Ms. Houser's 6 Lessons I've Learned as an Instructional Coach

This is a great article from Kristin Houser at www.mshouser.com.  She talks 6 lessons she has learned as an instructional coach.  I found them to be very informative and things that I have thought about in the 4 years I have been an instructional coach.  Relationships are the bread and butter of instructional coaching.  This leads to being a good listener and a good questioner.  I have found that the best way to get being a better questioner is to be a great listener.  The lessons Ms. Houser talks about are very good and well worth the time to read.  Follow the link above and see what she has to say.

An Essential Ingredient in Writer's Workshop

Katie Wood Ray reports that time to write is one of the most important aspects of writer's workshop.  In her book The Writer's Workshop, she says “When it comes to TIME, quantity is what matters.”  Time to write is an essential ingredient to student success.  Students need time to practice the art of writing.  She suggests giving students 35 to 40 minutes each day, so they have the time to build their experience.  Not all the writing they accomplish each day will necessarily be great writing, but the experience to practice toward great writing is what matters.  Time is a precious commodity in every classroom, and giving this amount of time to students for writing is sometimes very difficult.  However, the only way students will get better at the art of writing is to write.  During the time students are writing, teachers should be meeting with small groups of students or conducting one-on-one conferences.  Students need the time to write, research, collaborate, and talk through their ideas and perfect the art of writing.  Quantity is what matters.

Kylene Beers' Post About Whole-Class Novels

Kylene Beers' blog post is very interesting today!  I love what she says about whole class reading.  It's not about reading the same book; it's about expecting students to read the book the same way.

The Whole-Class Novel: To Read Together or Not?

Recently, a post on the Notice and Note Book Club page generated lots of responses. This post asked for articles that would help support the position that teaching whole-class novels does not help students become better readers.

I was pleased to see several folks in this group jump in and mention Nancie Atwell’s strong commitment to choice reading; others mentioned the smart work from Donalyn Miller who also supports choice reading. A few mentioned the very important bookReadicide by Kelly Gallagher. Obviously, some teachers are doing a lot of reading on this topic and have given it much thought.

There really isn’t a clear-cut, gold-standard answer because so many things interfere in the research that might answer this question. Primarily, answering this question means we all share the same vision of what it means to be a better reader. For some, “better” means more engaged. For others, it means one is able to read at a higher Lexile level. For even others, it means one is better able to support thoughts with evidence from the text. “Better” is in the eye of the beholder. So, the research study that compares how kids respond to interest surveys about reading when reading a whole-group novel versus kids reading self-selected books yields different findings than kids who are tested on something such as vocabulary development.

The study that I turn to over and over again was done a LONG time ago: the Coryell study. (This study as well as a more recent replication of this study can be accessedhere.) At first glance, it appears that the Coryell study managed to look at both interest and comprehension. But what it was really measuring was AMOUNT of time spent reading a single book. It found that students who read one book for six weeks didn’t score any better on a comprehension test over that book than students who read that same book in a shorter amount of time and then went on to read other books that they chose. What did matter, though, was when asked about attitudes toward reading, kids who read more books in that six weeks had more positive attitudes toward reading than kids who only read one book. That’s worth remembering: intensive study of a single book negatively affected reading attitudes while extensive reading of many books positively affected reading attitudes. Both types of reading yielded similar scores on the same comprehension test.

Now, did the kids who only read one book have more negative attitudes toward reading because they didn’t like the book the teacher chose or didn’t like having to read the same book for so long or were just frustrated at not getting to choose which book they read together? We really don’t know. The best we can say is that the intensive reading of a single book did not result in a significantly higher score on a comprehension test over that one book than when compared with kids who read that same book in a shorter amount of time. It did, however, lower their attitudes toward reading. That’s critical.

So, where does this leave Bob (Probst) and me? We – as we have stated in Notice and Note and Reading Nonfiction – believe there is room for both whole class reading AND choice reading. We think the problem isn’t that we all read the same book; it’s that we expect kids to read it the same way. We all must be on chapter two at the same time; answer the same questions; have the same conversations. We suggest this “I’ll-tell-you-what-to-read-and-how-to-read-it” attitude is the problem. Just this morning, Bob and I both agreed to read Tony Wagner’s new book Most Likely to Succeed. Bob immediately downloaded it to his Kindle. I bought the print version. I’ll read it in the evenings, with a glass of wine. He’ll read it on an airplane with a Bloody Mary. I’ll read it in one or two sittings. He’ll digest smaller chunks. I’ll want to talk about it as I’m reading. He’ll prefer to wait until he’s done. He’ll mull over specific sentences, sometimes focusing on individual words as he wonders why this author chose this word and not that one. I’ll read first for bigger picture and then return to do that more leisurely mulling. (It’s amazing we get anything accomplished together.) My point: we’re a class (ok, it’s a small class) that has chosen to read the same book; but we will read it in different ways.

We think in-common reading in a classroom is important. It’s something that as adults we all enjoy doing – if not, Oprah’s book clubs wouldn’t be so wildly popular and folks wouldn’t join together to study Readicide, Amplify, Reading Ladders, Book Love, and maybe one of ours. We find community when we read books in common and we learn from one another. When I hear Penny Kittle or Teri Lesesne explain why something resonated in a book we’re reading at the same time, that changes my thinking. WhenPaul W. Hankins and Tara Smith offer a comment about a book I’m reading, I’m smarter. Reading together helps me grow in a way that I don’t grow when I read in isolation. Reading is a solitary act that has a strong social connection.

But reading in-common does not and should not mean reading the same way. We don’t need to crawl through a book at a snail’s pace. We don’t need to labor over every chapter, learn every new word, answer dozens of questions about each chapter. Two weeks to get through the reading and one week for conversations: more than enough. And did you notice that I said Bob and I decided together what we would read next? We’re having in-common reading but we still had choice. We choose what book to jointly read and we’ll each decide how to read it. What if we saw our classrooms as book groups and we let kids choose which one book they will read together this semester and which one book they will read together next semester? We think that even when having in-common reading we need to give kids choice as often as that’s possible. Give kids a short list from which they can choose and then set a date by which the book must be read. Accept that some will race through it; some will need to sit with you to move through it together; some might need to hear parts read aloud. If you are thinking “But the kids won’t read it unless I’m forcing them through it,” then it’s the wrong book to read. Read the same book that kids agree they want to read; don’t read it the same way.

Yes, some of you will say “But I don’t get a choice on what kids have to read so I can’t give them a choice.” If that’s the case, ask to visit with the person who established that policy and talk through the advantages of giving kids at least some ownership in choosing between two books or among three. I say talk to the person who established the policy because you can’t have a conversation with a policy. You can with a person. Don’t let an administrator or supervisor say, “but it’s the policy.” Policies were written by people. Get to the person and then you can have a conversation.

But build your program on kids having choice. Choice means voice. Sometimes that choice means I’m reading what no one else is reading. Other times it means I’m reading what I agreed to read with a small group. And sometimes it means I’ve joined the larger community called our classroom and together we’re reading one title. Not for six weeks or several months. And not all reading it the same way. But we all read; we all talk; and together, we learn from one another.

The Art of Coaching - Beliefs by Elena Aguilar

Which beliefs help a coach be more effective?

The next chapter of "The Art of Coaching" by Elena Aguilar is about our beliefs and how they affect our actions.  To understand our beliefs, we first must understand where our beliefs come from.  The author tells about The Ladder of Inference which helps us see how our beliefs were formed and how they can build to misguided beliefs.  Through the beliefs we construct for ourselves, we begin to think of them as truths.  If our beliefs, such as believing that the teachers we work with are not good teachers and will not ever be, we allow this belief to guide our actions in a way that won't be the help they need.  To keep this from happening, we have to reflect on what our core values are and if our beliefs match these core values.  This process includes "privately clarifying, publicly articulating, and consciously acting on" the core values we hold.

The author goes on to tell about writing her manifesto, outlining her core values so they help her stay aligned to her vision of coaching.  She tells about the 10 beliefs in her manifesto:

1.  Everything is connected.  We are all connected and share responsibility.
2.  Meet people where they are.  In meeting people where they are, we can understand why they are where they are.
3.  There is no coaching without trust.  Trust takes time to earn and is one of the most important parts of coaching.
4.  "Words create worlds."  A. Hartman, Social Work.  We have to listen carefully.
5.  Be here now.  Be in the moment. This will help us be better listeners.
6.  Transformation takes time.  Understand change won't happen overnight; be patient.
7.  "Justice, justice shalt thou pursue." Deuteronomy 16:20.  Our work must be driven by a pursuit of justice.
8.  The journey is the destination.  We must understand it is the journey that is what is important not the ends.
9.  Be unattached to outcome.  We want transformation, and we must be open to whatever that transformation is.
10. We can transform our education system.  We have to believe it can happen and always work toward it.

This have given me a lot to think about.  What are my core values regarding coaching, education, and transformation?  I have a lot of thinking to do and a manifesto to write!!

Coaching as an Art

Coaching as an art is an interesting idea that Elena Aguilar writes about in her book The Art of Coaching.  I am beginning a book study of this book and right from the beginning it is challenging my thinking about coaching.  In her book, Elena Aguilar talks about coaching being transforming.  Transforming, wow!  I hope I'm up for the task!  She says that for coaching to be transforming it includes improving teacher practices, addressing systemic issues, and improving outcomes for children.  I like to think I'm doing all of these great things, but it has made me take a close look at my practice.  If we equate instructional coaching to the ancient practice of apprenticeship, then I should not only teach, but learn.  I sometimes feel like I get more out of a coaching meeting than I bring, but I'm finding it's okay.

The first couple of chapters have already made me think deeply about what my purpose is when I go into a classroom.  I know I want to encourage, support, and cause forward movement, but I also want this to happen in a safe and productive way.  The author says the art of coaching is doing, thinking, and being.  That we not only need to help change the doing, but the thinking and being as well.  It is an interesting and challenging thought.  Can I help to change the way of being in the schools where I work?

At this point I have more questions than answers, but I am hopeful I will get a lot of them answered.  I'll keep you posted.

Essential Questions Book Study, Part 2

“Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding” by McTighe and Wiggins goes on to tell how to design essential questions so that students begin to really think critically about the concepts being taught.  They must cause students to think about their own thinking as well as the thinking of others.  Through this process they question current assumptions and make changes and adjustments as their knowledge grows.  Teaching becomes not a destination of learning but a starting point. 

Here are some thoughts from chapter 3 and part of chapter 4:

How do we design essential questions (EQs)?  This chapter has many very helpful suggestions on how to begin to design and implement EQs.  I really like what the author says about unpacking the standard; looking for verbs and nouns, especially repeated nouns.  When we have unpacked standards in the past, we have paid more attention to the verbs, but looking at the reoccurring nouns helps to identify important concepts that we need students to be questioning and exploring. 

The author also tells us to look at what the desired understandings are and then consider certain categories like: concepts, themes, issues and debates, paradox, etc.  These understandings need to become the basis of our EQs. The author suggests using the writing process to refine our EQs.  The power of peer feedback and revision is just as important for teachers as we have seen it with our students in their own writing.

The beginning of chapter 4 gives several extremely useful models of how to implement and use EQs in a variety of contents and grade levels.  A 4-phase process is outlined and an 8-phase process is also outlined with examples of each.  This helped me to see how EQs should be introduced to students and how to get the most out of their use.

Essential Questions Book Study, Part 1

I’m facilitating a blog book study this summer on “Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding” by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins.  This book has opened my eyes to the power of essential questions.  Not only are they a crucial part of any unit of instruction, but they are an integral part of creating collaborative inquiry in your classroom.

Here are some thoughts on the first two chapters of the book:

Chapter 1 and 2

These first two chapters are packed full of exciting information. It has really added to my thinking of what questions should we be asking in class as well as on assessments.  But more importantly, what is the intent behind my questions.  Thinking about my intent in asking a question is something I think I have given a little bit of thought, but it has not been something I have done explicitly when planning which questions I will ask in a lesson.  Having the characteristics of EQs (essential questions) will help me to make sure I actually have EQs.  The information on the various types of nonessential questions also helped to identify questions that I thought were essential but are in reality a leading, guiding, or a question that hooks the students.

The reasons the author gives to use essential questions were very thought provoking for me.  The big take aways for me were using EQs to make a unit intellectually engaging and providing transparency for students.  I completely agree that we have to make sure to structure our units so students will find them interesting, thought provoking, and worth their time.  It really struck a chord with me that we as adults sit in PD or a class and want to know why is this important to me, will I be able to take this and use it in my classroom right now, and is this worth my time.  Our students want to know the same things.