Coaching Co-Presence

What was your best coaching moment this week?  Can you recall what you were paying attention to, how you felt, and what you were doing?  Do you think there was a teacher or student paying attention to, feeling, and doing the same things you were during that prime coaching moment?  If so, you were experiencing co-presence.  

Co-presence is a feeling that your attention, emotion, and behavior are in sync with someone else’s.  This can happen in both face-to-face and virtual interactions.  It stems from full attention and rich flow of information.

When we look together at students’ work from a lesson, we invite co-presence. When we rejoice together over a student’s growth or laugh together at a five-year-old’s comment, we invite co-presence.  When we stand shoulder-to-shoulder finishing the bulletin board before the school board walk through, we invite co-presence.  When we look, feel, and act together we are present; when the teacher perceives that presence, he experiences co-presence. 

I observed a third-grade class this week where the teacher, Ian, had cheerful, relatable interactions with his students during their math lesson on “groups of” – a warm-up for multiplication.  One of the most memorable moments in the lesson was when Ian feigned surprise, took his glasses off, rubbed his eyes, got up close, and squinted at the Smartboard when a student said something that didn’t square with the diagram.  The student laughed and quickly self-corrected.  Ian and the students were in sync.

Later, when Ian and I talked about the lesson, we laughed together about the moment. I think Ian felt co-present with me. We called up other moments in the lesson: I cheered about something he felt went well, and we winced together at a possible misstep. As our meeting time was running out, he set a goal and we both wrote it down; then we calendared a time for our next check in.  During this coaching conversation, our efforts seemed aligned – we were mutually co-present. 

The coaching conversation with Ian happened with us sitting in the same room at a conference table.  Although masked and 6+ feel apart, we were mindfully aware of one another. Being physically present, however, is neither necessary nor sufficient for co-presence.  I can physically occupy the same space as others but be mentally absent from them.  Conversely, I can be miles away connecting virtually and create co-presence.

Whether face-to-face or virtual, our work as coaches will benefit if the teachers we are working with feel co-present with us.  

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

Synchronous or asynchronous – how to decide:

https://catlintucker.com/2020/08/asynchronous-vs-synchronous/

60 ways to formatively assess:

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21ABi8ewSKYEG5dvc&cid=E41FB2CBF1EDA012&id=E41FB2CBF1EDA012%2149904&parId=root&o=OneUp

 

A giant list of examples of essential questions:

https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/examples-of-essential-questions/

Doing a fiction writing unit?  Check out these suggestions for creating strong characters:

https://www.well-storied.com/blog/write-stronger-characters

20 Zoom tools for educators:

https://www.teachthought.com/technology/best-zoom-tools-for-teachers/

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

Repair Jobs and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

 

I spent a lot of time in classrooms this week – in real, live classrooms, with active young children and teachers moving around the room.  Even though children wore masks and sat behind plastic dividers and teachers, also masked, wore microphones to project their muffled voices, there was still joy and energy in almost every classroom.  The kind-of-scary thing is, after almost a month in school, this is starting to feel normal. 

But something that was not normal was the stress I felt in a kindergarten room on a Friday afternoon.  Looking back, I should never have been observing a novice teacher in a kindergarten room on a Friday in September.  What was I thinking?  I remember my own experiencing teaching kindergartners in September, and even in good times it was a struggle to keep those 5-year-olds awake, much less engaged, by the afternoon at the end of the week.  So I am giving the teacher lots of grace and trying not to make judgments about teaching from that observation.  And I’ll make sure the next time I’m in the room is a morning earlier in the week.  But still…

The lack of joy in the room seemed palpable to me. Students were redirected one-by-one, over-and-over, during the lesson.  Some names were called out frequently.  And I couldn’t help but wonder, if those same names are called out day after day, what might that mean for those 5-year-olds? How will they see themselves as learners?  If, during their first month of school experience ever, they are called out for not facing the right direction, for slumping in their chair, for standing instead of sitting, how will they see themselves as learners?  Will the attention they get for negative behaviors become a self-fulfilling prophecy?

As I prepared to debrief with the teacher, I took time to think through what I’d say and share. It was a growth-plan observation, so I would be providing written feedback along with our conversation.  I waffled about what I should write.  I conjured up every positive thing I could think of from the lesson and included those first in the written comments, but I also included comments about the frequent redirection of student behavior, about the teacher’s sharp tone. 

When I sat down with the teacher at the end of the day, I started with one of my normal openers after an observation: “As you think back on the lesson, what stands out for you?”

I heard the teacher talk about how she successfully used classroom management strategies to redirect students’ attention, things like counting backward and giving or taking away stickers from individuals’ behavior charts. She didn’t say anything about the students’ learning, so I asked. She thought they were starting to get there, she said.  She seemed pretty pleased with the lesson.  These are the hardest coaching conversations to have – the ones were my perceptions about the overall effectiveness of the lesson don’t seem to line up with those of the teacher.

It was time to share the written feedback, and I prefaced it with lots of comments about growth. I folded the paper so that only the positive comments were initially visible. But then the time came for her to review the “focus areas for next observation” portion of the form.  After this novice teacher read the comments, she looked up.  Even with only her eyes showing above the mask and me sitting at a six-foot distance, I could see that the comments had hit home. There was anxiety and, I thought, sadness, in those eyes.  The comments had gone too far.  We talked until we got to what felt like a productive place, but I am still mulling over that interaction. That’s why I’m writing my way through the experience this morning, I guess.

I’m wondering: Should I have said nothing about the time spent redirecting behavior?  Should I have withheld judgment about the classroom environment? Could I have phrased the feedback in a way that stung less?  If I had, would there be impetus to change?  Is change needed, or was what I saw the product of a Friday afternoon in September?  Why did the teacher seem so pleased with the lesson when I was not?  These questions, and others like them, are rolling around in my head.  But mostly, I am worrying and wondering: Might the negative comments about the observation of this novice teacher also become a self-fulfilling prophecy?  What will I do to stop that from happening? 

People’s expectations influence their behavior and their outcomes. That’s the premise of the psychological phenomenon called a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”  A self-fulfilling prophecy is “a belief or expectation that an individual holds about a future event that manifests because the individual holds it.” Sometimes a belief brings about consequences that cause reality to match the belief. People are likely to act in ways that reinforce their beliefs about themselves. Attitude effects outcome, and negative self-thoughts may actually create negative outcomes.  What have I done?????

Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”  So I have an ongoing repair job to do.  I hope, that by the end of our debrief conversation, the novice teacher felt that she could focus her attention on student engagement and learning and see positive outcomes.  But I am not so sure about that.  I am afraid the negative comments are lingering in her mind.  I hope that, over time, supporting this teacher’s positive perceptions of her capabilities will become a positive self-fulfilling prophecy.

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

Trauma informed self-care for educators (I think the list of resilience factors on pg. 3 is very helpful!):

https://gtlcenter.org/sites/default/files/Educator-Resilience-Trauma-Informed-Self-Care-Self-Assessment.pdf

 

Building reading identities all year:

https://choiceliteracy.com/article/building-reading-identities-across-the-year/

 

This two-minute video with tips for new coaches:

https://instructionalcoaching.com/preparing-for-the-new-school-year-5-tips-for-new-coaches/

 

Ideas for culturally-sensitive communication:

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/publications/critical-practices-for-antibias-education/family-and-community-engagement

 

Establishing routines for online teaching:

https://catlintucker.com/2020/08/video-conferencing-establishing-routines-online/

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

Bringing Their “A Game”

Do you trust that each of the teachers you are working with are doing their best?  They will make mistakes, even big ones (we all do). We simply trust teachers to do their best before, during, and after the mistakes. Most teachers are bringing their “A Game.” 

“Bringing your A Game” is an expression from athletics that means to arrive with your top attitude and ability, to deliver a good performance, giving your best effort, abilities, or achievement. The letter A is associated with being first and best.

Judge Not

Although coaching requires judgment, coaches are not in a position to judge whether a teacher is doing their best. It’s even hard for the teacher herself to make that judgment.  Because “their best” changes day-by-day, minute-by-minute.  The teacher’s reservoir may be running low during a particular lesson, and what she has to offer is not quite the same as it was on another day.  While sending the message that the students deserve and need the best a teacher has to offer every single day, we also have to recognize that “the best” is a sliding scale, especially during these turbulent times.

Demonstrating Trust

Making sure teachers know we trust them to do their best can be as simple as saying so, and then making sure our own language and actions demonstrate that trust.  It’s a thread that runs through our recommendations, our questions, our affirmations, and the praise we offer.  When coaches make recommendations from this place of trust, the teacher recognizes that we value their autonomy and decision-making ability and know that they will take up the recommendations in a way that suits their students.  When we ask question from this place of trust, teachers know that our question is an honest inquiry, that we don’t have a pre-set answer we are steering them toward.  When we affirm and praise from a trusting foundation, teachers feel the authenticity of our positive comments, and it means so much more.

Self-Fulfilling Prophesy

In the rare instance when a teacher is not bringing their A Game (they have more to offer than they are sharing), the trusting, positive assumptions that coaches demonstrate may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.  The psychologist who coined the term “self-fulfilling prophecy” defined it as, “A false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true.”*  When coaches continually extend trust and describe the hard work they know the teacher is doing, it often makes it true, even if that wasn’t originally the case. Over time, the teacher’s efforts may rise to the level of the coaches’ positive assumptions.

Teachers care about kids and they care about learning. Beginning with these positive assumptions about a teacher is the foundation for a trusting relationship. A teacher will usually match the level of trust they give with the level of trust they feel, so extending trust helps establish the relational trust necessary in successful coaching relationships.

* Merton, R. K., & Merton, R. C. (1968). Social theory and social structure. Simon and Schuster. p. 477. 

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

A short podcast about grading during this unusual school year:

http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Educational-Leadership/EL-Podcast.aspx

5 Tips for promoting effective parent teacher conferences:

https://barkleypd.com/blog/supporting-teachers-in-successful-parent-conferences/

“Fab Four” Comprehension Strategies:

https://ccira.blog/2020/07/01/the-fab-four-comprehension-strategies-accelerating-reading-now/

A reflective guide to examine:  Did you demonstrate empathy during that coaching conversation?

https://resources.corwin.com/system/files/03%20Demonstrating%20Empathy%20-%20Looking%20Back.pdf

A quick video about student relationship mapping for SEL:

https://www.facebook.com/makingcaringcommon/videos/1536172996520843/

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

Align Your Attention

How well do you align your attention with your senses during coaching?  Scanning through the table of contents of the Guide to Stress-Free Living,* the section on “Joyful Attention” caught my attention!  Welcoming joy into my life is an intentional goal these days, so I thought I might pick up some good ideas from the book. What I realized, as I read, is that not only does our joy increase when our attention is aligned with our senses, our effectiveness does as well, and this benefit can be had in almost any situation. 

The book includes an exercise where the reader is invited to spend some time looking very closely at a photo of a single, white daisy. What is the configuration of the pedals? How regularly are the spaced? What differences are there between the jagged edge of one pedal and the jagged edge of the adjacent one? The author prompts the reader to look so closely and carefully that they could distinguish that single daisy from all others in a bouquet or field. And it is in recognizing the novelty of that single daisy, the author suggests, that joy is found. Although we find comfort in familiar, we find joy in uniqueness, in the small surprise of difference.

What does that look like for coaches? 

In the classroom, coaches and teachers align their attention with their senses when they are fully present.  There are so many distractions these days with technology, wipe-downs, masks, and memos, that it can be hard to be fully in the teaching moment.  You can watch for this as a coach: the magic of learning happens when the teacher is noticing the response of her students, fully tuned-in with eyes and ears and heart.  Draw attention to these moments and what made them happen.

When you are observing in a classroom, aligning your senses with your attention helps you gather data. Noticing the novel nuances keeps your mind in the game and provides specifics for a debrief conversation that can challenge the thinking of even the most experienced teacher.  Did that typically-distracted student rivet his attention during a portion of the lesson?  Did a hush fall over the class when the teacher shared a relevant personal connection?  Was there a busy buzz in the online chat after a certain question? Was there a period of energy during whole-group discussion that somehow connected the physically-distanced students? Focusing closely while you are in the classroom delays interpretation, giving you the opportunity for later deliberate consideration. Describing the details of a moment like one of these at the beginning of a debrief can launch a fruitful discussion and teacher-learning that is generalizable.  Learning that is tied to a single, focused moment in a lesson can be boundless.

Aligning your attention to your senses during planning and debrief conversations is similarly fruitful. Hearing the quick pace of footsteps as teachers join you in the PLC room could signal the importance of a pause to breathe deeply before jumping into the work. Noticing averted eyes when following-up on a previous commitment might mean you should schedule a later time to check in about it.  If you hear energy in a teacher’s voice when she talks about a certain topic or student, tune in on that topic.

And how does all of this relate to joy?  Maintaining a steady focus on our own agenda may bring some satisfaction, but life can pass you by.  By hearing, seeing, and being in an experience, we savor life. The newness in every situation sparks interest. Intentional attention pulls you away from distractions and into the joy of the details. Attending to the novelty in a situation will connect you at a deeper level.  According to The Guide, when you focus on the details of the present, you stop carrying the loads of the past and future in your head, if only momentarily, producing greater joy.

*Sood, A. (2013). The Mayo Clinic Guide to Stress-Free Living. De Capo Press.

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

Slow down and show care:

https://choiceliteracy.com/article/slowing-down/

Building a climate where reading is valued and enjoyed:

https://www.middleweb.com/43395/sharing-the-joy-of-reading-with-students/

When to opt out of graphic organizers:

https://www.middleweb.com/43456/when-should-we-skip-the-graphic-organizer/

Crash course videos about the writing process (target audience: College comp students, but accessible for younger students as well). Here’s #1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXa22Csh7oE

Coaching with Instagram:

https://blog.teachboost.com/the-power-of-instagram-for-coaches

That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!

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