:
I honestly had never heard of doing this with a literacy coach. This was a new concept for me. I've never had a coach that did this. I think this would be effective if you established a good relationship that allowed for open communication. I could imagine this going south, if the coach just came in the classroom and told the teacher what they were doing wrong.
Observing:
It is important when observing to let your teacher know you are coming to give support, not evaluate. This would ease a lot of tension. It would be beneficial to a school if there was a sense of help coming from the coach, not judgement. If teachers were able to be honest, to the coach, about their weakness and ask for help.
Repsonse
**This whole process is beginning to make sense. I am eager to begin my coaching cycle. Just waiting to hear back from my teacher when she is able to meet. I really like how the book has the template pages and next to the template is an example. This has been the most helpful when learning this cycle. One question I did have is, are we suppose to video all the meetings with our teacher :goal setting and debriefing? For some reason I only thought were were recording the debriefing session. Also is the debriefing session the same as the post observation conference?
Monday, September 8, 2014
Week 4- coaching 1
Honestly my first reaction to how the readings are connected is, "wow reading specialist/coaches do a lot." That aside, literacy coaches hold several job descriptions. They coach, teach, assist, implement, and model. I'm quite amazed at all the job titles they can hold. But the more I think about the word coaching, the more I think of this term as an umbrella term By this I mean all other job descriptions can fall under this one term. In the end, I want to be considered a coach, not a supervisor or boss to my future colleagues. I want to be seen as someone who helps guide their learning and supports them or coaches them into their potential.
One thing I saw threaded through out the chapters was this idea coaching others. The WSQ chapter focused on types of coaching visits. The article about coaching guidelines focused on guiding principals that literacy coaches can use to improve their coaching. The team coaching article focused on using the CCCM approach to coaching teachers. Then the EPL chapter showed ways to actually begin implementing the coaching cycles. The chapters related to our class discussions over the weekend by tying together the essence of what my future position as as literacy coach will be. Coaching will be a huge part of what I'll do in the school. I will have to understand and refine my coaching strategies. I will have to decide the most effective ways to implement coaching. Then I will actually have to know how to successfully begin a coaching cycle.
One of the most important things I learned this last week while reading is that some teachers have a negative idea of coaching. They see it as someone who needs coaching must have a weakness. I completely understand this view. We as teachers sometimes want to portray to everyone," we've got it all together." Yet, as I become wiser, I am realizing we are all continually learning, even the experts. It's when we think we know it all the real danger happens. Therefor, I want to debunk this idea that coaching is for the people who don't get it. When I begin as a reading specialist one day, that will be my first goal is to work on relationships. By working on relationships, I hope to help teachers see we are all life long learners. Each on of us has a strength to share. I want them to know I am not here as the reading specialist to "fix" problems. I am here to help teachers live into their potential and to improve on what they are already good at and then share it with others.
I also learned this week about how to begin a coaching cycle. I honestly felt a little uneasy after the weekend. I kept thinking, " love this idea of coaching, but uhhh how do I begin?" The review of ch 18 in EPL helped settle my anxieties. I feel I have an idea of where to begin. I really like the forms that can be used for the coaching cycles. Why reinvent the wheel?
I love this idea of team coaching. First I think it relieves everyone in the group of the idea, "I'm not the only one who doesn't get it." It also is an efficient use of time. There is only so much time in a school day. Therefore if a group of teachers needs help with an idea, why not implement the CCCM. Through team coaching, teachers can collaborate and find answers together. You are building relationships that will benefit the school in the long run. There are times though that individual coaching is needed. Maybe a teacher has a certain classroom problem that only she has. It would benefit her to have the individual coaching aspect. The coach can then suggest ideas and help that tailor to her needs. I also think individual coaching builds an intimate relationship that team coaching may not. There is a trust that forms when working in pairs. The similarities of team and individual coaching are that a common goal of improvement is needed. There just happen to be different ways of going about improvement in a school.
Questions:
1. As a reading specialist (if that's your end goal) do you hope to spend more time helping teachers? or working one on one with students?
I go back and forth on this issues. There are times I wish to eventually be a literacy coach, Focusing my time on teacher improvement. Then other times I think I'd love to especially work with struggling readers most of the time, pulling in and out of the classroom. Do you have a calling or feel especially drawn to one or the other?
One thing I saw threaded through out the chapters was this idea coaching others. The WSQ chapter focused on types of coaching visits. The article about coaching guidelines focused on guiding principals that literacy coaches can use to improve their coaching. The team coaching article focused on using the CCCM approach to coaching teachers. Then the EPL chapter showed ways to actually begin implementing the coaching cycles. The chapters related to our class discussions over the weekend by tying together the essence of what my future position as as literacy coach will be. Coaching will be a huge part of what I'll do in the school. I will have to understand and refine my coaching strategies. I will have to decide the most effective ways to implement coaching. Then I will actually have to know how to successfully begin a coaching cycle.
One of the most important things I learned this last week while reading is that some teachers have a negative idea of coaching. They see it as someone who needs coaching must have a weakness. I completely understand this view. We as teachers sometimes want to portray to everyone," we've got it all together." Yet, as I become wiser, I am realizing we are all continually learning, even the experts. It's when we think we know it all the real danger happens. Therefor, I want to debunk this idea that coaching is for the people who don't get it. When I begin as a reading specialist one day, that will be my first goal is to work on relationships. By working on relationships, I hope to help teachers see we are all life long learners. Each on of us has a strength to share. I want them to know I am not here as the reading specialist to "fix" problems. I am here to help teachers live into their potential and to improve on what they are already good at and then share it with others.
I also learned this week about how to begin a coaching cycle. I honestly felt a little uneasy after the weekend. I kept thinking, " love this idea of coaching, but uhhh how do I begin?" The review of ch 18 in EPL helped settle my anxieties. I feel I have an idea of where to begin. I really like the forms that can be used for the coaching cycles. Why reinvent the wheel?
I love this idea of team coaching. First I think it relieves everyone in the group of the idea, "I'm not the only one who doesn't get it." It also is an efficient use of time. There is only so much time in a school day. Therefore if a group of teachers needs help with an idea, why not implement the CCCM. Through team coaching, teachers can collaborate and find answers together. You are building relationships that will benefit the school in the long run. There are times though that individual coaching is needed. Maybe a teacher has a certain classroom problem that only she has. It would benefit her to have the individual coaching aspect. The coach can then suggest ideas and help that tailor to her needs. I also think individual coaching builds an intimate relationship that team coaching may not. There is a trust that forms when working in pairs. The similarities of team and individual coaching are that a common goal of improvement is needed. There just happen to be different ways of going about improvement in a school.
Questions:
1. As a reading specialist (if that's your end goal) do you hope to spend more time helping teachers? or working one on one with students?
I go back and forth on this issues. There are times I wish to eventually be a literacy coach, Focusing my time on teacher improvement. Then other times I think I'd love to especially work with struggling readers most of the time, pulling in and out of the classroom. Do you have a calling or feel especially drawn to one or the other?
Friday, September 5, 2014
Strengths with New Literacy Tools
Strengths with New Literacy Tools
Areas of expertise:
Areas of expertise:
- Interwrite Boards
- Ipad
- powerpoint
- Prezi
- blogging
- iauthor
- kindle
- Skype
- facetime
- adobe connect
- website development
These strengths will help aid me when I coach other teachers this semester. I have experience in these areas, therefore I will understand the basics when teachers bring them up during conversations. I will be able to share my experiences with my peers and other teachers. Having comprehension of new literacies is important when leading others.
Question:
What is your favorite app/website to share with students? Early childhood? Middle school/ High school?
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