Coaches’ Meeting

We can take teachers as they come…..or we can make

them better!

Observation and Feedback

Part 1

11-8-13

Agenda for Today

8:00-8:10-Agenda/Ground Rules/Goals for meeting 

8:10-8:20-Observation and Feedback in Colonial

8:20-9:00-Action Step

9:00-9:30-Probe

9:30-9:45-The Importance of Praise

9:45-10:50-Role Play-Leading A Feedback Meeting

10:50-11:00-Reflections, Wrap-up, and Next Steps

Ground RulesTechnology can be used to participate or take

notes.

Participation is expected by all.

Write suggestions for improving either the topics or the process on yellow sticky notes and add to board.

To be efficient in bringing back the conversation, I ring the chime, please finish the conversation.

We will use ‘cold call’ throughout the presentation to seek responses and increase efficiency of the presentation.

Essential QuestionsWhat are the four keys to observation and

feedback?

What are the 6 steps to leading an observation feedback meeting?

How does identifying the right action step drive student learning?

How does this process hold teachers accountable for implementing feedback?

How does this process improve upon our current practices of walkthroughs in Colonial?

Colonial’s System for Feedback Prior to This Year

How have coaches and administrators in Colonial provided

feedback to teachers after conducting walkthroughs?

How is this different than the approach used in Leverage

Leadership?

Your Buildings Plan

As part of your assignment, you were asked to “Talk with your principals about

the plan for Observation/Feedback in your building.”

So…what’s the plan? What has been done and what is to come?

Keys to Observation and Feedback

Scheduled observations-Lock in frequent and regular observations.

Key action steps-Identify the one or two most important areas for growth.

Effective feedback-Give direct face-to-face feedback that practices specific action steps for improvement.

Direct accountability-Create systems to ensure feedback translates to practice.

Core IdeaBy receiving weekly observations

and feedback, a teacher develops as much in one year as most teachers do in twenty.

The primary purpose of observation should not be to judge the quality of teachers, but to find the most effective ways to coach them to improve student learning.

Teaching Music

Yo-Yo Ma

Pair - Share

What does Yo-Yo Ma do to teach his musicians to play better?

What makes his coaching so effective?

Core Idea

Teachers are like tennis players: they develop most quickly when they receive frequent feedback and opportunities to practice.

We learn best when we can focus on one piece of feedback at a time. Giving less feedback, more often, maximizes teacher development.

6 Steps to Effective Feedback

1. Praise

2. Probe

3. Identify problem and concrete action step.

4. Practice.

5. Plan ahead.

6. Set timeline.

Protocol for Action StepsCriteria for selection of the action step: o Is the action step directly connected to student

learning? o Does it address a root cause?o Does it positively change multiple areas?o Is it necessary to pave the way for other

improvements?o Is it the most effective way to make change

happen?o Make it measurable, specific and targeted:

If you can’t make the change in a week, the action step isn’t small enough.

Can you easily measure if the teacher has made the

change?

Action Steps Fall into Two Buckets

Management

Rigor

Let’s take a look at some action steps

Converting long-term goals to bite-sized action steps - ManagementPartner Work

Too high 100%

Still too highManage individual student noncompliance

effectively

BetterEnsure students give attention to teacher

before providing directions.

Converting long-term goals to bite-sized action steps - RIGORPD Goal – too high to be an action step

Support students when they get a wrong answer

Still too highAsk them additional questions

BetterRoll back the answer: repeat the wrong

answer back to the student to give them time to identify their error

Close the loop: after correcting the error, go back to students with the wrong answer to have them summarize

Management

Keep students on task

Management

Keep students on taskPD Goal – too high to be an

action step

Monitor students to prevent off-task behavior

Management

Keep students on taskPD Goal – too high to be an

action step

Monitor students to prevent off-task behaviorStill too high

Management

Keep students on task PD Goal – too high to be an action step

Monitor students to prevent off-task behavior Still too high

Bite-Sized

Stand at the corner of the room so that you can see all students

Be Seen Looking: crane your neck to appear to be seeing all corners of the room

RIGOR

Too high-Improve ratio of student talk to teacher talk

With your partner, decide on a bite-sized

action step for this teacher.

Feedback on Effective Action Steps:Share your action step with a different partner…

• Give feedback to the objectives based on the key questions:o Is it specific: does it refer to something a

teacher will be able to do when they walk out of the meeting?

o Is it observable: Will you be able to easily evaluate if they accomplished the lever?

o Is it bite-sized: can a teacher accomplish this in one week?

Core Idea-Action Step

Effective action steps are:Measurable, observable. You can see

whether this has been accomplished when observing and reviewing lesson plans.

Bite-sized. Teacher can accomplish in the next week.

Data and goal driven. They are connected to larger PD and/or DDI goals for the teacher.

It should be the HIGHEST LEVER action step!!!

Choosing the Right Action Steps

Mr. Moody

As you are watching the video of Mr. Moody, please take notes with the intention of identifying a bite-sized action step for him.

Probe

Probe

When giving feedback, start with a probing question that

narrows the focus of the teacher to a particular part

of the lesson.

Core Idea-Probe

Guiding a teacher to remember a specific moment in his or her lesson when the highest-leverage problem occurred is like turning on the lights: the teacher can analyze his or her instruction with new eyes.

Probes in Action

Julie Jackson and Rachel KashnerAs you are watching the video of

this feedback meeting, what do you notice about the ‘Probe’ used by Julie and how effective it was in getting Rachel to the action step?

Back to Mr. Moody

You have identified an action step for Mr. Moody….now INDIVIDUALLY take two minutes to convert those action steps into a series of probing questions.

Back to Mr. Moody

You have identified an action step for Mr. Moody….now INDIVIDUALLY take a two minutes to convert those action steps into a series of probing questions.

With your partner, select the best probing question between the two of you and put a star next to it.

Praise

Praise

The most effective praise is directly linked to the teacher’s previous action step: you validate the teacher’s effort at implementing feedback.

Let’s took a look at Serena Saviraryan and Eric Damon in a feedback meeting…What do you notice about the praise that Serena gives Eric?

Praise-Key Elements

Genuine—heart-felt, authentic

Precise--targets a specific action the teacher took

Reinforce Positive Actions—particularly those that are connected to the teacher’s development goal

TIP-*End your praise with a question about the effectiveness of whatever you

are praising!

Putting it all together

Watch video of Ms. Mercedes

As you are watching, take notes with the intention that you are going to conduct a feedback meeting with Ms. Mercedes.

As you are watching the video of Ms. Mercedes, you are going to script (Praise, Probe, and Action Step) your conversation using the ‘Planning Your Feedback’ template.

MS. MERCEDES

Role Play Protocol-Teams of 2

Roles-Teacher and Coach

3 minutes to lead meeting

1 minutes of feedback to Coach

Each person will get an opportunity to play each role!

Reflections on Feedback

• What were some of the most effective strategies you saw implemented that the whole group could learn from?

• How did the process work as a whole? What was awkward or challenging for you?

Core Idea

The real turnaround challenge will not be teacher

resistance, but your own.

Lock in your schedule for observation and feedback

meetings, and you will make the turnaround a success.

Essential Questions

What are the four keys to observation and feedback?

What are the 6 steps to leading an observation feedback meeting?

How does identifying the right action step drive student learning?

How does this process hold teachers accountable for implementing feedback?

How does this process improve upon our current practices of walkthroughs in Colonial?

Next Steps-Practice is Critical!Building Coaches

Talk with your building principals about how you can support and begin employing this approach.

If ok with your principal, work with one teacher as a practice and conduct walkthroughs and feedback meetings over the next month.

Or Conduct 3-5 walkthroughs, script out your meetings as if you

would have them, but how you deliver feedback is up to you!

District Coaches Use this framework to guide your meetings with at least one

mentee over the next month.

Or Conduct 3-5 walkthroughs, script out your meetings as if you

would have them, but how you deliver feedback is up to you!

Materials

Graphic Organizer Packet

Top Ten Areas for Action Steps – handout

Feedback on Feedback-Sheets

Planning Your Feedback Meeting Cheatsheet

Planning Your Feedback Meeting (2 sheets)