Over
the years, I have collected stacks of GIR
conferencing guides. This week, I went through one pile with a particular
purpose: I was looking for some bad questions to use as illustrations. It delighted me that I didn’t find any
negative examples in the stack from the group of coaches I’ve been working with
recently. Digging a little deeper
though, I found some examples from an old stack that I hope will be
illustrative. As we look at questions that don’t work, we become clearer about
what makes a good coaching question.
Here
are a few questions that seem ineffective and why I think they wouldn’t work:
Question: “How are you able to check for
understanding if you are lecturing?”
This is code for: You are lecturing too
much. You need to stop lecturing and
check for understanding.
Possible solution: Make a recommendation. It might also be possible to help the teacher
get to the same point through a series of questions, if s/he has the background
and self-awareness.
Question: “Why don’t you structure
students’ conversation?
This is code for: You need to provide structures
for students’ conversation.
Possible solution: Ask a more open question, such
as “What structures might make students’ conversations more purposeful?” Or you
might make recommendations about ways that students’ conversation could be
structured.
Question: How can you ensure the information
you give students is correct?
This is code for: You included incorrect information
in your presentation. You need to
understand the content before you teach a lesson.
Possible solution: Offer resources for upcoming
lessons.
Question: What would be the benefit of
writing out your day?
This is code for: Writing out your day will help
you stay on schedule.
Possible solution: Show the teacher tools that you
and others use for scheduling. Then ask what she thinks will work for her.
Question: Did you set a purpose before
the lesson?
This
might work if the coach was not there for the lesson, especially if setting a
purpose was a goal they had previously identified. If the coach was there and such a goal hadn’t
been set, this question might be a shaming one, however.
Question: Why do we have students
self-reflect?
This
sounds like a test question, not an honest inquiry.
Possible solution: Ask about past successes: “Can
you think of a lesson where you included student reflection? Did you see
benefits from it? Why was the reflection successful?
Question: Why is modeling important in an
early childhood classroom?
Another
test question. Ask: “Which parts of the lesson will students need to have
modeled?”
Question: How many times did you stop
students?
This
is probably a rhetorical question. Would we really expect a teacher to have
kept tabs on this while teaching?
Possible solution: Give the teacher the
opportunity to bring up her own concerns about the lesson. This might lead to
the teacher asking for recommendations about classroom management.
Question: How many times did you move
clips?
This
is probably another rhetorical question about classroom management. I’m not sure if the answer this coach was
searching for was none or lots, but this is probably code for either “you didn’t
move clips (for student behavior) and you should have” or “you moved them too
much.” If there was an underlying issue
with classroom management, addressing that issue with a recommendation or
question would be more useful.
Question: What did you notice about the
students when they were on the carpet during the writing lesson? (followed by) What are some ways to help the
students to focus and pay attention?
The
coach was probably fishing for the teacher to bring up concerns about students’
attention while on the carpet. Although the question might be considered an
opportunity for the teacher to bring up her own concerns, the way it is phrased
probably would leave the teacher feeling deflated instead of empowered. In this scenario, getting rid of the first
question and leading with the second would probably be more effective.
Question: Could the intervention you are
doing with Natalie be applied to other students?
This is code for: The intervention you are doing
with Natalie could be applied to other students.
Possible solution: Praise the effectiveness of
the intervention. Look with the teacher at data to determine others who might
benefit.
This
leads to some guidelines we can keep in mind as we craft effective coaching
questions:
Don’t
*Don’t
ask questions when a recommendation is needed. Gauge your approach based on the
teacher’s background and reflectiveness. If impactful solutions are likely to
be found with the teacher doing the talking, by all means ask a question.
However, if it’s more likely that the coach will be the source of effective solutions,
a recommendation is in order.
*Similarly,
don’t disguise a recommendation as a question. Make a recommendation if that’s what’s
needed.
*Don’t
ask questions when the problem was created by a lack of resources (or lack of
accessing available resources). Instead, provide or make teachers aware of
available resources.
*Don’t
ask questions that point a finger of shame. Questioning with the intent to
point out what a teacher did wrong asks a teacher to be self-incriminating, and
that is not a good feeling.
Do
*Ask
real questions. A real question is one where you are truly curious about the
teacher’s response, where there are multiple possibilities.
*Ask
questions that encourage teachers to reflect on past successes. This is more
likely to support growth. Past successes demonstrate capacity, even if the
practice is not yet consistent. We are working within a teacher’s ZPD.
*Ask
reasonable questions. Are you asking about something you would have been able
to notice and note in the midst of instruction? Remember that when you observe
a lesson, you have the advantage of being on the outside looking in, so you may
notice things that it wouldn’t be reasonable for the teacher to have observed.
Reasonable questions can be answered if the teacher plays back the lesson in
her mind. Your extra eyes are valuable
and can uncover important needs. Just don’t ask questions that presuppose the
teacher will have noticed these same things.
*Ask
broad questions to open a conversation and invite participation. Later in the
conversation, more
specific questions will be helpful.
For
practice, you might want to pull out some of the GIR conferencing forms you’ve
completed in the past or any other notes you’ve kept on coaching conversations.
How are your questions? Would any have
benefitted from revision? If not, do a
happy dance. If yes, you can do a happy
dance, too, knowing you have some examples to practice with so that your
questions will be even better next time!
As
you revise the key questions on the GIR conferencing form, say the question in
your head, or even out load. Will it
sound natural coming out of your mouth? This is your chance to get the language
just right.
If
we write out a few questions in advance when planning for a coaching conversation,
we have the chance to revise the language for best results. When we take the time to do this, not only
does it make these few questions more productive, it gets us in the habit of
framing questions in more productive ways.
Then, when the myriad of unplanned questions are posed, there’s a greater
likelihood that they’ll also be impactful.
This week, you might want to
take a look at:
Check
out our newly-available book (just $2.99) about keeping early-career teachers
in the profession, and hashtag #StayinTeaching when you Tweet to remind us of
this goal! The problem-solving protocols in chapter 1 (and appendices) of the
book could be used in many contexts for getting at root causes:
This
video about asking coaching questions, from unconscious incompetence to
conscious competence:
Podcast
with Penny Kittle – Engaging Readers and Building Better Writers:
Coaching
for routines (think about the questions):
Ideas
for teaching media literacy:
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As
you’ve no doubt noticed, the title for this post is, “Questions as
Invitations.” Full disclosure: The
subtitle should be “Coaching for Word Nerds.”