Case Study | Kristi Mirich | Elementary Educator
Case Study | Kristi Mirich | Cotsen Mentor for Grades K-5 | Crestwood Street STEAM Magnet Elementary School, Los Angeles, CA | Unified District
Testimonial
“Crestwood called Renee to support teachers in thinking through their personal, professional learning goals in the teaching of literacy. I was so impressed by her endurance. She does so much and she always follows through with it; she’ll come back and she is always constantly working. She just doesn’t stop.
Renee fueled us. Her energy is infectious. She has a genuine love and curiosity about her and really values every single teacher she works with. I admire her connectedness. She has so many real connections and personal relationships. She leverages her network and shares it via videos she’s recorded to help us continue to learn.
She’s the reason you go into teaching—the things she cares about and focuses on is the kids and the joy of learning.”
The Story
Kristi, a 5th grade teacher at Crestwood Street STEAM Magnet Elementary School and Costen Foundation Mentor, long admired Renee’s work as a coach and studied her work while attending Teachers’ College at Columbia University.
Like many educators, Kristi and her colleagues worked together to chip away at the challenges brought on by teaching in a global pandemic. They prioritized centering students in their decisions, and reflected on their core beliefs about the teaching of reading and writing. They worked together to tether their day-to-day teaching to these core beliefs.
Principal Tracy Newallis partnered with Renee to give the teachers of Crestwood new strategies for student-centered learning. By supporting Kristi and the staff in their remote teaching, Renee shared techniques that carry over through in-person instruction as well.
The Challenge
Like many, Kristi’s school had to move classes to online remote learning. While some students thrived in an online environment, for others, being outside of a classroom setting proved difficult for students and teachers alike, making it harder than ever to connect with one another, and the teaching material.
Kristi found herself struggling to feel prepared for this new teaching format but remained steadfast in her goal of teaching differently to impact her students.
“She [Renee] was the first person to say really good teaching is improv. As a new teacher, I have to be really planned and prepared. Good teaching is when you’re in the moment, when you’re hearing what students are saying to you. You really can’t over-prepare because you never know what they will say. As a teacher, you have to be a really good listener because the better listener you are, the better you get to know the students.”
Kristi wanted to work on being present, listening to students in ways that drove her teaching decisions. She was ready to join Renee as a professional study thinking partner to help think through ideas.
The Change
Kristi reframed the way she approaches teaching and planning after Renee’s coaching. Renee empowers teachers to make choices for their classes and puts emphasis on the teacher to drive the coaching process. Kristi and her colleagues chose their professional study goals and what they wanted to study in their practice.
Empowered to achieve those goals, Kristi and Renee studied her teaching style in ways that set up students to experience success. Through this partnered study and reflection, Kristi polished her craft by studying the importance of modeling a step-by-step process of skills and strategies in both reading and writing.
This process, as an approach to teaching, sets students up to rehearse these skills and transfer Kristi’s teaching to their own reading and writing. She learned that while Renee, like many teachers, appreciates improved test scores, “Her focus is the human to human aspect; it’s not solely about data or testing, but rather about connecting with that other person and the rest falls into place.”
Kristi continues to find joy in thinking through ways in which we can connect human to human, with colleagues, students, and caregivers, and how to build on those connections as important elements of a student-centered instruction.
Need a thinking partner?
If you want to see results like Kristi’s at your school, Renee is here to help you read, write, and think your way through with free training exercises and articles to level up your teaching and your parenting game. Plus, get exclusive offers and hear about new releases in publications and events first. Get in touch!
