Wrap-Up Report

In last week’s post, I named my questions for the final coaching conversations of the year and promised to report back on how this winding-down process went. Rather than a play-by-play, I’ll share some highlights from one coaching conversation – with Eleanor, a novice teacher – that have been helpful for me to reflect on.
 
I started the conversation with questions about something Eleanor had noticed that made her smile, about her hopes for students’ next steps, and about her dreams for her own future classroom. These questions all bore fruit with specifics – reflections about the recent past and hopes for students’ hard-won understandings. The next question was, “What’s a micro-step you could take between now and the end of the year that would get you a teeny bit closer to your dream future?”
 
After a thoughtful pause, Eleanor talked about one last writing assignment she planned to do with students after the semester test. “I’m hoping I can tie things off with a little bow,” she said. “Show them how much they’ve grown.”
 
Eleanor had just told me about one student’s work that she’d submitted to administration to document her impact, describing the impressive difference between a beginning-of-year and end-of-year writing assignment. So, including the phrase she’d used herself, I asked whether she thought it might be a good end-of-the-year activity, to tie things off with a bow, by doing something similar with all students, having them find beginning- and end-of-year writing in their Google drive. I told her about when I’d done something similar and had students write a quick summary of the differences they noticed.
 
By using Eleanor’s own language, I wanted to strengthen her intention for a clear and meaningful closure and to emphasize that I was supporting her own hopes. Mirroring the teacher’s language deepens connections, enhances clarity, and fosters an individualized coaching experience.
 
Eleanor thought this over and problematized it. For some, Eleanor said, that might be motivating and show what’s possible. “That might work for the students who actually turned stuff in,” she said. This was not the time to wonder with her about why some students hadn’t turned in beginning-of-year assignments. I let that slide as unrelated to our current closure conversation, but I made a mental note that it might be something to address next fall.
 
We kept going with the same thread. Would it be helpful to show the whole class a few anonymous pre/post examples, I asked. “Well, maybe for the 8^th graders, She paused. Maybe I could have a discussion board asking, “What’s one way that you’ve grown this year?...Or maybe I could find a way to make it more fun.” There was another thoughtful pause while Eleanor considered.
 
Again using her own words, I asked Eleanor, “How might you make it fun?”
 
Eleanor said that a lot of her kids really benefit from visual presentations. Maybe they could do sticky note responses, she said, and then plaster them on the wall. “That would give them something look at.”
 
I mentioned I remembered that is something she’d done in the past that seemed to work well. Now, Eleanor was smiling, and there was a sparkle in her eye. Connecting a current idea to past successes helped her feel grounded, capable, and optimistic – essential characteristics for meaningful growth.
 
I came back to the idea I’d pitched earlier about having students look at the two pieces to come up with what to write on their sticky note – to help them identify ways they’d grown. I’m not sure whether there was uptake on my idea, but the part she came up with as we talked – the sticky note idea – seemed sure to stick! “That would be fun to save for after semester test,” Eleanor said. “Fill up the wall with sticky notes!”
 
With this being our last scheduled meeting for the year, I thanked Eleanor for our collaborative work. She replied that “being able to talk about my classroom experience one on one” had been helpful.” “Being able to reflect, like when we’re in meetings like this, helps me unscramble my brain,” she continued. “The opportunities for reflection have been really good.” Now it was Eleanor’s turn to do the affirming!
 
She continued, “Those individual meetings for reflection where I can spend more time talking about how things went and bouncing my observations off someone, that’s really helpful. I do reflect on my own, while I’m teaching, after I’m teaching. But getting the chance to verbalize that, to sort things out – besides like all the strings and the stuff all over my brain” (here she made gestures about things ping-ponging in head). “Saying I’m going to do something makes it a little more real.”
 
“I’m grateful for all your help,” Eleanor continued. “We talked about the kids’ growth, but I feel like I’ve grown a lot this year. Whenever I stop and think about it – I’ve made a lot of big steps.” Ah, that, my friends, is why we do this work!
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Songs for end-of-the-year reflection (I plan to use some for teacher reflection as well):
 
https://www.bespokeclassroom.com/blog/2017/5/14/10-songs-with-prompts-to-use-at-the-end-of-the-school-year-for-reflection
 
 
5 end-of-year tasks for instructional coaches:
 
http://buzzingwithmsb.blogspot.com/2017/05/5-end-of-year-tasks-for-instructional.html
 
 
The power of story in overcoming difficulties:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/the-power-of-story/
 
 
This short video asks us to consider what we are willing to shift to empower students:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYBJQ5rIFjA
 
 
To improve lessons, think like a student:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/understanding-student-experience-classroom 
 
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! You can use the code: FDNS25 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!