Penny for Your Thoughts?

This week, I stood with a group of teachers around a 2-foot inflatable pool. We took turns throwing pennies into our “reflection pool” as we shared memories and take-aways from our time together. Chandra said that she was surprised how well her students did with one of the writing units we’d worked on together. She said she realized her expectations had been too low. Jeff said he was reflecting on our collaboration, how helpful that had been. Amanda added, saying it was a safe to share our ideas and frustrations. Everyone took turns until our  3-pennies-each were used up, with Gary saying he wanted to add his final “2 cents” to wrap it up. As we stood around that small pool, I recognized the power of creating time for group reflection. I felt that the ideas that were expressed had not really even been in our heads until we took the time to say them.
 
Next, we did a silent Chalk Talk. It was a small group, so two chart papers were enough. In the center of one was written, “What from this past year will you be taking into next year?” The other said, “Describe any struggles you experienced implementing the lessons we created. How did you respond to these struggles? What did you learn from these struggles that could inform our work?” Writing on sticky notes or directly on the chart paper, we silently shared ideas, responded with exclamation points, hearts, and comments as we moved back and forth between the two charts. After the silent time ended, we talked about what stood out. We also talked about how to adapt these group reflection activities for students.
 
Group reflection allows for adjustment. It helps us think about the work we’ve done and make future plans. We consider our process and our outcomes. We highlight what worked and clarify what didn’t. Group reflection is a future guide for facilitation and participation. We might recognize needed resources, reconsider the purpose of our convenings, or anchor the actions that helped us succeed. We align our intentions. Group reflection can build individuals’ self-awareness and emotional intelligence. Reflection spurs further thought and potential refinement. Group reflection leads to personal reflection.
 
Whether you use a baby pool, Chalk talk, a Plus/Delta discussion, Stop/Start/Keep matrix, What/So what/Now what, or some other protocol, group reflection should help us identify, describe, and analyze our experience. It helps insights percolate throughout the group as we create shared understanding. A pause for reflection creates welcome calm amidst end-of-year chaos.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Another reflective conversation protocol:
 
https://www.schoolreforminitiative.org/download/reflective-conversation-protocol/
 
 
Ideas for celebrating teacher successes:
 
https://mycoachescouch.blogspot.com/2018/05/celebrating-success.html
 
 
Share your own reading to teach vocabulary using context clues:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/mentor-reader-words/
 
 
What makes coaching effective? Report of a meta-analysis:
 
http://hechingerreport.org/every-teacher-need-coach/
 
 
How much is too much homework?
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MafcPHRJrR0
 
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: MAY2024 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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