Over the past few weeks, we’ve written a series of posts on enhancing instructional leadership practice, including maximizing observation time at the beginning of the year and once classroom foundations have been established.
However, determining an impactful action step is only the first step in instructional coaching – and, on its own, does very little to change teacher practice. What does move the needle? Practice.
Why Practice?
Multiple theories of adult learning, including the Kolb Learning and Active Learning Models, provide support for teacher coaching that is practice-based rather than reading or listening-based. According to Kolb’s theory, adults learn via an experience, reflection, conceptualization, and practice cycle. Similarly, Active Learning calls for immersing educators in authentic artifacts and interactive activities that offer time to try out – rather than hear about – new strategies.
Practice in Action
So, what can practice-centered coaching actually look like? Let’s see an example of this by watching Ashley Anderson Martin coach high school math teacher Ijeoma Duru. For quick context: This video picks up a few minutes into Ashley and Ijeoma’s meeting; Ashley has already shared bright spots from her observation, as well as a weekly action step for Ijeoma to focus on (“Actively monitor student work by (a) sharing a specific focus, (b) marking student papers as you circulate and (c) identifying a trend in the student work”). When the clip picks up, we’ll see Ashley guide Ijeoma in practicing this step – let’s take a look!
There’s so much to see in this less than 4-minute video! Below are some of our top takeaways:
Make it Authentic
It’s hard to miss Ashley’s intentionality in creating an authentic practice environment for Ijeoma: she leverages Ijeoma’s classroom setting, lesson plan, and actual student work for the activity – and calls on Ijeoma to stand and deliver as she would while teaching. There’s nothing theoretical in Ijeoma’s practice, which clearly is about layering new elements of teaching practice into her current toolbox.
Monitor the Learning
In our most recent blog, we shared that once classroom foundations are established, teacher observation should focus on what students know and don’t know. This approach is rooted in the simple yet powerful idea that teacher development should drive student outcomes. In this clip, Ashley brings that same focus into her coaching meeting.
First, Ashley offers this academic monitoring action step not just because it was absent in Ijeoma’s lesson, but because strengthening Ijeoma’s academic monitoring would open up the next level of learning for her students. Clearly, Ashley had observed a trending student error (they are missing a moment to simplify that would support their computation of perfect square trinomials) that Ijeoma had missed – so she knew she had to focus here.
From there, Ashley’s meeting incorporates the actual student work so that she can focus Ijeoma’s eye on this trend. The result? Ijeoma ends this meeting clear on both an action step for the week and a prevalent student gap in understanding to address – as well as the connection between the two.
Offer in-the-moment Feedback
Finally, Ashley’s example highlights the importance of offering practice opportunities because they reveal opportunities to strengthen implementation that can be quickly and easily addressed with in-the-moment feedback. Moments into practice, Ashley notices Ijeoma forgot to tell her students how she’ll mark up their papers as she monitors. With a quick “Pause!” Ashley offers a six-second – yes, literally six-second – fix before Ijeoma re-practices beautifully. Scroll to minute 1:00 of the video and watch it again yourself. If Ashley hadn’t pushed for practice, it is likely Ijeoma wouldn’t have implemented this piece of the action step next time she was live with actual students, and it would’ve taken Ashley until her next observation to realize and address.
Ashley can give thoughtful and accurate feedback because she gets close to the action. Throughout the video, we see her circulate the classroom alongside Ijeoma, reviewing as Ijeoma reviews and, we can infer, assessing her decision making. She’s poised to step in at a moment’s notice, with the goal of inching Ijeoma closer and closer to mastery.
Leader Preparation
So how can you prepare to guide teacher practice like Ashley? First, ensure your meeting centers clear, bite-sized action steps that will strengthen student learning. (Don’t forget the “Get Better Faster” guide and our previous blog post to guide you in this work!) Next, come up with a system for having student work available each week. There are many ways to do this – identify the one that works within the school’s systems and/or the teacher’s routines. Finally, anticipate what in-the-moment feedback you might deliver during practice. Where might the teacher struggle? What quick fix will you share? A simple “Pause! This time, [name fix]” often does the trick.
A final word of advice: Building a culture of practice doesn’t happen overnight. Embrace a growth mindset, expect moments of awkwardness, and share this openly with the teacher. After a period of consistency, practice will feel normal – and the results will be powerful!