Saturday, March 17, 2018

A Spoonful of Praise

Do you sprinkle praise throughout coaching conversations?  Many coaches tell me that they find opportunities to praise throughout the coaching cycle, and they wonder how that kind of ongoing praise fits in the GIR coaching model.  I remind coaches that praise can be helpful anytime – it’s just that it becomes the dominant coaching move near the end of a coaching cycle, as the need for other types of support drops away.

In the midst of a coaching cycle, I often use the sandwich technique in coaching conversations, with praise at the beginning and end and something more meaty in the middle.  The praise at the beginning might come from something positive I noticed during an observation or an effective practice included in a lesson plan.  The meat of the conversation comes next.  It might include a recommendation or a question; I think about how much support the teacher will need to get to her next step.  This “bless then press” approach is suggested for conferring with young writers – and it is helpful for teachers, too!  I often finish off the coaching sandwich with another dose of praise – usually about the thinking that has taken place during our conversation. Wrapping up with praise ensures we end on a positive note.

Coach Don Meyer said, “Shout praise and whisper criticism.”  Praise is like the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down.  Of course, we don’t want our recommendations and questions to be bitter, either, but sweetening the conversation with specific, authentic praise supports a positive tone during coaching conversations.


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

A podcast episode on the importance of authentic student questions in developing critical thinking:



Alternatives to round robin and popcorn reading:



A video with ideas for better partner and small group conversations:



A materials list for middle school reading workshop:



Teach thinking by supporting noticings:


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2 comments:

  1. We all want to feel validated and I think sprinkling praise throughout a coaching cycle (especially at the beginning and end, as you mentioned) helps nurture that coaching relationship as well.

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