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!):
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:
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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