Instructional and Coaching Activities

Overview

This guide describes activities for coaching and teaching dispositions. All activities were used and/or suggested by teacher candidates and teacher educators during the Minnesota Educator Dispositions System (MnEDS) Pilot Year 1 (2015-2016). The purpose of this document is to provide teacher educators with a suite of activities for coaching and teaching dispositions that can be used from admissions to licensure.

Organizing structure

Activities are organized into three categories, based on the general goal a teacher educator hopes to achieve with teacher candidates. Teacher educators are not limited to activities in a certain category and, oftentimes, activities are appropriate for more than one category. The structure is merely a starting point for exploring a variety of activities.

●      Introductory Activities

●      Teaching Activities

●      Coaching & Professional Development Activities

Each activity includes a title and brief description. Many activities work well in conjunction with one another and this is noted in the activity description. Other activities incorporate additional MnEDS resources and, in these cases, the resources are noted in bold text below the activity description. A full list of MnEDS resources referenced in this document, including the MnEDS website, is located at the end of activity descriptions.

Teacher educators are encouraged to adapt activities to fit their teaching and learning contexts. Additionally, activities can be used and revisited by more than one teacher educator in a licensure program.

Introductory Activities

The following activities have been used to introduce teacher candidates, teacher educators, university supervisors, and teachers to the MnEDS dispositions rubrics. These offer your participants the chance to familiarize themselves with the rubrics and ask questions of themselves and others about what each disposition strand supports.

8 Strands in 8 Minutes

Individually or in small groups, teacher candidates move through the disposition strands responding to a focused task. Teacher educators keep time and notify teacher candidates when they should move to the next strand (it should take 1-3 minutes per strand). Repeat until all (or the desired number of) strands have been covered. Possible tasks for this activity include:

●      Write one example of the disposition that you have experienced or observed.

●      Discuss questions you have about the disposition.

●      Rate your level of comfort with or knowledge about the disposition (this could lead into the Self-Assessment activity).

Carousel

Eight sheets of chart paper are posted around the room (one for each disposition strand). Participants rotate through all eight strands, taking a few minutes to respond to a prompt the teacher educator has provided. Effective prompts for generating thinking and discussion in this activity include:

●      Share an example of the disposition from your own experiences or observations.

●      Describe why the disposition is important in teaching and learning.

●      What question do you have about this disposition?

Jigsaw

An individual teacher candidate or small group of teacher candidates become experts on one dispositions strand, then, they share their analysis with the larger group. Teacher educators can build expertise by asking teacher candidates to explore the resources available for each strand, or, find resources of their own. MnEDS™ resources that are useful for this activity include:

Resource:  MnEDS Coaching Questions

Resource:  MnEDS Rubrics

Resource:  MnEDS Thinking Behind the Strands

Resource:  MnEDS Website

Self-Assessment

Once teacher candidates have begun developing foundational knowledge of the eight MnEDS disposition strands, they can complete a self-assessment according to the MnEDS Rubrics.

This offers teacher candidates a chance to interrogate the dispositions rubrics and locate their own teaching within them. We recommend asking teacher candidates to provide evidence to support their self assessment. Evidence can take the form of stories or written work. Additionally, we recommend that teacher candidates have multiple opportunities to self assess over the course of their preparation, as the development of dispositions is a contextually-dependent and non-linear process.

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

Vignette Analysis

Ask teacher candidates to deconstruct a story or problem of practice according to the MnEDS Rubrics. Teacher candidates can locate evidence from the vignette on a specific strand or multiple strands. The vignettes can be used by teacher educators as well (see Role Play).

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

Resource: MnEDS Instructional Vignettes

Teaching Activities

The following activities can be used to embed the teaching and coaching of dispositions within a teacher education course.

Action Plan

Teacher educators can guide teacher candidates in creating an action plan to develop one or more disposition. This can be done in conjunction with the Goal-Setting activity. The action plan should be based on evidence or feedback a teacher candidate has received, describe action steps they will take, articulate how a teacher candidate will know when they have met their goal, and include a timeline for checking progress. This could also work well with the Jigsaw Activity that asks teacher candidates to become experts on a disposition. The knowledge gained during the jigsaw could become part of a growing suite of resources for teacher candidates to reference as they develop and work through their action plans.

Course Assignments

As the development of dispositions is contextually-dependent and non-linear, we leave the ordering of teaching up to the specific teacher preparation program. That said, we recommend teacher educators link course readings and writing assignments to specific MnEDS strands. This enables teacher candidates to focus on a specific disposition strand, such as Assets or Navigation, and to think more deeply on the specifics of their context, their own development, and the research available on this disposition. The MnEDS Coaching Questions could become prompts for course assignments such as:

●      Lesson plan reflections

●      Reflection papers

●      Weekly journals

Resource: MnEDS Coaching Questions

Dispositions Across the Syllabus

We are in the early stages of development with this curricular idea, but already we see teacher educators structuring an entire course around MnEDS strands. Each strand offers opportunities for discussion, written reflection, role play, application, and deep dives into educational research and equity-based teaching practices.

Again, because of the unique organizational structures of different teacher preparation programs and their teacher candidates’ needs, we do not prescribe a specific order by which teacher candidates should examine their dispositions. That said, we have found that teacher candidates are ready to interrogate dispositions strands Assets, Role of Self, and Care early in their teacher preparation journey, and strands focused on Navigation, Imagination and Innovation, and Advocacy are better suited for the portions of the teacher candidate’s preparation when they are embedded in schools. Strands Communication and Collaboration and Intentional Professional Choices seem to be accessible across the entire program.

Disposition of the Week

Explore a focal disposition each week, engaging in activities centered around developing awareness, commitment, and enactment of that disposition. You might consider having students read and discuss background information about the disposition (such as the MnEDS Thinking Behind the Strands), look for the disposition in the practice of mentor or cooperating teachers (see Observations and Modeling), and/or engage in Video Analysis or Vignette Analysis. 

Resource: MnEDS Thinking Behind the Strands

Goal-Setting

Create short-term goals related to one or more disposition. Discuss what progress toward reaching that goal could look like. Consider creating an Action Plan to achieve the goal. 

Identify Multiple Sources of Evidence

Have participants identify two or more sources of evidence for a strand.

Example sources:

Excerpt from course paper                  Social media                Post-observation meeting       

Lesson plan reflection                         Letter to families          Informal conversation

Photo of instruction/classroom            Video of instruction    Email

Link the MnEDS and the edTPA®

We are in the early stages of linking the MnEDS and the edTPA® but have already identified two useful points of convergence for teacher candidate development. First, both the MnEDS and the edTPA® are performance-based assessments which ask teacher candidates to collect and analyze evidence of their practice according to several rubrics. By engaging with the MnEDS for an extended time, teacher candidates will become practiced in articulating how their pedagogical choices affect students. This type of articulation is expected in the Commentary writing in the edTPA®.

Second, the content of the two performance-based assessments is complimentary. For example, the MnEDS Assets strand can be used in conjunction with the edTPA® Rubrics 3 and 7, in which teacher candidates identify how their pedagogical choices are grounded in understandings of student assets (opposed to deficits).

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

Observations and Modeling

Have teacher candidates look for dispositions in their instructor's teaching or in their cooperating teacher's instruction. Provide time and space to debrief and share across contexts.

Peer-Assessment

Teacher educators can guide teacher candidates through assessing a peer’s dispositions according to the MnEDS Rubrics. We recommend asking teacher candidates to provide evidence to support the peer-assessment. Evidence can take the form of classroom interactions, observations, or written work (that a peer has had access to). Additionally, we recommend that teacher candidates engage in peer-assessment multiple times over the course of their program, working with a variety of peers, as the development of dispositions is a contextually-dependent and non-linear process. Teacher candidates might first complete a Self-Assessment in Relation to Peers.

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

Self-Assessment in Relation to Peers

Ask teacher candidates to assess their dispositions according to the MnEDS Rubrics, and in relation to their work with other teacher candidates. This could be followed by the Peer-Assessment activity. Possible prompts include:

What do your dispositions look like with your peers?

How would your peers describe your dispositions for teaching and learning?

How is your self-assessment of your dispositions and your peer’s assessment of your dispositions similar and different?

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

Social Media

Teacher educators can design opportunities for teacher candidates to explore, analyze, or discuss dispositions via social media. Examples include:

            Snapchat (create a dispositions story)             Blog (submit assignments)

            Facebook (create a private group)                   Pinterest (post resources)

            Twitter (choose a weekly hashtag)                 

YouTube (flip instruction, find video examples)

Resource: MnEDS Thinking Behind the Strands

Coaching & Professional Development Activities

These activities are useful for coaching teacher candidates during clinical experiences and for teacher educator professional development.

Coaching Session Analysis

Teacher educators can guide teacher candidates through an analysis of a coaching session. Teacher candidates might read a transcript or watch a video of a coaching session and discuss the interaction according to the MnEDS Rubrics. Possible discussion prompts include:

●      What dispositions are being discussed? How can we tell?

●      How would you evaluate the teacher candidate’s and/or teacher educator’s dispositions according to the MnEDS Rubrics?

●      What is an important takeaway you will apply to the coaching of your dispositions?

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

Coaching Questions

The MnEDS Coaching Questions can start or extend conversation around dispositions. There are eight sets of questions, each corresponding to one of the MnEDS dispositions strands. The questions have been crafted in relation to the conceptualization of dispositions development across four categories: counter-evidence & blindspots, awareness, commitment, and enactment. Teacher educators may use the MnEDS Coaching Questions for a variety of purposes including:

●      Course assignments

●      Pre- or post-observation meetings

●      Self-Assessment

●      Small-group discussion with peers

Resource: MnEDS Coaching Questions

Identifying Evidence Collaboratively

We cannot overemphasize the importance of teacher educators (e.g., supervisors, cooperating teachers, instructors) and teacher candidates collaborating when identifying evidence of dispositions. This collaborative process builds trust and provides opportunities for examining an event from multiple lenses. Together, teacher educators and teacher candidates can work towards building consensus of how to link evidence from practice to the MnEDS Rubrics.

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

Dilemma Case Discussions

1.     Teacher educators read through a dilemma case with a partner. Teacher educators work in pairs to analyze the case using the following prompts:

●      Who is involved in the dilemma?

●      What is the issue exactly?

●      What evidence do you have?

●      What did you observe or hear about?

●      What standards and assessments does it involve?

●      How serious of an issue is this?

●      What action must be taken?

●      Who needs to be involved?

●      What direct action can you take?

●      What are the immediate and long-term implications?

2.     Two pairs combine to form small groups. Groups should examine two different dilemma cases. Then groups should follow the following steps:

●      Share your analyses:

○      As one pair shares, the other pair takes notes.

○      Switch roles.

○      Create a list of critical considerations—this can be anything that catches your attention as particularly:

■      Important

■      New

■      Insightful

■      Problematic

3.     Small groups share 1-2 of their considerations with the large group.

Resource: MnEDS Instructional Vignettes

Discussions

Engage teacher candidates in small-group discussions with their peers and with teacher educators. The MnEDS Coaching Questions provide teacher educators with ideas for how to structure their conversations with teacher candidates.

Resource: MnEDS Coaching Questions

Resource: MnEDS Thinking Behind the Strands

Link the MnEDS and the CEHD Evaluation of Student Teaching

We are in the early stages of linking MnEDS strands with standards in the CEHD Evaluation of Student Teaching (EST) but already see some potential for alignment. For example:

●      The MnEDS Assets strand aligns with standards 3A, 3B, and 3C in the EST.

○      The MnEDS Assets strand is based on the premise that teachers must recognize assets students bring to the classroom (opposed to seeing only deficits or areas for growth). Standard 3 in the EST ask teacher candidates how they use knowledge of students in their planning and instruction. This is an opportunity for teacher educators to explore the types of knowledge teacher candidates have about their students.

■      Guiding question: Does the knowledge include assets?

●      The MnEDS Care strand compliments standard 5C in the EST.

○      Both the MnEDS Care strand and standard 5C in the EST focus on how a teacher demonstrates care for students. Teacher educators can explore how teacher candidates demonstrate care for students.

■      Guiding questions: Which students are cared for? What are the observable actions that indicate care?

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

Role Play

Ask teacher candidates to role play a classroom story or experience from multiple perspectives (e.g., teacher candidate, cooperating teacher, clinical supervisor, P-12 student). Role plays might come from the MnEDS Instructional Vignettes or from teacher educators’ own stories. If the role plays come from the teacher educators’ stories, we recommend a three-step process:

●      Teacher educators journal/write a version in third person point of view about a difficult moment they have encountered with a teacher candidate’s dispositions.

●      Teacher educators work in small groups, reading their stories aloud. The group selects 1-2 stories to focus on for the role play.

●      Teacher educators role play the stories selected, practicing their mentoring and offering collaborative suggestions.

Resource: MnEDS Instructional Vignettes

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

Video Analysis

Ask teacher candidates to analyze a video of instruction according to the MnEDS Rubrics. Teacher candidates should support their analysis with evidence from the video. They could extend the analysis by setting goals or drafting an action plan for that teacher (see Goal Setting and Action Plan).

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

Vignette Analysis

Ask teacher candidates to deconstruct a story/problem of practice according to the MnEDS Rubrics. Teacher candidates can locate evidence from the vignette on a specific strand or multiple strands. The vignettes can be used by teacher educators as well (see Role Play).

Resource: MnEDS Instructional Vignettes

Resource: MnEDS Rubrics

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