As I transitioned from being a classroom teacher into a coaching role, I sought out trainings and books to support my learning. I discovered The Art of Coaching, by Elena Aguilar. This book, and the other books written by Aguilar, have influenced me as a leader, a coach, and as a mom and wife. I’d like to write this week about when and how each of Aguilar’s books supported my learning and leading.
Continue reading “When a Book Comes Along at the Perfect Time”
John Hatie’s meta-analysis provides a summary of the most impactful instructional practices. The State Implementation and Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices (SISEP) developed a tool to support the training of and operationalizing of seven of Hattie’s top instructional practices. The tool, Observation Tool for Instructional Supports and Systems (OTISS), provides a summary of these seven practices. In this post, I want to summarize the practices. Please recognize that, in using the practices, the key is to define what each component means in observable terms, to coach into the practices, and to use the tool as an assessment of the effectiveness of the coaching.
The seven high quality instructional practices used in the OTISS tool are:
Continue reading “Seven High Quality Instructional Practices”
Last week a colleague congratulated me on starting this blog, as it’s something I’ve wanted to do for many years. She said it takes courage and that she hasn’t yet started a blog because of Impostor’s Syndrome. This really resonated with me. Last year, my coach recommended I do some learning on Imposter Syndrome, in relation to my goal. As I learned more, I realized Impostor Syndrome was holding me back from taking on some challenges and feeling my fullest confidence. In this post, I want to talk about Imposter Syndrome and then share some of what helped me take the risk of starting this blog.
Continue reading “Conquering the Fear of Putting It Out There”
In How to be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi writes that an anti-racist is “one who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea.” Percy Brown and Rainey Briggs, in their Critical Consciousness training, define co-conspirators as “people who, no matter how hot it gets, stay and fight for you. They know that sacrifice is required and are willing to lose a friend” by standing up and acting. Now more than ever, I’m trying hard to listen to the voices of people of color who are often silenced and have so much to offer. I preface this post by acknowledging that I am a white, cisgender heterosexual woman trying to synthesize my own thoughts. In many of my recent learnings, recommendations from my valued colleagues and network, typically recommend three key ideas in antiracist work.
In my June 17 post, I wrote about Zaretta Hammond’s Cognitive Routines as a way to support Culturally Responsive Teaching. By introducing a routine and embedding it explicitly into instruction a number of times and coaching into the routine, the process become internalized into an automatic habit; in addition, student metacognition increases as the benefits of the habit becomes evident.
In my first post, I wrote about the goal of taking more time to review and synthesize what I have learned. Since March 13 when my focus turned towards supporting schooling from home, I have read articles and blogs, watched webinars, discussed with colleagues, and read books to find the best ideas. I’ve learned from listening to students and families. And I’ve been most intrigued with the idea of rethinking a better way of doing education in the fall. I know a huge system change is needed in order to a) move the education system into the 21st century and b) address systemic oppression and c) eliminate barriers in order to enable and empower all students, especially the students whose needs have not been served historically. What follows are some of the biggest themes I’m seeing. I’m using a list for my synthesis process and hope to dig in deeper to some of these topics in future posts. This is not meant to be a checklist.
I’m a voracious learner. I love to read, collaborate, listen, and make connections. However, one the most important learning strategies has been missing in much of my past professional practice: review. I’m reflective. Maybe, sometimes, too reflective.
“We do not learn from experience…we learn from reflecting on experience. -John Dewey
But, I often fail to take time to review material in an effective way. So I’m giving myself a challenge: to review more and to review more strategically. This will enable me to remember and synthesize, to be better prepared for coaching conversations and in my work with students. And, by modeling review I can teach others about thinking routines.
