Friday, December 6, 2024

Third-Point Communication


Eye contact is usually considered to be a tool for building trust and establishing credibility – and both of these are so important in a coaching relationship!  But there are times when eye contact can backfire. It’s been said that the eyes are windows to the soul…and if the soul feels a bit bruised, then eye contact might feel uncomfortable.
 
Although eye contact is normally a support for communication, a direct gaze can undermine the conversation if a teacher perceives the information being shared as negative. When confronted with such evidence, the receiver may have a sense of losing face, of being under attack, of having to defend, or of having to hide strong feelings of being upset. To avoid these negative emotions that can damage a relationship and hinder learning, consider adding a “third point.”  Instead of two people gazing into each other’s eyes, evidence in the form of a paper or screen (student work, teaching video, assessment data, etc.) directs the gaze to an object, making the message feel less personal.  It’s helpful to look up when communicating positive information, but to shift to a third point when communicating information that might be received negatively.
 
Two-point communication refers to the two people talking to each other, usually looking directly at each other. Third-point communication, which can be helpful in difficult conversations, shifts attention away from eye-to-eye contact by adding a third point for both people to look at. The following could serve as third points in a coaching conversation:


·       Academic standards

·       Teaching video of the teacher him/herself

·       Teaching video of someone else

·       Student work

·       Assessment data

·       A list of the teacher’s personal goals

·       Your notes from an observation

·       Anchor chart (previously created or being co-created)

·       A list of potential ideas (previously created or being co-created)

·       A rubric

·       A professional article or book


When preparing for a potentially-difficult conversation, or when considering evidence that could be perceived as negative, it helps to plan in advance for a third point.

This week, you might want to take a look at:

Self-talk for multilingual students:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/young-learners-and-self-talk/
 
 
Build background knowledge to enhance comprehension:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/prior-knowledge-reading-skills
 
Coaching guide: Creating a program that works:
 
https://tinyurl.com/CoachingthatWords
 
 
Using Interactive reading guides in science:
 
https://www.amnh.org/explore/curriculum-collections/integrating-literacy-strategies-into-science-instruction/interactive-reading-guides
 
 
The role of identity in learning:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/video/when-social-brain-misfires
 
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! It’s still November, so you can use the code: DEC2024 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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