[00:00:00] Speaker: Hi there. I'm so happy you're here. Your time is precious. And because of that, I want to let you know right away what you'll gain by listening to the very last second of this episode. My conversation with Karrie Fansler highlighted how her responsive coaching cycle is a flexible framework that empowers teachers through choice while keeping student growth at the center of all coaching work.

[00:00:24] Speaker: In this bonus episode, I offer my insights after trying this with both teachers and coaches. I share my strategies for keeping choice and autonomy at the center of your coaching work, documentation that is accessible and collaborative, and maintaining trust and confidentiality with your coaches and teachers.

[00:00:46] Speaker: Stay with me. I'm so happy to have you as a listener today. Let's go! This is Schoolutions: Coaching & Teaching Strategies, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that offers educators and caregivers strategies to try right away and ensure every student receives the inspiration and support they need to thrive.

[00:01:11] Speaker: Since I was a little girl, something that has always kept me moving forward and holding on to hope is that the universe always seems to bring people into my life when I need them most. Whether I think I need them or not. And, um, I often will try to figure out, you know, Why am I meeting this person at this time in my life and what am I supposed to take from the relationship and I think a lot about how I'm always trying to grow and learn and be better.

[00:01:53] Speaker: And not that what I've done in the past as a teacher, as an educator, as a coach wasn't good, but more, how can I. Add an edge to my practice and that's something that the last four or five years of my life, you know, I've had these incredible mentors and friendships forged that have made me better. And that's what I think coaching is all about.

[00:02:24] Speaker: It's not about fixing. It's not about, um, Shaming or going into a teacher's classroom and saying, you know, do this, this, this, because you're not, it's much more, uh, a thought partnership and that's the gift of Karrie Fansler. That's the gift of coaches that want to just grow together. That's the benefit of learning labs.

[00:02:53] Speaker: I'm immersed in two different learning labs at high school this week. And it's been such an amazing learning experience for all involved. And so I think a lot about the universe and looking at growth as positive and most importantly, I would say innovation, because you know, When you have a bunch of minds together in a room, hopefully all of those minds are working together for the good of the universe.

[00:03:23] Speaker: That's what we're doing and, um, trying to always keep students really close to our hearts and ask, you know, what are we doing for kids? A teacher yesterday in one of our sessions said, I've realized over these last few years that this work really isn't about me. It's about kids. And I think that makes Coaching and being coached a lot easier if we always have kids at the center of what we're doing and what we're talking about.

[00:03:53] Speaker: But I also know as an adult, if I don't have choice, if I feel forced to do something, I'm not going to show up with the same level of excitement with the same, um, spark or inspiration, motivation to do what we're doing. The work, because it's hard, um, the amount of planning teachers put into making a 40-minute class period or a whole day at the elementary level, you know, it's hours of planning the world.

[00:04:29] Speaker: If you are not a teacher, you have no concept of the amount of time teachers put into the seamlessness of. The eight to three o'clock or the seven 30 to two 15 school day. It's just so much. And so you've got to feel inspired by the children, by your colleagues to keep putting that time in and our kids deserve it.

[00:04:54] Speaker: So. This is the bonus episode, um, from, or from my conversation with Karrie Fansler and Karrie came into my life not that long ago, but one of my mentors, Sam Bennett sent me an email with a photograph attached and it was very colorful and beautiful. And all she wrote is, As you would say, “This is everything.”

[00:05:21] Speaker: And I do say that. My friends know that, that I am overly positive. I think it's to course correct the universe often, but, um, I, I try to find the good. I really do. And that's what keeps me going. So thank you. I looked at this model, and at first, I thought, Holy cow, eight phases in a coaching cycle. But then just like I do with teachers, just like I do with children, I tried to find my known.

[00:05:52] Speaker: And so, you know, what's familiar, what feels like, Oh, I'm already doing that. Okay. And then what's new and what could be my now? And so then I started to look and say, Oh, well, I'm I know as a coach that I have to meet with a teacher before I plan out a coaching cycle or plan out any interaction. So, you know, what is that?

[00:06:19] Speaker: And I started to chunk the eight phases into five sessions, and that was extraordinarily helpful because three. Of those five sessions, I was already doing as a coach. I was already planning with teachers visiting the classroom based on that plan and implementing that plan together. However, the teacher wanted to and then following up based on student work and planning how we're moving forward.

[00:06:49] Speaker: But it never felt like enough, and Karrie's plan coming in the responsive coaching cycle that she co-created with 36 other district coaches, which is phenomenal. Um, it solved that problem. Um, and so what I've done is please listen to S4E10 if you haven't, because Karrie does such a beautiful job breaking down each of the eight phases of her responsive coaching cycle.

[00:07:18] Speaker: And when I say her, it's, it's her work as a district coach that stands on the shoulders of the 36-colleague team that built it. So what I've done is the, the two phases, the spark, the question that's done for me in one session, that's how I start every coaching cycle. I've realized that's how I start every interaction with teachers I'm serving and supporting.

[00:07:45] Speaker: And then I move on and there's the reality and the refined that I've grouped together. So I'll explain more about how, um, what, what these phases are. If you haven't learned, just so you have a quick understanding. And then I group, um, phase five actually stands alone. And so, phase five is the planning and six and seven go together.

[00:08:03] Speaker: So that's the next time you're in the classroom together. We need so much practice to get something right. And knowing that this responsive cycle offers two visits to the classroom, um, is we're getting deeper into the work that was so helpful for me and for the teachers that I'm a thought partner for.

[00:08:28] Speaker: And then the last phase, again, it stands alone, but it's setting intention. And I'm going to speak a little bit to that as well, because I, um, liken that to a conference with a student of, you know, how do you know when to walk away? How do you know when to end a coaching cycle? And does end mean permanently end?

[00:08:50] Speaker: Does it mean, you know, we're just going to take a few days and then decide how we want to come back. So these are all things I'm wondering. Um, And that I'm playing around with. And I appreciate from the responsive cycle. I want to talk about spark. You know, the cycle starts off with the word spark and the sentence that, um, Karrie has is how do we identify possible sources that spark inquiry?

[00:09:16] Speaker: And so when we're talking about spark, I think a lot about the word choice. In order to feel inspired, people need choice. They've got to have autonomy over what they want to study, what they want to get smarter about. And as Karrie reminded us, it's not always something that is Pollyanna-positive. It's, it can be something that we're worried about.

[00:09:44] Speaker: Denise Goldin-Dubois always says, if something's frustrating to you and your classroom, um, if you're concerned about something, make it a target. And it's so true. So the spark could be a spark of flame. That is something you're really, you're frustrated or you're worried about that you need a thought partner to talk it through with.

[00:10:07] Speaker: And then in that first meeting, you know, I just start taking notes with a teacher and say, what is a spark for you? What is something you would love to study together? And. we try to get that question, that inquiry-based question around, okay, so how do we become intentional? And what I also do not leave that first planning session without is I need to know how as a thought partner, do you want me to show up in your space as a teacher?

[00:10:41] Speaker: Do you want me to model for you? Do you want to co-teach? Do you want to do a little bit of both? Um, Some teachers a couple of weeks ago asked if I would kid watch; there were certain kids that they were concerned with or that they just didn't really know how to move forward. And that's what I did. Um, so it's not a one-size-fits-all, just like for the students in our classrooms; every single teacher deserves to be coached based on what they prefer.

[00:11:12] Speaker: Um, how that period or how that group of kids. Children will best work with two adults in the room or multiple adults in the room. So the spark in question phases of the responsive cycle to me happen in one planning session. The spark, as Karrie said, can also be initially a five minute. Conversation in a hallway that then you just tuck that nugget away when you're meeting with the teacher and then the reality, I call that the calibration.

[00:11:42] Speaker: And so you go into that teacher's classroom and that's, you know, that's the first time. And so you're living with the way that the teacher asked you to, I was kid watching in some classrooms. I was modeling conferences, I was, um, annotating or taking notes while teachers were. conferring with kids, and then would give them those notes and they could see exactly the moves they were making.

[00:12:06] Speaker: Second set of eyes, second brain in the classroom. Um, and again, that refine is how am I documenting what's happening in the classroom that the teacher will be able to access that information, but really use it to move forward and plan. So I want to speak to that because over the last few years, I've played around with how I am documenting my coaching work.

[00:12:31] Speaker: Um, and again, parallel, just like we have to show that every student in our care is growing and learning coaches have to do the same thing for the teachers they're serving and supporting. I, my role is more of a district coach. And so I go into school districts and I am not, the district isn't my home.

[00:12:54] Speaker: It's my temporary home. And, um, but I still have to show growth and sometimes I'm coaching coaches, sometimes I'm coaching teachers, sometimes I'm coaching principals, um, but it's still my responsibility to take notes and document growth. What I've realized, though, is no one likes opening a 10-paragraph email.

[00:13:15] Speaker: Often. That email will get shut right down and not read thoroughly. So this year and last year, I've started to take notes within a Google doc that is only shared with the teacher. And I, it's like a running dialogue going back and forth. And as I'm in the classroom, during that 1st visit and the 2nd visit, um, phase 4 is refined.

[00:13:40] Speaker: Phase 7 is capture. I am taking notes within that doc again. It is only shared between myself and the teacher with edit access. I do not share it with the admin because I feel like. We should be able to be vulnerable and play without worrying about an evaluative sense on the way we're navigating the coaching cycle.

[00:14:03] Speaker: But I've realized that it was so helpful exactly where moves happened or strategies happened to just. Highlight that in the notes and assign it as a comment to the teacher. And for the first time this year, I am having teachers, I'm having coaches respond within minutes of leaving their room to the comments.

[00:14:29] Speaker: Um, because I think it's right there. And instead of another email to open up and another link to click to a doc, You know, how can I, as a coach, reduce the steps for people to have access, um, is to what happened in the classroom and be able to have a running dialogue. I let the teachers know I am not resolving any of the comments in the notes this year.

[00:14:52] Speaker: So that will be, um, an artifact of our growth and work together. It's been amazing. And when we go to that plan, then I do want to leave teachers with a couple of questions. And again, a mentor said to me, you do not ever ask questions that you already know the answer to. And. I was at the dinner table last night and my 12-year-old, he was trying to figure out why I was asking a specific question and it was with earnest.

[00:15:26] Speaker: I looked at him and I said, I don't ask questions that I already know the answer to. And, and he looked at me like, what, but that is something I live and breathe by as a coach. If I am asking a question of a teacher. And I already know the answer. I stop my fingers from typing. I pause my thoughts, and I say no, because that's called passive-aggressive A, um, and B; it's, it's not helpful.

[00:15:56] Speaker: And it doesn't help us get to the why. So I will rephrase in my mind over and over and over until that question is something I really don't know. I'm truly curious about, and then that helps us decide where we want to go next. So within the Google doc, I will, the last comment usually that I leave after that first visit is, You know, it, it's a question that can help us clarify and plan how we're going to move into what Karrie’s responsive cycle calls trial.

[00:16:32] Speaker: And that trial is a second time back in that classroom. Um, it also helps us, you know, really decide what materials do we need to pull research-wise. Do we need other colleagues to join the conversation to be thought partners? Um, you know, are we gonna be in the classroom in a different way and work with different Children?

[00:16:54] Speaker: Are we going to stick with the same Children to see growth over time? So that's been incredibly helpful. And then I have to circle back to the word choice because in some school districts I'm serving, choice means that you choose whether or not you want to be coached at all. Uh, choice also could mean that everyone will be in a coaching cycle, but you are choosing the topic.

[00:17:20] Speaker: You're choosing the focus. You're choosing how long the coaching cycle needs to be. So you feel like your cup is full and then you need to try it by yourself and possibly circle back. Choice is also, you know, if there are numerous district foci that are happening, What are you wanting to grow and learn more about?

[00:17:44] Speaker: So choice depends on where you are in the world, um, and what your school district, how it runs. I am a fan of choice being that if you want to be coached, you're getting coached because I think you get much more investment from teachers. Um, And I think we also make a lot more headway with this work, um, with small group professional learning sessions, one-on-one professional learning sessions, then giant sessions of all of the teachers in a big room together, um, I know some school districts believe that has to happen to deliver, um, like information.

[00:18:26] Speaker: I just think you can do that same thing in small groups. And it often lets more people's voices be heard than, um, a giant room of people altogether. So, you know, you can disagree and that's okay too. With choice comes trust. And as the cycles evolving, it can be within five sessions, five days. Or if you only have three days, you can group these sessions together.

[00:18:55] Speaker: You know, I have, um, in high school, I have done planning spark work in the morning. gotten the question determined, jumped into a classroom that same day is our reality and refine and even planned in the same day as well. So we've moved through phases one through five, all in one day. This responsive cycle is so flexible that, as a coach, you can make it work with any schedule during your day.

[00:19:27] Speaker: And that's why I also really appreciate it. Once you have that plan in place, you have to remember that the planning, all of the planning it's yes, grounded in choice or the teacher spark, but it's also grounded in student work. So during that first classroom visit, the teacher and I have a really keen eye on what are we going to bring back to the planning session to plan how we're moving forward..

[00:19:60] Speaker: How will we know that the students were working toward the learning target? How will we know that we were working toward the teacher target if it's around conferring and assessment? And how are we going to plan for the next classroom visit, which Karrie's cycle calls the trial?

[00:20:12] Speaker: Um, and the question underneath, how do we both hold the inquiry as we enact in the classroom? So, you know, how are we going to move forward with the next visit? this could also be a really nice opportunity if, as a coach, you were doing some side-by-side teaching or co-teaching. The trial could be an opportunity for a teacher to try the strategy or the practice by themselves and get feedback from you.

[00:20:44] Speaker: Um, have you document the work? And then you're seeing again, second set of eyes, second brain, how children are reacting to this practice, um, with their teacher. And I think a lot, let's go to the intention because the intention is that last phase, the eighth phase of carry cycle. For me, it happens in the fifth session.

[00:21:08] Speaker: And I was speaking with coaches last week. We were trying out some coaching labs and a couple of the coaches said, you know, how do I end a cycle? You know, if it is it up to me, is it up to the teacher? And I think it's both. But I often think of. When we're conferring with students in the classroom, I said this earlier, how do we know we have to walk away because, you know, we can't always be there.

[00:21:37] Speaker: Teachers that I've had the gift of working with over the years, you know, we're always wondering. How long should a conference be? And I think part of it is our, our nurturing nature, that idea of the savior complex, we want kids to try on and, and take, take into their own practice, transfer into their own learning, um, what we know they need.

[00:22:03] Speaker: And so it's the same thing for teachers. If we're spending time learning and thinking through, uh, whatever it is, that was a spark for the teacher at the beginning of the cycle, we want to make sure that we're setting them up for success to have that transfer into their practice independently. And that's what the intention is all about.

[00:22:21] Speaker: For me, it's sitting with the teacher after that second classroom visit and saying, you know, what do you need now? Based on our work together to have this become part of your practice, or what do you still not feel like you're ready to jump in and to do this work by yourself? So again, the intention is a completely teacher-by-teacher, um, basis.

[00:22:47] Speaker: And you may go back at what I've been doing actually is I don't always start back with a teacher at the spark if I'm working with someone and they say, Oh, I'd really love one more round of a plan, a trial, and then set an intention. So, okay, so I have to actually circle back and ask Karrie this because I've been sometimes just going back to.

[00:23:16] Speaker: We're setting an intention. We're wrapping up this after this cycle, but let's make a plan now to have another visit and what do you need next? So I've been repeating that five through eight. Um, and that's been really helpful too. It's also helpful if teachers say, I'm ready to give this a go by myself, and I'd love to see you in a few weeks.

[00:23:40] Speaker: And so I want to just pause there and speak to, you know, what's the work is coaches that we can get accomplished over the summer. And what do I think we really need to wait to plan and get on paper for the beginning of the year. So school districts that I'm just beginning serving around coaching initiatives.

[00:24:04] Speaker: I've realized if we start our relationship in September, we're in trouble, even in the summer, it's not soon enough. So school districts that reach out and say, you know, we'd love to have you work with our coaches. I actually have been starting in January, um, for the following school year, because I've realized if I am living by what matters most to me, and that's parallel practice, Everyone involved on the leadership team, including the instructional coaches, needs to practice what we are going to be asking teachers to do, um, far in advance.

[00:24:45] Speaker: So there's a deep understanding of what they're committing to. And then over the summer in these school districts, and even in districts that I've worked with for years, the summer is the time to get a year long calendar out. And. You know, cross off all of the vacation days, all of the weekends and to know, you know, what's the actual amount of time we have real estate wise that we could have coaching cycles running with teachers over the year.

[00:25:15] Speaker: Um, but. It could be that a coaching cycle runs three weeks. It could be a cycle runs six weeks. It could be that it's five sessions and then you're going to move on to another. So I don't think that you can truly map out coaching cycles in advance, far, far in advance. I think you can know the amount of time and kind of chunk time over the year, over the summer, but My suggestion after working with coaches for a while, is that, you know, you kind of revisit it quarterly.

[00:25:50] Speaker: Who am I going to be working with in September, October, who am I going to be running cycles with November, December, and that's when you open up and you put it out there into the universe with your school or with the schools you're working with and teachers can sign up. And so I think that that's a much more helpful way and realistic way to go about that.

[00:26:12] Speaker: Um, and where I want to end this bonus episode is just thinking through the idea of, you know, how do we make sure that when we're setting intentions with the teacher that we're also communicating with the principals, with the administrators about the work we did and so everyone's on the same page without betraying trust or without, um, betraying confidentiality in the coaching cycle.

[00:26:47] Speaker: So the last step for me is a follow-up email to the principal or to the district leadership. And I'm leaning again on the 4Ts. So, who are the teachers that I served, and just the teachers’ names? What were the topics that we studied together and what were the tasks that we tried in the classroom or in our planning to address and learn more about those topics?

[00:27:16] Speaker: And what was the time allotted? How much time did we spend within the responsive cycle? So I share that information with the admin team, the four T's of confidentiality, and that's been really illuminating. It's enough information so that the leadership can have a pulse on, you know, what's going on in the cycles in their building.

[00:27:38] Speaker: It's documenting my work. But each teacher has their own folder that's built. And it's only shared with myself as a coach and them with added access. So I hope this bonus episode has been helpful for you. I'm meeting Karrie Fansler and the other coaches that lift me up on a daily basis has, you know, that's what keeps us going.

[00:28:03] Speaker: I surround myself with people that are really, really passionate about this work. And I'm grateful every day for those people. So, um, I hope this leaves you with some inspiration and some ideas of how you can continue playing around with the responsive cycle. Take care. Schoolutions: Coaching & Teaching Strategies is created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl.

[00:28:28] Speaker: Thank you to my older son, Benjamin, who created the music that's playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Schoolutions wherever you get your podcasts. Or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube. Now, I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email at scholutionspodcast@gmail.com

[00:28:47] Speaker: Let me know how you are responsive to the needs of your learners in your schools and districts. Tune in every Monday for the best research-backed coaching and teaching strategies you can apply right away. To better the lives of the children in your chair. And stay tuned for my bonus episode every Friday, where I'll share how I applied what I learned from guests in schools that week.

[00:29:13] Speaker: See you then.