Coaching: Improving Classroom and School Literacy Instruction.

Great coaches are able to inspire and motivate their coaches. Literacy coaches provide guidance and feedback in order to enable teachers to be more efficient (Bean, 2015). For teachers to be comfortable with implementing new strategies, coaches need to be there for support and give feedback for teachers to use the new teaching strategies. With that being said one scenario set a better example of a coach. 

In Brown Middle School, the principal changed around schedules in order to meet the teachers concerns. They met with their reading specialist who they are familiar with. The reading specialist worked with both teachers and students.

In Green Elementary School, the principal brought someone from out of district. The reading specialist was their to "improve their teaching of reading". That statement already goes against the principals of a good leader. A good leader supports their teaching methods and does not force teaching methods. Another issue was the reading specialist was not familiar with the districts reading series. It was frustrating for the teachers as well as the reading specialist herself.

In both scenarios the reading specialist's goal was to help the teachers. The first scenario focused on both the teachers and the students. The second scenario focused more on teacher concerns rather than what was needed for the students.

Share the Wealth: Kahoot!

Kahoot!

Kahoot is a great website to get students engaged in learning. Kahoot is a game-based learning tool that quizzes student knowledge on a topic. Students are gathered around a shared screen such a smart board, projector or a computer monitor. Individual students will have a device that will have the answer choices in the form of colored shapes. Teachers can award points for answers or use it as a study tool. If awarded points, they will come up on the screen after each question.You can set the amount of points, amount of time students have per question and whether or not you want points to be given.  

Teachers can create their own quiz or search from the thousands of quizzes available. They have a ton of different categories based on grade and subject. Students are highly engaged through out and its a great way to assess students after a lesson. 

Kahoot can be used as a studying tool, informal or formal assessment, exit ticket or just a quick fun review.  Teachers would need to create an account and once you have your quiz set all you need to do is have students put in the game code (which is different for each quiz) and they get to choose their nicknames or put in their actual names. After all the students are in you may begin. 

Here is the link to get started....

www.kahoot.com

Students should go on this link to enter game pin...

www.kahoot.it 

PD Workshop: Two Column Notes

Click this link for a PD Workshop :)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1IMdIxIxPMfCrye6WUnl6JaHfp0XYyDmR

Chapter 4: Leadership of the Reading Specialist

Serving As A Resource To Teachers

As a Reading Specialist my main purpose would be to get information to teachers as simple as possible. Keeping each point in mind, I will focus on the putting the teachers at ease not bombarding them with more materials which can be overwhelming.

• Inform teacher of new ideas and materials- Administrators tend to communicate with others through email. As a teacher, getting over ten emails a day can be quite overwhelming. To better rely messages about new ideas and materials are better expressed in person. Monthly PLC meetings, with the grade level teachers choice of date, would help pass important information around. Administrators will always be kept in the loop with meetings, new materials and new ideas. 

• Spread the word about effective teaching and teachers- Being that I am a visual learner, in order for me to decide if a strategy will work I would need to see it be done. With that be said, I find that observing other teachers to be very effective. 

• Focus on the student- Helping teachers identify effective strategies that can help students. Going through data to identify weakness within students and working with the teacher to discuss strategies that can help. 

• Be available and follow through on your commitments- Having a Reading Specialist in a school can be very helpful to teachers. A leader needs to be seen in order for teachers to feel a connection and ask for help. If I was working in one building I would make frequent classroom visits in order for teachers to feel comfortable with me and with teaching. Giving positive feedback can give teachers the confidence they need. Some teachers, especially novice teachers are worried they might not be teaching a strategy of skill correctly. Having the specialist on "stand-by" will show a sense of togetherness.   

• Be a willing helper- Being friendly with teachers will help develop a good relationship. A good relationship can open the doors to a better collaboration between the Reading Specialist and teachers. Teachers will more than likely feel comfortable with me if they don't see me as an Administrator, rather than a resource for them. 

The Instructional Role

In Chapter 3: The Instructional Role Bean describes the school culture as its norms or ways of being. In my school the principal sets up all schedules pertaining to duty, preps and teaching schedules. When we meet to discuss materials and resources is our choice. Though we do not have a reading specialist in the school we do have our personal Literacy coach in the building. Teachers are to meet with her once a month to discuss new materials, resources or instructional plans. Administrators are always aware of meetings with the Literacy Coach and join when possible. When the Literacy coach comes into a classroom for a collaboration, an administrators usually accompany her as a way of familiarizing themselves with what is to be expected. Cook and Friend (1995) identified 9 different topics that should be discussed by teachers and Reading Specialist:

1. Instructional Beliefs- the teacher and the specialist need to come to a common ground with their    
                                      own beliefs
2. When and How to plan- Agreeing on the time for meetings plays a big part due to a lot of  
                                         conflicting schedules like missed preps, other meetings, and conferences.
3. Parity Issues- Students must see the Reading Specialist as another teacher in the room.
4. Confidentially Issues- Discussing the what to share and what to keep private it vital to keep a good
                                        relationship between one another.
5. Noise level- This can be hard due to the fact that some teachers can tolerate more noise than
                        others.
6. Classroom Routines- When co-teaching, the reading specialist needs to be familiar with the
                                       teachers routines.
7. Discipline- Reading Specialist needs to also be familiar with acceptable and unacceptable
                       behaviors from students.
8. Feedback- Discussing how to give feedback.
9. Pet Peeves- Identifying pet peeves before co-teaching can help make a better partnership.

Discussing these points prior to co-teaching can help make an effective collaboration.

Voices From the Field

What lessons can be learned about the role of the reading specialist from this vignette?

The role of a reading specialist is very general. A reading specialist not only works with struggling readers, they also work alongside teachers in order to gear instruction where students are, helping them get to where they need to be. Reading specialists are required to have leadership characteristics in order to succeed, with instructing teachers, sending out assessment data and being available when help is needed.

In what ways does Mark serve as a leader?

Mark is a leader is different aspects of teaching. He keeps a good rapport with teachers, calls 15 minute meetings when problems arise, and teachers feel comfortable to go to him for help.Mark also supports teachers by overseeing groups and coming into a classroom to model lessons. He does everything he needs to do to help his teachers and students.

What questions come to mind after reading this vignette?

How do you deal with a student who can read fluently but struggles with comprehension?

How do you handle teachers who refuse to change their form of teaching?

Chapter 2: An Overview of the Instructional Role

In what ways can reading specialists communicate and collaborate with classroom teachers?

"Reading specialist must communicate and collaborate with teachers who are providing the "first line" of instruction to students." (Bean, p.21) In order for students to get the help they need both the reading specialist and teacher need to work together to guide instruction. The chapter discusses different types of communication and collaboration. Written Communication which are forms completed by both the teachers and the reading specialist to keep them updated as to what is being taught. Oral Communication seems to be the easiest form of communication if both the reading specialist and teacher work in the same school. Scheduled meetings to discuss data results are effective in my school, once a month we give planning time "prep" in order to meet with a coach or reading specialist to discuss different types of instruction. Informal Conversations tend to happen often, when teachers talk briefly during lunch or in class while the students work independently. The three ways of collaboration and communications only work if there is support from administration.  

What possible approaches for collaborative teaching between reading specialists and classroom teachers are available, and what advantages or disadvantages are there to each?

There are five approaches to collaboration that Bean discusses in this chapter. Station or Center Teaching, with this approach, students are able to work with both teachers in a small group setting. Each center provides differentiated instruction and promotes independent work. The disadvantages to station or center teaching is that it can be time- consuming for a teacher to create, thinking about ways to manage each center, the amount of noise appropriate for each center and making sure the students know the rules. Target Teaching focuses on a specific instruction to target student’s needs. Students who need further instruction on a skill can get that with targeted teaching. Reading specialist, or the teacher, can work with students on a reading book to focus on certain skills, like fluency, working on words, comprehension, and so on. Disadvantage for target teaching is deciding on the groups, which students need to be grouped into a skill. Parallel Instruction is having both the reading specialist and teacher teach the same lesson to different groups of students. The teacher chooses the type of scaffolding needed for the group of students they have. This can be difficult when done in the same room, students might be distracted by the noise level or listen to the other lesson rather than their own. Teach and Monitor, with this approach a one teacher completes the instruction while the other moves around the room for monitoring and support to those students who need it. This can benefit teachers who need an extra hand in the classroom but can be hard for teachers who fringe at the fact of having another adult in the room with them. The teacher who is doing the monitoring can give students quick reinforcement, but might feel like their status is being reduced due to the fact that they are not giving the instruction. Team Teaching is a great way to collaborate, in order for team teaching to occur the teacher and the reading specialist must plan out the lessons. Each can get an idea of individual students needs and work with them as a whole or small group. Disadvantages can be the lack of philosophy or approach to instruction. (Bean, p. 31)

What do reading specialists need to know in order to work in schools that use an RTI framework?

In order for reading specialist to work in schools that use an RTI they need to know the student data and how it leads the instruction. There is an importance to reading specialists and teacher collaboration when it comes to the RTI framework. In order for instruction to happen during Tier 2 reading specialist needs to be in the loop with what has been taught and what skills a students is struggling with. Further more, a reading specialist needs to communicate with the teacher on which approach to meet student needs and show progress. This can only be effective if the teacher and the reading specialist communicate and collaborate.