ROLE PLAY SCENARIOS
SCENARIO 1
This teacher doesn’t see a need for change. She has been teaching for fifteen years and feels she knows how to teach and does not see the need for an instructional coach. She often gives me busy work to do (for example: find a grade level appropriate article for her students) but our time isn’t focused on student learning. She doesn’t seem to be interested in looking at data. She does not see what others see, or experience, in her room and is uninterested in feedback. Everyone at my school is expected to work with a coach, and she’s on my case load, but I don’t know what to do.
She has also said a number of things about how she doesn’t believe in our shift towards the Common Core State Standards and I’m worried she’s going to be resistant to my coaching. A lot of other teachers look up to her and take cues from her. If she’s in a PD session and she doesn’t like it, it’s obvious—and then other teachers start to back up her complaints.
Today I observed her teach a 45 minute lesson on diagraming sentences. When introducing today’s lesson she said, “Diagraming sentences is an important thing to learn if you want to speak English well.” All of her students are English Learners. She once mentioned that she’d like to teach in a district where she didn’t have to deal with so many second language learners, but at that point I didn’t know what to say.
In the lesson I observed today, her students started getting squirmy after 30 minutes (they were all sitting on the rug in front of the white board) and she became increasingly frustrated. She sent several students into the time out chair for “not paying attention.” I don’t know how to coach her!
SCENARIO 2
I just observed the teacher I’ve been working with for 4 months deliver a disaster of a lesson. The class was full of disengaged students and the teacher was really disorganized. Students were reading other books, talking to each other, napping, and doing other homework during class and the teacher didn’t seem to notice.At one point she even asked me if I’d watch the class while she ran to make copies. One of the students said to me, “Can you tell the principal to do something about Ms. X? We’re not learning anything.”
Another issue I saw today was that she was teaching a lesson that isn’t even aligned to the CCSS. I think she knew I’d say something about this because she made a point to come up to me and say that she felt that “these kids really need to learn this material even though it’s not in our curriculum.” She said, “This is the kind of math that they need for the lives they lead. All of that complex math and reasoning isn’t going to be as useful to them given where they’re all headed.” I was taken aback and didn’t know what to say.
I just feel like no matter how I coach her, she just doesn’t “get it.” I have tried everything and I have so many other responsibilities. Nothing I have said or done—modeling lessons, co-teaching, co-planning, taking her to other schools to visit exemplar classrooms, bringing in people from other areas, other coaches, etc.— really helps her. I’m really frustrated and don’t know what to do. I don’t want to give up on anyone, but my time is a resource for the entire school and I have to sometimes move on to other teachers who also need me.
I have to debrief this observation with her and I don’t know what to say.This teacher has been teaching for three years, but this is the first year she’s been at our school. I don’t know what to do!