Notes
Beth Pope and I met for her second coaching session on Monday, February 2, at 11:30 AM. We are in the examine influence phase of the Vector model, and we spent a considerable amount of time discussing ideas for her inquiry focus.
Beth indicated that there are about 4 students in her classroom who do not qualify for any special assistance, whether it be Special Education, Title One, or specific intervention groups. Yet, these 4 students are below average in their ability to comprehend text. She calls them her “bubble kids.” Beth would like to spend more time with these students and implement strategies to improve their comprehension.
We discussed comprehension strategies, particularly background knowledge and vocabulary. Beth indicated that vocabulary instruction is not isolated, but aligns with content instruction. She indicated that she is not sure whether these 4 students are having difficulty with comprehension because they don’t know what the words mean, or if they can’t make a connection with the word. We reviewed ways that she is currently providing explicit vocabulary instruction and the Frayer model was discussed. She will consult a vocabulary curriculum that they used to teach for more vocabulary ideas.
We discussed tools that she might use to assess formatively and summatively to determine if any intervention she might do makes a difference. They have already completed the CBM for this unit/standard, but we discussed the possibility of still using that as baseline and possibly creating a summative assessment to determine effectiveness.
As always, time will be a factor in implementing. She currently has a period that she uses as “catch-up” for science and social studies instruction, but she will use that time to work with these 4 students as often as possible.
At our next meeting we will finalize the specific goal.