Saturday, December 1, 2018

Buoys for Stability to Sustain Change


In order to sustain change, we have to decide what is worth being consistent about. Every classroom has a different combination of learners who have unique needs and experiences.  Every classroom also has its unique collective culture: webs of relationships, ways of doing and caring, and shared experiences. Because of this variation, there are many, many things that must be left to teachers’ judgement.  What, then, is the focus of our change efforts?  What are the things about which we stand firm?

In previous posts, I’ve described a process for creating and maintaining shared vision through ongoing communication.  The things that we stay firm on are rooted in best practice and determined by common consent.  They chart our route to the hoped-for future.  Having common language about that work can be a rudder that provides stability as we move forward.  This common language is important for both teachers and students.  When we call things by the same name, we can be more certain that we are all moving in the same direction.

During the literacy adoption that I’ve described previously, we established common language for the way we were naming comprehension strategies and skills. From grade to grade and classroom to classroom, students and teachers knew what was being talked about. We also committed to being relentlessly consistent about providing a balanced approach to literacy instruction, including small-group instruction, and using a research-based plan for vocabulary instruction.  Having common language about the things we are going to stay true to moves us more quickly to teaching them in more sophisticated ways. 

Teaching in more sophisticated ways means recognizing that effective teachers flexibly meet the needs of their students.  They know what they have committed to and why. They are responsive to what is going on in the classroom but all the while they are headed toward their goals, meandering as needed along the route.  

During our literacy adoption, we wanted to be sure the meandering didn’t take us off course, so we created benchmarks that acted as buoys to guide our journey.  These included “classroom environment benchmarks” that were easy to check off our to-do lists: things like posting strategy charts, having a room set-up that supported small-group instruction, and making sure everyone had created logins for online resources.  We also had instructional benchmarks like “Students actively reading and writing at least 50% of literacy instruction time,” “Majority of teacher questions are open-ended,” and “Opportunities for purposeful student-to-student talk.”  These instructional benchmarks were points of stability on our flexible path. They were checkpoints along our journey to the hoped-for future.

As you lead teachers through the process of change (which is an ongoing part of education), what will you be relentlessly consistent about? What will be the buoys that mark your journey?  Thinking together about these important questions will increase your collective capacity and increase the likelihood that you will sustain change long enough to see the results you are hoping for.

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

Ideas for what mentor texts do – and you might consider expanding these ideas to what mentors do:



Coaching heavy:



Writing and inquiry for cultural context in history:



Seeing the world through a child’s eyes. This website has videos, simulations, and information that help you get the picture of what it’s like for children who struggle (personalizable by age and area of need):



Grouping to increase eye contact increases learning:


That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

Was this helpful?  Please share!
Want to know about new posts? Click “Follow” (bottom right)
Like on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch for more coaching and teaching tips!


No comments:

Post a Comment