Conversation and collaboration! I cannot begin to describe how excited I am to share all of the outstanding discussions and reflection our Teacher Leadership Cohort were able to capitalize on during our class on November 2nd!
Much of this class revolves around the ability for classmates to share stories - therapeutic for most educators - and explore the similarities that group members have, despite being at different sites. The theme of the class centered around the connections of coaching, co-teaching, and co-planning through the use of data collection. We examined the strengths and struggles when connecting these pieces of leadership to our everyday classrooms, campuses and coaching opportunities. Furthermore, the cohort discussion lead to the realization that, no matter the site, there can be a light at the end of what seems to be a long tunnel. Which, in fact, made my role as course instructor turn into class facilitator because the "students" truly ran the class today!
Additionally, we examined two different types of Collaborative Teachers, each with some similarities and some differences amongst their residents, and discussed how we can provide support to each other and our colleagues when facing the challenges of struggling students (in this case, final year residents). It was an eye-opener for many in the group because this type of coaching usually takes place in the first year of the residency and is not expected of a final year resident (an area we pride ourselves on in UTRPP). However, through our discussion it was determined that we had to dig deeper into this, by looking at research conducted, to better understand how we can provide support for this specific situation.
The cohort's homework assignment was to review the literature provided to them and make a connection through reflecting on their own practice in coaching as a collaborative teacher. They were asked to video record their co-planning, co-teaching, or conferencing session with their resident and write a reflection by examining the following questions:
I cannot wait to read their thoughts in their reflection pieces and am even more excited to see how they articulate this to their classmates at our next class!
Much of this class revolves around the ability for classmates to share stories - therapeutic for most educators - and explore the similarities that group members have, despite being at different sites. The theme of the class centered around the connections of coaching, co-teaching, and co-planning through the use of data collection. We examined the strengths and struggles when connecting these pieces of leadership to our everyday classrooms, campuses and coaching opportunities. Furthermore, the cohort discussion lead to the realization that, no matter the site, there can be a light at the end of what seems to be a long tunnel. Which, in fact, made my role as course instructor turn into class facilitator because the "students" truly ran the class today!
Additionally, we examined two different types of Collaborative Teachers, each with some similarities and some differences amongst their residents, and discussed how we can provide support to each other and our colleagues when facing the challenges of struggling students (in this case, final year residents). It was an eye-opener for many in the group because this type of coaching usually takes place in the first year of the residency and is not expected of a final year resident (an area we pride ourselves on in UTRPP). However, through our discussion it was determined that we had to dig deeper into this, by looking at research conducted, to better understand how we can provide support for this specific situation.
The cohort's homework assignment was to review the literature provided to them and make a connection through reflecting on their own practice in coaching as a collaborative teacher. They were asked to video record their co-planning, co-teaching, or conferencing session with their resident and write a reflection by examining the following questions:
- What is it that I notice about how I am coaching and the connection I made to pedagogical context?
- How am I working on the coaching process to better my practice and role as a collaborative teacher and teacher leader?
- Can I pinpoint the time in which I unpacked my understanding of the context as I go through the coaching process?
- The next time I see a misconception(s), what will I do? What does this tell me when students have misconceptions? How can I ensure that I address misconceptions in the future?
I cannot wait to read their thoughts in their reflection pieces and am even more excited to see how they articulate this to their classmates at our next class!