Think of a Time

Emily was a novice teacher struggling with classroom management. When she asked for my help, she said, “I’m just not good at holding the kids’ attention.”  She seemed dejected and needed immediate support. So I said, “I wonder if you can think of a time when you really had the kids’ attention.”  

Emily became pensive.  Then she said, “During read-alouds, they are usually pretty good.”  She paused. “And when I was explaining the rules for the math game, they really paid attention.”

“Why do you think they were so attentive then?” I asked.

The conversation continued, and Emily found ways to build on previous successes that she’d experienced with classroom management. Things didn’t change overnight, but as she continued to pay attention to what was working with her students, her repertoire of classroom management tools grew.

Especially when teachers are feeling overwhelmed or unsuccessful, the phrase, “I wonder if you can think of a time….” can increase a teacher’s confidence. Confidence is optimistic self-belief.  Boosting confidence is important, because, as Henry Ford put it, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t - - you’re right.”

Elements of success become springboards for future action.  Focusing on successes demonstrates your confidence that the teacher you are working with can overcome challenges and provide effective instruction for her students. 

When coaching, building on positives tends to get you further than drawing attention to negatives. Asking teachers to “think of a time” when things were going well will increase the frequency of such times, and the pool of effective experiences they can draw from will continue to grow.

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

Key values for remote learning:

https://blog.teachboost.com/tips-for-checking-in-with-teachers-remotely

3 steps to take while coaching virtually:

https://blog.teachboost.com/step-up-your-approach-to-virtual-coaching

The problem with the “comfort zone”:

https://blog.teachboost.com/combating-fixed-mindset-with-growth-mindset

10 ways poetry can inform prose:

https://writenow.nwp.org/the-ways-poetry-can-improve-your-prose-ecdefd903627

Protocols for discussion (that work for students and teachers):

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/speaking-listening-techniques/

That’s all for this week.  Happy Coaching!

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Follow on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch or Twitter @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com

Are You Sitting Down?

Are you sitting down?  I’m not about to break some bad news. Rather, I’m about to encourage you to get up!  If you’re like me, the last few months have included a lot more sitting than normal.  With instruction and meetings happening virtually, we don’t even have to move from room to room.  That can lead to a lot of energy-draining time in one place.

Building habits that increase our energy improves our effectiveness in all we do, including our energy for learning, teaching and coaching.  Movement increases energy.  It gives us feelings of abundance, freedom, and renewal.  It may seem counterintuitive, but taking a few minutes away from a task actually helps us get it done.

We know this is true for our students, so we build “brain breaks” into plans for instruction.  Moving from the carpet to tables, or going to a spot in the room to represent their stance on a topic, gives students an opportunity to get the blood (and the thinking) flowing.  GoNoodle is a big hit with students because it’s fun, but it also helps them learn more.  Whether teaching face-to-face or virtually, teachers need to include opportunities for students to move.

As we plan professional learning opportunities for teachers, let’s also include movement.  In face-to-face trainings, finding someone from across the room for partner talk, forming new groups, or using protocols like Wagon Wheels include movement. I like to build in a “walk and talk,” especially in nice weather, where participants partner up and walk a loop around the building (be mindful of physical limitations of some participants).  Even just standing up sends a rush of blood to the brain, bringing new energy and engagement.  If a training or meeting is running too long, simply asking everyone to stand for a few minutes can help. This is equally important in virtual and face-to-face settings.

Now, how about you? Are you building times for moving into your day? My friends with Apple watches get a reminder if they haven’t stood up in the last hour, but you can do this without the fancy technology. Recently, I was meeting with a colleague when her watch alarm went off.  She apologized but took a one-minute break to walk down and back up the stairs. I was impressed with her commitment to herself and vowed to do the same.

If you want to spur some creativity, apparently circles help.  Making giant circles with your arms supposedly gets the creative juices flowing and creates a sense of joy.  Try it and see if it works for you!  It can’t hurt, and it will at least add a bit of activity. Moving your body exercises your brain, too. 

As you plan for the virtual and face-to-face work that you, teachers, and students will do, including movement will increase everyone’s energy and effectiveness.

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

How a picture walk opens conversations about books:

https://choiceliteracy.com/article/picture-walk-group-in-kindergarten/

A podcast about remote learning for students without internet access:

https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2020/04/continuing-remote-learning-students-without-internet

Principles of adult learning to guide PD:

https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-tips-creating-effective-pd

An inspirational community-building idea:

https://choiceliteracy.com/article/ohana-means-family/

5 ways to continue growing as a coach:

https://blog.teachboost.com/5-ways-to-continue-growing-as-a-coach

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

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Follow on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch or Twitter @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com

Pay Attention!

When you opened your eyes this morning, you immediately began to see. It was automatic. Then, as you focused your attention, you began to notice. Maybe you noticed early summer light slanting though your window, making diagonal patterns on your walls. Or the loose weave of the blanket you’d thrown off during the night. Noticing is seeing with conscious attention and focus. The details we are aware of bring nuance to our observation. Careful noticing is a skill that will benefit our coaching work.

Noticing Students

During a classroom observation, we notice when students gasp with surprise and share interesting facts they are learning.  We notice when students are active listeners during a read aloud – clearly focused on the teacher or the text.  We notice heads nodding and fingers pointing, students’ persevering during struggle and those giving up.  We notice problem-solving strategies students are using.  Our careful attention to what students are doing during a lesson supports reflection during debrief discussions. Sharing these observations can also encourage habits of noticing in the teachers we are working with, especially when we routinely ask, “What did you notice?”

Noticing Teaching

During a classroom observation, we also notice a teacher’s actions and their impact. We have an advantaged viewpoint for such noticings, since we aren’t the one doing the decision-making. We can shift our attention from a bird’s-eye perspective of the classroom to a close-up view of one-on-one interactions. Sharing these perceptions brings additional insight to a coaching conversation.

Noticing Teachers

A third type of noticing, important for coaching, involves attending to the responses of the teacher during a coaching conversation. What is the teacher’s body language telling us? What do we see in her facial expressions? Are there signs of emotion? Is that thought unfinished? Do her eyes indicate an aha moment?  How comfortable or challenged does she feel?  Paying attention to teachers makes our responses more fruitful.  

Our fine-tuned, careful observations of teaching, teachers, and students inform us. Cultivating skills of conscious noticing enriches our coaching work. As we move through the day, we’ll have ample opportunities to hone our noticing skills.  Shaking ourselves into wakeful awareness adds richness to our day and power to our coaching conversations.

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

The 3 Cs of professional learning from a distance:

https://learningforward.org/2020/06/the-3-cs-of-professional-learning-from-a-distance/

Fostering positive relationships and discourse on race by connecting through technology:

https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-student-understanding-across-racial-differences

Giving children voice:

https://www.tcpress.com/blog/children-watching/

A few positive changes that might be noticed when we return to schools:

https://www.thecuriouscoach.net/post/coming-back-coaching-covid-19

Language for an asset-based approach that helps us notice the strengths of ELL students:

https://ncte.org/blog/2017/11/understanding-language-supporting-ell-students-responsive-ela-classrooms-five-ways-get-started-today/

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

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Follow on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch or Twitter @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com.

Listen

This week, I’ve been reminded time and again of the importance of listening and hearing. This means putting our own responses on hold while we try to understand another’s perspective. As coaches, we’ve recognized the value of this practice in our work. Instead of writing a new post this week, I want to point you toward some past posts about listening during coaching and ask you to consider:

·       How might this apply in interactions outside of coaching?

·       How can I encourage others to recognize these benefits?

·       How can I advocate for voices that sometimes go unheard?

I believe that listening to understand another’s perspective recognizes their human dignity. In coaching, we talk a lot about continuous improvement. Listening is one way to make things better.

In the post linked here, I promote hearing.  Although we listen with our ears, we hear with our hearts.  Our hearts, together with our capacities for reasoning, create a more intense connection.  Hearing implies a deeper level of understanding.  It requires effort.  Listening is passive, but hearing is an active verb. (I’ve sometimes seen these terms switched, and I’m fine with that – I just want to point out that real hearing/listening includes working to understand the speaker’s intentions and feelings.)

In this post, I talk about reflective listening practices like emotion naming and summarizing.  Thoughtful responses like these open up a conversation for productive problem-solving.

This post is about courageous conversations. It includes some suggestions for building a trusting, open atmosphere and enriching your understanding of a situation.

Finally, some more general thoughts are in this post about approachability.  While we listen, paying attention to our posture, positioning, and facial expressions can help others to feel at ease.

I don’t want to ignore the many voices that are being raised in our country right now.  I believe that being heard is a human right and that listening offers a way forward.  Both in school contexts and other settings, the skills you have developed as a coach will be a valuable contribution.

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

Lessons learned from remote learning:

https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/05/remote-learning-lessons-learned-and-reflections-to-inform-the-future/

Using children’s books to teach literary theory in high school:

https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-childrens-books-teach-literary-theory-high-school

Sidewalk Chalk math arouses curiosity:

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55961/how-sidewalk-math-cultivates-a-playful-curious-attitude-towards-math

Free virtual summer camps for kids:

https://summercamphub.com/free-online-summer-camps/

A few students read their coronavirus journals:

https://video.edweek.org/detail/video/6157731561001/students-share-their-coronavirus-diaries-i-m-really-missing-school?autoStart=true&cmp=eml-enl-vid-p1

That’s it for this week!

Was this helpful?  Please share!

Want to know about new posts? Click “Follow” (bottom right)

Follow on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch or Twitter @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at  VickiCollet.com