Coaching with Kid Gloves

The GIR Model is a fluid description of how coaching changes over time. The way we apply it is contextualized and based upon the needs of the teacher we are coaching. Every teacher is different, so as we plan for support, we keep in mind what we have learned along the way about that teacher’s needs.

I was reminded of the importance of keeping these needs in mind as I met with Cindy this week. Cindy is a very hard worker. She is pleasant, loves her job, and wants to do what is best for kids. She wants to be better at what she does. And, quite honestly, she needs to be better at what she does. I’ve noticed, though, that Cindy takes feedback very personally; an insensitively-delivered comment can burst her happiness bubble and set her back for weeks. She can be very hard on herself. Knowing this influences how I use every single move on the GIR model.

Because she needs it, I open every conversation with praise, and I usually close it the same way. But I know praise isn’t going to inspire needed changes, so I often model or recommend. Modeling is well-received, but I have to be careful that Cindy doesn’t put my teaching on a pedestal that is above her reach. I always ask about things she sees in my teaching that could be changed the next time, and if she doesn’t notice them, I point them out myself.

When I make a recommendation to Cindy, I often begin with “I wonder…..” so that she doesn’t feel that her current mode of operation is being criticized. “I wonder what would happen if you introduced fractions using a number line” feels a lot softer than, “You should plan to use a number line when introducing fractions.” The more direct approach is fine for some, but not for Cindy.

When I sense that Cindy is ready for questioning as the dominant coaching move, I tend to use more probing questions. This type of inquiry shows my honest curiosity in the teaching and learning that is going on in her classroom. It also gets me further than the inquiring questions I use frequently with other teachers. Those more open questions, I’ve noticed, often fail to hit their mark with Cindy, I think because she just doesn’t want to put an idea out there and have it be “wrong.”

When I affirm Cindy’s instructional decisions, there is sometimes a clinginess that I don’t feel with other teachers. We say that the difference between affirming and praising is whether the teacher is looking for approval. In Cindy’s case, that is very clearly the case. Just like praising, affirming is a frequent coaching move in my interactions with Cindy.

These realizations came to mind as I planned for my coaching conference with Cindy this week. At the conference, Cindy greeted me with a worry – an email received from a colleague left her concerned that she had done something wrong. She shared the email and we calmed her fears. “Thanks,” she said, “I feel so much better! I’m glad we’re so close.”

I’m glad, too. It hasn’t been easy getting there. With Cindy, the coaching journey is a cautious one. My steps are trepidatious – I have to test the ground before I move. I have to think things through before I say them and measure what the impact might be. With Cindy, I am coaching with kid gloves. For some, the light touch is the best touch.

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

Ideas for efficient end-of-year assessment:

https://leadliteracy.com/articles/102

It’s Dr. Seuss – it’s supposed to be good for you!

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/dr-suess-made-words-bad-kids/

Using Google forms to simplify grading:

http://www.teachingwithsimplicity.com/2015/02/how-google-forms-reduced-my-grading.html

12 Ways Teachers are Using Social Media in Their Classrooms:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/guidebook-social-media-in-classroom-vicki-davis

The art of making a book recommendation:

https://turnandtalkabout.wordpress.com/2015/06/17/have-you-read-the-art-of-recommending-books/

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Going Cold Turkey

Usually, I talk with mentors and coaches about the meandering walk they take among the coaching moves. Although one move is usually dominant at any given point in the coaching cycle, often two or more coaching moves are part of the scaffolding being provided. A recommendation might be followed up with a question that helps the teacher to make a strategy her own, for example. But at times it’s important to intentionally let go – completely – of a coaching move that has held on for too long.

This week I talked with Leslie, a coach who is working with an over-reliant teacher. Marie sought recommendations frequently, even though Leslie felt this teacher was more than ready to go it on her own. Leslie decided it was time to call off the recommending. When the teacher texted and said, “You haven’t given me any recommendations about.....,” Leslie replied simply, “I know.” Marie texted back, “Oh, okay.” And then Marie went about designing the lesson.

When Leslie told me the story, she said, “Marie was just too reliant on me. Even though she could make these instructional decisions on her own, she didn’t have the confidence. I had to let go. No more recommendations. She had to go cold turkey.”

When Leslie checked back in with Marie later in the week, she could actually see Marie’s new confidence. Careful to make no recommendations, Leslie instead coached with questions that gave Marie the chance to examine her own knowledge and experience.

“Going cold turkey” probably isn’t necessary for most teachers. But Leslie’s story is a good reminder that the coaching process should be unique and differentiated to meet the needs of the teacher – just like the instruction for students in their classrooms.

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

Three short videos on teamwork:

http://www.teamworkandleadership.com/2015/07/3-teamwork-videos-your-teams-will-love-and-relate-to-team-activity.html#sthash.zjRycIzz.dpbs

Getting the most from district full-day inservice:

http://www.teachingquality.org/content/blogs/jessica-cuthbertson/all-day%E2%80%99s-work-maximizing-inservice-structure

A video about teaching theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H6GCe7hmmA

Tips for effective classroom discussions:

http://corkboardconnections.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-core-of-effective-discussions.html

I’ve seen a graffiti wall in action – with black paper and colored chalk. Students loved sharing their new learning across multiple academic areas. Read all about it here:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1978

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

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Wrapping Up

As April’s mid-point passes and the final stretch of the school year is in sight, we begin thinking about how we will wrap up the school year. I like that phrase, “wrapping up” because it can bring to mind not just finishing, but packaging, beautifying, and then giving a gift. In a coaching cycle, the “wrapping up” includes plenty of opportunities for teachers to share their own thinking as they demonstrate their growing aptitude with instructional decision-making.

Because coaches are experienced folks with lots of successful ideas, it is easy to make recommendations when meeting with teachers. And often, especially with new strategies or new teachers, that is just the right thing to do. But when we over-rely on this mentoring move, we sometimes rob the teacher we are working with of the opportunity to expand her own thinking and increase the responsibility she is taking for instructional decision-making. It is easy to recommend too long.

This week, I caught myself wanting to make recommendations to Caroline, one of the teachers I’m working with. When I was observing in Caroline’s classroom, I noticed that Caroline was repeating nearly every students’ answer. Immediately, a recommendation sprang to mind: “Don’t repeat student answers.” But I stopped myself. I thought about how much capacity Caroline has shown recently; I thought about her developing self-awareness. I knew she didn’t really need my recommendation. Instead, she needed a nudge to do her own thinking. That nudge could come in the form of a question.

So I thought to myself, “Why do I want to make that recommendation?” I realized it was because, although Caroline was asking thought-provoking questions, the discussion remained a ping-pong conversation between Caroline and one, then another student. I knew Caroline’s students were ready to talk to each other, not just to her. So I asked, “What would have to change so that your students talked more to each other, and less to you, during whole-class discussions?”

Caroline began by mentioning something we’d talked about before – encouraging students to look at each other, rather than at her, when they answered a question. She wondered whether it was time to drop the habit she had of pulling sticks to see who to call on – was that constraining the conversation? I could see that she was mulling over recent class discussions as she talked. Her eyes went to that reflective place in her head as she revisited those conversations. Then suddenly her focus and her posture changed. She sat up straight, looked directly at me with wide eyes, and said, “I need to stop repeating students’ answers.”

Although it was affirming to me to have Caroline come to the recommendation I’d begun with, that wasn’t really the point. The other ideas she’d suggested were equally important for her and her class. And the fact that Caroline had come to these ideas herself gave me confidence that she’d be motivated to put them into practice. She knew what to do. It was in her head. My question simply started her thinking moving in that direction.

As the year begins winding down and we think about how to wrap up effectively, it’s good to reflect on where we are in the GIR cycle with the teachers we’re coaching. If it’s time to increase teachers’ responsibility for instructional decision-making, hold back the recommendation and first ask yourself, “Why do I want to make that recommendation?” This helps us get at the root of the issue and ask questions that support and give direction to teachers’ reflection.

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

3 R’s for PD: Retention, Reflection, and Redistribution of Knowledge:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/21st-century-pd-retention-reflection-redistribution-bob-dillon

Harnessing Twitter for professional learning:

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2015/07/how-twitter-can-power-your-professional-learning

The importance of speaking and listening in students’ learning:

http://www.middleweb.com/24810/unlock-learning-by-improving-oral-fluency/

Thoughts about mandates and guided reading:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1178

A lesson plan to encourage paying it forward:

http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit247/lesson2.html#lesson

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

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Praise and the Pendulum

As educators, we are all too familiar with the pendulum swing – not what happens in a clock, but what happens in our schools as the winds of change blow one direction and then back again. Is it whole language or phonics? Open classrooms or graded? Creativity or scripted lessons?

The role of praise has also been victim of the pendulum swing. My sense is that, with this issue like most others, best practice lies somewhere in the middle. Aristotle, I think, had the right idea when he suggested moderation in all things.

The positive parenting movement of the late 80’s that was supposed to boost self-esteem has given way to warnings about the evils of praise. And those warnings have extended beyond parenting to other interactions, like coaching. We certainly don’t want to create “praise junkies,” but neither do we want to withhold warranted adulation. We don’t want to reduce internal motivation by offering an external motivator. We don’t want our praise to feel manipulative, but neither do we want to pass up the chance to reinforce good things that are happening. It’s a balancing act.

Research suggests that not all praise is useful and not everyone reacts positively to praise. Some who are perfectionists or overly self-critical may not appreciate being praised when they don’t feel their performance was up to snuff.* But many will respond gratefully when you notice and acknowledge their effective efforts. So, as with all coaching decisions, your judgment is necessary to determine whether praise will be well-received.

Do you remember doing pendulum problems during high-school physics class? The exercise was to consider how much the arc of the swing was reduced on each repetition and how many swings it would take before equilibrium was reached and the pendulum came to rest. Hopefully it can be that way with praise, too. By neither avoiding nor overusing praise, we can find that happy place where over-correction isn’t necessary and appropriate praise is used as an effective coaching tool.

* Weissbourd, R. (2009). The parents we mean to be: How well intentioned adults undermine children’s moral and emotional development. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

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

Interesting thoughts about “Writing Your Way to Happiness.” So many implications for coaches, teachers, student, and human beings in general!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/writing-your-way-to-happiness/?_r=0

How classroom jobs build community:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1475

Quotes about Revision:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=278

Tips to consider about divided attention, technology, and note-taking:

http://theconversation.com/whats-the-best-way-to-take-notes-on-your-laptop-or-tablet-43630

Hard is okay: More research about growth-mindset and STEM

http://www.usnews.com/news/stem-solutions/articles/2015/07/10/fostering-a-growth-mindset-is-key-to-teaching-stem

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Like on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch for more coaching and teaching tips!

Baby Steps

When I was a child, my friends and I regularly played the game, “Mother May I?” Although I don’t remember all the rules (they probably changed as we went along!), I know we had to make our way across the room with steps of different sizes. “Mother, may I take two giant steps?” we’d ask the mother designee. “Yes, you may,” was the answer she’d give, and then we’d stride forward. For some reason, we also had to include baby steps in the game, closing the gap little-by-little to reaching our objective.

I’ve been thinking this week about the role of baby steps in coaching. I met with a teacher who truly wants to improve the discussions in her classroom, but she has quite a distance to travel. The change that is needed felt daunting to me, and I sensed that if I shared all the things I’d been thinking about in terms of improving class discussions, the teacher would become overwhelmed. What she needed, I thought, was baby steps to move her in the right direction. So I suggested a very concrete idea -  something to avoid. Somehow working on not doing something seemed far easier than working on doing something.

So, I said, “Do you think you could totally do away with the sentence stem, ‘Who can raise their hand and tell me __________?”

To hand-raise or not to hand-raise wasn’t the issue here. It was posing questions as thinking invitations for everyone that I was going for. This teacher’s habitual question-starter, while aimed at classroom management and think time, was turning students’ brains off as they seemed to reason, “This question doesn’t have to be for me if I don’t raise my hand.” Rather than suggesting that the teacher work on getting all students engaged in the thinking, however, it felt more manageable to nix eight words from the instructional lexicon. It’s easy not to use eight words, right? There are so many others to choose from! Eliminating this phrase was a baby step, and I could tell by the way the teacher’s face lit up that she felt confident she could do it.

There will be many baby steps on our journey to improved classroom discourse. And there may be giant steps, too. But for now, we both feel happy that things are moving in the right direction!

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

Organizing assessment data:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1805

Conditions for high-performing teams:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/cultivating-healthy-teams-schools-elena-aguilar

How to coach for authentic literacy-in-math learning:

http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/blog/literacy-math%E2%80%94without-losing-math

Get students writing about writing!

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/rhetorical-devices-equip

Using doodling as part of taking notes:

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/07/15/making-learning-visible-doodling-helps-memories-stick/

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Like on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch for more coaching and teaching tips!