A LYS Campus Leader asks the following:
JD,
My campus is about to tackle its first ever round of teacher coaching based on PowerWalks classroom observation data. I would feel more confident with some extra questions to be able to use in our coaching sessions. Do you have any suggestions?
Dr. Jim Davis Response
First, just a reminder to you and anyone who reads this… You need to 15 to 20 (short) classroom observations to have a statistically significant sample. Any less, and you are as likely to chase anomalies as you are to help improve typical teacher practice.
That being stated, here are some general questions you can use during a coaching conversation:
1. What is your process for framing a lesson? Do you consider rigor when you frame the lesson? What does this look like of entail?
2. Do you always close your lessons? Why, Why Not, How? What has been the impact on students? What have you learned? What insights should be shared with other teachers?
3. How do you incorporate Frequent Small Group Purposeful Talk into a lesson? What has been the impact on students? What have you learned? What insights should be shared with other teachers?
4. How do you incorporate Critical Writing into a lesson? What has been the impact on students? What have you learned? What insights should be shared with other teachers?
5. How do you ensure all of your students are recognized and reinforced on a regular basis?
6. Do you/how do you use Frequent Small Group Purposeful Talk and Critical Writing to increase levels of rigor?
7. What are your challenges?
8. What have you done differently to make ____ happen?
9. How do you include the Fundamental 5 in your lesson plans?
10. What is your understanding of ____?
11. Tell me what (Lesson Framing, Power Zone, Frequent Small Group Purposeful Talk, etc.) looks like in your classroom?
At least a couple of these ought to help you get started.
Dr. Jim Davis
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn…
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