EDUC 5313

Dr. Bowman

November 12, 2017

Padlet #2

Another useful technique I learned was coaching and mentoring.  I for one have never been afraid to admit when I am wrong or don’t know something.  As teachers I think sometimes we are expected to know all the answers.  That assumption in my opinion is ridiculous.  Educators in school systems often have coaches or mentors that offer guidance, inspiration, and wisdom to help enhance and improve instruction in student learning.  These resources for educators provide assistance for improvement in instruction, opportunities for new teaching methods, and accountability to staying on point academically for our students.  In education one of biggest and best resources are each other.  Much like my current career as a therapist we bounce ideas off each other, share new modalities we can use in therapy, provide feedback on group sessions for improvement, and continuously attempt to educate ourselves on new advances and techniques.  Education is ever changing in its methods to reach and engage student learning.  We must be renaissance educators.  In other words, we need to be open minded and work together to provide our students with quality and effective learning experiences.   As a future educator I may find myself with a mentor or coach.  Later in my career there is a possibility I could be a mentor or coach myself to other new educators.  It is about passing on knowledge and experience while also gaining new knowledge to ultimately benefit student learning.  

These two concepts were most important to me this semester.  Data analysis is a concept I am most familiar with already.  However, after this course I feel I now have an even firmer grasp on what it means to gather information and be able to use it effectively.  I now have an understanding of how to acquire data in future classroom settings and ways I can utilize the results of that information in classroom instruction.  Simple data analysis of how students interpret and understand can provide me with needed information on how to develop appropriate instruction to enhance student learning.  With the support and utilization of other educators, coaches, mentors, and other education professionals I feel comfortable in my future trials as an educator.  One thing I loved about these concepts is that they can be applied to just about any profession.  As a future educator I take comfort in knowing that there are a variety of resources at our finger tips to provide us with opportunities to be successful in the classroom.  Our success as educators is crucial to the success of our students.  

References:

Another part of this course that I really enjoyed was the focus on coaching and feedback. These are integral components of an educational leader and it is so important to effectively coach and give feedback to all members of faculty. I will definitely remember to separate evaluation and coaching sessions in order to maximize their effects (Stone & David-Lang, 2017). Then it all came together in the wonderful education conference last week. It was so nice to actually, face-to-face collaborate with other teachers instead of just over an online forum. That was so nice for someone like me who is not in a school yet. Thank you Dr. Bowman!

 

Datnow, A., Park, V. (2015). Five (Good) Ways to Talk About Data. Educational Leadership 73(3), 10-15. Retrieved from: https://info.schreiner.edu/ICS/Portlets/ICS/Handoutportlet/viewhandler.ashx?handout_id=db821c42-d38d-46db-908b-17ccd1917a42 

 

Stone, D., David-Lang, J. (2017). Stop Sabotaging Feedback. Educational Leadership 74(8), 47-50. Retrieved from: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may17/vol74/num08/Stop-Sabotaging-Feedback.aspx 

https://info.schreiner.edu/ICS/icsfs/Article__5_Mentoring_That_Fits.pdf?target=70cd0303-4765-42a8-8c35-14438b71e903 

The two concepts that stuck with me the most during this course were the “coaching” aspect in teaching, and also the use of data analysis as an educator. Coaching in education is a crucial part of most teachers’ experience, because it not only is aimed to establish a more effective teacher, but it also is defined by communication. I was not aware that there were coaches in education, but to think that schools try their hardest to help you, and not lead you astray in education were awesome for me. I was definitely nervous going in, and I know some cases are different depending on the district but having this type of support could be reassuring for newcomers. An article I enjoyed was “Effective Coaching by Design” by Elena Aguilar. She established a new understanding for me because she concluded that there has to be a level of receptiveness and willingness to learn, despite prior knowledge. The concept of using data analysis was mind blowing for me, because I had no idea that using data in education had such positive effects as educators, for your students. After Bernhardt (2003) stated, “Schools can get a better picture of how to improve learning for all students by gathering, intersecting, and organizing different categories of data more effectively.” This was definitely something I chose to read about even more, to figure out effective ways to actually use that data given from the students. Both of these interesting skills promoted my interest in self growth as a professional educator, so that I can be the best for my future students. 

 

Aguilar, E. (2014). Professional Learning: Reimagined. Effective Coaching by Design. 71(8). 

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may14/vol71/num08/Effective-Coaching-by-Design.aspx 

 

Bernhardt, V. (2003). Using Data To Improve Student Achievement: No Schools Left Behind.60(5). 26-30. 

http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb03/vol60/num05/No-Schools-Left-Behind.aspx 

Secondly, I learned how effective data-driven planning and instruction can be when it is implemented correctly. School leaders who understand the importance of collecting data about student performance with the intent of enriching student’s educational experience are invaluable on their campus. They understand how to gather quality data, and put the its’ information to immediate use to improve instruction. They also coordinate and organize teams of teachers who collaborate to target specific campus weakness. I feel prepared to examine real-world weaknesses within a campus or district, and feel like I could competently come up with appropriate strategies. I understand the pitfalls associated with data gathering, and how to effectively filter meaningful data from “noise” (Engels, 2015).  Whether I am serving in a classroom, or as a campus leader I’ve learned that being proactive with data-informed instruction is critical for success. I want to approach data in a three step process of assessing, analyzing, and adjusting instruction (Engels, 2015). As long as the process never stagnates, and I keep my students at the forefront of my focus, I know I can effectively execute data-informed planning and instruction. 

References:

Engels, K. (2015). Double Take: Educational Leadership. Vol 73 (3). pp. 8-9. Retrieved from: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov15/vol73/num03/Double-Take.aspx

Zenger, J. & Folkman, J. (2014). Research: 10 Traits of Innovative Leaders: Harvard Business Review. Retreived from: https://hbr.org/2014/12/research-10-traits-of-innovative-leaders

 

Kratochwill, T. R., & Levin, J. R. (Eds.). (2015). Single-Case Research Design and Analysis (Psychology Revivals): New Directions for Psychology and Education. Routledge.

 

Another area of new learning that really struck me as significant during this course was educational supervision. Mentorship and direct supervision have been illuminated for me as a learner, and I plan to utilize both techniques in a modified way as I enter my first job teaching in higher education this spring. As a continuing graduate student pursuing a doctorate after graduation this December, it has been imperative that I gain the foundational knowledge I have obtained in this course regarding effective supervision from both the viewpoint of a supervisor and supervisee. This has enhanced my best professional practice in my own field since the supervisory process is an integral part of my career. Reviewing research from theorists such as Hibbert, et al, who are blazing new trails in other countries, has allowed me to learn how to be more effective in both roles while learning the benefits which can come from an effective and open collaborative supervision relationship, as well as the drawbacks and damage a negative one can create (2014). This course has been truly rewarding in that it led me to new theorists and cutting edge ideas that have allowed me to expand my research base and personal academic interests such that I am growing as a student.

 

Hibbert, K., Lingard, L., Vanstone, M., Kinsella, E. A., McKenzie, P., Pitman, A., & Wilson, T. D. (2014). The quest for effective interdisciplinary graduate supervision: A critical narrative analysis. The Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 44(2), 85.

   Combining Mentoring and Data.  When I read Mentoring That Fits, 2012, by Pam Grossman and Emily Davis, my initial takeaway was that a new teacher should come prepared, i.e. have a curriculum lesson plan based on TEKS, and the mentor was mainly a campus and staff guide.     Grossman and Davis stated effective mentoring included three features:  highly trained mentors, a focus on content, and allocated time for mentoring.

 After considering mentoring and the articles about data collection, I thought about how mentoring a new teacher could be used as an opportunity to instruct a new teacher on data collection, and start the collection at the beginning.   In Data:  Now What? Answering the Questions That Count, David Ronka et al, discusses organizing data around essential questions about student performance.  Asking questions such as these enables administrator and teachers to focus on what is most important, identify the data they need to address their questions, and use the questions as a lens for data analysis and interpretation (Ronka, et al, 2008).   
     A mentor who is trained on what the school and district want to achieve, can start a new teacher from day one collecting and using student data.

If a mentor coaches and instructs a new teacher on the necessary data collection, the teacher is more likely to consistently incorporate data collection into her daily or weekly routines.  
      It seems efficient to start a data collection habit from the beginning  as a teacher develops routines.  This might be easier than re-training her later by trying to change her routine.

      As a new teacher, I would utilize data driven teaching, and have this tool to track the progress of my students and pinpoint areas of struggle.  
As an administrator or leader, this type of data collection mentoring would set a standard, and could save a lot of time down the road with staff training and new procedures implementation.
Resources:

Grossman, Pam and Davis, Emily.  2012.  Mentoring That Fits.  Retrieved from 

http://www.ascd.org/publictions/educational-leadership/may12/vol69/number8. 

Ronka David, et al.  2008/2009.  Data:  Now What? Answering the Questions That Count, December 

2008/January 2009, Volume 66, Number 4, pages 18-24.