Coaches respond to Characteristics of an Effective Mathematics Classroom

Coach #1 
Reflection on building culture:
The professional note booking sessions I had during the week have made me think about what I can do to help empower the teachers even the more.  I need to remember to give the teachers just a little bit of information at a time to process.  For example, I received tremendous feedback in our small sessions during their planning.  I think the teacher’s received me (coach) better when we are not such a large group like in a faculty meeting.  I am going to try and continue having small group sessions rather than large faculty meetings until we are a little more comfortable with my role.  I will continue my looking at classroom culture but not focusing on all but only on a certain part that the teacher
feels needs improvement.

Coach #2 
Active participation is encouraged and valued.
To me, active engagement is a key factor in learning.  It is a classroom community in which students are active, free to move around, and able to discuss/communicate their ideas with others.  It is a place in which students have input into their goals, are empowered to make decisions, and have the ability to participate in their own assessments.  Active participation plays an important role in making sure students are engaged through relevant, challenging, and interesting learning experiences.  It allows the teacher to become the facilitator while students take on other roles within the classroom such as teacher (where they teach other students), defender (where they present and defend their own work), questioner (where they challenge other student’s strategies), and assessor (where they have opportunities to assess their work as well as the work of their peers).  In my own building, I have seen “snippets” of this in a few classrooms.  In one of my second grade classrooms, the teacher has a “Montessori” like set up each day.  In her room, she values collaboration among students, goal setting by students, and meaningful noise when working.  Students there are often given the responsibility or framework for the day and are allowed to work at their pace and in a sequence of their choosing.  Each time I visit, students are up, moving around the classroom, talking to each other, working together, and problem solving.  It is really amazing to watch. 

There is a climate of respect for students’ ideas, questions and contributions.
As with anyone, students appreciate being valued for their ideas, questions, and contributions.  To me, a climate that indicates that this is happening would have evidence of the following:

• Opportunities in which everyone has the chance to participate equally.
• Situations in which others pay attention and look at the person who is speaking.
• Situations in which others know when and how to take turns speaking in the group.
• Opportunities for others to paraphrase what people have said to let them know they have been heard.
• Avoidance of put-down remarks and actions.
• Respect for each other's right to pass.
• Situations in which others listen for not only what is being said by a person but also what is felt.
• Participation in setting goals for the group
• Situations in which students feel comfortable in saying what they think and feel.
• Respect for people's differences.

I have seen instances of some of these things in classrooms that I have visited.  In one classroom, Mrs. P, I am always amazed by her ability to allow students to be heard.  She has wonderful questioning techniques during her lessons and allows students to answer, pass if they need to, or contribute in non-verbal ways.  Mrs. P. models respect for her students and in turn, they all seem to respect each other when someone is answering questions.  Anytime that I walk into her classroom, no matter what she may be teaching, I always feel comfortable and I can tell that her students do as well.

Interactions reflect collegial working relationships among students.

I think this question goes back to a climate of respect.  If there are collegial working relationships among students, there is certainly respect.  Like the previous question, this would entail modeling by the teacher of respect, situations in which students feel comfortable to share their ideas, and the refusal of disrespectful situations in the classroom.  I feel that it is when a student feels safe that these things are happening; they can interact freely feeling confident in their ability to participate on a level playing field.  I must say that this seems to be what Delmae Elementary School is all about.  In our classrooms, group collaboration is encouraged.  I have been in many classrooms in which the teacher has reminded students of expectations when working with a partner or group.  I have even witnessed modeling of what collaboration should look like as well as what it should not look like.  In one classroom, Mrs. R, a third grade teacher, modeled for her students what she expected on a project that her classroom was going to do on problem solving.  She had students come to the front of the room to show examples of what she wanted to see (courtesy, respect, collaboration) and also what she did not want to see (rude remarks, someone being left out, the group not listening to everyone’s input).  This was a valuable “up front” activity that saved her time in the end when her students began the project and worked brilliantly with each other.

Ginger Baggette
Delmae Elementary School

Coach #3
Active participation is encouraged and valued.

Active participation means that students are involved in exploring math concepts.  They are developing ideas about mathematical concepts through use of manipulatives, writing, and communicating with group members.  Active involvement does not mean that students are merely “doing” what the teacher is directing them to do or answering math problems from the textbook.  When students are actively involved, the teacher has presented them with a problem and they are allowed to solve the problem in a manner that makes sense to them.  The strategies that the students use are accepted and valued by the teacher, even when they differ from the normally accepted strategy.
An example of this was when I was in Mrs. C’s 2nd grade class this week.  The students were using different manipulatives to represent the number 53.  The teacher moved from group to group, listening to the students as they worked and then gave each student time to share what they had done. 

There is a climate of respect for students’ ideas, questions and contributions.

When there is a climate of respect for students’ ideas, questions, and contributions, students feel safe in sharing work that they have created.  Even if the student is sharing an incorrect strategy the teacher allows the student time to share and then helps them with their error without belittling them.  When students question a strategy or idea, the teacher listens and values what the students have to say.  The classroom is a place where there is interaction between the teacher and students, where each values the ideas and opinions of others.  To me, the teacher realizes that she can also learn form the students in this type of classroom. 
I recall a time I was in Mrs. M’s 3rd grade class.  Students were working in pairs using base 10 blocks to model the subtraction process.  They were communicating about the steps involved in regrouping.  As students explained the process to the teacher using their language, the teacher listened without interrupting. She also encouraged students to ask questions of each other.  The students felt very comfortable in sharing their ideas and most listened when classmates were talking.  I could tell that the teacher had been working on creating a feeling of community in the classroom.  There were class posters in the room about class expectations that related to showing respect for others.

Teresa Alexander
Oak Grove Elementary

Adapted from Horizon Research, Inc. Inside the Classroom: Observation and Analytic Protocol