Observing - Using Evidence

How many of us have received observation feedback about our teaching or observation notes that were riddled with the observer's ideas about what happened in our classes, rather than some straightforward evidence-centered notes capturing what they saw? How many of us have gotten feedback that sounded something like this: "You are doing such a great job!" "Your lesson was strong - I loved it!" "You are trying really hard, but your lesson was off pace." "The students were not engaged" or "The students were engaged."

Now, I'm not one to say that a kind word or an opinion about improvement is to be excluded from observation feedback completely, but such feedback, especially if it stands alone without some captured evidence for collaborative reflection with the observer, leaves little to go on regarding reflective thought. I believe observation notes that capture as much detailed evidence as possible about what transpires within a given lesson - around a clear area of focus for the observation - is perhaps the strongest entry point to facilitate thinking about pedagogy with ANY teacher.

The two observation techniques I use most often are Selective Scripting and Movement Patterns/Seating Chart. When using Selective Scripting, teacher and student actions, around an select observation focus, are noted in two separate columns labeled "T" and "S". The time is noted on the side. The Movement Patterns/Seating Chart includes a drawing of the layout of the classroom and then involves noting evidence of what is going on in the class, usually with shorthand.

After years of conducting at least 500 evidence-centered observations, I've found that keeping the focus on writing down what is happening, as exactly as possible, leads to a few important outcomes. First, I always notice something about my mentee's classroom and students that I never recognized before as a result of the evidence I'm capturing -- this opens up future topics for conversation and a deeper understanding of my mentee's professional growth potential. It often leads to mentees noticing something about their classroom practice that they never noticed, either. I've witnessed many, many big "a-ha" moments when teachers review the observation notes I've gathered for them. Additionally, by virtue of capturing evidence, rather than opinion, it often happens that trends around equitable participation, equitable access to the curriculum, the nature of teacher talk, the nature of student talk, the nature of teacher questioning, learning needs of English language learners or special populations students, or the impact of teacher actions on student behavior are revealed. This is important, because the evidence speaks for itself, and if my mentee doesn't see it, I can then coach him or her to see it. From here we can often problem solve together around next steps to take pedagogically.

Here are a few ideas for capturing evidence when observing:

• Use exact numbers -- numbers of students with their hands raised, numbers of students who are present, number of minutes a teacher gives for an activity and the number of minutes it takes, number of available or unavailable materials, etc.
• Note the time regularly and randomly - this can be used to reflect on pacing in the debrief
• Use direct quotes
• Use student names when possible
• Capture exact student language - especially when they are working in small groups
• Capture exact student questions and "side talk" - especially when the student is confused
• Use drawings of the room layout to note where the teacher moves, to tally nature of student participation, to record which students are absent, to quote students based on where they sit.
• Note where boys and girls are sitting and capture their levels of and nature of participation if appropriate for the observation focus.
• Capture specific notes about focus students whenever possible.
• Talk to students quietly during independent practice time about what they are doing, what they understand or don't understand, what questions they still have, what they are learning, etc. Write down the questions and the students' answers.
• Use shorthand -- some shorthand I use includes S for student, T for teacher, R for redirect, A for answer, CO for called on, an up arrow for hand raised, a down arrow for called on, ? for question. Often the shorthand emerges within the observation based on what patterns are emerging that need to be captured. Just be sure to make a list of what the codes mean.

Debriefing observations will be the topic of my next blog entry. The debrief is a world of its own - but I'll sign off by saying that the notes are the entry to a collaborative conversation that consistently leads to learning and next steps when they are treated as such. Capturing precise, thorough observation notes lend themselves to an engaging, thoughtful debrief.

If you have any tricks or strategies that have proven effective when taking observation notes, please share them in a comment!

Thanks for reading!

Alison.

The Pre-Assessment Iceberg

I mentioned the Pre-Assessment Iceberg in the November Case Study Students entry on this blog. The Pre-Assessment Iceberg is a FAS Coaching tool that is an excellent guide for thinking and sharing about a student in a very holistic way. I find the use of this tool to be helpful for me as a mentor, because it facilitates a discussion that will generate information about the focus students my mentee is choosing, as well as information about what my mentee knows and doesn't know about pre-assessing student strengths, language levels, academic performance, and learning needs.

If you have been coaching with NTSD for several years, it is possible that you have not yet been introduced to the Pre-Assessment Iceberg. It is a newer FAS tool. If you would like more information and guidance on how to use it, contact your NTSD liaison.

Analyzing Student Work

As I mentioned in an earlier post, "Creating Challenge," the second half of the school year is a time that tends to be rich with inquiry into teaching practice. Mentees have identified and reflected on their goals, have developed a sense of flow in their classrooms, and have a clearer understanding of the scope and sequence of their unit planning. The efficacy of those unit plans, as well as potential differentiated refinement, is powerfully revealed by looking at student work.

During the second half of the school year, I make a concerted effort to look at student work as often as possible. I'm finding that in each mentoring session as of late, when a colleague brings up a point about student understandings or misunderstandings, I'm asking them if they have a few pieces of student work that can demonstrate their point. The work itself provides the evidence around which our problem-solving conversation can focus and proceed. Often looking at only 3 or four pieces of student work that reveal a range of achievement can lead to direct next steps a teacher can take with regard to instruction, lesson planning, checks for student understanding, or professional development.

As we underscore in our mentor trainings and forums, the process of analyzing student work involves these key steps:

• Establishing the standard for student work
• Analyzing the work and sorting the work according to demonstration of achievement of the standard (Far Below, Approaching, Meeting, Exceeding)
• Identifying the performance of students (both what they can and cannot do; what they understand and do not understand based on the work)
• Naming the students' learning needs based on these findings.
• Answering this question: How can I differentiate instruction to meet those learning needs?

In this way we plan with students' actual learning needs in mind rather than what we "think" is the next right step for instruction.

Troubleshooting Student Work Analysis:

• Focus Students! Remember to always include the work of focus students in any student work analysis. The actual evidence of their work produces a non-judgmental evidence based entry point to address the specific learning needs of language learners and special needs students. Their work also consistently opens up reflection concerning effective pedagogical strategies to provide equitable access to the content standards for all students.
• Establishing buy in - sometimes mentees are nervous about looking at student work - it can bring up a lot of vulnerability about their instruction. It's important to be aware of this and sensitive to our mentee's responses. I pay careful attention to entry points through which I can suggest looking at student work. The entry points often sound like this: "My students seemed to be very confused about today's assignment and I'm not sure why...;" "Even though I aligned my learning targets to the final assessment, my students didn't do so well on the test. I'm really frustrated about it...; "I tried out a new instructional strategy today. Some of the students were really engaged, but some of them weren't...." My response sounds something like this: "I have a hunch their work will show us some of the answers to your questions. Can you think of an assignment that we can look in one of our next sessions?"
• Finding the time - a complete Analysis of Student Work (looking at a whole class set of work) takes time. Sometimes it can take two sessions. It is important to put the Analysis of Student work on your calendars and on your Collaborative Logs. Teacher's next step - pull together the work; Mentor's next step - follow through on doing the analysis.
• Getting through it - as a mentor, it's important to be intentional about monitoring the time and moving on to the next step of the analysis to get to the important last step of differentiation. I recommend having a clock front and center and maintaining focus on each step of the process for a set amount of time. Establish the amount of time for each chunk at the start of your session together. If I know our time will be limited, I ask my mentee to select out 2 samples of student work that demonstrate each of the Far Below, Approaching, Meeting, and Exceeding categories.
• Having the Work to Analyze - Some teachers use binders and all the student work is in that binder. If this is the case, I ask them to have the students turn in the work that we are going to analyze, ask the teacher to photocopy it and then return it to their students. Sometimes the work is an essay and teachers want to get them back to their students promptly - and there is a lot of work to copy. In this case, I ask them to choose 2 samples of student work that demonstrate each of the Far Below, Approaching, Meeting, and Exceeding categories and copy them. Sometimes the work is an exit ticket and the teachers read them and toss them - that one is easy - simply remind your mentee to remember to keep the exit tickets for the analysis.

Any other pointers on troubleshooting the Analysis of Student Work are welcome - please write a comment.

Of course, looking at student work is important and useful at any time of the year. It is perhaps the most powerful conversation topic to put on the table to move teacher practice. If you haven't analyzed student work yet, I encourage you to establish an agreement with your mentee to do so in the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading!

Alison.

When Are the Year Two Coach Trainings?

There are three one-day training sessions in the New Teacher Center Year Two Coach Training. These trainings were offered in the summer. They will also be offered once during the school year in the coming weeks.

Training dates are listed above in the "Save the Date" section of this blog.

Go to On Track via the OUSD Intranet to register.

These trainings are for our coaches in their SECOND year - or those in their third year or beyond who have not yet attended them.