- Word walls
- Data Boards with results of diagnostic and mid-term along with goals for each class
- Standards Board with standard, EQ, opening, work session, closing, etc.
The coaching team (ELA coach, math coach, grad coach, IRR teacher, and School Inprovement Specialist) created a "non-negotiable" walk through template which was used to monitor teacher compliance. As the grant has progressed, we have moved into rigor and relevance and personalized learning. Through this process we stopped monitoring the non-negotiables and starting monitoring other things.
What has happened as a result? What gets monitored gets done! Suddenly teachers' classrooms are more rigorous and relevant, but the non-negotiables have fallen to the wayside. How do you balance monitoring what you need done with the time you have to get it done? I don't want to create a focus walk document that asks me to check off all the non-negotiables and look for rigor and rtelevance and look for personalized learning and everything else we need to see.
When do teachers internalize the need for the non-negotiables making them an everyday happening? We talked about their importance and reviewed the research and yet, they don't get done. We even built in an extra planning time for teachers this year after hearing them say they needed more time. It is just frustrating when teachers give up on the things that the school has decided are important.
Tim,
ReplyDeleteYour use of the phrase "teacher compliance" may be where you start. Compliance doesn't imply that a teacher finds value in an activity - like you said, he or she just does it in order to check the proverbial box off on the walkthrough list. How were the word walls, data boards, & standard board rolled out to the faculty? Was it delivered to them or did they have a hand in designing it.
In ten years I have worked at five different high schools, & four out of the five had non-negotiables that were similar, but the expectations of the process or product didn't match. For instance, in regards to word walls, I've been in schools where the word walls were focused on academic vocabulary, course-specific vocabulary, or content vocabulary. I've been told three different ways of how to develop an EQ, and one school in which I was told "I don't care how you get it, just have it on the board." In each of those settings, I was not educated on the school's approach to its non-negotiables.
In these situations, getting the 'stuff' on the walls or the board was about little more than compliance - it was not part of the school's culture. In addition to the day-to-day stresses of being in the classroom, when moving from initiative-to-initiative, activities completed out of nothing more than compliance are abandoned once the 'shiny new thing' presents itself.
Totally agree with Josh here. He took the words right out of my mouth. Teachers won't do things they don't see value in doing. Also, if you (and your new admin team) are just looking for things to check off, then that's how they'll perform. They'll do things to hit the check marks, but rarely go beyond that.
ReplyDeleteAs a further thought, doesn't rigor and relevance kind of intimate that the other non-negotiables are probably taking place on some level? Do I really need to see a word wall if scores are improving and kids are learning? I've always been a person that isn't concerned with the details if the outcomes are positive. Maybe that's short-sighted. But if rigor and relevance are present, the other things probably should naturally go by the wayside since they've been replaced with higher skills.
Hi Tim! Out of curiosity, what are the reasons and research base behind the three non-negotiables you mentioned? I would love to learn more as I have often wondered what the reasons behind these three components are. The other pieces you mentioned that you added later on in the process-- rigor, relevance, & personalized learning-- definitely seem to be of greater importance than the original 3. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
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