What is Peer Coaching?

1. Peer coaching is a strategy where one or more teachers form a partnership with one another for the purpose of observing, recording, and providing feedback of teaching behaviors. (Hasbrouck and Christen, 1997) What is Peer Coaching?

2. What Peer Coaching “Is and Isn’t” • It is professional, not social dialogue • It is observation based • It is not an evaluation tool • It is developmental • It is not a competition • It is supportive • It is confidential • It is based on individual growth and the teacher’s wants and needs • It is voluntary • It is founded on trust

3. Supervisor Uses data to shape Top-Down Feedback Teacher

4. Data Partnership Feedback Dialogue Teacher Partner

5. A Simple Idea Teachers sharing ideas Learning from one another Building relationships Deliberately collaborating about teaching and learning

6. Begins with an open and trusting relationship between teaching pairs • Pre-conference • Identify clear, concise, measureable, targeted behaviors • Data collection • Post-conference Here’s How We Do It…….!

7. Planning Conference (Pre) Teachers confer to: • Determine evidence of proficient student achievement • Identify student or teacher behaviors the visiting teacher should observe • Agree on the role(s) each teacher will perform during the lesson • Clarify learning goals (teacher and student) • Collaboratively plan tasks or work that the students will complete to achieve the intended outcomes

8. Setting Goals • Must be aligned to Instructional Framework • Must align to the Danielson Framework • Should be supported by SMART goals • Should be narrow; focused on a single instructional issue or technique

9. Begin with A SINGLE instructional focus. • Keep the request for data limited. • Align the data collection to the goal. What Will You Look For?

10. WHEN CREATING A DATA GOAL… DON’T DO • Instead say, “Please script only my questions and student responses. I’d like to reflect later on levels of Bloom I scaffold through a lesson.” • Don’t say, “I’d like you to watch for my use of positive feedback, and I’d also like you to monitor the active engagement of four boys in the back of the room and I . . . “

11. Types of Data Collection

12. How Long? ………………………………At least 30 minutes • Look For? ………………………………..keep it simple (higher order questioning or level of engagement, etc) • Where in the room? …………………back of room? • Find materials? ………………………..inviting teacher should provide • Provide the visitation data?....... (email, hard copy? (should be immediate) The Observation

13. The teachers meet to reflect on and discuss the data gathered using reflective questioning and discussion. Post Observation Conference

14. EFFECTIVE QUESTIONING: Questions that arouse curiosity, stimulate interest, clarify concepts, emphasize key points, enhance problem-solving ability, encourage thinking at higher cognitive levels or motivate the search for new information. ACTIVE LISTENING: A way of listening that focuses entirely on what the other person is saying. Active listening confirms understanding of both the content of the message and the feelings underlying the message to ensure that understanding is accurate. Top Skills for Peer Partners

15. REVIEW • the data to recall what happened in the classroom. • COMPARE • what happened with what you intended to happen. • ASSESS2 THINGS: • 1. Your teaching: Have your students mastered the learning outcomes? Were your instructional strategies effective? • 2. Our peer coaching process: How are we doing as a team? What might we do differently the next time?

16. in order to…… Your Feedback Should……. • Aim to analyze the data • Mutually draw conclusions about effectiveness of teaching strategies • (implementation/results) • Effect student achievement • Promote rehearsal and reflection

17. Feedback should be…… • Descriptive rather than evaluative (visible) • Specific instead of general • Given only when requested • Provided as soon as possible • Realistic • Positive

18. Warm vs. Cool Feedback WARM COOL • Impersonal • Needs oriented • Focuses on problems • Provides constructive criticism • Supportive • Strength oriented • Focuses on solutions • Promotes positive learning

19. Make a Choice Consider the Options Grasp the reality • What do you want? • What is happening now? • What could you do? • What will you do? Climb the Steps to Effective Peer Coaching Set a Goal

20. Let’s Watch!

21. Watch for the Bumps in the Road…. • Time! (participants must make this a priority) • Difficult interpersonal relationships • Unrealistic or non-specific goals

22. More Bumps…… • Too much time between observation and debriefing • Prescribing solutions and giving opinions instead of listening • Expecting quick results rather than sustained behavioral change • Lack of commitment to change • Participants appear receptive, but do not alter practices, so goals are never achieved. • Both parties enjoy discussions, but in reality, nothing changes and nothing is achieved.

23. “Experience itself is actually NOT the ‘greatest teacher,” . . . “we do not learn as much from experience as we learn from reflecting on that experience.” Why Should We Reflect? - Thomas S.C. Farrell from Reflective Practice in Action: 80 Reflection Breaks for Busy Teachers

24. As we try to improve, we are drawn to the large, dramatic, and splashy programs for change, but we are impacted more by the small and simple changes in our daily routines. We don’t change the world through epiphanies, but by doing lots of little things that add up to sustained transformation. Simple things are not always easy to change, but by improving one thing at a time, we make progress toward great things” From Bill Jensen, What is your life’s work? Remember……. Reflect with your partner..

25. To conclude…… Hold onto the 6 principles of Peer Coaching….. • Common Language • Focus • Hard Evidence • Interaction • Reciprocity • Confidentiality

26. Critical Commandment for Peer Partners… • During the Pre-Conference • During the Visitation Experience • During the Post-Conference • Next time you teach lesson with same focus “Thou shalt promote rehearsal and reflection.”

27. Review Proposal Checklist and make any necessary changes. With your partner(s), discuss what you have learned today about the supervisory option you’ve selected. How will this new learning impact your work? Complete your Peer Coaching Action. Team Tasks: See handout for checklist……….

28. 4. Create a practical organization for your Peer Coaching Learning Log. (This will be maintained throughout year and brought to mid and end of year conference) 5. Clarify your dates and venues for classroom visitations and complete your plans for pre/obs/post experiences. 6. Define your norms for interaction. Team Tasks Continued . . .