The Power of Instructional Coaching - Round 1

A LYS Assistant Principal writes:

SC,

We conducted our first round of PowerWalks conversations with our teachers in late October and our biggest takeaway from these initial conversations was the lack of critical writing taking place on our campus. We couldn’t hide from the data; in our classrooms critical writing activities were an infrequent occurrence. 

But a direct consequence of these conversations is that we are now seeing critical writing activities in the classrooms of more than half of our teachers.  Beyond this positive note, the administrative team and a great many teachers have expressed how much they enjoyed the opportunity to talk shop for a few minutes.  I believe teachers are beginning to value the insight the data is providing them. And I can report that the administrative team enjoys some of the certainty the data gives us as we coach for the purpose of improving the quality of classroom instruction. 

SC Response

Fantastic news! Though not surprising considering the focus of your Administrative Team and the passion of your Teachers.  I look forward to your field report on the second round of PowerWalks instructional coaching conversations.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Upcoming Presentations: NASSP National Conference; The 21^st Century High School Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

A Reader Asks... A Walk-thru Comment Form

A reader asks the following:

SC,

Does anyone have a sample comment sheet to hand to teachers other than the PowerWalks form? I need one that specifically will address a concern.

SC Response

Let me explain why this is not a great idea.

1. Three minutes is a random wisp of time.  Good or bad, the sample size of one walk-thru is too small to make an accurate judgment.

2. Though one short walk-thru tells me little, an aggregation of 15 to 20 walk-thru’s will produce a fairly accurate trend line.  Based on that trend line, I can coach, suggest, support and in some cases dictate.

There are times you may want to share an “Atta-boy” with a teacher after a classroom visits.  By all means do so.  It is best to do this verbally, but notes are nice also.  You don’t need a form for that.  A post-it note works perfectly.

Then there are times that you will see something during a classroom visit that causes a concern.  Again, by all means write a note... to yourself, to go back and talk to that teacher.  A note written to a teacher in a case such as this is the easy way out.  If you have a concern, you owe it to the teacher to go talk to that person.  9 out of 10 times that teacher will have already self-corrected the issue that concerned you by the time you get back to them.  And the one teacher that did not... really needs your assistance.

So in summary, the feedback from a single formative visit is a smile, a thumbs-up, a positive note or a quick conversation.  After 15 to 20 formative visits, then you have a data review and coaching conversation.

I hope this provides some clarification. 

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: NASSP National Conference; The 21^st Century High School Conference  
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

PowerWalks Hero Schools (December 2013)

In furtherance of a LYS Nation tradition, we will take this time to tip our caps to the campuses that have embraced the most important step in creating and maintaining an action oriented professional learning community.  These are the campuses that have conducted an extraordinary number of formative classroom observations in a given month.  There were a total of 6,358 PowerWalks conducted during the past month and the December targets for Hero School designation were:

Big Schools – 175 PowerWalks Observations

Medium Sized Schools – 125 PowerWalks Observations

Small Schools – 75 PowerWalks Observations

Very Small Schools – 40 PowerWalks Observations.

For January, with the start of the new semester, we will adjust the targets:

Your January Hero School Targets

Big Schools – 240 PowerWalks Observations

Medium Sized Schools – 175 PowerWalks Observations

Small Schools – 100 PowerWalks Observations

Very Small Schools – 55 PowerWalks Observations.

Now without further ado, here are your twenty-nine PowerWalks Hero Schools for the month of December 2013.  Congratulations!!!

Elementary Schools	Junior High and Middle Schools	Alternative Schools	Combined Campuses	High Schools
Bell’s Hill ES (WISD: small school) - 463	Big Spring JH (BSISD: mid-sized school) - 177		Louise Schools (LISD: small school) - 112	Hutto HS (HISD: big school) - 335
Crestview ES (WISD: small school) - 357	Marlin MS (MISD: small school) - 151			Fairdale HS (JCPS: big school) - 323
McFee ES (CFISD: mid-sized school) - 303	Cesar Chavez MS (WISD: mid-sized school) – 125			Smithson Valley HS (CISD: big school) - 256
Dean Highland ES (WISD: small school) - 268	Tennyson MS (WISD: mid-sized school) - 125			Mayde Creek HS (KISD: big school) - 241
Marlin ES (MISD: small school) - 258	Indian Spring MS (WISD: mid-sized school) – 110			Kennedale HS (KISD: mid-sized school) - 125
Rennell ES (CFISD: mid-sized school) - 256
Frazier ES (CFISD: mid-sized school) - 204
Dublin ES (DISD: small school) - 157
West Ave ES (WISD: small school) - 127
Hutto ES (HISD: small school) - 118
Cottonwood Creek ES (HISD: small school) - 106
Kendrick ES (WISD: small school) – 98
Goliad ES (BSISD: small school) - 95
Ray ES (HISD: small school) - 90
Alta Vista ES (WISD: small school) - 88
JH Hines ES (WISD: small school) - 88
Startzville ES (CISD: small school) - 82
Washington ES (BSISD: small school) - 82

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool) 
• Upcoming Presentations: NASSP National Conference; The 21^st Century High School Conference  
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook

Top LYS Tweets From the Week of December 29, 2013

A number of you in the LYS Nation are now Twitter users.  If you haven’t done so yet, we want you to join us.  To let you see what you are missing, here are the Top 10 LYS Tweets from the week of December 29, 2013.

1. When it comes to improving your school, the best course of action is to work on what you can control and vote. Doing one without the other is empty effort. (By @LYSNation)

2. Sometimes we spend a lot of money and time to train people, only to see them leave. Worse though, is not training them, and they decide to stay. (By @justintarte)

3. A principal observing a teacher teach that does not know what he/she is looking for will not understand what he/she finds. (By @tgrierhisd)

4. An inch below our claim that we don't want to change is a fear that we can't. Ability problems often come disguised as a lack of motivation. (By @josephgrenny)

5. Proposed Texas Teacher Standards have The Fundamental 5 written all over them. (By @KeithFickel)

6. "Writing doesn't just communicate ideas; it generates them." ~Paul Graham. (By @STAARtest)

7. We must remember that "data" is much more than assessment scores; "data" is simply information about our students. (By @CSmithGoBlue)

8. We ask 18-year olds to make huge decisions about their career and future when a month ago they had to ask to go to bathroom. (By @adamkotsko)

9. Yelling at a student is like typing in all capital letters. IT LOOKS REALLY STUPID AND ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING PRODUCTIVE. (By @BluntEducator)

10. You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. -Churchill (By @DavidRoads)

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5 
• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook 
• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Upcoming Presentations: NASSP National Conference; The 21^st Century High School Conference 
• Follow Sean Cain and LYS on www.Twitter.com/LYSNation  and like Lead Your School on Facebook