4. Describe your Coaching

We discussed our implementation of the routine at the general level, and brainstormed potential with AP students. We walked her through the steps using examples we had successfully used in our classes this year. After going through the steps with samples, we co-constructed  draft of the routing using our agreed upon concept of "Imagery." This turned out to be very helpful to her when she used the routine with her AP 12 English class. We also provided her with a copy of the "Get Set" section of the manual with the script highlighted.

Presenting the diagram itself was fairly simple. We followed the steps in the manual and used a partially completed diagram as an example. We discussed alternatives to the definitions we had prepared, and overall, the diagram seems to fit well with the concept of figurative language. One of the best examples of success is the connection we think this breakdown of imagery will develop for students between how they analyze someone else's writing and how they create their own descriptive writing. That can be a challenge, but I'm sure this will illuminate that light bulb for many!  A difficulty that we overcame was deciding among the three of us the clearest terminology to use when teaching it to the class; however, since it's an advanced class, we determined that the students will suggest some great examples on their own. 

Here is the link to the Concept Diagram for Strong Imagery that we used in our lesson:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2B8GvAFCXAbZjBTQ3FxWTliZVk/view

During our instruction, Mrs. Hodges and I constantly referred back to our prior experiences when we initially utilized the concept diagram for written expression / mechanics. Since both of us had prior experiences with this instructional strategy, we were able to anticipate questions or concerns that Mrs. Ferrell might have. Another success is that Mrs. Hodges and I both see the validity of this tool, and we were excited to see Mrs. Ferrell working with her students in the classroom to benefit their reading comprehension abilities. One challenge was finding a common planning time for all of us to meet initially in addition to follow-up classroom observation. Overall, Mrs. Hodges and I enjoyed working with another colleague in such a collaborative manner. Often times as educators, we worked in our individual classrooms, but this was an opportunity to strengthen our professional learning communities.

We showed our two 'guinea pig' teachers the concept diagram that we used for the Percent Unit so they could get an over all picture of where we wanted to go with our new concept diagram using INTEGERS.  Joalenn and I had already made a rough draft of what we thought would work and got their input.  The two teachers were a bit concerned about different classes generating different lists but we told them that was okay.  This was just a guide.  We invited them to first observe us the following day so that they would see how easily it fit into their teaching styles.  We would then meet later to discuss any further concerns.

Before we started, we invited the co-teaching team to observe our class on a day that we were using the concept mastery routine. We thought that it would be a good opportunity to demonstrate the proper use. We also hoped that they would see the benefits of using the routine by seeing how our students worked through the process. This turned out to be very beneficial because it gave them some background knowledge going into our training. We worked through the routine together using the steps in the manual. Then, we ask them to complete one on their own which allowed us the opportunity to review and make suggestions for improvement. The part that they had the most difficulty with was the use of symbols. We suggested they keep the guide handy when completing the routine until they became more familiar with the routine.

We first explained what the routine is and what it is used for.  We showed our example that we did with percents and went through the book.  We all decided that we would work on one that we would use in our next unit on integers.  We came up with a draft example.  The teachers were concerned with the fact that all classes notes would be different.  We explained that for the most part, they turn out about the same.  We were pleasantly surprised.  We also explained that this is another reason why the teacher should have a rough draft ahead of time.  This can be used to help guide them if the students were stumped or started to go off course.  Lynae and I decided that we would implement this first to make sure it worked out and they were welcome to join our class to see it in action.  

I met with two co-teachers at Page Middle School in Gloucester County.  They co- teach 6th grade civics.  We reviewed the concept diagram components and went through the book. We discussed the research that supported using it with their population of students.  They were excited about the possibilities this would create for their students. I shared my experience in using it and seeing it used.  The immediate successes were that they were able to see how teaching this way would be far more meaningful for kids then what they are currently doing which is having them copy notes from an overhead. We reviewed the examples in the book.  Then we talked about their initial impressions. Next, we discussed how they thought using it might support their students' learning.  Lastly, we determined an upcoming lesson that they would use it in and began initial planning and brainstorming.  They wanted to evaluate you if using the routine increased student retention of concepts and we decided we would compare unit tests scores  with and without teaching with the concept diagram to determine it's effectiveness on student learning. 

Blaire and I instructed another math co-teaching team in our building.  These teachers co-teach Algebra 1.   This is their first term co-teaching together.  We started by showing them student samples from our own implementation.  We also went through all the steps in the handbook.  From there, we decided what topic to best use when introducing this to the students.  We ultimately decided on graphing linear inequalities.  From there, we assisted them with creating a key to use as a guide.

We did not use power point to guide them, but went through each step, showing them our own examples (key and student samples).  Blaire and I modeled the process, showed them bits of our sample video, and made our books available to them.  

Successes-both teachers were very open to using this in their classroom and felt it was a useful tool.
Challenges-deciding which topic to use, especially since we are halfway through the term.  It would have been easier to introduce this earlier in the term.
Problem Solving-this will naturally resolve itself as these two teachers can use this from the beginning of the term next time.
Adjustments-no adjustments were made.  It was more of an observation that students would be more receptive and benefit more when introduced earlier.  

The other special education teacher and I reviewed the students with IEP's in their class, their accommodations and SDI's.  We identified areas of graphing linear inequalities in which students with processing and long-term memory disabilities (the 2 main disabilities in her class) would struggle and developed visual and auditory repetition games to meet their needs.  We instructed the team to present the model as we did, using the team teaching model.  

Carrie and I instructed another math co-teaching team in our building.  These teachers co-teach Algebra I.  This is their first term co-teaching together.  We started by showing them student samples for our own implementation.  We also went through the all of the steps in the handbook.  From there, we decided what topic would be best to use when introducing this to the students.  We ultimately decided on graphing linear inequalities.  From there, we assisted them with creating a key to use as a guide.

We did not use a power point to guide them, instead we used the books and went through each step, showing them our own examples (keys and student samples).  Carrie and I also modeled for them the process (us acting as the teachers and they the students).  We made our books available for them to use during practice and implementation.

Successes - both teachers were very open to using this in their classroom and felt it was a useful tool
Challenges - deciding which topic to use, especially since we are halfway though the term.  It would have been easier to introduce this earlier in the term. 
Problem Solving - this will naturally resolve itself as these two teachers can use this from the beginning of the term next time
Adjustments - no adjustments were made, it was more of an observation that students would be more receptive and benefit more when introduced earlier.

As far as the differences in the roles of the special education and general education teacher - we showed this team to teach teach it just as we did.  While one teacher played the lead role, the other walked around and assisted students with filling in their diagram.  The teachers took turns and switched roles between each step while the general education took the lead in both planning and instruction for the content knowledge and the special education teacher took the lead in both planning and instruction for the SDI's.  However, as a general rule at our school, both teachers share in these roles, meaning even though the general education teacher took the lead with the content, the special education teacher also contributed with the roles reversed for the SDI piece.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0ByuRSmdpETYKa2FHZ0hBNl9aWlU?usp=sharing

The 6th grade Language Arts teacher and I worked together during two planning periods. After looking at several sample diagrams and discussing how they were developed the teacher was ready to chose a topic for her Concept Diagram.   Because she is starting a new unit on Folk Tales soon, she decided she wanted to use the diagram to help introduce a topic for the upcoming unit.  Narrowing the characteristics for the Always Present column required her to determine what was most important for the students to understand. After that decision was made it was easier to chose the Sometimes and Never columns. She enjoyed creating the diagram and was pleasantly surprised at how much it helped her organize her own thoughts on the concept.  She has changed her plans for the upcoming unit on Folk Tales and stated that she wants to use more of the diagrams for other concepts.

We worked together over the course of three days to construct the teacher draft of a Concept Diagram on Living Things.  We initially had difficulty determining a topic that would work well with the diagram.  The first one the teacher wanted to use was to broad to use.  Because we could not narrow the topic and cover all the points she felt necessary, we moved to a new topic that work well.  Determining the Never Present category was a challenge because the teacher did not see the value in including these items. However, she continued with the process and realized that the Never Present was a good place to show common mistakes that students make when determining if a specific item has demonstrates life. She was pleased with the final product and anxious to present it to her classes.