The Power of Coaching

Here's a blog by Isabelle on The Power of Coaching where she speaks of our ACPS model. As a coach, I feel a humble and insatiable curiosity for new learning, certainly not power, when I go to work each day and work with my colleagues, my partner teachers and coaches. But it is indeed powerful work, which is what Isabelle speaks of in this blog. I often wonder, who is getting the most out of my coaching interactions with teachers... me or them? Coaching has allowed me to slow down and reflect on the art of teaching, the metacognition of the words we speak and the actions we impose or engage in with our colleagues and students. I work and strategize to give this reflective pause to the teachers that I work closely with on a weekly basis. I recognize how hard it is for teachers to pause, though. It is hard for teachers to step outside of themselves and look at themselves, their students, their practice, their PLC engagement... and the interconnectedness of these to our world. As a coach, I want to capture my thoughts and understandings and reflections so that when I return to the busyness of the classroom, that I am able to maintain this ability to pause and reflect, to dig deeper and to not fear failure. I want to not lose sight of the joy of learning with those around me, both students and adults. I want to seek out coaching so I might maintain my insatiable curiosities on what might work, what's possible that I cannot see in the busyness. I want to not forget how it feels to experiment and research new ways and I will remember that I do not have to do it alone. I appreciate the power of coaching and as I go deeper into year 3 of this coaching model, I find many teachers are understanding our roles and seeking partners for collaborative work. What awesome work and how lucky I feel to be a part of this journey. How humble I am to be working with teams of teachers that are amazing in what they do and yet still seeking to be better all of the time. I hope that they feel the power of coaching, too.

Interview With Superintendent Pam Moran On Instructional Coaching

Pam speaks so eloquently on what we as coaches strive to do in our day to day work. We are learners, we are partners, and we are on teams that study, research and plan for and with teachers. Yes, we are the educators that work to clear paths for teachers to more easily find their way through all the distractors of today’s education world and maintain a focus on why we teach. It's about the kids, their learning and our work at crafting instruction to help them LOVE learning, while learning. It's about making the learning irrisistable and it's about keeping our passions alive as educators.

Generational Divide in Education - Sayville, NY, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post

Great blog post on what I know and believe... :) Thanks, Tom!

"Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will."

"Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will." Curiosity is the key... As an educator, I think that this is an easy quote to follow. As lifelong learners

Google Searching or Cracking the Code

So... I fight with my family about Google all the time. They are irritated at me for not being irritated at Google when it picks up key words and does my thinking for me... or predicting ... or searching. I am very trusting and they are very skeptical. Maybe I should worry about my digital footprint more than I do. Oh well... I have to confess that I have made the statement "google is making me stupid" but I don't really believe it. Instead, I love how I can find almost anything that I'm thinking about via a google search. Not to mention images, translations, news, etc. I will say that it makes the art of skimming and scanning a serious hobby!! So... what I want to remember from what I've learned today is pointers from this article. Yes... I've argued w/ a certain family member about checking link-backs to websites for some type of verification or proof of who they are and what they are about (learned about this from Alan November). So... yes, it's here in this article as well. I've learned that I do know some things worthy of sharing... even if they don't want to agree... :)

Top Ten Lists for Problem Based Learning Projects

Edutopia's Top Ten Lists... I'm totally enjoying Edutopia's top ten lists this fall...I think my favorite one to remember besides "GIVE UP POWER to EMPOWER (not being a helicopter teacher)... is meeting with the team managers for communicating.

Students Asking Questions

Harvard Education Letter

I think of the inquiry lessons that I worked on with a colleague 2 years ago. The lessons were centered on student questions within the context of a plant unit. ie - Does candy grow from a seed? I provided the students an opportunity to explore seeds of all sizes through images and loads and loads of real seed. We explored where a seed comes from... and I fondly remember planting a "jolly rancher" candy as part of our work together. I remember how challenging it was for me to "plan" for these lessons, not knowing what questions the students would ask each day in the course of our work and I tried to predict what they may want to pursue. With that memory... I wanted to archive this article to think more about questioning... and inquiry... and structures that may support questioning or not.

Using Google Forms in Many Ways!

I am currently working with a teacher who is experimenting with googleapps and accounts for each student in her classroom. We are currently exploring creating reading logs with the students, using a google form. While thinking about her, I stumbled upon this resource that I want to remember so that I can refer back to it later. Many uses for Google Forms!

TEDxBloomington - Shawn Achor - "The Happiness Advantage: Linking Positi...

Marco Tempest: iPod Magic!

Marco Tempest: iPod Magic!

what an amazing example of deceptions... :) Is it pure entertainment or what?

Is thinking differently the new “wrong”? - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post

Is thinking differently the new “wrong”? - Arlington, VA, United States, ASCD EDge Blog post

So another tool to explore. I love learning... but then waiT!! Walter has some great points in this blog for us to contemplate. I'm trying to have a real summer and not stay plugged in all of the time. Do you know how hard that is?? but yet I love being outdoors and gardening and wine-tasting and trying to read ENTIRE books! ha... will google + help me streamline or simply add another tool to the list. Back to you ... gotta go check the temps outside.

Tuesdays with Swindy: The Evidence that Coaching Makes a Difference

Pam shared this blogpost with the instructional coaches last week. It feels great to be reminded of her support as well as from other leadership in ACPS. After a powerful meeting today with my coaching team and a school admin team, our lead coach asked... how did we build such trust here? Great question. The conversation revealed the deep trust that one principal has in the fact that she doesn't need to know what we are doing with her teachers... but she feels change in the air and considers the coaching model as a key part in this change...

well said, Swindy!

Tuesdays with Swindy: The Evidence that Coaching Makes a Difference: "The evidence that coaching makes a difference is not going to be seen in student scores on this year's standardized tests. It also might no..."

Where do you go when you want to learn something? A textbook?

So... there's always so much discussion on textbooks in this century. Are they really so last century? :) How can we stay current and fluid when referring to text that's written at a certain point in time is what I'd like to ask everyone? I find when teachers use textbooks, it often does not encourage best practices with instructional strategies, I've often seen it as a crutch... However, there are some powerful resources such as Being a Writer... which is more of a program with best instructional practices infused and research backing them. Back to those traditional paper textbooks... like science and history books. Who are the authors? Can we really trust their reliability and expertise? What's changed in our worlds that support the content? Can we sift through the biased perspectives in the this written word? And how is online resources different when asking these same questions. As a former classroom teacher, I actually never had that many textbooks... and usually if I used them it was as a reference AFTER I taught the content and Once schema was established...

I found this blog from Twitter PLN... so wanted to archive it to ponder on the whole resources used a bit later as well. What do you think about traditional textbooks? Would you want instructional funds spent on them for your classroom? Why not? Why? What's your reasoning? Where do you go today when you want to learn something? What tools and resources are important in your life today? What skills do we really need to teach students to be researchers online? Do we know how to research effectively and thoroughly? The skills needed today are very different. Many questions...

This sums up Educon!

This is a well written blog that sums up what Educon is... except it may not have elaborated enough on the PASSION that is oozing from most attendees. As a first-timer to Educon, it was astounding and also mystifying to try to figure out my place and where I actually belonged on the passion scale and who to gravitate toward for deep conversations that support my day to day work. Everyone made me feel welcomed, but so many folks are so connected with past experiences, Twitter conversations and relationships, #edchat, etc. that I felt like I was crashing a party or some special intellectual celebration. I have been so busy these post Educon days with face to face work, but I've also been reflecting on the Educon experience and reading blogs and back stories. But I keep asking myself... What can I do differently? How can I bring forth change and new growth with colleagues that impact student learning in a positive and "out of the norm" way. I struggle with bringing the two experiences together in a meaningful way. I have new colleagues in my PLN and have a face to go with many twitter names, thanks to my attending Educon. I share the same passions as many of these Educonites, but I also feel so mis-aligned and not connected. My daily work as an Instructional Coach and my virtual PLN are often working toward common goals and interests in educational reform, yet they are so juxtaposed. How can my real life in 3 different schools feel so separate from all the conversations in Philly. How can I make meaning of this mis-alignment. I am just thinking through my fingers and rambling... but did I say what a great week I had? I made a positive impact on over 100 fifth graders with a co-planned geology experience, I shared engaging resources for early numeracy with a Sped teacher, I supported a team of 4th grade teachers and their 63 4th graders begin a completely hands on unit on Electricity, I did a couple of demo/model lessons on using Rekenreks in K classroom.... Maybe the reflection is helping with alignment, but it's not enough.

Connected Learning

I love the connected learning graphic in this blog because the student is in the middle. I love learning with my students. I love modeling how to problem-solve, and share, and thinking out loud! Here's a blog by an educator I respect greatly! (Becky) has always questioned me and guided me to deeper thinking and learning. I'm very fortunate to have her in my PLN. Read on... teach on... always learning!

3 Days in Philly aka Educon

I'm still too tired to write about my experiences at Educon, but mind is mulling over many conversations, tweets and panel discussions! I loved the passion and energy at this event. I'm documenting this blog as my memory backup and I thank the author for a great synopsis... it appears we attended many of the same sessions! Now... on to a bit of work for tomorrow and some SLEEP! I don't have time or energy to stay on Twitter tonight, but I'm sure there are many great reflective blogs based on the weekend's conversations. THANK YOU Middle School Librarian for the blogpost!

The ipods are coming, the ipods are coming

So... what will we do with the ipods? I hear they are coming soon! Put in work tickets for apps that you like... hmmm? I found this blog tonight... she may help me think this tool through a bit more. I love the mobility of these tools... and the motivation factor for kids. But... what are you doing with them that's truly creative. I want to know... I want to learn. Show me. Can't wait... the ipods are coming...

Expectations impact abilities to Respond to Student Learning??

Responding to Paula...

Paula- As always I love how you share your experiences with the world to give us real stories to reflect and connect with. Thank you for continuing to give your students the opportunities and freedoms to guide their own learning, not to mention, your learning. And the best part is that you respond and RECOGNIZE this! I wish that more educators would slow down, observe and listen to their students and then reflect on what the students are doing, saying, asking, etc. So often, we as educators have our own plans, our own worksheets, our own state-driven curriculum, our own bubble sheets, and we don’t let students lead their learning. I wish we understood that we can do the standards as a minimum in most cases, the mundane bubble sheet if necessary, and so much more relevant and fun learning, if we truly read and respond to our students and their interests, curiosities and reasoning… we can guide at a much deeper level when we do this! So, how can teachers learn to trust that this kind of responding to students can lead to not just the minimal standards but deeper lifelong learner standards. I think we should always think about our own behaviours when watching our students… don’t we not finish books because we don’t like them? Don’t we disregard rules of games to make it what we want/need? What are the habits of mind that we want to instill. And the even bigger picture of all of this…When is it okay to not follow rules? When is it okay to use something in a completely different way than it’s intended… Think about how science, technology and the arts have grown from this action!! How does the world really work and what is our role in this world. Okay, I’m rambling and not able to articulate what I want to end with… but I LOVE this posting and I hope when I go back to the classroom, that I can follow my hopes and dreams of recognizing and responding to student learning in powerful ways! I expect to learn a lot from my students! But what will I do with this learning??

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms