Pain Points and Praise Points as Possibilities for Instructional Coaching

Pain Points

 
On a recent hike, I felt a pain in my heel each time I stepped forward. I was with a group and didn’t want to step off the trail, so for a while, I just kept going. But the pain was persistent and worsening, so I eventually stopped, sat on a rock, and took off my shoe to investigate. Unsurprisingly, there was a tiny thorn in my shoe. When I dumped my shoe and put it back on, there was no more stabbing in my heel.
 
Like finding the thorn in my shoe, getting to the root of a teaching pain point can offer relief. It can also be a springboard for growth. Pain is an opportunity to assess our current status and our potential for growth. It can be a catalyst for change. Coaches can help teachers take the time to acknowledge pain points, analyze them, figure out where the pain is coming from, and find solutions.
 
Getting at the root cause of a problem makes us wiser and more able to navigate future difficulties. Oftentimes, when we dive deep, we find a surprising undercurrent that leads to insight. I’ve lost track of the number of times a painful classroom management event led to coaching opportunities. At the root, we discovered lack of student engagement, so we planned opportunities for more-meaningful instruction: collaboration, discussion, hands-on activities, etc.
 
If we panic and run around trying to put out fires (addressing the symptom rather than the cause), the problem persists. But challenges, when examined, can sharpen knowledge, performance, and the future ability to address difficult situations. Out of struggle we can forge strength. Pain can be a path to progress. We’ve all experienced growing pain.
 
Praise Points
 
Thankfully, pain is not the only path toward growth! Praise can also foster progress. By offering praise, coaches utilize a strengths-based approach.
 
“Praise is like sunlight to warm the human spirit: we cannot flower and grow without it,” said psychologist Jess Lair.
 
Specific praise reinforces the use of effective teaching strategies. A teacher who hears, “The way you focused students on the learning objective and included self-assessment was outstanding!” is likely to intentionally include these practices as an ongoing part of his instruction.
 
When coaches praise, they shine a spotlight on things teachers do well, building their confidence and encouraging more of the same. What gets praised gets carried on. A coach I was talking with commented, “Praise gave her the recognition she needed to know what to continue.” Specific praise helps teachers determine what to hang on to. What we appreciate increases!
 
Specific, authentic praise also creates positive energy, broadens thinking, expands awareness, builds resilience, and bolsters self-efficacy. Self-efficacy supports resourceful problem-solving as teachers look for creative solutions to help students grow. As one teacher explained, “Praise gets me searching for new and innovative things on my own.” 
 
Pain Points and Praise Points

When coaches dig deep with teachers to get at the root of challenging situations, they foster ongoing growth. It seems ironic, but shining a light on successes can do the same. Being attuned to a teacher’s experiences, noticing how she responds to the experiences, and reflecting on your past successes with that teacher will help you navigate the path forward.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Opening and closing routines:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/14-effective-opening-and-closing-routines-for-teachers/
 
What neuroscience does (and does not) tell us about teaching reading:
 
https://www.shanahanonliteracy.com/blog/what-does-brain-science-have-to-say-about-teaching-reading-does-it-matter
 
 
Making turn-and-talk more effective:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/turn-and-talk-then-what/
 
 
The Collective Efficacy Cycle for teacher PD:
 
https://www.k12dive.com/spons/the-5-steps-of-a-collective-efficacy-cycle/650710/
 
 
Who are the quiet powerhouses in your classroom? Check out this Ted talk about the power of introverts for ideas:
 
https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts
 
 
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 Instagram @Vicki_Collet_Educator, on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch and Twitter @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com
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Want more coaching tips? 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! TODAY you can still use the code: FEB2024 for 20% off. 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!

Why Modeling Works in Instructional Coaching

Modeling is a differentiated coaching activity, often focused on working with individual teachers to address their specific goals and needs. In addition to demonstrating potential practices, modeling creates opportunities to evaluate and talk about instruction in a non-threatening situation. Modeling provides content for teacher-coach conversations and can generate other coaching activities. Modeling can also build teachers’ confidence and efficacy. Since the end goal of coaching is to improve students’ learning, it’s important to note that research demonstrates coaches’ modeling can improve student achievement. When you stop and think about al these benefits, it’s easy to see why modeling is a popular coaching activity!

 
When coaches model in another teacher’s classroom, they make themselves vulnerable. They show that they are risk-takers, just like they hope the teachers they are working with will be. Vulnerability strengthens relationships. Risk-taking invites change. Another benefit of modeling, when it happens in the teacher’s own classroom, is that the teacher sees that the practices she observed (hopefully!) were worthwhile for her students. There is no gap to be overcome in translating the practices, and thoughts that “this wouldn’t work for my kids” are avoided.
 
Being an observer gives teachers a valuable new perspective. Observation supports inquiry and provides opportunities to further-develop teaching craft. When observing, teachers are freed from the ongoing, intensive brainwork of on-the-spot decision-making. As an observer, they don’t have to worry about what the student on the other side of the room is doing or get materials ready for what will come next in the lesson. They can give their energy to watching and listening. They get to decide what they will pay attention to and when.
 
When teachers are learning new instructional practices, they may request that a coach model these practices. For example, a teacher concerned about implementing close reading asked her coach to model. Modeling in the classroom allowed the teacher to see a close reading activity in action with her own students. This authentic situation illustrated the nuances of close reading, allowing the teacher the freedom to consider both teacher and student responses in a way that would have been difficult had she been doing the teaching.
 
As learners, teachers aren’t so different from the students they work with. Everyone benefits from a good model!
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:
This podcast episode on forming better habits:
 
https://simonsinek.com/podcast/episodes/atomic-habits-with-author-james-clear/
 
Transcripts as a coaching tool:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/transcripts-to-study-practice/
 
 
Research skills for 1^st graders:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-research-skills-first-grade/
 
 
The knowing-doing gap as it applies to teacher change:
 
https://snacks.pepsmccrea.com/p/the-knowing-doing-gap
 
 
“Concept attainment” is a widely-applicable instructional strategy. Check out a description and example here:
 
https://www.middleweb.com/33825/why-i-love-this-strategy-to-introduce-concepts/
 
 
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 Instagram @Vicki_Collet_Educator, on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch and Twitter @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com
---------------------------------
Want more coaching tips? 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! TODAY you can still use the code: FEB2024 for 20% off. 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!

Floor and Ceiling Goals

It’s February now, and already our good intentions for the new year may be losing their sheen as the day-to-day craziness wears us down. Instead of giving up altogether, we can maintain momentum by having “floor goals” as well as the “ceiling goals” we more typically set. Having both a target and a lower limit provides a framework for consistency.
 
For example, in my overarching goal to be more fit, my personal (admittedly puny) floor goal is to do a minimum of 80 sit-ups and 24 lifts with light weights each day. This floor goal takes mere minutes and the sit-ups have been part of my daily routine for years, so it’s not much of a stretch to ensure that I get this done. My ceiling goal is to include daily aerobic exercise, too. But on days when I lack time, energy, or enthusiasm, having an achievable minimum means I’m going to do at least something. If consistency is a key to goal attainment (and it is!), my floor goal keeps me moving in the right direction. Here are some varied examples of floor goals:

·       Write 50 words per day

·       Say one compliment

·       Eat a serving of fresh vegetables

·       Tidy one drawer

Floor goals would not get you where you want to go in a hurry, but that’s not the point. They give you a daily range that allows you to hold yourself accountable, even on crisis days when you can’t pour much energy into your goal. Even if I forget about my 80-sit-up, 24-lift goal until the end of the day, I can still pull it off.
 
I’m sure your mind is already whirring with how the floor and ceiling principle could apply in instructional coaching. In addition to having their own coaching goals, Instructional coaches support teachers in achieving goals for themselves and their students.
 
A “floor” coaching goal might be doing walk-throughs in four classrooms (in the service of increasing the number of teachers you serve). It might mean leaving one positive note in a teacher’s box each day, supporting your goal of relationship-building. It could be reading 5 pages (or 1!) in a professional book. Floor goals are baby steps forward.
 

If you share the concept of floor and ceiling goals with teachers, they might lean into ideas like these:

·       Ask at least one open-ended question each class period, every day. This floor goal could support a long-term goal of developing rich classroom discussions.

·       Include at least two opportunities for partner talk, in service of a ceiling goal of regular student collaboration.

·       Comment on at least two students who are making good behavior choices, while reaching toward the goal of a well-managed classroom. 

For students, floor goals might be reading for at least 10 minutes at home, going through their multiplication flashcards once, or making sure their planner is in their backpack before heading home. Checking the box for the least we can do makes us less likely to give up all together.
 
This little mental shift of having a floor goal has made a big difference for me. My ceiling goals are the pinnacle of what I want to achieve, Many days, I can pour energy into them. But some days, they just feel too big. Having a range for achieving goals can keep students, teachers, and coaches moving forward.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Transcripts as a coaching tool:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/transcripts-to-study-practice/
 
The knowing-doing gap as it applies to teacher change:
 
https://snacks.pepsmccrea.com/p/the-knowing-doing-gap
 
 
This podcast episode on forming better habits:
 
https://simonsinek.com/podcast/episodes/atomic-habits-with-author-james-clear/
 
 
Research skills for 1^st graders:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-research-skills-first-grade/
 
 
Seeing the world through a child’s eyes (so much to explore here!):
 
https://www.understood.org/en/tools/through-your-childs-eyes
 
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 Instagram @Vicki_Collet_Educator, on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch and Twitter @vscollet for more coaching and teaching tips!  You can also find me at VickiCollet.com
---------------------------------
Want more coaching tips? 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! TODAY you can still use the code: FEB2024 for 20% off. 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!