Be Sure To

In an online video about improving instruction*, 8^th grade teacher Julie Manley shares a goal-setting strategy she has used with students, the “be sure to.” When Julie has provided examples and is ready for students to launch into a task, she asks them what they want to be sure to do. I liked this agentive approach and have had success in using it with both individual students and with the whole class. “As you work on this assignment, what do you want to be sure to do?” I’ve asked.

The “be sure to” phrase has also become a regular in my coaching conversations. Concluding a discussion about mentor texts, I said, “Thinking back on what we’ve talked about, what do you want to be sure to do?” Similarly, after discussing student motivation with a team of teachers, I asked them what they wanted to be sure to do. I was impressed as we went around the table sharing responses. “I want to be sure to give students choice in the topic they are writing about,” one teacher said. Another replied, “I want to be sure to include collaborative writing experiences.” The “be sure to” phrase seemed to roll naturally from their tongue.

“Be sure to” asks teachers to pull one aspect of the coaching conversation into focus and articulate a specific take-away. Ending with this goal statement can help teachers reflect on what they saw in an observation or what they learned in a discussion and how they’ll apply it specifically in their own practice. Planning for future use helps teachers synthesize and solidify their learning.

I’ve had so much success in using this phrase with teachers that I want to be sure to use it more frequently!

*https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/student-goal-setting

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

This coaching video about using stories in the classroom:

https://studysites.corwin.com/highimpactinstruction/videos/v7.3.htm

What’s the story plot? Your class and school improvement:

http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/blog/your-class-and-school-improvement-plotting-it-out

Scaffolding Reading Workshop:

http://www.readingyear.blogspot.com/2015/08/scaffolding-reading-notebooks.html

How to make an author visit a success:

http://www.slj.com/2015/12/programs/six-things-that-made-my-patrick-ness-author-visit-a-knockout-success/

Are you looking to add new non-fiction texts to your classroom library? This Pinterest Board has some ideas for books with different text structures:

https://www.pinterest.com/tammyandclare/mentor-texts-for-nonfiction-text-structures/

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!