Maintaining Best Practices Through Back to Basics

Julie Schwartzbauer contributed this post. Click here for more of Julie's thinking.

As our district continues to focus on implementing best practices through a Back to Basics model, we are faced with the question of how we maintain the work that has been done.  I can say with confidence that all of our 16 elementary schools have participated in a roll-out pertaining to the various back to basics components (Read-Aloud, Shared Reading, Independent Reading, Minilessons, and Conferring).  What I am unsure of is whether or not the best practices surrounding these components are being implemented.  It makes me uneasy to think that all of the hard work our building coaches have done is not being implemented and maintained across grade levels and buildings.

I recently shared my uneasiness with our coaches.  Together we brainstormed ways to  ensure that Back to Basics are not only being implemented, but maintained throughout the year and in the future.  Some questions that arose were surrounding new teachers and how to meet their needs and support them throughout the year.  Below is an organizer we created.  Even with this chart, we all know that our crazy schedules can easily get in the way of good intentions.  How can we make the items below a priority?  I hope to revisit this topic with our coaches at the end of the year.

How will we implement Back to Basics with new teaching staff and how will we support them throughout the school year? Set aside time to meet with new teachers throughout the year. Review shared beliefs surrounding Back to Basics components. Visit classrooms to observe student learning and engagement. Create a new teacher support checklist that includes Back to Basics components. Survey new teachers to determine areas of needs. Use the coaching continuum. Implement new teacher collaboration time during lunch and include a  monthly email regarding the topics being addressed. Incorporate learning opportunities during PLCs. Implement weekly check-ins.

How will we maintain the implementation of Back to Basics components in the future? Survey ALL staff regarding the implementation of Back to Basics. Implement classroom walkthroughs with principals, based on each building’s vision for classroom visits. Provide a survey to determine needs. Use the coaching continuum. Use PLCs to revisit and dig deeper into the components. Create checklists for self accountability.

Back to Basics Update...

Julie Schwartzbauer contributed today's post. Click here to read more of Julie's thinking about her district's "Back to Basics" work.

Upon request from some coaching colleagues, I have decided to update you all regarding our Back to Basics Initiative in Appleton.  For those of you who may be reading this blog for the first time, please go back to learn more about the great things we are doing in Appleton.

This year started out with three Back to Basics goals in mind.  Those goals were to develop shared beliefs surrounding minilessons, conferring, and language workshop.  You might recall, we ended the year with developing shared beliefs about minilessons with our coaches and principals.  The intent was to roll out those shared beliefs to teachers during October and November of this year.  We wanted the month of September to focus on last years Back to Basics (B2B) components and getting new teachers up to speed.

That being said, as you all know, part of being a teacher and coach is about being responsive to the needs of those you work with.  Our coaches were becoming concerned with the expectations surrounding the three B2B components.  They were worried that it was too much roll-out information for one year.  We decided to move forward with minilessons and then spend the remainder of the year around conferring.  We would save language workshop for next year.

After taking language workshop off of our plate, there still remained teachers very interested in learning more about it.  In an attempt to satisfy that desire, we decided to create a mini professional development piece on language workshop.  Schools have been requesting this PD during late starts, lunches, and PLCs.  This PD is allowing us to build background and provide a framework for teachers regarding language workshop.

We have gone one step further, by planning for our 2016 Summer Literacy Institute to focus on language workshop.  Some of the sessions will include topics on grammar and mechanics, vocabulary, author's craft, and word study.  We are hoping that all of this professional development will prepare teachers to spend next year getting their feet wet in language workshop.

The Impact of Going Back to Basics

Julie Schwartzbauer contributed today's post. Read Julie's previous posts to understand more about her district's Back to Basics plan.

In my last post, I shared how we as district and building literacy coaches needed to make an extra effort to clarify to teachers what our Back to Basics objective was: to develop a coaching model that would help teachers develop consistency in universal instruction in literacy across the school district through a workshop framework.  I also shared information regarding the building roll out of the Back to Basics components.

As the end of the year quickly approaches, we were looking for ways to collect feedback regarding the district-wide Back to Basics work that was done.  We have developed a survey intended for all teachers to take.  

CLICK HERE to read the complete survey.

As the responses pour in, I am delighted to share some teacher quotes directly from the survey...

• Bringing staff back to a common understanding and language when implementing these elements of the workshop model. Allowing time for discussion and collaboration about how these elements are implemented in the classroom is powerful in increasing student learning.
• If I am better, they are better!  
• I have improved all of my teaching practices in these areas. 
• The coaching and information has been wonderful so far this this year! 
• It helps remind me of the things I need to remember to include as well as the things I am doing that I forget about are really a part of each topic.
• I'm grateful for the Back to Basics coaching. It provides some specifics to focus on and helps me understand I'm building my workshop skills as a teacher one basic skill at a time.
• I was happy to know that my Grade Level team and I are all on the same page and offer all components to our students daily. Our students are given a variety of genres and forms of learning which creates a class that only grows in reading.
• I appreciate the support we have in our building! The literacy staff is on the forefront and willing to do ANYTHING if we just ask!

As we look forward to the next school year, or goal is to continue to build teacher and administrator expertise in universal literacy instruction.

If we focus on excellent instruction for all students in regular education as a first resort, that instruction can serve to avoid additional intervention for most students.Regie Routman

Back to Basics

Julie Schwartzbauer contributed today's post. Read Julie's previous posts to understand more about her district's Back to Basics plan.

After implementing the roll-out of our first back to basics component, building coaches returned to the coaching PLC  with the message that teachers were apprehensive when it came to opening up their classroom doors to be observed.  They felt like the coach and/or principal was there to evaluate them, not learn with them.  We wanted teachers to understand that the main objective of the Back to Basics plan was to develop a coaching model that would help teachers develop consistency in universal instruction in literacy across the school district through a workshop framework.  In order to develop consistency, we needed to see inside classrooms.  We also wanted teachers to understand that the visits were meant to be student centered.  The focus was on how the student was responding to the teaching.  

As a way to make teachers more comfortable with the visits, we decided to provide some frontloading of information surrounding the shared beliefs of the Back to Basics components.  There was a small group of coaches who stepped up to plan and share what a roll out would look like.  The building Coaches were given the flexibility to roll out the Back to Basics components in the following ways; during late start, at grade level PLCs, during lunch, and/or before or after school. The nonnegotiable was that every teacher must be part of the roll out.  

Throughout the roll out of Back to Basics it was extremely important for our coaches, principals  and teachers to understand that the work of strengthening universal instruction through Back to Basics was ongoing.  Although we were focussing on one component at a time to develop our shared beliefs within our Coaching PLC, the work that coaches do in their buildings takes place throughout the year.  

My next post will explain how we developed a survey to look at the Back to Basics data.

Back to Basics: Building Roll-Out

Julie Schwartzbauer contributed today's post. Read Julie's previous posts to understand more about her district's Back to Basics plan.

Appleton has 16 elementary schools.  Each school has at least one literacy coach. Our larger schools have two.  Most of our coaches have a divided role; they are part interventionist and part coach. The focus of their coaching is not only the Back to Basics components, but also that of meeting the needs of individual teachers.

When we rolled out the first Back to Basics component to our coaches, we developed a shared beliefs document along with additional resources that coaches could share with their teachers.  As part of the Back to Basics plan, coaches were encouraged to visit classrooms to observe teachers implementing the component. These visits were meant to be seen as informative, not evaluative.  As I stated in my previous post, it was critical to have principal support.  

After the classroom visits, coaches would meet with their coaching PLC, concentrating their discussion on the following questions:

• What made the instruction in the focus component good?
• What did you notice about the teacher’s use of language, planning, instruction, etc.?
• What did you notice about teacher/student interaction?
• What did you notice about student engagement?

Coaches were then asked to develop a coaching plan for their building, focusing on the component.  Coaches were to use the Coaching Continuum to determine how they would support their teachers.  Would they offer support through planning, modeling, formative assessments, sharing of resources, analyzing data and student work, co-teaching, presentations, etc.?  As district coaches, we felt it was our job to “clear the path.”  We wanted to support building coaches throughout the building roll-out, and help them overcome any obstacles that might get in the way.

When coaches came back to the coaching PLC, we were disheartened to find that things did not go as smoothly as we had hoped.

In my next post, I will share the steps we took to improve our building roll-out plan.

Back to Basics Part 3 - Principal Support

Julie Schwartzbauer contributed today's post. All of Julie's posts about her district's "Back to Basics" plan can be accessed here.

In my last “Back to Basics” post, I wrote about how our coaches are using Mary Catherine Moran’s coaching continuum.  The coaching continuum is allowing our coaches the opportunity to differentiate for the teachers in their building.

The Literacy Coaching Continuum (Moran, 2007)

As our coaches continue to explore the various coaching formats, it is becoming apparent that they need the support of their building principal. If we want to build consistency across the district in best practices, then our principals must be seen as leaders in literacy. Teachers must see that the building principal is committed to the district goals and will play a role in supporting them.

In her book Read, Write, Lead, Regie Routman writes about how a principal can become an outstanding leader when they have a deep understanding of literacy.  We want our principals to know what’s most important to look for and listen for in the literacy classroom, as well as how to give feedback and support teachers.  

When we started with our “Back to Basics” plan our vision was that principals would be part of developing shared beliefs through our coaching PLCs. They would partake in classroom visits with building coaches.  They would work with teachers and coaches through ongoing professional collaboration.   

This sort of collaboration takes time; however, our principals have been part of developing our shared beliefs.  As our coaches continue to meet twice per month, the principals are invited to be part of the PLC.  With knowing how busy principals are and respecting the fact that they are needed in their building, we have asked that if possible, they attend the Shared Beliefs PLC with their coaches.  During this PLC, coaches and principals pour through resource upon resource, focussing on one component of balanced literacy.  As a group of 25+, they develop shared beliefs surrounding that component.  These beliefs are then put into a document that is later rolled out to teaching staff.

In my next post, I will talk about how coaches are rolling out the “Back to Basics” components in their buildings.

Back to Basics Part 3 - The Coaching Continuum

Julie Schwartzbauer contributed today's posts. More of Julie's posts about her district's "Back to Basics" plan for coaching can be found here.

In my last two posts I have written about how our district is focusing on a “Back to Basics” plan for coaching.  I have touched on the reasoning behind the need for a back to basics model and explained the coaching cycle.

When the plan was introduced to our building literacy coaches, there was some anxiety surrounding the idea of coaching all teachers.  We know and understand that all teachers do not desire to, or feel the need to be coached.  The question became how do we provide support that is differentiated for all teachers.

Before we developed a plan for differentiation, we needed to build understanding around three essential principles of coaching.  In her book Differentiated Literacy Coaching, Mary Catherine Moran states that the overarching goal of improved student achievement are three essential principles of coaching:

1. Coaching should help establish a school culture that recognizes collaboration as an asset.
2. Coaching should develop individual and group capacity to engage in creative problem solving and self-reflection.
3. Coaching should provide a continuum of professional learning opportunities to support adults in their acquisition and use of specific knowledge, skills, and strategies.

With that being said, the literacy continuum is a structure for professional learning that provides scaffolding to meet the needs of individual teachers and builds on the knowledge teachers bring to the table. As shown in the figure below, the continuum offers eight differentiated formats for coaching.

The Literacy Coaching Continuum (Moran, 2007)

What we like about using the continuum with our coaches is that it assumes a progression in intensity of coaching from least intrusive (sharing resources), to more intrusive (co-teaching).  Moran defines intrusive as being the extent of the coach’s involvement in the actual teaching routine and the potential impact of that involvement on the teacher’s sense of comfort.The differentiated format of the coaching continuum allows coaches to consider a teachers knowledge base, personal experiences, as well as their comfort level when it comes to being coached.

It is our hope that during professional learning communities, coaches will talk with teachers about the “back to basics” topics and then determine what coaching format would be the “best fit” for the team or for each individual teacher.

I have included a table below that defines each of the coaching formats in the continuum. My next post will focus on collaboration with building principals.

(The document below can be accessed using GoogleDocs.)

Back to Basics

Julie Schwartzbauer contributed today's thinking. To understand more, begin with Julie's first post about her district's Back to Basics plan.

The district goal of the Back to Basics plan is for coaches to support teachers in deepening their understanding of the workshop framework, by refining their practices and developing expertise in the components of balanced literacy.

The coaching Professional Learning Community (PLC) meets bi-weekly each month and consists of building literacy coaches across the district. At each PLC the focus is on a pre-selected component of balanced literacy.  The focus on each component will last for approximately two months, or as needed, determined through observations and reflections on the initial goals and objectives.

During each coaching PLC the following questions are discussed…

• How can we use our data and student work to guide our instruction in each component?
• How can each component be used as a tool to reach student learning objectives/I Can Statements ?
• What can I learn from my colleagues in this area?

Coaching PLC’s will focus on DuFour's essential questions…

• What is it we want students to learn (standard, skill, I Can statement)?
• What is your goal and how can this component help students learn?
• How will we know when students have learned it?
• What do we do for students who haven’t learned it?
• What do we do for students who already know it?

Below, you will find a table displaying the coaching cycle for the Back to Basics plan.  In my next blog I will reflect on how our district uses the coaching continuum to differentiate for coaches across the district.

First PLC	Second PLC	Third PLC	Fourth PLC
PLC will establish a district goal on component.  What are our shared beliefs and understandings of the component? PLC will dig deeper into several resources related to focus component.	Coaches will return to PLC with observations of instruction of focus component in their buildings. Coaches will reflect on the following: What made the instruction in the focus component good? What did you notice about the teacher’s use of language, planning, instruction, etc.? What did you notice about teacher/student interaction? Coaches will develop a coaching plan for their building focusing on the component.	Discussion at PLC will focus on updates of coach’s plan. District coaches will differentiate for coaches based on building and coaches need. Coaches will reflect on the Coaching Continuum and their current placement in regards to coaching on the focus component. Coaches will reflect on the component and set final goals for the next two weeks of coaching.	Final reflections on focus component, district goal and coaching plans.

Ongoing

• Coaches will use the Coaching Continuum.
• Coaches will observe teachers’ instruction in component area.
• COaches will focus on student-centered learning.

Let's Get Back to Basics

Today's post is contributed by Julie Schwartzbauer.

Here we are, another school year off to a great start!  I am very excited to share this year’s coaching plan for my school district. Before I do that, I would like to share some background information on how the coaching plan for my district was created.

Three years ago my school district fully implemented the use of balanced literacy within the workshop model.  Some of the teachers in the district had been “doing” balanced literacy for years and for other teachers, balanced literacy was brand new.  With having 16 elementary schools in the district, I have had the opportunity to observe in many different classrooms.  I have found varying levels of expertise in delivering the components of balanced literacy.

However, I struggled to find one component of balanced literacy that was strong across the district.

As I was reflecting last May on the 2013/2014 school year with my colleague, we decided that we needed to go “Back to Basics.”  What this meant was that we would create a plan for building Literacy Coaches to implement with consistency across the district.  We would select 4 to 5 components of balanced literacy to focus on for the 2014/2015 school year and create a coaching cycle for our building coaches.  

We knew that our biggest hurdle would be to get everyone on board, including the principals.  I am including a document that shows how my district interprets balanced literacy within the workshop model.  I have highlighted the areas of focus for the 2014/2015 school year.  In my next post, I will share the coaching cycle for the “Back to Basics” plan.

Use GoogleDocs to view the document below as a PDF.