Friday, May 15, 2020

Decision Fatigue


These days, even seemingly simple decisions can feel difficult: Should I go to the grocery store?  Pick up or delivery? What about restaurants? Is eating inside a safe choice? Should I let the kids use that public restroom?  Seemingly insignificant questions have taken on increased importance. And that can lead to what author Emily P. Freeman calls, “decision fatigue.”  If the teachers you work with are suffering from decision fatigue, making instructional decisions may feel especially hard. I’m a big fan of open-ended questions, but at times like these, it may take a closed question to move coaching forward.

Open-ended questions encourage exploration and contemplation. Asking, “What are you finding success with during remote learning?” seems like a wonderful reflective question, but for a teacher with decision fatigue, the catalog of options might seem too big to explore. A more focused question, such as, “How did your synchronous meeting with students go yesterday?” might be better received. 

Now might also be the time to incorporate some closed questions. Questions with an either/or, yes/no response lighten the burden of decision.   When it’s time to take action and there’s a need to induce it, there’s a place for questions like, “Would you rather use Loom or Snagit to record that info. for students?” or, “Would this YouTube video be helpful?” Offering a clear choice eases the decision-making process.

Even if asking questions is the way you usually support a teacher, now might be a time to take a look at the GIR coaching model (see below) and take a step back.  Would it feel more supportive for you to make a recommendation than ask a question?  Is there an approach you could model that would be helpful?  Right now, teachers might benefit from the increased support of recommendations or modeling.

As seemingly simple questions become complicated in today’s world, teachers might feel overwhelmed by instructional decision-making. Asking closed questions, making recommendations, and modelling are supportive coaching moves that could be the right fit for teachers suffering from decision fatigue.


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

Ask before acting (especially now):



Check out the “Read on a Pattern” section of this post for ideas about encouraging variety in students’ reading (could be a summer reading goal):


Tips for remote teaching with ELs:


And more tips from Larry for remote teaching in general:



Providing writers feedback that gets used:


That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

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