Tips from HTH Educators
High Tech High (HTH) is a charter management organization in San Diego, CA consisting of eleven schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels. HTH schools practice project-based learning and model themselves on four design principles: Personalization, Adult World Connection, Common Intellectual Mission and Teacher as Designer. HTH also operates its own Graduate School of Education (GSE) that offers Masters degress in Teacher Leadership and School Leadership as well as offering a State authorized teacher-credentialing program. HTH has been recognized as a national model for innovation and project-based learning and 100% of HTH students have been accepted to college, including some of the top universities in the country. Below you will find tips from HTH staff and teachers regarding the collegial coaching process. For more information about HTH click here: www.hightechhigh.org
Rob Riordan, HTH Emperor of Rigor and President of the HTH GSE
At HTH we've spent a lot of time and energy building a sense of shared purpose around our design principles of Personalization, Common Intellectual Mission, Adult World Connection and, of course, Teacher as Designer. These principles offer a useful frame of reference for conversations about our hopes and fears, our work, our dilemmas, and our students. I think collegial coaching works best within such a shared framework. That leads me to propose a couple of questions to ask as we plan and prepare for collegial coaching:
If we stay in touch with questions like these, we can situate our collegial coaching, not only in our day-to-day successes and struggles, but also in our deepest aspirations.
Elsewhere on this site Stacey Caillier talks about about looking for evidence of student thinking and student engagement. I look for those bedrock things, too, and upon reflection, I realize that I enter with three questions in mind (thanks to Zoltan Sarda for articulating the second):
- What are our core values?
- When we enter a classroom where our core values are being enacted, what do we see?
If we stay in touch with questions like these, we can situate our collegial coaching, not only in our day-to-day successes and struggles, but also in our deepest aspirations.
Elsewhere on this site Stacey Caillier talks about about looking for evidence of student thinking and student engagement. I look for those bedrock things, too, and upon reflection, I realize that I enter with three questions in mind (thanks to Zoltan Sarda for articulating the second):
- What can I celebrate?
- What is this [episode of teaching and learning] a case of?
- What is the teacher thinking at particular moments during the lesson?
Stacey Callier, Director of Teacher Leadership at the HTH GSE
· Our move towards Collegial Coaching at HTH began with mentoring and a concerted effort to avoid a hierarchy or anything that would feel evaluative or formal. As a result, we moved towards Collegial Coaching that would be embedded within schools.
· Coaching is often most powerful when it happens across disciplines and across grades. It also is not necessary to always put someone new with a veteran as this sets up a completely different dynamic.
· Keep it as simple as possible.
· We could push ourselves to have even more frank and honest communication about our teaching. We can start by prepping people on how to have those conversations and giving them some practice through role-plays, etc. This way it can become a part of the culture-- to talk specifically about teaching practice. We do a good job of talking about how to design curriculum but not necessarily the day-to-day pedagogy of teaching.
· It would be great to have a library of clips for how we have those coaching conversations and tuning protocols around how to have a collegial conversation.
· The Continuum can be a helpful touchstone for thinking about what we are striving for as teachers, and how we hope to grow.
· The main elements I look for in classrooms are student thinking and student engagement. Each time I walk into a classroom, I ask myself "where do I see evidence of these things - on the walls, in the interactions between people?" We can make that more concrete and the more practice we have thinking about those two elements, the better. It would be great to develop a common language around what student thinking and student engagement look like, so that we all can identify it when we see it.
· This work has to start at the beginning of the year and be framed as something we do as a school. It needs to be a part of the expectations, part of the culture -- "we do this as a staff and this is why". We should start early in the year and have a consistent routine so that we demystify the process and ensure everyone is involved. And we should constantly seek feedback on how it is going, so we can make sure it feels valuable and improve it as we go.
· Coaching is often most powerful when it happens across disciplines and across grades. It also is not necessary to always put someone new with a veteran as this sets up a completely different dynamic.
· Keep it as simple as possible.
· We could push ourselves to have even more frank and honest communication about our teaching. We can start by prepping people on how to have those conversations and giving them some practice through role-plays, etc. This way it can become a part of the culture-- to talk specifically about teaching practice. We do a good job of talking about how to design curriculum but not necessarily the day-to-day pedagogy of teaching.
· It would be great to have a library of clips for how we have those coaching conversations and tuning protocols around how to have a collegial conversation.
· The Continuum can be a helpful touchstone for thinking about what we are striving for as teachers, and how we hope to grow.
· The main elements I look for in classrooms are student thinking and student engagement. Each time I walk into a classroom, I ask myself "where do I see evidence of these things - on the walls, in the interactions between people?" We can make that more concrete and the more practice we have thinking about those two elements, the better. It would be great to develop a common language around what student thinking and student engagement look like, so that we all can identify it when we see it.
· This work has to start at the beginning of the year and be framed as something we do as a school. It needs to be a part of the expectations, part of the culture -- "we do this as a staff and this is why". We should start early in the year and have a consistent routine so that we demystify the process and ensure everyone is involved. And we should constantly seek feedback on how it is going, so we can make sure it feels valuable and improve it as we go.
Amy Reising, Director of Credentialing and Teacher Development, High Tech High
- Many HTH teachers are already involved in the intern and induction programs. And as a result, these teachers have mentors with clear credentials in their schools. Mentors receive training involving how to best use the observation took and watching videos to practice scripting observations and developing a debrief plan. Mentors keep a log of their meetings and observations and the role is meant to be formative and supportive (and not evaluative).
- There is a natural connection between the Mentor- Mentee relationship at HTH and the Collegial Coaching model. It is important to continue to grow an atmosphere that is open and transparent around teaching and instruction for these relationships to grow. When teachers can define what they should know and be able to do then they can talk with their partner about how to demonstrate what that is like in their classrooms.
Tom Fehrenbacher, Teacher at High Tech High and Collegial Coaching Guru
- Collegial Coaching works best with practitioners who are unafraid of self-reflection. It also works well if they hold some hope for the situation and may not be sure of how that hope might come about. It also works well when conversation between coach and teacher are analyzed and debriefed. Recording the conversations, and transcribing (while laborsome) is very interesting and can make them more impactful.
- How to respond, once at the clarifying and mediation level is far more difficult that just following the formula. The biggest difficulty is getting people familiar enough with the format of the conversation to let that format become natural. Many will criticize the format's formulaic nature without realizing that using the prompts and stems can be an art form- that the conversation can take many twists and turns. Also, by knowing when this is happening, the experienced coach can actual be more effective than those who desire to just TELL the person what to do.
For more information and resources, check out Tom's Digital Portfolio and this packet, inspired by his work at High Tech High.
Tips from Teachers at High Tech High North County
- If Collegial Coaching is not done consistently but rather a few times a year, it can feel like a burden rather than a support
- Whenever we are observed and get meaningful feedback, it is helpful
- As a new teacher, we wish the relationship could have even more to it but understand the time constraints of our colleagues
- We need to be thoughtful about how to ingrain this culture of critique into the foundations of our school. We also need to be thoughtful about how to do this in a way that feels authentic and not forced.
- Protocols help to start the dialogue. Having the protocols ensures that the important "discussion" time will genuinely happen. After using protocols, the partnerships can find their own ways and develop their own processes for the conversations.
- The collegial work should be driven by a question or goal that the teacher develops. As the teacher being observed, you should frame what you want your colleague to support you with.
- Reflection must be a part of the process
- Specific time in the schedule must be devoted to this work for it to happen in the best ways possible.
- It would be interesting to have partnership assignments for the first half of the year and allow teachers to select their critical friend for the second half of the year. It would also be interesting to allow teachers to opt in as opposed to making everyone participate.