Instructional coach Interview – Flashcards
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I listen. I am energetic and excited about trying new things. I create a no fail environment. I am an encourager.
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What qualities do you have that would make others want to follow you?
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The biggest obstacles math achievement is facing is unrealistic math. to overcome this, students need to learn the math in order to problem solve bigger challenges. In other words, the math is part of the solution- not the solution itself. challenge based learning!
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What are the biggest obstacles to mathematics achievement that schools face? What suggestions do you have for overcoming them?
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Reteach. If students don't learn it the first time, how do we find time to reteach and redo? suggest scaffolding to make sure learning is built upon prior knowledge. Small group instruction for reteaching. Find out about intervention time and what they outcomes have been for that. Help set up systems for interventions
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What aspects of standards-based instruction do you think secondary teachers struggle with the most? What plans do you have for helping teachers in these areas?
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Kind, friendly, easy going, dependable, trustworthy
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How would your colleagues describe you?
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david langford Quality Learning Institute. This PD changed me as a learner because I learned that my learning was mine. I had choice to what i would learn. It changed my colleagues because we began planning for kids to take ownership of their learning. We took the focus off of the teacher and became facilitators. The students changed because programs were suddenly opened for them if they wanted them!
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Describe a high quality professional development experience you've participated in. How did it change you as a learner? How did it change your colleagues? How did it affect the students you work with?
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Our math team design a system of learning for student ownership. We video taped lessons and had them available for kids to get ahead or take a little more time in learning. We met weekly to discuss changes that needed to be made and went through the PDSA model.
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Give an example of a situation when you led a team through problem solving.
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When faced with changes in staff and in classroom time last year, I helped my team by listening to their concerns and then providing several options for us to choose from. I stayed positive and encouraged everyone about the possibilities the change would give us.
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Describe how you have helped and/or would help others respond to change.
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Currently I want to relearn Chemistry and Algebra II. It has been awhile. I found some courses on iTunes U that I think I will take this year to brush upon these skills before my son reaches these next year!
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What do you want to learn?
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Our math team design a system of learning for student ownership. We met weekly to discuss changes that needed to be made and went through the PDSA model. Each person brought new ideas to the table and we were able to see areas to tweak the process.
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Give an example of how you've used your collaboration skills when working with others on a project.
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Listening! When setting up the team norms make sure that everyone knows that we will not always think the same way, but each person brings something valuable to the table. I would try it their way and find the positives to the style, then build on it with the strengths of the other team members.
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You are working on a team where one member's style conflicts with the majority of others. How do you incorporate that person into the collaborative work of the group?
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When designing the system of learning with our team, our decisions were influenced by students with disabilities. We allowed for time, changed how we gave notes to all kids, add activities that met needs of different learners for all students. It made differentiation possible in our classrooms!
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Give us an example of how your beliefs about teaching students with disabilities influenced a decision that you made.
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Problem Based Learning because it makes the learning relevant.
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What teaching strategy do you consider the most important?
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Find the bright spots and point those out first! Talk about these to increase them for everyone. Share the negative with staff, then point out trends for the bright spots so that people see the data as information and not judgment. Empower the group to make small changes.
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How do you share school data with the entire building?
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Look at the data with the team. Find the bright spots and capitalize on them. Look at the things we did to get to the brightness, then apply that to areas that we are almost there. Find out if there is a need for PD and apply just in time learning idea.
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How do you use data to change instruction/provide professional development opportunities?
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To empower students to solve any problem through the use of mathematics- not just computation!
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What is the goal of mathematics instruction?
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Collaboration. Partnership. Learning together. Focus on working with teachers as clients. Enhancing teacher capacity. Job-embedded professional development. Ultimate goal is greater student success. Emphasis on building strengths rather than fixing "weak" teachers. Coaching is beneficial for all educators. coaching is really about job-embedded PD that is responsive to teachers' needs/interests and their classroom challenges.
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What does the term coaching mean to you?
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Working with teachers. Coaching conversations. Collaboration with professional learning teams. Demonstration lessons.
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When you think about your typical day as a coach, what kinds of tasks would you be doing?
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Coach listens before speaking. Conversation starts where teacher is, not where coach wants teacher to be. Questions are open and honest - i.e. coach does not know the answer and wants to hear teacher's answer. Problem finding and problem solving. Data are used to support claims, understand problems/challenges, plan instructional strategies, and determine effectiveness of changes made. Coach and teacher have adequate time to meet.
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What are the qualities of an effective coaching conversation?
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Teachers making decisions informed by data. Teachers articulating why they made particular instructional decisions. Greater collaboration among teachers. Coach in partnership with all teachers (or with all teachers in the identified pool, if the school is large).
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If you are successful as a coach in this school, how would I be able to tell that at the end of your first year?
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Possible roles for the coach: facilitator, member, occasional contributor. Partnership. Job-embedded. Problem finding and problem solving. Helping teams work with differences among themselves. Purpose of teams is enhanced decision making, inquiry, learning to help our students learn.
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How do you see yourself working with professional learning teams?
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Listening. Confidentiality. Providing feedback in the form of paraphrasing to indicate understanding of teacher's perspective. No judgment. Body language. Separating coaching from supervising.
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As a coach, how would you develop trust with teachers?
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Demonstration lesson grows out of coaching conversation. Demonstration lesson addresses goal/need of teacher. Teacher is interested and engaged during the demonstration. The lesson is in synch with the curricular goals and standards for that class. Teacher and coach discuss the lesson in advance. A debriefing conversation takes place soon after the demonstration. The debriefing conversation discusses not only what was done but also why it was done.
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What makes for a successful demonstration lesson?
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Data does not drive the work; it is an essential tool. Good questions in the coaching conversation elicit data. Skilled coaches ask questions to help teachers analyze and apply data in decision making. Teachers and coaches together gather a broad range of data. Data are useful in making instructional decisions and in determining whether instructional decisions were effective.
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What is the role of data in the work of a coach?
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Coach meets regularly with principal. Coach and principal discuss overall direction of curriculum, instruction, assessments. Coach and principal do not share confidential information about teachers. Coach does not contribute to principal's understanding of individual teachers in a way that would affect the principal's evaluation of those teachers. Coach discusses his/her professional goals with principal. Coach serves as resource to principal in principal's role as learning leader.
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How do you perceive the relationship of a coach with the school principal?
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Evidence of stamina. Evidence of attempts to understand others' perspectives. Regarding the others with respect. The ability to work with someone who has a different perspective. The ability to take a problem-solving stance and work toward a solution.
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Describe a difficult situation in which you were ultimately successful.
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Collaboration that really engaged all participants. Evidence of problem solving. Respect for all participants. Specific evidence of how the collaboration made a difference.
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Describe a time when you worked collaboratively to make a difference in your school.
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Commitment to teachers as colleagues and partners. Commitment to learning - students', teachers', and coaches'. Recognition of teachers' strengths. Coach's desire to form partnerships with teachers and teams.
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Why do you want to be a coach?
