When I first began coaching, I was overwhelmed. There were so many teachers, unfamiliar responsibilities, grade levels, and content areas, that I didn't know how to wrap my mind around anything well enough to even begin.
However, as I began figuring things out, I soon saw that I led some types of conversations over and over again. When we looked at student assessments, we had one type of conversation. When we analyzed student texts, we had another type of conversation. And working one-on-one with a teacher in a close coaching cycle was another kind entirely. I thought, "What if I have templates for these conversations I tend to have repeatedly, so I ask/do all the things I need to and not leave anything out?" So, that's exactly what I did.
What I found was that it freed my mind up to have better conversations. I didn't have to fish for a question or think about what the next step might be. I could go to my template to move a conversation forward - and even use it to take notes so I could get thoughts out of my mind and onto paper, freeing up more space for hard thinking.
What I had unknowingly done was create protocols. And let me tell you, a good one will change your work and your life.
This week, we'll explore the roles of protocols in EL together.
- Begin by reading (or reading) EL's 8 High-Leverage Instructional Practices, and read the row for Protocols.
- Read "The What, Why, and How of Protocols" here.
- Find the EL Education protocol handbook here and skim through the Table of Contents. What do you notice about how it's organized? Any protocols you see that are familiar? Brand new?
Completed that? Fantastic! You just completed your Week 11 Teaching Challenge. If you're working for that small prize, you can log your success here, and be sure to check back next week - November 4 - for week 12.
Here's to simply teaching well,
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