My Coaches' Couch: Noticing Change

Our brains filter information as a matter of survival. Think of all the data our senses are feeding our brain in one minute! So much to see, hear, and feel! To avoid information overload, our brains select what to pay attention to. That is a good thing. However, it can also make us blind to change. If, as coaches and teachers, we want to become more aware of change (and whether or not it is happening), we need two thing: reference points and a reason to look.*

Reference points for change are baseline data. What did it used to be like? A phrase my oldest son uses to talk about times past comes to mind: “Back in the day…..” So, back in the day before I had the habit of seting a clear purpose for each activity, what was student response like? We can count on our memories or, better yet, we can collect data on students’ responses to answer this question for ourselves or for the teacher we coach. Past experience and record-keeping provide a reference point for recognizing change.

Having a reason to look makes specific information relevant for our brains. We notice change when we have a reason to compare our reference point with our present reality. Regularly scheduled meetings, such as a PLC, give us a reason to look if there’s an expectation that we will return and report.

I had a reason to look this week when I was talking with colleagues about the importance of setting a purpose for each activity. I thought about the differences I had noticed in my own teaching. Now that I have been consistently providing a clear purpose for each activity, when I stop to think about it, I realize that students are more active during these learning experiences, not just passive listeners. When I show a video clip proceeded by the suggestion, “While you’re watching this video, be sure to notice….”, students sit up a little straighter and some even take notes! Our discussion afterwards is more fruitful, too. Having a reason to look helped me realize the positive changes that have occurred.

Scheduling reasons to look helps everyone recognize whether changes are (or are not) occurring. As coaches, we encourage and celebrate change. Providing reference points and reasons to look can make our encouragement and our celebrations more focused and hopefully more frequent!

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

Five ways to start a lesson:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2016/09/14/5-ways-to-start-your-lessons/?utm_source=newsletter20170930/

Ideas for incorporating literature (fiction and non-fiction) into history class:

https://www.middleweb.com/35728/turning-historys-stories-into-classroom-gold/

Word work that works:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=2137

Narratives of our teaching lives (or could be adapted for students):

http://triciaebarvia.org/2017/07/11/slice-of-life-embarrassment/

Infographic with facts about English Language Learners:

https://k12hub.rosettastone.com/infographics/meeting-the-ell-challenge?eeid=em-e1-eq-Section4&leadsource=Collateral+Request&campaignid=7010W000002JxEX&channel=Email&emailname=2017-Q4-US-K12-EML-OctNewsletter

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!