Character Traits for Teaching and Coaching

Character traits are a helpful way to understand novels, and they’re also a helpful way to think about the mindsets or ways of being that make an effective teacher. There are habits of mind that seem natural for good teachers. These ways of being effect interactions with students, colleagues, parents, and school leaders. As novice teachers grow into the teachers they want to be, these are attributes to cultivate. Experienced teachers may get worn-down and be ready for an attitude adjustment, too.
 
The dispositions that teachers should demonstrate include:

      ·       a positive attitude
·       a belief that all students can learn
·       effective and appropriate communication
·       courtesy, respect, and civility
·       inclusive behaviors
·       sensitivity
·       passion for learning
·       solution-seeking
·       self-regulation
·       perseverance
·       flexibility
·       reflectiveness
·       commitment
·       engagement
·       ethical thinking
·       sound judgment
·       positive attitude
·       belief that all students can learn
·       openness to receiving feedback

As in other parts of teaching, coaches can be there to strengthen these character traits. Modeling is an effective way to draw attention to teaching dispositions. When I talked with Samantha, an experienced coach, about character traits that support effective instruction, she added to the above list: silliness, fun, and energy on the teacher’s part that enhances students’ participation. An engaging teacher can increase the odds of students’ participation and cognitive engagement. Samantha believes this element enhances the culture of the classroom, too, so she planned to make this element clear in her modeling and then “pull out things where I discuss that energy piece” during the debrief conversation.

Another coach said, “It’s about how I speak to kids. That’s another part of modeling – the rapport she sees, the relationships with kids, the way I respond, the way I react to student behavior. It’s a big part of the modeling.” Another said, “She sees what my expectations are, what is acceptable, what is not.” Coaches said these intangibles get noticed during modeling, and often the teacher brings them up unsolicited during a debrief conversation. One coach noted, “I model respect for the kids, and she has commented on that. I don’t raise my voice. It’s just my demeanor. I think maybe that set her at ease, too.” The dispositions you exhibit can be an important sidebar to the instructional strategies in a modeled lesson.
 
The same dispositions that made you an effective teacher constitute your effectiveness as a coach. The supportive relationships you established in your classroom are critical in your coaching. The high-expectations you had for your students are also needed for the teachers you are working with. By displaying these attributes in your work with teachers and drawing attention to them when you model in the classroom, coaches cultivate characteristics that enhance all aspects of teachers’ professional interactions. 

This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
The power of one-on-one conversations for understanding students:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/self-esteem-and-literacy-understanding-jeff/
 
 
Students must not only learn to read, they should love to read:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/developing-love-reading-students/
 
 
Using Post-its to support discussion:
 
https://www.learnersedge.com/nudge-learning/post-its-little-notes-for-big-discussion
 
 
Benefits of incorporating movement:
 
http://www.medicaldaily.com/fun-exercise-boost-kids-attention-school-performance-all-it-takes-4-minutes-308922
 
 
Improving executive function:
 
http://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/Teaching/TeaDet/TabId/203/ArtMID/833/ArticleID/298/Looking-at-Executive-Function.aspx
 
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
 
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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 November, you can use the code: NOV2022 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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Coaching In and Across Time

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Are you at NCTE? Stop by the Teachers College Press Booth (801) Sunday at 9:30 am. I'll be there with my new coaching book, and I'd love to meet you!

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In 1983, Pearson & Gallagher proposed the Gradual Increase of Responsibility (GRR) Model as a guide for teaching reading comprehension. Modeling is the first stage, followed by guided practice and then individual application. Although this framework was initially proposed to describe changes in support over time, I’ve often seen it used as an outline for a single lesson. Teacher start the lesson by modeling, then included some guided practice (usually whole group). Then teachers turn students loose to try it on their own. This works. Sometimes. But it isn’t always the right structure for a lesson. For example, if we want students to take an inquiry stance in a lesson, modeling exactly what to do won’t yield the hoped-for results – students may just go through the motions without curiosity and exploration. The point I want to make here is that the GRR model does not always support the learning we want when applied within a single lesson. It is, more appropriately, a description of change over time, particularly when applied to a skill – such as its intended use for teaching reading comprehension.
 
Similarly, my Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model’s intended use is longitudinal. It was developed based on research on mentoring and coaching and depicts change over time. The GIR framework demonstrates how the five coaching moves (model, recommend, question, affirm, and praise) change across a coaching cycle. Although all of these moves might be used in a single conversation, the dominant move – the one that gets the most bang for your buck – should change over time, moving toward a less-supportive coaching stance.  We want to keep that GIR visual in mind, moving toward increased teacher responsibility.
 
Remembering that the GIR model represents a gradual shift toward increased teacher responsibility, it can also be helpful to consider how the five moves might be used within a single coaching conversation. Our dialogue in one discussion will likely not follow the progression identified in the GIR model (model à recommend à question à affirm à praise).
 
For example, even when I have recommending in mind as the dominant coaching move, I’ll usually open a debrief conversation with a question like, “As you think back on that lesson, what stands out for you?” When the teacher mentions something in the lesson that she feels worked well, I’ll affirm that teaching move, knowing that affirmations can build a positive, trusting climate for coaching interactions and add emotional capital to the relationship. I might get around to recommending if the teacher expresses a concern or frustration and if the questions I’m asking are coming up empty.  I would call recommending the dominant move in this conversation, because it is the one that will (hopefully!) support growth. But other moves also played a role.
 
Like the initial intentions of Pearson and Gallagher’s popular GRR model, the GIR model describes movement over prolonged interactions. Still, we can be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each of the moves in the model as we navigate individual coaching conversations.

This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
Using tech to help students learn from one another:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/the-good-part-of-tech/
 
 
Teachers and peers can use this tool to provide audio feedback on Google docs:
 
https://www.kaizena.com/
 
 
Discipline-specific literacy strategies:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-to-work-literacy-instruction-into-all-content-areas
 
 
5 straightforward strategies to get students reading and writing:
 
https://www.learnersedge.com/blog/5-strategies-to-get-your-students-reading-and-writing
 
 
Teaching students to self-monitor their behavior:
 
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/teaching-children-to-check-their-own-behavior/
 
 
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 November, you can use the code: NOV2022 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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Coaching and the Teacher Shortage

Current teacher shortages suggest educators need supports that are not being provided. The question of how best to retain and improve the effectiveness of inservice teachers is an urgent question.  
 
To provide “supports” for teacher effectiveness, school systems worldwide spend billions of dollars every year on teacher professional development, with a preponderance of less-effective, short-term workshops provided by experts external to the system. However, these one-and-done offerings of externally-imposed professional development do not have enough specificity and power to effect lasting change. More often than not, such training provokes additional stress, adding one more thing to teachers’ exhaustive to-do list.
 
In contrast, instructional coaching and mentoring use insider knowledge and sustained engagement to improve the complex and contextual work of teaching. Changes in instructional practice, and their associated effects on student learning, occur through professional development that is focused at the classroom level. Coaches offer practical support that increases teachers’ motivation and longevity in the profession. They also offer a listening ear and moral support in a professional that can be emotionally challenging.
 
Coaching and mentoring are more effective when differentiated according to individual teachers’ needs. Like their students, teachers benefit when support is personalized. However, most models for coaching are static in nature, tending not to consider how teachers’ needs and capacities change over time. Some research has indicated coaches and mentors do not change their practices over time to adjust to changing needs, and that’s a problem! Professional learning experiences for teachers must pay more attention to teachers’ individual contexts, experiences, and needs.  
 
In my work with teachers, I’ve found that five coaching moves (modeling, recommending, questioning, affirming, and praising) offer the flexibility I need to provide differentiated support. These five coaching moves are striated in the degree of support provided, so coaches can choose approaches tailored to a teachers’ current needs. An experienced teacher may need high levels of support when implementing a new teaching innovation (modeling and recommending), but benefit from reflective questions when using familiar teaching practices. Affirming and praising increase teacher efficacy, giving teachers a needed pat on the back.
 
A coach with explicit understanding of the varied support provided by the five coaching moves will take a differentiated approach to coaching. These moves are illustrated in the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model for Mentoring and Coaching. The GIR model is conceptually simple, supporting coaches’ decision making. In practice, however, each of the five coaching approaches is complex and nuanced.
 
As instructional coaches become more adept at using these five coaching moves, the teachers they work with will benefit. Coaches and mentors support seasoned teachers, offering momentum. Coaches and mentors also support novice teachers, increasing the likelihood that they’ll stay in the profession. Differentiated support provided by mentors and coaches might be one piece of the puzzle for addressing urgent teacher shortages.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Gratitude routines in the classroom:

https://choiceliteracy.com/article/routines-for-building-gratitude/
 
 
Elementary school strategies that work in high school:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/4-elementary-school-strategies-work-high-school
 
 
Read aloud volunteers in middle school:
 
https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/letting-go-of-the-reins-ten-ways-to-host-a-read-aloud-volunteer-in-the-middle-school-classroom-by-brindi-anderson/
 
 
Teaching students to self-monitor their behavior:
 
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/teaching-children-to-check-their-own-behavior/
 
 
Five ways to start a lesson:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2016/09/14/5-ways-to-start-your-lessons/?utm_source=newsletter20170930/
 
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
 
---------------------------------
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 November, you can use the code: NOV2022 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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Modeling Instructional Decision-Making

Teaching is both physical and mental work: What teachers say and do is on display, but the intellectual work of teaching is invisible. This mental work happens before, during, and after instruction.
 
As coaches, we may model the physical work of teaching – what is said and done with students in the classroom space. But the value of modeling the thinking of the profession may be overlooked. Pause and ponder how you’ve modeled best thinking practices for planning, in-the-moment decision-making, and reflection.
 
Designing instruction requires knowledge of students, development, standards, and curriculum – and how these things come together. As a coach, you can share this intellectual enterprise by thinking aloud.
 
When meeting with a teacher for a planning conversation, you can think aloud about approaches that might be taken during a lesson and illuminate the many factors under consideration.  For example, a coach may review formative assessments, consider strengths and weaknesses, determine where students lie on a developmental continuum, weigh possible learning experiences (considering the benefits of each), and determine a plan of action.  It’s hard work to articulate these processes. You have to slow down your own thinking and vocalize words to make these processes accessible to the teacher you are working with.
 
Modeling the thinking that’s done during instruction is even harder.  I’ve found that recording a video while I’m modeling a lesson allows me to recapture the decisions I was making in the moment.  As the teacher and I view a recording together, I can pause and talk about what was running through my mind at that moment – the factors and responses I quickly considered before responding to a student, or the decision to omit some parts of the lesson, for example.
 
A practice that makes reflection tangible is looking at the work students did during the lesson. Sort the work into three piles: those that show limited understanding, those that kind of get it, and those that show mastery.  State out loud what you’re noticing, your sorting criteria. Vocalize noticings about student learning and concerns about gaps or misconceptions.
 
It might feel strange at first to verbalize your thinking in this way. It’s about being really in-tune with how you make instructional decisions-—all those many factors you automatically consider—-and then letting your teacher-friend hear how you do it. 
With practice, modeling decision-making becomes natural and begins to pay dividends.  By illustrating instructional planning, in-the-moment response, and reflection, we demonstrate the complexity of these processes and a pathway through.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Using tech to help students learn from one another:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/the-good-part-of-tech/
 
 
Nonverbal communication in the classroom:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/nonverbal-communication-in-your-classroom
 
 
Elementary school strategies that work in high school:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/4-elementary-school-strategies-work-high-school
 
 
Ten Things Every Writer Needs to Know: A Podcast with Jeff Anderson:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1389
 
 
Teaching children to fail well:
 
https://time.com/4025350/brene-brown-on-teaching-kids-to-fail-well/
 
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
 
---------------------------------
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 November, you can use the code: NOV2022 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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