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:
Fostering
positive relationships and discourse on race by connecting through technology:
Giving
children voice:
A
few positive changes that might be noticed when we return to schools:
Language
for an asset-based approach that helps us notice the strengths of ELL students:
That’s
it for this week. Happy Coaching!
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