It is that time of year…

 

The rooms are decorated, the halls are clean, and the lost and found has not one item lying haphazardly on the rack; the beginning of school is here. It does seem to come earlier and earlier each year, but I can honestly say it doesn’t make me sad- it is my favorite time of year. The butterflies that come with meeting a new group of students, the excitement of planning for a new year with all the possibilities, and knowing that I am the best teacher for the students assigned to my class; yes, the beginning of school is the best time of year! Even as the principal, I have the same feelings as I did in the classroom.

As a lifelong learner, I love this time of year. The learning we do as educators to grow in our craft is intense. We dive head-first into new ideas, refreshers on strategies that will be a campus focus, and individual student data. The overwhelming amount of information can be a struggle and how you organize all this information will set the tone for the year.

We have all seen the memes that poke fun at back-to-school Professional Development, administrators who are out of touch, and the fact teachers want to work in their rooms, but this is not the best frame of mind to return to school with. As an administrator, I see these tongue-in-cheek TikToks and Memes and laugh, but I also wonder, “Do my teachers feel this way?” “Do these teachers realize administrators put a lot of work into Professional Development?” “Do these teachers like when parents make these videos and memes about them?” My thoughts range from emotional to reflective; I don’t want my teachers to feel like their time isn’t valuable and respected. Back-to-School Professional Development is a vital time of year for us to set the tone for the year; of course, I want to maximize the time I have with my staff.

Things to think about in your back-to-school plan:

1.      Ask your teachers for feedback: What do they want to learn? Where do they feel the focus should be for the year?

a.      This does not mean you will be able to focus on what all staff members feel is important, but by listening to the ideas of your teachers, you will get a good pulse on what is important to them.

2.      Collaborative Leadership: As the campus leader you must make difficult decisions, but it is important for everyone to have a voice in their work.

a.      Looking at data as a leadership team, looking for trends, having conversations that drive growth within the team, and listening to multiple perspectives are vital for success.

3.      Clear is Kind: While many hate the getting up and interacting activities, many of these activities are necessary to build relationships within the different teacher teams.

a.      Is the “why” behind the activities being shared? If your teachers do not see the connection between the activities they are doing and the work they do it is your responsibility, as the instructional leader, to make that connection clear.

4.      Time: This is a gift that all educators covet. Allow teachers time to work on lessons, in Professional Learning Communities, on their grade level tasks, and in their rooms. It is important to give them time in all areas they have tasks to get done!

a.      There is LOTS of information that has to get to teachers, but really look at what needs to be face-to-face, what is necessary to get out before school, and what can just be an email, then design your plan to reflect this.

This is a magical time of year, even for the kids that act like they do not want to be at school. Seeing their friends, starting a year fresh, the hope that they will be successful, and the possibilities of what will be. Make this time as magical for your staff as you hope they make for their students; be the administrated that you wanted when you were in the classroom. Have a great year!

 

 

Walkthroughs

Walkthroughs

This one word can affect teachers in many different ways. There are teachers that do not care if you walkthrough their room any time of the day, they will not be changing their actions for the observer. There are teachers that immediately start getting nervous and sweat when anyone walks through their room, they hate to think they are doing something wrong. There are teachers that get mad when someone walks their classroom, they may think, “how dare someone think I am not doing what I am supposed to be doing.”  For me, walkthroughs are my favorite part of my job. I love being in the learning, seeing what is going on around campus and talking to the kids.

What are walkthroughs?

Walkthroughs are when one or a few educators take time to be in classrooms to gather data for a specific purpose. These educators can be the leadership team, a grade level, a group of teachers that have the same need, or administrators. Walkthroughs are the most authentic way to gather data. Getting into the classroom and seeing what is truly happening is the best way to gather data. You want to see why scores are not aligned in a grade level. Watch the level of teaching in each room and you will find the answer. Walkthroughs need to have a purpose: looking for trends on a campus, helping a teacher grow, or seeking what professional development is needed. There are pieces to a walkthrough that are vital, and you need all four pieces in order to create a tool for student success.

Purpose:

   You need to set a purpose and share this with the teachers before going into their room. This process should be a positive one, not an “I gotcha’.” No one likes to wonder what someone is looking for or why they are in their rooms. Let teachers see what you are using to collect data. Let them see what the “Look-Fors” are; they should not be a secret. The focus should be aligned to the campus or district goals or improvement plans.

Data Collection:

  Data collection needs to be focused on a specific purpose. Walking into a room and trying to make comments on everything single thing that is happening within the room is not realistic nor is it helpful. Use a Google Form, a graphic organizer, a note taking sheet, whatever your team has deemed appropriate for the walk.

  When you are collecting data, look at both qualitative and quantitative- you want the whole picture. Quantitative data should always involve talking to students. Talking to kids is always so enlightening; they have such insightful views on the learning happening in their class. Asking students specific questions to see their perspective is key in the walkthrough process.  A classroom can look like it could be featured in Pottery Barn, but if a student doesn’t know what to do when they are stuck on a problem- there is a major concern. When you ask the same question in every class and get a different answer from every student, it could show autonomy or if can show a possible misalignment within the grade level. It is also important to share what the data shows. If you aren’t using the data to grow the teachers, then you are wasting your time.

Feedback:

  Everyone wants to know what was seen during an observation, good, bad, and ugly- they want to know! Teachers crave feedback as much as anyone. Feedback is a great tool to help teachers grow in their craft, reaffirm they are doing a good job, make steps to reaching their professional goals, and help point out positive and negative aspects of their teaching style. When you give feedback, it is important to highlight the positive and the need to work on actions. If you do not share the data with the teacher, they will not get to use that tool to be better their craft.

Take Action:

 Now what? You have collected the data what do you do with it? There is not a one-size fits all answer, but simply put- you need to take action.  

  Looking for trends within a grade level, campus, or even as a district helps you lead your staff to grow as a whole. Using your data to show teachers where they can watch an expert teacher in action on their own campus adds validity to your journey. When teachers can see best practices happening on their own campus with their students, it makes change seem more attainable, less intimidating, and easier to initiate. 

  Designing professional development for grade levels or whole staff should be done when you find a need looking through the data. Developing professional learning opportunities based on real needs throughout the school year is the best way to help your teachers grow in their craft and meet the needs of each student in the school.

There many ways and types of walkthroughs a campus can use to help them grow and learn about the learning and teaching happening on campus. Learning about walkthroughs and implementing them is a journey that can really open your eyes to wonderful things happening on campus as well as refocus your attention to practices that need to be refined. If you and your colleagues aren’t participating in walkthroughs for more than just official evaluations, you are missing out on the best part of being an educator- learning with and through each other!

Coaching for the Teacher Not the Coach

 

Coaching for the Teacher Not the Coach

Instructional coaching has become a trend in supporting teachers in education, but coaching is not a new idea. When people hear of “coaches” they think sports; this is the experience most people have with the term. “Coaching” in education is the same idea as “coaching” in sports. You take someone who has a deep knowledge of the skills and strategies needed to be successful in reaching a goal. Whether it is helping an athlete in a sport, a teacher in the classroom, or an executive in the board room - they are all driven, passionate people who want to be the best in their field. Coaching is how we get there.

The district I work in sees the importance of the instructional coach; unfortunately, our funding does not permit us to have a coach for each campus. The coaches we do have work hard to meet the needs of all the teachers they work with, but this got me thinking… How can I get more coaching on my campus? How can I grow my teachers? The answer to both questions is the same: start a coaching cohort on campus. This campus has many teachers that would like to be instructional coaches in the future, so why would I not grow them in this passion? That is what we are doing this year.

Campus Coaching Cohort

  We will be starting this journey by developing a common understanding of effective coaching and learning from Jim Knight, Sean Conner, Jennifer Froehle, Kathryn Kee, and Karen Anderson. We need to have a solid understanding of what our purpose is: Student Success! Our cohort will develop the structures we will need as we learn.  These structures will be based on best practices that we will adapt for our purpose and members. Coaching peers is not the same as coaching from a district instructional coach and we want to acknowledge that difference. We understand trust must exist before we can start this journey and are including culture building in our back-to-school PD.

The cohort will look at observations and the feedback that should go along with them.  Developing a common belief of what observations are for is vital for our process to be effective.

Observations:

Observations
Are	Are Not
·         Built on trust ·         A way to honor the teacher’s work ·         A compliment ·         For everyone ·         To promote self-reflection and growth	·         “I got you” ·         Just for new teachers ·         To “fix” issues ·         A compliance piece

 

If your staff has a negative connotation when it comes to observations, it sets the tone for how they will accept feedback. School principals need to build trust with their staff.  Teachers need to believe their principal has confidence in them as teachers and their ability to help students be successful. It is important for teachers to feel that their campus leadership is out to help and support them be great teachers, so when they visit the teacher’s classroom it is not a scary interaction. Build a culture of trust and you will see teachers want the feedback you are giving.

 

All teachers want to make a difference in their students lives, I truly believe this. In order to help your teachers be the most successful they can be, you must empower them. When you empower teachers, you are building their self-efficacy and ability to reflect on their own performance, all of which promotes engaged and motivated students. When you coach a teacher, as opposed to dictating what they need to “fix,” you are giving teachers the ability to reflect on the strategies they use, the knowledge they have, and what they know about the students in their class. You are valuing them as a professional and an expert on their students. The reflection process should be guided by coaching questions to help the teacher think through the solution that will best work in their classroom. Always go into reflection conversations ready to let the teacher find their answer.  Be a thinking partner, not a giver of solutions.