Appendices

WARM DEMANDER & SAFE CLASSROOM COMMUNITY

STUDENTS AS INTELLECTUALS & TEACHER AS COACH

KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS & SOCIAL JUSTICE CURRICULUM

TEACHER

• Is in control
• Treats students like family
• Takes consideration of students’ feelings
• Is understanding
• Shows respect
• Brings positive energy

TEACHER

• Supports students
• Gives clear instructions
• Hopes the best for their students
• Sees the different skills students have
• Phrases things in a way that makes students think critically

TEACHER

• Leads class discussions & encourages students to speak up about their opinions (Talking Circles)
• Pre- and post-discussion briefing
• Real-world curriculum
• Relevance to our modern society

STUDENTS

• Equality for all students
• Safe environment
• Happiness and quiet
• Feels like a family
• Closeness with each other
• Stronger mindsets

STUDENTS

• Critical thinking
• Their voices are heard
• Their opinions matter
• Constant questioning
• Discussion
• Students expanding their minds to think bigger

STUDENTS

• Having class discussions
• Lots of students talking
• Teachers listening
• Students teaching each other
• Students being engaged

Can you introduce yourself?

Hi. My name is Alejandro. Me and my class are currently working on this project about doing a podcast. We are also including interviews. I would like to include my mom in this interview because she is the one who I will be interviewing. I want to ask her about her culture or any tradition she’s had, basically, her past life. I would like to learn about this because I would like to know her strengths, her hopes, of what she has done back in the past, and what made her achieve herself to where she is today.

I love that Alejandro is intuitively tapping into his mom’s community cultural wealth. He is using such a strong asset frame on his own.

What are some important activities you have done in this project?

Some important activities that I’ve done in this project is writing an introduction, choosing some song intros. Also, practicing my work that I’ve done with fellow peers. Let’s say I wrote an introduction and to make sure there are no mistakes to try and correct myself to better it, I practice reading it out loud to a fellow peer or teacher. I’m trying to gain feedback from others to see what I can improve or change.

This street data tells me that Alejandro values and actively uses practice and feedback as strategies for improvement. He does not approach learning as a one-and-done, which is a huge strength. Specifically, I can infer that reading a piece of writing out loud to a peer or teacher helps him hear his own writing voice and get feedback.

What’s something in this project that you feel you have been successful in?

I feel I’ve been successful in two things. One, finishing a sheet filled with questions that I may include during the interview, and also preparing myself an introduction for the beginning, and what I have planned for a start.

This helps me see Alejandro’s growing sense of efficacy as a key element of agency. He uses two verbs to signal efficacy: “finishing” and “preparing.” I want to help him continue to build on these things.

What has helped you be successful? Why do you think you’ve been successful with those things?

Well, one thing that I don’t occasionally get; I just need to complete any assignment that I may struggle with, perhaps. What I need is time and patience. That could benefit myself to see how I can be better in these activities.

Here, Alejandro is giving me insight into two growth areas: time and patience with himself. He understands that to improve on assignments that he is struggling with, he needs to slow down his pace and be patient with himself.

What have you found challenging in the project?

I found it challenging in trying to start a song intro … podcast intro. When we created it in our computers, I didn’t really have any time to try finishing one of those. I struggled to find the right way of trying to see what could be useful and what could be negative.

I haven’t finished my podcast intro on the computer because I can’t seem to find … I can’t find the right theme that could fit properly into my intro.

Here again, the theme of time and pacing comes up in Angel’s narration. I can see how important it will be to reassure him that I value quality and process over quantity and product. I also may need to do a mini lesson with him and other students around theme.

What’s something you learned in this project that you’re proud of?

Well, to be honest, there isn’t really anything I’m proud of this. I just feel great about it but not proud.

This makes me wonder if “pride” is an individualistic trait and not culturally congruent for Alejandro. Maybe pride is part of Western epistemology, and I should think about how to reframe that question!

Okay what’s something you learned?

Something that I knew already was trying to find an intro. Just to start the beginning of my topic to try and drag people’s attention to it. Yes, that’s something that I’ve already learned and pretty much accomplished well.

Alejandro is really tuned in to the “hook” for this podcast project, and I love his description of “dragging people’s attention to it.” I can sense his growing confidence and agency in his final sentence. Going forward, I want to help him build on his many strengths and feel comfortable slowing down and being patient with himself as a learner.

School’s Problem of Practice

Example: How are students reading, writing, and engaging in academic conversations?

• How do students respond to and build on their peers’ ideas?
• To what extent do students talk about academic content with each other versus with their teacher?
• To what extent do students provide meaningful written evidence to support their thinking?

Time

Topic

Facilitator Welcome & Overview

(8 min.)

Time: _____________

Welcome

1. Introductions

2. Objective

Provide a learning space that is evidence based and structured by using a common protocol to investigate a school’s problem of practice using the insights of a diverse team comprised of school administrators, which can support the hosting school with new insights into how to continuously improve.

3. Norms

• Respect the start and end time of every visit.
• Actively cultivate a safe space for learning.
• Push yourself to take risks and grow.
• Maintain confidentiality. Limit all discussion to the debrief and avoid hallway talk.
• Stay true to the role of data collector and “fly on the wall” in classrooms (do not help students with their work, intervene in the lesson, or engage with the teacher).

4. Agenda Overview

Introduction (30 min.)

• Facilitator overview
• Presentation of problem of practice
• Preparing for observations
• Logistics

Classroom observations (60 min.)

Debrief (120 min.)

• Patterns
• Analysis
• Summary of patterns
• Debrief fishbowl conversations
• Closing, online feedback

Presentation of Problem of Practice & Preparing for Observations

(15 min.)

Time: _____________

Problem of Practice (POP): Host reviews the POP and identifies the focal questions for the team.

What is the current context? When we think of this POP, our school is working to hone in on __________________________________.

Building Shared Understanding: Facilitator guides the team and charts responses to these questions. Participants take notes in their agenda packet.

• What would it look like in every classroom if this problem of practice were resolved?
• What teaching practices and student practices do we hope to see related to this POP? What is possible in the constraints of a ten-minute observation?
• Facilitator guides T-chart of observable student and teaching practices.

Preparing for Observations

(5 min.)

Time: _____________

Classroom Observation Logistics

• Review observation schedule and observation/scripting form.
• Review of process: We collect evidence on what we do see that is related to the POP. Focus most on what students are doing. Notes are confidential and will be shredded after rounds. Remember classroom and hallway norms.
• Report back time. _____________

Observations

(60 min.)

Notes about the classrooms I will visit or campus logistics:

Time to report back: _____________

Instructional Rounds Debrief

Prepare for Debrief

(8 min.)

Time: _____________

Partner Discussion: What was it like to observe in classrooms using this problem of practice as a focus. How was it helpful? How was it challenging?

Facilitator outlines the steps of the debrief.

1. Individually sift through all of the evidence from each classroom observation that relates to the POP.

2. In small groups

• Analyze data to organize into similar buckets
• Summarize evidence into pattern statements on a poster
• Present poster to the whole group

3. In small groups

• Summarize one bucket of patterns from all the posters into one summary sentence

4. Facilitator uses group input to summarize all ideas from the buckets into one overall summary poster.

Description of Evidence & Finding Patterns

(40 min.)

Time: _____________

Description

Individual review of evidence (8 min.)

• Review the POP.
• Mark/highlight evidence related to the POP that shows up in your notes.
• Select one to two pieces of evidence from each classroom and write each one on its own post it. But you should have no more than ten sticky notes total.

Is my evidence specific, descriptive, and non judgmental? Is it useful?

Analysis

How can we organize our ideas to make sense of what we saw? Which could be a high level pattern that might help the school get unstuck?

Small groups construct pattern statements (30 min.).

• Share sticky notes and organize into similar buckets using the sticky note categories.
• Summarize evidence from each row into a pattern statements on the poster.

Summary of Patterns

(15 min.)

Time: _____________

Summary of Patterns

Each team shares their poster.

In small groups

• Summarize one bucket of patterns from all the posters into one summary sentence
• Facilitator uses group input to summarize all ideas from the buckets into one

Overall summary poster

Discussion on Next Steps

(25 min.)

Time: _____________

Discussion and Reflection

Participant Discussion: All principals discuss while facilitator takes notes. (20 min.)

Participants, including host principal, use the guiding questions in this section to support their fishbowl conversation.

What suggestions can we offer our host school that can support these hack mindsets in the following list?

• What assets could the school build upon?
• What might help get some changes going?
• What strategies have we seen succeed in a similar context that could be helpful for addressing the patterns around this school’s POP?
• How does the context of this school inform our suggestions around next steps?
• What assets could the school build upon?
• What resources/support are we aware of within SFUSD that might be helpful?

Hosts Reflection (5 min.)

What resonated from the discussion? Use the prompts that follow to guide your reflection.

• What is in your sphere of influence related to this POP? What leadership actions are you willing to test out?
• What feels like one small doable step that will help build momentum toward engaging in this work?
• How might you share the patterns collected today with your ILT/larger staff? What needs to happen to propel this work forward?
• What would happen if we continued on without changing?
• If students did everything that was asked of them, what would they know and be able to do?

Closing

(10 min.)

Time: _____________

Appreciations and Personal Learnings (5 min.)

What is something you appreciated about our time learning together today? What are you taking away from today that connects to your own work?

Feedback Online Form (5 min.)