Friday, August 31, 2018

Open Your Door


This week, I was talking with a group of teachers about the constraining practices they are being asked to use – scripted, whole-class phonics instruction that doesn’t account for the individual differences of their first graders – some of whom read abundantly and others who cannot yet name all of the letters.  I heard myself whispering the words, “Close your door and teach.”  While this seemed, in some ways, to be an appropriate response to the situation, I realized at once how hypocritical I was being.  Isn’t coaching, after all, about opening our doors?


There is so much value in going public with our practice.  When we open our doors, we see teaching as a professional interaction, not a solitary exercise.  Sharing our practice can have an immediate, productive impact on pedagogy.  As we open our doors and teach, and then reflect with others, we learn through the complexity and messiness of our real context.  As we talk with another, we think about what has occurred in ways that haven’t happened until we put it into words.  We see the work differently.

Coaching stimulates professional conversations about teaching and learning. It gives us the opportunity for feedback and analysis.  Coaching treats teachers as professionals and empowers them to work on their craft.  At its best, coaching empowers teachers and boosts the professionalism of teaching.

Classrooms are data-rich spaces, and coaches help teachers evaluate practice in the midst of these spaces.  Coaches support teachers to take risks, and coaching reinforces the notion that we are all working toward the same goals of improved student learning. 

Having given this some thought, what will I say when I next meet with this team of knowledgeable, but manacled, teachers?  I want to support them to teach flexibly to meet the incredibly varied needs of their students.  I want to help them collect data about these differences, and show that some students just don’t need the script, and others aren’t ready for it.  I want to give them the professional voice to open their doors and teach proudly, teach confidently, teach in the ways their rich experience (and knowledge of research in the field) prescribes, not in the ways prescribed by an off-the-shelf manual. 

I hope most coaches are in a position to advocate for best practices.  I hope most administrators listen to not only those in the hierarchy but those in the classrooms.  I hope we can all do what is in the best interest of children. 


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

During coaching, seek first to understand:



Dealing with students’ uncomfortable writing topics:



How to cultivate student-generated questions:



Involving students in feedback (this works for older students, too!):



Every teacher needs a mentor:


That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

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