# data[].attributes.body
https://www.theresawills.com/templates

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Synchronous Online Teaching Strategies and all material on this website by Theresa Wills is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.Based on a work at theresawills.com.Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at theresawills.com/permissions.

Interactive slides for any content area

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Templates - Where THERE'S A WILLS, there's a way

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/Catalyzing-Change-in-Early-Childhood-and-Elementary-Mathematics/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Download PDF
Fluency Without Fear: Research Evidence on the Best Ways to Learn Math Facts

By Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education, co-founder youcubed

With the help of Cathy Williams, co-founder youcubed & Amanda Confer, Stanford University
Updated January 28th, 2015
Introduction

A few years ago a British politician, Stephen Byers, made a harmless error in an interview. The right honorable minister was asked to give the answer to 7 x 8 and he gave the answer of 54, instead of the correct 56. His error prompted widespread ridicule in the national media, accompanied by calls for a stronger emphasis on 'times table' memorization in schools. This past September the Conservative education minister for England, a man with no education experience, insisted that all students in England memorize all their times tables up to 12 x 12 by the age of 9. This requirement has now been placed into the UK's mathematics curriculum and will result, I predict, in rising levels of math anxiety and students turning away from mathematics in record numbers. The US is moving in the opposite direction, as the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) de-emphasize the rote memorization of math facts. Unfortunately misinterpretations of the meaning of the word 'fluency' in the CCSS are commonplace and publishers continue to emphasize rote memorization, encouraging the persistence of damaging classroom practices across the United States.

Mathematics facts are important but the memorization of math facts through times table repetition, practice and timed testing is unnecessary and damaging. The English minister's mistake when he was asked 7 x 8 prompted calls for more memorization. This was ironic as his mistake revealed the limitations of memorization without 'number sense'. People with number sense are those who can use numbers flexibly. When asked to solve 7 x 8 someone with number sense may have memorized 56 but they would also be able to work out that 7 x 7 is 49 and then add 7 to make 56, or they may work out ten 7's and subtract two 7's (70-14). They would not have to rely on a distant memory. Math facts, themselves, are a small part of mathematics and they are best learned through the use of numbers in different ways and situations. Unfortunately many classrooms focus on math facts in unproductive ways, giving students the impression that math facts are the essence of mathematics, and, even worse that the fast recall of math facts is what it means to be a strong mathematics student. Both of these ideas are wrong and it is critical that we remove them from classrooms, as they play a large role in the production of math anxious and disaffected students.

It is useful to hold some math facts in memory. I don't stop and think about the answer to 8 plus 4, because I know that math fact. But I learned math facts through using them in different mathematical situations, not by practicing them and being tested on them. I grew up in the progressive era of England, when primary schools focused on the 'whole child' and I was not presented with tables of addition, subtraction or multiplication facts to memorize in school. This has never held me back at any time or place in my life, even though I am a mathematics education professor. That is because I have number sense, something that is much more important for students to learn, and that includes learning of math facts along with deep understanding of numbers and the ways they relate to each other.

Number Sense

In a critical research project researchers studied students as they solved number problems (Gray & Tall, 1994). The students, aged 7 to 13, had been nominated by their teachers as being low, middle or high achieving. The researchers found an important difference between the low and high achieving students - the high achieving students used number sense, the low achieving students did not. The high achievers approached problems such as 19 + 7 by changing the problem into, for example, 20 + 6. No students who had been nominated as low achieving used number sense. When the low achieving students were given subtraction problems such as 21-16 they counted backwards, starting at 21 and counting down, which is extremely difficult to do. The high achieving students used strategies such as changing the numbers into 20 -15 which is much easier to do. The researchers concluded that low achievers are often low achievers not because they know less but because they don't use numbers flexibly - they have been set on the wrong path, often from an early age, of trying to memorize methods instead of interacting with numbers flexibly (Boaler, 2009). This incorrect pathway means that they are often learning a harder mathematics and sadly, they often face a lifetime of mathematics problems.

Number sense is the foundation for all higher-level mathematics (Feikes & Schwingendorf, 2008). When students fail algebra it is often because they don't have number sense. When students work on rich mathematics problems - such as those we provide at the end of this paper - they develop number sense and they also learn and can remember math facts. When students focus on memorizing times tables they often memorize facts without number sense, which means they are very limited in what they can do and are prone to making errors -such as the one that led to nationwide ridicule for the British politician. Lack of number sense has led to more catastrophic errors, such as the Hubble Telescope missing the stars it was intended to photograph in space. The telescope was looking for stars in a certain cluster but failed due to someone making an arithmetic error in the programming of the telescope (LA Times, 1990). Number sense, critically important to students' mathematical development, is inhibited by over-emphasis on the memorization of math facts in classrooms and homes. The more we emphasize memorization to students the less willing they become to think about numbers and their relations and to use and develop number sense (Boaler, 2009).

The Brain and Number Sense

Some students are not as good at memorizing math facts as others. That is something to be celebrated, it is part of the wonderful diversity of life and people. Imagine how dull and unispiring it would be if teachers gave tests of math facts and everyone answered them in the same way and at the same speed as though they were all robots. In a recent brain study scientists examined students' brains as they were taught to memorize math facts. They saw that some students memorized them much more easily than others. This will be no surprise to readers and many of us would probably assume that those who memorized better were higher achieving or "more intelligent" students. But the researchers found that the students who memorized more easily were not higher achieving, they did not have what the researchers described as more "math ability", nor did they have higher IQ scores (Supekar et al, 2013). The only differences the researchers found were in a brain region called the hippocampus, which is the area of the brain that is responsible for memorized facts (Supekar et al, 2013). Some students will be slower when memorizing but they still have exceptional mathematics potential. Math facts are a very small part of mathematics but unfortunately students who don't memorize math facts well often come to believe that they can never be successful with math and turn away from the subject.

Teachers across the US and the UK ask students to memorize multiplication facts, and sometimes addition and subtraction facts too, usually because curriculum standards have specified that students need to be "fluent with numbers". Parish, drawing from Fosnot and Dolk (2001) defines fluency as 'knowing how a number can be composed and decomposed and using that information to be flexible and efficient with solving problems.' (Parish 2014, p 159). Whether or not we believe that fluency requires more than the recall of math facts, research evidence points in one direction: The best way to develop fluency with numbers is to develop number sense and to work with numbers in different ways, not to blindly memorize without number sense.

When teachers emphasize the memorization of facts, and give tests to measure number facts students suffer in two important ways. For about one third of students the onset of timed testing is the beginning of math anxiety (Boaler, 2014). Sian Beilock and her colleagues have studied people's brains through MRI imaging and found that math facts are held in the working memory section of the brain. But when students are stressed, such as when they are taking math questions under time pressure, the working memory becomes blocked and students cannot access math facts they know (Beilock, 2011; Ramirez, et al, 2013). As students realize they cannot perform well on timed tests they start to develop anxiety and their mathematical confidence erodes. The blocking of the working memory and associated anxiety particularly occurs among higher achieving students and girls. Conservative estimates suggest that at least a third of students experience extreme stress around timed tests, and these are not the students who are of a particular achievement group, or economic background. When we put students through this anxiety provoking experience we lose students from mathematics.

Math anxiety has now been recorded in students as young as 5 years old (Ramirez, et al, 2013) and timed tests are a major cause of this debilitating, often life-long condition. But there is a second equally important reason that timed tests should not be used - they prompt many students to turn away from mathematics. In my classes at Stanford University, I experience many math traumatized undergraduates, even though they are among the highest achieving students in the country. When I ask them what has happened to lead to their math aversion many of the students talk about timed tests in second or third grade as a major turning point for them when they decided that math was not for them. Some of the students, especially women, talk about the need to understand deeply, which is a very worthwhile goal, and being made to feel that deep understanding was not valued or offered when timed tests became a part of math class. They may have been doing other more valuable work in their mathematics classes, focusing on sense making and understanding, but timed tests evoke such strong emotions that students can come to believe that being fast with math facts is the essence of mathematics. This is extremely unfortunate. We see the outcome of the misguided school emphasis on memorization and testing in the numbers dropping out of mathematics and the math crisis we currently face (see www.youcubed.org). When my own daughter started times table memorization and testing at age 5 in England she started to come home and cry about maths. This is not the emotion we want students to associate with mathematics and as long as we keep putting students under pressure to recall facts at speed we will not erase the widespread anxiety and dislike of mathematics that pervades the US and UK (Silva & White, 2013; National Numeracy, 2014).

In recent years brain researchers have found that the students who are most successful with number problems are those who are using different brain pathways - one that is numerical and symbolic and the other that involves more intuitive and spatial reasoning (Park & Brannon, 2013). At the end of this paper we give many activities that encourage visual understanding of number facts, to enable important brain connections. Additionally brain researchers have studied students learning math facts in two ways - through strategies or memorization. They found that the two approaches (strategies or memorization) involve two distinct pathways in the brain and that both pathways are perfectly good for life long use. Importantly the study also found that those who learned through strategies achieved 'superior performance' over those who memorized, they solved problems at the same speed, and showed better transfer to new problems. The brain researchers concluded that automaticity should be reached through understanding of numerical relations, achieved through thinking about number strategies (Delazer et al, 2005).

Why is Mathematics Treated Differently?

In order to learn to be a good English student, to read and understand novels, or poetry, students need to have memorized the meanings of many words. But no English student would say or think that learning about English is about the fast memorization and fast recall of words. This is because we learn words by using them in many different situations - talking, reading, and writing. English teachers do not give students hundreds of words to memorize and then test them under timed conditions. All subjects require the memorization of some facts, but mathematics is the only subject in which teachers believe they should be tested under timed conditions. Why do we treat mathematics in this way?

Mathematics already has a huge image problem. Students rarely cry about other subjects, nor do they believe that other subjects are all about memorization or speed. The use of teaching and parenting practices that emphasize the memorization of math facts is a large part of the reason that students disconnect from math. Many people will argue that math is different from other subjects and it just has to be that way - that math is all about getting correct answers, not interpretation or meaning. This is another misconception. The core of mathematics is reasoning - thinking through why methods make sense and talking about reasons for the use of different methods (Boaler, 2013). Math facts are a small part of mathematics and probably the least interesting part at that. Conrad Wolfram, of Wolfram-Alpha, one of the world's leading mathematics companies, speaks publicly about the breadth of mathematics and the need to stop seeing mathematics as calculating. Neither Wolfram nor I are arguing that schools should not teach calculating, but the balance needs to change, and students need to learn calculating through number sense, as well as spend more time on the under-developed but critical parts of mathematics such as problem solving and reasoning.

It is important when teaching students number sense and number facts never to emphasize speed. In fact this is true for all mathematics. There is a common and damaging misconception in mathematics - the idea that strong math students are fast math students. I work with a lot of mathematicians and one thing I notice about them is that they are not particularly fast with numbers, in fact some of them are rather slow. This is not a bad thing, they are slow because they think deeply and carefully about mathematics. Laurent Schwartz, a top mathematician, wrote an autobiography about his school days and how he was made to feel "stupid" because he was one of the slowest math thinkers in his class (Schwartz, 2001). It took him many years of feeling inadequate to come to the conclusion that: 'rapidity doesn't have a precise relation to intelligence. What is important is to deeply understand things and their relations to each other. This is where intelligence lies. The fact of being quick or slow isn't really relevant.' (Schwartz, 2001) Sadly speed and test driven math classrooms lead many students who are slow and deep thinkers, like Schwartz, to believe that they cannot be good at math.

Math 'Fluency' and the Curriculum

In the US the new Common Core curriculum includes 'fluency' as a goal. Fluency comes about when stu- dents develop number sense, when they are mathematically confident because they understand numbers. Unfortunately the word fluency is often misinterpreted. 'Engage New York' is a curriculum that is becom- ing increasingly popular in the US that has incorrectly interpreted fluency in the following ways:

Fluency: Students are expected to have speed and accuracy with simple calculations; teachers structure class time and/or homework time for students to memorize, through repetition, core functions such as multiplication tables so that they are more able to understand and manipulate more complex functions. (Engage New York)

There are many problems with this directive. Speed and memorization are two directions that we urgently need to move away from, not towards. Just as problematically 'Engage New York' links the memorization of number facts to students' understanding of more complex functions, which is not supported by research evidence. What research tells us is that students understand more complex functions when they have num- ber sense and deep understanding of numerical principles, not blind memorization or fast recall (Boaler, 2009). I am currently working with PISA analysts at the OECD. The PISA team not only issues interna- tional mathematics tests every 4 years they collect data on students' mathematical strategies. Their data from 13 million 15-year olds across the world show that the lowest achieving students are those who focus on memorization and who believe that memorizing is important when studying for mathematics (Boaler & Zoido, in press). This idea starts early in classrooms and is one we need to eradicate. The highest achievers in the world are those who focus on big ideas in mathematics, and connections between ideas. Students develop a connected view of mathematics when they work on mathematics conceptually and blind memorization is replaced by sense making.

In the UK directives have similar potential for harm. The new national curriculum states that all students should have 'memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table' by the age of 9 and whilst students can memorize multiplication facts to 12 x 12 through rich engaging activities this directive is leading teachers to give multiplication tables to students to memorize and then be tested on. A leading group in the UK, led by children's author and poet Michael Rosen, has formed to highlight the damage of current policies in schools and the numbers of primary age children who now walk to school crying from the stress they are under, caused by over-testing (Garner, The Independent, 2014). Mathemat- ics is the leading cause of students' anxiety and fear and the unnecessary focus on memorized math facts in the early years is one of the main reasons for this.

Activities to Develop Number Facts and Number Sense

Teachers should help students develop math facts, not by emphasizing facts for the sake of facts or using 'timed tests' but by encouraging students to use, work with and explore numbers. As students work on meaningful number activities they will commit math facts to heart at the same time as understanding numbers and math. They will enjoy and learn important mathematics rather than memorize, dread and fear mathematics.

Number Talks

One of the best methods for teaching number sense and math facts at the same time is a teaching strategy called 'number talks', developed by Ruth Parker and Kathy Richardson. This is an ideal short teaching activity that teachers can start lessons with or parents can do at home. It involves posing an abstract math problem such as 18 x 5 and asking students to solve the problem mentally. The teacher then collects the different methods and looks at why they work. For example a teacher may pose 18 x 5 and find that students solve the problem in these different ways:

Students love to give their different strategies and are usually completely engaged and fascinated by the different methods that emerge. Students learn mental math, they have opportunities to memorize math facts and they also develop conceptual understanding of numbers and of the arithmetic properties that are critical to success in algebra and beyond. Parents can use a similar strategy by asking for their children's methods and discussing the different methods that can be used. Two books, one by Cathy Humphreys and Ruth Parker (in press) and another by Sherry Parish (2014) illustrate many different number talks to work on with secondary and elementary students, respectively.

Research tells us that the best mathematics classrooms are those in which students learn number facts and number sense through engaging activities that focus on mathematical understanding rather than rote memorization. The following five activities have been chosen to illustrate this principle; the appendix to this document provides a greater range of activities and links to other useful resources that will help stu- dents develop number sense.

Addition Fact Activities

Snap It: This is an activity that children can work on in groups. Each child makes a train of connecting cubes of a specified number. On the signal "Snap," children break their trains into two parts and hold one hand behind their back. Children take turns going around the circle showing their re- maining cubes. The other children work out the full number combination. For example, if I have 8 cubes in my number train I could snap it and put 3 behind my back. I would show my group the remaining 5 cubes and they should be able to say that three are missing and that 5 and 3 make 8.

How Many Are Hiding? In this activity each child has the same number of cubes and a cup. They take turns hiding some of their cubes in the cup and showing the leftovers. Other children work out the answer to the question "How many are hiding," and say the full number combination.

Example: I have 10 cubes and I decide to hide 4 in my cup. My group can see that I only have 6 cubes. Stu- dents should be able to say that I'm hiding 4 cubes and that 6 and 4 make 10.

Multiplication Fact Activities

How Close to 100? This game is played in partners. Two children share a blank 100 grid. The first partner rolls two number dice. The numbers that come up are the numbers the child uses to make an array on the 100 grid. They can put the array anywhere on the grid, but the goal is to fill up the grid to get it as full as possible. After the player draws the array on the grid, she writes in the number sentence that describes the grid. The game ends when both players have rolled the dice and cannot put any more arrays on the grid. How close to 100 can you get?

Pepperoni Pizza: In this game, children roll a dice twice. The first roll tells them how many pizzas to draw. The second roll tells them how many pepperonis to put on EACH pizza. Then they write the number sentence that will help them answer the question, "How many pepper- onis in all?"

For example, I roll a dice and get 4 so I draw 4 big pizzas. I roll again and I get 3 so I put three pepperonis on each pizza. Then I write 4 x 3 = 12 and that tells me that there are 12 pepperonis in all.

Math Cards

Many parents use 'flash cards' as a way of encouraging the learning of math facts. These usually include 2 unhelpful practices - memorization without understanding and time pressure. In our Math Cards activity we have used the structure of cards, which children like, but we have moved the emphasis to number sense and the understanding of multiplication. The aim of the activity is to match cards with the same numerical answer, shown through different representations. Lay all the cards down on a table and ask children to take turns picking them; pick as many as they find with the same answer (shown through any representation). For example 9 and 4 can be shown with an area model, sets of objects such as dominoes, and the number sentence. When student match the cards they should explain how they know that the different cards are equivalent. This activity encourages an understanding of multiplication as well as rehearsal of math facts. A full set of cards is given in Appendix A.

Conclusion: Knowledge is Power

The activities given above are illustrations of games and tasks in which students learn math facts at the same time as working on something they enjoy, rather than something they fear. The different activities also focus on the understanding of addition and multiplication, rather than blind memorization and this is critically important. Appendix A presents other suggested activities and references.

As educators we all share the goal of encouraging powerful mathematics learners who think carefully about mathematics as well as use numbers with fluency. But teachers and curriculum writers are often unable to access important research and this has meant that unproductive and counter-productive classroom practices continue. This short paper illustrates both the damage that is caused by the practices that often accompany the teaching of math facts - speed pressure, timed testing and blind memorization - as well as summarizes the research evidence of something very different - number sense. High achieving students use number sense and it is critical that lower achieving students, instead of working on drill and memori- zation, also learn to use numbers flexibly and conceptually. Memorization and timed testing stand in the way of number sense, giving students the impression that sense making is not important. We need to ur- gently reorient our teaching of early number and number sense in our mathematics teaching in the UK and the US. If we do not, then failure and drop out rates - already at record highs in both countries (National Numeracy, 2014; Silva & White, 2013) - will escalate. When we emphasize memorization and testing in the name of fluency we are harming children, we are risking the future of our ever-quantitative society and we are threatening the discipline of mathematics. We have the research knowledge we need to change this and to enable all children to be powerful mathematics learners. Now is the time to use it.

References

Beilock, S. (2011). Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To. New York: Free Press.

Boaler, J. (2015). What's Math Got To Do With It? How Teachers and Parents Can Help Transform Mathematics Learning and Inspire Success. New York: Penguin.

Boaler, J. (2014). Research Suggests Timed Tests Cause Math Anxiety. Teaching Children Mathematics, 20 (8).

Boaler, J. (2013, Nov 12 2013). The Stereotypes That Distort How Americans Teach and Learn Math. The Atlantic.

Boaler, J. & Zoido, P. (in press). The Impact of Mathematics Learning Strategies upon Achievement: A Close Analysis of Pisa Data.

Delazer, M., Ischebeck, A., Domahs, F., Zamarian, L., Koppelstaetter, F., Siedentopf, C.M. Kaufmann; Benke, T., & Felber, S. (2005). Learning by Strategies and Learning by Drill - evidence from an fMRI study. NeuroImage. 839-849

Engage New York. https://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/9375E046-3913-4AF5-9FE3-D21BAE8FEE8D/0/CommonCoreIn- structionalShifts_Mathematics.pdf

Feikes, D. & Schwingendorf, K. (2008). The Importance of Compression in Children's Learning of Mathematics and Teacher's Learning to Teach Mathematics. Mediterranean Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 7 (2).

Fosnot, C, T & Dolk, M (2001). Young Mathematicians at Work: Constructing Multiplication and Division. Heinemann:

Garner, R. (October 3, 2014). The Independent. ( Link to Article )

Gray, E., & Tall, D. (1994). Duality, Ambiguity, and Flexibility: A "Proceptual" View of Simple Arithmetic. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 25(2), 116-140.

Humphreys, Cathy & Parker, Ruth (in press). Making Number Talks Matter: Developing Mathematical Practices and Deepen- ing Understanding, Grades 4-10. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

LA Times (1990) https://articles.latimes.com/1990-05-10/news/mn-1461_1_math-error

Parish, S. (2014). Number Talks: Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computation Strategies, Grades K-5, Updated with Common Core Connections. Math Solutions.

Park, J. & Brannon, E. (2013). Training the Approximate Number System Improves Math Proficiency. Association for Psychological Science, 1-7

Ramirez, G., Gunderson, E., Levine, S., and Beilock, S. (2013). Math Anxiety, Working Memory and Math Achievement in Early Elementary School. Journal of Cognition and Development. 14 (2): 187-202.

Supekar, K.; Swigart, A., Tenison, C., Jolles, D., Rosenberg-Lee, M., Fuchs, L., & Menon, V. (2013). Neural Predictors of Indi- vidual Differences in Response to Math Tutoring in Primary-Grade School Children. PNAS, 110, 20 (8230-8235)

Schwartz, L. (2001). A Mathematician Grappling with His Century. Birkhäuser

Silva, E., & White, T. (2013). Pathways to Improvement: Using Psychological Strategies to help College Students Master Devel- opmental Math: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

National Numeracy (2014). https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/what-the-research-says/index.html

Download PDF
Fluency Without Fear: Research Evidence on the Best Ways to Learn Math Facts

By Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education, co-founder youcubed

With the help of Cathy Williams, co-founder youcubed & Amanda Confer, Stanford University
Updated January 28th, 2015
Introduction

A few years ago a British politician, Stephen Byers, made a harmless error in an interview. The right honorable minister was asked to give the answer to 7 x 8 and he gave the answer of 54, instead of the correct 56. His error prompted widespread ridicule in the national media, accompanied by calls for a stronger emphasis on 'times table' memorization in schools. This past September the Conservative education minister for England, a man with no education experience, insisted that all students in England memorize all their times tables up to 12 x 12 by the age of 9. This requirement has now been placed into the UK's mathematics curriculum and will result, I predict, in rising levels of math anxiety and students turning away from mathematics in record numbers. The US is moving in the opposite direction, as the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) de-emphasize the rote memorization of math facts. Unfortunately misinterpretations of the meaning of the word 'fluency' in the CCSS are commonplace and publishers continue to emphasize rote memorization, encouraging the persistence of damaging classroom practices across the United States.

Mathematics facts are important but the memorization of math facts through times table repetition, practice and timed testing is unnecessary and damaging. The English minister's mistake when he was asked 7 x 8 prompted calls for more memorization. This was ironic as his mistake revealed the limitations of memorization without 'number sense'. People with number sense are those who can use numbers flexibly. When asked to solve 7 x 8 someone with number sense may have memorized 56 but they would also be able to work out that 7 x 7 is 49 and then add 7 to make 56, or they may work out ten 7's and subtract two 7's (70-14). They would not have to rely on a distant memory. Math facts, themselves, are a small part of mathematics and they are best learned through the use of numbers in different ways and situations. Unfortunately many classrooms focus on math facts in unproductive ways, giving students the impression that math facts are the essence of mathematics, and, even worse that the fast recall of math facts is what it means to be a strong mathematics student. Both of these ideas are wrong and it is critical that we remove them from classrooms, as they play a large role in the production of math anxious and disaffected students.

It is useful to hold some math facts in memory. I don't stop and think about the answer to 8 plus 4, because I know that math fact. But I learned math facts through using them in different mathematical situations, not by practicing them and being tested on them. I grew up in the progressive era of England, when primary schools focused on the 'whole child' and I was not presented with tables of addition, subtraction or multiplication facts to memorize in school. This has never held me back at any time or place in my life, even though I am a mathematics education professor. That is because I have number sense, something that is much more important for students to learn, and that includes learning of math facts along with deep understanding of numbers and the ways they relate to each other.

Number Sense

In a critical research project researchers studied students as they solved number problems (Gray & Tall, 1994). The students, aged 7 to 13, had been nominated by their teachers as being low, middle or high achieving. The researchers found an important difference between the low and high achieving students - the high achieving students used number sense, the low achieving students did not. The high achievers approached problems such as 19 + 7 by changing the problem into, for example, 20 + 6. No students who had been nominated as low achieving used number sense. When the low achieving students were given subtraction problems such as 21-16 they counted backwards, starting at 21 and counting down, which is extremely difficult to do. The high achieving students used strategies such as changing the numbers into 20 -15 which is much easier to do. The researchers concluded that low achievers are often low achievers not because they know less but because they don't use numbers flexibly - they have been set on the wrong path, often from an early age, of trying to memorize methods instead of interacting with numbers flexibly (Boaler, 2009). This incorrect pathway means that they are often learning a harder mathematics and sadly, they often face a lifetime of mathematics problems.

Number sense is the foundation for all higher-level mathematics (Feikes & Schwingendorf, 2008). When students fail algebra it is often because they don't have number sense. When students work on rich mathematics problems - such as those we provide at the end of this paper - they develop number sense and they also learn and can remember math facts. When students focus on memorizing times tables they often memorize facts without number sense, which means they are very limited in what they can do and are prone to making errors -such as the one that led to nationwide ridicule for the British politician. Lack of number sense has led to more catastrophic errors, such as the Hubble Telescope missing the stars it was intended to photograph in space. The telescope was looking for stars in a certain cluster but failed due to someone making an arithmetic error in the programming of the telescope (LA Times, 1990). Number sense, critically important to students' mathematical development, is inhibited by over-emphasis on the memorization of math facts in classrooms and homes. The more we emphasize memorization to students the less willing they become to think about numbers and their relations and to use and develop number sense (Boaler, 2009).

The Brain and Number Sense

Some students are not as good at memorizing math facts as others. That is something to be celebrated, it is part of the wonderful diversity of life and people. Imagine how dull and unispiring it would be if teachers gave tests of math facts and everyone answered them in the same way and at the same speed as though they were all robots. In a recent brain study scientists examined students' brains as they were taught to memorize math facts. They saw that some students memorized them much more easily than others. This will be no surprise to readers and many of us would probably assume that those who memorized better were higher achieving or "more intelligent" students. But the researchers found that the students who memorized more easily were not higher achieving, they did not have what the researchers described as more "math ability", nor did they have higher IQ scores (Supekar et al, 2013). The only differences the researchers found were in a brain region called the hippocampus, which is the area of the brain that is responsible for memorized facts (Supekar et al, 2013). Some students will be slower when memorizing but they still have exceptional mathematics potential. Math facts are a very small part of mathematics but unfortunately students who don't memorize math facts well often come to believe that they can never be successful with math and turn away from the subject.

Teachers across the US and the UK ask students to memorize multiplication facts, and sometimes addition and subtraction facts too, usually because curriculum standards have specified that students need to be "fluent with numbers". Parish, drawing from Fosnot and Dolk (2001) defines fluency as 'knowing how a number can be composed and decomposed and using that information to be flexible and efficient with solving problems.' (Parish 2014, p 159). Whether or not we believe that fluency requires more than the recall of math facts, research evidence points in one direction: The best way to develop fluency with numbers is to develop number sense and to work with numbers in different ways, not to blindly memorize without number sense.

When teachers emphasize the memorization of facts, and give tests to measure number facts students suffer in two important ways. For about one third of students the onset of timed testing is the beginning of math anxiety (Boaler, 2014). Sian Beilock and her colleagues have studied people's brains through MRI imaging and found that math facts are held in the working memory section of the brain. But when students are stressed, such as when they are taking math questions under time pressure, the working memory becomes blocked and students cannot access math facts they know (Beilock, 2011; Ramirez, et al, 2013). As students realize they cannot perform well on timed tests they start to develop anxiety and their mathematical confidence erodes. The blocking of the working memory and associated anxiety particularly occurs among higher achieving students and girls. Conservative estimates suggest that at least a third of students experience extreme stress around timed tests, and these are not the students who are of a particular achievement group, or economic background. When we put students through this anxiety provoking experience we lose students from mathematics.

Math anxiety has now been recorded in students as young as 5 years old (Ramirez, et al, 2013) and timed tests are a major cause of this debilitating, often life-long condition. But there is a second equally important reason that timed tests should not be used - they prompt many students to turn away from mathematics. In my classes at Stanford University, I experience many math traumatized undergraduates, even though they are among the highest achieving students in the country. When I ask them what has happened to lead to their math aversion many of the students talk about timed tests in second or third grade as a major turning point for them when they decided that math was not for them. Some of the students, especially women, talk about the need to understand deeply, which is a very worthwhile goal, and being made to feel that deep understanding was not valued or offered when timed tests became a part of math class. They may have been doing other more valuable work in their mathematics classes, focusing on sense making and understanding, but timed tests evoke such strong emotions that students can come to believe that being fast with math facts is the essence of mathematics. This is extremely unfortunate. We see the outcome of the misguided school emphasis on memorization and testing in the numbers dropping out of mathematics and the math crisis we currently face (see www.youcubed.org). When my own daughter started times table memorization and testing at age 5 in England she started to come home and cry about maths. This is not the emotion we want students to associate with mathematics and as long as we keep putting students under pressure to recall facts at speed we will not erase the widespread anxiety and dislike of mathematics that pervades the US and UK (Silva & White, 2013; National Numeracy, 2014).

In recent years brain researchers have found that the students who are most successful with number problems are those who are using different brain pathways - one that is numerical and symbolic and the other that involves more intuitive and spatial reasoning (Park & Brannon, 2013). At the end of this paper we give many activities that encourage visual understanding of number facts, to enable important brain connections. Additionally brain researchers have studied students learning math facts in two ways - through strategies or memorization. They found that the two approaches (strategies or memorization) involve two distinct pathways in the brain and that both pathways are perfectly good for life long use. Importantly the study also found that those who learned through strategies achieved 'superior performance' over those who memorized, they solved problems at the same speed, and showed better transfer to new problems. The brain researchers concluded that automaticity should be reached through understanding of numerical relations, achieved through thinking about number strategies (Delazer et al, 2005).

Why is Mathematics Treated Differently?

In order to learn to be a good English student, to read and understand novels, or poetry, students need to have memorized the meanings of many words. But no English student would say or think that learning about English is about the fast memorization and fast recall of words. This is because we learn words by using them in many different situations - talking, reading, and writing. English teachers do not give students hundreds of words to memorize and then test them under timed conditions. All subjects require the memorization of some facts, but mathematics is the only subject in which teachers believe they should be tested under timed conditions. Why do we treat mathematics in this way?

Mathematics already has a huge image problem. Students rarely cry about other subjects, nor do they believe that other subjects are all about memorization or speed. The use of teaching and parenting practices that emphasize the memorization of math facts is a large part of the reason that students disconnect from math. Many people will argue that math is different from other subjects and it just has to be that way - that math is all about getting correct answers, not interpretation or meaning. This is another misconception. The core of mathematics is reasoning - thinking through why methods make sense and talking about reasons for the use of different methods (Boaler, 2013). Math facts are a small part of mathematics and probably the least interesting part at that. Conrad Wolfram, of Wolfram-Alpha, one of the world's leading mathematics companies, speaks publicly about the breadth of mathematics and the need to stop seeing mathematics as calculating. Neither Wolfram nor I are arguing that schools should not teach calculating, but the balance needs to change, and students need to learn calculating through number sense, as well as spend more time on the under-developed but critical parts of mathematics such as problem solving and reasoning.

It is important when teaching students number sense and number facts never to emphasize speed. In fact this is true for all mathematics. There is a common and damaging misconception in mathematics - the idea that strong math students are fast math students. I work with a lot of mathematicians and one thing I notice about them is that they are not particularly fast with numbers, in fact some of them are rather slow. This is not a bad thing, they are slow because they think deeply and carefully about mathematics. Laurent Schwartz, a top mathematician, wrote an autobiography about his school days and how he was made to feel "stupid" because he was one of the slowest math thinkers in his class (Schwartz, 2001). It took him many years of feeling inadequate to come to the conclusion that: 'rapidity doesn't have a precise relation to intelligence. What is important is to deeply understand things and their relations to each other. This is where intelligence lies. The fact of being quick or slow isn't really relevant.' (Schwartz, 2001) Sadly speed and test driven math classrooms lead many students who are slow and deep thinkers, like Schwartz, to believe that they cannot be good at math.

Math 'Fluency' and the Curriculum

In the US the new Common Core curriculum includes 'fluency' as a goal. Fluency comes about when stu- dents develop number sense, when they are mathematically confident because they understand numbers. Unfortunately the word fluency is often misinterpreted. 'Engage New York' is a curriculum that is becom- ing increasingly popular in the US that has incorrectly interpreted fluency in the following ways:

Fluency: Students are expected to have speed and accuracy with simple calculations; teachers structure class time and/or homework time for students to memorize, through repetition, core functions such as multiplication tables so that they are more able to understand and manipulate more complex functions. (Engage New York)

There are many problems with this directive. Speed and memorization are two directions that we urgently need to move away from, not towards. Just as problematically 'Engage New York' links the memorization of number facts to students' understanding of more complex functions, which is not supported by research evidence. What research tells us is that students understand more complex functions when they have num- ber sense and deep understanding of numerical principles, not blind memorization or fast recall (Boaler, 2009). I am currently working with PISA analysts at the OECD. The PISA team not only issues interna- tional mathematics tests every 4 years they collect data on students' mathematical strategies. Their data from 13 million 15-year olds across the world show that the lowest achieving students are those who focus on memorization and who believe that memorizing is important when studying for mathematics (Boaler & Zoido, in press). This idea starts early in classrooms and is one we need to eradicate. The highest achievers in the world are those who focus on big ideas in mathematics, and connections between ideas. Students develop a connected view of mathematics when they work on mathematics conceptually and blind memorization is replaced by sense making.

In the UK directives have similar potential for harm. The new national curriculum states that all students should have 'memorised their multiplication tables up to and including the 12 multiplication table' by the age of 9 and whilst students can memorize multiplication facts to 12 x 12 through rich engaging activities this directive is leading teachers to give multiplication tables to students to memorize and then be tested on. A leading group in the UK, led by children's author and poet Michael Rosen, has formed to highlight the damage of current policies in schools and the numbers of primary age children who now walk to school crying from the stress they are under, caused by over-testing (Garner, The Independent, 2014). Mathemat- ics is the leading cause of students' anxiety and fear and the unnecessary focus on memorized math facts in the early years is one of the main reasons for this.

Activities to Develop Number Facts and Number Sense

Teachers should help students develop math facts, not by emphasizing facts for the sake of facts or using 'timed tests' but by encouraging students to use, work with and explore numbers. As students work on meaningful number activities they will commit math facts to heart at the same time as understanding numbers and math. They will enjoy and learn important mathematics rather than memorize, dread and fear mathematics.

Number Talks

One of the best methods for teaching number sense and math facts at the same time is a teaching strategy called 'number talks', developed by Ruth Parker and Kathy Richardson. This is an ideal short teaching activity that teachers can start lessons with or parents can do at home. It involves posing an abstract math problem such as 18 x 5 and asking students to solve the problem mentally. The teacher then collects the different methods and looks at why they work. For example a teacher may pose 18 x 5 and find that students solve the problem in these different ways:

Students love to give their different strategies and are usually completely engaged and fascinated by the different methods that emerge. Students learn mental math, they have opportunities to memorize math facts and they also develop conceptual understanding of numbers and of the arithmetic properties that are critical to success in algebra and beyond. Parents can use a similar strategy by asking for their children's methods and discussing the different methods that can be used. Two books, one by Cathy Humphreys and Ruth Parker (in press) and another by Sherry Parish (2014) illustrate many different number talks to work on with secondary and elementary students, respectively.

Research tells us that the best mathematics classrooms are those in which students learn number facts and number sense through engaging activities that focus on mathematical understanding rather than rote memorization. The following five activities have been chosen to illustrate this principle; the appendix to this document provides a greater range of activities and links to other useful resources that will help stu- dents develop number sense.

Addition Fact Activities

Snap It: This is an activity that children can work on in groups. Each child makes a train of connecting cubes of a specified number. On the signal "Snap," children break their trains into two parts and hold one hand behind their back. Children take turns going around the circle showing their re- maining cubes. The other children work out the full number combination. For example, if I have 8 cubes in my number train I could snap it and put 3 behind my back. I would show my group the remaining 5 cubes and they should be able to say that three are missing and that 5 and 3 make 8.

How Many Are Hiding? In this activity each child has the same number of cubes and a cup. They take turns hiding some of their cubes in the cup and showing the leftovers. Other children work out the answer to the question "How many are hiding," and say the full number combination.

Example: I have 10 cubes and I decide to hide 4 in my cup. My group can see that I only have 6 cubes. Stu- dents should be able to say that I'm hiding 4 cubes and that 6 and 4 make 10.

Multiplication Fact Activities

How Close to 100? This game is played in partners. Two children share a blank 100 grid. The first partner rolls two number dice. The numbers that come up are the numbers the child uses to make an array on the 100 grid. They can put the array anywhere on the grid, but the goal is to fill up the grid to get it as full as possible. After the player draws the array on the grid, she writes in the number sentence that describes the grid. The game ends when both players have rolled the dice and cannot put any more arrays on the grid. How close to 100 can you get?

Pepperoni Pizza: In this game, children roll a dice twice. The first roll tells them how many pizzas to draw. The second roll tells them how many pepperonis to put on EACH pizza. Then they write the number sentence that will help them answer the question, "How many pepper- onis in all?"

For example, I roll a dice and get 4 so I draw 4 big pizzas. I roll again and I get 3 so I put three pepperonis on each pizza. Then I write 4 x 3 = 12 and that tells me that there are 12 pepperonis in all.

Math Cards

Many parents use 'flash cards' as a way of encouraging the learning of math facts. These usually include 2 unhelpful practices - memorization without understanding and time pressure. In our Math Cards activity we have used the structure of cards, which children like, but we have moved the emphasis to number sense and the understanding of multiplication. The aim of the activity is to match cards with the same numerical answer, shown through different representations. Lay all the cards down on a table and ask children to take turns picking them; pick as many as they find with the same answer (shown through any representation). For example 9 and 4 can be shown with an area model, sets of objects such as dominoes, and the number sentence. When student match the cards they should explain how they know that the different cards are equivalent. This activity encourages an understanding of multiplication as well as rehearsal of math facts. A full set of cards is given in Appendix A.

Conclusion: Knowledge is Power

The activities given above are illustrations of games and tasks in which students learn math facts at the same time as working on something they enjoy, rather than something they fear. The different activities also focus on the understanding of addition and multiplication, rather than blind memorization and this is critically important. Appendix A presents other suggested activities and references.

As educators we all share the goal of encouraging powerful mathematics learners who think carefully about mathematics as well as use numbers with fluency. But teachers and curriculum writers are often unable to access important research and this has meant that unproductive and counter-productive classroom practices continue. This short paper illustrates both the damage that is caused by the practices that often accompany the teaching of math facts - speed pressure, timed testing and blind memorization - as well as summarizes the research evidence of something very different - number sense. High achieving students use number sense and it is critical that lower achieving students, instead of working on drill and memori- zation, also learn to use numbers flexibly and conceptually. Memorization and timed testing stand in the way of number sense, giving students the impression that sense making is not important. We need to ur- gently reorient our teaching of early number and number sense in our mathematics teaching in the UK and the US. If we do not, then failure and drop out rates - already at record highs in both countries (National Numeracy, 2014; Silva & White, 2013) - will escalate. When we emphasize memorization and testing in the name of fluency we are harming children, we are risking the future of our ever-quantitative society and we are threatening the discipline of mathematics. We have the research knowledge we need to change this and to enable all children to be powerful mathematics learners. Now is the time to use it.

References

Beilock, S. (2011). Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To. New York: Free Press.

Boaler, J. (2015). What's Math Got To Do With It? How Teachers and Parents Can Help Transform Mathematics Learning and Inspire Success. New York: Penguin.

Boaler, J. (2014). Research Suggests Timed Tests Cause Math Anxiety. Teaching Children Mathematics, 20 (8).

Boaler, J. (2013, Nov 12 2013). The Stereotypes That Distort How Americans Teach and Learn Math. The Atlantic.

Boaler, J. & Zoido, P. (in press). The Impact of Mathematics Learning Strategies upon Achievement: A Close Analysis of Pisa Data.

Delazer, M., Ischebeck, A., Domahs, F., Zamarian, L., Koppelstaetter, F., Siedentopf, C.M. Kaufmann; Benke, T., & Felber, S. (2005). Learning by Strategies and Learning by Drill - evidence from an fMRI study. NeuroImage. 839-849

Engage New York. https://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/9375E046-3913-4AF5-9FE3-D21BAE8FEE8D/0/CommonCoreIn- structionalShifts_Mathematics.pdf

Feikes, D. & Schwingendorf, K. (2008). The Importance of Compression in Children's Learning of Mathematics and Teacher's Learning to Teach Mathematics. Mediterranean Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 7 (2).

Fosnot, C, T & Dolk, M (2001). Young Mathematicians at Work: Constructing Multiplication and Division. Heinemann:

Garner, R. (October 3, 2014). The Independent. ( Link to Article )

Gray, E., & Tall, D. (1994). Duality, Ambiguity, and Flexibility: A "Proceptual" View of Simple Arithmetic. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 25(2), 116-140.

Humphreys, Cathy & Parker, Ruth (in press). Making Number Talks Matter: Developing Mathematical Practices and Deepen- ing Understanding, Grades 4-10. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.

LA Times (1990) https://articles.latimes.com/1990-05-10/news/mn-1461_1_math-error

Parish, S. (2014). Number Talks: Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computation Strategies, Grades K-5, Updated with Common Core Connections. Math Solutions.

Park, J. & Brannon, E. (2013). Training the Approximate Number System Improves Math Proficiency. Association for Psychological Science, 1-7

Ramirez, G., Gunderson, E., Levine, S., and Beilock, S. (2013). Math Anxiety, Working Memory and Math Achievement in Early Elementary School. Journal of Cognition and Development. 14 (2): 187-202.

Supekar, K.; Swigart, A., Tenison, C., Jolles, D., Rosenberg-Lee, M., Fuchs, L., & Menon, V. (2013). Neural Predictors of Indi- vidual Differences in Response to Math Tutoring in Primary-Grade School Children. PNAS, 110, 20 (8230-8235)

Schwartz, L. (2001). A Mathematician Grappling with His Century. Birkhäuser

Silva, E., & White, T. (2013). Pathways to Improvement: Using Psychological Strategies to help College Students Master Devel- opmental Math: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

National Numeracy (2014). https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/what-the-research-says/index.html

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Download PDF Fluency Without Fear: Research Evidence on the Best Ways to Learn Math Facts By Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education, co-founder youcubed With the help of Cathy Williams, co-founder youcubed & Amanda Confer, Stanford University Updated January 28th, 2015 Introduction A few years ago a British politician, Stephen Byers, made a harmless error [...]

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.amazon.com/Make-Happen-Professional-Strategies-Instructional/dp/194760421X

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ensure every educator is engaged in the right work with a collective focus on improved student learning. Aligned to the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) at Work® model, this resource includes instructional coaching tools, processes, protocols, templates, tips, and strategies designed to support the multidimensional work of instructional coaches and PLC training. Each chapter includes action steps and reflective coaching activities, as well as suggestions for navigating some of the most common issues instructional coaches face.

Use this book to understand the unique requirements of instructional coaches in building a school that answers the four critical questions of a PLC at Work:

Learn how to provide PLC training and professional development for collaborative teacher teams.

Study three major variables that will affect instructional coaching (capacity, culture, and context) and four major actions that will act as guiding principles.

Explore issues that can arise in PLC schools, as well as teacher coaching strategies to help resolve these issues.

Deepen your understanding of instructional coaching in a PLC with helpful online reproducibles and teacher coaching tools.

Acquire capacity-building strategies aligned to the four PLC questions.

Contents:
Introduction
Chapter 1: How to Get Started as an Instructional Coach
Chapter 2: What Do We Want Students to Know and Be Able to Do?
Chapter 3: How Will We Know if They Have Learned It?
Chapter 4: How Will We Respond When Some Students Do Not Learn?
Chapter 5: How Will We Extend the Learning of Students Who Are Already Proficient?
Epilogue: Maintaining the Momentum and Sustaining the Process
References and Resources
Index

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Make It Happen: Coaching With the Four Critical Questions of PLCs at Work® (Professional Learning Community Strategies for Instructional Coaches)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Make It Happen: Coaching With the Four Critical Questions of PLCs at Work® (Professional Learning Community Strategies for Instructional Coaches) [Kim Bailey, Chris Jakicic] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Anti-racist mathematics is primarily concerned with the way in which mathematics is taught, although it also examines the contents of the curriculum to a lesser degree.
An anti-racist approach to mathematics education could include any or all of the following:
Discussion of the mathematical knowledge of ancient civilizations outside of Europe, and non-European contributions to mathematical knowledge and discovery.

The avoidance of racial stereotyping when forming and communicating expectations of pupils' attainments in mathematics.

The avoidance of racial stereotypes or cultural bias in classroom materials, textbooks, coursework topics and examination questions.

Proponents of anti-racist mathematics believe that anti-racist education programs have the potential to correct imbalances and to have beneficial results on test scores and examination results in some minority groups.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Anti-racist mathematics is primarily concerned with the way in which mathematics is taught, although it also examines the contents of the curriculum to a lesser degree. An anti-racist approach to mathematics education could include any or all of the following: Discussion of the mathematical knowledge of ancient civilizations outside of Europe, and non-European contributions to mathematical knowledge and discovery.

# data[].attributes.body
Belief in Learning Styles Myth May Be Detrimental

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
WASHINGTON - Many people, including educators, believe learning styles are set at birth and predict both academic and career success even though there is no scientific evidence to support this common myth, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

In two online experiments with 668 participants, more than 90 percent of them believed people learn better if they are taught in their predominant learning style, whether that is visual, auditory or tactile. But those who believed in learning styles split evenly into an "essentialist" group, with more strongly held beliefs, and a "nonessentialist" group, with more flexible beliefs about learning styles, said lead researcher Shaylene Nancekivell, PhD, a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan.

"We found that some people are more likely to believe that students inherit their learning style from their parents and that learning styles affect brain function," she said. "We also found that educators who work with younger children are more likely to hold this essentialist view. Many parents and educators may be wasting time and money on products, services and teaching methods that are geared toward learning styles."

In their responses to survey questions, the essentialist group members were more likely to state that learning styles are heritable, instantiated in the brain, don't change with age, mark distinct kinds of people, and predict both academic and career success. The nonessentialist group held looser beliefs about learning styles, viewing them as malleable, overlapping and more determined by environmental factors. The research was published online in the Journal of Educational Psychology.

Psychological essentialism is the belief that certain categories of people have a true nature that is biologically based and highly predictive of many factors in their lives. People with essentialist opinions about learning styles may be more resistant to changing their strongly held views even when they learn that numerous studies have debunked the concept of learning styles, Nancekivell said.

Previous research has shown that the learning styles model can undermine education in many ways. Educators spend time and money tailoring lessons to certain learning styles for different students even though all students would benefit from learning through various methods. Students study in ways that match their perceived learning style even though it won't help them succeed. Some teacher certification programs incorporate learning styles into their courses, which perpetuates the myth for the next generation of teachers. Academic support centers and a plethora of products also are focused on learning styles, despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting them.

The first experiment included participants from the general U.S. workforce, including educators. The second experiment was weighted so that at least half of the participants were educators to provide a better understanding of their views. The small percentage of participants who didn't believe in learning styles weren't included in the analysis because the study was examining differing beliefs about learning styles. Demographic factors such as race, gender, parental status and income level didn't affect people's views on learning styles in the study, but educators of young children were more likely to have essentialist beliefs.

"My biggest concern is that time is being spent teaching young children maladaptive strategies for learning," Nancekivell said. "It is important that children from a very young age are taught with the best practices so they will succeed."

Previous surveys in the United States and other industrialized countries across the world have shown that 80% to 95% of people believe in learning styles. It's difficult to say how that myth became so widespread, Nancekivell said.

"It seems likely that the appeal of the learning styles myth rests in its fit with the way people like to think about behavior," she said. "People prefer brain-based accounts of behavior, and they like to categorize people into types. Learning styles allow people to do both of those things."

Article: "Maybe They're Born With It, or Maybe It's Experience: Toward a Deeper Understanding of the Learning Style Myth," by Shaylene Nancekivell, PhD, Priti Shah, PhD, and Susan A. Gelman, PhD, University of Michigan; Journal of Educational Psychology, published online May 30, 2019.

Shaylene Nancekivell may be contacted by email.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Belief in learning styles myth may be detrimental

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many people, including educators, believe learning styles are set at birth and predict both academic and career success even though there is no scientific evidence to support this common myth.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
NCTM Position Statements - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
NCTM positions on math education issues and suggested courses of action.

# data[].attributes.headline
Definitive Guide for Instructional Coaching

# data[].attributes.subject
Definitive Guide for Instructional Coaching

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Guide-Instructional-Coaching-Factors-ebook/dp/B09KMBMTDV/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=jim+knight&qid=1635638564&qsid=141-1034553-7944105&s=books&sr=1-3&sres=141663066X%2C1506306861%2C1412981778%2C1416630848%2C1506307450%2C1412927242%2C0578578204%2C1483344126%2C1412994306%2C1774580667%2C1544308752%2C1506338836%2C1412969255%2C045146155X%2CB08C9C5DCK%2C1506338917&srpt=ABIS_BOOK

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Even under ideal conditions, teaching is tough work. Facing unrelenting pressure from administrators and parents and caught in a race against time to improve student outcomes, educators can easily become discouraged (or worse, burn out completely) without a robust coaching system in place to support them.

For more than 20 years, perfecting such a system has been the paramount objective of best-selling author and coaching guru Jim Knight and his team of researchers at the Instructional Coaching Group (ICG). In The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching, Knight offers a blueprint for establishing, administering, and assessing an instructional coaching program laser-focused on every educator's ultimate goal: the academic success of students.

Organized around ICG's seven "Success Factors" for great instructional coaching, this book offers

* An in-depth guide to the Impact Cycle, ICG's research-based and field-tested model for coaching teachers through issues that matter most to them;
* Detailed guidance on how to create a "playbook" of instructional strategies to share with collaborating teachers-and how to model those strategies under different conditions;
* Practical advice on preparing for and engaging in substantive, reflective, and teacher-centered coaching conversations;
* Best practices for gathering, analyzing, and responding to data for improved teaching and learning; and
* Real-life anecdotes and testimonies from educators and coaches who have reaped the benefits of the Impact Cycle in a diverse array of schools.

In addition, each chapter of the book contains a learning map to help orient you and a list of valuable additional resources to complement the text. Whether you're new to coaching or well versed in the practice, The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching will no doubt prove a cornerstone of your coaching library for years to come.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching: Seven Factors for Success

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Buy The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching: Seven Factors for Success: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

# data[].attributes.body
Click on your grade level to view instructional videos that unpack specific CCSS standards.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.amazon.com/Differentiated-Coaching-Framework-Helping-Educators/dp/1506327753/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=differentiated+coaching&qid=1635638074&qsid=141-1034553-7944105&s=books&sr=1-3&sres=1506327753%2C1412916437%2C1416606238%2C1118206533%2C0807750255%2C1138649341%2C1951075439%2C0807766879%2C1412999340%2C1462507700%2C111947745X%2C0807765937%2C089106382X%2C0807759651%2C1138775134%2CB08G7PYVZR&srpt=ABIS_BOOK

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Jane Kise takes you on a journey into differentiated coaching with a strength-based framework for understanding, appreciating, and working with people who may think differently from you. Through an online self-assessment tool, you will discover how your strengths and beliefs influence your coaching practice. Through examples, case studies, and reflection exercises, you will understand how to:

Tailor your coaching practices to meet the needs of each educator

Increase teacher willingness to implement new skills in their classrooms

Anticipate patterns of resistance and adjust both the content and delivery of professional development

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Differentiated Coaching: A Framework for Helping Educators Change

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amazon.com: Differentiated Coaching: A Framework for Helping Educators Change: 9781506327754: Kise, Jane A. G.: Books

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/Taking-Action--Implementing-Effective-Mathematics-Teaching-Practices-in-K-Grade-5/

# data[].attributes.body
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b3dsdNWzKmrExghxGJpZstG2X2ZkIZ7kt3cmyOrzwFE/edit

# data[].attributes.body
https://learn.sibme.com/courses/instructional-coaching-and-video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Every educator deserves a coach. This course explores models of instructional coaching and how video can enhance and even transform these instructional coaching models and empower those being coached.

# data[].attributes.headline
Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Mathematics

# data[].attributes.subject
Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Mathematics

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/Strengths-Based-Teaching-and-Learning-in-Mathematics--5-Teaching-Turnarounds-for-Grades-K-6/

# data[].attributes.headline
Advice for Helping Teachers Move from Talk to Action

# data[].attributes.subject
Advice for Helping Teachers Move from Talk to Action

# data[].attributes.body
https://blog.sibme.com/blog/instructional-coaching/jim-knights-advice-for-helping-teachers-move-from-talk-to-action/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the February 2021 issue of Educational Leadership , Jim Knight wrote about the importance of moving from talk to action when trying to help teachers change their behavior and adopt new practices. Knight bases this framework on the book Changing for Good , and adds his own brand of insight on how to use this information to help understand a teacher's mindset when they are trying to implement new practices. "Knowing the stages teachers tend to go through as they implement a new approach," Knight writes, "makes it easier to support them."

The 5 stages of implementation

The details for these five stages are available in the ASCD article , but they're summarized below. Keep reading after the review of the five stages for three things you can do to assess teachers for their current stage and help them move towards being Proficient.

Non-Use

This stage could be called "the starting line." At this point, teachers have not begun to implement a new strategy or practice, either because they do not want to use it or because they are unaware. People can also be stuck in the non-use stage because of emotional factors, which Jim outlines in his work on The Zero Learning Zone .

Awareness

At this stage, people are aware of the new practice they want to implement, and are not resistant to implementation, but do not have all the requisite knowledge they need to successfully implement it.

Mechanical

When people are in the mechanical phase of implementation, they understand the new practice and can begin to perform some of the actions, but the performance feels awkward and effortful. Mechanical implementation requires thought to be successful.

Routine

Routine implementation is the stage at which people begin to perform a new task or practice without having to think about individual steps or actions. At this stage, people can start to implement the practice automatically and with less effort than in previous stages.

Proficient

When people are proficient with new knowledge or skills, they are able to implement them with adaptability. An example of this would be a teacher who has developed such facility with a new lesson that they can deliver the lesson plan as originally intended, but also come up with new strategies to adapt components of the lesson to meet students needs.

Three things to do to assess a teacher's implementation stage

Jim Knight's impact cycle is a great way to frame coaching relationships that work through his defined stages of implementation. The first stage of this cycle is to identify the current reality for teachers. Often coaches gloss over the identify stage, preventing a true understanding of which stage of implementation a teacher is in. With that in mind, here are three strategies you can use to get a clear picture of reality.

Listen

Often there is a disconnect between our perception of our abilities and reality. That's why it's important to make sure you've taken time to listen to a teacher's perception of their current reality before making any assessment of their stage of implementation. Of course, assessing someone's perception of themselves requires a certain level of trust and vulnerability. This might be accomplished through conversation, but only when a strong relationship already exists. A good way to fast track this is to ask the teacher to provide some kind of artifact from their implementation of a new skill and then have them describe their metacognition while showing this artifact. The strategy of Narration from the Harvard Best Foot Forward Project works very well to accomplish this. The important thing here is to make sure that you listen for understanding of the new practice, not for value judgements. So discourage statements like, "I did well" or "I need to improve this." Rather, probe deeper for details that uncover understanding of the knowledge or skill being implemented in observable terms. If the teacher cannot concretely describe what they're doing, they might still be in the non-use stage or awareness stage when they think they are in later stages.

Watch

Jim Knight has been a strong advocate for using video as a piece of data to help assess the current reality. However, not all video is created equal. In fact, helping a teacher decide what to record on video can be a valuable tool for assessing what stage of implementation they are in. This Recording With Purpose guide, available for free in the Sibme Learning Center, can help facilitate a planning conversation to decide what to watch before you begin watching video of implementation. Someone who has developed a mechanical understanding of a certain practice might be able to easily record and break down a video of the practice, but will not be able to easily identify the particular areas where they need to zoom in to develop greater proficiency. The more specific someone can be in describing what they need to record, the further along they are in the implementation stages.

Download the Sibme Missions deck for more strategies for recording and reflecting on video.

Plan

For many people, the most difficult part of implementation is not understanding where they currently are in the 5 stages, but rather seeing a clear path to move to the next stage. In Jim Knight's article, he discusses how perfectionism often gets in the way of progress because of our fear of mistakes or lack of complete understanding.

This is where a thoughtful coach can begin to take a more instructive approach to the implementation process. By helping to break down the steps in between, and setting goals that are small and achievable , coaches can help teachers move from their current reality to the very next step in their journey. The goal should never be to move from the Unaware stage directly to the Proficient stage. Instead, think of the 5 stages of implementation as a continuum, with the goal of moving from one stage to the next sequentially.

Talking doesn't work

Jim Knight's closing thoughts on moving from talk to action provide a valuable lesson on how to move through the 5 stages of implementation.
"Talking about change can feel like something is actually happening, even though, as the Chinese proverb says, "Talk doesn't cook rice." But the only way professional development can have a positive effect on students' learning and well-being is if that new knowledge is translated into action."
Knowledge of these stages is only the beginning of helping coach someone towards implementation of a new skill. As most athletes and performers know, the best way to do something is to do it . This is why these strategies for assessing a teacher's implementation stage are all based on action and reflection, not just conversation. So don't just sit down for a conversation if you want to begin implementation. Start by following the advice of the famous Bonnie Raitt song:

"Let's give 'em something to talk about."

Actions, after all, speak much louder than words.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jim Knight's advice for helping teachers move from talk to action|Sibme

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the February 2021 issue of Educational Leadership , Jim Knight wrote about the importance of moving from talk to action when trying to help teachers change their behavior and adopt new practices.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The overwhelming majority of teachers in this country want to help young people reach their full potential. Making that kind of difference is rewarding. And yet most teachers struggle to find joy.

A 2017 survey focused on educators' quality of work life revealed that 61 percent of teachers found that their jobs were always or often stressful, and 58 percent cited poor mental health as a result of job-related stress. Teacher burnout is a significant problem, and research concerned with teacher wellness tells us that educators are also experiencing secondary traumatic stress, as they take on the wounds their students bring to the classroom every day as a result of poverty, abuse, toxic masculinity, immigration struggles, racism, family mental illness, transphobia, and homophobia.

To add more to teachers' already full plates, progressive school districts striving to be more equitable are asking teachers to understand how racism functions in their classrooms and to fight for social justice inside and outside school walls. It may sound counterproductive to ask educators to do this work when they have so many issues to tackle every day, but many of their students' traumas are a direct result of oppressive systems and ideologies. Simply stated, teachers' work lives will not improve until educators enter the fight for equity. Smaller class sizes or professional learning communities will help. For the long term, however, the most important step is active anti-racism.

Teachers need more professional development for understanding inequality in order to confront it. But teachers of all backgrounds also need healing because they are trying to fight the biggest problems in this country one student at a time, with little to no emotional support. Yes, educators who are people of color feel the ever-present pain, weight, and torment of racism and need therapy, too, but White teachers have a different task: Many must first win the fight regarding racism within themselves.

When I travel around the country talking to White teachers about educational justice and anti-racism, I am met with tears by many White educators who understand how racism preys on the bodies, minds, and communities of all their students, but especially their students of color. They know they need to do more, but the question is what does more look like? The "more" is anti-racist therapy and healing moving toward anti-racist actions.

White teachers need a particular type of therapy. They must learn how to deal with what Cheryl E. Matias calls "White emotionalities" and what Robin DiAngelo has termed "White fragility." Emotions of guilt, shame, anger, denial, sadness, dissonance, and discomfort boil up when issues of race and racism challenge their sense of self. Too often, we think the work of fighting oppression is just intellectual. The real work is personal, emotional, spiritual, and communal.

The shift to anti-racism does not happen overnight or after one professional development session: It happens through a process of self-discovery, healing, and learning to reject and call out racist ideas, people, and structures. Anti-racist teaching is not a teaching approach or method, it is a way of life.

In her new book, The Racial Healing Handbook, Anneliese A. Singh writes: "Healing means you begin to unlearn the stereotyped racial messages you internalized about your own race and the race of others. It means you as an individual learn to recognize the wounds that racism creates in you, whether you are White or a person of color."

Thus, we need therapists who specialize in the healing of teachers and the undoing of Whiteness in education. We need school therapists and counselors who are trained to help White educators and students process their emotions and their fragility. With healing, teachers will better manage their stress, improve their interactions with students, and be able to continue fighting for justice. Teachers should be offered this type of therapy free of charge.

As I am writing this, I understand education and mental-health systems often lack the resources to offer teachers anti-racism therapy at schools. Still, there are things we can do. Individuals can seek their own therapy provided by professionals who specialize in anti-racism. Teachers can listen to anti-racism podcasts. Another approach is to form racial affinity or book-study groups focused on healing from racism. (See below for resources.) Teachers can become part of anti-racist social movements such as Black Lives Matter at School, United We Dream fighting for justice for immigrants, or Land Rights Now promoting the land rights of indigenous people.

I have also found the work of Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, a professor at Teachers College, helpful. In a process she calls "Healing Through the Archaeology of Self," Sealey-Ruiz asks teachers to dig, reflect, and discover their identities in relationship to their students, systems of oppression, and how teachers can be interrupters of the status quo.

The work of anti-racism cannot wait. For ourselves as educators, our families, and our students, we must heal.

Related Video
In 2016, Bettina L. Love, the author of this essay, spoke to Education Week about African-American girls and discipline. Here's what she had to say:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
White Teachers Need Anti-Racist Therapy (Opinion)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The overwhelming majority of teachers in this country want to help young people reach their full potential. Making that kind of difference is rewarding. And yet most teachers struggle to find joy.

# data[].attributes.body
https://learn.sibme.com/courses/self-reflection

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This course provided much more in terms of information and support than I expected. The theoretical background on self-reflection gave me a new viewpoint tha...

This course provided much more in terms of information and support than I expected. The theoretical background on self-reflection gave me a new viewpoint that will expand my thinking about the topic. In addition, the course provided many resources to support both planning and reflection. I was particularly happy to see the checklists and rubrics from Jim Knight. These materials will help me become more effective in my use of video for self-reflection and in my support of teachers as they begin to take part in the process.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
self reflection
self reflection and video
sibme courses
sibmeapp
professional learning
professional development
video collaboration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Self-Reflection and Video | Sibme Learning Center

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This course provided much more in terms of information and support than I expected. The theoretical background on self-reflection gave me a new viewpoint tha... This course provided much more in terms of information and support than I expected. The theoretical background on self-reflection gave me a new viewpoint that will expand my thinking about the topic.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Math Pact: Achieving Instructional Coherence Within and Across Grades

# data[].attributes.subject
The Math Pact: Achieving Instructional Coherence Within and Across Grades

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Achieving Instructional Coherence Within and Across Grades

# data[].attributes.headline
Using Collective Teacher Efficacy to Plan for Remote and Socially Distant classrooms

# data[].attributes.subject
Using Collective Teacher Efficacy to Plan for Remote and Socially Distant classrooms

# data[].attributes.body
https://learn.sibme.com/courses/collective-teacher-efficacy-remote-classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Collective Teacher Efficacy to plan for Remote and Socially Distant Classrooms

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to the Sibme Learning Center. Here at Sibme, it is our mission to change the way people learn at work. Whether you use Sibme or are just seeking information on how video can empower individuals in your organization and transform professional learning, we have something for you.

# data[].attributes.headline
Instructional Coaches Should Center on a Strengths Based Approach

# data[].attributes.subject
Instructional Coaches Should Center on a Strengths Based Approach

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-instructional-coaches-should-center-on-a-strengths-based-approach/2019/12

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(This is the final post in a five-part series. You can see Part One here, Part Two here, Part Three here, and Part Four here.)
The new question-of-the-week is:
How can instructional coaches work best with teachers, and vice versa?
Sydney Chaffee, Cindy Garcia, Carrie Johnson, Roxanna Elden, Tatiana Esteban, Heather Register, Ashley Blackwelder, and Dawn Mitchell "kicked off" the five-part series in Part One. You can listen to a 10-minute conversation I had with them on my BAM! Radio Show. You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.

The series is "wrapped up" today by Cathery Yeh, Amy Sandvold, Tamara Hewlett, Becky Corr, and LaChawn Smith. I've also included responses from readers.
Response From Cathery Yeh
Cathery Yeh, @YehCathery, is an assistant professor of teacher education at Chapman University. Her research focuses on teacher learning and social-justice mathematics. She has published 40-plus articles on mathematics education, teacher learning, and video-based professional development and is the lead author of the NCTM book Reimagining the Mathematics Classroom:
I have had the privilege to work with thousands of teachers. Three principles guide this work: Just as we cannot assume teaching any subject is culturally neutral, we cannot assume the work of coaching to not be laden with power and privilege. Too often, coaching consists of a more "knowledgeable other" coming in to lead workshops or demonstration lessons without teacher input. Teachers bring their own cultural knowledge and prior experiences to the classroom, and our work together needs to use their knowledge and experiences as the foundation. I begin my work with teachers first as a learner. I listen closely to learn about and from them. Here's a few questions that usually come up as the teachers and I build a relationship for co-learning: Tell me about you. Tell me about your teaching, your students, the school curriculum. What should I know? What would you like to know about me? "If I dream a dream, I dream alone. If we all dream together, we can succeed together." Te Puea Herangi, 1883-1952 (as cited in the New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2011) This is one of my favorite quotes to describe the importance of teachers and teacher educators learning alongside and working interdependently. Lesson study is my favorite model for professional learning. The teachers and I would design a lesson together building off an identified area of focus; this can be a particular concept or pedagogical tool or routine we would like to deepen our knowledge on. Then, we would co-teach the lesson together in one or a few classrooms. I've found these co-planning and co-teaching experiences to be the most powerful. It provides a collaborative culture of learning and a shared vision of the type of learning environment we hope to develop at the school or district site. I always learn something new during each co-teaching event. When planning or analyzing a lesson with teachers, I always center on a strengths-based approach. Labels of children-"high,, "low," "remedial"-are not allowed. We focus only on what a child can do and consider how to use these strengths to build success. Within education, teachers AND students have been conditioned to identify what they cannot do and what they need to do better. Not enough time is spent on having students or teachers identify their strengths. I ask teachers to identify their students' strengths and their own strengths, to publicly say these strengths out loud, and to consider how they can incorporate more of these strengths-based actions into their next lesson.
Response From Amy Sandvold
Amy Sandvold is a literacy coach in the Waterloo Community Schools, in Waterloo, Iowa. She is an experienced educator in both private and public schools, having served as a principal and classroom teacher with over 25 years in education. She is co-author of the best-selling The Passion Driven Classroom and The Fundamentals of Literacy Coaching. You can read her Lit Coach in Iowa blog at and follow her on Twitter @LitCoachinIowa:

Avoiding the Gray Area Between Coaching and Evaluator Land
As instructional coaches, we can get caught up and lost in the gray area between coaching and evaluator land. I believe passionately that instructional coaches are not given the evaluator role. Principals can serve as instructional coaches, too; however, they will always be the evaluator in the minds of the teachers. Teachers thrive when they have instructional coaches that they can freely share ideas with, ask questions, and someone they can be vulnerable around as they work through challenges.They hold back when they think their words and actions might be used against them. How do we avoid this gray area of evaluator land? Many of us are part of a leadership team that includes administrators. Perception can become reality for teachers when they see you working closely with the administrative team and can become intimidated that you are also an evaluator. Much of this depends on the relationship between the coach and the principal. Principals and coaches should clearly define expectations. Here are some ideas to convince your staff that the instructional coach is a COACH, not the Evaluator: What the Principal Can Do:

1. The principal clearly states and explains the coach's role. At the beginning of the year and multiple times throughout the year, the principal reminds everyone that the coach is there to help and all is confidential.

2. The administrative team refrains from using the coach as an evaluator. Avoid assigning evaluative teacher walk-throughs to the coach. Instead, let the coach schedule teacher-requested visits. Require a certain number of visits, but make them teacher chosen. Notice the difference.

3. The principal resists the temptation to use the coach to do his/her job. Avoid asking the coach to provide data regarding teacher performance. Instead, use the coach to help and assist if it appears a teacher is struggling.

What the Coach Can Do:

1. Watch how you give feedback and make sure it is teacher-driven. As much as possible, ask the teacher what the teacher wants out of your visit or what they want to talk about, then stick to that topic.

2. Have a passion for your coaching expertise. If you are a literacy coach, share your passion for reading and writing in your life. If it's math, get excited about math! Your passion for your subject is contagious and builds authenticity.

3. Remember that you were once a teacher. I will never forget my own experience as a classroom teacher when the instructional coach shook his head during my entire lesson, not understanding all that had happened minutes before his very short visit. Watching your body language and seeking first to understand builds trust.

Finally, we need to remind ourselves daily what our role is. I keep this quote by Stephen Covey as my background on my phone: It serves as a constant reminder of what my role is as an instructional coach. Teachers respond best to a coach that they know supports them without the evaluator lens.
Response From Tamara Hewlett
Tamara Hewlett is an instructional specialist in the elementary curriculum team for the Montgomery County public schools in Maryland. Her work focuses on access and equity for multilingual learners. Some of her experiences include serving as a classroom teacher, math-content coach, staff-development teacher, and teacher-leadership specialist:
Teaching is one of the hardest yet most rewarding jobs a person can have. While it can often feel isolating being in a classroom by yourself, it is truly a profession that relies on the experiences and expertise of the people around you. It is truly a blessing to have someone in your building or even outside of your building serving as an instructional coach I've found that when serving as instructional coach, it is important to be a good listener. Naturally, if you have the title of coach, there is the expectation that you are uniquely skilled in a particular area that affords you the opportunity to help others become better at what they do. When I think about some of the best coaches I've been lucky to have throughout my career in education, I can truly say that they were all great listeners. They didn't listen to respond; they listened to understand when I was sharing my questions, struggles, successes, and perceived failures. Listening builds relational trust. A teacher might be leery of being vulnerable with a designated coach when there is no relational trust. While this is true, teachers need to be vulnerable with their instructional coach and ask the questions, share concerns, and revel in the successes no matter how small. Teachers, also like coaches, need to listen to understand rather than to respond. Listening to understand sets up the conditions that build collegial respect and build the relational trust in order to make the relationship one that is beneficial for both parties involved. Whether you are a new teacher, a person new to the district, starting a new position, or just in need of some coaching, relational trust is the ultimate goal. Until then, here are some other things to consider, outside of listening, that both teachers and instructional coaches can practice in order to have a positive working relationship.

1. Keep students at the forefront of your mind and heart. We do what we do because we want our students to grow academically, socially, and emotionally. It is important to remember that in order to really get to the heart of the need/ desire for coaching.

2. Make time to speak to and work with each other. On-the-go conversations in the hallway are sometimes necessary, but setting aside some dedicated time to plan and receive coaching and/or seek out coaching is important. Time is never on our side, but I believe in the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

3. Be OK with not knowing the answer right way. As an instructional coach, there is pressure to feel as though you should be ready with an answer right away. As a teacher, you may feel as though you have to be ready with an answer to a question from your coach. It is OK to say you don't know and/or you need to look into something or spend some time thinking about it and get back to your partner. The important thing is to actually follow up in a timely fashion.

4. Do not share with others what was shared with you in confidence. It takes a lot for a teacher to be vulnerable and for an instructional coach to also be vulnerable. Nothing is worse than seeking out help and finding out that everyone else knows about your feelings of falling short. This goes back to the need to build relational trust.

5. Bring something to the conversation(s). What I mean by this is that both teachers and instructional coaches want to be better versions of themselves. The partnership that is forged through coaching has to nurture each other. It may look like providing a challenge for the coach to stretch themselves as a coach. It may look like provisioning resources or asking thought-provoking questions for the teacher. In either case, instructional coaches are teachers, and teachers are continuous learners, right? So bring something that will help each other grow in your journey of educating our children. It may not be something that happens each time, but check in with yourself about whether or not the partnership is one-sided or not.

Response From Becky Corr
Becky Corr is the president of EdSpark Consulting, which is dedicated to igniting partnerships for diverse learners through professional development, technical writing, and systems analysis. In her role as an the English-language development-team lead in the Douglas County school district in Colorado, she coaches, mentors, and supports teachers and facilitates family-engagement opportunities:
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other. Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives." -Robert John Meehan Teachers' identities are tightly connected to their relationships with students, the school, and the classroom. Therefore, building trust between teachers and coaches is the foundation of success. Providing feedback and opening ourselves up to receive feedback can be difficult and a bit scary-on both sides. It is important, as a coach, that I hold my colleagues' "teacher souls" in the highest regard. To be honest, sometimes the coach is more nervous than the teacher because of what hangs in the balance. I work hard to build a trusting relationship with teachers before giving feedback. When visiting teachers' classrooms, leaving a note about something positive that was observed begins to create a comfortable and welcoming environment. Holding true to your word demonstrates to teachers that a coach is trustworthy. So, it is important to follow up to provide the resources a coach commits to. Small gestures and actions add up. It's like adding marbles to a jar, as Brené Brown describes in her book, Dare to Lead. Every action that demonstrates trust is like adding a marble to the jar. The fuller the jar, the more trust that exists and the stronger the foundation of the relationship will be. My good friend and mentor, Amy Montague, professional learning specialist at Castle View High School, says that she starts every conversation with this question in mind, "How does it feel to be coached by me?" Since she shared this with me, I try to start every coaching conversation with this in mind. When engaging in coaching sessions with teachers, I work side by side with the teacher on a common goal. As a coach, my role is to facilitate and draw out their thinking by asking probing questions and paraphrasing teachers' thinking. We work as a team to solve what the teacher identifies as an issue or something they would like to analyze or improve. As one who coaches and one who continues to be coached by my colleagues, I know that I have to prepare myself to receive feedback. My own "teacher soul" is at stake, and receiving feedback can be difficult. I know that feedback will help me to improve and I welcome it, but sometimes it is still difficult to process. I believe that I can't ask my teachers to engage in coaching and feedback if I am not engaging in the practice myself. This year, my colleague and I plan to hold triad coaching sessions so that we can give each other feedback related to our coaching conversations. We intend to be transparent with teachers to let them know that it is our goal to improve our coaching strategies as well. This year, I'm going to try something new. My district covers 900 square miles and has 91 schools. I'm one of two coaches for our ESL Department. It is impossible to visit our ESL teachers as much as I would like. So, I'm starting with learning walks or classroom walk-throughs where I will take photos of the great things happening throughout the district. I'll upload the photos to the Seesaw app where I can invite teachers and privately post the photos to their journals. This is one way to provide positive feedback. I plan to grow this practice so that eventually teachers or I will post a video of the teacher teaching. Then, we'll analyze the video together and have a dialogue about it. These conversations will be face to face, but I'm hoping that once teachers get comfortable with the practice, that they'll share photos and videos unsolicited by me and for their own professional growth. My hope is that this will extend my coaching beyond the classroom walls. I'm new to this practice, but I am excited about the possibilities it presents. Even though I have to admit that I'm nervous to start this new practice, I remind myself I ask teachers to trust me and take risks every day. If I'm asking teachers to take risks, I must do so myself in order to improve my practice. When the teacher-coach relationship is built on a foundation of trust and both parties are open to feedback, there is real opportunity for growth. I'm grateful for the coaches who have taken the time to open my eyes and view my practice from another perspective. I'm indebted to those who have opened their doors, minds, and "teacher souls" to diverse perspectives. Response From LaChawn Smith
LaChawn Smith is deputy superintendent for New Hanover County schools in North Carolina. Previously, she served as assistant superintendent for instruction and academic accountability, director of instructional services, principal coach, principal, assistant principal for New Hanover County schools, and special education teacher for Brunswick County Schools, also in North Carolina:
I think it is important for coaches to approach coaching as a "learner." I think they need to do the work and develop the skills necessary to be an effective coach. I recommend utilizing the partnership principles in Jim Knight's work, which include voice, choice, equality, praxis, reflection, dialogue, and reciprocity. It is also important to understand that this is an iterative process. Responses From Readers

Coaches can be so powerful. @SCSchools our coaches coach everyone in a building at once, then go to the next building when the cycle is done. If @serenawilliams can have a coach, anyone can have a coach. It's not remedial, at all... reflection and feedback.

Thanks to Cathery, Amy, Tamara, Becky, and LaChawn, and to readers, for their contributions.

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.
Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email or RSS Reader. And if you missed any of the highlights from the first eight years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below. The list doesn't include ones from this current year, but you can find those by clicking on the "answers" category found in the sidebar. Look for the next question-of-the-week in a few days. I

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instructional Coaches Should 'Center on a Strengths-Based Approach' (Opinion)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(This is the final post in a five-part series. You can see Part One here, Part Two here, Part Three here, and Part Four here.) The new question-of-the-week is: How can instructional coaches work best with teachers, and vice versa?

# data[].attributes.headline
You Can Coach For Equity Anywhere, With Anyone

# data[].attributes.subject
You Can Coach For Equity Anywhere, With Anyone

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
To create the schools children deserve, we must coach educators and leaders for equity. It isn't an option for coaches to be neutral on issues of justice - and there are injustices occurring in almost every school, every day. It's our moral and professional obligation to lead and coach in a way that surfaces and interrupts these inequities.

''To create the schools children deserve, we must coach educators and leaders for equity.'' @brightmorningtm #LearnFwdTLP Click To Tweet

Every conversation I have in and about schools is a conversation about equity. Always looking through an equity lens, I notice who is sitting where, who is raising his, her, or their hand, who is being yelled at, who is reading what, who is playing with whom, who is in the front office waiting for the principal.

I think about how teachers explain concepts and check for understanding, what they assign for reading, whom they praise and why, what they are doing during professional learning time. I process what I see through my understandings of race, institutional racism, implicit bias, stereotype threat, white supremacy, and other frameworks to make sense of what I see - and, perhaps most important, to figure out how to interrupt the inequities.

Because equity issues are present in every situation, I am coaching for equity in every coaching conversation. We live in a society that is deeply inequitable, in which systems of oppression (including racism, patriarchy, and classism) are embedded in our mindsets, behaviors, and institutions, but we often don't recognize the prevalence of this systemic oppression.

This is why we, as coaches and leaders, must make it visible. To coach for equity, you must see inequities, understand how they were constructed, and know why they perpetuate.

While it's helpful to be in a system or around leaders who hold equity at the center, these conditions aren't essential if you want to coach for equity. Ultimately, you can coach for equity anywhere, with anyone. It's about what you pay attention to and what you say about what you see and hear.
What is equity?
Educational equity means that all students receive whatever they need every day to develop to their full academic and social potential and thrive. By thrive, I mean academically as well as socially and emotionally. Every child has a right to feel loved and cared for and to feel that they belong to a community. Emotional well-being is as important as academic success in my definition of educational equity.

''Educational equity means that all students receive whatever they need every day to develop to their full academic and social potential and thrive.'' @brightmorningtm #LearnFwdTLP Click To Tweet

Achieving educational equity would mean that there is no predictability of success or failure based on social or cultural factors like race, ethnicity, linguistic background, economic class, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and physical and cognitive ability. Here are some examples of educational equity:

A Latinx child who enters kindergarten speaking only Spanish performs as well on reading assessments in 3rd grade as her native English-speaking counterparts.

An African American teen is just as likely as his white or Asian classmates to enroll and thrive in an engineering program in high school.

Girls are equally represented in advanced math courses - and are equally as successful as their male classmates.

There's proportionality in the demographics of kids sent to the office: If a district's African American population is 20%, then at most 20% of office referrals are for African American students.

Educational equity also means that all children are seen for who they are and schools surface and cultivate their unique interests and gifts. For this to happen, children need access to an extensive range of learning opportunities, activities, and materials as vehicles to self-realization and freedom.

''Every child has a right to feel loved and cared for and to feel that they belong to a community.'' @brightmorningtm #LearnFwdTLP Click To Tweet
How can I coach for equity?
Coaching for equity requires a robust tool set. First, you need to know what equity and inequity look and sound like. The ability to recognize these patterns is affected by your personal identity markers, so before and during any work around educational equity, you need to reflect on and cultivate deep awareness of your sociopolitical identity markers, including your own racial identity. This is meaningful work in and of itself.

''Emotional well-being is as important as academic success in my definition of educational equity.'' @brightmorningtm #LearnFwdTLP Click To Tweet

You also need foundational coaching skills - a refined ability to listen, a variety of frameworks through which you can make sense of what you hear, and a repertoire of question stems that cultivate dialogue.

Coaching for equity requires professional learning and ongoing practice and feedback from trusted colleagues.
5 tips on coaching for equity
I'm writing my next book, Coaching for Equity (Jossey-Bass, in press), and so I have many suggestions for how to have coaching conversations about equity. Here are five of my top tips.

1. Attend to emotions. Conversations about equity will raise emotions in you and in your coachees. Learning about emotions - how to respond productively and how to support someone else to recognize and engage with them - will make all the difference in coaching for equity. It's very likely that you and your coachee will feel angry, sad, nervous, impatient, confused, and a whole lot more. I've seen many coaching conversations derailed by an inadequate tool set for responding to emotions.

2. Build trust. A high degree of trust between you and your coachee is critical for you to coach effectively, especially if you're committed to coaching for equity. There are many ways to build trust. We feel trust when people keep their word and honor their commitments, are transparent and don't harbor a hidden agenda, and when we can see that someone can and will do what they say they're going to do.

3. Know how to respond to the question, "Do you think I'm racist?" As a coach, I'm often asked some form of this question. To engage with this question, you need to know what racism is. You also need to know what implicit bias is and how white supremacy manifests in our schools and a whole lot more - and so you need to be prepared. As you do that learning, here are some ways to respond to this question:

Tell me more about where that question is coming from.

Let's unpack that concept first. What is a racist? What do you think racists think, feel, and do?

Maybe. Am I understanding that this is something you want to explore? What might you have to gain, or how would you benefit, from digging into this question?

What would it mean to you if you are racist?

What do you really want to know about yourself? What are you curious to discover?

Yes, you probably are. To some degree, we all are.

As you read some of these, you might have thought, I could never say that! I want to challenge you to try some of them. You might be surprised at how effective they are at opening up conversation.

4. Gather data. If you want to help a coachee interrupt inequitable practices, you'll likely need to gather the data that illustrate these inequities. There are many kinds of data that can reveal inequities, from video to surveys to teacher-to-student interaction data to disaggregated office referral data. Knowing what to gather and how to facilitate a meaningful discussion of this data with a client is essential.

5. Hone your coach dispositions. Who you are as a coach - your way of being - has a tremendous impact on the quality of your coaching conversations. Fortunately, who you are is firmly within your sphere of control. I have identified six essential dispositions for coaches that lead to transformational conversations and are essential for equity conversations: compassion, curiosity, trust in the coaching process, humility and mutuality, appreciation, and learner orientation. Regular and intentional practice strengthens these dispositions.

Coaching for equity requires professional learning and ongoing practice and feedback from trusted colleagues. Here are 5 tips on coaching for #equity from @brightmorningtm #LearnFwdTLP Click To Tweet

To do this essential work of coaching for equity, we all have a great deal to learn. These aren't skills most of us have acquired yet, but we can develop them. In schools where coaches work effectively within an equity lens, children and adults thrive and inequities decrease. This is perhaps what we need to know most: We can coach for equity and create equitable schools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
You Can Coach For Equity Anywhere, With Anyone | Learning Forward

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To create the schools children deserve, we must coach educators and leaders for equity. It isn't an option for coaches to be neutral on issues of justice - and there are injustices occurring in almost every school, every day. It's our moral and professional obligation to lead and coach in a way that surfaces and interrupts these inequities.

# data[].attributes.body
https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/the-impact-cycle/book245084

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
CHAPTER 1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO IMPROVE?

CHAPTER 2. IDENTIFY: GETTING A CLEAR PICTURE OF REALITY

CHAPTER 3. QUESTIONS TO IDENTIFY A PEERS GOAL

INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES' TOOLKIT

Appendix: Lean-Design Research

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
CHAPTER 1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO IMPROVE? CHAPTER 2. IDENTIFY: GETTING A CLEAR PICTURE OF REALITY CHAPTER 3. QUESTIONS TO IDENTIFY A PEERS GOAL INSTRUCTIONAL COACHES' TOOLKIT Appendix: Lean-Design Research

# data[].attributes.headline
5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions

# data[].attributes.subject
5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/5-Practices-for-Orchestrating-Productive-Mathematics-Discussion,-2nd-Edition/

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.teachercast.net/instructional-coaching-logo-design/?utm_campaign=how-do-you-create-a-logo-for-your-instructional-coaching-department&utm_medium=social_link&utm_source=missinglettr-twitter#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=instructional-coaching-logo-design

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Does Your Instructional Coaching Program Have a Logo?

If Your Instructional Coaching Program a Logo ... What would it look like?

In this blog post, we will break down the reasons why your Instructional Coaching department should create a unified logo that is not only agreed upon by your district administration but shared with your school community as a symbol for why it is important to create an individualized professional learning system for not just teachers but all staff members.

Take a moment and think of your favorite sports team. How about your favorite sports drink? Think about the last time you drove down the road. Did anything catch your eye from your favorite fast-food restaurant?

What do your favorite sports team, sports drink, and restaurant all have in common? They all have eye-catching and clearly definable logos that quickly identify who they are, capture your attention, and spark your enthusiasm for their brand.

Today, I'd like to ask you the question ... does your Instructional Coaching Department have a logo?

What is a Logo? What does it Represent?

A logo, to put it succinctly, is a symbol that represents an idea or a group of people. Logos can be colorful or monochromatic. What all logos have in common is that they represent something. They represent an idea that a group or entity stands for.

Think of one of the most iconic logos on the planet, the NIKE Swoosh. Anytime you see that you probably say to yourself "Just Do It."

But ...

If Logos are designed to be simple, does this mean that their meanings must also be simple?

Below, we have an image of several popular logos, many of which you are familiar with.

Each of these has a hidden meaning behind them.

On the surface, these images might look simple, but when you take a second look you just might find something hidden.

Do you see a hidden arrow inside of the FedEx logo?

Do you see a bicycle rider in the Tour de France logo?

Did you notice that the number 31 is hidden inside the Baskin-Robbins logo?

So, what does this have to do with your Instructional Coaching Department?

How to Create a Logo for Instructional Coaching

When discussing the creation of your Instructional Coaching Department Mission Statement, we learned that the position of the Instructional Coach should be a hybrid of what is happening in both the Technology AND Curriculum departments. We also learned that professional learning when it's supported by curricular activities (rather than applications) can be the catalyst for raising student achievement. Because of this, it's important to create a logo that represented all these components of your school district plan.

For these reasons, when the planning and creation of your Instructional Coaching Department logo should include all these concepts when creating your department image.

Let's look at one example.

What Does an Instructional Coaching Department Logo Look Like?

Here is an example of a logo recently used in a school district to not only support but provide meaning to their Instructional Coaching Department. The logo has been created from both the official colors of the district and while on the surface is easy to identify, when you look at the meaning behind it, you will learn exactly how the school district feels and supports their Instructional Coaching Department.

Let's break down the example above. Here we see a simple logo of a Cardinal logo overlapping a puzzle composed of four pieces. Each piece of the puzzle is a distinct color. This might seem simple, but there was a great deal of work that went into creating it and crafting the meaning behind each of these unique sections.

The Cardinal

At the center of this logo is the school's mascot, the Cardinal. In this school district, every school has the same Cardinal mascot as its building emblem and because of this the Instructional Coaching logo was designed to represent the entire school district both in graphic representation and in its color scheme.

The Four Puzzle Pieces

Each of the four pieces of this puzzle is designed to represent different aspects of the school district's instructional plan and is placed strategically on the logo to represent what their function is in the school district.

The Curriculum

The Curriculum Department is located on the bottom of the logo to represent strength and to signify that it is the Curriculum that grounds the entire school district. Everything that a student learns and that a teacher instructs is designed by an agreed-upon curriculum. It is the Curriculum that both holds up a school district and supports the most fragile component of this logo.

Student Achievement

At the very top of the logo is Student Achievement. The goal for everyone and every program in the school should be to raise student achievement. For this reason, the logo has been designed to show that the Curriculum is the main aspect of the school district that supports Students and Student Achievement.

Technology

Placed on the left side of the logo is Technology. It is the Technology Department and the devices in the hands of both teachers and students that connect the students to the Curriculum. This part of the logo is also designed to show that it is the Technology Department that propels both the Curriculum and Student Achievement forward throughout the year.

Professional Learning / Instructional Coaching

Placed on the right side of the logo and serving as the glue between Curriculum and Student Achievement is the Professional Learning Department, otherwise known as your Instructional Coaches. If the Technology Department is what is propelling the district forward, it is the Instructional Coaches that are providing guidance and direction in a process that is grounded by Curriculum.

The Importance of District Buy-in

The creation of an Instructional Coaching Logo is something that should be on the list of every department, but as we can see in the example above, should not be created in a silo. Just as we discussed in our post about an Instructional Coaching Mission & Vision Statement, the Instructional Coaching Department is the glue that propels a district forward by supporting the goals of all educational departments.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Do You Create A Logo For Your Instructional Coaching Department?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Does Your Instructional Coaching Program Have a Logo? If Your Instructional Coaching Program a Logo ... What would it look like?

# data[].attributes.body
https://resources.corwin.com/sites/default/files/02_microteaching_protocol.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2890k_YKk1WIFFYzhhxC6vAML_l8vq57jlgY3JxLv0ceqBDMQY8ZMtBzY

# data[].attributes.body
http://rechargelearning.blogspot.com/2018/09/building-instructional-coach-mindset.html

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I have never believed there is a single path that leads to great teaching and learning experiences. There are just too many different types of learners for me to ever say that there is only one best to engage learners. This is why the best educators are always taking risks and trying different new things to engage all learners.

I am lucky enough to work with both teachers and students daily. This has helped me build and rebuild a mindset connected to instructional coaching. I am not close to perfect, but I am always learning. When people ask me about my instructional coaching mindset, I always start with the word why. I love why questions because questions that start with why almost always lead to more questions.

My mindset is built around questions connected to exploring why I do what I do!

For me, there are 4 stages of understanding why I do what we do to support teachers and learners.

Stage 1: What is your purpose? If you don't know why you are doing something, why are you doing it?
Stage 2: How will you engage learners? What pedagogical strategies will you use to support the learning process?
Stage 3.:How will your content help students develop essentials skills connected to collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity?
Stage 4: How will the teacher and the students know if they've learned? What assessments strategies are part of the learning process?

These states are all part of my mindset of why. This is the mindset that will keep you moving forward, keep you innovating. I always want to know why our students and our teachers are doing something before I think about how we can build a better learning experience.
I hope all of this makes some sense to the reader? It makes sense to me when I am working with a teacher or a student, but I am having a harder time putting this all down in writing. I am not telling you that your mindset needs to be this way, but I do believe that all coaches need to develop a mindset. This mindset will probably evolve over time
I am going to dedicated the rest of this post to some of the resources that have contributed to my mindset of why.

If you are interested in exploring or building your why, I think these two resources are a great place to start.

Here are some of the books connected to instructional coaching that have helped me develop my ever-evolving mindset connected to teaching and learning.
Here are a few additional resources that might help EdTech and Instructional Coaches build their mindsets support teachers and students.

If all of that wasn't quite enough, here is one more collection of links. I hope there is something here that you can connect to your mindset.

My final thought about what drives me to be who I am!

Questions Are More Important Than Answers

Of Course, Our Kids Already Know This!

What courses, resources, ideas or books do you think are essential to help build an Instructional Coach's Mindset?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Building an Instructional Coach Mindset - Always Know Your Why

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I have never believed there is a single path that leads to great teaching and learning experiences. There are just too many different types of learners for me to ever say that there is only one best to engage learners. This is why the best educators are always taking risks and trying different new things to engage all learners.

# data[].attributes.headline
3 Ways to Build Positive Classroom Culture Using Rich Math Tasks

# data[].attributes.subject
3 Ways to Build Positive Classroom Culture Using Rich Math Tasks

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 Ways to Build a Positive Classroom Culture Using Rich Math Tasks - Corwin Connect

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin How rich math tasks help to build community and culture, provide rich assessment data, and support your students in seeing themselves as mathematicians. Let’s think about our typical planning process for our mathematics lessons. We may: 1) find […]

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978440749/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0978440749&linkCode=as2&tag=boxofcra-20&linkId=7JRCRZUJX7T5T2V5

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amazon.com: The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever: 9780978440749: Bungay Stanier, Michael: Books

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Available Formats

ISBN: 9781506337500

Paperback

Suggested Retail Price: $30.95

Bookstore Price: $24.76

ISBN: 9781506375199

Electronic Version

Suggested Retail Price: $27.95

Bookstore Price: $22.36

Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email sageheoa@sagepub.com. Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html.

WHY FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT? ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES

CHAPTER 4 HINGE QUESTIONS

CHAPTER 6 IT'S YOUR TURN!

Appendix: Book Study Guide

Includes:

Companion website with 15+ downloadable tools, templates, and checklists in PDF and Word format

Video and audio examples of student discussion in real classrooms

Student work, teacher reflections and quotes, teachers' FAQs

Online book study guide

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Available Formats ISBN: 9781506337500 Paperback Suggested Retail Price: $30.95 Bookstore Price: $24.76 ISBN: 9781506375199 Electronic Version Suggested Retail Price: $27.95 Bookstore Price: $22.36 Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email sageheoa@sagepub.com.

# data[].attributes.body
https://anchor.fm/cory-camp8

# data[].attributes.headline
How Districts Can Use Literacy Coaching to Improv Classroom Instruction

# data[].attributes.subject
How Districts Can Use Literacy Coaching to Improv Classroom Instruction

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/how-districts-can-use-literacy-coaching-improve-classroom-instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Districts Can Use Literacy Coaching to Improve Classroom Instruction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Literacy coaching is an ongoing, iterative process that helps the teacher master a full range of strategies to accommodate a diverse set of student needs. Coaching requires ongoing evaluation to measure its effectiveness, but when done correctly, it can increase teacher understanding and student eng…

# data[].attributes.headline
Use Play Cards to Elevate Coaching and Teaching

# data[].attributes.subject
Use Play Cards to Elevate Coaching and Teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Have you ever been compared to an athletic coach? Ashley Taplin believes there are some similarities between athletic coaches and ICs, and has even taken a play from their "playbook" by creating a cheat sheet of in-the-moment coaching and teaching tactics.

A

s a basketball coach's wife, I enjoy hearing about last-minute preparations from my husband. One evening before a game, my husband showed me his "play card" of the various sets and plays he calls during a game, categorized by defense, offense, zone, specials, and more. He explained to me that this card was a way for him to have a quick reminder on hand of reliable plays to reference in the heat of the game.

As I walked back to the stands, I started to think: why don't we, as educators, use play cards for teaching? Creating one could bring more intentionality to planning and provide ideas for in-the-moment instructional decisions.

A game day card is a cheat sheet for you as a coach. It is the information you value most during a game. The goal is to develop an organized, easy to follow resource sheet. Given the emotion of a game it is nice to have something of value, and comfort, to refer to when you need to make a decision. It also guarantees that you will never forget what is most important to you. -Basketball Immersion

That night, I began creating my first coaching play card full of categorized instructional strategies. The tool was small, simple in design but held so much information, and I soon realized it could be personalized in many ways!

Getting started with play cards requires you to think deeply about what topic or strategies you want to have pointers for handy. For my first instructional strategies play card, I chose six categories that I believe encompass a well-rounded lesson structure: grouping, lesson openers, student voice, movement, check for understanding, and lesson closures.
What would you add to your play card?

Grouping: includes strategies I have implemented in my own classroom and that I gathered from my experience creating and participating in professional developments.

Lesson Openers and Closers: gives teachers specific resources for two of the three signature practices of SEL instruction, "welcoming inclusion activities" and "optimistic closures," which can help to "create a climate and culture of safety, inclusion, and belonging, and to support strong, effective learning environments." This section includes ideas for check-in prompts, open-ended low-floor high-ceiling activities, and anticipating/reflection on learning targets and success criteria.

Student voice and movement: bring more personalization and engagement to the lesson.

Check for understanding: comprises a simple, yet powerful segment of formative assessment that can yield tremendous insight into student learning.

Finally, I added a section for " Questions to ask" as a way to help teachers develop their questioning skills, providing research-based prompts that deepen learning and increase rigor.

While a teacher would use the above example for planning or in the classroom, as a coach I discovered I could use play cards while designing professional learning. The process of preparing play cards is a great way to organize what strategies I want to include as I craft the PD session. Afterward, I hand them out to participating teachers as a reference guide for them to take back to their campus, reminding them of our "game plan" from the day.

Pro tip: link out the play card items to further resources so teachers can continue their learning after a session!

Most recently, I created a card specifically for coaching conversations with prompts for reflection and interaction. To build this card, I referred to sentence stems from The EduCoach Survival Guide, questions from Michael Bungay Stanier's The Coaching Habit, and prompts from Episode 69 of Elana Aguilar's podcast.

Each section from the Educoach Survival Guide ( seeking to understand, seeking to empower, seeking to influence, and seeking to nurture) provides sample stems a coach might lead with or ask as a follow-up within a conversation. The questions from The Coaching Habit are two of my favorites that I often ask to begin or continue a coaching conversation. And finally, the prompts from Elana Aguilar help a coach respond to a teacher when they say "I don't know how...".
Psst... click the image for a copy of the full card!

I have referenced each of these resources in my own coaching and think this card is helpful for fellow coaches to keep in their back pocket (literally!) and carry with them to coaching sessions.

I hope this has inspired teachers and coaches to craft some of their own play cards-individually or collaboratively-that are tailored to their personal needs. You don't need to list every strategy you've ever used, but rather make this a creative way to assist (basketball pun intended!) in implementing your instructional practices.

In the words of head coach, Kyle Julius, building a play card "creates a peaceful calm going into the game knowing we were well prepared and set up to play with a sharp focus and clear mind."

Want to learn more? Join me at ICC this summer, where I'll present a session, Using Play Cards to Enhance Coaching. There, we will unpack the strategies on the play cards, discuss ways you might implement one, and have time to begin to develop your own!

Ashley Taplin is a secondary math specialist in Texas. Prior to her current role, she taught high school math and was a department dean.

Ashley has a passion for both empowering teachers to build on their strengths and helping students make connections between what they're learning. In addition to her role, she also delivers professional development, works with schools to implement PLCs and incorporate strategies in the classroom, and writes curriculum for her district. As part of her curriculum writing, Ashley has embedded SEL strategies within the math curriculum and helps guide teachers to make it a daily practice within the content.

Be sure to connect with her on Twitter and Instagram!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Use Play Cards to Elevate Coaching and Teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Have you ever been compared to an athletic coach? Ashley Taplin believes there are some similarities between athletic coaches and ICs, and has even taken a play from their "playbook" by creating a cheat sheet of in-the-moment coaching and teaching tactics.

# data[].attributes.headline
Traditional Leaders vs. Collaborative Leaders

# data[].attributes.subject
Traditional Leaders vs. Collaborative Leaders

# data[].attributes.body
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/80/13/ee/8013eeab088d4edfacc880e968acf172.jpg

# data[].attributes.headline
The Value of Coaching For Instructional Leaders

# data[].attributes.subject
The Value of Coaching For Instructional Leaders

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Administration & Leadership

A look at how coaching-a form of PD known to be effective for teachers-benefits principals and other instructional leaders.

In a recent study conducted by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, school leaders identified five ways they were most likely to receive professional feedback: through school-level opportunities, through district-provided opportunities, by reading journals and books, in face-to-face networking with colleagues, and through attendance at state association conferences.

Missing from that list is coaching, even though 66 percent of principals reported that they participated in coaching and 70 percent of those respondents reported that it had value. This shows that even though school leaders value coaching, it's not among the most common ways they receive professional development (PD). Coaching is a resource that could be better leveraged.

In looking at teachers' PD, instructional coaching expert Jim Knight showed that coaching is effective because teachers who choose to be participants who are eager to learn, and that coaching supports retention of information better than traditional "sit and get" PD does. And in Student Achievement Through Staff Development, Bruce Joyce and Beverly Showers demonstrated that coaching not only provides growth in knowledge and skills but is more likely to result in the transfer of knowledge and skills to practical use.

If this is true for the coaching and professional learning of teachers, it should also be true for the coaching and professional learning for principals and other instructional leaders.

In What Areas Can Instructional Leaders Be Coached?

Coaches can work with instructional leaders in a variety of areas because leaders' roles are multifaceted. The key is for the leader and the coach to be specific and target areas that are appropriate.

One of the primary tasks of an instructional leader is to guide and model the work of the professional learning community. Instructional leaders not only lead their own teams but serve as members of teams and support the work of other team leaders. They model and lead effective meetings and collaborative time, and use decision making and data protocols to ensure that all voices are heard.

Instructional leaders also lead the work of curriculum and instruction. They not only support processes and decision making in these areas, but present information and lead professional learning. Instructional leaders also guide capacity-building efforts for their faculty in the areas of curriculum and instruction. Finally, instructional leaders build the capacity of individual staff members by providing coaching and ongoing feedback to improve practice.

An effective coach can support an instructional leader in any of those areas-the key is that the leader must know where they need support.

A Coaching Cycle for Leaders

Traditional coaching cycles are still tried-and-true ways to support professional learning. They don't require an inordinate amount of time and are job-embedded, meaning that the coach observes the leader in the course of the leader's regular work. It's also important to remember that coaching is non-evaluative and confidential, and so a leader can be vulnerable and honest, and a coach can provide honest feedback openly.

An example of coaching: Mr. Marsh was a department head for high school science and needed to support his team in coming to consensus around common standards and assessments. After the team met a few times, Mr. Marsh reached out to his coach to support him in facilitating the team's meetings.

The coach co-facilitated a meeting with Mr. Marsh, but Mr. Marsh also wanted to learn to be a better facilitator through targeted coaching. The next time Mr. Marsh and his coach met, she asked what areas of facilitation Mr. Marsh wanted to explore. Mr. Marsh had appreciated the ideas of "one process at a time" and "balanced participation," as well as having a clear closing and reflection, all of which the coach had modeled.

Mr. Marsh asked his coach to observe for those areas, and then went away to craft the agenda for an upcoming meeting, which he facilitated later that week. Right after the meeting, Mr. Marsh and the coach met to reflect on how it had gone. The coach shared what she had noticed, saying, "You did a quick 'whip-around' to start, to open the conversation up to all." She also noticed that he engaged in a Post-it note reflection on a prompt to close the meeting.

She followed up with questions to probe Mr. Marsh's thinking. Mr. Marsh shared why he thought the choices he had made went well and why they were effective. He also shared that he wanted to learn more strategies to have balanced participation in discussions moving forward so that his meetings didn't become stale and still met his goals for effective facilitation. Those are points a coach can certainly help with.

When instructional leaders partner with a coach, they leverage a job-embedded professional learning opportunity that is sustainable and doable. Leaders can partner with a coach connected to their responsibilities and by doing so also build a culture of reflection and continuous improvement. Coaching, along with are professional learning strategies, supports instructional leaders in their growth as they become even better at what they do every day to support teachers and student achievement.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Value of Coaching for Instructional Leaders

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Administration & Leadership A look at how coaching-a form of PD known to be effective for teachers-benefits principals and other instructional leaders. In a recent study conducted by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, school leaders identified five ways they were most likely to receive professional feedback: through school-level opportunities, through district-provided opportunities, by reading journals and books, in face-to-face networking with colleagues, and through attendance at state association conferences.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.amazon.com/Student-Centered-Coaching-Guide-Coaches-Principals/dp/1412980437

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Student-Centered Coaching: A Guide for K-8 Coaches and Principals

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Student-Centered Coaching: A Guide for K-8 Coaches and Principals [Sweeney, Diane] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Student-Centered Coaching: A Guide for K-8 Coaches and Principals

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Reviews

This is a carousel with review cards. Use the previous and next buttons to navigate.
Previous cards

"Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics exudes enthusiasm for students, how they think, and how those thoughts coalesce into powerful thinking classrooms. It's also deeply practical, describing how everything from the teacher's questions to the arrangement of the furniture can add to your students' learning."

"I f your students are not the ones doing the thinking in your classroom, then this book is for you!Peter Liljedahl provides concrete advice on each of 14 research-based practices, along with answers to frequently asked questions and suggestions for getting started, which will help you build a classroom where student thinking is the norm."

Peg Smith
University of Pittsburgh

"Research in education that turns right around and informs our practice is invaluable in today's schools and classrooms.Peter uses evidence gathered in mathematics classrooms to directly inform how we make changes to our teaching and learning that enhances learning.This is the essence of evidence-based practice, practice based on evidence from the very classrooms we seek to influence."

"After years of leading lessons in an 'I do, we do, you do' format, I found that my students lacked a productive disposition towards mathematics and would give up on problems easily. I knew something had to change, but what was I going to change in my teaching practice and how was I going to get there? After 10 years of experimenting with different pedagogical approaches, classroom environment setups, and developing my own content knowledge, I realize that this book is the resource that could have helped me expedite the transformation I was after - moving from a classroom of "mimickers" to building a classroom of "thinkers". Save yourself years of experimentation by investing a few hours reading this excellent book. Your students will thank you."

"Building Thinking Classrooms prompts us to reflect on the potential of mathematics classrooms, teachers, and learners. Supported by numerous stories from classrooms, Peter methodically exposes the familiar structures of school mathematics that suppress the potential of learners, then carefully outlines a set of opportunities around which teachers of mathematics can organize a dynamic and responsive classroom."

"This book is timely and provides an accurate portrayal of what is occurring in mathematics classroom across the country. The book is a valuable reflexive tool that teachers can use as they analyze their own teaching practices."

" Peter's work in Building Thinking Classrooms has been the single most impactful (driver for) change in secondary mathematics education that I have witnessed. I have never seen another idea/approach/model capture so many teachers immediately, and make it past the point from learning to actual implementation in almost every classroom or instance that I have witnessed."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K-12

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K-12 helps teachers implement 14 optimal practices for thinking that create an ideal setting for deep mathematics learning to occur.

# data[].attributes.body
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tiKTOTF8Bs5ZduV3Tn6ynMiUbNQgNUJtlfsZ4vzl1ko/copy
Credit: Theresa Wills

# data[].attributes.headline
White Fragility And Racial Equity: What’s Stopping The Conversations [Audio]

# data[].attributes.subject
White Fragility And Racial Equity: What’s Stopping The Conversations [Audio]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
* Ryan Honeyman from Next Economy, interviews Robin DiAngelo, and examines why it's difficult for white people to discuss issues of race, racism, and white fragility. * How can we start to evaluate and move past our white fragility around speaking about racism? DiAngelo says that racism is a system and is embedded in language. Why is it important to understand race and racism as a system?
* Read about white fragility in teaching and education.

Robin DiAngelo is a former associate professor of multicultural education at Westfield State University and currently affiliate faculty at the University of Washington. DiAngelo's scholarship is in critical discourse analysis and whiteness studies. In addition to her academic work, she has been a consultant, mediator and workplace racial equity trainer for over 20 years.

DiAngelo has written numerous publications, including her latest book, White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism, which has been on The New York Times bestseller list since it debuted in June 2018.

Next Economy's Ryan Honeyman interviewed DiAngelo, and here are some highlights from that conversation:

How Dr. DiAngelo first got into this work as a "classic white progressive" who was "clueless about racism."

Why good, open-minded, liberal progressives (who marched in the '60s) still have a fundamentally racist worldview.

How having one or more historically marginalized identities (e.g., being a woman, low-income, LGBTQ, Jewish) does not mean that one understands the experience of racism.

Why naming, disrupting and dismantling white supremacy shifts the problem to white people, where it belongs.

How the unexamined values of individualism, meritocracy, objectivity and conflict avoidance are part of the dominant culture and lead to problematic outcomes for people of color.

Read the full article about white fragility by Andrew Baskin at B the Change.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
White Fragility and Racial Equity: What's Stopping the Conversations [Audio]

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ryan Honeyman from Next Economy, interviews Robin DiAngelo, and examines why it's difficult for white people to discuss issues of race, racism, and white fragility. * How can we start to evaluate and move past our white fragility around speaking about racism? DiAngelo says that racism is a system and is embedded in language.

# data[].attributes.headline
Which Type of Coaching Cycle is the Right Choice?

# data[].attributes.subject
Which Type of Coaching Cycle is the Right Choice?

# data[].attributes.body
https://blog.sibme.com/blog/instructional-coaching/instructional-coaching-cycles-whats-the-right-choice/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
by Kenneth McKee, NBCT

How to Choose the Right Instructional Coaching Cycle

Research continues to support how instructional coaching cycles can enhance teachers' practice. But, some debate what exactly counts as a coaching cycle. The truth is there are a few types of coaching cycles, and each one's usefulness differs based upon the situation. Here are four different models of coaching cycles you could choose from. I've included strengths and weaknesses about each model as well as points of how the use of video could enhance each one.

Observation and Feedback

In this coaching cycle, the coach and teacher establish goals for an observation in a pre-conference. The coach then descriptively captures information from the class, and then the coach encourages reflection from the teacher. This cycle works well for the coach to make a formative assessment of the teacher's current practices and providing feedback for point-of-need growth.

Modeling

In a model lesson, the role of the teacher and coach are opposite of their roles in the observation and feedback cycle. The coach teaches students in order to explicitly model instructional strategies for the teacher. The coach still recognizes the teacher as the expert on their content and students, and, thus, the pre-conference discussion involves the coach sharing his or her lesson and asking for suggestions before teaching. The coach will also ask the teacher to collect data during the class. Afterwards, the coach leads a reflective conversation with the teacher about his or her vantage point as the observer.

Planning and Co-Teaching

During this cycle, the focus is on the content students must learn. Coaching is focused upon standards, curriculum, and instructional sequence. The teacher and coach collaboratively plan the lesson and decide which role each will take in delivering the lesson to students. The coach may be more or less involved, depending on the goals and needs of the classroom teacher. Afterward the teacher and coach debrief on how well the lesson helped students learn the content, and then they discuss strengths and weaknesses in the lesson.

Group Reflection

Group reflection may take the form of instructional rounds, lesson study, or another format. The coach leads a group of teachers in the pre- and post-conference process. One host teacher identifies a new practice or a potential problem. He or she invites peers to give feedback on that focus, usually through a few questions The coach helps set the focus for the group. The peers make notes about the host teacher's questions during the class. The coach facilitates a discussion about the lesson with the peer teachers, while the host teacher makes notes. Then the host teacher is invited to reflect.

Kenny McKee is a National Board Certified Teacher who currently serves as a high school instructional coach in the Buncombe County Schools district in Asheville, NC. His interests include teacher leadership, blended learning, disciplinary literacies, and instructional coaching. He is the co-creator of ASCD's #EdAdvBecause chat, and he was a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader. Connect with him on his blog ( kennycmckee.com) or on Twitter (@kennycmckee).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instructional Coaching Cycles: What's the right Choice?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by Kenneth McKee, NBCT Research continues to support how instructional coaching cycles can enhance teachers' practice. But, some debate what exactly counts as a coaching cycle. The truth is there are a few types of coaching cycles, and each one's usefulness differs based upon the situation.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/bonus-materials/156-chapter-1.pdf?sfvrsn=4

# data[].attributes.headline
Summer 2021 Edition of R13 Coaches Magazine

# data[].attributes.subject
Summer 2021 Edition of R13 Coaches Magazine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Issue 4- Communication, Connection, Community

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.mshouser.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Coaching-Teachers-Infographic_Revised2.jpg

# data[].attributes.headline
Beyond Discomfort? Equity Coaching to Disrupt Whiteness

# data[].attributes.subject
Beyond Discomfort? Equity Coaching to Disrupt Whiteness

# data[].attributes.body
https://blog.sibme.com/blog/instructional-coaching/jim-knight-instructional-coaching-conference-takeaways-video-is-key/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We were happy to sponsor the Corwin Teaching Learning Coaching Conference this year. Jim Knight has been a major voice in Instructional Coaching for decades. His recent research on Instructional Coaching with Video has identified that video evidence is key to the success of any teacher's professional growth. While Jim's sessions were characteristically inspiring, we heard many great stories from outstanding researchers and Instructional Coaches on how video is transforming their work, and maximizing their impact. Some of our major takeaways are below:

Jim Knight Instructional Coaching With Video Resources

Several presenters discussed the importance of focused attention on specific data in observations. In his book, Focus on Teaching: Using Video For High-Impact Instruction, Knight suggests focusing on certain quantifiable data points in video footage to help drive coaching conversations. The list below is a great place to start, and there are two forms available from Focus On Teaching available for you to download.

Count positive/negative interactions with students: calculate the ratio of interaction. Shoot for a ratio of 5:1.

Scribe responses to students and track which responses are growth vs. fixed mindset responses.

Track off-task behavior and keep a check list for each off-task behavior that is observed and each off task-behavior that is corrected. Calculate what percentage of off-task behavior is observed and what percentage of off-task behavior is corrected by the teacher.

Count the opportunities to respond in a certain video and divide by the number of minutes. Shoot for 3-5 opportunities to respond per minute.

Track instructional vs. non-instructional time

Track time for teacher talk vs. student talk

Jim Knight's "Watch Yourself" Form

Jim Knight's "Watch Your Students" Form

Top Three Takeaways from Jim Knight Instructional Coaching Conference

1. Dialogical Coaching requires evidence.

Jim Knight advocated for a targeted, systematic, dialogical approach to coaching with his characteristic grace and intelligence. Jim always pushes us to find ways to empower the teachers we're coaching to evaluate their own data, and set their own goals. His dialogical approach recognizes the human nature of coaching, and our natural desire to drive our own learning. You can see some of the ways that Jim uses a systematic approach to making data the third voice in the list above. Here's another great checklist to help facilitate these conversation.

We tried to goad Jim into a debate with Gary Bloom about the merits of dialogical vs. directive coaching. Neither were taking us up on the offer. In his session, Gary reminded us that a new teacher might not know what they need to know, and therefore need a more direct approach. Gary also spoke about the differing roles some administrators have when they want to coach, but also have to evaluate and supervise teachers. Finding a balance between the three is crucial, but feedback without evidence is just perception. Too many instructional leaders describe reality as they see it to a teacher with the expectation that the teacher improve. That doesn't work. With out objective evidence, like video, change is close to impossible.

Are you smarter than a kindergartner?

Joi Lunceford used a well-known analogy called "Austin's Butterfly" to remind us that three things are crucial to successful coaching:

1. An exemplar of what excellence looks like.

2. Specific feedback that describes the difference between the current reality (as Jim would say) and the ideal goal.

3. Focused attention on one change element at a time. Do not move on until you've mastered that one thing.

As you can see from the image below, following these steps can be pretty dramatic. Austin, a kindergartner, was able to replicate the picture in the lower right-hand corner after only 5 tries. His peers (yep...other kindergartners) coached Austin with these three-easy steps. If they can stay focused, stay specific, and keep the exemplar in mind, surely we can too!

2. "Knowing Thy Impact" as an Instructional Coach

Great educators want to know that they are making a difference. This is true for teachers, school and district leaders and instructional coaches alike. The conference title "its all about the kids" might suggest that student performance data might be the first place to look for your impact. However, we spent time in Lindsey Deacon and Peter Dewitt's session thinking about the motivation behind this common inclination in measuring the impact of coaching. Peter and Lindsey made the important point that you need to track evidence over time to ensure growth. Since student performance is already tracked in most institutions, it's understandable why many coaches would choose that as their metric of success.

The question becomes, what is the real job of an instructional coach? The title suggests that your job is to coach instruction, not student assessment. The key is to track the thing you coach. If you're helping a teacher with specific instructional strategies, you should measure your impact by the frequency or effectiveness of those strategies, not student performance. In many cases, video is the only way to accomplish this. And watching the video isn't enough. You need to be able to evaluate strategies as you watch them. A platform that makes time-specific feedback crucial. You also need a way to track your feedback over time. It's not that we're saying you should stop looking at student performance. But if that's all your tracking, how can you be sure you really know your impact?

3. Error Analysis

Nancy Love from Research for Better Teaching shared an excellent Error Analysis Protocol that coaches can use with teams of educators to evaluate student work to drive the re-teaching process. This protocol is a great analysis of student work. It also makes a great goal-setting and coaching process for teachers to use with their own instructional practices. The steps are outlined below, just reimagine how you might use this cycle to analyze teaching in the classroom to drive coaching:

Step 4: Reteach to essence of error was particularly enticing. How many times have you felt like you identified the problem for teachers, but not ever seen growth in their practice? Think about ways you can take FIRME action to support the teacher through growth. This is the bridge between Jim's dialogical approach to coaching and Gary Bloom's more directive approach. You might want to be investigative in your coaching to get more information and more accurately asses the problem. Or perhaps it is time for reteaching or feedback. We think FIRME action is a great strategy for instructional coaches who really want to see their impact with teachers.

The TLC Conference was a wonderful experience! We recommend you take time to look further into the resources we've provided here. Make plans to learn more from Jim at next year's conference in Las Vegas!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jim Knight Instructional Coaching Conference Takeaways: Video is Key|Sibme

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We were happy to sponsor the Corwin Teaching Learning Coaching Conference this year. Jim Knight has been a major voice in Instructional Coaching for decades. His recent research on Instructional Coaching with Video has identified that video evidence is key to the success of any teacher's professional growth.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.amazon.com/Student-Centered-Coaching-Moves-Diane-Sweeney-ebook/dp/B07C66K8KC/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=student+centered+coaching+the+moves&qid=1635633188&s=books&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFDQzBTV04xMFhQT0cmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA4MTU5MjAyVko0MUpONUVHUE41JmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3MTE3MDMzU0I0SzBESFpRVlI0JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Buy Student-Centered Coaching: The Moves: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/Math-Fact-Fluency--60--Games-and-Assessment-Tools-to-Support-Learning-and-Retention/

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.lifehack.org/893502/good-listening-skills

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Good listening skills are important in just about any area of life. Looking at your own life, can you identify why you want to be a better listener?

Is it to get closer to a loved one? Do you want to begin to understand where your boss is coming from? Do you want to make a good impression at work or among a new group of friends?

Whatever the reason, if you follow these 6 simple steps, you will be on your way to being an expert listener that people open up to with confidence.

1. Recognize What Kind of Listener You Are

Self-awareness is essential as you're developing good listening skills. You have to know where you are before you can truly change your behavior. Pay attention to the cues other people are giving you as to what kind of listener you are right now. Do any of these ring true?

The Space out

The space out listener can't maintain focus on the speaker. They get distracted easily and are not concentrating on what the speaker is saying.

The Interrupter

This person can't help themselves and butts in while the speaker is talking to share something similar that happened to them recently or share another anecdote they think is related.

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

The Fixer

This is the person who listens to solve your problem and give unsolicited advice. While their intentions may be helpful, they miss the nuance that the speaker is perfectly capable of handling the situation; they just might need to talk it through.

The Faker

Similar to the space out listener, the faker takes it the extra mile by uttering responses like "Mm-hmm," "Yep," "Oh, really?" "Wow, interesting." They are distracted, on their phone, listening to music, or watching YouTube videos and don't have a clue as to what you're saying.

We have all been in conversations with bad listeners. Let's prevent ourselves from doing that with others through thoughtful and intentional practice of active listening.

2. Decide to Be a Better Listener

This is a choice you are actively making in order to improve your relationships at work or at home, so commit to practicing some good listening skills. Here are some things active listeners do on a regular basis:

Listen Without Judgment

They listen to learn and to understand what the other person is saying while setting aside assumptions and experiences they have that might be similar.

Communicate Through Non-Verbal Cues

These cues can include eye contact, nodding, smiling, facing the speaker, and putting their phone away and out of sight. These are also known as body language cues and let the speaker know you are connecting with what they are saying.

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

3. Make a Plan

Before speaking with someone, plan out your actions in your head. Decide what you will and won't do during the conversation to practice good listening skills. For example:

I will silence and put away my phone.

I will adjust my chair so I am facing the person and making eye contact.

I will listen with curiosity and without judgment.

I will reflect back what they are saying and ask clarifying questions to help me understand their message.

I won't interrupt.

I won't get distracted by my phone or other people.

I won't listen to solve or fix.

4. Change the Channel

Close your eyes and imagine flipping a switch from on to off. Now, do it again but imagine that Channel 1 is "me-focused" and Channel 2 is " empathy focused."

When you flip to Channel 2 before a conversation, you automatically prepare by putting away your phone, facing the speaker, suspending judgement, and getting curious about what you are going to learn from this other person.

5. Reflect Back What You Hear

Reflecting back what you hear means summarizing or paraphrasing what they are saying just so they know you hear them. This helps them feel understood and eliminates the possibility of moving forward with incorrect information.

For example, if your boss is describing a project they want done next week, you can reflect the information back with a simple sentence like, "Ok, I understand that you want Project X done by Wednesday at noon, correct?"

6. Listen to Understand, Not to Fix

Listen more than you speak, and be aware of what your brain is doing while the other person is talking. Are you making assumptions? Are you thinking of what advice you can give to make the person feel better and solve his/her situation?

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

Remind yourself to listen without judgement and to only offer advice if asked. Good listening skills involve listening to the story the way they are telling it and showing, through non-verbal cues and clarifying questions, that you are hearing and understanding them.

7. Prepare, Practice, Reflect

This is a short routine you can do to improve good listening skills.

Step 1: Prepare Yourself

Similar to Pavlov's dog experiment from the 1900's, we are going to set up a conditioned response for ourselves every time someone asks "Can I talk with you about something?" Every time someone invites you in to a conversation, you will immediately do these three actions:

1. Say yes to the invitation.

2. Silence your phone and put it in a drawer, a purse, or in another room.

3. Face the speaker and make friendly eye contact.

Now that you are physically set up to listen, let's discover how you will listen.

Step 2: Practice Active Listening Techniques

Be curious about what you will learn from this person. Suspend judgement and put your advice channel on mute. Listen to understand, not to fix or advise. Reflect back what you hear or ask clarifying questions.

These simple techniques will work wonders for any conversation you enter.

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

Step 3: Reflect on How You Did as a Listener

Were you truly present in that moment for the other person, or was your mind wandering? Was it challenging to maintain focus on the speaker? If the answer is yes, this is totally normal and expected because you are building a new skill and re-training your brain to execute this new skill on command. With consistent practice and focus on building this skill, it will soon become a habit.

Final Thoughts

Being a better listener starts with you. You must intentionally prepare your mind for good listening skills because your brain is much too busy with managing your life, worries, and anxieties. When you make the decision to be a better listener, you are tapping into your empathy.

You are actively focusing on the other person and what they need right now. They don't need to be fixed or told what to do; they need to talk something through, and they picked you as their thought partner. The moment you give the other person your full attention, you are set up for a successful and meaningful conversation.

More Tips on Becoming a Better Listener

Featured photo credit: Christin Hume via unsplash.com

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7 Actionable Ways to Develop Good Listening Skills

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Good listening skills are important in just about any area of life. Looking at your own life, can you identify why you want to be a better listener? Is it to get closer to a loved one? Do you want to begin to understand where your boss is coming from?

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.edutopia.org/article/revising-your-teaching-philosophy-crisis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Revising Your Teaching Philosophy for This Crisis

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For many teachers, their statement of teaching beliefs no longer matches their work. Revisiting and simplifying it can help chart a path forward.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Virtual Coaching with Video is helping Remake the way Teachers Learn at Work

# data[].attributes.subject
How Virtual Coaching with Video is helping Remake the way Teachers Learn at Work

# data[].attributes.body
https://learn.sibme.com/courses/virtual-coaching-remake-teacher-growth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Virtual Coaching with Video is Helping Remake the Way Teachers Learn at Work | Webinar On- Demand

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Check out our conversation with Kevyn Brown and the team from Trinity Christian Academy to learn how virtual instructional coaching can help revolutionize teacher development.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.mrspark.org/free

# data[].attributes.body
http://sheldoneakins.com/?fbclid=IwAR1SVFTlJ2GtjxbZkHPIcagzb1H6qAnnbdShy7jP7EhsQZHsI61LS__Tw2w

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.thrivingschools.net/blog/2017/11/7/7-questions-to-improve-your-coaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This is a crucial question for managers because employees and mentees have a really hard time asking for what they want. They determine that their requests are inappropriate, the timing's not right, or the response will simply be "No." Because of this, what we want is often left unsaid. Great coaches recognize this and won't hesitate to ask what their employees need.

From here, the author dives into a discussion of how wants are often disguised as needs. And that coaches can improve their responses to them by understanding what the 9 universal needs are - affection, creation, recreation, freedom, identity, understanding, participation, protection, and subsistence.

Here are some examples of how recognizing the need will better help you address the want:
When someone says "I want you to talk to the VP (or other supervision) for me" he might be needing protection (I'm too junior) or participation (I need you to do your part) When someone says "I want to leave early today" she might be asking for understanding (it's difficult at home) or creation (I need to go to my class) When someone says "I want a new version of this report" the base need might be freedom (I don't want to do it), identity (I want you to know I'm the boss here), or subsistence (my success depends on your getting it right)
The Foundation Question makes it clear to our coworkers and colleagues that we care about their needs and that we're unwilling to let important issues go unaddressed.

Question 5 - The Lazy Question - "HOW CAN I HELP?"

Notice how this question is not the first one on the list. And how all the others leading up to it are focused on the employee. This is the art of coaching - resisting the urge to immediately provide guidance and helping a mentee understand the problem at a deeper level. The power of this question is twofold. First, your colleague is forced to make a direct request. And second (but perhaps more valuably), it stops you from thinking that you know exactly what's needed and leaping into action.

The book provides the following advice on how to make the question even more effective:
It's hard enough, when someone starts telling you what's going on, to resist moving into advice-giving, solution-providing mode. It feels nearly impossible when someone asks you a question that's a direct appeal for your advice: "How do I . . . ?" or "What do you think I should do about . . . ?" Seductive and dangerous, this is the cheddar on the mousetrap, the light on the mosquito zapper, the block of chocolate in the cupboard. Before you know what's happening, you're giving an answer. Say, "That's a great question. I've got some ideas, which I'll share with you. But before I do, what are your first thoughts?" And when she answers, which she will, you'll nod your head and be engaged and interested, and when she finishes, say, "That's terrific. What else could you do?" More nodding, more being interested. Then say, "This is all good. Is there anything else you could try here?" And then, and only then, you can add your own idea into the mix if you wish.
This example also shows how these coaching questions can be used iteratively. Notice in this example how you come back to using both Questions 1 and 2!

Question 6 - The Strategic Question - "IF YOU'RE SAYING 'YES' TO THIS, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING 'NO' TO?"

This is probably the most underutilized question in education. Teachers know first-hand how easy it is to continue saying "yes" to more and more requests. But this is also how educators become overwhelmed and when exhaustion kicks in. Michael Porter has said, "The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do." By asking this question, we put the spotlight on creating the space and focus to truly commit to the "yes."

This discussion of a study is offered to support the value of this question:
In a 2002 Harvard Business Review article, "Beware the Busy Manager," Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghoshal suggested that only 10% of managers had the right focus and energy to work on the stuff that matters. To be frank, 10% sounds high to me. But most likely you can think of someone in your organization who seems to be able to "hold the line" and stop the aggregation of small tasks and additional responsibilities that, for the rest of us, eventually consumer our lives. That person might not be the best-liked person in the organization . . . but she's likely to be successful, senior, and respected. And that's because she knows how to say Yes more slowly than you do.
It's too easy to say "yes" to every request that comes our way. In order to provide the focus needed to produce high-quality work, we also need to learn what to say "no" to.

Question 7 - The Learning Question - "WHAT WAS MOST USEFUL FOR YOU?"

This is the feedback question. It's how you ask employees and mentees to tell you how you can get better as a coach. The author provides several items of rationale to explain the importance of this question (and why it's worded exactly the way that it is):
It assumes the conversation was useful (and creates a moment in which to figure out what it was) It asks people to identify the big thing that was most useful (it's more effective to find 1 big thing than to list 12 small things) It makes it personal (people are telling themselves what was useful, rather than you telling them what you think was useful) It gives you feedback (so you can keep getting better) It's learning, not judgement (people don't have a choice to answer Yes/No; they must extract value from the conversation It reminds people how useful you are to them
And there you have it - 7 questions that can improve your coaching and change the way you lead!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7 Questions to Improve Your Coaching! - Thriving Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It's clear that effective coaching needs to be at the heart of how we develop teachers. And that's why we at Thriving Schools have presented several conversations and resources on how best to do this (check out our pieces with Chris O'Brien, Paul Dean, and Mike McKenna).

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.dianesweeney.com/coaching-cycles-getting-to-60-percent/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Written by Diane Sweeney and Leanna Harris
Originally posted in the fall of 2015, this three-part blog series has been revised and updated.
During a session with a partner district, Diane asked a team of K-12 coaches and principals to jot down the percentage of time that they would like to see dedicated to coaching cycles. This wasn't an easy question to ask. It felt a bit loaded, as if she was implying that they weren't doing enough. But really, she just wanted to know what they hoped to achieve so that she could help them get there.

Before they were comfortable answering the question, the coaches and principals had some questions of their own. These include (1) how do you define a coaching cycle, (2) what about planning time for coaches, and (3) how do we account for other things like professional learning and other duties. The secondary coaches taught one period each day and wondered how this would impact their work. It seemed that everyone was nervous to commit to an actual number.

After a quick review of the components of a coaching cycle (see sidebar), they felt that they had enough of a vision to determine a target for how much time they would like to spend in coaching cycles.

The coaches and principals independently wrote down their percentage on a sticky note so Diane could easily walk around the room and see what they were thinking. She was surprised that their answers ranged from 20% to 100%. This made her wonder how they could create a consistent coaching program with such a different vision for how much time the coaches would spend in cycles. After all, we know that coaching cycles are an essential practice if we hope to impact student learning and instruction. Without a coaching cycle, our work becomes 'drive by' coaching, or single conversations that don't lead up to a demonstrated impact. With coaching cycles we are focused, intentional, and results-based.

Of course, they wanted to know what Diane thought they should have written down on their sticky notes. She explained that coaches are defined by how they spend most of their time. If coaches mostly lead PLCs, then they are defined as a PLC facilitator. If they mostly teach interventions, they are defined as an interventionist. If coaches are mostly in coaching cycles, they will be defined as a coach. For this reason, it's important for coaches to spend more than half of their time in coaching cycles. Otherwise, they will be defined by whatever else they are doing. Accordingly, we feel that 60% is a good target. More than 60% may become unrealistic given the fact that coaches are often responsible for things like curriculum, assessment, leading interventions, and teaching classes. And let's keep in mind that coaches need time for their own professional learning, meeting with the principal, attending PLCs, and working with teachers informally. Here is how we envision a coach's time being divided up. It's important to note that this graphic refers only to coaching responsibilities. If, for example, a coach was also a half time teacher, then this would apply only to their coaching work.

Relationships Come First
Since coaching is dependent on trusting and collegial relationships, we don't want to imply that getting to 60% happens overnight. If a coach is new to a school, this may take some time. If the school has a history of coaching that's evaluative or takes the approach of 'fixing' teachers, this may take some time. And if a coach has been doing a lot of other things, this may also take some time.

If our goal is to create conditions where teachers authentically engage in coaching cycles, then we have to be careful to avoid mandating participation. In their book, School Culture Rewired, Gruenert and Whitaker write, "To sell a new vision, it's best to wait for respected teachers to identify with it and put it in their own words. Teachers are likelier to emulate one another than to simply abide by what the principal says" (p. 55). If the vision is participation in coaching cycles, than the best approach is to begin with teachers who see the value and then go from there. In other words, we build to 60% one teacher at a time.

So much of our work comes down to having clear goals and then working towards making them a reality. In future posts in this three-part series, we will share strategies for how to make 60% a reality.

Gruenert, S. and Whitaker, T. (2015) School Culture Rewired: How to define, assess, and transform it. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coaching Cycles - Getting to 60% - Diane Sweeney

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Written by Diane Sweeney and Leanna Harris Originally posted in the fall of 2015, this three-part blog series has been revised and updated. During a session with a partner district, Diane asked a team of K-12 coaches and principals to jot down the percentage of time that they would like to see dedicated to coaching cycles.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Chris Bosserman wasn't a new teacher by any means when he stepped into his science classroom at Washington High School in Kansas City, Kansas. He had 14 years of experience teaching biology and chemistry but had left the classroom for seven years to work in the animal health industry. When he returned to teaching this past fall, he realized things weren't quite the same.

"Almost a decade had passed, and there were changes in how students behave, how standards are approached, and how technology is used. What we did then doesn't necessarily work today," he says. "I quickly discovered that I am more of a novice than an experienced teacher."

District leaders hadn't made the same assessment. Seeing the experience on his résumé, they determined he wasn't a "new" teacher and therefore didn't assign him to an instructional coach. When one of his school's coaches, Cheryl Wright, delivered the news, he asked if she would work with him outside of the district's formal program.

Wright gladly agreed. Since then, she has observed Bosserman's classroom, noting what is going well and asking questions that have prompted Bosserman to identify areas of potential growth. She has also helped him understand the district's scale for tracking student achievement.

"She has helped me transform my old-school teaching style into something more contemporary," he notes.

Many districts like Bosserman's focus their coaching efforts on new and struggling teachers, often by making coaching mandatory for these educators. To be certain, these teachers benefit greatly from coaching. But in limiting the scope of their coaching offerings, districts miss out on growth opportunities for a considerable portion of the teaching workforce, including experienced teachers.

That's a mistake, says Elena Aguilar. "This traditional model of coaching is flawed. It comes from a place of seeing deficit," she explains. As a result, working with a coach is stigmatized as a fault instead of celebrated as an opportunity. Aguilar, who is the author of The Art of Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013), provides training to coaches with a different focus: everyone, throughout their whole life, yearns to grow.

She points to examples outside of education in which people work with coaches at all stages of their careers, including professional sports. "The most skilled athlete would never think about giving up his or her coach. Fire your coach? That would mean you're never at the top of your game," she says.

"You deserve to keep learning and growing," adds Aguilar. In her work consulting in schools, Aguilar has seen experienced teachers strive to be at the top of their game by adding rigor to their instruction, gaining cultural competency, or keeping up with changes to curriculum and standards. For some, however, "the idea of continually growing subsides a bit after your first year," she notes, pointing out that their professional learning may be limited to an occasional workshop or conference. This drop-off could be due to several factors, including a lack of district offerings or a teacher's mindset.

Of course, being able to ask for help (if coaching is voluntary) or accept help (if it's mandatory) isn't always easy. This may be particularly true of some veteran teachers who have found success with their current practices.

"I don't think teaching is something where you can say, 'Well, I got this down. I don't need to learn anymore,' " says Jim Knight, an instructional coaching expert and research associate at the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. "But inherent in the desire to get better, you have to acknowledge that you're not perfect. Because our identity is so tightly connected with what we do, we struggle with the idea that there's room for improvement."

Knight observes that a veteran teacher's first reaction can be defensiveness, especially to a poorly designed change initiative or a deficit-minded coaching system. "Whether they're 6 or 68, tell someone they have to do something, and they're not going to want to do it."

Knight believes that successful coaching relationships begin when coaches ask teachers to choose a goal that matters to them-a problem that keeps them up at night. "The starting point with coaching is to find a goal that's emotionally compelling." For instance, Knight has worked with teachers who struggle with students who are "strategically compliant, but emotionally unengaged." They simply follow the rules, but aren't excited about learning.

Aguilar suggests that coaches invite teachers into the process, being sure to initiate the conversation from a place of compassion and curiosity. After she makes clear that her role as a coach is nonevaluative, she segues into a conversation that focuses on building a relationship. She'll say, "I really want to start with learning more about you and how you got into teaching. I'd love to hear a story from one of your years of teaching about a connection you had with a kid." Then, she listens.

"Maybe it doesn't happen the first time. Maybe it's the third or fifth or 17th time. But if you express genuine concern, they will become receptive to who you are and what you're doing there," she says.

This kind of rapport is the foundation for any coaching relationship, no matter the teacher's experience level. "A coach is somebody who is along with you for the journey-who facilitates your growth and gives you space to think and reflect," Aguilar says. "It's someone who asks good questions and does a lot of deep listening because so often what we need is somebody who will hold a listening space for us."

Once a coach and teacher have established trust and rapport, the instructional work can begin. The coach should see the teacher as the expert, the one who knows his or her students and content area best. "A coach should look at the teacher and think, 'This person has all the knowledge and wisdom. My job is to help them connect with that,' " says Aguilar.

Jessica Johnson, principal of Dodgeland Elementary School in Juneau, Wisconsin, coaches her teachers routinely. Even though her school has two designated coaches, Johnson believes it's important to contribute to her teachers' practice in this manner, especially as a former coach herself. She makes sure to wear two separate "hats"-one when she's coaching as a guide and one as a principal when she's evaluating performance. "I explicitly tell teachers when I'm operating with a coaching hat," she says.

Johnson delivers feedback in a way that sets teachers up as experts and, in doing so, strengthens their abilities to reflect on their practice. In one case, Johnson was coaching a veteran teacher who was using a game-like format to review content with his class. The students were arranged in groups, but when she took note of participation, Johnson noticed that the game required only one student from each group to do the bulk of the thinking.

At the end of the lesson, Johnson didn't simply tell the teacher that all students needed to participate. Instead, she asked what he noticed about student participation. On reflection, the teacher had also realized that most of the students were inactive while one group member did the work. Johnson and the teacher then talked about ways to revise the game format for greater engagement. "Usually teachers end up saying the same thing I'm thinking. But when it's their idea, it's more meaningful to them than me telling them what to try," she notes.

Johnson takes this reflective approach with all her teachers, including the all-stars in her ranks. "Sometimes it's easy to think my best teachers don't need me in their rooms," she says. "But if you want to grow your other teachers to be like your best teachers, you need to get into the minds of your best teachers."

When skilled teachers approach her to ask for coaching feedback, it may be because they have recently changed grade levels or because they're looking for help with differentiation, technology integration, or coteaching.

After observing their classrooms, Johnson taps into their expertise by asking, "Why did you make that decision? Why did you do it that way?"

"Some of my best teachers don't reflect [on their practice] because it comes naturally to them," she says. In addition to gleaning takeaways from their reflections to share with other teachers, Johnson finds that it builds her skilled teachers' abilities to think more deeply about their craft. It's a win-win for the whole staff.

One of the most effective ways to get teachers to embrace coaching is to establish a culture that values the practice. It takes a team effort: a school district can devote resources to hiring coaches, a principal can carve out time and space for coaching to take place, coaches can reach out to teachers, and teachers can open their classroom doors to coaches.

Arpi Lajinian serves in a hybrid role as an instructional coach and math teacher at Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan in New Jersey. The district assigns an instructional coach to teachers who are in their first, second, and third years with the district, no matter how many years they taught in other systems. Among other supports, Lajinian works with teachers through a six-session coaching cycle each year.

The program allows coaches to establish a working relationship with teachers over the course of those three years. After that, teachers can seek out a coach whenever they'd like a fresh set of eyes to observe their classroom or a space to discuss ideas. Now in its third year, the program is still a work in progress, but Lajinian hopes it will gain momentum. "We don't want teachers to see coaching as a box that needs to be checked. The end goal is for us to create a culture of everyone working with an instructional coach," she says. "Coaching is for us to go from good to great. It's celebrating what's good and trying to make it even better."

Beyond full-scale programs, there are small steps that instructional coaches can take to invite teachers to reach out. Lajinian makes herself visible by spending time in the faculty room and math department office. In meetings with colleagues, she mentions her own vulnerabilities to remind fellow educators that she, too, is a continual learner.

Cheryl Wright, the Kansas City coach who works with Bosserman, has her office in a high-traffic area. She promotes an open-door policy and keeps a jar stocked with candy. She also has a spot for teachers to leave notes for her if she's not in. "Once teachers start to get to know you, they'll come by, call, send an email, or even text you on the weekend," she says. "The disposition of many coaches is to be approachable."

Knight asserts that this kind of culture of coaching is contagious and can spread to teachers at all levels of the career ladder. "If you set it up so people see others benefiting from coaching and succeeding, and they see that the process is grounded in respect, then they [will also] want to try it," he says. And as more teachers benefit, more students will too.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Chris Bosserman wasn't a new teacher by any means when he stepped into his science classroom at Washington High School in Kansas City, Kansas. He had 14 years of experience teaching biology and chemistry but had left the classroom for seven years to work in the animal health industry.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Coach's Playlist is a two-minute read packed with information based on an essential part of coaching.
As we find ourselves settling into the new school year, it seems like the perfect time to share a ton of practical and easily digestible resources. Each topic listed below links to the corresponding Coach's Playlist from the past year. Every playlist lists the following pertaining to the topic:

an idea

a question

a quotation

a book

downloadable resources

professional development opportunities

A Complete List of the 2021 Coach's Playlists
Empathy Checklists Video Moralistic Judgment Learning Maps PEERS Goals Finding Common Ground How to Say No Reflection An Instructional Playbook

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Coach's Playlist is a two-minute read packed with information based on an essential part of coaching. As we find ourselves settling into the new school year, it seems like the perfect time to share a ton of practical and easily digestible resources. Each topic listed below links to the corresponding Coach's Playlist from the past year.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A commitment to care.

SchoolMint is founded on education by educators. We have been in the classroom, and in the recruiting office, know the daily struggles, and believe in your students just as much as you do. We are your partner and ally who speak your language, have been in your shoes, and understand your struggles. This is the SchoolMint difference. We want our partners to have the best possible experience with our products, our people, and our company. We are committed to their schools, learners, and communities! We are committed to you!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A commitment to care. SchoolMint is founded on education by educators. We have been in the classroom, and in the recruiting office, know the daily struggles, and believe in your students just as much as you do. We are your partner and ally who speak your language, have been in your shoes, and understand your struggles.

# data[].attributes.body
https://learn.sibme.com/courses/lesson-study-and-video

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Lesson Study and Video

Lesson Study is a practical approach to professional learning that takes root theories on learning and experience, situated learning, and communities of practice. This course explores the Lesson Study model with video.

5 star rating

Lesson Study

Rachelle Sallee

Sibme Virtual Coach and Content Writer

Angela Rowe M. ED.

Since leaving the classroom, Angela has worked as an Instructional Coach for a K-5 elementary school. She specializes in helping new and veteran teachers with classroom management, instructional strategies, and content knowledge. She is her school's Response to Intervention (RTI) coordinator and works directly with her school's Special Education department. Angela is also an Early Literacy reading coach with the Tennessee Department of Education. Angela earned her Elementary Education K-6 undergraduate degree from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. She also earned her Administration License and Master's of Educational Leadership degree from Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sibme's Director of Professional Learning and Content Writer

Cory Camp, M. ED.

Cory is an educator passionate about transforming education at all levels. As a teacher, Cory worked in inclusive and special education settings; finding purpose in advocating for struggling learners and supporting fellow teachers to meet the needs of ALL learners. It was over 11 years ago, while in the classroom, that Cory discovered the power of video for self-reflection and describes that first video as the pivotal moment in her career. Since leaving the classroom to work at district and regional levels, she continued to use video to support teachers, PLCs, and instructional leaders at all levels to design and implement blended and video-enhanced professional learning. Cory's passion lies in helping educators create authentic and empowering learning experiences. She specializes in supporting the implementation of video in K-12 campuses, districts, and regional service centers.

Email

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
lessonstudy
lessonstudyandvideo
sibmeapp
sibme learning center
sibme onboarding
sibme customer success
sibme

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Lesson Study and Video | Sibme Learning Center

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Lesson Study is a practical approach to professional learning that takes root theories on learning and experience, situated learning, and communities of practice. This course explores the Lesson Study model with video. 5 star rating Rachelle Sallee Angela Rowe M. ED. Since leaving the classroom, Angela has worked as an Instructional Coach for a K-5 elementary school.

# data[].attributes.headline
Student-Centered Coaching as a Path to Equity

# data[].attributes.subject
Student-Centered Coaching as a Path to Equity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(part 1 of a 3 part series)
Written by Julie Steele, Consultant with Diane Sweeney Consulting
In the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, a spotlight has illuminated many, formerly less visible, issues around equity. While this blog will address how instructional coaching can mitigate against some of these realities, we do not kid ourselves into thinking that instructional coaching provides all the answers to the myriad of inequalities in our school systems. What we do know is that Student-Centered Coaching provides pathways for coaches and teachers to work together to remove barriers through strategies that include questioning, listening, observing, reflecting, and revising plans for student learning.

Student-Centered Coaching is an evidence-based model for instructional coaching. We believe that instructional coaches are not content or strategy experts. Instead, we partner with teachers to co-plan and co-teach around goals and targets that focus on leading students to achieve mastery. This provides the necessary context to partner with teachers to look at student learning from an asset-based stance and make evidence-based decisions around their needs and readiness, thus working together to remove unnecessary obstacles that our students face. We are called to serve all students through coaching, and if the coaching model doesn't focus on students, then why do we bother?

Coaching into Standards-Based Goals Through a Student-Centered Lens
Because we believe that every student in our schools is worthy of high-quality instruction, our coaching stance is to partner with teachers to co-create standards-based goals focused on student learning. This attention to rigorous goals and high expectations is an equity practice that requires intentional conversations that focus on creating the highest levels of learning so that every student leaves your institution prepared for the next phase of their life.

One can argue that all schools work to create lessons centered around a rigorous curriculum that is aligned to state standards, and we don't disagree. The difference is that Student-Centered Coaching provides the necessary discourse for coaches and teachers to gain clarity around the standards in order to unpack them and co-create high-quality learning targets. This equity practice ensures that our instructional lens is hyper-focused on the students and their needs; academic, behavioral, and social-emotional, and prevents us from wavering from the high expectations we established early on.

When implementing Student-Centered Coaching, we work from positive assumptions about teachers and students. We believe that all students can master the learning which leads coaches and teachers to work together to develop strategies that serve each student. When we coach from this stance, conversations are focused on students, their learning, and where they fall in terms of progressing toward the learning targets. Students are not at risk of falling through the cracks because, with this type of partnership and commitment to the work, no student is in danger of being unseen.
Coaching Questions to Set Student-Centered Standards-Based Goals:

What do you hope the students will learn as a result of our partnership?

Let's look at the standards. How might they help us choose a focus?

What do we want to see the students doing as readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, etc.?

Is there any student work or data that could inform us as we set a goal?

Is there a specific unit in the curriculum that the goal addresses?

Many coaches ask how they can support teachers in setting goals that are standard-based and drive toward equity. The following list provides questions that can get the conversation started.

How We Define 'Mastery Learning'
Mastery learning is a term that can be used in many ways, sometimes with negative connotations. In its simplest form, mastery learning suggests that students move to new learning once they have demonstrated mastery of previous learning outlined in the standards, curriculum, or learning targets. This is somewhat contrary to the practice of assigning students to a grade level based solely on their chronological age.

In using the above definition, mastery learning forces educators to design outcomes that are driven by the learning not by the teaching. With the push toward personalized learning, blended learning, and other innovative teaching methods, our instructional systems and practices would be best aligned with the tenets of mastery learning rather than traditional ideas of seat time, pacing guides, and grades based on averages. However, this paradigm shift, along with the recent changes to the educational landscape dictated by the pandemic, forces us to think outside the one-size-fits-all traditional education box we've been working in for centuries. Student-Centered Coaching provides the partnership necessary to do this type of thinking and realignment.

To make this concept more visual, consider times in our lives when we are required to demonstrate mastery performance and not an average score based on multiple attempts at a goal. The most basic event adults have experienced would be learning to drive a car and then proceeding to take the "white knuckle mastery learning experience" we call a driver's test. Would you want someone to be given a driver's license who barely met the "average" score of a qualified driver after a handful of low-performing attempts, or would you expect someone to keep trying until they have met the high-level standard of safely navigating an automobile? (and parallel parking doesn't count.)

Just like drivers and passengers on the road, all students deserve the type of education that ensures the necessary practice time to demonstrate mastery learning in order to move forward in their education. We receive many questions about the idea of remaining student-centered by teaching to levels of mastery when some schools and districts subscribe to a pacing guide or packaged instructional resource that dictates instruction down to the day. While we certainly don't advise that teachers "go rogue" against the details of their teaching contract, we do recommend that teachers stay connected to their goals and learning targets by utilizing current student evidence to drive instructional decisions to move on.

The old adage, "go slow to move fast" applies here. If we don't slow down to provide students the time they need to achieve the learning they need today, how can we ever expect them to move forward without carrying those struggles with them? We are not suggesting stalling out instruction for all in order to help a handful of students. However, we can provide teachers coaching support that creates a plan for reteaching or intervention with the students who need more time to solidify their learning.
Coaching Questions to Establish Mastery:

What are the learning targets (success criteria) that will help the students reach the goal?

What will we look for to measure mastery? What evidence will students produce to defend their learning?

Do the learning targets address a balance of know, understand, and do? Do they go beyond lessons and activities?

How will we communicate the success criteria to students?

How can we continue to offer additional support for students when evidence shows the need?

Dialogue around establishing mastery is crucial in the planning phase of teaching so that all parties are clear on the expectations required for learning. Consider using the following questions to guide this phase of the coaching conversation.

Final Thoughts
We are in a time when teachers feel overwhelmed and exhausted. Many are at a loss for how to meet the needs of their students given the changes in how they are learning. Others feel they are being asked to do the work of two or three different instructional delivery models at one time, leaving them wondering if they are making any impact at all. Yet, they still desire to do what's right for their students. As Almarode and Vandas write (2018), "The gap between our desire to have an impact is determined by our willingness to struggle and persist with these decisions until we identify what works best for each and every learner in our schools and classrooms" ( p. 2). Student-Centered Coaching provides the space for teachers and coaches to lean into the important work of creating clarity around learning, thereby closing the gap for all students.

Read part 2 of this series where we discuss coaching to remove barriers and the necessary skills coaches can leverage in order to better support learning.

Almarode, J. and Vandas, K. (2018). Clarity For Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Julie Steele is a certified Student-Centered Coaching consulting with Diane Sweeney Consulting.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Student-Centered Coaching as a Pathway to Equity

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(part 1 of a 3 part series) Written by Julie Steele, Consultant with Diane Sweeney Consulting In the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, a spotlight has illuminated many, formerly less visible, issues around equity.

# data[].attributes.headline
Can We Please Stop Saying "Learning Loss"?

# data[].attributes.subject
Can We Please Stop Saying "Learning Loss"?

# data[].attributes.body
https://barkleypd.com/hot-topics/instructional-coaching/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Instructional Coaching Resources | Steve Barkley | Video & Articles

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Steve Barkley, a leading education consultant, shares instructional coaching resources including videos, articles, podcasts and more.

# data[].attributes.headline
Essential Guide for Student Centered Coaching

# data[].attributes.subject
Essential Guide for Student Centered Coaching

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Guide-Student-Centered-Coaching-School/dp/1544375352/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=instructional+coaching+books&qid=1635633469&qsid=141-1034553-7944105&s=books&sr=1-5&sres=1118206533%2C1412927242%2C1544375352%2C1506325262%2C141662368X%2C0578527405%2C195107579X%2C1945349484%2C1506307450%2C194760421X%2C1416629920%2C1118470435%2C1544319711%2C1544316984%2C1138649341%2C1951600568&srpt=ABIS_BOOK

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Student-Centered Coaching is an evidence-based model of professional learning that focuses on student outcomes. Grounded in the latest research and over ten years of field experience, The Essential Guide for Student-Centered Coaching introduces the philosophy and core practices for Student-Centered Coaching. Designed to accompany other books on Student-Centered Coaching, the authors provide a clear vision for how coaching can promote both teacher and student learning.

An emphasis on how coaching can be asset-based and focused on equity

Current research in adult learning and professional development

Examples of how to integrate curriculum into coaching cycles

Anecdotes that illustrate what Student-Centered Coaching looks like across grade levels and content areas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Essential Guide for Student-Centered Coaching: What Every K-12 Coach and School Leader Needs to Know

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Essential Guide for Student-Centered Coaching: What Every K-12 Coach and School Leader Needs to Know [Sweeney, Diane, Harris, Leanna S.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Essential Guide for Student-Centered Coaching: What Every K-12 Coach and School Leader Needs to Know

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/Principles-to-Actions--Ensuring-Mathematical-Success

# data[].attributes.headline
Developing the Coaching Mindset: Listening

# data[].attributes.subject
Developing the Coaching Mindset: Listening

# data[].attributes.body
https://connectedlearningpartnership.com/developing-the-coaching-mindset-listening/

# data[].attributes.body
https://i.pinimg.com/474x/a1/03/8d/a1038d59bd6d84edfe8f08cd9443a5e1.jpg

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/Catalyzing-Change-in-Early-Childhood-and-Elementary-Mathematics/

# data[].attributes.body
https://learn.sibme.com/courses/a-quick-guide-to-video-coaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Quick Guide to Video Coaching | Webinar On- Demand

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How can video enhance the instructional coaching experience? Join our conversation with Dr. Casey Kosiorek and Jim Thompson, authors of A Quick Guide to Video Coaching to learn how they worked together to improve teaching and learning with the aid of

# data[].attributes.body
http://www.pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
PZ's Thinking Routines Toolbox | Project Zero

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Toolbox organizes the Thinking Routines into categories that describe the types of thinking the routines help to facilitate. Some routines appear in more than one category, and some routines have different versions that offer modifications for specific age groups or more specific conceptual challenges.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Join educators Diane Sweeney and Brandon Lewis as they share their passion for student learning through conversations with coaches.

# data[].attributes.body
https://centerx.gseis.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Coaching-for-Questioning_NIrons_research_FINAL.pdf

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.dianesweeney.com/when-should-i-launch-coaching-cycles/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We are all grappling with what to expect when school returns. One thing we know is that this school year won't be normal. This means that coaching won't be normal either. If we fail to acknowledge this simple fact, then we fail to be responsive to what's right in front of us...a pandemic that is shaking the very fabric of our lives.

In the first few weeks of school, whether it's virtual or in person, teachers will be focused on building community in the classroom, supporting students with technology, setting norms with classrooms and families, and ensuring that all students have access to learning. While much of this occurs in a normal school year, it will be even more important as schools revamp their structures and procedures to maintain the safety of the community. Given this new reality, many coaches are wondering when and how to launch their first round of coaching cycles.

We anticipate that some teachers will be eager to start coaching cycles as the year begins. If this is the case, we'd say to go for it. Yet we also expect that others won't be quite ready for this type of work right off the bat. In these cases, it may feel like you are in a holding pattern, circling an airport and waiting to land.

While we aren't giving up on the importance of coaching cycles, we want to acknowledge that this year, it may take a bit longer to get there. In the same way that high quality teaching means being responsive to the needs of the learner, we know that our coaching must be responsive to teachers as well.

What Else Can I Be Doing?
The following list includes four ways that we can engage as a student-centered coach while waiting to formally launch coaching cycles.

1. Engaging in mini coaching cycles

2. Engaging in co-planning and co-teaching, just without the coaching cycle

3. Attending PLCs, department meetings, etc.

4. Planning units of study that will be taught virtually, in a blended fashion, or in person

Mini Coaching Cycles
Mini coaching cycles are a great way to stay student-centered without jumping into a 4-6 week long coaching cycle. A mini coaching cycle usually takes about two weeks and includes the following steps; 1) choose a learning target to focus on, 2) collect evidence of student learning related to the target, 3) use the evidence to co-plan a lesson, 4) co-teach the lesson, and 5) reflect on whether the students met the target and plan next steps.

Co-Planning and Co-Teaching
Another option is to engage in co-planning and co-teaching sessions either virtually or in person. This is a way to take the work deeper by identifying what the teacher would like the students to know and do, and then create a path to get there. The following coaching moves and language stems are helpful frames for any student-centered coaching conversation, especially when co-planning and co-teaching.
Student-Centered Coaching Moves

Use student evidence to ground coaching conversations

Work with teachers to assess where their students are before deciding what to teach next

Help teachers differentiate learning based on students' needs

Craft student-friendly learning targets with teachers

Co-construct ideas with teachers, rather than telling them what to do

Maintain a learning stance and carry an asset-based mindset towards teachers and students

Language Stems for Student-Centered Coaching

What do you hope students will learn?

Let's look at the standards and see if we are on the right track.

What is the learning target for the lesson?

What might the formative assessment look like?

I'm wondering about...

What are you trying to accomplish and how can I help you get there?

PLCs and Department Meetings
When participating in PLCs and department meetings, the key is to stay student-centered. Rather than joining a PLC and taking the stance of a resource provider, you could take the stance of a student-centered coach. This means that instead of just offering help through resources and ideas, your support takes the form of asking probing questions to uncover what the students need to know and do, and what it will take for them to be successful in their learning.

Unit Planning
Coaches can collaborate with teachers to plan how they will deliver instruction through unit planning. This includes discussions around standards, technology, and assessments. In the blog post, How Hyperdocs Can Transform Your Teaching, Jennifer Gonzalez provides an example of a unit that is housed in a technology-based hub. This means students must be more independent as they move through the learning. Teachers can benefit from working with a coach to develop and teach using these types of systems.

Some Resource Providing is OK, But Don't Get Stuck There
With the sudden shift to remote learning this spring, many coaches spent their time serving as resource providers. This included helping teachers set up online libraries, figuring out the learning management system, and making sure that students had access to the necessary technology. At the time, it made sense given what teachers were facing, and it still may be necessary to play this role with a new set of challenges as the school year begins. The issue arises when this is the only role that a coach plays because it will diminish the impact of the coaching program as a whole.

A strategy to help us avoid getting stuck as resource providers is to allow ourselves a few weeks to serve in this role and then put a date on the calendar for when to shift to more student-centered work. This creates some accountability without too much pressure. Additionally, we recommend for coaches to closely analyze how they are spending their time. This can be achieved through time audits and calendar reviews. If a coach isn't doing work that impacts student and teacher learning, then it's time to make some adjustments.

It is also important to communicate what your day-to-day work will look like to teachers. Rachel Jenner, a coach on our team, has created two videos that will be shared with the teachers in her high school. The first will be used as the year begins. In it she introduces herself, shares her coaching beliefs, and offers a variety of ways that she can support teachers during the beginning of the school year. The second will come a month or two into the year when she is ready to share how she will take her coaching work deeper. The idea is that this two phased approach will help teachers understand how her role will shift away from mostly resource providing as they get further into the year.

In Closing
There is no question that coaches need to make a measurable impact on teaching and learning. Yet we must also be sensitive about the current situation and be prepared to respond to teachers needs in this challenging time. While we are providing options for how a coach may wait to kick off cycles, we hope that before too long, coaches will be back to making an impact in this way. In the meantime, they can still focus on working with teachers in ways that are student-centered and support everyone's learning.
This blog post is included in our new course, Launching Student-Centered Coaching. For more information about the course, please visit https://www.dianesweeney.com/online-courses/.
© Diane Sweeney Consulting

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
When Should I Launch Coaching Cycles? - Diane Sweeney

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We are all grappling with what to expect when school returns. One thing we know is that this school year won't be normal. This means that coaching won't be normal either. If we fail to acknowledge this simple fact, then we fail to be responsive to what's right in front of us...a pandemic that is shaking the very fabric of our lives.

# data[].attributes.body
https://i.pinimg.com/474x/0e/68/91/0e689101fa5d7b3923972f5ff60209e7.jpg

# data[].attributes.headline
The Learning Zone/Hey Instructional Coach, What Do You Do?

# data[].attributes.subject
The Learning Zone/Hey Instructional Coach, What Do You Do?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Learning Zone / Hey Instructional Coach, What Do You Do?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gaining a deeper understanding of coaches’ roles and impact.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When teachers have time to think ahead and do pre-work, instructional planning meetings gain focus.

# data[].attributes.headline
Seven Qualities of an Instructional Coach

# data[].attributes.subject
Seven Qualities of an Instructional Coach

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Seven Qualities of an Instructional Coach

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Everybody needs a coach. Coaching is commonly thought about in terms of sports, however, coaching in the education setting has the ability to inspire, impact change, support, push thinking and be the

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Vol. 79

No. 2

Abstract

Slogging Uphill or Pulled by Enthusiasm?

Beyond Passive Compliance

When teachers choose the goals, professional development gains critical momentum.

Credit: October 2021

Abstract

Slogging Uphill or Pulled by Enthusiasm?

Beyond Passive Compliance

Chances are you have had experiences with professional development that doesn't work. Maybe teachers-possibly including you-have sat quietly in a compulsory workshop listening to someone talk about "standards" or "best practices" or "test results." Although the teachers were polite, their lack of eye contact with the presenter, or the lack of energy in the room, suggested that what was being described was not going to be implemented. Or maybe you've watched a video of a coaching conversation where the coach tries to give advice to a teacher who rejects each suggestion. The more enthusiastic the coach becomes, the less enthusiastic the teacher is. (Maybe you've even been that teacher.)

When professional learning doesn't work, professional developers are tempted to label teachers as resistant. "Why," they might ask, "won't these teachers do what I say?" But I have found that, in most cases, when teachers don't implement the ideas shared in workshops, it isn't their fault. It's the result of poorly designed professional development.

Slogging Uphill or Pulled by Enthusiasm?

I like to use a simple analogy to illustrate why professional development sometimes goes wrong. Imagine you are driving your car and you run out of gas. You can see a gas station a few hundred yards ahead at the top of a hill. Needing to get fuel, you and your passengers get out of your car and start pushing. But the car is heavy, and the hill is steep. Although you push harder and harder, eventually you give up. No matter how hard you work, you'll never get the car to the station by pushing.

When professional development is pushed onto teachers, it can be a lot like trying to push a car up the hill-a lot of work and not much progress.

Now imagine a different scenario. This time your car hits empty at the top of a hill. A few hundred yards ahead, at the bottom of the hill, you see a gas station. This time, to get to the station, you simply let gravity pull your car down the hill, adjusting the steering and touching the brakes to stay on track until you roll, almost effortlessly, into the station.

These two distinct strategies, push versus pull, also describe two different ways of designing professional development and coaching. When professional development is pushed onto teachers through compulsory workshops or advice-giving, it can be a lot like trying to push your car up the hill-a lot of work and not much progress. However, when professional development begins with teachers identifying a goal they really want to meet, the professional developer's role shifts from directing to supporting and helping teachers achieve what matters deeply to them. Professional development that's pulled by teachers' goals is PD that will likely get to an identified destination.

I first read about the distinction between push and pull in Robert Hargrove's Masterful Coaching.1 Hargrove writes that using pull is about "inviting people to discover their greatness" (p. 13) by declaring "an ambitious aspiration for themselves and their organization" (p. 346). "Pull" PD moves forward because of an emotionally compelling, powerful goal that matters deeply to the teacher and that will have a positive impact on
students.

"Push" PD, by contrast, is a remnant of old command-and-control models of leadership, in which a few smart people make most decisions and then put systems in place to push people to implement them. One vestige of the command-and-control paradigm is directive coaching: A coach watches a teacher teach, shares some observations, and then tells the teacher what she should do. Sadly, when teachers are simply told what to do, they often comply with the directive by looking for a way to do what they've been told to using the least amount of effort. The coaches in the coaching workshops I conduct understand Pull PD conceptually, but their questions give away that they're having trouble staying away from Push strategies: "What can I do," they often ask, "when teachers won't do what I suggest they should do?"

With Push PD, teachers are expected to implement something with fidelity even though they may not see the value of the innovation-and even if their district has a history of trying and dropping new innovations before they ever take hold. In many cases, teachers who are thinking "This too shall pass" aren't being negative; they are being realistic. Part of being realistic is not investing too much energy in a teaching methodology that will be gone within a year or two.

Beyond Passive Compliance

Not surprisingly, Push PD often engenders resistance. A mountain of research shows that most of us aren't motivated by others choosing goals for us. Push training creates dependency and inhibits creativity, often leading teachers to say, "Just tell me what to do, and I'll do it." Perhaps most troubling, since the Push model fails to encourage individual creativity, it often pushes talented teachers out the door.

In many cases, teachers who are thinking "This too shall pass," aren't being negative; they are being realistic. Part of being realistic is not investing too much energy in a teaching methodology that will be gone within a year or two.

Pull PD, however, is guided by teachers' decision making about what happens and should happen in the classroom. It respects teachers and treats them like professionals. When coaches take the Pull approach, they give teachers tools (reflection forms, video recordings of lessons, etc.) so that teachers can determine their own understanding of the reality of the classroom. Then coaches skillfully ask questions that empower teachers to identify important goals. Coaches who take the Pull approach do share ideas and strategies with teachers when it is helpful, but they always make suggestions tentatively, so the teacher is always the ultimate decision maker about what happens in her classroom.

Using a Pull approach doesn't mean being soft on people. Pull usually requires teachers to work hard, to courageously confront reality and step outside of their comfort zone. This effort is inspired by teachers' desire to see good things for their kids.

Pull goes against some deeply engrained ideas about how organizations should be structured and how PD should be delivered, so it can be hard to embrace. Inevitably, too, there will be some forms of professional development that must be shared through a Push approach. But the more teachers have a voice in their learning, the more control they have over their own growth, and, indeed, the more teachers are treated like professionals, the more real change will happen-real change that leads to better experiences for students.

Related Resource

Read more from Jim Knight in The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching: Seven Factors for Success.

End Notes

1 Hargrove, R. (2008). Masterful coaching: 3rd edition. New York: Pfeiffer.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action.

ASCD empowers educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Learning Zone / Pull Versus Push Professional Development

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Vol. 79 No. 2 Abstract Slogging Uphill or Pulled by Enthusiasm? Beyond Passive Compliance When teachers choose the goals, professional development gains critical momentum. Credit: October 2021 Abstract Slogging Uphill or Pulled by Enthusiasm? Beyond Passive Compliance Chances are you have had experiences with professional development that doesn't work.

# data[].attributes.headline
19 Essential Books to Understand Race and Equity in School

# data[].attributes.subject
19 Essential Books to Understand Race and Equity in School

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
19 Essential Books to Understand Race and Equity in School

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In honor of Juneteenth, I compiled a list of 19 essential books that can help educators not only better understand the elusive, pervasive, and persistence impact of race on schools, but also provide them with skills to challenge and mitigate its influence and provide marginalized students, especiall…

# data[].attributes.headline
Gains Over Losses: Change the Narrative on Pandemic Education

# data[].attributes.subject
Gains Over Losses: Change the Narrative on Pandemic Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Gains Over Losses: Change the Narrative on Pandemic Education

# data[].attributes.body
https://blog.sibme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Instructional-Coaching-with-video-2.png

Here is the link to the blog post - https://blog.sibme.com/blog/instructional-coaching/instructional-coaching-using-video/

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.amazon.com/Instructional-Playbook-Translating-Research-Practice/dp/1416629920/ref=sr_1_15?dchild=1&keywords=instructional+coaching+books&qid=1635633655&qsid=141-1034553-7944105&s=books&sr=1-15&sres=1118206533%2C1412927242%2C1544375352%2C1506325262%2C141662368X%2C0578527405%2C195107579X%2C1945349484%2C1506307450%2C194760421X%2C1416629920%2C1118470435%2C1544319711%2C1544316984%2C1138649341%2C1951600568&srpt=ABIS_BOOK

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In schools, every day is "game day." Every day, teachers need the best resources and forms of support because students deserve the best we as educators can offer. An instructional playbook aims to serve as that kind of support: a tool that coaches can use to help teachers match specific learning goals with the right research-based instructional strategies.

Coaches have enormous potential to help teachers learn and implement new teaching practices, but coaches will be effective only if they deeply understand the strategies they describe and their explanations are clear. The Instructional Playbook: The Missing Link for Translating Research into Practice addresses both issues head on and offers a simple and clear explanation of how to create a playbook uniquely designed to meet teachers' instructional needs.

The idea of an instructional playbook has caught fire since Jim Knight described it in The Impact Cycle (2017). This book helps instructional coaches create playbooks that produce a common language about high-impact teaching strategies, deepen everyone's understanding of what instructional coaches do, and, most important, support teachers and students in classrooms.

A joint publication of ASCD and One Fine Bird Press.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Instructional Playbook: The Missing Link for Translating Research into Practice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Instructional Playbook: The Missing Link for Translating Research into Practice [Knight, Jim, Hoffman, Ann, Harris, Michelle, Thomas, Sharon] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Instructional Playbook: The Missing Link for Translating Research into Practice

# data[].attributes.headline
Coaching and Culturally Responsive Teaching

# data[].attributes.subject
Coaching and Culturally Responsive Teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Vol. 77

No. 3

In her book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain (Corwin, 2018), Zaretta Hammond seeks to direct attention to the "cognitive aspects of teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students." For her, culturally responsive teaching is a multifaceted approach to fostering higher-order thinking and helping disadvantaged students become independent learners. A former teacher, Hammond believes that instructional coaches can play an essential role in helping educators grow in this practice.

You have misgivings about some current tendencies in professional development on culturally responsive teaching. Where do schools most often go wrong?

Culturally responsive teaching is about improving instruction and helping students of color who've historically been deprived due to structural inequities in our education system become better learners. When done right, it can be powerful in helping students improve their learning. But many educators confuse culturally responsive teaching with multicultural education or social justice education. There's nothing wrong with these things, but they're not about teaching children how to learn, which is the key. Unfortunately, in their haste to implement, schools oversimplify the algorithm-all the pieces that need to come together to get impact. Culturally responsive teaching is a multi-pronged methodology that works through synergy. As I detail in my book, it comprises cultural awareness, information processing, learning partnerships with students, and supportive learning environments. That's not the way it's generally promoted to teachers-it's promoted to them as a simple toolkit of strategies or surface content changes like adding diverse authors or including hip hop.

You say it's important for instructional coaches to generate "creative tension" with teachers in their work on culturally responsive teaching. What do you mean by that?

Good coaching is about being in partnership with teachers and helping them see what they need to do differently to get students to step into their learning in powerful ways. By generating creative tension, the coach can help the teacher see with new eyes what's often going too fast in the classroom, so the teacher can understand what's getting in the way. So, creative tension is a kind of gap analysis. We look into the classroom and help the teacher see current reality around the quality of relationships or who is carrying most of the cognitive load during instruction. That way, we are not just offering generic strategies, but truly helping the teacher get a sense of what she needs to keep doing because it's working and what she needs to stop doing because it's not working. What I see happening now is administrators expecting coaches to bring in a set of one-size-fits-all strategies, but not focus on improving ways to get students to actively process new content.

Are there reflective practices you'd recommend for instructional coaches who want to be better prepared to work with teachers on culturally responsive teaching?

Absolutely. Coaches need to sharpen their own equity lens first. They need to do their own "inside out" work around cultural proficiency and implicit bias. But they also have to delve into the science of learning. They have to understand the teaching moves that get underprepared students not only to re-engage, but also to learn at deeper levels. I'd strongly encourage coaches to engage in their own inquiry cycles and their own professional learning communities. Be a hawkish observer of student learning. Smart districts will invest in building capacity among their instructional coaching ranks before they roll out culturally responsive teaching to their teachers. They've typically done it kind of backwards, so that the coach is trying to learn alongside the teacher. That doesn't work.

Are there common red flags, in terms of teaching practice, coaches should be on the lookout for when helping teachers become more culturally responsive?

Yes, there are. Too often, in observations, we look for multicultural artifacts but don't look at whether students are becoming stronger learners. The first red flag is when a teacher makes culturally responsive teaching all about relationships but leaves instruction unchanged. The next one is, who's carrying the cognitive load? Is the teacher doing all the talking, and are the kids only talking when the teacher tells them they can, like in assigned group work? That's another misconception-that group work equals culturally responsive instruction. Doing more group work doesn't make the instruction culturally responsive. The coach has to understand what truly makes instruction "responsive" and assess how is the teacher igniting intellectual curiosity and chunking content so there are cognitive hooks that draw on students' understanding and current experience.

In your experience, what keeps teachers motivated as they do the difficult work of becoming culturally responsive educators? How can coaches help them keep the vision alive?

Well, I think the key is to start small. You can't just go in and say, "We're going to be culturally responsive in these four areas in 2 months." That's too much and unrealistic. You want to focus on a small, high-leverage step. It might be a shift in how feedback is delivered. Or it can be making the classroom an intellectually safe place so students aren't afraid to take risks. Or it might be a change in classroom routines or rituals. Coaches can help teachers find that "lead domino" of success. This creates curiosity and a process of inquiry that honors teacher knowledge and expertise.

Here's the thing: Coaching around culturally responsive teaching is about helping teachers improve the dynamic within the instructional core so that kids learn better, so they want to take on hard things. That's the dance of instruction, and it can be very exciting. That's what coaches are there to promote.

Editor's Note: This interview has been edited for space.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action.

ASCD empowers educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Turn & Talk / Zaretta Hammond on Coaching and Culturally Responsive Teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Vol. 77 No. 3 In her book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain (Corwin, 2018), Zaretta Hammond seeks to direct attention to the "cognitive aspects of teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students." For her, culturally responsive teaching is a multifaceted approach to fostering higher-order thinking and helping disadvantaged students become independent learners.

# data[].attributes.headline
Partnering with Parents in Elementary School Math: A Guide for Teachers and Leaders

# data[].attributes.subject
Partnering with Parents in Elementary School Math: A Guide for Teachers and Leaders

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Why This Book Now?

Examining Your Core Beliefs

What Role Have You Played?

What is a Parents Role in Their Child's Mathematics Learning?

The Goal and Structure of This Book

Stepping Into Parents' Shoes

Asking Parents About School Communication

Frequently Asked Questions

Apply It! Teacher Activity

Apply It! Leader Activity

Understanding What Parents Need to Know About Today's Math

What Parents Really Need to Know About Today's Math

What Parents Really Need to Know About Their Child's Math

Frequently Asked Questions

Apply It! Teacher Activity

Apply It! Leader Activity

Planning Effective School-wide Mathematics Communication

The Determining Roles of All Stakeholders

Crafting and Communicating Consistent School-wide Policies

Getting Buy-In and Commitment from All Stakeholders

Frequently Asked Questions

Apply It! Teacher Activity

Apply It! Leader Activity

Exploring How to Communicate with Parents About Math

What Makes Written Communication With Parents Effective?

Tools For Communication and When to Use Them

Traditional Communication

Frequently Asked Questions

Apply It! Teacher Activity

Exploring What to Communicate to Parents About Math

Reaching Parents-at-large

Reaching Parents-as-a-class

Reaching Parents-as-individuals

Frequently Asked Questions

Apply It! Teacher Activity

Apply It! Leader Activity

Frequently Asked Questions

Apply It! Teacher Activity

Apply It! Leader Activity

Conclusion: Shifting the Narrative

Our Top 8 Ways to Support Parents in Mathematics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Partnering With Parents in Elementary School Math

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why This Book Now? Examining Your Core Beliefs What Role Have You Played? What is a Parents Role in Their Child's Mathematics Learning? The Goal and Structure of This Book Stepping Into Parents' Shoes Asking Parents About School Communication Frequently Asked Questions Apply It! Teacher Activity Apply It!

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.amazon.com/Literacy-Coachs-Handbook-Second-Research-Based/dp/1462507700/ref=asc_df_1462507700/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241995309321&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=784381481552959008&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016798&hvtargid=pla-498917085319&psc=1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Literacy Coach's Handbook, Second Edition: A Guide to Research-Based Practice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amazon.com: The Literacy Coach's Handbook, Second Edition: A Guide to Research-Based Practice: 9781462507702: Walpole PhD, Sharon, Michael C. McKenna: Books

# data[].attributes.headline
11 Ways Coaches Can Improve their Active Listening 

# data[].attributes.subject
11 Ways Coaches Can Improve their Active Listening 

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/07/26/11-ways-coaches-can-improve-their-active-listening-and-connect-with-their-clients/?sh=47dde0b870b8

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As a coach, understanding is the first step toward offering sound advice. Unless a coach is aware of the exact nature of and meaning behind a question or problem, the information and guidance they give might not be exactly what the client needs.

Active listening skills help coaches draw out the core of an issue and begin to solve problems with a bit more depth; therefore, it's an essential factor in establishing a positive relationship with a client. To help coaches take proactive steps toward improvement, 11 members of Forbes Coaches Council discuss some of the ways that coaches can better their active listening skills, and how doing so can help them build rapport with their clients.
1. Take Notes
Taking notes helps you be focused and actively listen to your client. It ensures that you do not miss anything and you are able to give them accurate feedback. This helps because the client will know that you have listened to them and they will want to open up more. - Stephannie Addo, Dr. Stephannie Addo Enterprises
2. Engage All The Senses
The reason that coaching is such a powerful tool is that it activates authenticity within the client. Coaches are successful at doing this when their awareness is focused on the full sensory experience of being with the client. This means listening to the words that are being said as well as tuning into the heart and mind. - Laura Calandrella, Laura Calandrella Consulting
3. Listen Before Thinking
Listen to what the client has to say, then think of your response. If you are drumming up your response while the other person is talking, you're not truly listening and internalizing what they're saying. To best help them, you need to know exactly what they are communicating to you. Listening intently can make their concerns feel valued and will help you formulate a more helpful solution. - Andy Bailey, Petra Coach
4. Use Your 'Third Ear'
Part of active listening is using your third ear, which means that you are tuning in to things that your client may not be aware that they are even saying. It's listening for themes in their thinking and patterns in their behavior that may or may not be serving them. Develop this skill by tuning into the unspoken meaning behind your colleagues' words-their desires, biases, and concerns. - Loren Margolis, Training & Leadership Success LLC
5. Practice Active Curiosity
A key way for coaches to develop active listening skills is to first develop curiosity on behalf of the client. When we are curious, we naturally listen more intently, we suspend judgment and we are able to reflect back to the client what we have heard. This builds trust and rapport because the client feels heard and affirms that the coach has a genuine interest in what the client is sharing. - Barrett McBride, Ph.D., MCC, Barrett McBride & Associates
6. Take One Deep Breath
When actively listening, try this simple technique: take one deep, slow breath before you respond to anything said by your client. This forces you to pause, consider and connect with your response, and it also reflects the fact that you are listening, rather than preparing only to respond. You'll notice that your active listening skills improve quickly when you take on deep, slow breaths. - John Hittler, Evoking Genius
7. Pay Attention To Communication Style
As a coach, it's important to be aware of your client's communication style and rhythm. Genuinely listen-not to respond, but to help guide the client to be in tune and able to self-discovery. Also, pay attention to times where the client may be hyperactive so that, as the coach, you stay on the calm side of hyperactive. This will build trust and rapport. - Nadidah Coveney, CTM Consulting Group LLC
8. Practice With A Friend
Because active listening seems to be a declining skill for many people, my coach friends and I practice it with each other. When we are not actively listening or are interrupting another's a conversation, we call each other out. Being intentional about practicing and modeling active listening means it becomes second nature. You don't have to think about it, it becomes innate. - Frances McIntosh, Intentional Coaching LLC
9. Quiet The Mind
One of the best skills a coach can develop is learning to quiet their mind. This can be best practiced through daily meditation. A benefit of practicing meditation is being able to quiet the mind, in real-time, when you need to hyperfocus on a conversation. By quieting your mind, you can contribute to a conversation by making the client feel heard, appreciated and connected to you and the firm. - Jon Dwoskin, The Jon Dwoskin Experience
10. Watch Your Speaking-Listening Ratio
Actively listening to clients is the key to building rapport. When developing their active listening skills, a coach should carefully watch their ratio of speaking to listening. Silence can be used as a tool by waiting to see what is going on in the client's head. You should continue to ask good questions to solicit information and use reflection techniques to stay engaged but wait for a full answer. - Kathi Graham-Leviss, XBInsight, Inc.
11. Use Listening Responses
Using listening responses is an effective way for coaches to demonstrate an understanding of a client's feelings and thoughts when engaged in coaching dialogue. During the conversation, responding with "Listening to you, I hear you say..." lets the client know they are being listened to and the focus is on them. This gives them a chance to clarify their response if what's repeated back is not accurate. - Jonathan Silk, Bridge 3 LLC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Council Post: 11 Ways Coaches Can Improve Their Active Listening And Connect With Their Clients

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As a coach, understanding is the first step toward offering sound advice. Unless a coach is aware of the exact nature of and meaning behind a question or problem, the information and guidance they give might not be exactly what the client needs.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.mrspark.org/free

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/educator-resources/teacher-beliefs/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are 8 teacher beliefs that support social and emotional learning. They are a set of principles and values for teachers. Read more!

# data[].attributes.body
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1egVjvOYcrbdi1QfFvTurGpo1KEIIT3_dmhhiHMPYQP8/edit

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bettes Coach's Corner Newsletter Issue 1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
This is some text inside of a div block.This is some text inside of a div block.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coaching During COVID: 6 Key Takeaways from Jim Knight and Diane Lauer

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We talked district strategy, coach-teacher communication, and much more in a live Q&A with Jim Knight of the Instructional Coaching Group and Diane Lauer of St. Vrain Valley Schools. Read on for highlights on adapting instructional coaching to a virtual context.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.mrspark.org/free

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Subscribe to The Bright Morning Podcast to never miss an episode.

Become a Friend of the Podcast to support and sustain our work.

Explore individual episode posts for show notes, transcripts, and prompts for reflection.

Do you have a podcast-based inquiry? Complete this form.

Elena Aguilar is a force in conversations about school leadership, teams, and equity. To read her books and attend her workshops is some of the best professional development you can ask for. Only one episode in, I can already tell these podcasts will stay with me for weeks, months, years, as I think about how we can build a more equitable world through schools. The hard work involves countless daily interactions and conversations, and Elena helps model and ask questions about how to do that best.
surfinglibrarian

I'm so glad I got to binge on this podcast this long weekend before starting the new school year. It's a niche that I have not found, and I find these episodes so enriching and rejuvenating. I feel more in community with other educators who are grappling with tough questions re: equity, leadership, etc. Thank you for your work, Elena!
xwu1

Our listeners are the reason for our podcast and we couldn't do it without your support.

We know support comes in many forms. For some, the way they can or want to support us is via shout-outs on social media, likes on Instagram, sharing the podcast with friends and reviews on iTunes. Those make a big difference for us and we are so grateful for each and every one.

For those who can and want to do more, we invite you to become a Friend of the Show. For the cost of a cup of coffee a month, our Friends keep our show ad-free and accessible to all. They also receive an in-episode shout-out, automatic entry for a spot in our Onward Book Club, the opportunity to submit questions and ideas to our podcast team, and special invitations, such as being offered the opportunity to be coached by Elena on our coaching conversation episodes.
If you love the show and are able to support our work, we would be incredibly grateful if you became a Friend.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Best-selling author and coaching expert, Elena Aguilar, brings weekly tips, tools, and wisdom to educators with one goal: to help you thrive. Do you have a podcast-based inquiry? Complete this form. What listeners are saying... Elena Aguilar is a force in conversations about school leadership, teams, and equity.

# data[].attributes.body
https://learn.teachingchannel.com/coaching/coaching-look-like

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
< Teaching Channel Guide to Coaching

Like with teaching, coaches need to differentiate their instruction to meet the needs of the teachers they work with. But though there is no "one size fits all" approach, coaches can find success using a structured coaching cycle. The coaching cycle generally consists of four components: goal setting, planning, observation, and reflection. Each step is done collaboratively between the teacher and the coach.

To further understand what instructional coaching looks like, let's look at some different examples of coaching in action.

Just Starting Out?
If you're new to being a coach, begin to wrap your head around your new role by reading this blog about transitioning from being a teacher to being a coach.

Check it out! Learners Edge Course 5084: Impactful Instructional Coaching: Reflection, Support, Growth!
Let's Observe
In this video, we get to see three parts of the coaching cycle: planning, observation, and reflection. Notice how the teacher and coach work together during each step of the process.

Just as there's no single way to be an effective teacher, there's no single way to measure effective teaching." Read more...

The Benefits of Coaching
In these videos, two teachers share how working with instructional coaches has affected their teaching practices. As you watch, notice the relationships that have been built between teachers and coaches.

Setting the Stage for Success
Sometimes getting started can feel like the hardest part. In this blog, five coaches share what they do in September to set them up for success all year long.
Coaching for Equity
In this video series, learn how to coach for improvement, equity, and quality. Read the playlist blog by Tch Laureate Josh Parker, who shares what he's learned as an instructional coach and provides the background for this series of videos that show an entire coaching cycle, the observation process, and post-observation session.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teaching Channel Guide to Coaching Like with teaching, coaches need to differentiate their instruction to meet the needs of the teachers they work with. But though there is no "one size fits all" approach, coaches can find success using a structured coaching cycle. The coaching cycle generally consists of four components: goal setting, planning, observation, and reflection.

# data[].attributes.headline
Strategies for Building Relationships as an Instructional Coach

# data[].attributes.subject
Strategies for Building Relationships as an Instructional Coach

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
At TeachBoost, we love to ask instructional coaches what tools they include in their instructional coaching toolbox. Our guest blogger, Megan Ryder, was generous enough to share some of her acquired strategies for building relationships as an instructional coach.
Before becoming an instructional coach I was a classroom teacher for seven years. As a new coach, I came to realize that not only is building relationships one of the most important steps to coaching and collaborating with teachers, but that it doesn't happen overnight either.

Now that I've been in schools for a few years, I have moved from building relationships to maintaining them with a majority of the staff. While there are new staff members who I start relationships with every year, for the most part I have worked hard to make connections that allow for more meaningful coaching interactions.

Below I've reflected over my favorite five strategies from my instructional coach "Relationship Toolbox" that have been successful for me as a coach over the past few years.

A few years ago, one my colleagues saw me in the teacher's lounge as I was working on professional development resources and said something that really stuck with me. She told me that when she sees me, she always remembers something she wants to share or ask. When she doesn't see me on a regular basis, she forgets to reach out to me when she has a question. This reminds me of the phrase "Out of sight, out of mind"--even though my office is in a different location from my schools, I am rarely there. I make it a priority to be in my schools as much as possible.

At the beginning of the school year, I remind the teachers where they can find me when I am not working with a teacher in a classroom. My schedule and location vary from day to day and, since I have multiple buildings, I indicate my location during the day by using the status updates in Gmail Chat or Hangouts .

Just as important, to "be present", I've taken note where teachers in each of my buildings gather before, during, and after school. This allows me to join in personal conversations about everyone's weekend, pets, children, etc.--getting to know teachers on a personal level is important when building relationships.

Before I could start building relationships, however, teachers needed to have an understanding of what my job was and why I was there each week. Introducing myself and defining my role in my schools was important.

Every year I have given the same message in each of my buildings--just in a different manner and every year I have requested time from my building's principals to be able to do this. Their support has been wonderful and has been an integral part in communicating how I can support teachers as their colleague .

Since I am constantly Tweeting when co-teaching in classrooms, I decided to take my Tweets and create a monthly newsletter using Storify . Using Storify to categorize my Tweets into 3 categories (lessons in the classroom, teacher collaboration, and resources) helps me communicate my monthly coaching happenings. My newsletters have sparked conversations with teachers and have lead to more co-teaching and collaboration sessions.

Most of my time is spent working one-on-one with teachers. In between teacher coaching, collaboration, and co-teaching, I take time to visit the classrooms. Since my role is non-evaluative and I am a supportive colleague, this helps in building relationships with the teachers. My visits are short, but they have a purpose.

The goal is to have an understanding of what students are learning so I can best support teacher and student growth, and I communicate this to teachers at the beginning of the year. Visiting classrooms can lead to small, but mighty coaching opportunities.

Who doesn't love candy or chocolate? Throughout the year I create mailbox notes to communicate and connect with the teachers. Some notes are little "pick me up" notes to encourage teachers. Others focus on reminders of how I can support teachers after district institute days. Even though I send occasional emails to all of the teachers, I also try to create paper notes because this communication method stands out more than an email.

On the first day of school I try my best to see each teacher in my three buildings. I give them each a water bottle with a personal greeting and wish everyone a happy "First Day of School". This lets them know that I am thinking of them and hope they have an awesome start to the year.

The tweets from teachers in our district are my priority. To stay organized with Twitter, I use TweetDeck. I setup my TweetDeck columns so that I have our district hashtag, individual school building hashtags, and my own generated list of district teachers.

These are the first tweets I look at when I'm using the tool. I can use teacher tweets to start up conversations that lead to coaching and collaboration opportunities, and teachers now come to me and ask if I have seen their recent tweets to talk about learning targets and classroom activities. Retweeting teacher tweets can help share our district's story with the global education community.

Overall, it's important to remember that building relationships with teachers takes time. I've worked hard to create positive collegial connections so that I can best support teacher and student growth and each year I reflect and add new ideas into my "Relationship Toolbox".

What are some of your favorite strategies to build relationships as an instructional coach?

About our Guest Blogger

Megan Ryder started her educational career on figure skates, teaching basic skills to skaters of all ages while working on her elementary education degree at Western Michigan University. Megan completed her masters degree in Instructional Technology from Lewis University in 2012. After teaching fifth grade for seven years, she became an instructional coach for two elementary schools and one middle school.

She is also an Apple Distinguished Educator , Class of 2015. Follow Megan on Twitter @MrsRyder58 and @365DaysEDUCoach for daily instructional coaching ideas, tips, and resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Strategies for Building Relationships as an Instructional Coach

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At TeachBoost, we love to ask instructional coaches what tools they include in their instructional coaching toolbox. Our guest blogger, Megan Ryder, was generous enough to share some of her acquired strategies for building relationships as an instructional coach. Before becoming an instructional coach I was a classroom teacher for seven years.

# data[].attributes.headline
Are Math Coaches the Answer to Lagging Achievement?

# data[].attributes.subject
Are Math Coaches the Answer to Lagging Achievement?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
American children largely struggle in math, national and international exam results show. Could providing their teachers with dedicated math coaches help?

Educators say math is a subject that's particularly ripe for instructional coaching. There has long been concern that teachers' preparation in math content, especially in the elementary and middle grades, is weak. With the shift to tougher math standards over the past decade, teachers are also taxed with having to teach the subject in ways different from how many of them were taught. Plus, research suggests that teachers can subconsciously pass on their own attitudes about math to students, including anxiety, which can hurt student achievement.

Most important, a sizable body of research shows that one-on-one coaching can improve instructional practice and student achievement, more so than other professional-development offerings for teachers. Much of the research focuses on literacy coaching, but a growing number of studies have found positive effects in math coaching, too.

"You're helping teachers to understand the mathematics they're teaching so they know how to support the student experience," said Mona Toncheff, the president of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, on the role of math coaches.

Just 3 percent of elementary teachers and 45 percent of middle school math teachers have a degree in mathematics or math education, according to the 2018 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education. (In contrast, 79 percent of high school math teachers have a degree in their fields.) And analyses have shown that in many teacher-preparation programs, future teachers tend to take math-methods courses that cover instructional strategies rather than courses steeped in math content.

"Some K-5 teachers have literally told me, 'I became an elementary teacher because I didn't like math,' " Toncheff said. "Part of mathematical coaching is helping develop [teachers'] mathematical identity in a more positive way."

Because coaches are in the trenches with teachers, their help is relevant and timely, experts say. As a middle school math coach and interventionist in De Pere, Wis., Adrianne Burns offers resources, helps teachers thoroughly understand math content and the curriculum's progression, and guides teachers through deciding which direction they want to take in their lessons.

Instead of teachers attending stand-alone professional-development workshops, math coaching "just becomes part of our everyday meetings: This is what they're struggling with; let's talk about how they can do it," Burns said. "The coaching becomes just having another teammate."

What Works

"It's not just, you go in the classroom once and expect a transformational change in instruction, but it's ongoing," Toncheff said. "There's follow-up."

This type of collaborative, intensive math coaching is hard to do if coaches have other responsibilities, experts warn. "Trying to empower teachers is at the forefront of a math coach's mind, and if they are tied to other things-teaching their own classes, spread across multiple subjects-it's much harder to do that," said Aimee Ellington, a math professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

"[A teacher] working regularly, consistently with the coach to improve math instruction for students is the key," Ellington said. "Just having somebody in the building to provide help if teachers happen to ask isn't enough."

It takes time for coaches to win teachers over, she said. Math coaches typically spend the first year of a new program getting to know teachers and helping them realize that their work is not evaluative. In the 2017 study, the percentage of teachers who were highly engaged with the coach increased from 40 percent in the first year to about 52 percent in year two.

After all, getting buy-in from teachers can be tricky. Coaching "can have that stigma that 'I'm not doing something right, and that's why the coach is in with me,' " said Burns, the Wisconsin coach.

This is just the second year that Burns has coached in the school-and the first time the De Pere school has ever had a math coach. Burns said she's trying to build a culture of support and continuous improvement through attending all the professional learning community meetings and offering help with evaluation goals. She wants teachers to see her as a valuable ally in math instruction.

"Everybody can improve their teaching-there's always things we recognize we can do better," she said. "Teachers don't know that they need a coach, because they didn't know there was this thing they could be doing that a coach could help with."

Threats to Quality

If coaching is going to fulfill what many see as its potential to lift the quality of math instruction, it will have to be scaled up-and, some say, it will have to cost less. Research has found that in general, the effectiveness of a coaching program declines as the number of teachers who are being coached increases. And yet more teachers in a program generally reduces the per-teacher cost.

"It's quite possible that in bringing coaching to scale, we're going to dilute its effectiveness so much that it's not an effective program," said Matthew Kraft, an associate professor of education and economics at Brown University.

The coaching took place only during the first year of the study, but researchers continued to track participating teachers' work for a second year. They found that teachers were delivering richer, more student-centered instruction after participating in coaching, which was sustained even after the coaching stopped. Students also reported that their teachers' instruction improved. But there was a catch: Test results did not show a significant increase in student learning.

"We found that the distance-based coaching program, in not a small way but in a sizable, meaningful way, substantially changed the quality of mathematics instruction," Kraft said. "It was both surprising and disappointing that we didn't see a corresponding increase in either [student scores] on the state standardized test or a formative assessment."

That might have been the result of tests that didn't capture deeper learning, effects that were too small to distinguish from those that might be due to chance, or identification of the wrong teaching practices as effective, Kraft said.

Further research, he said, should focus on what type of coaching model is more effective-directive or reflective? in-house or distance-based?-as well as how many times a coach should meet with a teacher in order to get results. He also wants to find additional ways to maintain coaching's effectiveness while keeping it affordable for districts.

The price tag will be increasingly an issue this fall, as districts brace for a precipitous drop in state funding because of the pandemic's impact on the economy. In the past, said Ellington of Virginia Commonwealth University, districts have been creative in how they find funding for math coaching, but she's worried that those programs could now fall to the chopping block.

Even now, with school buildings closed, math coaches are playing an important role in instruction, she said. The math coaches she works with in Virginia have pulled together packets to send to parents, helped teachers do online remote instruction, and worked with administrators to decide how the math curriculum should look for the rest of the disrupted school year.

As budgets take shape for the coming school year, Ellington predicted, calls will be made for more classroom teachers and fewer coaches. But thinning the ranks of coaches would be a mistake, she said. They are the ones who "keep math [learning] moving during these times."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Are Math Coaches the Answer to Lagging Achievement?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
American children largely struggle in math, national and international exam results show. Could providing their teachers with dedicated math coaches help? Educators say math is a subject that's particularly ripe for instructional coaching. There has long been concern that teachers' preparation in math content, especially in the elementary and middle grades, is weak.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Coaching is a supportive, job-embedded, ongoing, and personalized form of professional learning. The work of coaching is built on the goal of supporting and empowering teachers to increase student learning, create positive student identities, and develop confident users of mathematics. Just as becoming a highly skilled teacher is a journey, so too is becoming a highly skilled mathematics coach or developing a robust mathematics coaching program.

The nine essential actions for mathematics coaching and coaching programs as identified in the NCSM Essential Action series: Coaching in Mathematics Education (2018) are shown below. Select each action to explore tools, videos, and books designed to support and strengthen mathematics coaching practices and programs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Coaching is a supportive, job-embedded, ongoing, and personalized form of professional learning. The work of coaching is built on the goal of supporting and empowering teachers to increase student learning, create positive student identities, and develop confident users of mathematics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Help new and veteran teachers improve their practice by implementing a few simple strategies.

# data[].attributes.headline
Why Teacher Autonomy Is Central to Coaching Success

# data[].attributes.subject
Why Teacher Autonomy Is Central to Coaching Success

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Vol. 77

No. 3

Abstract

What Teacher Autonomy Isn't

Fostering Self-Determination

Responsible Accountability

An Example of Responsible Accountability

The Complexity of Teaching

Feedback as Dialogue

Questions of Fidelity

Real Choices

To foster improvement and responsible accountability, instructional coaches must honor teachers' choices and discretion.

Abstract

What Teacher Autonomy Isn't

Fostering Self-Determination

Responsible Accountability

An Example of Responsible Accountability

The Complexity of Teaching

Feedback as Dialogue

Questions of Fidelity

Real Choices

"When [people] cannot choose, [they] cease to be [people]." -Anthony Burgess

Instructional coaches often feel intense pressure to promote change. Like most everyone else in education, coaches want students to succeed, and they frequently measure their success by whether they drive changes that improve students' learning and well-being. This pressure to move the needle can lead coaches and administrators to take a directive approach to coaching-telling teachers what they've done right and wrong and what they must do to improve. But in fact, as research has shown and as I've found in my own work on coaching, this is not the way to help teachers flourish.

Indeed, after studying coaching for more than 20 years, I have concluded that recognizing and honoring teacher autonomy is an essential and fundamental part of effective coaching.

What Teacher Autonomy Isn't

Before discussing why autonomy is essential, it is important to recognize what autonomy is not. In any organization, there are non-negotiables that must be adhered to-rare is the school where a teacher can say "I'm not much of a morning person; I think I'll start teaching at noon." And choosing to be unprofessional in conduct should not be a choice available to anyone involved in educating our children. No one in a school is free to bully students, be a toxic force on teams, or decide that they no longer need to improve. Fortunately, such unprofessional behavior is rare, but when it exists, it needs to be dealt with directly by administrators. Refraining from upholding professional standards of acceptable teaching is not a matter of honoring autonomy.

But genuine autonomy is a key aspect of coaching work, one that can be complex and challenging for coaches to manage. Indeed, when coaches and leaders recognize the importance of autonomy, they may need to rethink many traditional elements of professional development, including accountability, feedback, and fidelity.

Fostering Self-Determination

An ever-increasing body of research shows that professionals are rarely motivated when they have little autonomy. Researchers have illuminated why autonomy is essential for motivation and why exclusively top-down approaches to change are almost always guaranteed to fail (Amabile et al., 1996; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Pink, 2009; Seligman, 2012).

Edward Deci and Richard Ryan (2000) synthesized their decades of research on motivation into what they referred to as Self-Determination Theory. They proposed that people have three innate human needs-competence, autonomy, and relatedness-that will increase motivation when met and decrease motivation when not met. That is, people will feel motivated when they (a) are competent at what they do, (b) have a large measure of control over their lives, and (c) are engaged in positive relationships. The opposite is also true: When people are controlled and told what to do, aren't in situations where they can increase their competence, and aren't experiencing positive relationships, their motivation will decrease, and they will be "crushed" (p. 68). Research in education has firmly established that this dynamic applies to teachers (Sparks & Malkus, 2015).

Despite evidence of the importance of autonomy, however, research suggests that autonomy is decreasing in schools. One survey-based study found that teachers' perceptions of their autonomy decreased significantly from 2003 to 2012 (Sparks & Malkus, 2015). Close to one in four teachers reported they had no control or only minor control over the books they used, the content they taught, teaching techniques, student evaluation, student discipline, or the amount of homework they gave students.

Coaches must work to change this dynamic. If we want engaged and motivated teachers, we need to ensure that they have significant choices about what they do, including having the right to say no to particular proposals. Choices are the way we define our own humanity-who we are-so stripping away people's right to choose is dehumanizing (Block, 1993).

When professionals are told what to do and given no choice, the best possible outcome is likely compliance-and compliance is not enough to do the complex work needed in our schools. As Daniel Pink writes in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (2009):

Living a satisfying life requires more than simply meeting the demands of those in control. Yet in our offices and classrooms, we have way too much compliance and way too little engagement. The former might get you through the day, but only the latter will get you through the night. (p.112)

Responsible Accountability

One obstacle to honoring teachers' autonomy, in my view, is that school leaders and policymakers often misunderstand the role of accountability. Usually, the term is used to describe how educators are obligated to do something for some external reason. It's common, for example, to hear that teachers' professional learning must be driven by adherence to a mandated instructional program or initiative. Or that teachers must be told what to work on based on school or district priorities.

I refer to such understandings of accountability as irresponsible accountability. This kind of accountability places all the responsibility for decision making outside the teacher. Such an approach is bound to fail. People are rarely motivated by others' goals, and a one-size-fits-all model of change rarely provides helpful solutions for the individual complexities of each unique classroom.

Recently, at a coaching workshop I conducted in Kansas, an instructional coach from Texas painted a vivid picture of what irresponsible accountability can look like in schools. She told us about an interaction that took place when her principal went to talk with a teacher about her students' low test scores. When the principal raised the issue, the teacher pointed out that she was implementing the program the district had told her to implement. "I did everything I was told to do, and I did it with fidelity," she said. "If my students aren't doing well, I'm not the problem-it's your program."

Responsible accountability is different. When educators are responsibly accountable, their professional learning is driven by what they have determined will have an impact on their students' learning. In this way, they are accountable to the improvement process-and to students, parents, other stakeholders, and the profession of teaching. Responsible accountability entails a genuine individual commitment to learning and growth.

An Example of Responsible Accountability

Instructional coaching, done well, should foster responsible accountability. During coaching, teachers should have a great deal of autonomy even though they are learning with a coach. For instance, a coach using the impact cycle (Knight, 2018), with stages for identifying, learning, and improving, might video record a lesson and provide the teacher with some suggestions to better interpret what the video reveals.

Following this, the coach and teacher usually have a coaching conversation to identify a goal that the teacher really cares about and that will have an unmistakably positive impact on student learning or well-being. Once a goal is set, they identify a teaching strategy the teacher will implement in an attempt to hit the goal.

During the learning stage, the coach and teacher collaborate to prepare the teacher to implement the new strategy effectively. This often involves the coach explaining the strategy and the teacher modifying it to better meet her students' needs. Often the teacher watches the coach, another teacher, or a video to better understand the strategy before implementing it. Finally, during the improving stage, the teacher, in partnership with the coach, makes adaptations until the goal is met.

Let's look at how this might play out for an individual teacher. Imagine a teacher who views a video recording of her lesson and sees that only 5 of her 31 students responded to the questions she asked. In conversation with her coach, she might decide to set a goal of increasing the number of students responding to questions during each lesson to 20. Once she has set the goal, she and the coach can discuss various strategies she might use to meet it. For example, she might try thinking prompts, effective questions, or a cooperative-learning approach such as think, pair, share (Knight, 2013). She or the coach could videotape her lessons to monitor her progress. As long as she remains committed to her goal, she can keep partnering with the coach to identify strategies or refine what she is implementing until she hits her goal.

This is professional learning that is undeniably accountable-measurable changes will occur that will mean real improvements for students. However, this type of professional learning also involves a high degree of autonomy: The teacher, with support from the coach, observes her own lesson, sets her own goal, adapts the teaching strategies she implements, monitors progress, and determines when she has hit the goal.

The Complexity of Teaching

School leaders and coaches must also understand that teaching is not something that can be boiled down to a set of prescriptive steps. Its complexity requires independent decision making and self-directed growth.

In a groundbreaking study published in 2002, researchers Sholom Glouberman and Brenda Zimmerman broke down the complexity levels of different work tasks. They identified three different types of tasks: simple, complicated, and complex. A simple task, like baking a cake, involves a set of steps that will produce the same results each time when the steps are followed. A complicated task, Glouberman and Zimmerman argued, like putting a person on the moon, involves much more intricate work, but it still involves formulas and steps that should produce predictable outcomes. A complex task, like raising a 3-year old, cannot be broken down into a set of steps because every day and every child is different.

Leadership experts Alexander Grashow, Ronald Heifetz, and Marty Linsky (2009) have described the kinds of challenges presented by simple and complicated tasks as technical challenges. Such challenges "have known solutions that can be implemented by current know-how. They can be resolved through the application of authoritative expertise" (p.19). By contrast, the kinds of challenges presented by complex tasks are adaptive challenges:

Adaptive challenges can only be addressed through changes in people's priorities, beliefs, habits, and loyalties. Making progress requires going beyond any authoritative expertise to mobilize discovery, shedding certain entrenched ways, tolerating losses, and generating new ideas to thrive anew. (p. 19)

If raising one child is complex, then educating and inspiring a room full of children must be considered dauntingly complex, and certainly anyone who has taught recognizes how many variables are at play in the classroom. Much of teaching, in other words, requires adaptability, meaning that discretion and personal discovery are essential to success, and that one-size-fits-all solutions or external dictates will only hamstring progress.

To be sure, technical solutions are appropriate for simple and complicated classroom tasks like organizing a seating chart or teaching some basic procedures. But much of teaching is complex work, and technical solutions will not suffice. Indeed, Heifetz, Grashow, and Linsky write that "the most common failure in leadership is produced by treating adaptive challenges as if they were technical problems" (p. 19).

Feedback as Dialogue

When people describe what coaches do, one of the chief tasks they identify is giving feedback. However, as Buckingham and Goodall (2019) recently argued in the Harvard Business Review, many people's understanding of feedback is completely backwards. For many of us, feedback "is about telling people what we think of their performance and how they should do it better." But, as Buckingham and Goodall explain, "The research is clear: Telling people what we think of their performance doesn't help them thrive and excel, and telling people how we think they should improve actually hinders learning."

Buckingham and Goodall identify three fundamental flaws in the prevailing understanding of how to provide feedback. First, we are not very good at rating others' performance. Our evaluations of other people, they maintain, have more to do with ourselves than with those we are observing. Second, simply telling others how they fall short actually inhibits, rather than encourages, learning. Buckingham and Goodall present compelling research showing that hearing criticism shifts people into survival mode, thereby "impairing" learning. "Learning," the authors write, "rests on our grasp of what we're doing well, not on what we're doing poorly, and certainly not on someone else's sense of what we're doing poorly." And third, excellence isn't reducible to universal and simple explanations. As Buckingham and Goodall explain:

Since excellence is idiosyncratic and cannot be learned by studying failure, we can never help another person succeed by holding her performance up against a prefabricated model of excellence, giving her feedback on where she misses the model, and telling her to plug the gaps.

What does this mean in connection with instructional coaching? First, the lesson (again) is that honoring the autonomy of teachers in coaching is essential if feedback is to lead to improved practice. Rather than telling teachers what they like and dislike about a lesson, coaches should structure conversations with teachers as dialogues between two equal partners, where both members of the conversation are heard and where both parties' opinions count.

Second, as education authors like William Sommers, Parker Palmer, and Robert Garmston have pointed out, effective dialogue is often enabled through a third point for conversation that takes the focus off the coach and teacher and directs it toward whatever the two are exploring together. This increases the teacher's role in the feedback process. Two powerful "third points" are student work and video recordings of teachers' lessons.

Third, coaching conversations are more effective when they are nonjudgmental. This doesn't mean that coaches shouldn't share what they think; instead, they should share their thoughts provisionally and with the humility appropriate for any conversation about what happens in a classroom.

Questions of Fidelity

A final argument often given for top-down professional learning is that effective teaching practices must be implemented with fidelity, so coaches need to ensure that teachers are proceeding as prescribed. This point of view is easy to justify in theory. If teachers don't teach evidence-based practices with fidelity, the thinking is, they won't get results. Therefore, coaches need to make sure teachers implement teaching practices the way research says they were meant to be implemented.

Unfortunately, too narrow a focus on fidelity can actually stand in the way of quality instruction. Without question, instructional coaches need to partner with teachers to provide the supports that empower teachers to implement new practices in ways that get results. But it's the results that matter, not the fidelity to process. By results I mean positive changes in student learning and well-being. Fidelity of implementation doesn't mean much if there aren't positive changes for students.

One of the problems with fidelity is that asking teachers to implement exactly what a script says, exactly as the script says, treats teachers like workers on an assembly line rather than professionals. An overemphasis on fidelity could lead to teachers doing every move on a checklist but teaching without passion or engagement, or even teaching in ways that fail to promote student learning.

A second, more important issue is that teaching is too complex to conform to a one-size-fits-all model. A fidelity approach embodies the idea that solutions to instructional challenges are technical-when, in reality, they must be adaptive.

To be sure, instructional coaches need to be deeply versed in the practices they share, and they should be highly skilled at finding precise, easy-to-understand explanations for those practices. However, they need to present information in a way that allows the teacher to do the thinking. When explaining a teaching practice, an effective instructional coach might say, "Here's what the research says. However, do we need to adapt this at all so it will work for you and your students? What do you think about this approach?" When, for the sake of fidelity, coaches tell teachers what to do without honoring their thoughts and opinions, they are crushing motivation and inviting resistance.

Finally, coaching should be a goal-directed process, as opposed to an exercise in micromanagement. Only an effectively executed practice will lead to positive results for students. So rather than telling teachers exactly what to do, instructional coaches should engage teachers in reflective conversations about what they think might work in their classrooms. By treating teachers like professionals, instructional coaches have a much better chance of enabling high-quality teaching and better student learning-and isn't that the whole point?

Real Choices

When school leaders and coaches dismiss the importance of teacher autonomy, they usually do so because they are so concerned about students' needs that they just can't feel at ease giving up control. But as we've seen, a rigid emphasis on accountability and control ultimately hampers teacher development. External mandates and top-down coaching typically fail-because ultimately they are disempowering and dehumanizing and fail to address the complexity of the classroom. A better option is to infuse coaching with autonomy. When teachers have real choices, when they are engaged in coaching that is responsibly accountable, then real student growth is possible.

Reflect & Discuss

➛ Can you think of a time in your school or district when a "directive approach" to coaching or PD had a counterproductive effect on teachers? How could the training have been done differently?

➛ Can you describe examples of "responsible accountability" in your school? What conditions helped create them?

➛ What could you change in your coaching or supervision to better honor teachers' autonomy? How comfortable are you about making that change?

References

Glouberman, S., & Zimmerman, B. (2002, July). Complicated and complex systems: What would successful reform of Medicare look like? Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada. Discussion Paper No. 8.

Sparks, D., & Malkus, N. (2015). "Public school teacher autonomy in the classroom across school years 2003-04, 2007-08, and 2011-12. Stats in brief. NCES 2015-089." National Center for Education Statistics.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action.

We empower educators to reimagine and redesign learning through impactful pedagogy and meaningful technology use. We achieve this by offering transformative professional learning, fostering vibrant communities, and ensuring that digital tools and experiences are accessible and effective.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Why Teacher Autonomy Is Central to Coaching Success

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To foster improvement and responsible accountability, instructional coaches must honor teachers' choices and discretion.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Zaretta Hammond: Coaching for Instructional Equity

# data[].attributes.headline
Too Much Focus on "Learning Loss" Will Be a Historic Mistake

# data[].attributes.subject
Too Much Focus on "Learning Loss" Will Be a Historic Mistake

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Despite the understandable skepticism-and all the adjustments and sacrifices we've grown accustomed to-a sort of miracle is materializing in the distance. Published reports from the Centers for Disease Control suggest that the vaccines are doing their slow, steady work, and just a few days ago the state of California announced that they expect to be "fully back to business by June 15." The siege appears to be lifting, and this time a full return to schools across the nation, while perhaps months away, is almost certainly not a mirage.

Large-scale disruptions like the one that's ending now are always a hardship, sometimes a tragedy, and often an opportunity. Frequently they're all three, points out Ron Berger, a former teacher of 25 years, the author of eight books on education, and a senior adviser at EL Education, in his recent piece Our Kids Are Not Broken, published in The Atlantic

"Our kids have lost so much-family members, connections to friends and teachers, emotional well-being, and for many, financial stability at home," the article begins, sifting through a now-familiar inventory of devastation, before turning to a problem of a different order. "And of course, they've lost some of their academic progress."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Too Much Focus on 'Learning Loss' Will Be a Historic Mistake

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learning loss is real and needs to be addressed, but how we go about it should be commensurate with the size of the moment.

# data[].attributes.body
https://explicitinstruction.org/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Effective and Efficient Teaching

By Anita L. Archer and Charles A. Hughes

Explicit instruction is systematic, direct, engaging, and success oriented-and has been shown to promote achievement for all students. This highly practical and accessible resource gives special and general education teachers the tools to implement explicit instruction in any grade level or content area. The authors are leading experts who provide clear guidelines for identifying key concepts, strategies, skills, and routines to teach; designing and delivering effective lessons; and giving students opportunities to practice and master new material. Sample lesson plans, lively examples, and reproducible checklists and teacher worksheets enhance the utility of the volume.

This title is part of the What Works for Special-Needs Learners Series, edited by Karen R. Harris and Steve Graham.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Explicit Instructions | Effective and Efficient Teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Anita L. Archer and Charles A. Hughes Explicit instruction is systematic, direct, engaging, and success oriented-and has been shown to promote achievement for all students. This highly practical and accessible resource gives special and general education teachers the tools to implement explicit instruction in any grade level or content area.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.amazon.com/Coaching-Equity-Conversations-Change-Practice/dp/B08T1JQYNC/ref=sr_1_24?dchild=1&keywords=instructional+coaching+books&qid=1635633744&s=books&sr=1-24

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If we hope to interrupt educational inequities and create schools in which every child thrives, we must open our hearts to purposeful conversation and hone our skills to make those conversations effective. With characteristic honesty and wisdom, Elena Aguilar inspires us to commit to transforming our classrooms, lays bare the hidden obstacles to equity, and helps us see how to overcome these obstacles, one conversation at a time.

Coaching for Equity is packed with the resources necessary to implement transformational coaching in any organization. In addition to an updated coaching framework and corresponding rubrics, a comprehensive set of coaching tools puts success in every coach's hands. Extensive personal narratives demonstrate what coaching for equity looks like and help us see how we can make every conversation count toward building a more just and equitable world.

Coaching for Equity covers critical topics in the larger conversation about racial equity and helps listeners develop the knowledge, dispositions, and skills to be able to: talk productively about race; build trust to support vulnerability; unpack mental models and change someone's mind; observe classrooms and collect data to support equitable outcomes; inspire others and deepen commitment; and evaluate and celebrate growth.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Coaching for Equity: Conversations That Change Practice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amazon.com: Coaching for Equity: Conversations That Change Practice (Audible Audio Edition): Elena Aguilar, Joana Garcia, Tantor Audio: Books