Subitize Your Coaching?

Subitize - Merriam and Webster don’t know this word, but if you’re an early-grade math teacher, you do. Subitizing is the rapid, accurate, and confident discernment of numbers without counting. The word subitize is derived from the Latin adjective subitus, meaning sudden.
 
Teachers, of course, make many sudden decisions every day. There are curveballs in even the best-planned lessons; “monitor and adjust” is the mantra of teaching. During a lesson, teachers become immediately aware of problems and opportunities. These subitizing moments are supported by preparation. Going in with a plan allows us to be responsive in the moment. I had that conversation yesterday with Haylee, a third-grade teacher.
 
The lesson I’d observed in Haylee’s room went well, and I knew how carefully she’d thought through that lesson in advance. She had shared her lesson plan with me, and it included a checklist for evaluation, notes about transitions, and thoughtful questions. The lesson had lots of moving parts as students individually chose how they would demonstrate their knowledge at the end of a unit on sea animals. But instruction had a settled feeling because of Haylee’s careful plan, even though there were “subitizing moments” where she had to recognize relationships and think on her feet.
 
In math, we are immediately aware of what is being displayed if it’s within the subitizing range. In Haylee’s lesson, she was immediately aware of opportunities to extend understanding because of her careful preparation.
 
Later, as Haylee reflected on the lesson, she talked about the value of her careful plan and admitted that, when such plans weren’t in place, things didn’t go as well. At such times, she overlooked teachable moments because she had to be thinking about the lesson’s next steps. She couldn’t see patterns in student thinking as easily. She wasn’t able to make rapid, confident decisions in the moment.
 
It’s interesting that, mathematically, the number of objects that can be subitized (enumerated without counting) increases when we see a familiar pattern. With careful noticing and experience, recognition becomes automatic. Helping teachers recognize patterns is an important role of coaching.
 
My thoughts about subitizing were sparked by a first-grade math lesson I observed yesterday in Ms. Rivera’s class. The objective of the lesson was for students to identify the number of things in a set by quickly looking at them. But a pattern I’d noticed with Gabbi (Ms. Rivera) was the lack of a through line connecting all of a lesson’s activities to the objective. The subitizing lesson started out with a clear connection: Gabbi flashed different sets of dots on the screen and students responded with both the quantity they saw and the subitized groups they used to get to their answer. The lesson’s culminating activity was Bingo, which thrilled the students. The Bingo cards had counting dots in each square, and when Gabbi called out the number for students to cover, she showed the numeral on the SmartBoard. I noticed students counting the dots on their cards before covering them. They weren’t subitizing, so the activity wasn’t reinforcing the lesson’s objective.
 
Reflecting on the pattern I’d seen when working with Gabbi (lesson activities not clearly connected to objective), I had time to plan how to draw attention to this important need during our follow-up conversation. I even planned the exact wording I wanted to use for a question: “How could the Bingo activity be changed to make it more about subitizing?”
 
When I met with Gabbi at the end of the day, I asked her what stood out for her from the math lesson. We celebrated successes, then she brought up a concern about how students had been distracted while one of their friends came to the board and shared her thinking. She wondered how she could keep the other students focused on their friend’s demonstration. Her focus was all on those non-presenting students. But this was a situation she couldn’t subitize. She needed to shift her attention.
 
In mathematics, when the number of objects exceeds the subitizing range, mathematicians shift their viewpoint around the display until all of the elements represented have been counted; they shift their zone of attention.
 
I mentioned that I’d noticed students’ distraction, too. Having shifted my attention across Gabbi, the presenting students, and the listeners, I felt students’ distraction may have been due to the repetitious description the girl at the board was providing. If Gabbi’s prompts and questions for the presenter could lead to quicker descriptions, listeners could maintain attention. Gabbi felt this was worth working on.
 
So far, Gabbi hadn’t brought up any concerns about the Bingo activity, but I still felt we needed to go there. I posed my planned question and paused, but even with what seemed like a lot of think time, Gabbi didn’t respond. Knowing my own coaching patterns (too ready with a recommendation!), I reminded myself that Gabbi was gaining experience and had a growing teaching repertoire. I felt she had it in her to come up with answers to the question. I made a few “filler” comments (about focusing on the lesson objective, about subitizing), giving her more time to think. In the middle of one of my sentences, I saw that hoped-for light-bulb moment spread over Gabbi’s face.
 
“What if I put the numerals on the Bingo card and flashed the dots on the screen?” she said. “Is that what you were thinking?” I affirmed that it was, but that there were likely other ways to tweak the game to emphasize the lesson’s objective. I hadn’t been fishing for that specific answer.
 
Like object counting and teaching, coaching is enhanced when we recognize familiar patterns – in both the teachers we are working with and ourselves. Like object counting and teaching, coaching, too, includes rapid and accurate decisions made in the midst of a conversation. As we develop our abilities to both recognize patterns and “subitize,” making quick and targeted decisions, the effectiveness of our coaching will increase.
 
*from Wikipedia, Subitizing.
 
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Hooray!!! My new book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner is a fall release from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! During October, you can use the code: OCT2022 for 15% off plus FREE SHIPPING. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!
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This week, you might want to take a look at:

Picture books that affirm students’ identities:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/picture-books-that-affirm-and-celebrate-students-identities/

3 question-asking strategies to engage ALL students:

https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-ways-ask-questions-engage-whole-class
 
 
This podcast about leveraging multisensory learning:
 
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/multisensory-learning/
 

Learning music closes the achievement gap in reading:
 
http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/8472/20140809/music-training-improves-memory-reading-skills-children.htm
 
 
This video example of a coach making a well-received recommendation:
 
http://www.corwin.com/highimpactinstruction/videos/v4.1.htm
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
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Follow on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch and Twitter and Instagram @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com.

Working with “Pumpkin Patch Teachers”

It's time to think again about "Working with 'Pumpkin Patch Teachers'" - my most-read post of all time! Not only is it seasonal, I think we can all relate:

Are you working with a teacher who is desperately hanging on to old ways of doing things? Jennifer Schwanke calls these teachers “Pumpkin Patch Teachers,” referencing a social studies teacher she knew who, every year around Halloween, made each student buy a pumpkin and dress it up as a character from American history…..even after American history was no longer part of her grade level standards. The project should have disappeared, but didn’t, because it was fun, easy, and enjoyed by both the teacher and her students.
 
Working with Pumpkin Patch teachers can be discouraging. Over the years I’ve noticed a few coaching strategies that encourage reluctant teachers to embrace innovation—or at least try something new! Here are a few ideas you might consider when working with reluctant teachers:
 
I frequently espouse the merits of modeling, and this coaching move can encourage change with teachers who are highly-invested in the status quo. Seeing a strategy work, especially in her own class with her own students, can nudge a teacher in a new direction.
 
Providing opportunities for peers to share ideas with one another about implementing a new strategy can also be helpful. Sometimes hearing about something in a slightly different way makes it resonate. And colleagues often share similar contexts and concerns, making their insights especially helpful.
 
Finding a way to provide resources can also move the change process along. What teacher doesn’t like new stuff for her classroom? Beg, borrow, and reallocate to get materials into the hands of reluctant teachers. Then review the new resources with the teacher so they don’t end up gathering dust on a shelf.
 
Offer time. That is one thing teachers never have enough of. For hard-to-reach teachers, covering her class (by teaching yourself or, better yet, arranging for a sub) can give the teacher time to plan for implementing new ideas. If you are not able to be with the teacher during this released time, provide structures that will support planning, and then follow up.
 
Asking questions can provide a segue into non-threatening suggestions. If you observe, ask questions afterward about instructional decisions. The teacher’s responses will give you insight about her purposes and open opportunities for offering recommendations in ways that are more likely to be welcomed.
 
Offer support. “Would you like me to look for resources for you?” “Do you have a unit coming up that you’d like help revising?” Specific offers of help are less likely to be turned away than more general overtures.
 
Pumpkin patch teachers may require some extra effort on the front end, but with support they’re likely to become just as loyal to the new ideas as they were to the old!

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

Making positive calls home – and making it manageable!
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/why-positive-call-home-worth-effort
 
 
Using QR Codes to send writers’ voices home:

https://choiceliteracy.com/article/bringing-writers-voices-home-with-qr-codes/

Keys to coaching conversations:
 
http://www.kathyperret.org/2018/06/25/the-keys-to-coaching-conversations/

 
Using objects to engage writers:
 
https://ccira.blog/2018/08/07/a-writing-lesson-that-works/

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 and Twitter and Instagram @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com

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Hooray!!! My new book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner is a fall release from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! During October, you can use the code: OCTC2022 for 15% off plus FREE SHIPPING. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!

No More Teaching in the Shallow End

It’s easy to teach in the shallow end. Your feet touch the bottom. You can navigate with ease. But you aren’t fully immersed. You can’t dive in deep. And neither can your students.
 
Teaching in the shallow end might look like workbooks and photocopies. It might look like desks in rows. It might be pushing start on a video and letting it play all the way through. Let’s be honest: It might look like sustained silent reading. Book reading and film clips and the right handout could all lead to learning – but only if we get out of the shallow end.
 
When teachers get out of the shallow end, things get messy. Kids talk to each other, and that can be hard to monitor and control. Students move around the room, and that can cause chaos. Students have agency, and that makes teachers vulnerable. It can be very uncomfortable.
 
Instructional coaches can be a floaty in the deep end, offering support, making sure the teacher doesn’t drown in the details. Don’t push a teacher off the high-dive. Just encourage the jump and be there to tow her to the edge of the pool if needed. Or lull her gradually deeper, treading water alongside. Sometimes you have to get used to the temperature.
 
In my coaching right now, I’m challenging one teacher to go deeper by differentiating instruction. It’s complicated and requires a steadying hand. Another teacher wants to use small-groups more effectively; she’s going to try assigning roles. Someone else is adding conferring to silent reading time. Another I’m nudging to use different seating arrangements. I think she’s ready to dive in. I talked with another about handing out a blank sheet of paper instead of that worksheet. A scary thought. She’d rather have her feet on the bottom.
 
Which teachers at your school are swimming in the shallow end? What are some shallow-end practices you’ve wanted to change? (Please comment below – I want to know!) As instructional coaches, we encourage deep dives and are there when teachers come up for air.
 
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My new book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner is a fall release from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! During October, you can use the code: OCTB2022 for 15% off plus FREE SHIPPING. Plus click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!
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This week, you might want to take a look at:

Increasing engagement through choice, differentiation, and including students’ interests:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/giving-students-choice-classroom-increases-engagement
 
 
School-wide 6-word memoirs:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/an-all-school-writing-project-six-word-memoirs/
 
 
5 lesson-opener hooks:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2016/09/14/5-ways-to-start-your-lessons/?utm_source=newsletter20160917/
 
 
How to slow down the teaching treadmill (especially great to share with new teachers!):
 
http://roxannaelden.com/2017/10/how-to-turn-down-your-teaching-treadmill/#more-2869
 
6 benefits of play:
 
https://thegeniusofplay.org/tgop/benefits/genius/benefits-of-play/benefits-of-play-home.aspx
 
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 and Twitter and Instagram @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com.

Favorite Things

 

This week, I had the pleasure of observing a math lesson in Hailee’s 5^th grade class. Students were reviewing the concept of volume by “filling in the grid” of 6 sections their paper was divided into.  Hailee had strewn a bunch of 3”x5” cards in a corner of the carpet, each with a volume problem on it. Students picked up one card at a time, figured out the problem in one section of their paper, then returned the card to the carpet and chose another.
 
When Hailee and I met, I invited her to reflect: “What stands out as you think back on that lesson?” I asked.
 
Hailee first mentioned how much students loved getting up to pick their problems; she was surprised by how engaging this was. “I could have just given them a worksheet with six problems,” she said, “Because that’s actually what they did.”
 
“Yes!” I agreed. “That was brilliant! Not only did it give them an authentic opportunity for movement, which always helps with attention, it also provided an element of choice. Since the problems were at different levels of difficulty, it gave students an opportunity to self-differentiate.”
 
“I hadn’t thought about that differentiation piece,” Hannah said.  She continued, “I think I’ll do something like this again. I could use it to give students problems to practice about anything!”
 
Again, I agreed, and extended that idea: “You could really adapt this idea for any content area. Now that you’ve taught the routine, it would be easy to replicate. You wouldn’t want to do it too often, of course, but what a great activity to have in your students’ repertoire!”
 
As Hailee continued reflecting, she mentioned that she felt she’d given clear directions for the activity. Since this was a goal we’d previously set together, it was definitely something to celebrate!  Not only had Hailee given clear directions, before sending them off to work, she’d asked if students had any questions. This was part of why the activity went so smoothly. Hailee’s comment about procedures gave me this opportunity to highlight something else I’d noticed. I emphasized that she had provided not only clear explanations for the activity, but also a clear explanation of the mathematical procedure of determining volume.
 
This discussion led right into the next point I had hoped to bring up. “There were so many great things about the lesson,” I said, “but my favorite thing was your focus on meaning.”
 
I noticed how attentive Hailee got as I said the words, “my favorite thing.” I noticed how the corners of her mouth quickly turned up in a smile. I paused for just a second to let that feeling sink in – for both of us. Hailee nodded.
 
Then I went on to recall what Hailee had done as she monitored students’ progress.  In the midst of the activity, Hailey called for students’ attention, and she said she’d noticed that some students were leaving off the units in their answers. “These aren’t just numbers,” Hailee said. “They mean something.” She then went on to name and describe some of the units in the problems: inches, feet, centimeters. “If we multiply 6 cm X 10 cm by 2 cm, we don’t just get 120. We get 120 centimenters.” She grabbed a ruler and showed them the centimeter markings. “The numbers mean something,” Hailee repeated.
 
Not only did I love the way Hailee drew attention to the meaning of units in volume, I loved the way she responded when I said, “My favorite thing…” I decided to try that again when I had a chance.
 
My next post-observation conversation was with Isabelle. In Isabelle’s case, discussing positive aspects of the lesson was especially important because she’d felt insecure about the lesson overall, but couldn’t really say why. What she needed most was a confidence boost. We discussed several positive aspects of the lesson. “We can see that students were really learning,” I said, as we looked at student work.  “And that’s the bottom line.  I’d say it was a successful lesson!”  
 
I summarized our discussion so far and then added, like I had with Hailee, about my favorite thing. For Isabelle’s lesson, it was connected to classroom management.  “So many great things,” I said. “I’m surprised you didn’t feel confident about the lesson.  But my favorite thing was the way you expected full participation.  You quickly re-engaged students whose attention wandered by just saying their name or asking them a quick question.  You used the agree/disagree gesture as an all-respond throughout the lesson that kept everyone participating.”  As with Hailee, Isabelle’s eyes lit up at the mention of “my favorite thing.”  She nodded and made a note as I continued the explanation.  
 
I think I’ve added a new “favorite thing” to my own repertoire! Saying that something is a “favorite thing” draws attention to a practice in a way that is likely to be memorable and foster ongoing use.
 
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Hooray!!! My new book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner is a fall release from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! During September, you can use the code: OCTA2022 for 15% off plus FREE SHIPPING. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!
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This week, you might want to take a look at:
How acting boosts learning:
 
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-acting-out-in-school-boosts-learning/
 
 
A podcast about substantive conversation in the classroom:
 
http://www.idra.org/images/stories/CN-130.mp3
 
 
Picture books about worries and other emotions:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/reassuring-worried-children-with-picture-books/
 
 
Myth-busting about differentiated instruction:
 
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/differentiated-instruction-myths-and-truths-john-mccarthy
 
 
Collaboration and teacher/teacher observation boosts learning:
 
http://tn.chalkbeat.org/2015/01/28/from-shanghai-to-collierville-collaboration-model-boosts-teacher-performance/
 
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 and Twitter and Instagram @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com
 
 

Coaching Focus: Rocks in a Jar

Have you heard the analogy about fitting a bunch of rocks and a pile of sand in a jar? The only way to make it all fit is to put the rocks in first. That’s the image that came to my mind recently as I worked with Gina, I novice teacher. I felt a bit overwhelmed when thinking about a possible coaching focus. But we decided that focusing first on the big rocks first made the most sense.
 
One of the big rocks was matching learning activity to lesson objectives – so important! I knew this was a big rock, but Gina didn’t know it yet. For a novice, it’s especially hard to know what you don’t know. When I met with Gina to debrief a lesson I’d observed, I asked about the objective; I asked about the activity; I asked about which students were most successful and which struggled; eventually, I pointed out the mismatch between the objective and the activity – she wasn’t getting there herself. When I described the mismatch, I saw her light-bulb moment response. She recognized this problem in the lesson and wanted to improve objective alignment. As we looked toward upcoming lessons, matching the activity to the objective was the first big rock in the jar. This became our coaching focus.
 
As you begin a coaching cycle, a focus is selected for your collaborative work. There are many facets to effective instruction, so it may be difficult to select a single coaching focus. Teaching frameworks and curricular resources can provide a menu of possibilities. Choosing a manageable focus for a coaching cycle will define and shape your collaborative work.
 
Whether you’re working with expert teachers or novices, having them choose the focus for your coaching cycles makes coaching more effective. If a teacher is working on something he cares about, it’s always going to be a better problem to think about than anything suggested by somebody else. Teacher buy-in for coaching cycles increases when you zero in on a specific, teacher-identified need.
 
Sometimes, though, guidance may be needed in choosing the coaching focus. When school initiatives or teacher needs seem to define your coaching purpose, teacher buy-in may come through a conversation that illuminates the need. If you see a “rock” that will make a big difference in student learning, it makes sense to start there. (Caution: Don’t be fooled into thinking that classroom management is always the big rock; if you dig a bit deeper, you may find another rock below the surface.)
 
Like rocks and sand in a jar, once the instructional “big rocks” are taken care of, other practices can fall into place.

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Hooray!!! My new book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner is a fall release from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: TCP2022 for FREE SHIPPING. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues. I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!

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

Ideas for supporting students in the “fight-flight-freeze” zone:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/fight-flight-freeze
 
 
Shifts for inclusive classroom practices:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/becoming-more-inclusive/
 
 
Or listen to this podcast about culturally-responsive literacy instruction:
 
https://www.ascd.org/podcasts/kimberly-parker-on-culturally-responsive-literacy-instruction
 
 
10 Tips for Professional Development:
 
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/10-tips-delivering-awesome-professional-development-elena-aguilar
 
 
Multisensory learning and movement = learning that sticks:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9RH8rVBglg&feature=youtu.be
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!