Shari
Frost’s memory of a student encounter of the hilarious kind got me thinking
again about how helpful it is to listen before speaking. Shari tells about a first-grader who, in the
middle of a small-group discussion, asked, “Mrs. Frost, how do you make babies?”
While Shari’s mind raced about how to respond, another student provided with
the needed answer, “Change the y to i and add es.” Thankfully, Shari hadn’t
jumped in too soon with unwanted information!*
In
this blog, I’ve often extolled the habit of listening before speaking, and
Shari’s story was a good reminder. During a meeting with coaches last week, a
seasoned coach made a similar recommendation to the group. “Ask the teacher what she thinks she needs to work on,” she said. Listen before speaking.
So
I tried it this week as I met with seven novice teachers. After observing in their classrooms, I met
with these teachers and asked what they felt went well in the lesson. Then I listened. Later, I asked them what
they felt like they were ready to work on in their teaching. Then I listened. Each response showed insight and gave
direction to our conversation.
I
was surprised when Margaret said she wanted to become more confident in the
content she was teaching. Because she
came across as self-assured, with a well-developed teacher stance, I never
would have thought to make that recommendation.
But glancing at notes I’d made to myself about areas for improvement, I
could see how knowing the content better would help Margaret to use students’
responses to support their learning and to ask better follow-up questions – two things on the “to do” list I had
created.
Sarah’s
desire to have the kids focus better while on the carpet led us easily to a
discussion of some of the things on my list – like providing opportunities for
students to talk with one another so that they could be more active
participants in the lesson.
Although
not every teacher set a goal that provided a perfect inroad to my aspirations
for them, listening to what the teacher felt she was ready to do next ensured
that there was buy-in for the goals we were working toward. Steven Covey, author of 7 Habit of Highly Effective People, suggested that we “seek first
to understand.” By listening before
speaking, coaching can develop mutual understanding.
*Shari’s full account of the story can
be found here. Sorry I’ve already spoiled it for you!
This week, you
might want to take a look at:
Tips
for starting the new year as a coach:
During
lesson closure, ask students to reflect – fist to five:
Usable
quotes on revising writing:
Bringing
empathy to coaching:
“Naughty”
behaviors that are developmentally appropriate:
That’s it for
this week. Happy Coaching!
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