Coaching for Rigorous Mathematics Instruction
By Nathan Dilworth
ISA's Senior Mathematics Specialist
These types of reflective questions help teachers begin to hear, process, and become conscious of their own beliefs and methods; why they do what they do as math instructors; and be more intentional about what they teach and how they teach it. The ISA coach is also modeling for the teacher how to frame questions that inquire into the thinking of another individual and help that person clarify his own thought processes rather than supplying them with answers. It is this same type of inquiry method that coaches will guide teachers to use with their own students. This initial meeting sets the tone for all future sessions between the teacher and the coach and establishes a pattern for the coach to help the teacher strengthen his own meta-cognitive process for inquiry pedagogy in classroom practice.
Subsequent Coaching Sessions
Subsequent sessions will always include the following:
- The coach observes the teacher and his students in their actual classroom.
- The coach makes detailed notes about what the teacher is doing and what the students are doing. She may even take pictures of student work and facilitate a lesson or part of a lesson to model how to engage students with inquiry.
- The coach and the teacher meet after the class period, and the coach will guide the teacher through an inquiry process about his own classroom practice. The types of questions posed may include: Tell me what you thought about today’s lesson? What did you want your students to think about today? Did they make the connections you planned for? Why or why not? Were the activities you planned inline with the outcomes that you wanted? Is that what they actually did? What did you learn today about your students’ thinking? Did you think there were any misconceptions about this math concept? What might be the source of their confusion?
This pattern of observation, inquiry, analysis, and adjustment then repeats itself as Arcement and the teacher meet during every coaching visit. “Initially,” says Arcement, “most teachers are skeptical about using the inquiry-based approach with their students, but over time the teachers and their students become committed to this type of teaching and learning as the best way to develop the full range of students’ talents and abilities. “The ISA coaching process is so successful because it is relevant, embedded, and we use curricular resources developed by ISA coaches and teachers,” Arcement explains. “The teacher and I are working together to improve daily classroom practice and student results. Everything that we do is authentic and nothing is contrived. It is so rewarding as a coach to see the change that takes place in teachers and students as they engage with mathematics differently.”