ZEN

Volume 7, Issue 5-----August 26, 2021

Coaching: A Form of Love

It's time to root ourselves back in high-quality observation strategies to ensure that every minute of each day is focused on growing our students socially and academically.

Here are some key reminders to guarantee a strong start:

Before entering the classroom, root yourself in what you should see.

Based on the class schedule, what lesson/subject will you be viewing?
Check the ZEN pacing calendar. Where should the teacher be in pacing?
Pull up the lesson plans (and/or curriculum) and spend 3 minutes looking at what the teacher has planned. Identify the standard, objective, and most rigorous part of the lesson.

Based on all of these elements, ground yourself in what your best teacher would be doing when you entered the room.

During the observation, follow along with the lesson.

Strategically schedule your observations to be in classrooms to observe intentionally Are you wanting to see first 5 minutes? Independent practice w/ AgMo? Transition to lunch?
Consider observing your strongest teacher first--leverage your exemplar! This helps to reset your bar. What is my best teacher doing that I want to see in my other classrooms?
Smile (under your mask and with your eyes)
Look for moments when the teacher lifts up student thinking, pushes rigor to higher levels, allows student voice to dominate, searches for equitable instructional techniques, scaffolds when appropriate, builds connections to the real world, etc.
Provide Real-Time Feedback (RTF), least invasive models when possible. Ask yourself, what will improve learning the most in this moment?
Take notes--what was said, actions that were taken.
If you are turning this into a coaching cycle, begin your script while in the classroom (turn your ears off--well, half-way off).

Make the most of the time you have during the learning.

After the observation, take time to reflect.

What would you want to replicate in future lessons? In other rooms?
If you are trying to decide between a few action steps, continue asking yourself, which one will improve learning the most?
If you provided RTF, how can you extend that into a deeper action step or provide additional "at bats" for the teacher?

Coach!

Larissa Anderson says, "Holding people accountable is uncomfortable. What's worse is having people fail because you won't coach, confront, or correct them. Accountability is something you do for someone, not to someone."

Just think...your teachers hold students accountable because they love them. We also expect there to be grace and compassion in that accountable relationship. This holds true of our adult coaching relationships. It's never too early to start. Jump in...begin your coaching cycles.

We will return to using the monthly coaching plan in which you divide up your staff amongst your SLT and determine frequency of coaching cycles in Monthly (M), Bi-Weekly (B), Weekly (W) rotations. Sample plans from the past are available here. Remember--it's a plan to help you organize your work. Do your best to keep to it. And Principals, don't forget that it is already time to begin your formal evaluations--totally separate from observation/feedback coaching cycles. All of this combined only makes our staff stronger--"it's something we do for someone, not to someone."

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Unreasonable Request #25: Calibration City

As a school leadership team, we are all learning MyView together. Fun! This also means that we need to spend time calibrating what it looks like when we move from printed lessons to execution to coaching. Your Unreasonable Request #25, should you choose to accept it, is to block off 3 one-hour blocks next week to observe ELA classrooms together (all leaders), just soaking in MyView lessons.

Think of the keys above that will make this most useful: pacing check, lessons/curriculum in hand, what should you see (before you enter), and debrief what you saw.

It's a great time for us to really calibrate as teams around what we see--what we expect to see--and appropriate feedback to follow.

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One Stop Shop

Check out the updated protocols, articles, and resources here!

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Jahaun Ireland & Amy Martin for their extensive preparation for our Mock LPIP Roll Out! They put a lot of time and effort to make the model great! We all had a wonderful learning experience because of them. (nominated by Jeanine Zitta)
Sonya Wayne, Leslie Bonner, Felicia Miller, Tyler Archer, Lori Craig, and Shaimeka Humphrey-you didn't have to be at the Mock LPIP and you came anyway. It shows great support of your AIC and of the entire process we are rolling out next week. Thank you for your dedication and support! (nominated by Jeanine Zitta)