Setting the Stage for Modeling

For coaches to make the biggest impact when modeling, it’s important to set the stage before the lesson begins. Setting the stage includes discussing what will be modeled and focusing the observation.
 
The lesson you model may be co-planned with the teacher (while modeling decision-making), or it may be a lesson you have planned after consulting with the teacher about needs. Talk with the teacher to determine a lesson worth modeling. Discuss where the lesson fits within the scope of the curriculum and what the lesson objective will be. Then describe specific instructional strategies to be included. Some parts of the lesson may be tentative, because you’ll flex and bend according to students’ participation. These adjustments might be something for the teacher to notice and note.
 
After you’ve thought through the lesson together, you can also discuss where the teacher might want to position herself in the classroom to most-fully experience the lesson. This could mean being in different parts of the room during different segments of the lesson. It might mean getting in close when students work independently, and listening in when you confer with individual students. This discussion is a brief but important part of the pre-observation conversation: without it, the teacher may stay stationary and miss much.
 
There is so much going on during a lesson that it’s benficial to have a clear focus for the observation. Help the teacher observe with a focus by framing a suggesting with an observing verb. Here is a list of Verbs for Observing:

Watch	Notice
Keep track of	Record
Listen	Pay attention to
Look at	List
Pick up on	See

As you prepare for a coaching conversation before modeling a lesson, think of what the teacher might benefit from noticing. Choose a verb and write a recommendation for focusing the observation.

Here are some examples:
 
“You might want to keep track of which students respond during whole-class discussion.”
 
“It might be useful for you to record the questions I ask. Then we can talk about them when we get together later.”
 
“You could listen to how I confer during independent work time.”
 
Prompts like these set the stage for productive post-modeling conversations!
 
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:
 
The power of gratitude (a great way to end the year!):

https://choiceliteracy.com/article/an-attitude-of-gratitude/
 

The power of classroom libraries:
 
https://teachmeteacherpodcast.com/2023/04/10/306-the-power-of-classroom-libraries-with-colby-sharp-pt-1/
 
 
Tips for students from published writers:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/things-professional-writers-do-students-should-too/
 
 
Student-created end-of-year celebration:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/student-planned-end-of-year-celebration/
 
More End-of-Year ideas:
 
https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=end%20of%20year%20activities
 
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For more about modeling and the other coaching moves, check out my book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner  - available from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! You can use the code: MAY2023 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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