Janet Walters
Documentation of My
Cognitive Coaching Experience as the Teacher
Pre-conference
Janet E. Walters, the teacher writes:
Peter,
Please take a look at my instructional strategies table and
give me feedback for our pre-conference documentation.
Thanks,
Janet
Peter Baron, the
coach facilitates inquiry in blue:
Janet responds in
red:
Will investigate available
assistive technology in my school district
This is a good idea. Maybe
there could be a list published for all teachers to reference.
Will consider the individual
needs of my students
Do you get copies of IEPs? Or do you need to go to special ed
to read them?
At my school, the special ed director distributes copies of the modifications that are
mandated by the IEP. The document is a
summary of the IEP. Teachers know from
the modification sheet what special accommodations they need to implement, and
if they need more explanation, the files are open to any teacher to view the
entire student's record, including testing and determinations of the ARD.
Consider each individual student
activity to be sure that it is characterized by accessibility and equity
How do you plan to do this?
I will look at each student
activity I have listed on the Instructional Strategies Form and consider if any
student would have any problem doing the activity.
Make notes in the lesson plan to
indicate the need for assistive technology
Would you do this during the
planning process?
Yes
Peter, thanks for your questions.
Peter T. ** Baron writes:
How can I help you gather
evidence of these achieved goals?
2. What should I look for specifically?
3. What format do you want me to record this data for you?
Janet responds,
I want you to observe the success of the students as they
import images into word processing documents.
Also, I want you to consider the quality of the compositions and whether
the organization of the autobiography reflects the work they do in Inspiration. As you watch the video, make notations about
students who are or are not on task; comment on my vocabulary as I teach the
concepts and my strategies for teaching the concepts.
Documentation of My Cognitive Coaching Experience as the
Coach
Pre-Conference
Peter writes,
Janet,
Please send me your comments/questions.
Janet writes,
The lesson first indicates that your
"students" are teachers, and then later you say that the students belong
to a special education class. You need
to clarify.
Here are some questions to ponder:
Will the PowerPoint presentation have a designated purpose;
that is, will you determine the purpose and audience for the presentation they
create?
Will you require a minimum number of slides?
Will they learn about images and where will they get the
images?
Will they incorporate sound, transitions, and animation? If so, where will they get the sound
files?
Will they use templates?
Will they use drawing tools?
How will you determine mastery?
Will the students have an opportunity to showcase their PP
presentations?
Will the presentations be useful to them after the lesson?
Janet,
These are
my responses for the pre-conference record:
Your
questions are in black.
The actual
teacher's responses to my questions are in purple.
My
responses are in blue.
Will the PowerPoint presentation have a
designated purpose; that is, will you determine the purpose and audience for
the presentation they create?
The students have done research with a partner on a career field
(technology, health care, sports and entertainment, trades...) They will have 7 slides to create. Each slide is to contain specific information
(slide 1 - title page, slide 2 - examples of careers in this field, slide 3 -
strengths needed....)
They spent class time today with 7 notecards. On each notecard,
they had to write out what they wanted on their slide (we checked spelling,
etc). I did this so that Monday could be
spent focusing on learning Power Point and not worrying about what they have to
write on each slide. They are ready to
make their first slide.
Will you require a minimum number of
slides?
They are required to make the 7 slides and add at least 3 pieces
of clip art. They will get extra points
if they use animation, color changes, etc...
Will they learn about images and where
will they get the images?
I will provide several clip-art images,
and the instructions for their use.
Will they incorporate sound, transitions,
and animation? If so, where will they
get the sound files?
I will teach simple animation, and
sound. Animation will only be
transitions. Sound will be the
transition sounds provided with PowerPoint.
Will they use templates?
We will use generic slides until they
complete their seven slides. Time permitting, we will
add a template to the project. I think we need to wait until the end to get
sidetracked by all the color schemes and layouts available.
Will they use drawing tools?
No.
How will you determine mastery?
Mastery for this class will be the
successful completion of 7 slides.
Will the students have an opportunity to
showcase their PP presentations?
Their presentations will also be judged on Friday (next Fri) and
the top 2 teams will get prizes. This
presentation counts as 3 test grades.
Will the presentations be useful to them
after the lesson?
I may try to incorporate Power Point into something in the
future, but we will continue using the mobile labs on Wednesday to wrap up their
presentation, practice using it, so they will feel comfortable presenting on
Friday.
In response to my being evaluated during this class, the teacher
said:
She is more than welcome to come.
In fact, I think it would be good for her to come. According to the comments she often makes
when I bring the size of my room to her attention, she has no idea what I
do. Bringing you and her along with the
laptop cart into my room, will show her just how tight we are on space. Combine that with 10 special ed kids and you've got a packed house! Be prepared for claustrophobia!
>Thanks again for offering to help! I hope that things will go smoothly. I've told them that you are a great teacher
and that paying attention will be very important.
Janet Walters:
1. How can I help you gather evidence of these
achieved goals?
2. What should I look for
specifically?
3. What format do you want
me to record this data for you?
Peter responds,
I just
mailed you the video. That is the only copy, so I'll need it back.
Our
classes are an hour and thirty minutes, so there are two tapes. Feel free to fast forward. There were ten
students, plus me, their teacher (gray sweater), Katie Favara
doing the video (blue sweater), and our Lan Tech all
helping out. Additionally, the laptop cart blocked one aisle and my projector
blocked another. My evaluator never showed up. She had to run kids through the
metal detector instead.
Class went
well. Students were paired for research, and sat with their partners for this
class, but each had their own computer and did their own PowerPoint project. We
got through just about everything I wanted to cover, except for animation, and
I'll go back and do that with them next "A" day. In the tape you will
see a lot of partners helping each other, and helping neighbors. The big girl
who comes in late was at the Counselor discussing an upcoming job interview.
She is a one finger typer and had to search for every
letter on the keyboard. None of these students had ever been in any of my
classes.
I was
amazed at how well they adapted to the touch pad on the laptop computers.
Their
teacher seemed confident that she could continue with the laptops and
PowerPoint next class period. She's very nice and even sent me her IEP before
attending one of my Technology classes earlier in the year.
Your job
is to count (or time) off task behavior from the students you can see. It will
be tough differentiating between off task and neighbors helping each other. For
most of the class there was at least one teacher off camera to the right.
Results
could be in the form of a snapshot: the average student was off task 5 times
averaging 15 seconds each time.
I would
also like any comments you would like to provide on how well it appears they
are helping each other.
Thanks.
Peter T.
Baron