JoelSolomon.com's Blog

Last day in Boston. We had only ONE day of sunshine, Monday, after that it was cloudy and rainy each day.

SESSION #1:

There was one morning session put on by a group of high school instructional specialists from Texas. The topic was “Our Journey as First Year Instructional Specialists” and I thought it would be good to hear what types of ‘growing pains’ they went through, and to see if it’s anything like we’ve been going through. It was an okay session. The biggest takeaway, for me, was the fact that they had several different ‘bosses’ all with a different set of expectations. We’re going through the same thing in CCSD. Between principal expectations, Dave Craven’s expectations, Sean Colleary’s expectations, Elliot Asp, and all the way up the administrative chain, I think each person has a different idea of what and how instructional coaches are supposed to DO. It’s going to be an interesting year, to say the least.

And now I’m flying at 30,000 ft. on my way back to Denver. Our plane was about 30 minutes behind schedule leaving Milwaukee, so I won’t see Leah and Jake until 9:00 or later. Can’t wait to see my family again! It’s been since last Friday that I slept in my own bed. After two nights of camping and three nights in a hotel room, I’m ready to be HOME!

Tags: boston, nsdc

Day #2 started with breakfast on the 28th floor, and then to the main ballroom for the keynote speaker, Dr. Ronal Ferguson, economist and senior research associate at Harvard. His topic was “Leadership to Improve Instruction, Raise Achievement, and Close Gaps.”

I didn’t like his speaking style very much, which made it difficult for me to stay focused. I’d give his speech a “meh.”

RESOURCE: http://tripodproject.org and http://agi.harvard.edu

SESSION #1:

“Instructional Coaching: What We Are Learning About Effective Coaching Practices” by Jim Knight.

Of all the sessions to choose from during this conference, this was the one I was most looking forward to. We’ve been reading Jim Knight’s books in preparation for becoming instructional coaches, so this session provided plenty of practical and research-based information about what makes a coach successful.

Session Goal: To provide a ‘sampler’ of what has been learned about coaching.

Key ideas: The building principal is a learner along with the coach and staff

An instructional coach is…

on site

uses proven tools and proven teaching methods

partners with educators

assists with implementation

Keys to success:

• communicate a deep respect for teachers
• enroll them into the coaching process
• identify the learning targets and coaching points
• explain
• model (you watch me)
• observe (I watch you)
• explore
• refine

If given a choice, teachers are more likely to work with a coach. Observation protocol guides the teacher about what to look for. The protocol is constructed collaboratively by the coach and teacher.

He was  great presenter. You could tell that he was a VERY smart guy, but he didn’t come across as a know-it-all, talking above the crowd. Instead, he shared personal stories and anecdotes to make his message clear. And one of the things I liked best is that everything he said during his presentation was backed by RESEARCH which proves that coaching works when done correctly. He was a quirky, smart, and funny guy, and I was engaged the entire time.

RESOURCES:

http://thebigfour.ning.com/

http://kickyoutube.com

http://instructionalcoach.org

SESSION #2

“Differentiated Coaching: Bringing Out the Best in Each Teacher” by Jane Kise

This was another session where I’d read the book by the presenter. Jane Kise’s book helped me understand that we need to differentiate our coaching based on teachers’ learning styles, just like teachers do (or should do) with students. Most of her presentation covered what’s in her book, so there wasn’t a lot of new learning for me. It was a decent session, though, since I believe in what she was saying. I talked to her the next day, in the hotel lobby, to ask if I could use her Myers-Briggs survey to assess the personality types of the teachers at Meadow Point. She said she’d be glad to send me electronic versions, complete with permission footers allowing me to use it.

RESOURCES:

http://www.edcoaching.com

jane@edcoaching.com

That evening I had planned to meet up with my high school friend, Robyn Hutteman, who I haven’t seen in 25 years! The background behind this meeting comes all back to Facebook. I had posted a message over the weekend that I was getting ready to come to Boston for NSDC. Robyn replied that she’s 10 minutes from downtown Boston, and that she wanted to buy me a drink. We communicated via text messages to make arrangements of where and when, and Tuesday at 6:00 at Bukowski’s Bar was our meeting place. Paul met me there at 7:00, as did Robyn’s boyfriend, Bill. It was great catching up with her, and finding out about each other’s lives since 1983, when we last saw each other.

They gave us a recommendation for dinner, Slip Jack’s Seafood Restaurant, so after a few drinks we said our goodbyes and Paul and I walked to Slip Jack’s. We dined on calamari, crab and cheese fondue, and lobster mac and cheese. YUMMY once again!

Back to the hotel room by 10 PM, talked to Leah and Jakey on the phone, and watched Reservoir Dogs on HD TV.

Tags: boston, nsdc

Monday was the first day of the conference. After breakfast on the concierge floor, we joined the crowd in the main ballroom to hear the keynote speaker, Carol Johnson, Superintendent of Boston Public Schools. She read most of her speech, so it wasn’t as engaging as I had hoped, but good nonetheless. After Ms. Johnson’s Keynote, we then had concurrent sessions around the hotel.

SESSION #1:

This was where we pre-registered to hear presenters based on the topic. My first session was titled “Data Driven Professional Development” featuring two teachers talking about how they use formative assessment and PLCs to determine how to improve instruction. I had heard most of this before, so there wasn’t a lot of new learning going on. Instead it reaffirmed my belief in the power of PLCs and talking with teachers about the following questions:

• What do we want students to learn?
• How do we know when they’ve learned it?
• What do we do when they haven’t learned it?

We talked about how data is collected about students, teachers, and the school. It was okay.

RESOURCES: http://www.literacylearning.com

After session #1 came lunch and the 2nd keynote presentation of the day. The speaker was Cris Tovani, a teacher from our own Smoky Hill High School in Cherry Creek. Her topic was “Professional Learning by Listening to Our Students.” She shared samples of student responses to questions like “What types of reading do you like to do?” and “Why type of reading is difficult for you?” and allowing students to talk about their learning. It was a great keynote.

SESSION #2:

“Leading Teacher Inquiry Groups Through Collaborative Action Research”

This session was hosted by four teachers and administrators from Alberta, Canada. They did a cool ice-breaker where they asked us split index cards into four sections. In each section we had to write four things about ourselves:

• True of me and MOST in the room (I am a lifelong learner)
• True of me and MANY in the room (I live west of the Mississippi River)
• True of me and FEW in the room (I have been skydiving)
• True of ONLY me (I was a contestant on The Price is Right)

They then asked everyone to stand up. They’d read the first statement, and people would sit down if it was NOT true about them. With each statement read, more and more people would sit down until only one person was left standing after statement #4. This got us laughing and learning about each other throughout the session.

The essential question of the session: “How can we engage educators in effective professional learning every day in order to enhance the learning of all students?”

Next, we had to organize statements into a sequential order.

Here’s the result:

1. Engage in professional development

2. Change in practice

3. Change in student learning

4. Change in teacher attitudes and beliefs

Big Idea:

When educators…

• take ownership of their own professional learning
• work together
• create learning plans based on student needs
• are reflective

EVERYONE benefits!!

It was a good session.

That night Paul and I decided to eat dinner in South End, which is the Italian part of town. There were LOTS of little Italian restaurants to choose from. We finally ended up going to this tiny little place called Maurizio’s, which had about 6 tables. It reminded me of some of the places we discovered in Italy. Very authentic Italian food, funky atmosphere, and a waitress who was more like a mom than a server. We had these fried mozzarella balls, which was mozzarella wrapped in proscuito and then fried in a light batter. YUMMY! For entrees Paul had seafood risotto and I had the nightly special, which was halibut in garlic cream with rustic cous cous and vegetables. It was phenomenal, which was just how the waitress described it! A stop for gelato on the way back to the hotel, and off to bed for day 2 of NSDC.

Tags: boston, nsdc