Miguel Guhlin Another Think Coming Challenge Claims, Uncover Reality

by mguhlin

MyNotes - Leverage Leadership: Chapter 2

EdTech

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With a few colleagues, we’ve started reading Leverage Leadership. Here’s a little about the book:

Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (Managing Director of Uncommon Schools) shows leaders how they can raise their schools to greatness by following a core set of principles. These seven principles, or “levers,” allow for consistent, transformational, and replicable growth. With intentional focus on these areas, leaders will leverage much more learning from the same amount of time investment. Fundamentally, each of these seven levers answers the core questions of school leadership: What should an effective leader do, and how and when should they do it.

I like the fact that it starts out with formulas and recipes for success. You know, “Do this and you’ll get these results.” Who wouldn’t like to be told what to do, and then what results to search for? I hope you’ll join me as I take notes on this book. And, I’m also adding questions that occur to me at the end.

Some questions are embedded in brackets [miguel’s questions].

My Notes

Chapter 2 - Observation and Feedback

  1. You get highly effective teachers by coaching each and every teacher to do excellent work.

  2. By receiving weekly observations and feedback, a teacher develops as much in one year as most teachers do in twenty. [Is there research to support this assertion?]

  3. Observation and feedback are only fully effective when leaders systematically track which teachers have been observed, what feedback they have received, and whether that feedback has improved their practice.

  4. The primary purpose of observation is to find the most effective ways to coach teachers to improve student learning.

  5. Core commitment for observations:

  6. weekly 15-minute observations of each teacher and

  7. weekly 15-minute feedback meetings for every teacher in the building.

  8. Model of observation and feedback:

  9. Scheduled observations - frequent and regular

  10. multiple, shorter observations, 15 mins long, back to back for an hour

  11. locked in feedback meetings scheduled from beginning of year

  12. feedback meeting combined with other meetings 4 times a year for whole meeting data analysis

  13. Key action steps - identify 1-2  most important areas of growth

  14. Effective Feedback - give direct face to face feedback that practices specific action steps for improvement.

  15. Distributed observation load among all leaders

  16. Breakdown of data analysis meeting:

  17. 10 minutes - observation feedback

  18. 20 minutes - planning

  19. Focus on a narrow, specific action step to increase student learning.

  20. Observation Supplies:

  21. Laptop or pen & notepad

  22. Access to the teacher’s lesson plans for the day

  23. With a weekly observation model, the observer and teacher focus on the specific action step rather than a laundry list of improvements.

  24. “We learn best when we can focus on one piece of feedback at a time. Giving less feedback, more often, maximizes teacher development.”

  25. How to ensure shorter visits are effective?

  26. Is the action step directly connected to student learning?

  27. Does the action address a root cause affecting student learning?

  28. Is the action step high-leverage?

  29. “Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. See the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens. And when it happens, it lasts.” —Coach John Wooden

  30. Top 10 Areas for Action Steps

  31. Develop routines and procedures

  32. Narrate the positive

  33. Challenge and build momentum

  34. Increase teacher radar and implement least-invasive immediate intervention

  35. Use a strong voice

  36. Develop pacing

  37. Employ quiet power

  38. Do not talk over

  39. Develop pacing

  40. Rigor

  41. Establish the right objective that is data driven, curriculum plan driven, able to be accomplished in one lesson

  42. Check for understanding

  43. Increase the think ratio

  44. Encourage effective independent practice

  45. “I try to make sure that every change is a ‘10-second’ change: that you can walk into a classroom at the right time and know, in 10 seconds, whether it has been put into place.”

  46. Action steps need to be bite-sized…effective feedback makes big shifts in teacher practice by focusing on small changes in quick succession.

  47. Six steps to effective feedback:

  48. Provide precise praise. Most effective praise is linked to teacher’s previous action step.

  49. Probe. People are much more likely to embrace conclusions they’ve reached than directives they’ve received. Focus on questions, transitions, pacing, purpose and essential reasons (why)

  50. Identify problem and concrete action step.

  51. Practice.

  52. Plan ahead.

  53. Set timeline.

  54. Errors to avoid:

  55. More is better vs Less is more.

  56. Lengthy written evaluations vs Face to Face makes the difference.

  57. Just tell them; they’ll get it vs They do the thinking so they can internalize it.

  58. State concrete action step and wait for teacher to act vs Guided practice makes perfect.

  59. Teachers can implement feedback at any time vs Setup a concrete timeline with clear expectations

  60. Great teaching is learned by doing things well…supervised practice is the fastest way to make sure all teachers are doing the right things.

  61. Yellow Flag Strategies - Early Warnings

  62. Provide simpler instructions and techniques.

  63. Give face-to-face feedback more often.

  64. Plan immediate post-feedback observation.

  65. Arrange for peer observation.

  66. Choose interruptions with care.

  67. Red Flag Strategies - Intense Interventions that shouldn’t be used when others have failed

  68. Model entire lessons

  69. Take over

  70. Observation Tracker helps you track:

  71. How often you observe

  72. Patterns of your feedback

  73. Teachers you’re avoiding

  74. Precision of feedback

  75. Two key points about observation:

  76. Explain purpose is about coaching and improvement

  77. Frame progress in a positive way

Questions

  1. If we’re systematically tracking teachers, does that mean we’re using curriculum mapping software? Where will we house all this data?

  2. What is our curriculum plan?

  3. How do current coaching professional development efforts align with the “coaching” suggested in this book?

  4. How will our curriculum plan, sequence, map reflect answers to specific end-goal assessments like (Read source):

  5. What is happening in current public education that can prepare a child to contribute to a Disney/Pixar film?

  6. Who is going to have the Communication, Collaborative, Creative, and Critical Thinking skills required to integrate_global_ trends into their work in a manner that will offer something fresh and improve the world in some way?

  7. A larger percentage of people are working from handheld devices instead of sitting in cubicles. What kinds of people can handle the responsibility of working without direct oversight? Who can be held responsible for generating knowledge-work from a distance that has the quality to compete on a global market?

  8. Can our students leave high school and become digital technology engineers? Choreograph an award show opening number? Program a new iPad app? Coordinate a wedding and reception?

Feedback from Twitter:

  1. 6:16 AM - 2 Jun 2014 · Details

    ” data-feedback-key=“stream_status_473453073365344257” data-has-parent-tweet=“true” data-is-reply-to=“true” data-item-id=“473453073365344257” data-mentions=“mguhlin AngelaSmyers” data-name=“Stephanie Lee” data-screen-name=“astephaniealee” data-tweet-id=“473453073365344257” data-user-id=“404980280” data-you-block=“false” data-you-follow=“false” style=“border-bottom-color: rgb(225, 232, 237); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; cursor: pointer; min-height: 51px; padding: 9px 12px; position: relative;”>

    Stephanie Lee ‏@astephaniealee  1h

    @mguhlin @AngelaSmyers The importance of feedback on lesson plans is a critical step that we didn’t focus on this year but will next year!

     View conversation

  2. 6:15 AM - 2 Jun 2014 · Details

    ” data-feedback-key=“stream_status_473452785761910784” data-has-parent-tweet=“true” data-is-reply-to=“true” data-item-id=“473452785761910784” data-mentions=“mguhlin AngelaSmyers” data-name=“Stephanie Lee” data-screen-name=“astephaniealee” data-tweet-id=“473452785761910784” data-user-id=“404980280” data-you-block=“false” data-you-follow=“false” style=“border-bottom-color: rgb(225, 232, 237); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; cursor: pointer; min-height: 51px; padding: 9px 12px; position: relative;”>

    Stephanie Lee ‏@astephaniealee  1h

    @mguhlin @AngelaSmyers aligning feedback to campus goals or non-negotiables is critical so teachers are receiving the same type of feedback!

     View conversation

  3. 6:14 AM - 2 Jun 2014 · Details

    ” data-feedback-key=“stream_status_473452499852996608” data-has-parent-tweet=“true” data-is-reply-to=“true” data-item-id=“473452499852996608” data-mentions=“mguhlin AngelaSmyers” data-name=“Stephanie Lee” data-screen-name=“astephaniealee” data-tweet-id=“473452499852996608” data-user-id=“404980280” data-you-block=“false” data-you-follow=“false” style=“border-bottom-color: rgb(225, 232, 237); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; cursor: pointer; min-height: 51px; padding: 9px 12px; position: relative;”>

    Stephanie Lee ‏@astephaniealee  1h

    @mguhlin @AngelaSmyers aligning action steps to campus goals or non-negotiables so feedback for teachers is aligned!

Angela Smyers ‏@AngelaSmyers  11h

@mguhlin action steps are changes, Every change is 10 second change; see in 10 seconds within walking into classroom- make bite size pieces

Angela Smyers ‏@AngelaSmyers  11h

@mguhlin @astephaniealee will use Teach like a Champion book for Instrl and mgmt strategies to help with action steps

Angela Smyers ‏@AngelaSmyers  11h

@mguhlin @astephaniealee in our end of year review we discovered that not all action steps were as clear and precise as should be;

Angela Smyers ‏@AngelaSmyers  11h

@mguhlin @astephaniealee if you follow the plan, stay scheduled with all observations focused on improving student instruction, it works !

 from Grand Prairie, TX

Angela Smyers ‏@AngelaSmyers  11h

@mguhlin has been a great year, staff was very receptive; great feedback for admin at EOY conferences; @astephaniealee brought program to us

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