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https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/four-myths-on-coaching-and-efficacy

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Vol. 79 No. 3 Abstract The Myths of Efficacy Myth #1: Teacher DEI training makes schools more equitable. Myth #2: Teachers must change their minds before changing their actions. Myth #3: Teachers grow the most when they arrive at the answers themselves. Myth #4: Teacher growth is a long and slow process.

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https://connect.teachboost.com/wcr?utm_campaign=Coaching%20Roundup&utm_content=129180979&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-20333570

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Subscribe to the Weekly Coaching Roundup!

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5 Research-based tips for providing students meaningful feedback

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5 Research-based tips for providing students meaningful feedback

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https://www.edutopia.org/blog/tips-providing-students-meaningful-feedback-marianne-stenger

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https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=S770g-LULFY

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https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=LjCzbSLyIwI

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https://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,4615,7-140-81351-557696--,00.html

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The pandemic and the unplanned shift to remote learning have widened the learning gap for many students in our state. The department created this webpage on accelerated learning to house a variety of resources and tools on this topic designed to assist educators in their efforts to fill student lear…

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=129&v=m1oNfVJrDTI&feature=emb_logo

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5 Movement Strategies to Get students Thinking

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5 Movement Strategies to Get students Thinking

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https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/much-sitting-five-movement-strategies-get-students-thinking/

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contributed by Kenny McKee

Each day more research confirms the link between movement and learning.

Brain researcher David Sousa claims that physical activity increases the amount of oxygen in our blood, and this oxygen is related to enhanced learning and memory. A Washington Post article suggests that many student behaviors we associate with ADHD may stem from an overall lack of physical movement - both in and out of school. In addition, a phenomenally popular blog post by Alexis Wiggins touched upon how much sitting students actually do every day, and how all that sitting affects energy levels and learning.

However, many secondary teachers struggle to integrate movement into the classroom. I know that as a former English teacher, movement found its way into many of my "special" lessons, but it was often a missing ingredient of daily instruction. For example, when students created commercials, searched for books in the library, or carried out debates, movement was inevitable. However, when the main focus of a lesson was reading and writing (as many are in the English classroom), movement was minimal.

I've included some strategies that teachers of any content area can use to integrate movement into lessons. When you have a lesson that looks "sedentary," integrating one of these strategies will surely increase students' learning and engagement.
1. Gallery Walks/Chalk Talks
In some lessons, students may need to analyze multiple texts. Why not post those texts on the walls, and have students rotate through them in small groups? I have used this strategy with students analyzing primary and secondary documents for DBQ's (document-based questions) in history classes. One colleague has students analyze magazine ads for rhetorical techniques in her English class.

Gallery walks can also feature student-created texts, even digital ones. A colleague who teaches earth science once had student groups create informational Animoto videos on different geographic formations. She then had students participate in a digital gallery walk where they watched the student-created videos on laptops, and took notes on each geographic formation.

Chalk Talks are gallery walks where students are asked to respond to texts. For example, quotes could be posted, and student could post their reactions to them. In a math class, students could solve a problem on chart paper, and explain their process. Other students could then use Post-Its to write comments or critiques of their solution and process.
2. White Board Meetings
White Board Meetings are a strategy I have seen two science teachers use often. Essentially, students will investigate a situation (often using a data set). Students will then make sense of the problem in a group. They will display their findings on a mini-whiteboard. Usually, students are required to show information in graphs, pictures, mathematics, and writing. Once students post their information on whiteboards, they present their findings. Students can then receive feedback and answer questions about their information.
3. North Pole-South Pole/Continuum
This strategy is great for formative assessment or assessing background knowledge. Essentially, one side of the room represents one idea, and the other side of the room represents an opposing idea.

For example, I used the strategy while teaching in a statistics class recently. My "North Pole" was "I feel extremely confident in how well I can comprehend and remember information in the statistics textbook." My "South Pole" was "I feel NO confidence in how well I can comprehend and remember information in the statistics textbook." Students were asked to align themselves with how they felt. If they had a more moderate response, they positioned themselves more closely to the center of the room, showing a continuum of student confidence. Their responses affected how I presented an array of note-taking strategies and which students I worked with more closely during the lesson.
4. Musical Mingle
This strategy works along the same lines as Musical Chairs, but you simply ask students to stand. I often develop a series of questions that I want to ask students before the lesson begins (to assess background knowledge) or after the lesson (to assess learning). I ask all of the students to stand. When I play the music, they will meander around. When the music stops, I announce a question and they will discuss responses with a person close to them. Once students have had the opportunity to talk, we then repeat the process.

One caveat to this strategy is limiting your questions. Generally, any more than three or four questions results in diminished focus. Once the activity is completed, students to share some of their discussion points with the whole class. Most students feel confident sharing in the whole class because they have had an opportunity to clarify their thinking with a partner earlier.
5. Stations
Most educators view stations as a staple of the elementary school classroom, but they are also extremely effective in middle and high schools. Stations can be utilized for differentiation. For example, based upon students' current writing trends, a teacher could place students at stations based upon areas they need to practice. Activities can be on paper, or they can be embedded digitally using QR Codes. Other stations may be rotational, such as short writing prompts, differing math problems, selected poems to analyze, or different activities for new vocabulary or concepts.
Kenneth McKee is a high school literacy coach for Buncombe County Schools in Asheville, NC. His interests include teacher leadership, disciplinary literacies, and partnership approaches to instructional coaching. He is a 2014 ASCD Emerging Leader. Connect with him on his blog (kennycmckee.com) or on Twitter (@kennycmckee); image attribution flickr user flickeringbrad; Too Much Sitting? 5 Movement Strategies That Get Students Thinking

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5 Movement Strategies That Get Students Thinking

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contributed by Kenny McKee Each day more research confirms the link between movement and learning. Brain researcher David Sousa claims that physical activity increases the amount of oxygen in our blood, and this oxygen is related to enhanced learning and memory.

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https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/knowing-your-learning-target

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Vol. 68

No. 6

Abstract

What Is a Shared Learning Target?

The Dangers of Flying Blind

Constructing a Learning Target

Beginning to Share

The Power of Meaningful Sharing

Designing a Strong Performance of Understanding

Explaining the Criteria for Success

Empowering Every Student

The first thing students need to learn is what they're supposed to be learning.

Abstract

What Is a Shared Learning Target?

The Dangers of Flying Blind

Constructing a Learning Target

Beginning to Share

The Power of Meaningful Sharing

Designing a Strong Performance of Understanding

Explaining the Criteria for Success

Empowering Every Student

One of Toni Taladay's students walked into Lenape Elementary School wearing a colorful tie-dyed shirt with a tiny bull's-eye shape in the lower front corner. That small design caught the eye of his classmate, who exclaimed, "Look, Joey, you're wearing a learning target!" In the Armstrong School District in southwestern Pennsylvania, learning targets are everywhere: in lesson plans, on bulletin boards, in hallways-and as this story illustrates-firmly on students' minds.

If you own a global positioning system (GPS), you probably can't imagine taking a trip without it. Unlike a printed map, a GPS provides up-to-the-minute information about where you are, the distance to your destination, how long until you get there, and exactly what to do when you make a wrong turn. But a GPS can't do any of that without a precise description of where you want to go.

Think of shared learning targets in the same way. They convey to students the destination for the lesson-what to learn, how deeply to learn it, and exactly how to demonstrate their new learning. In our estimation (Moss & Brookhart, 2009) and that of others (Seidle, Rimmele, & Prenzel, 2005; Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappuis, 2009), the intention for the lesson is one of the most important things students should learn. Without a precise description of where they are headed, too many students are "flying blind."

The Dangers of Flying Blind

No matter what we decide students need to learn, not much will happen until students understand what they are supposed to learn during a lesson and set their sights on learning it. Regardless of how important the content, how engaging the activity, how formative the assessment, or how differentiated the instruction, unless all students see, recognize, and understand the learning target from the very beginning of the lesson, one factor will remain constant: The teacher will always be the only one providing the direction, focusing on getting students to meet the instructional objectives. The students, on the other hand, will focus on doing what the teacher says, rather than on learning. This flies in the face of what we know about nurturing motivated, self-regulated, and intentional learners (Zimmerman, 2001).

Students who don't know the intention of a lesson expend precious time and energy trying to figure out what their teachers expect them to learn. And many students, exhausted by the process, wonder why they should even care.

Consider the following high school lesson on Jane Eyre. The teacher begins by saying,

Today, as you read the next chapter, carefully complete your study guide. Pay close attention to the questions about Bertha- Mr. Rochester's first wife. Questions 16 through 35 deal with lunacy and the five categories of mental illness. The next 15 questions focus on facts about Charlotte Brontë's own isolated childhood. The last 10 items ask you to define terms in the novel that we seldom use today-your dictionaries will help you define those words. All questions on Friday's test will come directly from the study guide.

What is important for students to learn in this lesson? Is it how to carefully complete a study guide, the five types of mental illness, facts about Brontë's childhood, meanings of seldom-used words, or facts about Mr. Rochester's first wife? Your guess is as good as ours.

Constructing a Learning Target

A shared learning target unpacks a "lesson-sized" amount of learning-the precise "chunk" of the particular content students are to master (Leahy, Lyon, Thompson, &amp; Wiliam, 2005). It describes exactly how well we expect them to learn it and how we will ask them to demonstrate that learning. And although teachers derive them from instructional objectives, learning targets differ from instructional objectives in both design and function.

Instructional objectives are about instruction, derived from content standards, written in teacher language, and used to guide teaching during a lesson or across a series of lessons. They are not designed for students but for the teacher. A shared learning target, on the other hand, frames the lesson from the students' point of view. A shared learning target helps students grasp the lesson's purpose-why it is crucial to learn this chunk of information, on this day, and in this way.

1. What will I be able to do when I've finished this lesson?

2. What idea, topic, or subject is important for me to learn and understand so that I can do this?

3. How will I show that I can do this, and how well will I have to do it?

The online-only figure at www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/books/el_201103_brookhart_figure1.pdf illustrates this process with examples for younger and older students. Carefully tailor your descriptions to your students' unique developmental levels, cultures, and experiences. A learning target should convey to your students what today's lesson should mean for them.

When teachers in the Armstrong School District began sharing learning targets with their students, their early efforts were tentative and in consistent. Not all teachers tried it, and some who tried did not share targets for every lesson. Some simply paraphrased instructional objectives, wrote the target statements on the board, or told students what they were going to learn at the beginning of a lesson. Yet, even their exploratory attempts became game changers. When teachers consistently shared learning targets in meaningful ways, students quickly became more capable decision makers who knew where they were headed and who shared responsibility for getting there.

At Lenape Elementary School, for example, teachers and administrators marveled at the immediate effect of shared targets and how quickly those effects multiplied. Principal Tom Dinga recalls a visit to a 1st grade classroom during the first week of sharing learning targets. The teacher, Brian Kovalovsky, led the class in discussing the learning target for the math lesson that day-to describe basic shapes and compare them to one another. When he asked his students how they would know when they hit that target, one 6-year-old replied, "I'll be able to explain the difference between a square and a rectangle."

Invigorated by the changes they were witnessing, teachers and administrators used e-mail, peer coaching, peer observations, focused walk-throughs, and professional conversations to share what was working in their classrooms and buildings and supported these claims with evidence that their students were learning more and learning smarter.

Students are now more actively engaged in their lessons as full-fledged learning partners. Because they understand exactly what they are supposed to learn, students take a more strategic approach to their work. Students have the information they need to keep track of how well a strategy is working, and they can decide when and if to use that strategy again. In other words, students not only know where they are on the way to mastery, but also are aware of what it will take to get there.

The Power of Meaningful Sharing

Learning targets have no inherent power. They enhance student learning and achievement only when educators commit to consistently and intentionally sharing them with students. Meaningful sharing requires that teachers use the learning targets with their students and students use them with one another. This level of sharing starts when teachers use student-friendly language-and sometimes model or demonstrate what they expect-to explain the learning target from the beginning of the lesson, and when they continue to share it throughout the lesson. Here are two powerful ways to do that.

Designing a Strong Performance of Understanding

The single best way to share a learning target is to create a strong performance of understanding -a learning experience that embodies the learning target. When students complete the actions that are part of a strong performance of understanding, they and their teachers will know that they have reached the target.

When introducing the lesson, the teacher should explicitly share the learning target for the day and explain how each of the tasks that are part of the lesson will lead students toward that target. Remember the lesson on Jane Eyre? Consider this lesson introduction:

Today we will learn more about how Brontë uses her characters to explore the theme of being unwanted. Remember, a theme is an underlying meaning of the story. Yesterday, we examined Jane Eyre's life experiences as they relate to the theme of being unwanted. Today we will do the same for Adele, Mr. Rochester's ward. As you read, find examples of Adele being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, or forgotten. Then, in your learning groups, discuss your examples and your reasons for choosing them. At the end of class, use your notes to draft a short paragraph that answers the question, How does the character of Adele deepen Brontë's theme of being unwanted in the novel Jane Eyre?

Note how the teacher explains what students will learn that day and how each task explicitly connects to that target. If students perform all of these actions, they will better understand how Brontë uses her characters to explore the theme of being unwanted. The tasks clearly lead students to the target, and the students can see how each task leads them to their goal. A strong performance of understanding helps students understand what is important to learn, provides experiences that will help them learn it, and gives them a chance to observe their growing competence along the way.

Explaining the Criteria for Success

Success criteria are developmentally appropriate descriptions and concrete examples of what success in a lesson looks like. They are not the grades students should earn, the number of problems they must get right, or the number of times they should include something in a performance or product (for example, how many descriptive adjectives they should include in a paragraph).

"I can" statements, like those pictured on p. 67, are a great way to explain success. Another useful strategy is to ask students to examine work samples that represent various levels of quality and discuss what makes some samples better than others. Teachers can also use rubrics to define the elements of a successful performance or product and describe various performance levels for each element. An especially powerful way to do this is to have students apply a rubric's organized criteria to work samples with various levels of quality. Then ask students to explain their decisions using the language in the rubric. When students know the success criteria, they can be mindful of what success looks like as they use the rubric to guide their learning.

Empowering Every Student

Armstrong teachers began embedding learning targets into their lessons in October 2009. Now, almost a year and one-half later, shared learning targets guide lesson planning, formative assessment, and classroom walk-throughs. But the most impressive transformation is that of students into full learning partners. Now that students know where they are going, they are more motivated to do the work to get there.

It's just this simple. Do we want classrooms full of empowered, self-regulated, highly motivated, and intentional learners? If we do, then it is time to own up to the obstacles that educators create by withholding the very information that would empower learners. Students cannot regulate learning, use thoughtful reasoning processes, set meaningful goals, or assess the quality of their own work unless they understand what success looks like in today's lesson.

References

Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., &amp; Wiliam, D. (2005). Classroom assessment: Minute by minute, and day by day. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 18-24.

Moss, C. M., &amp; Brookhart, S. M. (2009). Advancing formative assessment in every classroom: A guide for the instructional leader. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Seidle, T., Rimmele, R., &amp; Prenzel, M. (2005). Clarity and coherence of lesson goals as a scaffold for student learning. Learning and Instruction, 15, 539-556.

Stiggins, R. J., Arter, J. A., Chappuis, J., &amp; Chappuis, S. (2009). Classroom assessment FOR learning: Doing it right-using it well. Columbus, OH: Allyn and Bacon.

Zimmerman, B. J. (2001). Theories of self-regulated learning and academic achievement: An overview and analysis. In B. J. Zimmerman &amp; D. H. Schunk (Eds.), Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: Theoretical perspectives (pp. 1-65). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

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Vol. 68 No. 6 Abstract What Is a Shared Learning Target? The Dangers of Flying Blind Constructing a Learning Target Beginning to Share The Power of Meaningful Sharing Designing a Strong Performance of Understanding Explaining the Criteria for Success Empowering Every Student The first thing students need to learn is what they're supposed to be learning.

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Student friendly learning target examples

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Student friendly learning target examples

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https://files.ascd.org/pdfs/publications/books/el_201103_brookhart_figure1.pdf

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https://dianesweeney.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Student-Centered-Coaching-Tool-Kit.pdf

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https://www.campbellcountyschools.org/userfiles/1156/my%20files/total%20participation%20techniques%20cards.pdf?id=70838

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https://www.instructionalcoaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/InstructionalPlaybookLearningForward2018.pdf

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https://www.instructionalcoaching.com/document-library/

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Document Library " Instructional Coaching Group

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Toolkit - Instructional vs. Non-Instructional Time

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https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/eisenhower-matrix

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"Who can define for us with accuracy the difference between the long and short term! Especially whenever our affairs seem to be in crisis, we are almost compelled to give our first attention to the urgent present rather than to the important future."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961 address to the Century Association

Dwight D. Eisenhower - five-star general during World War II and 34th president of the United States - was a productive guy.

During his two terms as president of the United States, he led the construction of the Interstate Highway System, created NASA, signed into law the first major piece of civil rights legislation since the end of the Civil War, ended the Korean War, welcomed Alaska and Hawaii into the union, and managed to keep the Cold War with Russia cold.

And he did it all with panache - Eisenhower was Gallup's most admired man of the year no less than twelve times.

How was Eisenhower able to rack up so many accomplishments that would have such a lasting impact on his country and the world? He understood the fundamental difference between the Urgent and the Important. In a 1954 speech, Eisenhower quoted an unnamed university president who said, "I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent."

Over 3 decades later in his best-selling book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey repackaged Eisenhower's insights into a simple tool to prioritize tasks, now known as the Eisenhower Matrix (also known as The Time Management Matrix, The Eisenhower Box, The Eisenhower Method, and The Urgent-Important Matrix). This framework for prioritization helps you combat the "mere-urgency" effect (more on that later), eliminate time-wasters in your life, and create more mental space to make progress on your goals.

Try the Eisenhower Matrix if you...

This article will walk you through why distinguishing between the Urgent and the Important is so critical, how the Eisenhower Matrix helps you do it, and how to apply the matrix to both your big-picture projects and everyday tasks using Todoist.

The Mere-Urgency Effect a.k.a. Why We're Bad at Prioritization

How do we decide which task to give our attention to at any given moment? Not very well, it turns out.

A recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research set out to examine how people decide what to work on when faced with tasks of mixed urgency and importance. Across five separate experiments, researchers observed a curious pattern: our attention is drawn to time-sensitive tasks over tasks that are less urgent even when the less urgent task offers greater rewards. This psychological quirk - dubbed the "Mere-Urgency Effect" - explains why we're so bad at task and time management. We're more likely to prioritize tasks with a deadline over tasks without one regardless of their long-term payoffs.

And the effect is even more prominent in people who describe themselves as "busy". The same researchers found that self-described busy people were more likely to select urgent tasks with lower payouts because they were already fixated on task duration. If you're already feeling a time crunch, you'll likely continue to prioritize tasks that keep you focused on the clock.

But there's good news too - the mere-urgency effect can be reversed. When participants were prompted to consider the consequences of their choices at the time of selection, they were significantly more likely to choose the important task over the urgent one. The findings suggest that if you keep the long-term importance of non-urgent tasks in view, you can overcome the pull toward urgent distractions and focus on what really matters.

That's where the Eisenhower Matrix comes in.

The Eisenhower Matrix - Urgent vs. Important

The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple tool for considering the long-term outcomes of your daily tasks and focusing on what will make you most effective, not just most productive. It helps you visualize all your tasks in a matrix of urgent/important. All of your day-to-day tasks and bigger projects will fall into one of these four quadrants:

Urgent & Important tasks/projects to be completed immediately

Not Urgent & Important tasks/projects to be scheduled on your calendar

Urgent & Unimportant tasks/projects to be delegated to someone else

Not Urgent & Unimportant tasks/projects to be deleted

In the real world, the distinction between urgent/non-urgent, important/not important is much murkier than under experimental conditions. Here's how Steven Covey breaks it down:

Urgent matters are those that require immediate action. These are the visible issues that pop up and demand your attention NOW. Often, urgent matters come with clear consequences for not completing these tasks. Urgent tasks are unavoidable, but spending too much time putting out fires can produce a great deal of stress and could result in burnout.

Important matters, on the other hand, are those that contribute to long-term goals and life values. These items require planning and thoughtful action. When you focus on important matters you manage your time, energy, and attention rather than mindlessly expending these resources. What is important is subjective and depends on your own values and personal goals. No one else can define what is important for you.

Below is an in-depth look at each of the four quadrants of the Eisenhower Matrix to help you identify which tasks go in each and how to handle them accordingly.

Quadrant 1: Urgent & Important

Urgent and Important tasks demand you take action quickly. These items typically have visible deadlines and consequences for stalling on taking action. Most often, these are either things that were sprung on you from an external source or things that you put off until faced with a looming deadline. Either way, they require a crisis mode response.

For example:

Quadrant 1 tasks are inevitable. Even if you never procrastinated (which is an impossible ask), there will always be something beyond your control. However, the problem comes when you focus on these unexpected or deadline-driven tasks to the exclusion of long-term goals that are important to you.

Covey cautions that spending too much time on Quadrant 1 tasks can lead to increased stress, burn out, and the sense that your days are out of your control. Spending all day putting out fires will quickly rob you of energy and passion for your work, and may make it easier to settle into mindless escapism found in Quadrant 4.

Quadrant 2: Not Urgent & Important

Not urgent, but important tasks are the activities that help you achieve long-term goals. These may not have a deadline (or even an end date) so it is easy to put them off in favor of more urgent tasks. However, these tasks have a much greater effect on your long-term effectiveness in completing your goals.

Examples:

Covey says that Quadrant 2 is the sweet spot of personal time management. This is the spot where you are focused not on problems (as with Q1) but on opportunities and growth. Living from this quadrant of the matrix means that you are proactive and prioritize activities that grow your skills and energy, and contribute to accomplishing meaningful goals. Quadrant 2 is where " deep work " happens because you are largely freed of pressing distractions.

By attending to Q2 consistently, you decrease the number of pressing problems that pop up in Q1. Living in Q2 means that you can create a plan to complete projects and avoid possible problems. For example, if you keep putting off completing routine car maintenance, you may pay for it later when your car stalls out.

Do you manage other people?

Quadrant 3: Urgent & Not Important

Urgent but Not Important tasks are best described as busy work. These tasks are often based on expectations set by others and do not move you closer to your long-term goals.

Examples:

Quadrant 3 is where the mere urgency effect lives. The drive to complete tasks because of real or assumed deadlines means you take on tasks that aren't actually meaningful to you. Given that Q3 tasks are urgent but typically related to someone else's priorities, spending too much time in this square can feel like you are doing things you should do rather than what you want to do. Focus on Q3 tasks may make you feel like you are not living up your larger life goals or don't have control over your day-to-day life.

Covey suggests delegating as many Q3 tasks as possible. Can you have someone else take those meeting notes? Can you get your groceries delivered instead of going to the store? Can you empower your children to do the dishes? Can you hire a digital assistant to schedule family doctor visits? Is there anything in your life you can automate?

If you can't delegate these tasks, try to keep them from taking over your day:

Turn off notifications on your phone and computer when working

Be clear with others about how much time you can spend on a given task

Save Q3 tasks for times when you are very low on energy rather than putting them first thing in the morning

Negotiate your workload with your boss

Quadrant 4: Not Urgent & Not important

Not urgent and not important tasks are time-wasting activities that should be ruthlessly cut out. These activities don't contribute to progress on your goals but can end up taking over large chunks of time.

Examples:

Watching TV for hours

Mindlessly refreshing social media and scrolling

Avoidance activities such as sorting and organizing email rather than answering it

Excessive shopping or online browsing

Quadrant 4 is the quadrant of excess and immediate gratification that ultimately leaves you feeling unfulfilled.

Don't get me wrong we all need some leisure time. Eisenhower himself was a well-known bridge player - even playing nightly up to D-Day - and was famously criticized for his many golf trips while in office. The key is that these activities were a balance for the many stressful aspects of being a political leader. However, if you're not intentional about it, the way you spend your downtime can actually drain your energy, passion, and creativity.

A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that how employees spend their off-job leisure time is a strong predictor for how much energy and positivity they expressed the following workday. Employees who engaged in self-mastery activities such as exercise or volunteering were more motivated the following day. Employees who relaxed with yoga, meditation, or by listening to music approached the workday more calmly.

Employees who engaged in distraction activities to avoid or ignore problems, like watching excessive TV, did show a renewed positivity the following workday. However, with continued use of distraction their moods and motivation worsened as the week continued. In other words, distraction in moderation was ok, but habitual distraction resulted in less work satisfaction overall.

How to rebalance your quadrants

According to Stephen Covey, quadrant 2 is the "Quadrant of Quality" where time spent engaging these tasks increases your overall effectiveness. This is where personal and professional growth meets planning, prevention, and action.

To evaluate where you currently are on the matrix, start tracking your time and tasks. If you use Todoist for task management, you can easily get a list of all the tasks you completed and when you completed them. When you have a few days worth of data, sit down and organize your tasks into quadrants by asking the following questions:

Remember that you are only deciding these criteria based on your desired outcomes, not someone else's.

Once your tasks are sorted into the appropriate quadrants, examine where your time is currently being spent. Are you happy with your quadrant balance?
If you spend a lot of time in Q1, invest time in planning to anticipate and prevent problems:

Next step: Organize a weekly or even monthly plan around your current goals and deadlines. At the end of each week, do a weekly review. Reflect on how well your plan worked and adjust for the next week. If most of your Q1 tasks come from external sources, strategize on how you can better plan and anticipate them. You may need to develop a more proactive workflow with a colleague or client, or talk to your boss about rebalancing an excessive workload. If there's a particular client who's creating a lot of Q1 tasks, the work may not be worth the stress.

If you spend your time in Q3, delegate, eliminate, or limit the amount of time you spend on these tasks: If you spend your time in Q4, you may be stuck in a rut, stressed, or avoiding a problem:

Next Step: Use your time tracking to identify the biggest time wasters and strategize on how to avoid or limit them. Develop a plan to overcome procrastination before you're tempted to procrastinate. Remember, it's ok to just relax sometimes, but activities in this quadrant have diminishing returns when used excessively.

As you shift your priorities toward quadrant 2, keep using the Eisenhower Matrix to know what you should be working on day to day.

How to implement the Eisenhower Matrix in Todoist

You can use Todoist to organize your tasks into the four urgent/important quadrants with two different methods: labels or priority levels. Both methods are outlined below.

Using labels

In Todoist, labels and filters work together to help you organize and sort your task list. For this setup, first create these two labels:

Once you have your two labels, go through your tasks and assign the appropriate labels to each:

Add @urgent & @important to tasks that need to be done immediately and personally

Add @important to tasks that get a due date and are done personally

Add @urgent to tasks that can be delegated or relegated to

Don't add either label to tasks that can be dropped

You can quickly assign a label to any task by typing "@" into the task field. This will bring up a list of your current labels to select from. Keep typing the label name to narrow down the list.

Once all of your urgent and/or important tasks are labeled, create four new filters to correspond with each quadrant:

Urgent & Important with filter query: @urgent & @important

Important & Not urgent with filter query: @important & !@urgent

Urgent & Unimportant with filter query: @urgent & !@important

Unimportant & Not urgent with filter query: !@important & !@urgent

And/or combine them all into one Eisenhower filter with the query: @urgent & @important, @important & !@urgent, @urgent & !@important, !@important & !@urgent

Now you'll be able to check each filter view to know which urgent and important tasks need your attention first; which important but not urgent tasks need to be scheduled; which urgent and unimportant tasks you should either delegate or do in your low energy hours; and which tasks you should just delete.

Using priority levels

Instead of using labels to sort your tasks, you can use Todoist's four priority levels. Each priority level will map onto a corresponding quadrant of the Eisenhower matrix:

Assign a priority level to any task by clicking or tapping the flag icon and then selecting the desired priority level. Change the priority level any time by selecting the flag icon when editing a task, or just type p1, p2, or p3 right into the task field and Todoist will recognize and assign the right priority level when you create the task. Anything without a colored flag is P4 by default.

Next, set up a filter to view your tasks by priority from across all your projects. Go to filters, then click "Add Filter" and title it Eisenhower Matrix. Under query, enter " p1, p2, p3, p4".

Your highest priority tasks will appear near the top of each daily to-do list in your Today and Upcoming views (tasks with both a due date and time will appear first regardless of priority level).

Todoist Tip

Dealing with each quadrant

Once you've set up Todoist to work with the Eisenhower Method, you can begin to evaluate your tasks. Click your new Eisenhower Matrix filters to review your tasks by quadrant.
For Q1: Important & Urgent, p1: For Q2: Important & Not Urgent, p2: For Q3: Unimportant & Urgent, p3:

Delegate as many tasks as you possible. To delegate these in Todoist, you can share projects with anyone, assign tasks, set deadlines, upload files, and discuss task details with collaborators in the comments.

Q4: Unimportant & Not Urgent, p4:
When you're faced with a set of tasks, how do you decide which to tackle first? Do you select the task that's going to bring you closer to your long-term goals? Or do you give your attention to the most urgent item on your list?

Use the Eisenhower Matrix to avoid the mere-urgency trap and do more of what's important to you.

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Avoid the "Urgency Trap" with the Eisenhower Matrix

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"Who can define for us with accuracy the difference between the long and short term! Especially whenever our affairs seem to be in crisis, we are almost compelled to give our first attention to the urgent present rather than to the important future." - Dwight D.

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https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/webinar/instructional-coaching062011

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Watch Jim Knight's Archived Webinar In this webinar, Jim Knight discusses strategies to encourage teachers to enroll in instructional coaching and summer strategies to prepare for the coming school year.

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Acceleration vs. Remediation vs. Intervention

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Acceleration vs. Remediation vs. Intervention

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https://blog.edmentum.com/acceleration-vs-remediation-vs-intervention-whats-difference

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Acceleration, remediation, and intervention have the same fundamental goal: supporting struggling students to ultimately achieve academic success. Dig a little deeper, however, and you'll find that the differences between these three flavors of support are critical to determining what sort of environment, time, and approach might be required to best serve your students. Let's take a closer look at these terms to unpack the differences and provide guidance on when and where they might fit into your instructional day.

Acceleration

Acceleration is the concept of teaching grade-level material but weaving in stopping points periodically to address a small missing piece in fundamental understanding before popping back up to the original skill. This concept is intended to overcome the vicious circle of reviewing below-grade-level concepts with struggling learners repeatedly, never giving them sufficient opportunity to demonstrate grade-level mastery.

Proponents of this approach note that the brain is flexible enough to allow for these quick pivots in instruction, and they are leaning on new research from TNTP (The New Teacher Project) to support this strategy. TNTP recommends acceleration over remediation based on evidence in elementary math classrooms, particularly following pandemic-affected learning that occurred from March 2020 to May 2021, which perpetuated learning loss and achievement gaps for so many.

The ED COVID-19 Handbook by the U.S. Department of Education describes acceleration as a focus on quickly diagnosing gaps in critical concepts that may impede students from accessing grade-level coursework. Acceleration includes accessing prior knowledge and teaching prerequisite skills that students need to learn at a pace that allows them to stay engaged in grade-level content and lays a foundation for new academic vocabulary.

Remediation

At a basic level, remediation (or reteaching) means "teaching again" content that students previously failed to learn. As teachers recognize misconceptions or errors in understanding, they may focus on this missing, below-grade-level materials before returning to grade-level learning. This is done early on and for the benefit of all learners during core instruction in hope of preventing the majority of students from requiring more targeted, intensive interventions later on. Many teachers engage in remediation regularly as a natural part of instruction, without using a formal process or even explicitly recognizing their actions as intentional reteaching.

Remediation is also often guided by some sort of formative assessment, whether formal or informal, in order to gather enough insight to recognize the large breakdown in knowledge that students are experiencing. For this approach to be impactful, teachers must use a different method than the one initially used-one that builds on previous learning and focuses on the specific gaps in student thinking experienced the first time around. Ideally, remediation or reteaching is done early in the learning process, before additional skills are taught or more formal mastery tests or summative exams are administered.

Intervention

Intervention, popularized by two common models: response to intervention (RTI) and multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS), is often identified as a formal process for helping students who are struggling, where research-based instructional approaches are implemented around very specific skill deficits and where progress is regularly tracked. This intensive approach was first introduced with the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) as a method to help identify students with specific learning disabilities. In today's teaching, most school districts use intervention to prevent learning gaps from widening in later grades and to identify students for special education referral.

Intervention frameworks like RTI and MTSS are often divided into three sections, where about 80 percent of students are considered tier 1 and receive core instruction and small doses of necessary remediation or reteaching. Tier 2 (5 to 15 percent of students) and tier 3 (less than 5 percent of students) students are then most directly involved in regular small-group or one-to-one interventions. To determine which students require intervention services, a formalized screening and diagnostic assessment process is often used, during which specific strengths and needs are identified, growth targets are set, and a regimented plan for delivery and progress monitoring is outlined.

When to Employ Each Approach

Different circumstances and student needs can lead to a need for all three instructional approaches. In between delivering core instruction for a specific standard in accordance with curriculum, regularly pausing to reflect and reteach, while similarly baking in intentional intervention time for those who might be struggling with underlying skills or concepts is simply good teaching. This balancing act can often feel like navigating a decision tree but for instruction. Look at the following graphic for one such example.

This graphic illustrates the nuanced differences between acceleration and remediation for addressing learning gaps with large populations of students and simultaneously demonstrates where and how intervention fits alongside each approach.

As an educator, it is important to understand the key differences between instructional approaches and the value each one holds. This can make your practice more intentional.

For example, if only 10 percent of your students require a small dose of acceleration or extended remediation style of instruction, it may not be necessary to organize all students into small groups for an intervention block. Similarly, if only a subset of learners would benefit from a hands-on alternative instructional method to achieve understanding, it may not be necessary to stop and remediate a concept to the whole class.

Knowing when to turn to remediation versus intervention to best meet student needs will make for a more balanced learning ecosystem. This way, everyone is receiving the right level of services at just the right time.

Interested in learning more about tiered intervention? Discover how to support tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 students with proven programs.
This blog was originally published October 2018 and has been updated.

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Acceleration vs. Remediation vs. Intervention: What's the Difference?

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Intervention and remediation (also commonly referred to as reteaching) have the same fundamental goal: supporting struggling students with focused learning opportunities to achieve academic success. But still, the differences between these two flavors of instruction are critical to determining what sort of environment, time, and approach might be required to best serve your students.

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https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/jld-W5as-RE?autoplay=1&iv_load_policy=3&loop=1&modestbranding=1&playlist=jld-W5as-RE

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Accelerating Learning vs Remediation with audio

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Michigan document about accelerated learning

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Michigan document about accelerated learning

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https://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/AL-501-Acc_v_Remediation_724453_7.pdf

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https://www.carnegielearning.com/blog/learning-acceleration-not-remediation/

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I had a student once who was a bit of a perfectionist. One day, I watched as she put pen to notebook paper for her in-class writing assignment. But before she was done, she'd turn to a fresh page and start over. And then she did this again.

When I asked her what was going on, she told me simply, "I messed up."

Instead of crossing out sentences or adding words in the margins, she was rewriting the whole paragraph and falling further and further behind her classmates in the process. She wasn't learning anything new by rewriting the sentences that were fine, either.

For years, we've seen the same thing happening in education across many subjects. At the end of a school year, students who haven't yet mastered some concepts from that year's curriculum are required to redo coursework the following year. They're placed in remedial classes or their new teacher re-teaches past units. Some even repeat an entire grade. We call it remediation.

And these students fall further and further behind their peers in the process.

As we return back to school post-pandemic and urgently need to address unfinished learning, many experts and organizations are advising educators to forgo the remediation route and opt for learning acceleration instead. But what do we actually mean when we talk about accelerating learning?

The Difference between Learning Acceleration and Remediation

What accelerating learning is not: Feeding students the same curriculum and pressing 2x playback speed on their brains. (How neat would that be?)

Neither is it simply extra learning time, perhaps with an after-school tutor, to catch up on knowledge gaps.

Learning acceleration is an approach that gives students laser-focused instruction on the specific skills and content that they need in order to learn the new grade-level material at hand. We accelerate learning by moving students forward on grade level and setting them up for success with just-in-time training on required foundational skills. (Racecar drivers only pull over when they need fuel or tires replaced. Imagine how silly it would be to have them restart the race instead!)

Schools that implement acceleration programs replace remedial classes with acceleration ones that take place before or after school or in the place of electives. Teachers tailor-fit their lessons to complement core instruction so that in their regular classes, students have the tools they need to fully grasp grade-level material.

Other accelerated learning approaches utilize technology to help teachers make the most of instruction time. For example, MATHia uses artificial intelligence to offer just-in-time support unique to each student, just like a human tutor would. It simultaneously saves teachers time and gives students personalized, grade-level learning opportunities.

Remediation is entrenched in the past: what students missed last year and what they need to redo. On the other hand, acceleration focuses on the present and the future: what students need right now to excel this year and beyond.

The concept of accelerating learning is nothing new. Suzy Pepper Rollins' 2014 book, Learning in the Fast Lane: 8 Ways to Put All Students on the Road to Academic Success, provides a useful table comparing acceleration and remediation.
Source
The Impact of Accelerated Learning on Equity

"If a student receives below-grade-level instruction all day, where will they end up at the end of the year? Below grade level, of course," according to the authors of Taking Action: A Handbook for RTI at Work™.

Remediation purports to support students who have fallen behind, but we know these students can never catch up if they keep working below grade level. Learning acceleration makes it truly possible to get and stay caught up.

But accelerating learning is not just the smart thing to do. It's also a matter of equity.

Opportunity gaps have long disproportionately affected students of color, those impacted by poverty, and other vulnerable populations such as ELL students and those receiving special education services. School closures necessitated by COVID-19 only exacerbated these issues.

These are the students who are most at risk if they are assigned remediation. Let's empower them with an accelerated learning approach.

The Messiness of Learning

When I think about my student who felt compelled to write a perfect paragraph in one go, unwilling to muddle the page with cross-outs or add-ins, I think about how important it is to embrace the messiness of learning.

Our students master concepts and skills at varied paces, and they'll struggle with and need support on different topics. Some will need the boost of accelerated learning to achieve their potential.

But the messiness of learning-when one class is fully engaged but the same exact lesson flops in the next, the delightful surprise of "aha!" moments, a new way to get an answer that a student discovers on their own-what a wonderful thing!

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Learning Acceleration, Not Remediation, for a Fantastic School Year

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I had a student once who was a bit of a perfectionist. One day, I watched as she put pen to notebook paper for her in-class writing assignment. But before she was done, she'd turn to a fresh page and start over. And then she did this again.

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https://us.corwin.com/sites/default/files/250_influences_-_7.18.18.pdf

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 Visible Learning Database for effect sizes

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 Visible Learning Database for effect sizes

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https://www.visiblelearningmetax.com/Influences

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https://seymoureducate.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/hatties-effective-size-of-teaching-strategies.pdf

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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

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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.

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How Do You Create A Logo For Your Instructional Coaching Department?

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

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1egVjvOYcrbdi1QfFvTurGpo1KEIIT3_dmhhiHMPYQP8/edit

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Bettes Coach's Corner Newsletter Issue 1

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https://www.smore.com/b5y0

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Blogging with Students!

This week, I have a guest post up at Two Writing Teachers about blogging with students! Click this link below if you're interested in reading my guest post.
http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/primarybloggingrudd/
Also, if you are interested in getting your students blogging, I would be happy to work with you in your classroom to get that up and running. Blogging is a unique way to work towards the CCSS Writing Standard #6- Use technology, (when it works of course) including the internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

Amy Rudd, Literacy Coach

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This week, I have a guest post up at Two Writing Teachers about blogging with students! Click this link below if you're interested in reading my guest post. http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/primarybloggingrudd/ Also, if you are interested in getting your students blogging, I would be happy to work with you in your classroom to get that up and running.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/121RaBtp3JeEvTRwRZz7CNmglnw0gXaWF_bINIylSTAg/edit

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https://i.pinimg.com/474x/a1/03/8d/a1038d59bd6d84edfe8f08cd9443a5e1.jpg

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https://www.theresawills.com/templates

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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

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Templates - Where THERE'S A WILLS, there's a way

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https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tiKTOTF8Bs5ZduV3Tn6ynMiUbNQgNUJtlfsZ4vzl1ko/copy
Credit: Theresa Wills

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https://www.mrspark.org/free

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https://www.mrspark.org/free

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https://www.mrspark.org/free

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https://www.mrspark.org/free

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http://www.pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines

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PZ's Thinking Routines Toolbox | Project Zero

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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.

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https://www.mrspark.org/free

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https://www.mrspark.org/free

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https://www.mrspark.org/free

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http://www.thrivingschools.net/blog/2017/11/7/7-questions-to-improve-your-coaching

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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!

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7 Questions to Improve Your Coaching! - Thriving Schools

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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).

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https://centerx.gseis.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Coaching-for-Questioning_NIrons_research_FINAL.pdf

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Instructional Coaches Should Center on a Strengths Based Approach

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Instructional Coaches Should Center on a Strengths Based Approach

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https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-instructional-coaches-should-center-on-a-strengths-based-approach/2019/12

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(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

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Instructional Coaches Should 'Center on a Strengths-Based Approach' (Opinion)

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(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?

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http://rechargelearning.blogspot.com/2018/09/building-instructional-coach-mindset.html

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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?

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Building an Instructional Coach Mindset - Always Know Your Why

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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.

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https://www.amazon.com/Make-Happen-Professional-Strategies-Instructional/dp/194760421X

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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

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Make It Happen: Coaching With the Four Critical Questions of PLCs at Work® (Professional Learning Community Strategies for Instructional Coaches)

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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.

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https://dianesweeney.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Coaching-Questions.pdf

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The Power of Questions in Instructional Coaching

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The Power of Questions in Instructional Coaching

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https://www.edtechteam.com/blog/2020/02/the-power-of-questions-in-instructional-coaching/

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Advice is overrated. I know that may sound strange coming from someone who is writing a blog which is essentially providing advice, but just hear me out. How many times has someone offered you "advice" on how to do your job? How many times has that "advice" actually been beneficial to you as a professional? Teachers take their work very seriously and very personally, so "advice" - however well-intended - can often seem like a jab more than help. One of the biggest mistakes a new instructional coach can make is to start right out of the gate with advice and recommendations for teachers. As much as we think jumping in and providing answers will be helpful, we have to realize that if we can get our teachers to generate solutions on their own, the odds of affecting long-term and permanent change increase dramatically.

Tip #1: Ask the Right Questions

Asking questions is an essential task for any instructional coach, and one of their greatest assets. Asking the right questions, however, makes all the difference when it comes to figuring out the best way to support teachers. Every teacher and every situation is unique and comes with its own needs. When a coach understands what a teacher is actually thinking or feeling, and not just what they presume the teacher is thinking or feeling, they can make more informed decisions about how to support their growth. Remember the old saying that you shouldn't assume things? This is exactly why. As an instructional coach, you need to remain judgement free when working with teachers, but assumptions are an indicator of judgment. Questions, however, show inquiry and curiosity. The right questions can not only help you uncover a teacher's challenges, but they can also push teachers to articulate their thinking, increase their self-awareness, and uncover new possibilities for their learning and development.

I am sure at some point in your life someone has told you that you have two ears and one mouth because you should listen twice as much as you speak. As an instructional coach, this couldn't be more true. Though it may not inherently seem this way, much of our work revolves around the conversations we have with teachers. At first, it can be tempting to dominate those conversations because there is so much we want to share and we dread those awkward silences, but it is important to take more of a backseat approach. Having the ability to ask a few, high quality questions is an essential tool for successful instructional coaches. The right question can be a catalyst for powerful reflection, problem solving, and ultimately change. Learning the difference between the right questions and the wrong questions will help strengthen your practice as an instructional coach, and will help set your teachers up for success.

Tip #2: Empower Teachers through Questioning

Think about the way you approach your coaching conversations. There is a difference between being interrogative and having a dynamic dialogue. Coaches should not attempt to be attorneys, interrogating teachers by only asking questions to which they already know the answer. This type of conversation is disingenuous and not only could it begin to foster some feelings of judgment, but the teacher will only grow relative to your instructional knowledge. The goal of instructional coaching is to uncover each teacher's untapped potential and expertise, not to look for "gotcha" moments or impose your own personal teaching style. Probing questions like, "What would you like to see happen in your classroom?" or "What would have to change in order for you to be able to do X?" can empower teachers to generate their own ideas and solutions for the challenges they face. These types of questions allow you and the teacher to develop a shared vision so you can work together to achieve a desired outcome.

As a new instructional coach, it is easy to catch yourself guiding the conversation by asking scripted questions - after all, that's what we are trained to do as new teachers. As a teacher, we learn to always anticipate what responses students will give us so that we are prepared to steer the conversation in whatever way necessary. Unfortunately, kids do say the darndest things and as teachers, we were always prepared for that. It is easy for an instructional coach to take the same approach when working with teachers. Through classroom visits, new coaches may find themselves inadvertently analyzing the lesson for what they deem to be the main strengths and weaknesses, rather than collecting objective observations. When it then comes time to debrief with teachers, you might find yourself asking questions that lead the teacher to identify those same strengths and weaknesses you did, in spite of their own personal thoughts or feelings.

Unfortunately, this type of coaching is not a true conversation or dialogue and won't optimize your chances for success. This approach does not honor the teacher's input on what they self-identify as their challenges and does not acknowledge their professional expertise. This type of conversation is simply one-way feedback and though it can appear helpful at first, it may end up doing more harm than good. One-way conversations can make teachers feel devalued and directed, rather than encouraged and supported.

Tip #3: Use Intentional Questioning to Spark Authentic Conversation

So how do we change these interactions? By asking the right questions.

We know that good questions can spark curiosity, independence, and self-confidence. Ultimately, coaching conversations should be a forum in which teachers can discuss their thoughts and opinions about their practice, with support from the instructional coach. It is not our place to provide blind recommendations or "advice" without first letting teachers identify the areas of need. Questioning is essential in this identification process.

Think of it like a visit to the doctor's office. You visit the doctor because you have some ailment or need. It is the doctor's responsibility to know which questions to ask to understand your symptoms. If the doctor does not ask all the right questions, you can be misdiagnosed and left untreated. The same is true for our teachers. It is important to be intentional about the questions you are asking in order to elicit true reflection from the teacher so that we do not misdiagnose their challenges. We don't want to offer any 'Web-MD' solutions. By that I mean, have you ever noticed no matter what symptom you search on Web-MD the diagnosis may come back as cancer? There is no one-size-fits-all explanation or remedy to instructional challenges. As an instructional coach, you will find that teachers typically have an idea of what their greatest challenge is, but it is not uncommon to discover that their challenge is actually something else and has just been misdiagnosed. It is your job as the coach to use the power of questions to really understand the needs and wants of your teachers, as well as what solutions will be most beneficial to their classrooms.

It can be difficult for a new instructional coach to generate powerful questions and authentic conversation because it requires a lot of thinking on your feet and making changes on the fly. There is nothing wrong with an instructional coach using sentence stems or preparing some guiding questions to ask teachers in coaching meetings. The thing to remember, however, is to not let the conversation become an interview. If you come to coaching meetings with prepared questions, consider putting them away until you feel you really need them. You might find that you are able to kickstart the conversation on your own. The more conversations you have, the easier and more natural these conversations become.

Quality questions are going to be one of the most important tools in your instructional coaching toolkit. Without quality questions, no significant growth or development can occur. It is important that you as the coach find questions that really help your teachers reflect on their practices and encourage them to problem solve on their own, with our support. Instructional coaching is just as much about supporting teachers as it is building capacity within them. You want your teachers to get to a place where they can continue growing on their own after their coaching cycle is over. This foundation of reflection is laid through questioning and conversation and will be essential in helping you and your teachers achieve their goals.

Megan Purcell is a Digital Learning Specialist and Certified Dynamic Learning Project coach in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD located in Carrollton, TX. She enjoys working with teachers to help them elevate their teaching through the use of impactful technology tools and strategies. Megan holds a masters degree in Educational Technology, which she earned overseas at the National University of Ireland in Galway, in addition to being a certified Microsoft Innovative Educator and Apple Teacher. She is a former high school English teacher who loves learning, technology, and helping make life easier for her teachers. She believes that every student should have access to current technology in order to develop 21st century skills necessary for participating in a global society.

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The Power of Questions in Instructional Coaching

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Advice is overrated. I know that may sound strange coming from someone who is writing a blog which is essentially providing advice, but just hear me out. How many times has someone offered you "advice" on how to do your job? How many times has that "advice" actually been beneficial to you as a professional?

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https://www.lifehack.org/893502/good-listening-skills

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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.

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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.

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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?

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⌄ 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.

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⌄ 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

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7 Actionable Ways to Develop Good Listening Skills

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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?

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b3dsdNWzKmrExghxGJpZstG2X2ZkIZ7kt3cmyOrzwFE/edit

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Coaching and Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Coaching and Culturally Responsive Teaching

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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.

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Turn & Talk / Zaretta Hammond on Coaching and Culturally Responsive Teaching

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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.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain

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https://www.amazon.com/Culturally-Responsive-Teaching-Brain-Linguistically/dp/1483308014/ref=asc_df_1483308014/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312710253827&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1995954786469482265&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016798&hvtargid=pla-569876024879&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=61681020945&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312710253827&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1995954786469482265&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016798&hvtargid=pla-569876024879

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To close the achievement gap, diverse classrooms need a proven framework for optimizing student engagement. Culturally responsive instruction has shown promise, but many teachers have struggled with its implementation―until now.

In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain compatible culturally responsive instruction.

The book includes:

Information on how one's culture programs the brain to process data and affects learning relationships

Ten "key moves" to build students' learner operating systems and prepare them to become independent learners

Prompts for action and valuable self reflection

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students [Hammond, Zaretta L.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

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Belief in Learning Styles Myth May Be Detrimental

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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.

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Belief in learning styles myth may be detrimental

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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.

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How Districts Can Use Literacy Coaching to Improv Classroom Instruction

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How Districts Can Use Literacy Coaching to Improv Classroom Instruction

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https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/how-districts-can-use-literacy-coaching-improve-classroom-instruction

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How Districts Can Use Literacy Coaching to Improve Classroom Instruction

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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…

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/revising-your-teaching-philosophy-crisis

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Revising Your Teaching Philosophy for This Crisis

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For many teachers, their statement of teaching beliefs no longer matches their work. Revisiting and simplifying it can help chart a path forward.

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https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/Catalyzing-Change-in-Early-Childhood-and-Elementary-Mathematics/

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https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/bonus-materials/156-chapter-1.pdf?sfvrsn=4

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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

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The Literacy Coach's Handbook, Second Edition: A Guide to Research-Based Practice

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

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https://i.pinimg.com/474x/0e/68/91/0e689101fa5d7b3923972f5ff60209e7.jpg

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Traditional Leaders vs. Collaborative Leaders

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Traditional Leaders vs. Collaborative Leaders

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https://i.pinimg.com/564x/80/13/ee/8013eeab088d4edfacc880e968acf172.jpg

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https://www.mshouser.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Coaching-Teachers-Infographic_Revised2.jpg

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https://literacyessentials.org/literacy-essentials/the-essentials/essential-instructional-practices-for-elementary-literacy/

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Website for Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators

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https://www.heinemann.com/products/e09274.aspx

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Literacy Coaching - Stephanie Affinito book

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In Literacy Coaching, Stephanie Affinito offers concrete steps to enhance coaching with both digital and non-digital tools to transform teacher and student learning. Special Offer: Save 30% off our list price automatically when you buy 15 or more. What does it mean to be an effective literacy coach?

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https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/Catalyzing-Change-in-Early-Childhood-and-Elementary-Mathematics/

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https://blog.sibme.com/blog/instructional-coaching/jim-knight-instructional-coaching-conference-takeaways-video-is-key/

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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!

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Jim Knight Instructional Coaching Conference Takeaways: Video is Key|Sibme

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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.

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https://barkleypd.com/hot-topics/instructional-coaching/

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Instructional Coaching Resources | Steve Barkley | Video & Articles

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Steve Barkley, a leading education consultant, shares instructional coaching resources including videos, articles, podcasts and more.

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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/

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Which Type of Coaching Cycle is the Right Choice?

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Which Type of Coaching Cycle is the Right Choice?

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https://blog.sibme.com/blog/instructional-coaching/instructional-coaching-cycles-whats-the-right-choice/

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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).

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Instructional Coaching Cycles: What's the right Choice?

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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.

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https://explicitinstruction.org/

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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.

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Explicit Instructions | Effective and Efficient Teaching

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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.

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https://cepr.harvard.edu/files/cepr/files/l3a_coaching_with_video_vignettes.pdf

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4 Instructional coaching Strategies Harvard recommends

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4 Instructional coaching Strategies Harvard recommends

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https://blog.sibme.com/blog/instructional-coaching/4-instructional-coaching-strategies-harvard-cepr/

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Harvard Center for Educational Policy Research

The Harvard Center for Educational Policy Research (Harvard CEPR) released the Best Foot Forward Project (BFF) in 2013. Since then, Thomas Kane and his team have evaluated the impact of video-enhanced coaching and collaboration. These 4 Instructional Coaching Strategies from Harvard CEPR are among the easiest and most meaningful ways to improve instruction by allowing teachers to reflect on video footage of their own instruction.

Video-enhanced coaching changes the way we work

The advent of video enhanced coaching and collaboration has changed teaching. It has also changed the work of instructional coaches and school leaders. Traditional observations require the observer to describe their perception of instruction before any coaching can take place. When video footage of the classroom enters the conversation, you can skip this step. While this is a tremendous opportunity, it also creates a "now what" moment for the coach. If you're having trouble finding the right thing to say next, or if you just want to try something new, these 4 coaching strategies leverage video and leads teachers to reflect on their own practice, identifying key opportunities to improve along the way.

"Four Guided Noticing Strategies"

Harvard CEPR's Best Foot Forward Project identifies these four strategies as a great place to start if you're feeling uncomfortable using video to observe and coach teachers. Each strategy allows both the coach and coachee to focus on something specific. This specificity can help overcome some of the fear a teacher might feel when seeing themselves on video. Additionally, the coachee does the heavy lifting in these strategies, leading to greater buy-in from the coachee when the time comes to identify goals for improvement. In fact, many times, the coachee will take the lead after the "Guided Noticing" process and drive the conversation on next steps.

1. Narration

This practice will give you a clear picture of what the teacher sees in their own practice, which can be an incredibly helpful diagnostic tool. As the teacher watches the video, ask them to describe what they see. This can happen in one of two ways:

Voice Over: Ask the teacher to watch the video on mute and describe what they're doing throughout the video.

Total Recall: Ask the teacher to watch small segments of video and then retell what they saw in the video immediately after watching it.

This practice is designed to answer two questions. From the teacher's perspective, what did he or she do/see and what was the plan? According to one resource from BFF, "By having teachers retell what happened without judgement, both parties in the coaching relationship gain additional insights into the underlying rationale in a particular teaching moment." This conversation-starter can take place verbally, or with a time-stamped commenting feature in a platform like Sibme.

2. Questioning

Since the coach no longer has to spend time describing what they see in an observation, there is now an opportunity to ask more questions.

Some of the questions Harvard CEPR recommends include:

What made you decide to...

What were you thinking in that moment?

How did you match up to what you expected?

When you say X...what do you mean?

How do you think that went?

Tell me about your decision

Of course, tone of voice will be crucial with this strategy. It's important to maintain a neutral tone when questioning an educator's practice. The question, "what were you thinking," can sound very accusatory when framed in the wrong tone. Think carefully about the questions you ask, and the ways in which you ask them to make sure you elicit a thoughtful response instead of a defensive one.

3. Coding and Counting

While coding and counting is an age-old practice for observers and coaches, the advent of video footage gives teachers the power to do the work themselves. Harvard CEPR has an entire project focused on training teachers to use quantitative methods to identify key focus areas in instruction. While that may be an opportunity for future exploration, for now, the simpler method of counting seems like a good start.

By using a simple counting strategy, asking teachers to identify times they see evidence of a specific practice, you can calculate frequency of certain proficiencies easily to initiate a conversation. Additionally, you can ask teachers to count things such as:

Number of engaged students

Questions per minute

Teacher talk time

Student talk time

The list can go on and on. By asking a teacher to focus on a specific, evidence-based practice to count in a video, you keep the conversation focused on that one issue, rather than letting it wander to the myriad other things happening in a classroom. This allows both coach and coachee to stay focused on the task at hand. It also allows you to use evidence-based methods to track growth over time and help teachers reflect on their improvement in addition to their practice.

4. Pivotal Pausing

This strategy allows a teacher to literally stop time when reflecting on their instruction. In this practice, the teacher pauses the video at a "moment they consider pivotal" to the goals of the lesson. Pivotal Pausing allows coach and coachee to take action on specific moments, again providing focus to the conversation that takes place around the video. Rather than discuss vague, overarching themes from a longer clip of video, this focus on micro-moments of instruction allows the teacher to find one thing to change, which will lead to measurable improvement if undertaken with enough frequency.

This strategy is an answer to one of the objections many coaches raise when they begin considering video-enhanced coaching. It can be daunting to record and view video footage of an entire class. By using Pivotal Pausing, the coaching pair have an opportunity to ignore much of the footage and focus on the first pivotal moment that comes up. Of course, with video that can be stored permanently in a cloud-based solution, you can always return to the video at a later time to evaluate the next pivotal moment after you fix the first problem. This can lead to much greater improvement from a single video, again maximizing your effectiveness as an instructional coach.

Change the conversation

Countless researchers, including Thomas Kane, Jim Knight, and Deborah Ball, agree that video enhanced coaching can vastly improve the experience of instructional coaching for the coach and coachee. That doesn't mean that the change will happen immediately. Both teacher and coach need to rethink the ways in which they view instructional coaching and professional development. Take some time to look at the many resources Harvard CEPR has made available to help you re-imagine your practice. These 4 strategies are among the easiest, but there's plenty more to explore when you're ready.

Download some resources from Harvard here

Learn more about the Harvard Best Foot Forward Project

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4 Instructional Coaching Strategies-Harvard CEPR recommends video enhanced coaching|Sibme

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The Harvard Center for Educational Policy Research (Harvard CEPR) released the Best Foot Forward Project (BFF) in 2013. Since then, Thomas Kane and his team have evaluated the impact of video-enhanced coaching and collaboration. These 4 Instructional Coaching Strategies from Harvard CEPR are among the easiest and most meaningful ways to improve instruction by allowing teachers to reflect on video footage of their own instruction.

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https://anchor.fm/cory-camp8

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Advice for Helping Teachers Move from Talk to Action

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Advice for Helping Teachers Move from Talk to Action

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https://blog.sibme.com/blog/instructional-coaching/jim-knights-advice-for-helping-teachers-move-from-talk-to-action/

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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.

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Jim Knight's advice for helping teachers move from talk to action|Sibme

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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.

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Definitive Guide for Instructional Coaching

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Definitive Guide for Instructional Coaching

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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

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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.

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The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching: Seven Factors for Success

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Buy The Definitive Guide to Instructional Coaching: Seven Factors for Success: Read Kindle Store Reviews - Amazon.com

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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

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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

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Differentiated Coaching: A Framework for Helping Educators Change

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Amazon.com: Differentiated Coaching: A Framework for Helping Educators Change: 9781506327754: Kise, Jane A. G.: Books

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https://learn.sibme.com/courses/instructional-coaching-and-video

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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.

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https://learn.sibme.com/courses/lesson-study-and-video

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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

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lessonstudy
lessonstudyandvideo
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Lesson Study and Video | Sibme Learning Center

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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.

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https://learn.sibme.com/courses/self-reflection

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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.

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self reflection
self reflection and video
sibme courses
sibmeapp
professional learning
professional development
video collaboration

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Self-Reflection and Video | Sibme Learning Center

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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.

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Using Collective Teacher Efficacy to Plan for Remote and Socially Distant classrooms

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Using Collective Teacher Efficacy to Plan for Remote and Socially Distant classrooms

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https://learn.sibme.com/courses/collective-teacher-efficacy-remote-classrooms

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Using Collective Teacher Efficacy to plan for Remote and Socially Distant Classrooms

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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.

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How Virtual Coaching with Video is helping Remake the way Teachers Learn at Work

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How Virtual Coaching with Video is helping Remake the way Teachers Learn at Work

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https://learn.sibme.com/courses/virtual-coaching-remake-teacher-growth

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How Virtual Coaching with Video is Helping Remake the Way Teachers Learn at Work | Webinar On- Demand

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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.

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https://learn.sibme.com/courses/a-quick-guide-to-video-coaching

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A Quick Guide to Video Coaching | Webinar On- Demand

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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

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https://resources.corwin.com/sites/default/files/02_microteaching_protocol.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2890k_YKk1WIFFYzhhxC6vAML_l8vq57jlgY3JxLv0ceqBDMQY8ZMtBzY

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3 Ways Being a "Warm Demander" is Culturally Responsive and Supports Students' Mathematical Identity and Agency

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3 Ways Being a "Warm Demander" is Culturally Responsive and Supports Students' Mathematical Identity and Agency

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" My teacher, Ms. Blaine, cared about all of us. She would bend over backward to help s when we needed it. She really helped me. She talked to me and told me that I had a lot of potential in math and that I should use it to get ahead in life. [She thought] I was capable of doing a lot in math. That's what really motivated me ...she understands that there is a lot of pressure put on African American males ...She lets me know I can be cool and smart at the same time.

" My algebra teacher, Mr. W , is one of them [role model]. I see him as a father figure because he is strict, friendly, and spiritual. I like the fact that he is strict because this shows that he expects the best from his students. In Mr. W is like a curse word, so when he hears that word, he will work with you until you believe you

Phillip's sees Mr. Wallace as authoritative in his disposition while at the same time caring enough to invest in students to demand that hard work. Consequently, Mr. Wallace is developing students' sense of agency by insisting and working with students to change "can't" to "can."
I don't know how she does it, but sometimes she Mr. Wallace basically explains things so that you can understand them and give you lots of examples...he used everyday life...the newspaper, anything you can find around the house, and sports. Most of the time, he likes to use basketball. what we are going to do and say before we do and say anything...she knows us so well that she gets us out of trouble before we get in trouble...In math, she the right thing to say to help us with our work.

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author: Cathleen Beachboard, Debbie Silver, and Lee Ann Jung

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Three Ways Being a "Warm Demander" is Culturally Responsive and Supports Students' Mathematical Identity and Agency - Corwin Connect

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" My teacher, Ms. Blaine, cared about all of us. She would bend over backward to help s when we needed it. She really helped me. She talked to me and told me that I had a lot of potential in math and that I should use it to get ahead in life.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain

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Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

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Hey. Thanks for stopping by my blog. You might have found your way here through a number of possible paths. Maybe you heard about my book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Or, maybe you typed in www.ready4rigor.com and those shadowy internet puppeteers redirected you here. Maybe you ended up here because you were doing a Google search for culturally responsive teaching practices

Or maybe your school is reading Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain in a book study and you wanted to know more about this Zaretta Hammond chick who wrote it.

It doesn't matter how you got here. What's important is that you and I are now connected.

Since you are an equity-minded educator like me, you are probably waging your own private movement to bust the myths behind student engagement (or the lack of) among low performing students of color, poor students, and English learners.

Well, you are in the right place. This is a blog where we can get answers to our collective and individual questions about how we can help students become confident and competent learners. In this space, I want to highlight what I am learning from being out in schools and classrooms with teachers who are successful with diverse students. I want to focus on how we can take everyday strategies and practices and put them to work in their classrooms to be more culturally responsive.

So, again, welcome!

Just to let you know, on average, I publish a new post every other week - two times per month at the least (sometimes a few more). That gives me time to be in schools and to write. If you don't want to miss updates on what I am seeing and learning, sign up for my newsletter by pushing that button below.

Binge-worthy Posts and Podcasts

Books are good, but sometimes you want your knowledge in bite-sized doses. That's what I like to deliver: consumable, usable, and entertaining food for thought (and action). Here are some of the most popular blog posts and guest podcast interviews to sample.

About Zaretta Hammond

It's funny. These days a lot of folks are calling me "Dr. Hammond" since the book has become required reading in many teacher education programs and school districts. Well, to set the record straight, I am not a PhD. I do have a Master's degree, but I consider myself a "boots on the ground" teacher. I call myself a former writing teacher turned equity freedom fighter. My heart is forever with children and teachers in the classroom, not in an ivory tower, even if these days most of my "students" are new leaders and pre-service teachers. [ A quick note: Not throwing any shade at all the PhDs out there doing the work.]

When I was in the classroom back in the day, I taught composition (expository writing). It was where I started to understand how important literacy was to equity, and how neuroscience and culture should inform our instructional practice.

Since leaving the classroom, I have done work as a curriculum designer and professional developer at organizations such as the National Equity Project and the Annenberg-funded Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC) in the San Francisco-Bay Area. I am a trained facilitator in anti-bias processes and have facilitated groups focused on learning to talk about issues of racial politics and privilege.

My primary work has been linking instruction, equity, and literacy. I have spent time as an adjunct instructor at Saint Mary's College in Norther California where I taught Adolescent Literacy and trained tutors and parents in reading support strategies for struggling students of color.

As an undergraduate, I attended University of California, Berkley before finishing up my degree at New York University where I majored in English Literature with a minor in Writing. I completed my Masters in Secondary English Education, with a Concentration in Writing Instruction at University of Colorado, Boulder where I simultaneously did my teacher certification program (starting three months after the birth of my son. I do not recommend this).

For the past 25 years, I've maintained a small, independent education consulting practice from which I do my research and writing as well as support schools doing deep instructionally-focused equity work.

Stay in touch

I hope this blog inspires, motivates, and challenges you to try some new practices that move you toward being more culturally responsive. If it does, send me a note. I'd love to hear from you. The best way to keep in touch with me is to sign up for free email updates (where you get all kinds of exclusive goodies).

Other Ways to Connect

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About - Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain

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Hey. Thanks for stopping by my blog. You might have found your way here through a number of possible paths. Maybe you heard about my book, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. Or, maybe you typed in www.ready4rigor.com and those shadowy internet puppeteers redirected you here.

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White Fragility And Racial Equity: What’s Stopping The Conversations [Audio]

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White Fragility And Racial Equity: What’s Stopping The Conversations [Audio]

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* 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.

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White Fragility and Racial Equity: What's Stopping the Conversations [Audio]

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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.

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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

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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

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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 [...]

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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:

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White Teachers Need Anti-Racist Therapy (Opinion)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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http://sheldoneakins.com/?fbclid=IwAR1SVFTlJ2GtjxbZkHPIcagzb1H6qAnnbdShy7jP7EhsQZHsI61LS__Tw2w

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NCTM Position Statements - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

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NCTM positions on math education issues and suggested courses of action.

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Click on your grade level to view instructional videos that unpack specific CCSS standards.

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https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/Taking-Action--Implementing-Effective-Mathematics-Teaching-Practices-in-K-Grade-5/

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Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Mathematics

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Strengths-Based Teaching and Learning in Mathematics

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https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/Strengths-Based-Teaching-and-Learning-in-Mathematics--5-Teaching-Turnarounds-for-Grades-K-6/

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The Math Pact: Achieving Instructional Coherence Within and Across Grades

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The Math Pact: Achieving Instructional Coherence Within and Across Grades

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Achieving Instructional Coherence Within and Across Grades

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5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions

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5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions

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https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/5-Practices-for-Orchestrating-Productive-Mathematics-Discussion,-2nd-Edition/

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Available Formats

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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

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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.

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"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."

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Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K-12

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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.

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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.

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The Learning Zone / Pull Versus Push Professional Development

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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.

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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!

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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.

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You Can Coach For Equity Anywhere, With Anyone

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You Can Coach For Equity Anywhere, With Anyone

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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.

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You Can Coach For Equity Anywhere, With Anyone | Learning Forward

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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.

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Seven Qualities of an Instructional Coach

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Seven Qualities of an Instructional Coach

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Seven Qualities of an Instructional Coach

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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