Notes
Coaching Session #5 – Reflection and Commitment to Change in Practice
Coachee: Mika Roark
Date/Time: April 1, 2026 12:30 p.m.
Next Coaching Date/Time: April 15, 2026 12:30 p.m.
Overarching goal with students: I will work with five students that are in a fluency support group by providing supplementary passages and texts that match the topic of the curriculum (for example, space or immigration) to assist students’ knowledge of the vocabulary found in assessment passages about the topic. I will track students’ progress by using their December CBM fluency scores as the baseline. My goal is for each student to improve their score 5% by March 13, 10% by April 17, and 15% by May 15.
Problem of practice goal: Mika is continuing to think about what she wants to set as a goal for problem of practice. One possibility that we discussed is the impact that group size has on student learning, i.e. large group (6-7 students) versus small group (3-4 students). She will identify this layered goal by April 15 and will email me if a decision has been made before then. I suggested that she may want to record anecdotal notes about the differences between larger group and small group instruction. Another possibility would be surveying students to find out their perspectives about larger group versus small group.
Coachee reflections on student progress toward goal: Last week was state testing, which we took at four tests over the course of four consecutive days. Because of this, the majority of the remaining time for the week was light. We met briefly and reviewed/read passages we had previously used but did not use any new passages. I also did not do a fluency check on FastBridge. Group is back to normal this week and progress monitoring will resume on Thursday.
Coach reflections on student progress toward goal and coaching session: Mika has added two students to the fluency support group bringing the number of students to 7. She acknowledged that the group is too large even though all of the students need the level of support provided. Throughout a week, she breaks up the group into smaller groups and meets with them separately. The students that have been added to the group will not be included in the data she is reporting because it would impact on the results already reported.
Mika did note that all the students in the current fluency group have passed their phonics skills.
We discussed the passages that Mika is currently using for progress monitoring. I suggested seeing if she can locate Scholastic 3-Minute Assessments to have a “bank” of fluency assessments she can use with her students.
Questions to consider:
What worked? The students are receiving intense fluency work during the small group. Mika continues to use the visuals which have worked with these students. These students have knowledge about fluency that they can demonstrate during whole group instruction which is empowering to them.
What didn’t work? The size of the group is challenging; however, the students are still making progress. Some of the students are still robotic readers and are still needing the support of the small group.
What accounts for the difference? Working on fluency using small group instruction.
What is next? Splitting the large group several times a week. This will be important in order to maintain current progress with fluency skills.
Would you have done anything differently? Keeping the group small is important. The added students do need the fluency support, however.
What was most or least valuable? What was most valuable was consistency within the instruction during small group and continuing to focus on the elements of fluency. The components during the lesson are examined every session so it has become a routine for the students.
What is a problem of practice that you want to work on while continuing to work on your goal with your student(s)? Mika will continue to mull this over, and we will identify the layered goal next session on April 15.
I would like to see if the use of individual fluency component checks with students impact their fluency score on their spring FastBridge CBM.
Thinking back to the Schutz and Hoffman article, what is something you want to practice in your teaching? We will discuss this in a future session.
Working on Next Steps
Work on identifying your goal for problem of practice by the next coaching session.
Keep working on steps toward goal with your identified students that you want to meet by mid-April.
You can create a video if you like, but that is no longer required.