Cognitive Coaching Session

Sharyn Grisham and Lanelle Hopson

June 15, 2004

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Sharyn S. Grisham has joined the chat.

Lanelle Hopson has joined the chat.

Lanelle Hopson: Hi Sharyn!

Sharyn S. Grisham: Are you ready?

Lanelle Hopson: Good to go, I think.

Sharyn S. Grisham: Let me begin as coach.

Lanelle Hopson: Cool!

Sharyn as Coach and Lanelle as Teacher:

Sharyn S. Grisham: Here goes

Sharyn S. Grisham: I have read your list of goals that you sent for preview. It seems that we have similar ideas about our field experiences.

Sharyn S. Grisham: One of the areas of concern for you is with your coaching skills, right?

Lanelle Hopson: That is right.

Sharyn S. Grisham: I feel that this assignment might help us both with the cognitive coaching. I too am feeling insecure.

Lanelle Hopson: After each assignment I do begin to feel a little more confident.

Sharyn S. Grisham: You have spoken with your teacher and have begun to plan?

Lanelle Hopson: I spoke with the teacher today and we will set up a 1 on 1 meeting in the near future.

Lanelle Hopson: So far he has just given a general area he would like help with.

Sharyn S. Grisham: Let's address our questioning skills concerns first.

Lanelle Hopson: k

Sharyn S. Grisham: What in particular do you feel is important when questioning your teacher before you plan the lesson completely?

Lanelle Hopson: I hope that the teacher and I have a good report and are able to relate easily and comfortably.

Sharyn S. Grisham: Maybe I am not clear on that question. What in particular is one of the areas you need to work on in your own questioning skills?

Lanelle Hopson: Being able to word the questions clearly enough to invite the teacher to think for themselves.

Sharyn S. Grisham: I am sure that you will be able to relate easily and comfortably

Sharyn S. Grisham: I understand. Clearly word questions that lead the teacher to think for herself.

Sharyn S. Grisham: Do you refer to open-ended questions?

Lanelle Hopson: Yes and listening and not telling them what to do.

Sharyn S. Grisham: I remember that you said in discussion that listening was an important area to work on.

Lanelle Hopson: I talk too much!

Sharyn S. Grisham: Don't we all?

Lanelle Hopson: Some more than others.

Lanelle Hopson: My tendency is just to tell them what to do

Lanelle Hopson: and be done with it.

Lanelle Hopson: Terrible!

Sharyn S. Grisham: What goals do you plan to work on as far as the actual lesson for your teacher?

Lanelle Hopson: You are really making me think

Lanelle Hopson: really hard!

Lanelle Hopson: 1. Helping the teacher to meet their goals.

Sharyn S. Grisham: I saw something on your list that might help put your goals into words. Number II ?

Lanelle Hopson: 2. Integrating technology in a non-threatening way.

Sharyn S. Grisham: Both are excellent goals for you.

Sharyn S. Grisham: Since the teacher has not set her goals yet, why don't we focus on the integrating technology goal.

Lanelle Hopson: It would be a start!

Sharyn S. Grisham: How do you plan to integrate in a "non-threatening way"?

Lanelle Hopson: For the teacher and the students to use applications that they are familiar with.

Lanelle Hopson: Help the teacher to understand "file types" to integrate in various ways.

Sharyn S. Grisham: That would be a comfortable way to start. What applications do you have in mind?

Lanelle Hopson: For 6th graders in our district....

Lanelle Hopson: PowerPoint, Paint, maybe even using Powerpoint to create Web pages.

Lanelle Hopson: they have no tech training pre 6th grade.

Sharyn S. Grisham: Very good start. I am not sure the students I teach in high school have such good training in lower grades.

Lanelle Hopson: Big problem in our district.

Lanelle Hopson: We have high-end software in hs, but they are not ready to use it.

Sharyn S. Grisham: As a history teacher, I really liked the hieroglyphics idea you sent me.

Lanelle Hopson: Oh good.

Lanelle Hopson: Be quick to give suggestions!

Sharyn S. Grisham: How do you plan to use technology with the hieroglyphics?

Lanelle Hopson: Tell me what you think about this

Sharyn S. Grisham: Shoot.

Lanelle Hopson: I haven't had but a couple of hours to ponder.

Lanelle Hopson: What if they designed their own symbols in a drawing program, may Paint? and saved them as a jpg to import to a Powerpoint presentation.

Lanelle Hopson: They could divide up into groups, come up with their own symbol, create a sentence, and present to the class.

Sharyn S. Grisham: I like the idea. Would it be possible to offer other opportunities to students who may not feel comfortable with paint? I forget that students in the 6th grade are used to drawing. If I ask my hs students to draw something,

Sharyn S. Grisham: they avoid it at all costs.

Lanelle Hopson: I know what you're talking about.

Sharyn S. Grisham: The group idea would probably pull in those students who might be reluctant to draw.

Lanelle Hopson: Maybe they could use pre-existing symbols in Wingdings

Lanelle Hopson: and assign their own meaning?

Lanelle Hopson: using Word

Sharyn S. Grisham: Very good idea. Is it possible to modify them?

Sharyn S. Grisham: Or combine them?

Lanelle Hopson: Not sure.

Lanelle Hopson: well, if you import them to paint.

Sharyn S. Grisham: Something to look into.

Lanelle Hopson: good thinking.

Sharyn S. Grisham: I liked the idea you had of relating this info to today's culture.

Lanelle Hopson: That was the teacher's goal.

Sharyn S. Grisham: How can you work technology into relating the info to today?

Lanelle Hopson: By equating communication evolving from paintings to internet

Sharyn S. Grisham: Will your teacher have scanner, camera, etc for the students to use?

Lanelle Hopson: Yes

Lanelle Hopson: to the scanner/camera

Sharyn S. Grisham: Very good. I just had a thought of the "No Smoking" symbol being a hieroglyphic of today.

Lanelle Hopson: and restroom signs

Lanelle Hopson: handicap signs

Sharyn S. Grisham: The schools are full of them

Lanelle Hopson: In Gatesville.....

Lanelle Hopson: No dipping!

Lanelle Hopson: What a hoot!

Sharyn S. Grisham: How could you use modern hieroglyphics in your lesson?

Lanelle Hopson: Not sure.

Lanelle Hopson: They would be presented by the teacher

Lanelle Hopson: as an example of "pictures"

Lanelle Hopson: after having presented prehistoric communication.

Sharyn S. Grisham: I like that.

Lanelle Hopson: Something to start with, anyway.

Sharyn S. Grisham: We certainly use symbolic communication today. It really gets me to thinking

Lanelle as Coach and Sharyn as Teacher:

Lanelle Hopson: Tell me about your field experience lesson.

Lanelle Hopson: Have you met with your teacher?

Sharyn S. Grisham: Yes. Very briefly

Sharyn S. Grisham: My teacher is a good friend and an excellent user of technology.

Lanelle Hopson: That is a definite plus!

Sharyn S. Grisham: She was interested in doing this because she is looking for something new for her new assignment in Economics

Lanelle Hopson: Challenging, but fun.

Sharyn S. Grisham: She has chosen to go with the basic lesson of Scarcity and the Factors of Production

Lanelle Hopson: What does she have in mind?

Sharyn S. Grisham: She wants to present her chapter notes with Powerpoint that she creates and then pull the students into the use of technology

Lanelle Hopson: What will the students be doing?

Sharyn S. Grisham: This is an AP Economics course and the students will prepare a student portfolio

Sharyn S. Grisham: For this 1st lesson she wants them to research on the internet

Lanelle Hopson: What applications will the students be using?

Lanelle Hopson: for the portfolio?\

Sharyn S. Grisham: She is not sure at this point how much they will use the technology, but PowerPoint, Publisher, maybe even web authoring.

Sharyn S. Grisham: They will research their information and then prepare presentations. All presentations will use some form of technology. These are seniors and can be very creative.

Lanelle Hopson: So is the portfolio the measurement of success?

Sharyn S. Grisham: Ultimately, the portfolio will be the measure of success. She has also worked in ideas of graphic organizers for assesssment.

Lanelle Hopson: Sounds very thorough all ready!

Sharyn S. Grisham: Some of her work will be in groups. Some will be individual.

Lanelle Hopson: I know that you will not have any trouble on questioning techniques,

Sharyn S. Grisham: No. I have the same concerns you have. I want to tell. I must bite my tongue.

Lanelle Hopson: How funny.....

Lanelle Hopson: You don't seem that way to me

Lanelle Hopson: I think you have already met your goal!

Lanelle Hopson: what are your goals for the field experience?

Sharyn S. Grisham: My main goal is to mentor this teacher to use technology to improve student achievement.

Lanelle Hopson: Great!

Lanelle Hopson: I think achievement does improve when they enjoy what they are doing.

Sharyn S. Grisham: Remember this teacher is already technology savvy. Is that spelled right?

Lanelle Hopson: Think so.

Sharyn S. Grisham: I think it will be an extra challenge to mentor her in new technology.

Lanelle Hopson: Always keeping us on our toes.

Lanelle Hopson: That is a definite plus.

Sharyn S. Grisham: My expertise is video. She doesn't feel comfortable there. I hope that we can maybe integrate some video into her lesson.

Lanelle Hopson: Much better than someone who does not want to learn, much less integrate into their lessons.

Lanelle Hopson: Wow!

Lanelle Hopson: Your teachers are lucky to have you.

Sharyn S. Grisham: I don't know about that.

Lanelle Hopson: I am anxious to see how it comes together.

Lanelle Hopson: I hope you'll share student examples!

Sharyn S. Grisham: thanks for you input. I think we are done. We will all definitely need to share. That's the best part of these classes.

Lanelle Hopson: I'm having fun

Lanelle Hopson: I feel slightly incompetent with this

Lanelle Hopson: but you have made me feel better.

Lanelle Hopson: Thanks!

Sharyn S. Grisham: We have been working for almost an hour. Our chat is so long that nobody will ever want to read it.

Lanelle Hopson: That's a plus too!

Lanelle Hopson: File>Save as?

Lanelle Hopson: Thanks Sharyn!

Lanelle Hopson: You're wonderful!

Lanelle Hopson: Bye!

Sharyn S. Grisham: yes, it is file>save as

Sharyn S. Grisham: I look forward to more with you. Thanks

Sharyn S. Grisham: Bye

Lanelle Hopson has left the chat.