Saturday, November 23, 2013

Avoiding the Fire Hose!

Recently, I had a discussion with a now-expert teacher about her past experience as a student teaching intern.  She told me about a time when her university supervisor had arrived unannounced.  She said, “The feeling I had when she walked into the room……My heart stopped.  Not that she caught me doing something I shouldn’t be doing.  It wasn’t like I was showing a movie or something and thought, ‘Oh, no, she’ll think I show movies all the time.’  It wasn’t like I was slacking off.  I was doing what I should be doing - teaching.”

This heart-sinking feeling is not uncommon for a teacher when a supervisor walks in.  Charlotte Danielson points out that even tenured teachers may feel, “a tightening of the stomach, a visceral fear, that the supervisor will observe something not to her liking” (Danielson, 2009, p. 2).  How much more troubling, then, is this situation for a student teacher who is a novice and vulnerable in so many ways? 

Probing my now-teacher friend for why she had this strong negative reaction when her university supervisor walked in, it came down to two things: lack of trust and knowing what was coming.  From past experience, she knew that these unplanned pop-ins would mean a lunch-time debrief – during the time she had planned to make needed copies for the afternoon, get materials laid out for small-group activities, and take a much-needed brain break. 

She also tensed up at the thought of the feedback the debrief session would include.  She said the supervisor was, “general with praise and specific with criticism.”  And that is what her recommendations always felt like – criticism, not suggestions.  She said the feedback came like a spraying fire hose, not giving her an opportunity to say much.  And when she did get to talk, she felt there were expected responses – something she was supposed to say, a scripted answer that she didn’t quite know.

Even though this situation involved a university supervisor, there is much that coaches can take from it regarding making recommendations.  Previous posts have described the importance of establishing a trusting relationship and how that might be done; the situation described above underscores its importance.  Another insight from this scenario is that it’s helpful to consider the timing of your recommendations.  When you have important recommendations to make, offer them at a time and in a context where they can be received with thoughtfulness.  The teaching day is packed with need-to-dos; there is no empty time.  Making sure that lengthier conversations are planned for can provide a context more conducive to learning. 

Being specific with both praise and recommendations is another important consideration.  I like to use the “sandwich” technique, making sure recommendations are preceded with and followed by specific praise. 

Another important aspect of making recommendations that this situation points out is the need to limit the number of recommendations given at once.  Avoid the “spraying fire hose” approach!  Although you may see many things that should be changed, the reality is that a teacher can only bring focus to a few things at a time.  Giving multiple recommendations could put her in information overload mode!

Finally, make sure that recommendations are given as part of a two-way conversation.  Danielson points out that “the experience of listening to suggestions….is a completely passive one” (2009, p. 4).  A monologue of recommendations is unlikely to engender change.  Instead, create a dialogue about the pedagogy you’re suggesting.  Recommending as part of a conversation about practice allows important learning to emerge.  Because learning occurs as part of an active intellectual process, inviting your student teacher to weigh in about the recommendations increases the chance that there will be transfer.  Open the conversation to questions about the nuances of what you are suggesting.  Ask her questions to help her think about possibilities. 

By planning the context and timing of your recommendations, serving up praise along with suggestions, limiting the number of recommendations, and opening opportunities for dialogue, your recommendations will be more welcome and effective, and hopefully you can abate heart-stopping, stomach-tightening experiences for the teachers you are working with!


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

This link about the language of recommendations.  It’s written for the world of business, but you can think about how the suggestions might apply to coaching:



This story about supporting student teachers:



Game templates for content review:


A video about using advertisements to teach analysis:

And finally, a three-minute video on the benefits of instructional coaching: (you could ask your principal to show this!)

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