On Target

In every classroom, there’s a student who needs support in staying focused.  It’s the student who could potentially have great answers if only he stayed engaged in the conversation.  To help such a student establish a pattern of participation, I would sometimes have a whispered conversation with him before group discussion.  I’d let him know that I had a question in mind that I was going to be asking him later on because I knew he’d give an answer that would benefit the whole class.  Then I’d tell him the question.  That conversation honored the student’s ability, gave him a purpose for paying attention, and provided a focus for his thinking.  It usually paid off with meaningful participation in the discussion, and it helped to establish an important habit of the mind.

Similarly, providing a focus to the teacher you are coaching can pay off as you model new approaches.  Because teachers are busy people, the teacher you are working with may feel inclined to multi-task while you are modeling instruction in her classroom.  But that multi-tasking means that your modeling is not as effective as it could be.  It is really hard to focus on observing while doing something else at the same time.  Selecting a specific focus for a teacher to watch for during modeling provides a target for her attention.  We honor the teacher’s expertise when we honestly say, “I’m really interested to see what you notice about this.”  Yesterday, I was talking with an experienced coach who said her modeling became more effective when she gave the teacher she was working with something specific to watch for.  “When I could tell her something specific,” she said, “it was like she had that purpose.  She knew to watch for that.  It was that accountability.”  She said it was “like we tell the kids – ‘I’m going to call on you in a minute and I want you to have something to say.”

Ensuring that there is a specific focus when we model enriches the post-modeling conversation.  When the teacher can refer to notes she’s taken while observing, she is a more active participant in the conversation.  It turns the tables on the coaching conversation in a positive way, with the teacher often taking the lead to bring up things she’s noticed.  I love it when the teacher is the one doing most of the talking!  I’ve learned that, just like in the classroom, the one doing the most talking is the one doing the most learning!

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

A blog about infusing wonder into the curriculum.  Lots of great ideas inspired by the quote:  ““I’m more interested in arousing enthusiasm in kids than in teaching the facts. The facts may change, but that enthusiasm for exploring the world will remain with them the rest of their lives.”  Read more at:

http://blog.stenhouse.com/archives/2013/12/03/infusing-wonder-into-nonfiction-reading-and-writing/

Quick, while it’s still January – take a look at these ideas for setting reading resolutions:

http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/experience/articles/2013/feb/turn_a_reading_slump_into_a_reading_surge.asp

And, continuing in the spirit of resolutions, a reflection tool that can be adapted for use with students or teachers to help them think about their year and their own learning:

http://www.bgsu.edu/downloads/provost/file96971.pdf

This podcast about tech tools for our youngest learners:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1039

A video about using “hint cards.”  Students decide when they need scaffolding and get it for themselves (the example is a math classroom, but this idea could be adapted for any content):

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/hint-cards?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest

That’s it for this week.  Happy coaching! 

Step by Step

This week I’ve been thinking about the gradual in the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model.  The GIR model illustrates a sequence of mentoring moves that is helpful for teachers who are novices – or those who are being asked to do new things.  When you begin working with a teacher, modeling is a good place to start.  Seeing you in action gives her a visual for teaching strategies she may later try herself.  This modeling phase continues until the teacher is ready to try something new on her own – with your support.  Together, you’ll discuss the instructional plan, and your recommendations will play an important role.  Making recommendations, the second phase of the GIR model, provides less support than modeling, but is strong scaffolding to assure that students receive cogent instruction.  As the teacher you’re working with increases in experience with new strategies, you should plan to pull back and provide support that is more ancillary.  By asking questions that encourage the teacher to reflect on her own instruction and the needs of students, you give her more responsibility for pedagogical decisions about the new approach.  Asking questions, the third phase of the GIR model, encourages metacognition and contemplation about teaching and learning, building the teacher’s capacity as a reflective practitioner.  As the teacher you are working with internalizes this stance, she’ll routinely ask herself the kinds of questions you have been asking.  This inquiring attitude is characteristic of a life-long learner – someone who will continue to grow in her professional abilities. 

At this point in a mentoring relationship, the teacher you are working with will need less and less from you.  Because of the relationship you’ve developed and her respect for your experience, she may still look to you for affirmation that the decisions she is making are appropriate.  When you reach Affirming, the fourth stage of the GIR model, you’ll know that your mentee is on solid ground with the new instructional approach, and your job as a coach shifts.  Praise, the coaching move for the final phase of the Gradual Increase of Responsibility model, is a form of feedback that you might provide to any colleague.  When you see something good happening, say so!  Although at this stage your intern is more confident and not necessarily feeling a need for your approval, she’ll still appreciate having the hard work she is doing recognized. 

How you move through the five phases of the GIR model will, of course, be idiosyncratic.  You’ll advance from one stage to the next when you have evidence that the teacher you are working with needs less support than what you have been providing.  It’s a gradual process – thus the name of the model.  You provide support that is successively scaled back, while the teacher shoulders progressively more responsibility for instructional success.  It’s a line-by-line, step-by-step process.

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

Tips for overcoming immunity to change (for yourself and the teachers you work with:

http://www.extension.harvard.edu/hub/blog/extension-blog/goal-setting-tips-overcoming-your-immunity-change

Grant Wiggins (UBD) blog post about why just posting objectives is a waste of time (just to get you thinking!):

http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2013/12/05/mandating-the-daily-posting-of-objectives-and-other-dumb-ideas/

This podcast about the best assessments for students (with Linda Darling-Hammond):

http://www.npr.org/2013/12/26/257255808/future-series-examining-education

Education Week’s “Spotlight on the Changing State of Assessments” is a free download that contains 7 articles on a variety of topics related to formative and summative assessments:

https://fs24.formsite.com/edweek/images/spotlight-the-changing-state-of-assessment-sponsored.pdf

A video about learning through drama:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/explorers-lesson-plans?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest

That’s all for this week – happy coaching!

Celebrating National Mentor Month

Happy 2014!  January is National Mentor Month, so it’s time to celebrate the work you do!  As a coach, your role is frequently that of consigliere: a trusted advisor and counselor.  A consigliere gets you going when you don’t know where to start.  She gives you a boost when you’re ready to climb.  You can be that guru for getting it done!

One of the reasons coaches are valuable is because we offer outside perspective.  That point of view, which gets teachers beyond the thinking in their own heads, is critical, especially when they are besieged with new initiatives and the everyday life of having 25-or-more little bodies in their charge.  Psychologist Michael Woodward  points out that without honest and informed feedback it’s easy to “get wrapped up in your self-talk and for beliefs to get in the way.”*

Having a mentor with whom thoughts can be openly shared can help a teacher to uncover strategies and ideas she may never have considered.  People benefit from a fair and knowledgeable sounding board, and research suggests that the coach benefits, too – there’s even something in it for you!

It’s a way to be reminded of the journey you’ve taken and a way to give back.  Coaching can be a calling to help people achieve their dreams, a way of honoring the profession that you care so deeply about.  It’s a chance to show gratitude for the privilege you’ve had of going to work every day to a job you care about, where you know you are making a difference in people’s lives.  It was true when you were teaching young students, and it’s true today as you support their teachers. 

But there’s more to it than fulfilling a professional obligation:  Sharing your hard-earned wisdom is a good way to get perspective.  And it’s also a way to learn.  When you are mentoring, you are also learning from the teachers you are working with – it’s a trade.  Being in a symbiotic relationship with a knowledgeable colleague is a way to keep a good thing going. 

Unfortunately, some experts suggest that informal mentoring is on the decline, due in part to the increase of a competitive atmosphere.**  That makes your job as an official mentor even more important.  Although teachers can get valuable feedback from the principal, it’s important to have someone who can give an off-the-record perspective.  A mentor can help teachers assess whether their routine is on a roll or in a rut.  Being open, honest, and direct is the best policy.  There is value in the relationships you’ve created when teachers are willing to hear your feedback and do something with it. 

So take a moment to celebrate yourself during National Mentor Month.  Thank you for all you do!

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

A series of articles in this “Spotlight on Coaching” from Education Week:

https://fs24.formsite.com/edweek/images/spotlight-on-instructional-coaching-sponsored.pdf

An interesting video about developing student responsibility by offering them choices – this time about seating arrangements:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/unique-student-seating-strategy?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest

A large collection of online math games for K-12:

http://www.graphite.org/

A blog that tells you about educreations, which is a great app for classroom use:

http://litlifeblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/30/app-breakdown-educreations/

An article with ideas for using Twitter in the classroom:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2013/06/20/twitter-in-the-classroom/

That’s all for this week – Happy Coaching!

*Smits, J.C. (2014).  Guidance counselors: both sides benefit from a top-flight mentor relationship.  Spirit, January 2014, 58, 62-66. 

**Webb, M. & Adler, C. (2013).  Rebooting work: Transform how you work in the age of entrepreneurship.  Hoboken, NJ, Wiley.