observation & feedback paul bambrick-santoyo with patrick jones and phillip albonetti
TRANSCRIPT
Observation & Feedback
Paul Bambrick-Santoyowith Patrick Jones and Phillip Albonetti
So there we were…
August of 2012• First year teacher with first year teacher issues• Cursing, horseplay, and a pen top• Meeting with the principal an AP within the first two
weeks
Any comparable stories?
This July we will get dozens of new first year teachers who will have similar issues. Now what?
Opening Questions:
• Outside of growing on our own (simply through experience and self-reflection), what is the #1 thing that helps us get better—as teachers or as school leaders?
• In the average school, how many times per year is a new teacher observed? How about an experienced teacher?
Exceptional school leaders succeed because of how they use their time,
and their time prioritizes teacher development.
Observation & Feedback is not to evaluate a teacher; but to find the most effective way to
coach them to improve student learning.
Big Idea:
Seven Levers of Leadership--Instruction:
Data-Driven Instruction: • Define the roadmap for rigor and adapt teaching to
meet students’ needs
Observation & Feedback: • Coach teachers to improve the learning
Planning: • Prevent problems and guarantee strong lessons
Professional Development: • Strengthen culture and instruction with hands-on training
that sticks
Seven Levers of Leadership--Instruction:
Data-Driven Instruction: • Define the roadmap for rigor and MONTHLY/
adapt teaching to meet students’ needs YEARLY
Observation & Feedback: • Coach teachers to improve the learning
Planning: • Prevent problems and guarantee strong lessons
Professional Development: • Strengthen culture and instruction with hands-on training
that sticks
Seven Levers of Leadership--Instruction:
Data-Driven Instruction: • Define the roadmap for rigor and adapt teaching to meet
students’ needs
Observation & Feedback: • Coach teachers to improve the learning
DAILY/
Planning: WEEKLY• Prevent problems and guarantee strong lessons
Professional Development: • Strengthen culture and instruction with hands-on training
that sticks
Goals for Today’s Workshop:
• Increase our ability to identify the key action steps in classroom observations and give effective feedback
• Develop the tools for holding teachers accountable to continual development
Reflections--Observation & FeedbackThink about the teachers who have been the easiest for you to manage and help them improve:
• Why was it easy to manage them?• How did their personality, teaching challenges and
responsiveness contribute to that ease?
Think about the teachers who have been the hardest for you to manage:
• Why was it difficult to manage them?• How did their personality, teaching challenges and
(un)responsiveness contribute to that difficulty?
Profiles of Easy-to-Manage Teachers:• Reflective• Eager to Improve• Data-Driven• Seek Feedback• Responsive (follows through)• Mission-aligned• Positive• Emotionally Stable
Profiles of Challenging Teachers:Serious Classroom Management IssuesIntimidation/Discomfort: Teachers we gravitate
AWAY from: • Fairly strong teachers—how do I improve them?• Teachers where we experience a personality
clash• Teachers with far more teaching experience • Teachers who are “icy cold” when receiving
feedbackUnresponsiveness: Teachers who do not implement
the feedback that we give them: incompetent or resistant
Underminers: Teachers who question your decisions and undermine your decisions with others
Why Teacher Development is So Challenging
A Case Study
Failure Case Study:
• What positive attempts did the principal make to manage this teacher effectively?
• What went wrong in the principal’s attempts to manage this teacher?
Failure Case Study
Go to a sheet of chart paper with a group of four and write down your answers to these questions:• What did Dr. Starr do well in his attempt to
guide Ms. Brewer?• What could he have done to lead her more
effectively?You will have 7 minutes and 19 seconds.
Practice
• Why does Albonetti carve such awful pumpkins?
• Takeaway: Practice is essential!
Agenda:Content Time
Introduction• The Four Keys to Observation & Feedback
10:00-10:40 am
First Two Keys• Regular Observation• Identifying the Right Action Steps
10:40– 12:00 noon
Third and Fourth Key• Effective Feedback• Holding Teachers Accountable
1:00-5:00 pm
The Four Keys:
• Regular Observation
• The Right Action Steps
• Effective Feedback
• Accountability
The Four Keys:
Regular Observation: • Lock in frequent and regular observations
Right Action Steps: • Choose the best action steps for change in each
classroom observation
Effective Feedback: • Give face-to-face feedback that practices the action step
Accountability: • Create systems to ensure feedback translates to practice
Regular Observation
Building the Schedule of Instructional Leaders to Lock in Observations & Feedback
Rationale for the Importance of Teacher Meetings:
• Face-to-face feedback is the most effective way to generate teacher improvement
• Emails only work for teachers who are hungry
Building Your Schedule:
Pre-Work:• Count the # of instructional leaders in the school• Figure out the leader-to-core teacher ratio
o Goal is to get to 15 to 1 or less for weekly observations
• Place the blank calendar front and center.
Task 1:• Block out all the time where you will most likely be
busy with non-negotiable responsibilities.o e.g. Morning supervision, morning meetings, CPR,
Lunch duty, Dismissalo Write in pencil.
Building Your Schedule:
Task 2:• List all of the teachers in your building.• Divide the teachers between the school leaders
who will observe staff.• This list isn’t final, so don’t sweat it too much.
Task 3:• Write into the schedule when you will meet with
these teachers for observation and lesson plan feedback.
• Each meeting should take 30 minutes.• Consider planning meetings in large blocks to
finish them more quickly.• See page 68 of Leverage Leadership or the
example in your binder for an example.
Task 4:• Map out the core times when you can go to
observations• Goal: observation time occurs before you will
meet with the teacher each week• Goal: 15 minutes per teacher you will observe • Thus, one post-it (1 hr) represents 4 observations• Consider planning observations in 1 hour blocks
Task 5:• Type your tasks into your Outlook calendar for the
week of August 12-16.• [Bonus] Set the task as weekly occurrences that
last until the end of September.
Building Your Schedule:
Evaluate Your Schedule:
Trade your schedule with another leader’s. Both of you evaluate the schedules by asking and answering these questions.• Where might this schedule not work? • Is there a change we could make to
mitigate that?
• What about this schedule makes regular observation happen more consistently?
• What are the big takeaways for building my schedule and my leadership team’s schedules?
• Write your takeaways on the “Observation & Feedback Reflection” page.
Reflection:
By receiving weekly observations and feedback,
a teacher gets more coaching in one year as most receive in fifteen.
Big Idea:
2 observations per year X 15 years = 30 opportunities for coaching
35+ observations per year X 1 year = 35+ opportunities for coaching
• Face-to-face feedback is the most effective way to generate teacher improvement—emails only work for teachers who are hungry
• Don’t waste time tracking down teachers to give feedback—that will translate to not giving the feedback over time
• Use the meeting to incentivize yourself to get the observation done
Rationale For Locked-in Teacher Meetings:
Now What?
• We’ve observed the teachers. Now what do we tell them?
Choosing the Right Action Step
Effective vs. Ineffective Action Steps[Action Step = Key Lever]
Selecting the Right Action Steps:
Criteria for selecting right action step: • Is it directly connected to student learning? • Does it address a root cause?• Does the action positively change multiple areas?• Is this change a necessary one to allow for further
improvements to come after it?• Is the recommendation the quickest and most effective way
to make this change happen?
Make it measurable, specific and targeted: • If you can’t make the change in a week, the action step isn’t
small enough • Can you easily measure if the teachers has made the
change?
Keys to Writing a Great Action Step:First Key• What will teachers do when they implement
this lever?
Second Key• What evidence will you have that teachers
now know how to do this?
Third Key• Can they accomplish this objective in a
week?
Converting Professional Development Goals to Bite-Sized Action Steps: Classroom management example
Too High• Increase on-task behavior during Opening Procedures
Still Too High• Improve Strong Voice
Better• Use Economy of Language during Opening
Procedures• Square Up & Stand Still during Opening Procedures
Converting Professional Development Goals to Bite-Sized Action Steps: Classroom rigor example
Too High• Improve your questioning
Still Too High• Ask higher-order, more rigorous questions
Better• Script out inference questions on character
motive into the lesson plans
Precise Action Steps
Your Turn
Converting Professional Development Goals to Bite-Sized Action Steps--Management:
Too High• Increase urgency
Still Too High• Improve pacing
Better•
Converting Professional Development Goals to Bite-Sized Action Steps--Rigor
Too High• Increase rigor
Still Too High• Improve rigor in the Do Now
Better•
Feedback on Effective Action Steps:Receive Feedback (5 min—partner style!)• Share the final action steps for each slide• Give feedback to the objectives based on
the key questions:o Is it specific: does it refer to something a
teacher will be able to do when they walk out of the meeting?
o Is it observable: Will you be able to easily evaluate if they accomplished the lever?
o Is it bite-sized: can a teacher accomplish this in one week?
Reflection:
What are your big takeaways for how to write quality action steps?
Write your ideas on the “Observation & Feedback Reflection.”
Choosing the Right Action Steps
Video Case Study #1
Case Study #1
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEj8yTEbSdE• Let’s sit in the classroom for just a few minutes. As you watch, jot
observations (whether positive or negative), on the post-it notes.
Case Study #1—Debrief:Role: Select one person to be the recorder. He or she will write responses in the T-chart in the binder.
Challenges: Identify all of the issues going on in this classroom: surface problems and root causes (5 min)• Go in order around the circle: each person has
30 secs to identify one challenge (no one may comment!)
• If you don’t have an idea, say “Pass” • If you like an idea, when it’s your turn simply
say, “I would like to add to that idea by…”• Even if 4-5 people pass in a row, keep going
for 10 min• Recorder: Put responses in “management” or
“rigor”
Case Study #1—Debrief:Reflection: feasibility of each idea (5 min)• 1 min—silent individual reflection on the list:
what are the highest leverage action steps you’d recommend?
• Go in order around the circle once: each person has about 60 secs to share 1-2 recommended action steps
• If a person doesn’t have a thought to share, say “Pass” and come back to that person later.
Action Steps: choose top 2 key actions teacher should take (10 min):• One in management, the other in content/rigor• [See protocol on next page]
Protocol for Action Steps (10 min):• Discuss & choose top 2 actions steps • Write them as precisely as you can• Criteria for selection of the 2 action steps:
o Is the action step directly connected to student learning?
o Does it address a root cause?o Does it positively change multiple areas?o Is it necessary to pave the way for other
improvements?o Is it the most effective way to make change
happen?o Make it measurable, specific and targeted:
• If you can’t make the change in a week, the action step isn’t small enough.
• Can you easily measure if the teachers has made the change?
Reflection:
What are your big takeaways for how to write quality action steps?
Write your ideas on the “Observation & Feedback Reflection.”
Rigor is undefined until you determine how to assess it.
Thus, without data on whether students are learning, you cannot adequately observe for
rigor.
Big Ideas--The Link Between Data & Observation:
Giving Feedback Effectively
What NOT to Do
What NOT to Do When Giving Feedback:
• Do all the talking• Let teacher do all the talking on the wrong
topic• Fail to write anything down (teacher or
principal) about what teacher should be doing
Giving Feedback Effectively
A Master Clip
Effective Feedback—A Master Clip:
Julie’s Lever:• Ask less scaffolded questions when a student
gets the wrong answer to increase student thinking
Watch Video (clip 3):• Write down the key questions or comments
that Julie makes while talking with Carly.• What protocol does Julie use to lead this
meeting with Carly? Name all of the steps she takes in your own words.
The Six Steps to Effective Feedback:1. PRECISE PRAISE: narrative the positive2. PROBE: State targeted open-ended question
about the core issue3. ID PROBLEM & ACTION STEP: Identify problem;
state concrete action step that will address issue4. PRACTICE: Role play/simulate how teacher could
have improved current class5. PLAN AHEAD: Design/revise upcoming lesson
plan components to implement action6. SET TIMELINE: Establish time by which to
accomplish action step
Taking a Closer Look
Breaking Down the Components of Effective Feedback
Precise Praise:
What makes Serena’s praise effective?
Clip 4
The Six Steps to Effective Feedback:
Precise Praise• Genuine—heart-felt, authentic• Precise--targets a specific action the
teacher took• Reinforce Positive Actions—particularly
those that are connected to the teacher’s development goal
Probe, Identify Problem & Action Step:
What strategies does Aja use to lead Kristi to the correct problem the students are having?
Clip 7
The Six Steps to Effective Feedback:Probe—State a targeted open-ended question about the core issue
• Targeted on the core area of the lesson where you want to focus
• Scaffolded follow-up questions• Presenting data: allows to see how the teacher
views his/her lesson
RIGOR EXAMPLE: “What was the end goal—what should students know and be able to do at the end of your lesson?”
MANAGEMENT EXAMPLE: “How long did you think students needed to complete the “You Do” during the lesson?”
Probe, Identify Problem & Action Step:
What strategies does Julie use to lead Rachel to the correct action step?
Clip 5
The Six Steps to Effective Feedback:ID PROBLEM & CONCRETE ACTION STEP—Get teacher to identify the problem & how to address it:
• Level 1: teacher comes to issue by self & states clear action step to address it
• Level 2: leader uses a series of scaffolded questions to lead teacher to the answer
• Level 3: leader presents data from the observation; then teacher realizes the issue & states action step
• Level 4: leader states the problem and action step clearly to the teacher
Time to Practice!
Generate Effective Questions to Guide Feedback
Preparation for Giving Feedback:
Assume you are about to give feedback to the opening video to Ms. Chambers from the video you saw this morning
Generate:• PROBE—OPENING QUESTION (targeted, data-
gathering)• SCAFFOLDED QUESTIONS/DATA TO PRESENT
if teacher struggles to analyze his/her weakness
Feedback Simulation, Round 1:Identify Roles: Teacher, Principal
Role Play Giving Feedback (3 min):• Begin from beginning of conversation, cut off
after 3 min• Attempt to follow the three steps--Precise
Praise, opening questions, ID problem and concrete action step
Debrief the Role Play (3 min):• Teacher responds to how they felt during
conversation, gives feedback• Both identify strengths, areas for growth, and
steps for improvement
Feedback Simulation, Round 2:Switch Roles: Teacher, Principal
Role Play Giving Feedback (3 min):• Begin from beginning of conversation, cut off
after 3 min• Attempt to follow the three steps--Precise
Praise, opening questions, ID problem and concrete action step
Debrief the Role Play (3 min):• Teacher responds to how they felt during
conversation, gives feedback• Both identify strengths, areas for growth, and
steps for improvement
Getting to Action
Practice, Plan Ahead, & Set Timeline
Practice:
How does Serena help Eric prepare for his next lesson?
Clip 11
The Six Steps to Effective Feedback:
Practice--Role play/simulate how the teacher could have improved the current class with this action step. Practice should be:
• Concrete: generate the actual language or actions teacher could have taken
• Teacher-centered: teacher does the practice (don’t just tell them!)
Practice:
How does Juliana facilitate Sarah practicing during their conversation?
Clip 12
The Six Steps to Effective Feedback:Practice---Role play/simulate how teacher could have improved the current class with this action step;• Concrete: generate the actual language or
actions teacher could have taken• Teacher-centered: teacher does the practice
(don’t just tell them!
Plan Ahead—Design activity/lesson plan components needed to implement this action• Levels 1-2: principal and teacher brainstorm
together, then teacher does lesson plans• Levels 3-4: principal and teacher build lesson
plans and/or materials together
Set Timeline:
How does Julie lock in a timeline for Rachel during their meeting?
Clip 13
The Six Steps to Effective Feedback:Timeline--Set time when action should be accomplished and how teacher will show that it’s done• Paper/Electronic Product: “You need to email it
to me by 5 pm tomorrow.”• Observe teachers: write when you’ll observe
them (e.g., Thursday Oral Drill)• Observe master teacher: write when you’ll
observe master teacher doing the same skill• Video: determine if you need to tape master
teacher and/or have teacher videotape self
Personal Accountability
Staying on Top of Everything
System #1—Observation Tracker:
• Changes TBD as a results of Teach Boost
System #1—Observation Tracker:One Tracker for All Teacher Interactions
• Tab for each teacher: date, type of interaction, 1-2 action steps from each meeting, evidence of accomplishment
• Summary tab with all teachers and most recent actions
Purpose• Make sure all teachers are receiving the right
proportion of teacher observations according to their needs
• Track your recommendations more systematically to be able to hold teachers accountable to implementation
• Set specific goal for teacher success & accurately track progress toward that goal
• See trends in recommendations through the year
Sample Observation Tracker—Individual Teacher Tab:
Sample Obs. Tracker—Global Summary:
Time to Practice, Part 2!
Practice, Plan Ahead & Set Timeline
Preparation for Giving Feedback:
Prepare For The Role Play• Plan how you’ll practice the action step in the
meeting• ID how you’ll plan ahead for the next lesson• Set the timeline for completion• Have templates ready: observation tracker,
teacher meeting template, action plan– Use the “Weekly Meeting Notes Page” for now.– Have the handout “Six Steps for Effective Feedback”
nearby as well.– Only role play steps 4, 5, and 6.
Feedback Simulation, Round 1:
Identify Roles: Teacher, PrincipalRole Play Giving Feedback (5 min)• Begin from the identified action step• Attempt to follow the three steps: Practice,
plan ahead, state timeline
Debrief the Role Play (3 min)• Teacher responds to how they felt during
conversation, gives feedback• Both identify strengths, areas for growth, and
steps for improvement
Feedback Simulation, Round 2:Switch Roles: Teacher, PrincipalRole Play Giving Feedback (3 min)• Begin from beginning of conversation, cut off
after three minutes• Attempt to follow the three steps: Precise
Praise, opening questions, ID problem and concrete action step
Debrief the Role Play (3 min)• Teacher responds to how they felt during
conversation, gives feedback• Both identify strengths, areas for growth, and
steps for improvement
So there we were…
August of 2012• First year teacher with first year teacher issues• Cursing, horseplay, and a pen top• Meeting with the principal an AP within the
first two weeks
So here we are…
June of 2013
The Four Keys:
Regular Observation: • Lock in frequent and regular observations
Right Action Steps: • Choose the best action steps for change in each
classroom observation
Effective Feedback: • Give face-to-face feedback that practices the action step
Accountability: • Create systems to ensure feedback translates to practice
Major Takeaways:
• What were some of the most effective strategies you saw implemented that the whole group could learn from?
• How did the 6-step process work as a whole? What was awkward or challenging for you?
Conclusions
Observation & Feedback
Accountability in Action
Effectively Improving Struggling Teachers
Reflections of a Recovering Struggler:
• What allowed the teacher to succeed finally?
• What were the keys from the principal’s and from the teacher’s perspective?
Common Errors with Struggling Teachers:• Struggling teachers observe other
teachers, but do not understand how those teachers do their work so well
• Struggling teachers receive too much feedback: all narrative, many recommendations
• Others do not understand the slower developmental pace of the struggling teacher
• Feedback is suggestive, not directive• Implementation deadlines are
unreasonable
Tightening the Feedback Loop
Strategies for Our Most Struggling Teachers
Tightening the Feedback Loop:
• Put a question mark next to activities that you want to understand more deeply in order to implement effectively
• Put a star next to activities that sound particularly doable for you that you want to implement
• Double star the activities that you want to implement immediately with your most struggling teachers
Putting it All Together
Video Case Study #2
Re-Visiting Our Challenging Teachers:
Pair Planning: Design your action plan• Fill in your observation tracker: core PD
goal and immediate action step• Plan what will be said
o Probe: opening questiono Scaffolded Qs and datao Practiceo Plano Timeline
• Plan what additional steps from the “Tightening the Feedback Loop” handout you will put into action
Re-Visit Our Challenging Teachers:Form Groups of Three:• Work with people with whom you haven’t yet
workedRole Play Conversation with Teacher (8 min)• Follow the Six Steps of Effective Feedback
Next Steps (2 min)• Leader states what would happen next: what
are the additional steps of tightening the feedback loop?
Feedback (4 min)• What was effective and could be improved
about the conversation? • What was effective and could be improved
about the next steps?Repeat for Each Leader
Re-Visit Our Challenging Teachers:Individual Planning: Design an action plan for a challenging teacher who will be at your school this year.• Fill in your observation tracker: core PD goal,
immediate action step• Plan what you’ll say in your first feedback
meeting with the teacher (assuming you do observe a need for the action step you’ve identified)
• Plan what action steps from the “Tightening the Feedback Loop” handout you will implement
• Optional: Will you need a “tone-setting” conversation to re-set the teacher? If so, what will you say during that conversation?
• Highlight the challenges that would remain even with these strategies in play
Re-Visit Our Challenging Teachers:Form Groups of Three:• Work with people with whom you haven’t yet
worked
Leader Presents Challenging Teacher (3 min):• What is the immediate action step?• What personality should the person playing the
teacher embody?• What systems will be in place during the
feedback meeting (note-taking template, etc.)?
Role Play Conversation with Teacher (7 min):• Follow the Six Steps of Effective Feedback
Debrief Role Play (3 min)Repeat for Each Leader
Next Steps—Prior to Starting the School Year:• Put up observation tracker (ask DOO/OM to help
set it up)• Put up schedule of observations and teacher
meetingso Determine which instructional leaders will observe
which teacherso Rank/level teachers to determine frequency of
observationso Follow weekly meeting schedule
• Set core PD goals for each returning teacher• Set expectations for record-keeping and note-
taking by teachers during leader-teacher meetings
• Schedule monthly meeting with MD/Principal to review tracker