Remembering or Reflecting?

Supporting reflection is one of the most impactful instructional coaching practices. In their busy days, with their many roles and responsibilities, teachers benefit from time specifically set aside for reflection.
 
To make the most of reflective conversations, it’s helpful to have a clear understanding of what reflection is. I like this equation:
 
Reflecting = Remembering + Learning
 
Remembering is pulling something out of memory. Reminiscing is nostalgic recollection – it is thinking back. Reflection is purposeful recalling – it is thinking forward. Reflection supports action: How will teachers plan, prepare, and enact instruction differently next time because of what they noticed about last time?
 
Time for such consideration is an important element provided by a coaching conversation. Coaches can further support reflection through asking questions, offering objective observations, and modeling a reflective stance.
 
Asking Questions to Support Reflection
 
After a lesson, using questions intentionally can give the teacher opportunities to gain her own insights through reflection. Questions can guide reflection on fleeting thoughts from a lesson.
 
Reflection-supporting questions can begin broad:
 
What stands out for you from that lesson?
What did you notice?
What do you want to celebrate?
 
Then they can get narrower:
What stands out for you about their partner talk?
What did you notice about students’ responses to the read-aloud?
Were there times during the lesson when students seemed disengaged?
 
When a teacher expressed frustration during a coaching conversation saying, “They just don’t get it,” the coach followed up with the probing question of, “What are some examples of students’ confusion?” By asking this question, the coach moved the conversation in a productive direction. She encouraged a closer look at evidence that could pinpoint students’ confusions or misconceptions—information that was helpful as they considered plans for re-teaching.            
 
When supporting a teacher who was experienced in leading whole-group discussions, another coach posed the thought-provoking question: “How do you choose who to ask?” Her question prompted reflection on the part of the teacher – introspection that led her to refine this decision-making process that happens almost instantaneously.
 
Reflective questions lead to deeper, richer, and more thoughtful coaching conversations. Asking questions builds the teacher’s capacity as a reflective practitioner.
 
Offering Observations to Support Reflection
 
If a coach has had the opportunity to observe a lesson in a teacher’s classroom, she can support reflection by sharing snippets from her objective notes. This is especially helpful when the coach’s questions don’t initially evoke meaningful reflection.
 
The details matter, and careful notes can support productive reflection. Recording exact words and noticing actions and even facial expressions is revealing. For example, noticing the affective responses of students could give us clues about the fit between the lesson and students’ culture. Noting the “aha” expressions and the looks of confusion can give us a sense of whether the lesson is successfully building on students’ background knowledge. 
Pinning the reflective conference on observations that are objective and specific, rather than evaluative or general, is likely to reveal nuances of practice that enhance the learning experience.
 
Modelling Reflection
 
When coaches have the opportunity to teach a lesson, we can encourage the teacher to take objective notes that will offer insight later. A simple T-chart, with steps of the lesson listed on the left, and observations (what is seen and heard) added on the right during the lesson can be an effective structure to keep notes organized as the lesson moves quickly forward.
 
After the lesson, we can model reflection as we look back together. We can encourage the teacher to share her noticings. We can demonstrate how drawing on these details helps us revise our instructional plans so that things go better the next time. We can model the notion that being a good teacher is about being able to reflect and adjust. 
 
Teachers need to see how other teachers respond when things don’t go as planned. As we model a cycle of teaching, reflection, and revision, we can be open about perceived missteps, demonstrating that teaching requires us to be pliable, and that both successes and challenges offer insight to guide future instruction.
 
Questioning, Observing, and Modeling to Support Reflection
 
We all learn as we go by reflecting on successes and less-successful aspects of lessons. Through dialogue, coaches encourage flexible and appropriate use of teaching practices and improve the effectiveness of teachers’ reflection.
 
Coaches’ questions encourage teachers to reflect on students’ needs and how their practice is supporting those needs, to analyze their own assumptions about learning, and to consider options for how to move forward. Objective observations add details that enrich reflection. When coaches model reflection on a lesson they’ve taught, teachers can hone a vision for their own reflective practice.
Reflecting together helps teachers recognize not just what they did, but why they did it. Looking at underlying assumptions and beliefs makes teachers more intentional in their future decision-making. Reflection maximizes the construction of meaning and is a critical step for improving instruction.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

30 ways to celebrate national poetry month (April!):
 
https://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/30-ways-celebrate-national-poetry-month
 
My guest blog post about coaching reluctant teachers:
 
http://blog.teachboost.com/breaking-down-the-coaching-barriers
 
 
How self-monitoring and self-control relate to classroom management:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/an-identity-of-success/
 
 
Building students’ research skills:
 
https://www.middleweb.com/50515/taking-small-steps-to-build-research-skills/
 
 
Science experiments kids can do at school or at home:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MHn9Q5NtdY
 
 
That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!
 
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: APR2024 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!
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