WEBVTT 00:00:10.976 --> 00:00:12.226 Donna: It's great having a coach. 00:00:12.826 --> 00:00:15.866 To have someone to be able to come into the classroom and have that extra support 00:00:15.866 --> 00:00:19.686 when you're new, because you're nervous about everything as it is and doing the right thing. 00:00:19.686 --> 00:00:22.456 This has been wonderful, a wonderful experience for me. 00:00:22.456 --> 00:00:26.766 Debbie: Looking at the teacher, in Donna's case, being a new teacher, 00:00:27.166 --> 00:00:30.176 at the very beginning I spent a lot of time in her classroom. 00:00:30.246 --> 00:00:36.816 Either just assisting, co-teaching in lessons, modeling lessons, but also just going in 00:00:36.816 --> 00:00:38.346 and working with groups of students. 00:00:38.526 --> 00:00:42.576 And we would have conversations about what happened 00:00:42.576 --> 00:00:44.696 that particular day when I was in the classroom. 00:00:44.696 --> 00:00:49.546 And we would look at this is how the lesson was presented. 00:00:49.546 --> 00:00:50.866 What was the strength of the lesson? 00:00:50.866 --> 00:00:52.396 What was something that might be changed? 00:00:52.396 --> 00:00:56.906 Donna: I have a bilingual classroom and that was very hard 00:00:56.906 --> 00:01:02.016 for me to-some kids totally speak Spanish, some people speak Spanish 00:01:02.046 --> 00:01:05.986 and English-and she would help me differentiate the instruction 00:01:06.326 --> 00:01:08.166 so I could reach those kids, too. 00:01:08.446 --> 00:01:09.866 And that really helped a lot. 00:01:09.866 --> 00:01:13.686 Debbie: A lot of times what we looked at, too-instead of doing a whole group activity, 00:01:13.686 --> 00:01:17.256 we talked about the fact that some of the students had language barriers. 00:01:17.256 --> 00:01:20.926 So what we did was planned some small group lessons 00:01:21.246 --> 00:01:23.456 so that they could have that individual attention. 00:01:23.456 --> 00:01:25.686 And she also had some high-end students. 00:01:25.776 --> 00:01:30.846 She had one little girl by the end of pre-k was reading at a beginning first grade level. 00:01:30.956 --> 00:01:35.196 So we had to provide opportunities for that child to continue soaring in her reading. 00:01:35.746 --> 00:01:38.216 So we had to differentiate in that classroom. 00:01:38.216 --> 00:01:40.186 And these were things that we would discuss. 00:01:40.336 --> 00:01:43.946 And also looking at the materials, you can have a classroom full of materials, 00:01:44.566 --> 00:01:46.826 but what you do with them is the next important thing. 00:01:47.276 --> 00:01:52.566 So we would take materials out and see if it fit into that particular unit or the skill 00:01:52.566 --> 00:01:54.196 that we were trying to introduce with students. 00:01:54.486 --> 00:01:59.516 Donna: And that's what I would do like every Friday before the assistants went home, 00:01:59.516 --> 00:02:05.356 before we all went home, we would go over the plans for the next week and what we were going 00:02:05.386 --> 00:02:07.416 to do and what we're going to do in our centers. 00:02:07.956 --> 00:02:11.106 And how we could help each other and ask for ideas. 00:02:11.106 --> 00:02:15.996 Debbie: And what happened with a lot of the classrooms is, as people became more comfortable 00:02:15.996 --> 00:02:19.586 with me coming into their classroom, they asked me to join their team 00:02:19.586 --> 00:02:21.276 when it was lesson planning time. 00:02:21.276 --> 00:02:26.386 Because I think the biggest stumbling block was breaking off into small groups. 00:02:26.886 --> 00:02:28.466 They know how to do a whole group instruction. 00:02:28.466 --> 00:02:28.796 Donna: Mm hmm. 00:02:28.796 --> 00:02:32.106 Debbie: But the small group instruction was a little more difficult. 00:02:32.106 --> 00:02:34.786 So that's when they started inviting me to join their group 00:02:34.786 --> 00:02:36.256 so that we could have those discussions. 00:02:36.256 --> 00:02:42.206 Donna: One of the things that-I mean, I never even did with my own kids in reading is, 00:02:42.656 --> 00:02:46.116 you know, how you read the book, you go the picture walk. 00:02:46.606 --> 00:02:49.056 I never did that with my kids. 00:02:49.056 --> 00:02:51.356 Never just walked through, went through the pictures. 00:02:51.356 --> 00:02:55.006 And that was a big eye opener for me because it just gets the kids 00:02:55.006 --> 00:02:57.716 so ready to get ready for the book. 00:02:57.716 --> 00:02:59.156 Debbie: Building that background. 00:02:59.156 --> 00:02:59.596 Donna1: Yeah. 00:03:00.136 --> 00:03:04.816 And just the dialogue you can get just walking through the pictures was amazing to me. 00:03:04.936 --> 00:03:09.396 So that was a big eye opener for me and, you know, I do it every time now. 00:03:09.596 --> 00:03:12.536 Debbie: How to go about finger pointing while you're reading 00:03:12.596 --> 00:03:16.776 and questioning techniques while you're reading-those were all pieces 00:03:16.856 --> 00:03:20.336 that teachers had been used to reading stories to kids, 00:03:20.386 --> 00:03:24.926 but hadn't really been consciously aware of doing 00:03:24.926 --> 00:03:26.466 that every time they read with the student. 00:03:26.976 --> 00:03:30.086 So that was something...I would set up a time-"Geez, I want to come in. 00:03:30.566 --> 00:03:32.566 This is something I want to work on. 00:03:32.796 --> 00:03:34.336 What's a good time for me to come in?" 00:03:34.816 --> 00:03:39.646 And I carried my calendar around and I would set my time up according to their calendar. 00:03:39.646 --> 00:03:43.016 And as I said, sometimes we had to readjust, but we always, 00:03:43.056 --> 00:03:46.616 I always gave advanced notice so that it wasn't just a pop in. 00:03:47.236 --> 00:03:51.456 Working with teachers with a little more experience, I probably didn't do 00:03:51.456 --> 00:03:53.996 as much modeling as I did co-teaching. 00:03:54.196 --> 00:03:58.266 I found that some of those teachers were a little put off by the thought of, "Geez, 00:03:58.266 --> 00:04:00.346 let me come in and model something for you." 00:04:00.836 --> 00:04:04.136 Instead it was easier and more acceptable for them for me to say, 00:04:04.376 --> 00:04:06.176 "Can we co-teach a lesson together?" 00:04:06.216 --> 00:04:10.626 Because then they felt that I was valuing, and I do value, 00:04:10.726 --> 00:04:13.246 what they're bringing to the instructional piece. 00:04:13.816 --> 00:04:15.686 But we learned from each other. 00:04:15.686 --> 00:04:18.286 And also interacting with the kids, you never know from day 00:04:18.286 --> 00:04:20.786 to day how the kids are going to react to a lesson. 00:04:20.786 --> 00:04:24.826 A lesson...what I found is really effective is to walk into a classroom during 00:04:24.826 --> 00:04:30.026 that instructional piece and just sit with the children and become one of the children, 00:04:30.026 --> 00:04:32.526 the students, as the teacher would be teaching. 00:04:33.016 --> 00:04:38.696 And then afterwards, having an informal conversation and mentioning certain attributes 00:04:38.696 --> 00:04:40.056 that went well during the lesson, 00:04:40.056 --> 00:04:43.406 and then questioning something that was a red flag for me. 00:04:43.406 --> 00:04:48.176 But rather than just coming right out and saying I was concerned about it, I would question, 00:04:48.806 --> 00:04:51.806 "Why did you choose that particular approach?" 00:04:52.486 --> 00:04:54.906 and that would initiate a conversation. 00:04:54.906 --> 00:04:59.386 And usually what happened was from that conversation the person would eventually say 00:04:59.386 --> 00:05:02.406 to me, "What would you suggest that I do differently?" 00:05:02.756 --> 00:05:07.726 and then that opened up the door for me to say, "I can come in and model a lesson to do that 00:05:07.726 --> 00:05:09.806 or would you like to co-teach a lesson?" 00:05:10.356 --> 00:05:14.436 Or in some cases, the person just wanted me to sit there and talk with them about it. 00:05:14.436 --> 00:05:15.856 And so we would do that, too. 00:05:16.466 --> 00:05:22.876 But when I did a return visit, I would often times ask if they had been using that technique 00:05:22.936 --> 00:05:25.036 when I wasn't there, and how was it working. 00:05:25.036 --> 00:05:29.406 So it kept bringing it to the front that I eventually expected to see 00:05:29.686 --> 00:05:33.006 that instructional piece when I came into the classroom. 00:05:33.596 --> 00:05:35.166 Some people, it took a little bit longer. 00:05:35.476 --> 00:05:37.676 When you have somebody that's totally resistant, 00:05:38.386 --> 00:05:41.986 it takes a while for you to kind of chip through that. 00:05:42.516 --> 00:05:46.936 But I think overall, as the time went on, within a six-month time period, 00:05:46.936 --> 00:05:51.446 I could see a total change in attitudes when I would walk into the classroom. 00:05:51.446 --> 00:05:52.956 And it all comes down to trust. 00:05:53.626 --> 00:05:58.716 I think that when you're being professional and you're there not as a critical person 00:05:58.716 --> 00:06:02.086 but as a person who wants to talk about instruction and how we can change it, 00:06:02.446 --> 00:06:06.986 people start realizing that it's about what we're doing in the classroom 00:06:06.986 --> 00:06:08.286 and it's not a personality piece. 00:06:08.286 --> 00:06:09.956 Donna: And what you're doing for the kids. 00:06:09.956 --> 00:06:14.746 Debbie: Right, ultimately that's exactly it-is, we want to see our children be successful 00:06:14.746 --> 00:06:25.666 and it requires that we all be open to suggestions to do that.