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a ea The Hows and Whys of Peer Mentoring (Our peer observations were organized in a simple fashion. Every week the person being ‘observed informed the team of what to look for when visting. Sometimes we wanted a certain child observed. Sometimesthe focus was on wcuriculum matter, Othe ines we wanted 0 tures issues suchas metiods of class management. "During the week, the three sbservers Would separately come to the observee’s classroom and ‘eke careful notes for 30 minutes. At the beginning of the following week, the tam held 2 "ebeiefing”” meeting and eich observer recounted what they had seen. We rotated the process so that each team member was observed every month or so Scheduling was one of our Gt obstacles, We each looked carefully at our “specials” such a8 ‘muse, at ou teaching asiant times and atIunch schedules to determine when it would be possible to leave the elasroom. During amid-winter team evaluation, we decided tht 30 Imimites was not enough ine to observe. We solved this problem with two major adjustments: ‘We increased our observations to 45 minutes and we chose a focus tope that he other teachers ‘ould wate for throughout the rest ofthe yeer. Scheduling became a bit trickier but we carefilly calculated ways to cover for one another. Sometimes we swapped teaching assistants, covered each others” clases at recess, o ate our Tunches during observations, The administation has boen supportive, although all the work to organize and instntionalizs the process ha fallen on our team. Our union (we are members of the American Feratin of Teachers) es not really been avare ofthe projec Bonefits of Poor Mentoring “The primary goal ofthe peer observation projec sto rethink the way we do things and adept to thang times, students, nd citoumstances, The benefits of observing went both ways. Not ‘nly did observed teachers gt specific feedbeck but those doing the observing were exposed to tn increased number of chidren of varying ags,leening styles, and academic, developmental, find emotional levels, All cfus have benefited fom seeing a vatiety of teaching methods end all have enhanced ou “bag of tricks.” st speak. “There have also been whet one might call “hidden benefits.” ‘After a few months of observing each other, we recognized that we tended to over-prepae for the time we were observed. We wanted to impress each other and keep our “warts” hidden. As trust built this need to appear perfect dissipated and we became more comfartable with leing ‘down our defenses. This led to an unexpected development: Team members found that while teaching unobserved, they helped maintain their focus by pretending tat someone wes observing, ‘hem. Another interesting benefit was how our colleagues acted as “reality check.” For example, one teacher said she felt as ifske were always yelling ater students. The observers reported Something very different. They su a teacher who appeared to be patient and tolerant. Clearly, ther own thoughts and frustation bad shaded her view of he teaching. The team discussed this further end heed te teacer to focus onthe reasons for her frustrations. ey ‘A thin hidden benefit isthat te children soe thle teachers practicing what they preach. We ‘make it a point to be very open with he students about our observations and out team mentoring, In essence, we are mode ing important lessons such as teamwork and lemming through ‘observation. ‘These ate tie same skills we want our students to leam. Seeing their teachers struggle to improve and work with their pees is « powerfil example, Now Challenges We are now ending our second year of peer observation nd mentoring. Our peer observation ‘Work has ed us to look st many issues ina new light. How, for example, might We use ur experience with peer meatoring to help effect reform thoughout the school and district? How «do We help othe teachers question their teaching practices and place leaning and se reflection tthe top oftheir priori list? Do we simply model what we believe the role of teachers shonld bbe or do we become assetive advocates of change? eee mentoring has also mised broader social and political issues. Poverty, child abuse, and other societal problems exnstantly surface and relat to the stestes that ot children face. We constantly grapple with what todo with these understandings. Do we simply concentrate on our ‘owa litle classroom or do we work more aggressively with parents, health practitioner, and ‘sovemment officals to tke a holistic view ofthe needs of children? What role should we play ‘in social change movements to improve the lives of our children out ofthe classroom’? ‘As we reinvent and growasleamers and teachers, we find it increasingly difficult o ignore this ‘most critical of questions Are teachers passive observers af the world beyond our schools, or should we work y improve the overall ves Of the eldren we serve? Ani how best do we do 80? Mare Osten and Bre idseg eee When Good Intentions Go Awry By Bre eg Peer observations offen previde insights that are quite painful to hear but which ean improve our teaching, Ileared this the ard way. Inmay class of 21 kindergntners there was child whom 1 fet was unreachable inthe context of ‘whole class or group actives. I asked the eam to help me out use « large group setting, what call my morning ciel, asthe primary teaching modality in my Classroom. Aer the large group, the children go to “cente” activities which provide an ‘opportunity for practice and exploration, Since this child was apparently getting litle from our morning circle, her entre roming was affected. She moved through centers with litle understanding or direction. _As we sat together on the rug each day to hear stores and diseuss curent explorations, this litle ‘gel (how | will cal Jennifer), often sat on the periphery. She would look down a her hands snd generally eppeared losin her own inner word, Jennifer was a child who cried a lot of emotional baggage, and her home life was troubled and unstable. She was generally unable or unwilling to participate in classroom activities, especially ‘Verbal ones. When things became stressful for he, she would “actin,” crossing her arms asross her chest and making a sour face, {felt on the verge of giving up with Jenifer. All my attempts to gether to participate had failed. ‘To some exten, [had allowed myself to give less thought to hes. Just as she had banished herself from the center of he class, so had T pushed her tothe periphery of my awareness. | mew I needed help, [hoped that my peers had experience with children who were as reticent ts Jennifer and could offerconerete suggestions, What [received from my team was quite Shocking and caused me tolook at my own filures and to re-examine my teaching. Dring the observations, my peers noted that although Jenifer was passive and seemingly inattentive for uch of te time, there Were several Bre moments where Jenifer had treo ‘make contac, Hut [had fled to recognize her atempis, For example, at one point! had been eading a book to the css. One peer observer later reported that Jennifer quietly said during the reading, “Guess what, Mr. Gidseg?” But apparently dida’t hear her, or atleast dih’t respond. ‘asked myself “How could I have missed such an event?” Jennifer ad made a significant tep ‘outwards snd [had filed to recognize it. Iden asked myself, “How long had she been reaching ‘ut only to find herself ignored by me?” ‘Te peer observer went onto report that Jennifer “approached mo ltr, apparently t ask me something, 1 didnot recognize this and instead I Spoke to he. T esked her tobe my special helper at our listening center, She crossed her arms dnd moved angrily awey ftom me. [remembered the incident. Atte time, Iwas mystified by “Tennifer's behavior. ‘At the debriefing, my reaction was visceral. I buried my head in my hands and sad “This is ike ‘knife in my hear.” I's sill painfal for me to watch the tape of my debriefing. My colleagues ‘were tremendously supportive, as always. My tearamate who watched me miss opportunites ———— with Jennifer told me tht as he watched these events, he knew tht they would be painfal for me tohear. Another observer expressed tht Jennifer was careful nota let even her reaching out ‘became too obvious. | received many ideas from my peers about how to help Jennifer. These ranged ftom being sue that she satin font of me during our morning circle time to privately meeting with Fenifer before or after our cicleto be sue that she received enough direction to do productive werk for the day. ‘As Thad time to process ‘he feelings, observations, and ideas that were generated from my \ebrifing, I eaized tha the significant information that I received was the recognition thet Jennifer was infact, reaching ou. It was now up tome to be attentive to het as muuch as possible. {resolved to have her neat me as much as possible, to aot allow her to become pat ofthe periphery. Treated small time frames where she and I could chat, in private, about the work for ‘the day. The changes were remarkable ina short period of time, Not only was giving more attention to the detils offer behavior, also found more room in my heart for het The ta Insd helped me to see herin new light. ‘There was a lot going on inside of Jennifer and Iwas determined to reach her. As she became ‘more tunedin tothe workings of the class, she begaa to make friends. She suddenly found herself tobe furly popular. Herself esteem was given quite a boost Jennifer's relationship wih me also improved, She began talking tomo each moming, litle bis at first. She spoke about ver family and her eiends. On one oecasion she brought pictures for me that she made at home. She quickly started to ask questions and enjoyed reading books with ‘me. She had begun fo lea. She was able, forthe frst timo, to write her mame comely Jennifer maintained her rticence towards “performing” infront ofthe class but she was no longer afraid to speak ‘Asa veteran teacher with20 years of early childhood experience, I was humbled bythe effect ‘hat the team had on my swareness and teaching. Through thei supportive critique, my eyes were opened to some of my own blind spots. And Jennifer was the fortunate recipient of «more enlightened approach fin a newly revitalized teacher, Bre ld hastught indrsrtn onda grad for 20 yor. Fo I oars he ght kindegaten fly ‘aninsered Waldorf schol, whee he fat dicotered he potent of profesional eel ——— Teachers As Learners” How Peer Mentoring Can Improve Teaching By Mare Oxen an Ele Gag ‘The separation of schoo! int clearly defined classtooms creates cult tat reinforces isolation, ‘Teachers tend t» teach in ways that they have found successful, wih ite feedback from others. We generally do what we think is best ad silently bear our own felings of superiority or inferiority. It doesn't have tobe this way. ‘The two of us, alongwith several other colleagues from our K-3 public school in upstate New York, have embarked on a peer-observation and mentoring process that has radically changed how we teach. (One of the key issues fcing the teaching profession is haw best to improve the quality of teaching and to provide ways for ongoing professional development, Debate hes been particulerly strong within te National Education Association aver the issue of pee evaluation, ‘While our process did noteplace the traditional evaluation proces in our school or district, we believe that it nonetheless offers insight into the potential of peer evaluation. Following are two separate essays on how the peer observation/mentoring process helped each of ‘as witha specific problem we wer having in the classroom. For more oa the structure and philosophy of our peer obavation and mentoring, se the atcle “The Hows and Whys of Peer Mentoring.” When Quiet Children Got Lost By Bark Orton ‘The children in my second grade classroom work together in cooperative groups. My goal isto censure that eech student pus their weight inthe group, but ina way tha stil nareres the ‘enhanced creativity and energy that can come from working together, One ofthe struggles in cooperative learning is finding a way to engage quiet students so that they ste not overwhelmed by more dominant personalities, I takes time to teach the students the necessary group skis and social skis that are needed for cooperative learning, ‘Sounds nice in theory. In practice though, last year I found myself succumbing to the growing pressures to make sue the kids scored well on standardized testing. I stated cutting time fom ‘things that Tknew were cetal tomy classroom, but which weren't essential to higher test (On one leve, might have been considered a sucess, The reading scores in my classroom went up. Rut the overal social ad academic environment suffered From Aehntng School, 12 (Samme 1998). © 2002 Retikig Schl, 101 B. Keefe Ave, Maske, WT 53212 * Ph (44) 56.9646 or (0) 60-4192 Fax (14) 964-7200" eal. webx@cepe com, Repel ‘eit permis, jeanne WAYS TO GATHER INFORMATION DURING CLASS OBSERVATIONS" > Selective Verbatim: Word-for-word revord of what individual learners andor the teacher say about particular issue orsome other are of focus (eg, the observer records the exact wording of hhow the teacher asks questions and how a particular leamer responds, keeps note ofthe {questions that learers ask, roords the exact conversation between specific lamers, ee). > Ancedotal Record: Description of events or episodes that occur during the class (e.g, the observer records the story of what appens among learners when the teacher leaves the classroom or records the behaviors and conversation between learners as they negotiate how to workin small groups). > Verbal Flow: A vwiten or visu description of who talks with whom (¢ the observer maps who initiates the conve-sition, who responds, who follows, who issilent, who is dressed, ‘who is left out, ete. > Class Tratte: ‘Avwritten record of who moves inside the room at what times (eg, who enters and exits, ‘movement from lage group to small groups, who goes where). This deseripton can include the rationale forthe traffic (it provided) and how leamers and the teacher respond to the trac, > Event Count: {A record ofthe number of times something in particular occurs (eg, the numberof times the teacher interns a learser, the numberof times leamers interupt one another, the number of tines kamers initiate «discussion, the number of times there are periods of silence, ee). > Duration: ‘Arrecord ofhow much time ie spent on a particular event oratvity (eq, the amount of time leamers talk informally versus “on tak,” the amount of time the teacher speaks ‘yersus eurets the amount of time learners have to quietly reflec, the amount of time Teamors have to work with one another, et) > Time Sample: ‘A record of what ccoars at specific intervals oftime (eg, a record of what learners are Going every five minstes, or wit i bappeaing in the classroom every five minutes) > Physical Map: ‘A drawing or map of where tables and chairs ate locted andthe activities that happen ‘there "Yaoued fom NCSALE Meno coher Group on Laarer Matton Reonion and Prsitene, NCSALL sven though I had not putas much time into teaching students necessary group sil, I till thrust them lato cooperative groups. Tn essence, without ever realizing i set them up for failure, ‘There was more Likering at team tables. Students were less engaged in projects ta in the past. Dominant studeats like Emma and Mat (he names ofthe children have been changed) ‘often took contol oftheir group, were becoming impatient and bossy. Quieter students like Brian or Marion were uninvolved. My assumption ~that quieter students would be beter off in small groups was out ofsynch with realy [went tomy peer mentoring team for help. Lasked that the next time they came to observe my ‘lass they fpeus onto tings: how the groups seemed to work overall, and specifically how ny two quiet students, Bran and Marion, seemed to fare. (The three observers came while their ‘om classes were at en acivity such as gym or music or lanch. They each came once a week, at different times, for 30-45 minutes) ‘After a week of observing my class, the team confirmed my worst fears, They noticed that Gite children like Briar were totally uninvolved, In one instance Brian was seen playing with & pencil in his desk freight minutes and Marion fll aslep fr a minute on her desk, Two of the three observing teachers noted the lack of verbal contact at several groups. All three rented tht most sudets were focused on thei individual work but rarely came together to ‘hare ideas or get help. When T asked student teams to put ther “heeds together"to discuss cach persons progress on & tak, one observer remarked tha the children became very frustrated with Brian's silence. 1 we sonpsed and upset and a litle embarassed — by what my colleagues had seen, As Tisfonod to all the vigneliss, I wondered to myself. “Where was [when this was all going on?” T ha prided myself on my ase of cooperative groups onl to find the process in disarray. Fortunately, our peer process involves not just observation but mentoring, Asa result, our "ebriefing” session moved from observer reports to suggestions. I started to feel beter. (One team member suggested I revisit my cooperative group project plans. Another reminded me to carefully structure cooperative work So kids had individual tasks but also had to collaborate. ‘One teacher advised me f help the quicter children by giving them specific Imguage to use wit their groups. Specifically, the teacher suggested I tape an index card to their desk that had Sentence starts sucha, “Tthink that..." *My opinion i...” ot “Ineed..”" “The various suggestions simulated a discussion that led to other ideas. One colleague Tentioned tat the index card idea would also be helpful wth more dominant children. Sentence ‘arts for these students right be, “What do you think. ..7” or "Do you have an opinion?” In {his way, the more dominant chiézea could help insite discussion rather than close off conversions. Another dca was to develop specific, nonverbal team roles that would help quieter students stay involved. [returned to my elassoom invigorated. [led min-tessons and roe plays so students could work ‘vith the inden cards. [int back to roguerly using a routine called “pei check” in which T five each student ine task questions and share ther progress and knowledge witha teammate, {eared to assign one stent in each cooperative group asa “checker.” ‘This parson would ‘ake sue every teum i involved by confirming that each member has completed dir work or ————$—$—$—_— ‘aa had a chance to share ideas. Finally, I started to watch things more carefilly. I decided to do ‘more direct intervention o help individuals, pairs, or teams stuck “in process.” ‘Things improved immedately. During the role plays, students perked wp and became more ‘nimated. During one roleplay, Brian asked, “Can I bring this index card to recess and use ton the playground?” uring a study of plants noticed several positive outcomes. In one experiment, I observed Marion look atthe indexcard taped to her desk and say to her partner," think hat the sed will sprout inten days.” Months eatier she would have quietly mumbled a few words that her partner might or might net hea. Atanother tbl, a heated discussion was taking place about what order in which to share predictions. One student yelled a another, “I want to go first.” Brian, meanwhile, had been Biven the nonverbal team job of “quit captain.” (in this nonverbal oi, the student slowly ‘aise, then brings his or ke two hands together to show teammates that they need to speak in ‘more respectil and quieter vojees) After the students complaint, Brian became involved and ‘showed how he was an inportant member of the team by giving the non-verbal signa for quiet voices and more respect. ‘Mata verbal and often bosy student, was aso finding mote productive ways to work in ‘groups. During an art project about plans, Matt's tea of four students each had a very specific {ask Matt was responsible for the roots while the other thee students worked on the sem, leaves, and flower puts. Because each student had avery specific tpg twas virtually impossible for Matt to be domineering. ‘After completing their drawings, I put Matt and Brian together for “pairs check.” This gave Brian a chance to gain confidence in his verbal presentation before sharing his drawing with the Whole class, ary in the school yes, ithad been unimaginable for Brian to stand up in font ofthe class snd present work he complete by himself. On this special day, he sat excitedly and waited patiently {or Matt to finish explaining how his sunflower rots draw water from the ground. Brian then 20t up and ina proud and clear voice made his presentation about asunflower's stem. Teas a breakthrough moment fr kim, Dring the year, the team helped me improve my teaching in other areas beyond cooperative roups. For example, recived specific suggestions on improving my technique with small reading groups. The team also helped me increase my use of open-ended questions and gave specific recommendations about handling a student with discipline problems. ‘The bottom line was that ny students benefited. By becoming a leamer, I hed become a beter teacher. ‘Mare Ost hast and rd grad for seer eors Previous to working in edcaton he worked on consumer and emironmenaptction concn fr national and teratonal organo

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