MASTER TECHNOLOGY TEACHER CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
- Education Service Center
- Region XI
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Sherry
Brott
|
|
|
|
 |
Cognitive
Coaching Sessions
Post-Conference (via chat session)
Sherry
Brott and Jenni Keith
Friday July 9, 2004 |
|
Session
2 – Sherry Brott, Coach and Jenni Keith,
Mentor
|
Post Conference for Mentor Jenni Keith and
Coach Sherry Brott 12:55P.
Sherry Brott: Jenni, how do
you think your mentoring session with Jenny
went?
Jenni Keith: I was pleased
with all that we accomplished and overall it
went well. There are things I would
definitely do differently!
Sherry Brott: What kinds of
things will you do differently?
Jenni Keith: Well, because
of the special summer session we're in,
Jenny and I had an extended session because
I knew we wouldn't be able to meet much
after that one time. So I definitely would
not EVER do a 5 hour session again.
Jenni Keith: Another thing
I would try to change is that it seems we
are always working on unit plans at my
school and to try and mentor a huge unit
plan in one setting is just too much. I
think I would like to try and set objectives
and then
Jenni Keith: work on
one-three lessons at a time depending upon
the topic & technology.
Sherry Brott: I can
understand that. I don't think these special
summer mentoring sessions are ideal.
Sherry Brott: How would you
address the issue of a unit plan if a
teacher comes to you wanting to do that?
Jenni Keith: Oh I'd still
do it of course, but try to tackle just the
unit objectives and overall plan. And then
focus on 1-3 lessons in one sessionwith the
teacher.
Sherry Brott: Let me assure
you though, that the two of you worked well
together and didn't seemed overwhelmed by
the unit. Of course, I didn't see the entire
5 hours either.
Jenni Keith: No it went
really well, and we couldn't believe how
long we had been there when it was over. The
real problem is that you usually only have
an hour at the most with a teacher and never
have the luxury of no time constraint.
Sherry Brott: I think when
you assured her that she could depend on you
for help, she really got excited about this
unit.
Jenni Keith: She is so
capable, but not confident. So I am really
trying to work with her to be more
independent. When she gets practice and goes
through it once, she takes off.
Sherry Brott: And during
the year, we will have to be really mindful
of all the other issues the teachers are
dealing with. Do you have a plan in mind for
how you will mentor your teachers
(scheduling) next year?
Jenni Keith: She has a
tendency not to troubleshoot problems, but
just run to me for help when most times she
could easily solve the problem with a little
thinking on her part. But she panics
slightly and wants it to be right all the
time.
Sherry Brott: Have you
considered ways to help her overcome her
dependence on you?
Jenni Keith: I tend to do
most of it during their conferences and
after school, but next year is a whole new
animal at CHS. Teachers will no longer have
90 min planning sessions daily, their entire
schedule has changed, and we will have over
Jenni Keith: 20 brand new
teachers, including 2 of our 3
administrators. In many ways, we'll all be
new again.
Sherry Brott: That is
sometimes a good place to be, when there are
so many new people that nothing can be taken
for granted.
Jenni Keith: I do know I
will have a session with new teachers to
introduce them to tech at CHS during the
school orientation day. Also, Rick has
already asked me to do a Tech Kickoff
session for the whole staff during their
orientation days.
Jenni Keith: You are right
about that! I'm excited to be able to start
fresh in many ways.
Sherry Brott: If you can
get your principal on board you'll have it
made.
Sherry Brott: I'd like to
go back to a question that might have gotten
overlooked. Have you considered ways to help
Jenny overcome her dependence on you?
Sherry Brott: Since she is
obviously enthusiastic and technology
competent, that would be my main
recommendation.
Jenni Keith: Yes, I think
one key is having a couple short
pre-sessions with her practicing FP in the
way she will be introducing it to students
and then having her do the lesson with me
just there as a support. Normally, I would
do the lesson
Jenni Keith: first, but she
just depends on me more that way. So I'll
try to have her be more responsible for the
teaching from the beginning, but always be
there to bail her out if necessary.
Jenni Keith: It really is a
fine balance between doing enough for them
that they are comfortable and learning and
not doing too much so they are dependent or
not learning at all. AND it really depends
on the teacher you are working with so the
Jenni Keith: amount varies
all the time. Sometimes it takes a while to
figure out what is best for the individual
you are working with.
Sherry Brott: Based on what
I can gather from her own class webpage and
from the mentoring session, she obviously
has good organizational and classroom
management skills.
Jenni Keith: So much so
that she is sometimes obsessive about it,
which can be a deterent.
Sherry Brott: Is there
something you can do to help her with that?
Jenni Keith: I work with
this teacher a lot and yes, I've been
complimenting her and reassuring her and
mentoring her about it for the last, oh 4
months. She came to me and told me that if
she couldn't figure out how to do things
differently
Jenni Keith: with
assessment then she was going to quit
teaching because she had no life with her
husband. It would be a crime for this
teacher to be lost to all her future
students. So we have found a piece of
software called Examview that
Jenni Keith: will allow her
to create exams that will be auto graded. It
sounds simple, but with HS students who will
cheat in half a second it has taken quit a
bit of time to find something that will work
and still be secure, work with French
Jenni Keith: and not all be
complete T/F, MC.
Jenni Keith: And I'm buying
her the software out of my tech budget.
Sherry Brott: I'm sure she
will appreciate it. Do you a successful
first experience in project based learning
will be an encouragement for her? The
rubrics ought to make the assessment easier.
I agree, it would be a shame to lose her.
Sherry Brott: Do you
"think" a ...... left
"think" out.
Jenni Keith: She's done
project based learning before with the clay
animation and other projects . It's the
problem-based that is new and we will have
to work to keep it a focus otherwise it
could just become another research project.
Jenni Keith: I think she is
really excited about the class creating a
web page because of the success she has had
with her page.
Jenni Keith: That will be
encouraging if all goes well and I think it
should with all the planning we are doinjg
and all the support she will have. Not just
me, but the librarian too
Sherry Brott: Sorry, my
mistake, I meant "problem based".
Sherry Brott: It seems to
me that the two of you have all the bases
covered. Is there anything I can as your
coach to help you in your mentoring
experiences?
Sherry Brott: Is there
anything I could have done differently?
Jenni Keith: If you were
going to be able to go to ALL schools and
not just K-6, I'd have you at my school
working with me. Hee Hee! You've been
wonderful and I don't think you could have
done anything differently. It'll be nice to
know I can
Jenni Keith: contact you to
talk things through if need be. I tend to
think by talking (gets me in trouble
sometimes) so it is nice to have someone who
I can do that with and isn't always trying
to give me the answers, but let's me think
it
Jenni Keith: out. Something
my husband has a hard time with!!
Sherry Brott: Oh,
yeah...men find that difficult.
Sherry Brott: Well, I would
say you know where you can find me, but hey,
I don't even know where you'll be able to
find me. I'm glad that we'll both be only a
phone call or email message away.
Sherry Brott: Okay,
then...stick us with a fork - I think we're
done.
Sherry Brott: End of
post-conference session at 1:40 pm. |
|
Session
1 – Jenni Keith, Coach and Sherry Brott,
Mentor
|
|
Session
begins at 12:10P on July 9, 2004
Jenni Keith: Can you tell
me your feelings about the mentor sessions
you had with Melody and how you felt they
went?
Sherry Brott: For the most
part, I think they went very well. I found
that it is really easy to get off track
unless I make a strong effort to stay
focused.
Sherry Brott: Melody is so
excited about adding more technology and she
has a ton of ideas.
Jenni Keith: I hear you on
that! What kinds of things did you do to
help the two of you stay focused?
Sherry Brott: Having hard
copies of what I wanted to discuss really
helped. That way I was reminded of what we
needed to talk about at any one time.
Jenni Keith: Do you feel
like the unit will ultimately be successful?
Sherry Brott: Yes, I really
do, especially since she is tackling this
lesson at the beginnning of school. Her
enthusiasm will still be strong and she has
clear goals for what she wants to
accomplish.
Jenni Keith: What kinds of
thihgs will you do to assure her success?
Sherry Brott: First, I've
promised to be available any time she has
questions (email, phone, etc.) but I will
also be there when she presents her first
teacher presentation to introduce the unit,
then when she takes the students to the lab.
Sherry Brott: Since my
position is changing next year, I'll be able
to work around her schedule instead of the
other way around.
Jenni Keith: It was clear
she will be helped and comforted by your
presence, especially in the lab.
Sherry Brott: I am also in
the process right now of having her evaluate
the website she was going to use for
creating the brochures. I am hoping she will
decide to go back to the first Publisher
template she created.
Jenni Keith: There does
seem to be more flexibility with Publoisher.
I was impressed with the way that you
handled that issue with her in the session.
Now she will be the one to make the decision
because she ultimately has to live with the
Jenni Keith: consequences.
Jenni Keith: Would you do
anything differently next time or during
another mentoring session with others?
Sherry
Brott: First of all, as you know,
this meeing was not held at an ideal time or
location. Since she tutors in the mornings
during the summer, we decided to use her
room in spite of the heat and the
distractions of the custodial staff.
Sherry Brott: In the
future, I'd like to really try to come up
with a more mentoring friendly atmosphere.
That way we can really concentrate on the
lesson and how I can help her.
Sherry Brott: I'd also like
to ask more open ended questions of her...to
model what I'd like to see in the classroom.
Jenni Keith: How do you
think atmosphere will impact your mentoring
sessions during the coming school year?
Sherry Brott: I am hoping
each campus provides Gay and I with a room
or other location that we can meet with the
teachers while we are at their campuses. If
there aren't any distractions I can also
meet with her after school or during
Sherry Brott: her
conferences. At least the a/c will be on and
all her materials won't be stored away. At
some of our other sessions, she has spent
alot of time looking for stuff.
Sherry Brott: Same with me.
I guess the main difference is I intend to
be more organized.
Jenni Keith: How do you
feel about the progress you've made toward
meeting your own goals for mentoring?
Sherry Brott: After all
we've learned on AT, I also want to go
through her class list when she gets it to
see how to best help any other students with
disabilities that she might have other than
the one boy she knows she is getting.
Sherry Brott: So far, I
haven't been able to address the goal of
keeping my hands off the mouse, but I'm sure
that when school starts and I'm able to
answer some questions she has about the
actual software, I'll get the chance. I
think I'm com
Sherry Brott: coming along
pretty good on the other goals. I'm provided
more wait time on a regular basis.
Sherry Brott: oops,
providing not provided.
Sherry Brott: I know that
with practice, I'll keep improving in the
questioning area.
Jenni Keith: What could I,
as your coach, have done differently?
Sherry Brott: Gosh, I'm not
sure you could have. You've been so
flexible. And you are a good listener.
Jenni Keith: Thanks. If you
need to have a sounding board throughout the
year as you embark on this new position,
feel free to contact me. It sure has been a
pleasure working with you and I hope we can
continue during 1002!
Sherry Brott: Me, too. I
thing we've built up a strong trusting
relationship alread
Sherry Brott: Even though
we've worked together for 2 years, being at
different schools and grade levels, we
didn't have much opportunity to interact.
But,
Sherry Brott: you can bet
that you will be hearing from me often. You
have so much experience that I can glean
knowledge from.
Sherry Brott: Do you have
any suggestions for me based on what you saw
in that session?
Jenni Keith: It won't be a
one way street that is for sure! I feel like
I have a new friend:)
Jenni Keith: Things are so
different when you are working during the
year with deadlines, time crunches, yours
and everyone else's. The only thing I can
tell you is to be mindful of what your goals
are and to keep coming back to them over and
Jenni Keith: over. Reflect
on what interactions you have with teachers
and how you will improve the next time.
Also, as you mentioned earlier, having a
plan is always so important to keep both
your goals and your time under control. You
will
Jenni Keith: be fantastic.
I know it already!
Sherry Brott: That's a good
idea. It's so easy to get
distracted...especially with my ADD. I have
so many things I want to share with my
teachers. I need to remember to work on one
thing at a time.
Jenni Keith: Just keeping
your mind on the goals you want to work on
is half the battle. I tend to get so swamped
that I lose sight of what is most important
sometimes. I'm ready for my questions when
you are.
Jenni Keith: I'll be
interested to know how things turn out with
Melody. I know you'll be working with her
lots. Keep me up to date! Thanks Sherry.
Sherry Brott: I will. She's
committed to integraing technology in her
classroom, but more than that she reallly
wants to get the other 4th grade teachers on
board. I'll be working very closely with
her. I've promised her to give her all the
Sherry Brott: help she
wants.
Jenni Keith: This is the
end of Post Conference for Mentor Sherry
Brott and Coach Jenni Keith 12:50P.
|
|
- Education Service Center
- Region XI
- 3001 N. Freeway
- Fort Worth, TX 76106
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HOME
Copyright © 2002 Education Service Center Region XI. All right reserved.
|
SITE MAP
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
