NSDC Coaches Academy Memphis City Schools

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NSDC Coaches AcademyMemphis City Schools

• Reflective Coaching / Communication Skills
• Day 3 -- July 25, 2007

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Reciprocal Interviews

• Use the handout to conduct an interview with a
  learning partner.
• Divide your time so that your partner can
  reciprocate!

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Essential Questions

• As a coach, what principles underlie my
  relationship and interactions with my colleagues?
• How do I build trust with my colleagues?
• How do I encourage reflection and minimize advice
  giving?
• How do I demonstrate that I care about my
  colleagues?
• How do I listen effectively?
• How do I ask questions that will promote learning
  and reflection?
• How do I empower teachers to become independent
  professionals committed to their own continuous
  development in order to improve student learning?

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The Power of Relationship
CONTENT
PEDAGOGY
RELATIONSHIP
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Coaching Stances

• Skilled mentors and coaches support learning
  for themselves and others and operate across a
  continuum of interactive patterns.

Expert Colleague Mediator
Consult Collaborate
Coach
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Ultimate Goal

• Create reciprocal, learning focused
  relationships, support self-directed learning
• Enhance capacity for engaging in productive
  collegial relationships

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Trust Rapport Commonly Defined Goals
Clarity of Outcomes SUCCESS
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Trust and Rapport

• Trust Factors
• (takes time)
• Respect
• Competence
• Personal regard for others
• Personal integrity

• Rapport
• (in the moment)
• Tonality
• Language
• Breathing

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Generalizations

• One stance not better than another
• Dont need to begin at consultancy and move
  across the continuum as the year progresses
• Often visit each stance within one extended
  conversation
• If never move from consultative stance, lose some
  important learning opportunities for both
  participants

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What stance would you take at this point? Why?
What would you say in your conversation?
Coachee Well, I think writing is improved,
but Im not really sure whether it meets the
standards or not.
Coach What are some things youre noticing
about this students work as it compares to the
writing standards?
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Is stance based on experience?
Choice depends upon the coachs assessment of
need in the moment Or a specific request from
the coachee
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Reflective Coaching Cycle 3 Phases

• Planning (pre-conference)
• Observation (of teaching)
• Reflection (post-conference)

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Communicating MeaningProportion of meaning
inferred from non-verbal and verbal components
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Learning Conversation Skills

• 4 Ps
• Pausing
• Paraphrasing
• Positive Presuppositions
• Probing

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Pausing

• Model thinking before answering and before asking
  additional questions
• Become comfortable with wait time in groups
• Use thoughtfulness in all interactions
• Value the importance of silence
• Practice deep listening

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4 Types of Pauses

• After a question is asked
• After someone speaks
• Waiting before answering
• A collective pause

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Reflective Listening Purposes

• Decrease distortion, bias, deletion
• Verify accuracy, especially when dealing with
  important information
• Lower emotion
• Build relationship and trust

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Effective Listening

• Eliminates 4 unproductive patterns of listening
• Autobiographical
• Judgment/criticism
• Inquiry listening
• Solution listening
• Eliminates reactive responses

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Reactive Responses

• Definition A stimulus-response reaction to
  something the speaker says a non-listening
  response that interferes with the speaker
  completing his / her communication

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Categories of Reactive Responses
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Another Pause . . .

• Which kind of reactive responses do you tend to
  use? When is it useful? When does it interfere
  with good communication?
• Share your thoughts with a learning partner.

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Paraphrasing

• From the Greek para, (beyond) phrazein, (to
  tell) to tell beyond.
• Webster A rewording of the thought or meaning
  expressed in something that has been said or
  written.

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Paraphrasing

• 2 Arenas
• Emotion
• Content

• 3 Messages
• I am listening
• I understand you (or am trying to)
• I care

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Principles

• Attend fully.
• Listen with the intention to understand.
• Capture the essence of the message.
• Reflect the essence of voice tone and gestures.
• Make the paraphrase shorter than the original
  statement.
• Paraphrase before asking a question.
• Use the pronoun you, instead of I.
• Adapted from the
• Center for Cognitive Coaching

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2 Distinctions

• An effective paraphrase expresses empathy by
  reflecting both the feeling and the content of
  the message.
• Empathizing is a statement that only reflects the
  feelings of the message.
• Adapted from the
• Center for Cognitive Coaching

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3 Levels

• Acknowledge and clarify
• Summarize and organize
• Shift conceptual focus
• Adapted from the
• Center for Cognitive Coaching

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Acknowledge and Clarify

• Youre thinking that . . .
• So, youre wondering if . . .
• Youre frustrated because . . .
• Youre hoping that . . .
• Youre concerned about . . .
• Adapted from the
• Center for Cognitive Coaching

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Summarize and Organize

• So, there are three issues . . .
• So, youre ready to move on to . . .
• First youre going to . . . then you will . . .
• On the one hand . . . and on the other hand . . .
• Adapted from the
• Center for Cognitive Coaching

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Shift Conceptual Focus

• Goals, values, beliefs, assumptions, concepts
• So, a strong belief you have is . . .
• An assumption youre operating from is . . .
• A goal for you is . . .
• Adapted from the
• Center for Cognitive Coaching

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Practicing the 3 Levels of Paraphrasing

• With a learning partner consider the examples on
  page 75. Discuss the differences among the 3
  examples.
• Write a comment that paraphrases the presenting
  statement for each level with the second example.

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More Paraphrasing Practice in Triads

• Identify 3 roles an observer, paraphraser,
  person with situation
• Situation 1
• Coach who is complaining about too much data
• Situation 2
• Teacher who is struggling with classroom
  management
• Situation 3
• Person who is angry about being mandated to work
  with you

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Positive Presuppositions

• Use positive presuppositions that presume a
  person has ability, attitude and intention.
• It communicates that the listener expects that
  the person has already considered the question or
  issue being raised.
• Honor the speaker.
• Model acceptance and respect.
• Productive Advocacy

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POSITIVE PRESUPPOSITIONS
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POSITIVE PRESUPPOSITION PRACTICE

• Embed what is expected within the
• positive presupposition.

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POSITIVE PRESUPPOSITION PRACTICE

• Do you have any ideas for dinner?

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EVER SAID?

• I just dont understand why they wont even
  consider what I am suggesting.
• They are so closed minded about this.
• They already think they know all about this.
• It doesnt matter what I say or suggest. They
  are going to do what they want anyway.

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Presume Positive Intention

• Teacher says, These students are always behind.
• Coach thinks and says, You are aware of how
  students are progressing.

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Presume Positive Intention

• Teacher says, I dont have time to plan
  different projects for students who are lagging
  behind.
• Coach says, . . . .

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Positive Presupposition Exploration and Practice

• Turn to page 78. Compare the examples to the
  non-examples. What are the differences in the
  feelings elicited by either?
• On the following page, practice rewriting the
  statements or questions as positive
  presuppositions.

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Probing

• Clarifying
• Positive Presuppositions
• Effective Questions
• Mediational Questions

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Probing Questions

• To probe is to focus thinking. Language is
  filled with generalities and ambiguities.
  Coaches probe for specificity.
• Generalizations
• Rule words
• Vague verbs and nouns
• Comparisons

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Probing Questions Continuum
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Clarifying Practice

• Look at page 77. With a partner decide whether
  you will accept or clarify the teachers
  statements. If you decide to clarify, determine
  what you will say.

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Effective Questions

• Cause thinking, thus learning
• Examine events from multiple perspectives
• Cross categorical

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Questions that Invite Thinking

• Approachable voice (vs. credible voice)
• Plural forms
• Exploratory
• Positive presuppositions

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Anatomy of a Powerful Thinking Question

• Open ended
• Plural forms
• Judgment free
• Tentative and exploratory language
• Approachable voice

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Effective Questions Practice

• Change the questions below to utilize the
  characteristics of effective questions.
• What did the students learn?
• Did you consider making sure all the students
  understood the learning before moving on?
• You know it is important to use visuals with
  second language learners, how did you do that
  during the lesson?
• Did you actively involve students during the
  lesson?

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Planning Conversation

• Coaches mediate by having the teacher
• Clarify goals and objectives
• Anticipate teaching strategies
• Determine evidence of student achievement
• Identify the data gathering focus and procedures

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Benefits of the Planning Conversation

• Assists in developing trust
• Provides an opportunity for mental rehearsal
• Develops a common understanding of what will be
  observed
• Sets parameters for the reflecting conference
• Promotes self-coaching

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Planning Conversation

• Observe the demonstration conference.
• Record your observations.

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Guiding Questions for Planning

• Consider the example questions in the packet.
• In practice, these questions are supplemented
  with probing questions.

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Conversation Skills

• Have a clear purpose
• Remain neutral
• Be prepared with questions and probes in advance
• Ask questions to get information, to understand
  more thoroughly, to sustain discussion
• Use active listening skills
• Balance air time

• Sustain discussion until you have explored the
  topic thoroughly
• Refrain from giving advice
• Align verbal and non-verbal communication
• Be sensitive to feelings, fears, and emotions
• Maintain positive intentions
• Bring closure

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Practice Planning Conferences

• Get together in triads. Each person will play
  each of these roles observer, coach and coachee.
  Each round will last 15 minutes.
• Coachee will identify something real they are
  planning. Coach will then use planning map and
  appropriate communication skills to move through
  the map(10 minutes). Observer will take notes.
• Observer will give feedback and then all three
  will discuss what occurred including suggestions.

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Gathering Data

• Fact observable and verifiable behaviors
• Inference the meaning made from the observed
  facts
• Judgments placing a worth or value on behaviors

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Areas about Which to Gather Data

• Students
• Verbal feedback about students
• Non-verbal feedback about students

• Teachers
• Teachers verbal behaviors
• Non-verbal behaviors

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Guiding Notes for Observing Teaching

• Observing teacher and student behaviors
• Observe what the teacher says and does and how
  students respond.

• Gathering data about student and teacher
  behaviors
• Use checklists, scripting, time maps, interaction
  processes, etc., to gather information about what
  is occurring in the classroom.
• Record notes about the learning processes.

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Data Gathering Task

• Review the handout.
• Working with a partner, select a few of the types
  of feedback most often requested by teachers.
• Design a process and/or a template for gathering
  data appropriate to the items you select.

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The Reflecting Conference

• Coaches mediate by having the teacher
• Summarize assessment of the lesson
• Recall data supporting assessment
• Compare planned with performed teaching decisions
• Infer relationships between student achievement
  and teacher decisions/behaviors
• Synthesize new learnings and prescribe
  applications
• Reflect on the coaching process and recommend
  refinements

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Interrogation vs. Inquiry

• Have a conversation at your table. What are the
  characteristics of interrogation? What does it
  look like?

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Interrogation vs. Inquiry

• What are the characteristics of inquiry? How
  does inquiry differ from interrogation?

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Conference Skills

• Sustain discussion until you have explored the
  topic thoroughly
• Refrain from giving advice
• Align verbal and non-verbal communication
• Balance air time
• Be sensitive to feelings, fears, and emotions
• Maintain positive intentions
• Bring closure

• Have a clear purpose
• Remain neutral
• Be prepared with questions and probes in advance
• Ask questions to get information, to understand
  more thoroughly, to sustain discussion
• Use active listening skills

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Coaching Behaviors that Influence Thinking

• Applying rapport skills
• Structure
• Mediating questions
• Using silence
• Paraphrasing
• Acknowledging
• Clarifying
• Providing

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Approaches to Giving Feedback

• Find a learning partner.
• Determine when you might choose to use the
  approaches to giving feedback listed on page 88.
• Compare your answers to those of another pair of
  coaches.

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Exit Slip

• Something I learned that SQUARES with my beliefs
• Three important POINTS to remember
• A question going AROUND in my mind