Equality: This is the area I think I need to work on. My personality is "let's get this done, and so I don't think I'm great at LISTENING to others' ideas. As next steps, during my collaborative planning time, I've written a reminder to let other people talk FIRST and for me to listen.

When I look at the Partnership Principles, the one that I identify the closest with right now is Praxis as defined by Jim Knight.

I have made it my personal mission the last 4 years to push my skill and ability in teaching to the highest levels that I can. I am constantly seeking new teaching techniques and tools to add to my skill set. This could be as simple as including pair and shares in the middle of a lesson or a more labor intensive experience like creating a Project Based Learning Experience for my students. I am seeking to further my knowledge base and tools in teaching so that I can be 1) more present in the moment each class and 2) so that I can build the best learning experiences for my students that I can think of.

I know that there is no end goal for Praxis. There will be no magic moment when I think that everything is "perfect". But for now, I am enjoying the chase for new knowledge and skills to incorporate into my library of teaching techniques.

Which one do you need to focus on and improve upon? What could be your next steps?

Reflection is definitely a step that I need to focus on more, both for myself and for the teachers I have been mentoring.

I have the intention to reflect on everything I'm doing to and to write notes to future me on what is going well and what could be improved, but I have often gotten sidetracked by looking ahead at the next task. After all, I think, why should I focus on a lesson I just taught today and I won't teach again for another 4-6 months? I should instead focus on making tomorrow better. For now, I am writing future me a to-do list of things to fix or try for future units when I get to them next semester, or next year.

I also have been working with newer teachers who have too many tasks to complete in order to get up to speed on how to do all of the different aspects of the teaching job that reflection seems to be our last priority. It shouldn't be that way, but I have seen that all of the responsibilities that go into teaching feel more pressing than taking time to reflect on what is going well.

Focus: I need to improve upon reflection. I need to reflect more regularly on what is truly meaningful in my instruction for my students. I often reflect the most after a unit to make notes on what worked based on our assessment data, when I could also be reflecting just as much daily along the way. My goal is to make notes on my lesson plans so I can actively think through how to better my lessons for the upcoming days, as well as have that information to help with next year's planning.

I think a strength of mine is reflection. I feel like as a coach or a leader, I am constantly asking what went well and what didn't go well. I am not always looking for a fix because sometimes I feel like we are always trying to fix things that do not need to be fixed. This seems to a problem in education sometimes. We change just for the sake of change.

I think an area of growth or an area where I need to work on is Equality. This was area I struggled with as a young leader and captain of sports teams. I was more of the mind set of "lets get it done" I didn't really want to how people thought we should get it done, but more of the mind set of just do it. I still feel this way when we go to PD like the training my English Department just went to. I was speaking before them and not always allowing them to speak first. I need to work on letting others be heard and not giving my thoughts first.

An area that I need to work on is reflection. I do not take the time to reflect on my actions as an educator the way I should. I feel there is always something else that needs my attention and reflecting is always put off and forgotten about. This is something that I want to find the time to do and will be making this a goal for this year.

An area that I need to improve in is dialogue. Over my years as a special education teacher, I have become an advocate for my students and do my best to provide the best for them. Often times, I can get tunnel vision with that and become so wrapped up with what is right that I don't always listen to other perspectives right away. I will eventually get there, through reflection, but in the moment of a conversation, I can get wrapped up in what I am going to say next rather than fully taking in suggestions.

An area I need to work on is reflection. I tend to over reflect and complicate the original task or thought. I am hard on myself, and reflection can cause me to overthink. It is not an issue of not reflecting; it is that I reflect too much.

I need to improve on reflection. I tend to feel like a failure if something does not work out the way I planned or envisioned. Or when I do reflect, I have trouble putting my ideas for improvement into place in a timely manner. I am working on this with our building coach!

Equality: Choosing equality as the principle I want to improve on felt odd at first, especially because I feel like I work hard to ensure my partnerships hold equal value and mutual respect. When I transitioned from my previous role as a special education teacher to school counselor, my aide stepped into my former role. I support her growth, and I want her to succeed more than anything, but that means I need to trust her to find her own path in her professional journey. She is naturally a person who needs someone to take charge, so I need to remind myself to work on true collaboration/partnership, not leading and guiding from a place of experience.

The second was with my son. This was more difficult because it was personal. I allowed him to talk his way through his situation. Again, at the end he was surprised that I did not give my opinion or offer solutions. He was able to come to a conclusion and followed through. All is well!

The first conversation was with a member of my department. They are a new teacher and had been struggling with classroom management. We sat down and I let him talk. I tried my best to restate the feelings he has been having. After a while, I think they got frustrated with the way the conversation was going and just asked me what my suggestions would be.

The second conversation was with a professional friend. I had asked them a head of time if I could have this type of coaching conversation. At the end of the conversation, they stated that they liked how reflective it was and how it helped them get to an idea of what was next. However, they felt like it was awkward and their reflection of the conversation was a coaching conversation should be a little bit more of a conversation.

As I was reflecting some questions came up. In education, we have a growing population of teachers who are not professionally trained ( so to speak) and are on emergency licenses or are in transition to teaching programs. For them to brainstorm ideas, would be challenging and frustrating for them. How do we coach people who do not have experience without offering suggestions?

~ Korey

I talked today with my student teacher about her thoughts about math instruction.  She shared her ideas for center-based learning to differentiate.  I listened and asked questions, but could feel myself leading in the questions to get her to think about all the different kinds of outcomes, and planning.  This is really hard for me.  Restating what she said didn’t seem to lead to much more conversation. 

11/18/21 

I talked today with a coworker about a conference he went to. He processed what he had heard at the workshop and processed how he might implement these strategies with some of our students.  I did a better job of listening and restating what he had said.  My questions still felt…leading?  I also have a really hard time not affirming and connecting with my own stories or thoughts. 

I need more direction and to watch more examples of this being done well to feel like I could actually do coaching.

My second conversation was with a colleague who is a new teacher. They were struggling with one of their classes not completing the practice problems, and it was reflected in their test scores. Again, I listened and asked questions instead of giving solutions. It was a great conversation; it helped my colleague, and they realized what the issue is and what direction to take.

The first conversation was about my coworker balancing work and home life as they are in a new role this year. I found it awkward/hard to restate what she said as it felt unnatural. It stretched me to really focus on listening instead of responding or adding to her thoughts.

The second conversation was about my coworker planning a writing unit and how to enhance it further to meet students' needs as we close in on the graded assessment. I felt again like my natural reaction was to start bouncing ideas off of one another and respond with ideas, but instead worked on really listening to what she said & restating it.

I have not had a second conversation, but I am comfortable with the techniques involved. They are similar to techniques I've been trained in for my bachelors degree and that I teach in Psychology. My only discomfort in seeking out a conversation would be to have one with a peer when I am not in a designated mentoring role and when they are not seeking advice from me.

The first conversation was when a teacher came to office seeking help regarding a teacher who will often take over a meeting causing others feel their input isn't important. I was able to walk her through the process where she was able to create a game-plan before the meeting (it was her plan--not mine). She felt confident going into the meeting and led it well.

The second meeting I felt was done on me--unplanned. The team was trying to navigate a plan for communication and problem solving with a new leader. We were able to walk through solving our different approaches while still be able to hold on to our leading style.

My second conversation was with my husband. Parenting is hard!! We have been having a lot of conversations about how we feel about our parenting approaches, and so he agreed to let me try this out on this topic... He is not one that loves to be "put on the spot" and so it was a little uncomfortable at first, especially with the topic I think! But, similar to the first conversation, it ended up being more comfortable toward the end.

A few days later, I approached our daughter in a conversation. This felt more natural and easy to approach. The conversation was going very well until I wanted to slide in my advice or suggestions. I am a "fixer" and I found it very difficult to lead the conversation and use open ended questions where the "work" fell back on her.

I had a conversation about a personal matter with a colleague. They were working through a problem they were having in their personal life and I asked if I could try this method on them. The conversation went well, however at the end they did say that it felt odd not to get advice and feedback during the conversation.

I decided to try and lead a planning meeting with one of my committees with a coaching approach. This specific committee is often me coming up with ideas and the members voting on what we decide to do. I hosted an actual meeting this time and led it by just prompting the members with questions to guide the group to come up with their own ideas and plans. This went really well, however their were still times where I needed to step in and provide some information.

My second conversation was with my husband. He is a Foreman for a company who is currently working on a big project for a large company in Indiana. It was difficult for me not to give advice as I am protective of him. At the end of the conversation he told me that he felt accomplished due to being able to talk through the issue and work through it with just someone guiding his thoughts. That was big coming from him. This conversation made me step back and make me really think about my approach to some conversations, especially with him. I felt this was a successful method in this situation.

I would use it like a fairy and sprinkle positive, and organized communication and planning through out all actions and activities

I had a reflective conversation with my student teacher about her math lesson.  She was able to articulate what went well.  I was able to restate what she was saying, and that led her to another realization about her pacing of the lesson.  By the end of the conversation, she had come up with a plan for a way to check the students’ understanding sooner in the lesson tomorrow.  

I had a planning conversation with my younger son about 2nd semester.  The questions of “How will you know you are successful?” and “What is most important to pay attention to in yourself?” were really helpful.  It was very interesting to watch him process and make a plan for his schoolwork.  He had some interesting insights I would not have thought of just looking from the outside.  

I had a planning conversation with my husband.  He hated it.  It is not our usual dynamic for me to be quiet for such long periods of time.  He did eventually start to talk and offer his thoughts about the situation.  It helped to start by identifying what it was that he wanted in the situation and why it was important.  He came up with a plan, and he implemented it this morning! 

A second planning conversation was with my oldest about his plan to be successful second semester. I feel he walked away with good ideas that he generated.

A reflective conversation was with my sister-in-law who is also a teacher. She reflected on her first semester. I felt this to be more natural as we are both educators. I did a lot of paraphrasing so that I would refrain from giving personal examples

Final reflective conversation was with my student teacher at the end of November. This was successful in terms of being able paraphrase what she was feeling went well and areas she could continue/plan to work on in her own classroom.

One of my colleagues and I talk daily about work but also our personal lives and the planning and reflecting conversations I had with him were more awkward and felt forced. It felt as if he struggled with the format of the conversation and I felt that I was struggling with where to lead the conversation. In the end it worked out and he was able to find new ideas for his plan and was able to reflect on what he will do differently for his reflection.

The other conversations I had were with a colleague that I spend most of my time with talking about bettering ourselves as educators. These conversations went over smoothly. He has been trained in these types of conversations and so he knew what to expect which I felt helped him but also me feel more comfortable having the structured conversation. Overall these two conversations with him were very productive. He was able to come up with a solid plan on what he wanted to change about an upcoming lesson in his class. He also was able to reflect on a past unit he has done and what his students actually get out of it.

I had both a planning and reflective conversation with my mom, who recently retired from teaching and coaching in December.

I had a reflective conversation with my husband about his job and what positive things he wants to continue focusing on and implementing.

I would typically give feedback or side comments in a typical conversation with them, so it felt forced and inorganic to paraphrase and follow the steps; however, it is stretching me to really focus on listening.

I think planning conversations were easier because when someone is planning something they already have a clear end goal in mind and it isn't as difficult to discuss steps and actions they are wanting to take to get to the end goal.

Reflection conversations prove to be more difficult. It was hard for me to sit in the waiting time for the person to reflect before speaking without offering feedback or affirmation.

I do think these conversations are easier to have with people you do not know well on a personal level. When I had a conversation with someone who knew me well, I found myself wanting to fill the waiting time more as to make sure I was affirming them. (possibly related to my high score in interdependence) It was also a big struggle not offer my thoughts and opinions.

Though they are not easy, I do see many benefits of these converstaions! With more practice, I believe these conversations to be very helpful, not only to push people to think deeper and reflect more, but also to push them to rise up to a challenge, step outside their comfort zone and accomplish something they didn't know they were capable of!

I had a planning conversation with a colleague. This is their first year teaching, and they are having trouble with one of their classes and are unsure how to proceed. It was very difficult not to give advice or suggestions. By the end of the conversation, they had figured out how they wanted to proceed and felt good about the solution they came to. I also felt really good about their solution. It was enlightening to see them come to their own solution.

My second conversation was also with a coworker from another department. We had a productive conversation. Again, it was difficult not to give advice or make suggestions. Again, they were led to their own solution. We ended up discussing an array of topics, and the coaching went back and forth.

I am learning a lot through this process, and it has improved my listening skills.

The first planning conversations was with my wife who was planning a Christmas around the world unit with her 3rd grade classroom. She is passionate about this topic and had been looking forward to it. I listened and rephrased her statements as she described her concerns about the unit including adding in a food element for each country and the allergy concerns she might have in the classroom. She wanted to balance buying food for each country with a budget as well. Her third concern was adding in traditions about Santa Claus from different countries around the world. She knows that some kids in 3rd such a as our son still practice the USA Santa Claus tradition but some 3rd graders do not. Her concern was spoiling the tradition for other students in her class or causing them to go home with questions about it.

As I listened and paraphrased her statements, she was weirded out about my approach and even mentioned that I haven't listened like that since we first started dating. She stated it was weird how I was paying intense attention to her conversation and she wanted to be more relaxed in the conversation but that she appreciated me listening and not trying to advise or fix.

My second conversation was with a teacher at school whom I' have known for many years. She is the head of her department as I am of mine. Her planning conversations revolved a marketing class she teaches. She has a solid class but she is trying to find balance in how she teaches it. She loves the class and is very passionate about the topic and wants the students to have that same passion. As I paraphrased and restated her statements balance was the key them that kept coming up. Balance between assignments, balance between semesters, balance between the effort she puts into this class versus other endeavors, and balance between home and school life. She already had a good idea of what she was wanting and seeking and I don't think it was any new revelation for her. It was more of just acknowledging where she was at in her process. It was a good conversation and will lead to encouragement on my part when we have future conversations.

I had a reflective conversation with my husband. He has been having some health things arise and he was able to reflect more on his feelings regarding his health. Once we had the reflective conversation, it naturally flowed into a planning conversation. During the planning conversation, he was able to work through some barriers he had reflected on and came up with a plan to best serve his health needs. Vulnerability was present in both conversations and using the approach made the emotions come out which after the conversation he felt was exactly what he needed.

As always refraining from giving advice is the hard thing to accomplish. Depending on the person, it can take a while to get to a good point. The silence that can build is intense. When I am extroverted person, talking comes natural.

The second conversation was more of a professional conversation with a colleague. We were working on goals for second semester behavior and students. CLassroom managment was a goal and a focus for the school. We got to a spot where he realized he should change his seating and planned his new seating chart.

The last conversation was also with a staff a coaching member. We I was getting him to plan his upcoming season and how he wanted workouts to go. I felt it was very successful in his planning, again it was hard to bounce ideas off one another when I cannot provide advice.