Instructional Coaching: A Success Story

Each week as I contemplate the topic of my blog post, I usually get so overcome by what instructional strategies I'm currently over-the-moon excited about trying out in the present or future that I forget to stop and reflect about past work with the teachers I collaborate with. This week, I'd like to share a success story (don't worry -- I won't be naming names -- confidentiality is important with instructional coaching!).

This story involves a teacher I've worked with for a bit of time now. He and I have gotten to know each other well and have developed a routine and a rapport that works for both of us.

Like many of the ambitious and dedicated teachers I work with, when I first began working with this teacher, he had a dozen goals, all kinds of areas of his teaching he wanted to work on. Upon my observing him teach and having structured conversations about his classes and his students, we were able to narrow his focus by prioritizing a few goals at a time. This was a key first step. Just like we wouldn't give our students too many areas to focus on improving at once, we can't bog ourselves down with too many goals, either! Through our time together, this teacher has developed mastery in several of his goal areas, allowing us to add in other goals to work on. Even though we had placed those goals aside for awhile to focus on our top picks, we hadn't forgotten them.

One area this teacher expressed a lot of interest in working on -- an area that would have high impact on his students' learning -- was his questioning techniques. He was struggling (as many of us have and continue to) with adjusting his questioning strategies so that he wasn't always calling on the same students. He knew he wasn't checking for the understanding of all his students. That's where I came in. As a second set of eyes in his classroom, I was able to make suggestions he could incorporate fairly smoothly into his teaching style. We worked together on his comfort level with "cold-calling" on students. I acknowledged his concern (a concern many teachers share) that he'd be putting students on the spot, and we worked on ways to scaffold a student toward a correct answer if he or she were struggling. We also worked on turning a student's question over to the rest of the class as another way to check for understanding, instead of it always being the teacher's job to answer questions. Eventually, when this teacher had vastly changed the way he asked questions in class (over 90% of the questions he asks now are "cold-calls" and his students are really rising to the occasion!), we were able to analyze when and why he sometimes falls into his old habits (typically when he was feeling rushed, nervous about getting to all of his lesson) and we worked on ways to prevent that from happening.

Nothing I've written about above is ground-breaking. These are effective, but simple, ways to change one's questioning techniques for the better. But the beauty of instructional coaching is the on-going, job-embedded professional development. If this teacher had merely read an article or attended a one-shot workshop about questioning strategies, he may have tried some new ideas out for awhile. But, as we all know, he may have eventually lapsed with this goal, becoming distracted by all the other aspects of one's day as a teacher. Instructional coaching can help, as I've been told by the teachers I've worked with, because it's more consistent, it involves conversations and observations and goal-setting, even because the teacher knows she's got an appointment with me coming up so she needs to get going on some of the things we discussed during our last conversation. It's a judgment-free, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again," pleasant method of professional development that I think can help teachers to make big and small changes in their classrooms.

If you're interested in exploring your own questioning techniques (or any of the other myriad of instructional strategies out there!), just let me know!

Double Dipping

     Normally I hate double dipping. You know, when you're at a cocktail party having a lovely, sophisticated time, and you sample the to-die-for hummus or salsa or buffalo chicken dip (whatever floats your boat, readers) and then someone comes along, dips their chip in, takes a bite, then goes in for more. The double dip. I believe there's a Seinfeld episode devoted to this travesty.
   
     Thankfully, I'm not about to commit that kind of double dip. No, no, no. I just want to share with you all a resource I typed up for a few teachers I'm working with as instructional coach. It's a bunch of tips for calling on students (especially those reluctant participators) that can help alleviate the anxiety many teachers have about calling on students who aren't raising their hands. After typing it up, I realized -- hey, I bet my blog readers might want to check this out, too. (Be warned, though...some of the items on the resource are also things I've already blogged about on here. Repeat alert!)

     So, I'm double dipping -- using a blog post to share something I had compiled for a different audience. (But, hey, at least I didn't totally cheat and post this as my only blog entry this week, right?)

     Enjoy!

    

Tips for Calling on Students

(especially those who aren’t raising their hands…)

Compiled by Elizabeth Bettencourt, Sharon Public Schools

·      Foster “accountable talk” in your classroom. Model for students what this looks like by using the following examples, and also expect your students to adhere to “accountable talk” when interacting with their peers in a class discussion:

o   Press for clarification & explanation: “Could you describe what you mean?”

o   Require justification of proposals & challenges: “Where did you find that information?”

o   Demand evidence for claims & arguments: “Can you give me an example?”

o   Interpret & use each other’s statements: “David suggested . . .” (Fisher & Frey, 2007, p. 23).

·      Use value lineups. Ask students to evaluate a statement (“I fully understood last night’s homework,” “I will use this tool in the ‘real world,’” “I think this battle was the most significant in WWI,” etc.) and to line up according to their degree of agreement or disagreement with the statement.

o   After forming a single line, you can ask students to “fold” the line in half so that the students who most strongly agreed and disagreed are now partners, ready to discuss the reasons for their positions with one another (Fisher & Frey, p.25).

o   You’ve given students a chance now to think through their ideas, thus building their confidence before “putting” them “on the spot.” Now’s the time to “cold call” on students to either share why they stood where they stood in the line, or to share what their partner’s ideas were.

·      Ask students to share a partner’s idea. The above example is only one of many opportunities where you can help out a reluctant participator by asking him to share someone else’s ideas (this alleviates the concern some students may have about the accuracy of their own ideas, but doesn’t let them off the hook of participating in class). Using Think, Pair, Share is another easy-to-facilitate way to build students’ confidence about their ideas enough to share them, or to give them the opportunity to share a peer’s ideas. Here, students think and/or write a response to a question you’ve provided, then pair with a peer to discuss their ideas, and then share with the whole class. The teacher can circulate during the “Pair” portion of the activity, listening in to students’ conversations. If you hear a student – especially if he or she is a reluctant participator – share an idea you’d like the whole class to hear, you can give that student a “heads up” that you’ll call on them in a little bit to share that idea with the whole class. You’ve boosted their confidence to share because now they know their ideas are valid, and you’ve given them some time to get ready.

·      Try out the Whip Around. At the end of a period of instruction, the teacher poses a question or a task, asking students to make a list of at least three items (“List three things you struggled with today,” “List three traits of this character,” etc.). When students are done with their list, ask all students to stand. Then, randomly call on a student to share one of his or her ideas. Students should check off any items on their list that are shared by other students (this eliminates repetition) and sit down when all of their ideas have been shared, either by themselves or by a peer. Continue to call on students until all are seated (Fisher & Frey, p.34).

·      Determine the response format of a question and who will provide it before asking the question. “Will it be a choral answer, where all students respond together? Is it a partner discussion question? If so, the teacher should preface the question itself with information about the response format so that students know what they will do with the question before it is asked. If it is to be answered by an individual student, teachers should announce the student’s name before asking the question. This alerts the learner to the expected response. . .” (Fisher & Frey, p. 39).

·      Provide “wait time,” or as others call it, “think time.” Three to five seconds is commonly accepted as the amount of time students need to digest the question and to think of their answer.

·      If a student is unable to answer a question, stick with him or her! Use the following types of question scaffolding to help the student get to a response (Fisher & Frey, pp. 39-40):

o   Reception scaffolding – direct a student to the information necessary to answer the question (“Look at the graph on page 252 of your textbook”).

o   Transformation scaffolding – provide a way of structuring the information to help the student develop an answer (“How does the largest bar on the graph on page 252 of your textbook help you to find your answer?”).

o   Production scaffolding – provide the student with a way of producing an answer (“Use the largest and the smallest bars from the graph on page 252 of your textbook to compare the amounts used”).

o   Use a combination of all three types of scaffolds in succession if needed! Stick with that student!

·      Hold students accountable for participating in class. If a student responds to a question incorrectly or incompletely, check back with the student later to make sure he or she now has the correct answer. If students are “going around the room,” each sharing something (their thesis statement from a first draft, their opinion on last night’s assigned chapter, their idea for a marketing product, etc.), and a student does not share (this could be due to a lack of confidence, an incomplete homework assignment, etc.), ask that student to continue listening as his or her peers share. Let that student know that you will be coming back to them later to share something they heard a peer say that they liked or agreed with and why. Set the expectation that everyone’s voice in this class will be heard.

·      Use response cards. These can be pre-printed or write-on.

o   Pre-printed response cards already have responses written on them. These responses could be as simple as “yes” and “no,” that students hold up in response to questions from the teacher. Or they could be more specific, such as “potential energy” and “kinetic energy,” that students hold up in response to examples of energy provided by the teacher. In this format, all students respond, and the teacher can ask follow-up questions to a student based on his or her response. Again, the student’s confidence has been built prior to being called on, and he or she has had time to think through his or her answer.

o   Write-on response cards are blank (mini white boards work well), and students write a quick response on them to a teacher’s question. For example, a teacher could ask his third grade students to write three-letter words using a particular set of letters. As with the pre-printed response card examples above, the teacher can ask follow-up questions to a student based on his or her response (Fisher & Frey, pp. 46-48).

·      Use audience response systems. These new technologies can be utilized in the same ways response cards are used as questioning techniques (see above).

·      NOTE: All of the above tips for calling on students are not only great ways to set the expectation that every student’s voice should be heard, but they are also excellent tools to check for understanding with every student!

Reference

Fisher, D. & Frey, N. Checking for understanding: Formative assessment techniques for your    

     classroom. ASCD: Alexandria, VA.

Good Things Come in Threes

     Okay, okay. Yes, I have also heard that celebrity deaths come in threes as well, but I just figured this was a more chipper way to think about the power of the triumvirate. Who wouldn't rather be optimistic? Spring is in the air, the days are getting longer...let's focus on the positive, people!

     This week I'll be sharing with you my top three takeaways so far from a new book I just started reading yesterday (I only got to page 42, so I'm sure there's much more to come!). It's by the dynamic duo of Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey and it's entitled Checking for Understanding: Formative Assessment Techniques for Your Classroom (2007).

     Here we go:

Takeaway #1

     We should all be learning from our colleagues, the physical education teachers. When it comes to formative assessment, they've got it down. Think about it: a physical education teacher teaching her students how to play badminton "would not wait until the final score of a match to determine whether the athlete understood badminton" (Fisher & Frey, p. 12). She'd be watching her students in action throughout the unit, assessing who needs more training in skills like arm and trunk action, working with students who didn't have effective strokes yet, perhaps coaching them individually or in small groups while their peers continued to practice. But how many of us in other content areas sometimes wait until the final test of a unit to determine whether our students understand the content? 

     Let's take a page from physical education teachers' playbooks. Let's try to consistently observe our students in action, whether that action be working out a complicated math problem, writing a thesis statement, or drawing a landscape. Let's get right in there with them, in real time, while they're in action, and conference with them, coaching those who need it. According to so much of the research that's out there, we'll see stronger performances on our summative assessments.

Takeaway #2

     Whip it good! Here's a really cool idea for a summarizer that lends itself to checking for understanding in a group setting and to formative assessment. Fisher and Frey call it the "whip around" (p. 34). Here's how it works. As a closure activity at the end of a lesson, the teacher poses a question or a task requiring students to make a list of at least three items (i.e., what are three things you learned about this character today? what are three examples of transition metal elements from the periodic table?). When they're done, students stand up (I love it already! So many of our students really need this kind of physical opportunity). The teacher then randomly calls on a student to share one of his ideas. The rest of the students listen, and check off any items on their own lists that are said by another student and sit down when all of their ideas have been shared with the class, whether or not they were the one to share them. The teacher continues to call on students until no one is left standing (Fisher & Frey, p. 34).

     Here's how this assessment is formative. As the teacher listens to the ideas being shared, she can determine "if there is a general level of understanding or if there are gaps in the students' thinking" (Fisher & Frey, p. 34). If there are said gaps, then teacher knows what information she will need to review to make sure her students understand it. 

Takeaway #3

     Last but not least, how about a little scaffolding talk? Fisher and Frey (2007) break down three types of scaffolding teachers should use when a student is unable to respond to a question the teacher has asked him or her orally in class. (I love it already, because I am a huge fan of "sticking" with a student if he or she can't answer a question. No need to abandon them; these are great opportunities to teach them and to build their confidence!) Here are the three ways to scaffold in this situation, according to Fisher and Frey (pp. 39-40):

• Reception scaffolds: Direct the student to information necessary to formulate an answer ("Look at the graph on page 252 of your textbook").
• Transformation scaffolds: Provide a way of structuring the information to help the student develop an answer ("How does the largest bar on the graph on page 252 of your textbook help you to find your answer?").
• Production scaffolds: Provide the student with a way of producing an answer ("Use the largest and the smallest bars from the graph on page 252 of your textbook to compare the amounts used").

     Instead of just asking the entire class "Does everyone understand this?," getting a few nods from some students, and moving on, we need to think about the multiple ways to really check for understanding. The above three are just the start! If you work in the same district in which I'm an instructional coach, and you want support with this, let me know.

(Did you notice how checking for understanding and formative assessments can lead right into differentiated instruction? I'm going to throw in a shameless plug here to conclude: For those of you who teach in the same district as me, I'm offering a summer workshop on differentiated instruction. Sounds fun, right???)

To Ask or Not to Ask: That is the Question

     Lately, in my role as an instructional coach, I've been fielding a lot of questions about . . . well, questions. Allow me to explain: most teachers (myself most certainly included) have the common experience of having allowed a class to get sort of "taken over" by a handful of student voices. It happens without us even fully realizing it at first. We ask a question, and see hands raised. Gasp! Every teacher's dream! But over time, we notice that those raised hands are always attached to the same students. And now we've gotten into the easy-to-get-into habit of only calling on those students, since -- let's face it -- it's so much easier to just call on a student whose hand is up, a student who is confident and won't feel put on the spot, etc., etc. 

     BUT -- then it appears. That nagging teacher voice inside our heads, reminding us that this is not the way to run a classroom. That we want to hear from all our students, that we need to check for understanding from all our students. And so, we start asking each other questions about questions. 

     The questions about questions I've been fielding mostly involve the following: How do I ask questions that really check for understanding? How do I call on all students without putting a non-volunteering student on the spot, making them feel uncomfortable, nervous, scared, terrified?

     Here are some of the answers I've been giving. First, I say -- it's sort of our job to put students on the spot. I don't mean that in a bad way or with the negative connotation that accompanies the phrase. I just mean that we need to check for student understanding, we need to send the message that, in this class, every students' voice is expected and is valued. So, how do we do it comfortably? I believe it has a lot to do with setting our students up for success when asking questions. Here are my ideas:

• I think one thing that's really important is that, in addition to asking a student for an answer, we ask him or her to also explain the answer, to explain the thinking behind the answer. Isn't that a better way to truly check for understanding? And here's a bonus I'll throw in for ya: you can use this opportunity to gently call on one of those more reluctant-to-participate students. Here's how. Ask the class a question, and go ahead and take it easy on yourself -- call on one of those frequent flyers to give an answer. Ok? Here comes the twist. Then ask the entire class who agrees with this answer. You'll most likely get more hands raised -- students are feeling more confident now, they're thinking, "Hey -- that was my answer, too! I must be onto something!" Now, call on one of those agree-ers (preferably a student who is a less frequent participator) and ask them to explain why they believe that is the correct answer. Bingo. You've got some good checking-for-understanding going on, along with the added benefit of making it easier for that more reluctant student to get his or her voice heard.

 (Another questioning strategy that I really like for checking for understanding is reflected in the following scenario: A student asks a question of you during a lesson. Instead of answering it yourself, use this opportunity to your advantage, and open the question up to the class. What a great opportunity to check for understanding!)

• These last two are more ideas on how to ease our reluctant participators into participating. If students have all been working on a task, call on the entire class to share, NO exceptions. Here's a blast from my own classroom past to illustrate: For a homework assignment, I would ask all students to choose three quotes from an assigned reading that they found to be significant and to explain why. In class the next day, I would ask all students to choose one of their quotes (the other two can serve as back-ups should another student share the same quote) to share with the class, along with their explanation of its significance. We'd proceed right along until, inevitably, a student would not participate. This would either be due to a lack of confidence or due to the students' incomplete homework assignment. Here's the key: I would not let this student off the participation hook. Instead, I'd give them an "in," all the while reinforcing my message that everyone's voice will be heard in this class. I'd say, "Ok. There are eight more students who will be sharing. I'd like you to listen to what they have to say. Then I'm going to come back to you and ask you who you agree with most and why." I haven't let my student off the hook, but I haven't crudely put her on the spot, either. Instead, I'm giving her a way in to the discussion with a very specific task. 

• If students are working on a task during class, you're most likely circulating the room and checking in with them, right? Well, while you're doing so, keep an eye out for student work that you can highlight later when the class meets back up as a whole. If you see an answer (or a drawing, or a sentence, or a mathematical solution, etc., etc.) on the paper of one of your more reluctant participators, point out to them that you really like what they've done. Then -- and this is key -- give them a heads-up that, when the whole class meets back up in a little bit, you're going to ask them to share that particular thing you've just commented on with the class. Again, you're inviting them in without putting them harshly on the spot -- you've given them an "in" to the class discussion by building their confidence and by being explicit about how they will participate.

 So, there you have it. To ask or not to ask? I think we've got the answer!

Aha Moments

     Thank you, Oprah, for coining the term "aha moment." Otherwise I wouldn't have quite the right phrasing to describe this week's post. Yes, readers, this post is dedicated to sharing three "aha moments" I have had this week while conferencing and collaborating with some of the teachers I work with as an instructional coach. Sometimes when I observe a class, or have a discussion with a teacher about issues he or she is experiencing, an idea will just occur to me -- a new way of looking at something, a fresh perspective, an aha moment. (Side note -- this is why I think that, as educators, we need to watch each other teach more often and we need to have more and more open discussions with one another about issues in our classrooms, because often it is through these experiences that new ideas will come to us!)
     Here we go . . .

Aha Moment #1

     Lately I've worked as instructional coach with several teachers who are having difficulty getting their class's attention -- a problem all of us have experienced, for sure. We've talked about using quiet signals and about which quiet signal will work the best. The answer is that no one quiet signal is "the best." Truly this is the case since, if there were said magical signal, we'd all be using it. Here comes the "aha" -- it doesn't fully matter which quiet signal you use (whether it's clapping a pattern, ringing a chime, a call and response, etc., etc.). What matters is . . . drum roll, please . . . specifying your expectations for students. What should they do, specifically, when this quiet signal occurs?? I'd venture to say most of us (including myself before this particular aha moment) simply assume that of course our students know what we want from them at this quiet signal moment. But have we been explicit enough? Have we said, while practicing the quiet signal, "Students, when you hear this chime (or insert alternative quiet signal here), your eyes should be on me, and you should be absolutely silent. This means you are ready and are waiting to see what the next set of directions or what the next transition will be"? Have we posted these expectations in our classrooms? I think students need for us to be this explicit. Why leave it to chance that they just inherently know what the heck we're talking about?

Aha Moment #2

     This aha is sort of tied to a memory of mine. Lately, I've also been working with several teachers on using summarizers at the end of a lesson. Mainly, we've discussed avoiding falling into a rut with these summarizers. Tickets To Leave are great, but do students start becoming numb to them when they see them too often? My aha moment answers a resounding "yes." And I'll tell you why. While discussing repetitive summarizers with one of these concerned teachers, I was visited by the Ghost of In-Service Workshops Past. In a former district of mine, we teachers would be given a 3-2-1 exit slip at the end of each in-service. Reflecting on the workshop, we were to write 3 things that had interested us, 2 things we still had questions about, and 1 thing we could immediately start using in our classrooms. The first few times this type of exit slip was used, we all dutifully and thoughtfully filled out the 3-2-1 reflection. However, this went on for years. And years. By the time we had been filling out 3-2-1s at the end of each and every in-service workshop for four or five years, no one was being all that reflective or thoughtful about it anymore. Honestly? It was boring. It was old. We were tired of it. I can't help but think that students who are presented with the same summarizer day after day start to feel the same way. Aha! Variety is the spice of life!

And Finally . . . 

Aha Moment #3

     Lately, several teachers have lamented to me about students who repeatedly call out during a class discussion or during a question and answer session. This has frustrated all of us from time to time. And we know as teachers that this is not a good behavior to encourage in the classroom. It's unfair if only certain students' voices are heard, especially since these students are being heard due to behavior that can be interpreted as rude or inconsiderate of others. This is not the lesson we want to teach our students about how to be heard in life. But, what to do, what to do? And then it hit me! Get into the habit of asking questions by asking students to raise their hands. For example, instead of phrasing your question as "What is the main character struggling with in this paragraph?," phrase it as "Raise your hand if you can tell us what the main character is struggling with." Seem too simple of a solution to be true? Ah, my friends, but I've seen it work! With the latter phrasing, students are following the main direction being given to them, which is to raise their hands if they know the answer. With the former phrasing, no such direction is inherent. Another point for explicitness!

     I realize, having just written all of the above, how vital a tool reflective writing is. If I did not have this blog, this outlet for sharing my thoughts of the week, would I remember and retain these aha moments? Or would these realizations (simple and "common-sense-y" as they may be) slip my mind eventually, causing me to consistently struggle with the same issues? Reflective practitioning works, readers! Jot down those ahas!

     No more posts from me until I resume work during the first week of January. Happy Holidays, readers, and to my fellow educators out there -- have a lovely vacation!