Yesterday, I was having a conversation
with a teacher about how important it is to be mindful of the language we use
in reference to our students. Ann said conversations about the impact of a
deficit mentality had raised her awareness; she was more tuned-in to subtleties
in her own language and that of others.
“It’s like when I went to the dentist this week,” she said. I was curious what she meant, so Ann
explained.
“The dentist said my teeth looked like
I’d been clenching,” Ann said. “She asked if I clenched during the day. I said, ‘no,’ but I began to wonder. Was I clenching? All day long,” Ann
continued, “I’ve been catching myself with my jaws closed tight. ‘Drop your jaw,’ I say to myself. ‘Drop your
jaw.’ Since the dentist asked me about
it, I’m noticing it all the time.”
Ann’s dentist example hit home for me.
I notice different things after someone has drawn my attention to them. The same is true for the teachers we work
with. One year, after looking at the gap
between girls’ and boys’ writing achievement, my school took a close look at
the research on boys’ literacy. We read Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys
and Misreading Masculinity. We watched a powerful documentary called “Raising Cain” and read lots
of articles. And, probably most
importantly, we talked about what we were reading and how it matched (or
didn’t) what we saw in our boys as readers and writers. We became intensely aware of how our
responses encouraged or discouraged boys’ interests. We became more mindful of our words and
actions.
I’ve also seen increased mindfulness
change teachers’ questioning practices. I was coaching a teacher who wanted to
improve discussions in her classroom.
After observing, I mentioned that Janae had a habit I’d seen so many
times before – one that was hard to break, but made a big difference in getting
kids to talk to each other during class discussions: She was repeating
students’ answers. She hadn’t even
noticed that she did this, but after our conversation, she was suddenly
intensely aware of it. She caught
herself in the act and began to change the pattern. Instead of repeating a students’ answer, she
encouraged students to listen to each other.
If a student’s answer was hard to hear, or if she felt the other
students hadn’t paid enough attention, she sometimes asked the student to
repeat his answer instead of repeating it herself. As students listened to each other more, they began talking more to each
other during whole-group discussions. Changing the pattern of interaction was a
matter of increasing Janae’s awareness so that she would be more mindful of her
own words.
Increasing mindfulness can be a
powerful coaching tool, but we have to be selective about what we draw
attention to. If Ann’s dentist had asked her about clenching, the angle at
which she held her toothbrush, how frequently she swallowed, and how much sugar
she was eating, the impact of the conversation would have been diluted. We
can’t be mindful of everything all at once. And it has to be something we care
about, or we won’t pay attention. As you work with teachers this week, think
about what is worth calling attention to. How will mindfulness help them
achieve their goals? Like Ann’s
jaw-dropping reminder to herself, teachers will work on things they care about
when they are aware of areas in need of attention.
This
week, you might want to take a look at:
Creating
language mindfulness about student equity:
Teaching
social-emotional skills: Better than a forced, “Sorry!”
Giving
students opportunities to talk about their differing views:
Tips
about conferring during writer’s workshop:
Do
you hold meetings or gatherings?
I love the implications of this article:
That’s
it for this week. Happy Coaching!
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