SITE MENTOR HOT TOPICS:
INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION
Expected Outcome: Examine strategies
to conference with new teachers
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What conferences do and do not include
Preparing for the conference
Conference ingredients
Questions that do and don’t work
Classroom decisions and the TPEs
Giving Suggestions
Extending Strategies
Summary
What a conference is (and isn’t)
Is
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Isn’t
A focus on cause and
effect
Looking for what is
working and how to
build on it.
Reflection: seeing a
lesson through other
eyes
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Judgment
Evaluation
Preparing for the conference
Ask what each student is expected to
demonstrate IN THE LESSON (not on the
theme / chapter test.
 Ask what questions you can help answer
after the observation.
 Encourage the candidate to tie
preparation to the Teaching Performance
Expectations.
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Conference Ingredients
Focus
Question:
Right now,
what is the
job of every
learner? The
goal is
perpetual
student
engagement
(TPE 5)
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Provide specific feedback regarding
the cause and effect examples you
observed (what did the teacher do and
what was the resulting student
productivity?)
Answer questions generated in the
pre-conference.
Present one extension idea / discuss
alternatives.
Ask for commitment to try the new idea.
Questions that DO and DON’T work
What Works
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What happened in the
lesson that you HOPED
would happen?
What happened that
you didn’t expect?
Who learned and how
do you know?
What Doesn’t
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How did you feel
about the lesson?
You should have…
If I had been teaching
the lesson, I would…
It would have been
better if you had…
Classroom Decisions and the TPEs
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What was the expected student outcome? Why?
How did every student check for understanding? Why?
What adaptations were made for language learners?
Why?
What accommodations were included for children with
special learning needs? Why?
Where were performance assessments included
throughout the lesson? Why?
Strategies to increase involvement
(TPE 5)
When giving suggestions, refer to student action:
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“When you called Rosa’s name before asking a question,
everyone else was off the hook. How can everyone be
accountable?”
“Tell your partner three uses of a comma…”
“Use your number fan to show where the decimal goes…”
“When you previewed the lesson for your learners with
special needs, you made content accessible to every student
(TPE 4).”
No judgment is challenging!
Why we stay away from judgment:
_it doesn’t teach new strategy.
_it gives the receiver the sense of what
went wrong.
_it increases defensiveness.
_it stops thinking.
Summary – Bringing it together
Cause and Effect
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Think of volleyball: the
teacher initiates the
activity and hands the
ball to the students to
practice.
Right now, what is the
job of the learner?
Extension and Reflection
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Instructional
supervision is built on
what is already
working.
What can be added
to a lesson to make it
most effective for
every learner?