1. 2008-09 Coaching for Math GAINS
Regional Steering Team Working Session
Welcome and introductions – name, position, board
Holiday Inn Select, Toronto
January 27th, 2009

2. Goals Share the 2008-09 Coaching for Math GAINS vision
Develop an understanding of the regional steering team’s role, protocols and monitoring processes
Revise and/or refine emerging Coaching for Math GAINS board proposals through provincial cross-pollination 2

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ice Breaker
Coaching in my board is like:
Revolutionary Road
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Wrestler
Doubt 3

4. Establishing Norms
All ideas will be listened to carefully and responded to respectfully
Everyone will have a voice
All suggestions will be presented with the intent to move the collective forward
Clarifying questions are welcome
Everyone will engage fully in the moment
the right to pass
It is important that we have clarity around the working agreements, or norms, for the next two days and for future meetings. These are the norms that we will be starting with. Feel free to identify any additional norms. 4

5. Coaching
Coaching is:
the art of identifying and developing a person’s strengths.
a partnership between the coach and coachee; plans are developed through [focused] conversation.
seldom a one time event.
A coach works to understand how a practice fits with an individual teacher’s style and then helps that teacher develop his or her own strategies within the parameters of a school [or board] reform effort.
It is important to develop a common understanding of the distinctions between coaching, facilitating, and mentoring.
Differentiated Coaching: A Framework for Helping Teachers Change, Jane Kise (2006) 5

6. Facilitating
The facilitator focuses on effective processes (meeting dynamics) allowing the participants to focus on the content or the substance of their work together.
Facilitation can:
involve many different levels of knowledge and skill
include work on all kinds of problems and challenges
assist the group in fulfilling its desire or
include pushing participants to new levels of understanding.
Facilitation Skills for Math Leaders, Nyren Collaboration and Bob Forester and Associates (2008) 6

7. Mentoring Mentors are typically organizational insiders.
They are typically senior experts supporting novices.
Mentoring is considered voluntary.
Coaching for Math GAINS is not about creating better mentors.
Coaching Leaders to Attain Student Success, New Teacher Center at University of California, Santa Cruz (2006) 7

8. Working Together Facilitating Coaching Mentoring Group goals
1: many
Individual Goals
1: 1
Coaching for Math GAINS is providing more people to have opportunity to work on individual goals, based on research on adult learning, in every board in Ontario. This initiative is intended to shift professional learning from workshops with centrally determined content to one’s where content are determined by needs identified by teachers. In increasing the voice of teachers, there should also be a shift from facilitated sessions to a blend of facilitating and coaching.
The thrust of this initiative is not to increase people’s workload. Boards must consider system needs, readiness of teachers, and capacity for coaches within the system. We can build more capacity by having coaches and coachees working together in a variety of contexts, including a blend of many, working 1:1, and working 1:many. We are expecting to see lots of both facilitating and coaching blended together in precise and personalized manners.
Mentoring 8

9. Taking the Pulse - Senteo Questions
Purpose is to collect data to:
inform the two day agenda
focus opportunities for provincial cross-pollination
assess the needs of coaches
determine the impact of this working session
The agenda is an early draft. The SENTEOs will help inform agenda. 9

10. 2008-09 Coaching for Math GAINS
Taking a Pulse 10

11. Reflecting on the Pulse
Think-Pair-Share
Choose one piece of data that was significant to you and consider the implications of this data for our work together
Whole group share 11

12. Differentiated Discussion & Development
Consider the approaches for Coaching for Math GAINS:
TIPS
Focusing on Important Mathematics
Teaching through the Mathematical Processes
Effective Uses of Interactive Whiteboards
Professional Learning Resources based on the Work of Established Researchers
First Steps in Mathematics / PRIME
The Role of Questions in Differentiating Instruction
You now have an opportunity to drive some of the structure for discussion groups this afternoon. There are ten approaches identified here.
Collaborative Assessment Task Development and Marking
ONAP / Numeracy Nets
Effective Uses of Manipulatives and Technologies 12

13. Differentiated Discussion & Development
Select 1-2 approaches that are reflected in your Coaching for Math GAINS proposal
Record each approach on a colour-coded post-it note with a related question (you may include your name and board)
Post your post-it notes by approach and subgroup by questions, if appropriate
Outside in the hallway are large papers with each of the approaches identified. Find the appropriate page and post your question there – cluster with other like-questions where possible. 13

14. Thank you
Enjoy the break! 14