Heard It Through the Grapevine

Heard it Through the Grapevine March Leadership Session 2011

Directions: Read the quotes individually. Discuss the comments with a partner around the following questions: What piece of the quotes personally connect to you as an instructional leader? What are the responsibilities of the MTL to promote change?

February Feedback question: As you think about a coaching conversation you have had in the last month, what were some challenges you had maintaining the coaching stance and/or addressing the teacher’s stage of concern?

MTL responses: I really feel like I had an “aha” moment in this session. I feel I need to go back to my school to A practice coaching with a more “equity” based approach. It became more clear today…although I still find it difficult to be a coach rather than collaborator/consultant. I tend to want to solve the problems myself instead of having others problem-solve for themselves. B I also struggle to maintain questions as stage of self because based on the hours of PD given, the person should be moving out of the self stage. I will look at my MTL log- look for places where I can work on coaching skills with teachers. When C I meet with Ms. L and Mr. N afterward I could make notes on how I used coaching skills and where I’d like to improve.

I tried to have a coaching conversation with a third grade teacher. But she was too focused on her D needs (not her students’) to be open to moving forward.

I find it difficult to have a conversation when I am thinking of all the different ways something E should be said. Takes a lot of practice to have a smooth effective conversation.

Coaching is difficult. Sometimes what you say you think it is in the coaching stage, but after much F discussion and thought, you realize it isn’t. This really takes some practice.

I find it difficult to stay in the coaching stance without going into more of a collaborative role. I G don’t know if that is due to the stages most teachers are in or my challenge in quickly and easily developing coaching questions.

I was frustrated that she wasn’t getting differentiated instruction and small grouping. I ended up H telling her how I used her classroom data to arrange groups and plan activities.

Time is a challenge. Coaching conversations take longer, it is easier to consult or collaborate. The I teacher is looking for the answer. They just want to be told the answer.

Trying not to lead them to my own point of view. Trying to come up with questions based on J unexpected outcomes from the 1st response. Clarifying what is considered a coaching question and what is appropriate for the parts of a coaching question.

The Milwaukee Mathematics Partnership (MMP), an initiative of the Milwaukee Partnership Academy (MPA), is supported with funding from the National Science Foundation.