Asking the Miracle Question

Solution-focused coaching encourages teachers to center their thinking on fixes and possible futures rather than dwelling on problems or past mistakes. I use a list of questions that take this forward-thinking approach:

·       What would need to change in order for that to happen?  For example,

o   What would have to change for students to work more for themselves and less for you?

o   What would have to change so that students talked more to each other, and less to you, during whole-class discussions?

·       How else might you do?  For example,

o   How else might you vary the introduction to the lesson to keep students excited about their practice?

o   How else might you help students visualize that concept?

·       What are some other ways that might be done? For example,

o   What are some different ways you might check for understanding?

o   What are some other ways you might support him?

·       What are some of the things you might try?

·       What might you have to do to get your students there?

·       What might the benefits be?

·       What is missing?

Questions like these have worked well for coaching teachers forward.  But this week I learned about a question that I can’t wait to try. It’s called “the Miracle Question,” and I think I know why!  

The miracle question or “problem is gone” question, asks the teacher to envision and describe in detail how the future will be different when the problem is gone!  The conversation goes something like this: “Imagine that, in the middle of the night, a miracle happens and the problem we were talking about is solved!  But, because it got solved while you were sleeping, you have no idea that the problem no longer exists.  What would you notice? What are the small changes that would give you hints about the miracle? 
 
As teachers give a moment-by-moment account of what the day would be like with this miracle in place, they begin to uncover steps they might take to make it so!  Envisioning that this hoped-for future has already arrived can help the details of a plan fall into place.  I’ve done something like this using the Back-to-the-Future protocol for long-range planning with groups, and it was worked remarkably to help us think about what we want our organization to be like in five or ten years. It’s even fun to start talking in the present tense, pretending this hoped-for future is already in place.  Based on my success with the Back-to-the-Future protocol with groups, I’m excited about using the Miracle Question for shorter-term individual coaching conversations. In fact, I’ve been asking myself the Miracle Question: What will it be like if I use the Miracle Question in my coaching conversations next week?

This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
Risks of using the “at-risk” label:
 
https://theconversation.com/why-its-wrong-to-label-students-at-risk-109621
 
 
Ideas for teaching high-frequency words:
 
https://twowritingteachers.org/2019/11/06/snap-word-train/
 
Fixing broken classroom routines:
 
http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol13/1321-handley.aspx
 
 
Why coaches should model learning:
 
https://barkleypd.com/blog/leaders-modeling-professional-learning/
 
 
Ed Tech and virtual reality:
 
https://www.verizon.com/about/news/ed-tech-trends
 
 
That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!
 
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