WalkThroughs: An Effective Strategy for Increasing Student Achievement

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Walk-Throughs An Effective Strategy for
Increasing Student Achievement

• Based on the work of
• Dr. Susan Villa,
• Carolyn J. Downey and
• Larry E. Frase

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Ultimate Goal To Influence

• Reflective, self-directed, self-analyzing
  interdependent teachers who examine their own
  practices even those who initially are at the
  dependent level.
• Teachers who are continually willing to improve
  their teaching.
• Teachers who are committed to working for ever
  higher student achievement.

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Purpose

• To provide advisors with strategies for using a
  structured walk-through approach and reflective
  feedback as a vehicle for maximizing student
  achievement.

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Steps in Observation

• INSTRUCTION Engagement of Students
• CURRICULUM Determine curricular objectives and
  alignment to district curriculum and identify
  possible growth area(s)
• INSTRUCTION Note instructional practices used
  and identify possible growth area(s)

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Steps in Observation, continued

• WALK THE WALLS for more curricular objectives
  and instructional practices (if time)
• SAFETY FACILITIES Happens naturally

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Observation Structure 5 Step Process

• ENGAGEMENT (Student time on task)
• CURRICULUM (content standards)
• TEACHING STRATEGIES
• WALK THE WALLS
• SAFETY

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Step One Student Engagement

• Determine student engagement the moment you walk
  into the room.
• Boston Scan scan the room.
• Where are the students eyes?
• On the teacher, on work, on each other?
• Ballpark it what percentage of students are
  engaged?

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Step Two Curriculum Focus

• Determine the curriculum objectives being taught
• Content what students are learning
• Context how are students learning
• Cognitive Level i.e., Blooms taxonomy
• Compare curriculum objectives listed or stated
  with observed curriculum

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Step Three Instructional Strategies

• Determine generic teaching practices taking place
• Feedback, examples, student error, wait time,
  checking for understanding, prior knowledge
• Identify strategies being used with a specific
  district and/or school focus
• Process guided reading, writers workshop,
  reciprocal teaching, question-answer relationships

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Step Four Walk the Walls

• Specify other objectives and teaching practices
  observed
• Artifacts on walls, charts, student
  work, centers, white/chalk board,
  posters, etc.
• Use the walls to inform instruction

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Step Five Safety

• Identify any safety and/or facility issues

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Keeping Track of Ideas

• Develop a very simple way of recording ideas.
• 3 x 5 card
• Do record enough of what happened when you are in
  the room to use when giving feedback.
• The notes are for you not formal.

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One Way 3 x 5 Card

• Name of BT
• Date Time
• CURRICULUM
• Content
• Context
• Cognitive level
• District check

• Grade/subject
• INSTRUCTION
• 2 or 3 ideas

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• Ima Newby
• 2-10-03 1035
• CURRICULUM
• Content
• Reasons why people left their homelands to come
  to the US
• Common experiences hardships immigrants had to
  overcome while traveling to and upon arrival in
  US
• Context
• Text book
• Oral student response
• Cognitive level Knowledge
• District check 9th

9th grade World Geography

• INSTRUCTION
• Prior knowledge
• Wait time
• Prediction
• Primary source documents
• Posters of Ellis Island
• Pie Charts Immigration patterns

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• CURRICULUM
• Content
• Writing a 3 paragraph personal experience essay
• Pre-writing organizing ideas
• Context
• Prewriting worksheets
• Cognitive level Application
• District check 3rd

2-10-03 900 3rd Grade Writing
INSTRUCTION Modeling Review Individual
assistance Scoring guide rubric Chart Steps
in the Writing Process
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Walk-Through Practice

• Watch the video.
• Follow the observation structure.
• Use a 3 x 5 card to record your information.
• Identify a topic for a reflective question.

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Feedback and the Reflective Question

• What do we know about effective feedback?
• Discuss with a partner.
• Share with the group.

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A Mentoring Conversation A Protocol

• Assess the Beginning Teachers Needs by
• Making connections and building trust
• Identifying successes and challenges
• Establish a Focus for Work by
• Paraphrasing (In other words So )
• Clarifying (Tell me a little more about
• Itd help me understand if youd give me an
  example of )

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Stay Away From

• Why did you do .?
• Have you considered doing ?
• You might want to
• How come you
• How might you do it differently?
• What might you do differently next time?
• How did you decide?
• Do you think it would have been different if you
  ..

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Will these stems fit? Revise as needed.

• Tell me how you did that
• What went on in your mind when ?
• When have you done something like this before?
• What would be your criteria for ?
• What do you think the problem is?
• How did you know ?
• What might you do next?
• Whats another way you might approach this?

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Support the Teachers Movement Forward

• Direct teaching
• Collaborative problem solving
• Reflective questioning
• Promote Accountability by
• Identifying specific next steps
• Agreeing to follow up

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Mentoring Strategies
Listening Clarifying Encouraging
Reflecting Presenting Problem
Negotiating Directing Standardizing
Reinforcing

Solving
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Coaching Practice

• Prepare a conversation that is reflective in
  nature for this teacher in the video. Use the
  topic you identified earlier.
• Pair off in teams of two and orally rehearse the
  reflective conversation with one another. One
  person be the advisor and the other the teacher
  in the video. Change roles.

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Reflection

• What are your thoughts about the experience you
  have just had with the walk-through observations
  and the reflective conversations?