Appreciation: Spreading the Sunshine

School is out and I am on my dad’s farm. He has been gone for over a year, but of course, his influence remains. I’ve been reflecting on his use of the word, “appreciate.” My dad grew up (and raised us) in a family where love was expressed through actions. In both the family he was raised in and the one he raised, each child felt they were the special one. This despite the fact that the words, “I love you,” were rarely spoken. But there was a substitute which, as I came to reflect on it over the years, meant somehow more. He would often say, “I appreciate you.” This phrase held value about who I was and what I did, and his words were affirming.

You’ve probably heard about the book, The Five Languages of Love. But have you heard about the book by the same author called, The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace? The authors purport that expressing appreciation will reduce toxicity and increase productivity at work. Their studies found that 70% of employees say they receive no praise or recognition at work*, leaving people feeling undervalued.

I recently attended an end-of-year teacher appreciation night put on by a local church. Youth selected a teacher they wanted to recognize for the impact they had had on their lives. The superintendent of our district was invited, and in her comments she remarked how infrequently teachers receive that kind of appreciation; she said she wished every one of the teachers in the district would have that opportunity.

As a coach, you have the chance to spread a little sunshine. If school is out for you, a note in the mail expressing appreciation would be such a welcome surprise! If your school is still in session, that final message in the teachers’ mailboxes can end the year on a positive note. Expressing appreciation is one way to affirm good things that have happened throughout the year.

In the latter part of my dad’s life, he began using the word “love” more frequently. But it felt ever-so-meaningful when he said to me, “I love you and I appreciate you!”

Appreciation spreads the sunshine.

*http://www.appreciationatwork.com/

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

A PD podcast: Do teachers learn differently than their students? (You’ll find a host of other podcasts here as well):

http://www.jackstreet.com/jackstreet/WEDC.Chat5-12-15.cfm

Many of the ideas in this article on mentoring new teachers are important beyond the first year:

http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/EJ/1023-jan2013/EJ1023Give.pdf?roi=echo4-30045556142-60996140-2082c12c70fce12e562a32b0efa00171&

Gradually releasing: A coaching minute on “I do, We do, You do.”

http://www.corwin.com/highimpactinstruction/videos/v3.2.htm

How to create fruitful co-teaching experiences:

http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/blog/fruitful-co-teaching-partnerships

Thoughts on Marie Clay’s words, “What is right about what is wrong?”:

http://assessmentinperspective.com/?p=1986

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Temperature Check

Recently I had a difficult conversation with a student teacher, and there are a few lessons I learned that could be useful in other coaching situations and in life. In my recent situation, the student teacher hadn’t yet developed some important proficiencies. I knew it and she knew it. And talking about it – and our plan for moving forward – wasn’t easy. I found that I was constantly doing a temperature check. Is the conversation productive? Are we both listening? Are we open? Are we thinking together?  The climate felt much more comfortable when I acknowledged the situation, saying, “This is a hard conversation.” Those words instantly deflated the tension. Her shoulders dropped and she was more ready to both talk and listen.

In today’s schools, there are many potential high-pressure situations: discussion of test scores, implementation of new curricula, evaluations and merit pay can all escalate emotional temperatures, and these topics sometimes factor into coaching conversations. When a coaching conversation gets tough, it can help to stop and say so. Pressure is released like letting the air out of tire. You can feel and see the difference.

Another fix-up move when a conversation gets hard is the simple question, “How are you feeling?” The question can serve as a temperature check for both of you. And the process of asking and answering is usually a pressure-releaser.

During tough conversations, keep checking the temperature. Acknowledging and asking about your colleague’s feelings can diffuse a difficult situation.

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

End-of-Year Read-Aloud suggestions on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ChoiceLiteracy

The power of “not yet”: A TedTalk with Carol Dweck:

http://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve#t-5044

Challenging the five-finger rule for picking just-right books:

http://frizzleblog.scholastic.com/post/rethinking-five-finger-rule

A blog post about being a critical friend:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2015/01/14/building-a-culture-of-collaboration/

5 tech tools that support PD (scan to find the tools you’re most interested in reading about):

http://thejournal.com/articles/2015/02/04/5-tech-tools-that-help-personalize-pd.aspx

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

The Power of Discernment

In previous weeks, we’ve considered each phase of the GIR cycle: Modeling, recommending, questioning, affirming, and praising. Each has an important place in an effective coaching cycle. Although generally your coaching will move from most supportive (modeling, recommending) to less supportive (questioning, affirming, praising), the path is not a linear one. I’ve described it as shifting, sinuous, flexible and responsive. So how do you decide which move to use? That is where discernment comes in.

As a coach, you need the ability to see and understand people and situations. Choosing what move to use requires insight and discrimination. Through a combination of careful listening and thoughtful planning, you’ll be able to perceive how best to support the teachers you are working with. Coaches familiar with the GIR model have told me there are some helpful clues to look for when deciding which coaching move to use.

Modeling is helpful when a teacher lacks experience; either the teacher is a novice or is being introduced to a new approach. You’ll have the opportunity to make recommendations when a teacher comes to you with questions, or when you’ve asked a question during planning and the teacher comes up empty. Questioning might initially be used to help a teacher slow down and baby-step her way through the planning process; later the questioning can become more refined, opening up possibilities or probing for specificity. Affirming comes naturally as you see good things happening – which happens throughout the process, but becomes more dominant as the need for other coaching moves drops away. And the shift from affirming to praising is mostly made by the teacher – as she stops looking to you to confirm her practice.

Using the GIR planning form, below, might be a help as you thoughtfully consider the support each teacher needs. Use it as needed to guide you along the flexible path of coaching teacher change.

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

Ending the school year by having students think about next year:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1968

Goals, dreams, end-of-year transitions, and the football field:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1580

Helping students make summer reading plans:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1967

This article about rereading:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=41

Everything you need to have students compare the book and the movie:

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/reel-scoop-comparing-books-46.html?utm_source=Inbox+Issue+-+2015-01-06&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Inbox

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

Be a Hypocrite!

I had an experience this week that reminded me how important it is for coaches and mentors to be transparent about their imperfections: Even though we understand what works instructionally, that doesn’t mean we can do it 100% of the time!

I was talking with a novice teacher about her mentoring experience, and she complained, “My mentor tells me something I shouldn’t do, and then she turns right around and does it herself!” A coach might advise: You should wait until after posing a question to name who will answer. You should allow for reflection and closure before moving on to the next task. You should reprimand privately, not publicly. We know all these statements represent generalizations of best practice, but there will be exceptions, and there will be times when we just can’t pull it off!

In the world of athletics, it’s widely acknowledged that the players will be better than the coach. Do you think Coach Bill Belichick could have made those four touchdowns in Super Bowl 2015? I don’t think so! Athletic coaches have a saying: “It’s a pretty bad coach whose players aren’t better than he is!” Instructional coaching doesn’t require the physical prowess of athletes that may actually decrease with experience, but don’t feel like you have to wait until you can execute perfectly to make a recommendation!

When modeling and recommending, I always add the preface: I’m not perfect. Nobody is. So, we’ll learn together from what works and what doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean I won’t make suggestions based on what I feel should be happening.

When it comes to making recommendations, go ahead – be a hypocrite!

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

Is it time for revision work on those final student projects? Here are ideas for effective writing revision (includes videos and printables):

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/prompting-revision-through-modeling-1183.html

What’s happening with the federal reauthorization of No Child Left Behind? Here’s an update:

http://www.ascd.org/public-policy/esea-reauthorization-updates.aspx

and another view:

http://blogs.ncte.org/index.php/2015/04/esea-reauthorization-and-nctes-recommendations/

End-of-Year ideas:

http://www.lauracandler.com/yearend.php

More End-of-Year ideas:

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=end%20of%20year%20activities

Download this Spotlight on Professional Development and the Common Core:

https://fs24.formsite.com/edweek/images/spotlight-on-professional-development-for-common-core.pdf

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching! 

Good Things Happening

In these days of high-stakes evaluations, some teachers understandably tense up when an administrator walks into their classroom. Unfortunately, there’s often spillover to coaches from this reaction. One of my favorite ways to counter this response is the “Good Things Happening” email.

The “Good Things Happening” email is the coaching version of walk-throughs. On any given day, I choose one or two hallways to visit, spending just a short time in each classroom. I try to be a wall flower (a characteristic I perfected during my junior-high years!). I stay just long enough to see something good. Then I walk into the hall and send myself a quick voice message or email with the teacher’s name as the subject line and the “good thing” noted briefly. After that, I visit the next room and repeat the process. It doesn’t take long to drop by all the classes in a hallway.

When I have a moment to sit down, I turn each of my notes into a brief email and send it to the teacher with the subject line, “Good Things Happening.”

It’s not long before I start getting replies: “You made my day!” “Thanks for noticing!” “Your ability to see something positive happening in the 1-2 minutes you’re in the classroom has been so appreciated!”

My “Good Things Happening” routine takes little time but yields big benefits. Coaches can usually have deep interactions with only a small percentage of the faculty at any given time, but it’s helpful to continue nurturing relationships with the others in an ongoing way. “Good Things Happening” is one of my favorite ways to sustain these important relationships.

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

Conferring about reading:  Getting students out of a reading rut:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=560

Read this description of effective professional development on formative feedback using a book study of Opening Minds (by Peter Johnston, whose thinking has meaningfully impacted my teaching and coaching):

http://www.stenhouse.com/rdMamaroneck.htm?r=n291

A protocol for professional (or classroom) learning that can be used to identify common themes (I’ve used it as a strategy for getting at the big ideas of a topic we are considering):

http://www.nsrfharmony.org/system/files/protocols/affinity_mapping_0.pdf

Find primary source documents for history in your area:

http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2014/12/close-to-home-a-voyage-of-discovery-using-primary-sources/

Using drama to express knowledge of literature:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teach-literature-with-drama?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!