Intention is the key word today:  Teaching with intention.  Listening with intention.  Learning with intention.  Writing with intention.

Reading through the Shifts in Classroom Practice the first round,  my immediate emotion was despair.  (Well, that word might be a little strong.)  As a school, we are not very far along on the continuium in any of the seven categories.  

However, I do see solid work in improving Shift 7 and Shift 2.  Though much of our instruction is still quite teacher directed, each class spends part of each double lesson on problem solving in small groups.  Our strength in these shifts are: (1)  designating time to those experiences and (2) recognizing that student discussions can be rich with processes and content learning.  Unilaterally we struggle with differentiating within the classes - primarily getting students with lower skill levels to engage. 

Part of this challenge is that national law does not allow for groupings based on perceived ability (it is against the law to group children by ability and thereby offer them challenges appropriate for their level of understanding.  Though we all try to work around this when possible.)  And part is our lack of knowledge about appropriate questioning and how to point struggling groups in the right direction, while allowing for discovery and ownership.  These obstacles are surmountable, though, and we continue to work towards becoming a community of learners.

As a teacher leader, I recognize what a strength we have in being a school that participates in Lesson Studies.  The Lesson Study structure allows us to explore ideas or concepts in Leading for Mathematics Proficiency framework within an established set of guidelines.  Through this, I am able to support my colleagues by (1) providing information about the Shift focus in the form of handouts, articles, and presentations; (2) help formulate a question and goal associated with our Shift; and (3) participate in planning, data collection, and processing of information with the whole group. 

Reflections on the Coaching Cycle:

I laughed out loud ( in glee)  at Steven Covey's work being sited as a resource in a math learning textbook.  

I was also intrigued that so much of the space and energy given in the Coaching Cycle is devoted to building relationships.  I wonder if such emphasis is specific to helping fields - teaching, nursing, psychology, social work, ministry - or if that is necessary because some teachers are not initially open the coaching experience.  Having another adult in the classroom can be unsettling; our carefully created dens invaded by another momma bear.  Bay-Williams, McGatha, et al (2014)  wrote about relabeling the three-stage process from pre-observation, observation, and post-observation to more collaborative ideas, less threatening words: planning, data gathering, and reflecting.   Given this emphasis on relationship building, I was drawn to three concepts presented:  trust, rapport, and questioning.

Trust:  Our school is starting our second year of Lesson Study cycles.  The growth we have felt as a collaborative team is monumental.  One of the key elements of that process for us has been building trust.  Teaching teams at our school are small, with one teacher at each grade level and subject teachers who rotate around classes.

Two years ago, the school reorganized, and the people - and dynamic - with whom we worked changed dramatically.  The result was a year of negotiation and compromise, where we often left meetings upset.

Through the process of  Lesson Study, we  began identifying what we appreciate about one another and took steps towards becoming an open teaching community, rather than individuals behind closed doors.  Understanding that without judgement, we could nurture one another professionally.

Building Rapport - I am really interested in trying In my past life, I worked as a clinical social worker, where rapport was paramount to problem solving with my clients.  McGatha, et al (2014)  presented mirror neurons as the pathway to building rapport with others.   I considered the actions I purposely use when talking with people - eye contact, nodding, changing facial expression, mindful listening.  I had not really considered mirroring posture or gesturing as part of relating to others.   I remember talking with a very challenging parent over and over 15 years ago.  We had many meetings, most of which were contentious.  It gave me lots of practice being aware of - and try to control - my body during difficult situations.  It was really difficult to have an open body when I felt attacked, even when I was conciously moving myself it an open position.  This idea I will begin observing immediately.

Questioning: This area challenged my thinking.  I believe entirely in the power of questioning to increase learning.  I also struggle to know how to question and to take the time in the planning stages of a lesson to prepare questions that improve learning.  This is an area in which I hope to see the most personal growth over the course of this next term.

In regards to questioning, Vignette 3, which illustrated off-topic inquisitive questioning,  felt tremendously real to me.  I recognize that urge to