Letting Go

I have an adorable little grandson……don’t you agree?  Indulge me for a moment, there really is a purpose to mentioning him in the blog!  The last time he came to visit, Jude was just figuring out how to walk.  So of course he led me around the house, holding tightly to my index finger.  I was happy to provide all the support he needed.  Holding onto my finger, he could toddle anywhere he wanted to go – over to see the puppies, to the toy box, across the room to look out the window.  As long as he had my finger, he was in his comfort zone.  But the minute my finger slipped away, he quickly sat down on his diaper, not having the confidence to take another step.

Sometimes our coaching is like that.  We provide so much support that our teachers are dependent upon us.  Take away the support, and their new-found skills disappear.  Then the teacher is right back where she was at the beginning of the coaching cycle – crawling, as it were, when she was almost ready to walk alone.  What could we have done differently?  That is what the Gradual Increase of Responsibility model is all about – the letting go. 

On the last day of my grandson’s visit, we were all so hoping that he would take his first unassisted steps.  We were sitting on the carpeted floor not long before leaving for the airport.  My husband had our grandson on his lap.  He picked him up, set him squarely on his feet and let go – and the baby took five running steps, unassisted, and then landed in his mother’s open arms.  He had done it!  He had walked!  What made the difference?  Instead of offering the same assistance we had been providing day in and day out, my husband recognized what our grandson needed – a firm foundation – and then sent him on his way.

Similarly, after we have done all the hand-holding that is needed, we can remind teachers of what they know and then let go.  They may wobble a bit, but that is what it takes to learn.  Coaches adapt the scaffolding they provide based on the experiences and needs of their teachers.  By doing so, they respond to the dynamic nature of a teacher’s zone of proximal development (ZPD).  The concept of the ZPD is to provide just enough support so that the learner is stretched to do something she previously could not.  Coaches leverage teachers’ abilities by providing progressive scaffolding – just enough support to match teachers’ escalating zones of proximal development.  In the GIR model, this flexible support is represented by the squiggly line, a reminder that the path toward interdependence may be a meandering one, and that the coach should consistently assess and address teachers’ changing needs.  A little modeling, a little recommending, some questions mixed in, and praise and affirmation along the way.  It’s not about using just one type of coaching move at a time, but rather finding the right balance, and shifting that balance, so that the teacher moves forward and can stand on her own two feet with an increased instructional repertoire and enough confidence so that she will continue to use it once your steadying hand is gone.
 

As the school year winds down and you think about honing your own craft over the summer, you might want to take a look at:

The coach in this video confirms and collaborates.  Take a look at the great interdisciplinary lesson that results to teach first graders about light:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/science-lesson-on-light

For more ideas with a science twist, check out this video about teaching science vocabulary:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/strategy-to-build-student-vocabulary?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest

 

For those of you who still have a little time left in the school year, check out these ideas to prepare students for summer reading:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=294

 

This one will make you smile – a video about high-school students using online media to share the smiles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2InkWRc1zww

That’s it for this week.  Happy coaching – or happy start to the summer break! 

 

 

 

The Value of a Respectful Stance

Several years ago, I read a short article about observing in teachers’ classrooms.  What has stuck with me, as it applies to coaching, is this:

Respect and understanding are always intertwined.  

The question I always ask myself is, "What is the logic behind this teaching?"  When we respect the teacher, everything will eventually make sense. That is an important idea to keep in mind as we consider the stance and attitude we will have as we work with teachers.  Our job is not to criticize, but to work to understand the teacher's logic, finding out what has happened previously, as well as what is planned for the future.  Start with the stance that the teacher is brilliant and everything they are doing makes sense, even if it isn't what you would do in the same situation.

It's amazing to see how conversations and perspectives unfold when you start with a respectful stance.  Because the teachers we work with have thought about their students and their curriculum with such care over long periods of time, their plans are deep and thoughtful.  There is logic in all teachers do, and we can see it if we begin with respect and take the time to understand their choices.

When using the GIR coaching model, we acknowledge the funds of knowledge* that teachers bring to any learning situation.  The coaching path (shown in the GIR model by the curving line) depicts teachers’ previous knowledge and experience by starting above the “0-0” position on the axis.  The model also illustrates the belief that teachers will continue to learn and grow in their profession by having the line end below the upper corner.  As we respect teachers’ logic and where they are now in their thinking, our coaching evolves so that it aligns with teachers’ changing needs.  That is the value of taking a respectful stance.

* Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, D. & Gonzalez, N. (2001). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-141.

This week, you might want to take a look at:

Get the Math, a site that has videos showing how math is used in careers like video game design, fashion, sports, and music (great for answering the question, “When will I ever use this?” for students young and old).  There are also interactive challenges full of algebraic reasoning for older students.  Find it at:

http://www.thirteen.org/get-the-math/

Math + Reading = Fun 

http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/podcast-episodes/math-reading-30806.html

Integrating Math + Literacy:  Going on a Shape Hunt

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/going-shape-hunt-integrating-776.html?tab=4#tabs

For those of you who still have time left in the school year, check out these ideas for the last weeks of school:

http://www.middleweb.com/7320/ideas-the-last-weeks-of-school/

Ideas for ending the school year strong from The New York Times: (specifically targeting English Language Learners, but good for everyone!)

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/ideas-for-english-language-learners-celebrating-the-end-of-the-school-year/

That's all for this week.  Happy Coaching!

 

The Never-Ending Coaching Cycle

Anyone remember the movie, “The Never-Ending Story?”  It is a flick about a young boy named Bastian who becomes so engaged in the mysterious book he is reading that he soon becomes a character in the story, joining a magical world called Fantasia.  The story that links the two worlds is a story that never ends because there is always something new to be explored, a new tale to be told.  Similar to the boy in this movie, sometimes coaches feel caught up in a never-ending coaching cycle; there truly is always something new to be explored, and a teacher may seem reluctant to give up the support of the coach.  But coaching cycles are not meant to be never-ending!  If you feel stuck in a coaching cycle, consider how you might draw the teacher into a more collaborative role as you work together, bringing the coaching cycle to a conclusion that leads to an ongoing mutual relationship.

This week, I had the chance to talk with coaches who were coming to the end of their coaching cycles.  They talked about the changes they had seen in the teachers they were working with, and they talked about the changes they had noticed in the coaching they were doing.  The coaching practices they had used near the beginning of the cycle (modeling and recommending) involved a consulting stance.  But later in their coaching cycles, there was a more collaborative relationship between coaches and teachers.  When questioning, affirming, and praising, coaches regarded the teachers they were working with as colleagues and partners in the instructional experience.  One coach talked about the increased confidence she saw in a teacher she was working with as they planned together for writing instruction: “She had an idea and she just jumped right in and shared it and I loved it because she felt comfortable to do that!” the coach said.  This comment reflects the teacher’s feeling at the end of the coaching cycle that she and her coach were collaborators in defining her students’ needs and held equally valuable perspectives.  Such increased confidence is a hallmark of a successful coaching cycle.

 Although collaboration plays a role throughout the coaching process, the nature of coaching interactions shifts as teachers gain experience.  One hoped-for result of coaching is that teachers have an increased recognition of the value of collaboration.  Working collaboratively with the coach can increase teachers’ desire to work collaboratively with other colleagues.  An effective extension to a one-on-one coaching cycle is to expand and include opportunities to work with others, encouraging teachers to develop collaborative relationships.  In addition to working with their grade-level colleagues, coaches can coordinate opportunities for vertical teams to work together on topics of shared interest.  After working in such a group, one of the teachers in the group said, “I liked when our group got together, because then you’d have more people’s opinions.”   Staff meetings or trainings that include opportunities for teachers to have collegial conversations and build on one another’s ideas also encourage and sustain a collaborative culture.  Such opportunities for collaboration can foster an ongoing approach to co-construction of knowledge and teacher practice.  

Rather than moving toward independence, the GIR coaching model can be used to strengthen teachers as they move toward collaboration and interdependence.  By following the pattern of modeling, making recommendations, asking questions, providing affirmations, and giving praise, coaches help teachers apply new learning and move them toward collaborative interdependence.  Moving toward collaboration can be the key to breaking a never-ending coaching cycle! 

 

This week, you might want to take a look at tools to support science instruction and other content learning:

Breaking down difficult concepts can aid student understanding.  See how in this video clip:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-difficult-lessons

“Wonderopolis” is a website that poses an intriguing question each day to spark new paths of wonder and discovery.  It is great non-fiction reading that includes strong vocabulary, interesting facts, and videos that support the daily "wonder”:

http://wonderopolis.org/

 

Some great 5 min. video clips about nature with accompanying lesson plans:

http://www.natureworkseverywhere.org/video-tour

Free resources for STEM and more (sorted by content and grade level):

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/index.cfm?campaign=flyout_teachers

STEM Lesson plans and game from the Navy:

http://www.navystemfortheclassroom.com/

 

That's all for this week - happy coaching!

Interdepence: Reaching Together

"The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we're alone.” 

                                                                           Mitch Albom
 
If you’ve been using the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model as a visual to support your coaching, you may have noticed that the final outcome is interdependence and collaboration.  I’ve been thinking a lot about what that means at the end of a coaching cycle.  Interdependence denotes a connection and a reciprocal relationship – a relationship where people are reliant on and responsible to each other.  There is mutual dependence.  What is it you depend on teachers for? 

Do you depend on them to bring their deep knowledge of students to the table when you meet – that understanding that comes from kid-watching day after day?  Do you depend on them to bring ideas that you will consider together – ideas that may even push back on your own at times?  Do you depend on them to bring their problem-solving skills so that you can come to solutions that neither of you could have figured out independently?  As I work with teachers who have become my collaborators – my co-laborers – these are some of the things I have come to expect and look forward to. 

The constructive interdependence that we experience at the end of a coaching cycle is a relationship where both coach and teacher offer valuable perspectives.  Interdependence increases as teachers rely less on the coach and engage more in shared dialogue with both the coach and other teachers.  Interdependent colleagues accept ideas from others and bring insight to their interactions.  This notion of constructing meaning as a shared enterprise is central to a socio-cultural stance for learning.  Coaching embodies the role of social interaction in instructional improvement.  Mutual respect that has been built over the course of a coaching cycle pays rich dividends as you work together with colleagues on the complex issues that we face today as educators.  The insight and power that we gain from working together is one of the enduring assets of a successful coaching cycle.
 

                         

This week, you might want to take a look at:

Myth Busters!  18 Myths about education:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/06/eighteen-myths-about-education/

And some thoughts at the conclusion of Teacher Appreciation Week:

Why Teachers are Important:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-NiKaN1wwg

More for teacher appreciation week (you're still a teacher, too!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwsKWiXlA78

And one more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL_BkC2YxBk&list=PL194033CB52B0F857

 

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

 

 

Swan Song

It’s the time of year when you may be wrapping up many of the coaching cycles that have recently kept you busy.  You’ve been working closely with teachers – one-on-one or in PLCs.  You’ve been working together on new teaching practices, and at this point teachers have made these practices their own.  It is time for your swan song – that last refrain in the coaching cycle, the finale that shows teachers you have full confidence in their new-found abilities.  Of course you’ll continue working with these teachers as colleagues and collaborators, and you may even begin new coaching cycles with them, working on new skills.  But now is the time for you and for them to recognize the benefits that have been hard-won, to bask in the glow of a job well done. 

Praise can be the beneficial finale to the coaching cycle.  In fact, when you see that praising is your dominant coaching move, that is your cue to drop the curtain on the coaching cycle.  Specific, personalized praise is an authentic coaching response when teachers are making sound instructional decisions.  Coaches can provide praise that applauds knowledge, commends practice, and acknowledges teachers’ effective instructional decision-making.  Praising teachers confirms the non-threatening role of a coach.  This acknowledgment bolsters confidence and contributes to the teacher’s future development. 

Offering warranted praise helps teachers see themselves as competent instructors.  When coaches offer praise to their teaching colleagues, they acknowledge that the teachers have successfully taken on the responsibility of providing instruction tailored to meet the unique needs of their students.  The goal for coaches is to work themselves out of a job – at least with that particular teacher or team on that particular skill.  But don’t worry: even if effusive praise is signaling that you’ve reached the end of a coaching cycle, there will always be new teachers or new practices to be worked on.  Educators have the goal of continuous improvement, meaning that this swan song will surely not be your last!

This week, you might want to take a look at resources for reading and end-of-the-year projects:

A video with Patrick Allen and his students using comprehension strategies with non-fiction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va9UWr7Y6rg

Read alouds of Mem Fox’s books – by the author herself!

http://www.memfox.com/mem-reads-aloud#

 

A video about using stickies (my favorite!) to prepare for text discussions:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/enhance-student-note-taking?fd=1

End-of-Year Projects (ideas to pass on to teachers now!):

http://christine-readingisthinking.blogspot.com/2011/07/end-of-year-projects.html

http://k6educators.about.com/od/junelessonplans/a/Wrap-Up-The-End-Of-The-School-Year-With-Fun-Projects.htm

http://www.teachingheart.net/endoftheyearpage.html

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!