Be a Hypocrite!

I had an experience this week that reminded me how important it is for coaches and mentors to be transparent about their imperfections: Even though we understand what works instructionally, that doesn’t mean we can do it 100% of the time!

I was talking with a novice teacher about her mentoring experience, and she complained, “My mentor tells me something I shouldn’t do, and then she turns right around and does it herself!” A coach might advise: You should wait until after posing a question to name who will answer. You should allow for reflection and closure before moving on to the next task. You should reprimand privately, not publicly. We know all these statements represent generalizations of best practice, but there will be exceptions, and there will be times when we just can’t pull it off!

In the world of athletics, it’s widely acknowledged that the players will be better than the coach. Do you think Coach Bill Belichick could have made those four touchdowns in Super Bowl 2015? I don’t think so! Athletic coaches have a saying: “It’s a pretty bad coach whose players aren’t better than he is!” Instructional coaching doesn’t require the physical prowess of athletes that may actually decrease with experience, but don’t feel like you have to wait until you can execute perfectly to make a recommendation!

When modeling and recommending, I always add the preface: I’m not perfect. Nobody is. So, we’ll learn together from what works and what doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean I won’t make suggestions based on what I feel should be happening.

When it comes to making recommendations, go ahead – be a hypocrite!

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

Is it time for revision work on those final student projects? Here are ideas for effective writing revision (includes videos and printables):

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/prompting-revision-through-modeling-1183.html

What’s happening with the federal reauthorization of No Child Left Behind? Here’s an update:

http://www.ascd.org/public-policy/esea-reauthorization-updates.aspx

and another view:

http://blogs.ncte.org/index.php/2015/04/esea-reauthorization-and-nctes-recommendations/

End-of-Year ideas:

http://www.lauracandler.com/yearend.php

More End-of-Year ideas:

https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=end%20of%20year%20activities

Download this Spotlight on Professional Development and the Common Core:

https://fs24.formsite.com/edweek/images/spotlight-on-professional-development-for-common-core.pdf

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching! 

Good Things Happening

In these days of high-stakes evaluations, some teachers understandably tense up when an administrator walks into their classroom. Unfortunately, there’s often spillover to coaches from this reaction. One of my favorite ways to counter this response is the “Good Things Happening” email.

The “Good Things Happening” email is the coaching version of walk-throughs. On any given day, I choose one or two hallways to visit, spending just a short time in each classroom. I try to be a wall flower (a characteristic I perfected during my junior-high years!). I stay just long enough to see something good. Then I walk into the hall and send myself a quick voice message or email with the teacher’s name as the subject line and the “good thing” noted briefly. After that, I visit the next room and repeat the process. It doesn’t take long to drop by all the classes in a hallway.

When I have a moment to sit down, I turn each of my notes into a brief email and send it to the teacher with the subject line, “Good Things Happening.”

It’s not long before I start getting replies: “You made my day!” “Thanks for noticing!” “Your ability to see something positive happening in the 1-2 minutes you’re in the classroom has been so appreciated!”

My “Good Things Happening” routine takes little time but yields big benefits. Coaches can usually have deep interactions with only a small percentage of the faculty at any given time, but it’s helpful to continue nurturing relationships with the others in an ongoing way. “Good Things Happening” is one of my favorite ways to sustain these important relationships.

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

Conferring about reading:  Getting students out of a reading rut:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=560

Read this description of effective professional development on formative feedback using a book study of Opening Minds (by Peter Johnston, whose thinking has meaningfully impacted my teaching and coaching):

http://www.stenhouse.com/rdMamaroneck.htm?r=n291

A protocol for professional (or classroom) learning that can be used to identify common themes (I’ve used it as a strategy for getting at the big ideas of a topic we are considering):

http://www.nsrfharmony.org/system/files/protocols/affinity_mapping_0.pdf

Find primary source documents for history in your area:

http://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2014/12/close-to-home-a-voyage-of-discovery-using-primary-sources/

Using drama to express knowledge of literature:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teach-literature-with-drama?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Coaching as a Two-Way Street

One of the benefits of being a coach is the opportunity to work with colleagues. In a profession that has traditionally been “siloed,” it is refreshing to think together with other teachers. We know that sharing ideas can strengthen practice.

If you’ve been using the GIR model as a guide for your coaching, you have gradually increased the teachers’ responsibility as you move through your joint inquiry. By the end of a successful coaching cycle, your teaching partners are competent and confident about the practices you’ve focused on. The coaching path becomes a two-way street: You both give ideas to and get ideas from the teachers you are working with.

As I talked this week with a group of coaches, one of them excitedly discussed a lesson that she had seen taught. “It was so good,” she said, “I asked for the lesson plan!” Those who are part teacher, part coach can put the good ideas they see immediately into use in their own practice. For those with a full-time coaching role, opportunities abound to share the good things you are seeing.

To collaborate is to co-labor. When teachers work together and critically examine both practice and (importantly!) the instructional impact of that practice, good things happen! You might use the co-laborer test to see if you are ready to end a coaching cycle: If it has become a truly collaborative venture, you are probably ready to move on. If not, what needs to happen to move the relationship in that direction? Let the GIR model be your guide as you empower teachers.

As you shift your focus to other coaching work, collegial interactions will be ongoing and mutually supportive. Collecting a company of co-laborers is a happy consequence of coaching!

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

One more for national poetry month: 'Tis the season for road trips! Take a virtual one with poetry:

http://www.middleweb.com/21721/poetry-unit-begins-with-a-field-trip/

A protocol that works for both teachers’ PD and students’ learning:

http://www.nsrfharmony.org/system/files/protocols/chalk_talk_0.pdf

An article about ending the year with literacy gifts:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=759

US History on Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/ticiam/us-history/

An report about student-centered instruction in the math classroom (see the summary table on page 6):

https://fs24.formsite.com/edweek/images/WP-Nellie_Mae--An_Up-Close_Look_at_Student-Centered_Learning.pdf

That’s it for this week. Happy coaching!

Like a Double-Dossage!

Last week’s post considered the role of praise for increasing reflection, motivation, efficacy, creativity, and willingness to take risks. The benefits of offering specific praise were affirmed for me this week as I had a conversation with a very introspective young teacher named Amanda.  It was a pleasure to talk to a practitioner who was so metacognitive, in tune with her own motivations, and articulate about sharing them.

When I asked Amanda what role praise played for her, she immediately began talking about her experiences with being praised publicly. Amanda described times when she’s been sitting with her mentor at lunch and the mentor talks to other teachers about the good things Amanda is doing. Besides being a confidence-booster, Amanda said, “After hearing that, it made me want to rise!” If her mentor had those expectations of her, Amanda didn’t want to let her down. “Because if she already thinks this highly of me, then I want to keep that up!” Amanda continued, “I feel like I need to rise and make sure that what she’s saying is true!” Amanda appreciated praise both private and public. Private praise, she said, was like giving her the go-ahead. But Amanda said that public praise is “like a double-dose of confidence!”

Novice teachers, of course, especially benefit from boosted confidence. But I wonder if we don’t all need a little confidence-booster every now and then? When coaches praise, it builds rapport and supports changes in instruction.* Amanda’s experience has been confirmed by others: Giving indirect compliments by sharing the good things that are happening can have an empowering effect.** When you provide that double-dose of confidence by offering public praise, at least two people will feel better, and one of them is you!

**Blasé, J. & Blasé, J. (1997). The micropolitical orientation of facilitative school principals and effects on teachers’ sense of empowerment. Journal of Educational Administration, 35(2), 138-164.

*Reinke, W., Stormont, M., Webster-Stratton, C. Newcomer, L., & Herman, K. (2012). Psychology in the School, 49(5), 416-428.

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

Two more links for poetry month:

14 chapters (from various books) on teaching poetry:

http://www.stenhouse.com/html/poetry15.htm

Watch a poetry movie (here’s a list):

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/watch-poetry-movie

Pinterest for science teachers:

https://www.pinterest.com/lauracandler/science-teaching-resources/

Learning social studies through experiences (think beyond kindergarten!):

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-kindergarteners-social-studies

This coaching video starts with a moment of praise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgMtDJEvv0k

That’s it for this week. Happy coaching!

Keep a Good Thing Going!

I’ve always known that asking good questions was a useful coaching tool to encourage teacher reflection. But recently I realized another move from the GIR model also plays this role.

I was working with a team of fifth-grade teachers  who were under a lot of pressure to increase their students’ writing skills. These teachers were stressed! Intuitively, I gave them a lot of praise after observing their teaching. I think I knew it would build our trust, but what I realized is that my praise really got them thinking about their practice. When I praised something (“Having students use the rubric made peer feedback focused and useful!”), I noticed them traveling back in their minds to remember that part of the lesson. Their response to my praise was often an insight about why it worked. The conversation seemed to cement that effective practice in their minds and ensure that it would continue. 

I’ve always suspected that the right kind of praise was a good thing. When I read coaching books that said not to praise, it didn’t feel quite right. So I’ve been affirmed as both my own research and that of others* has recognized the important role of praise. Specific praise has been found to increase motivation, efficacy, creativity, and willingness to take risks. It enhances reflection and keeps a good thing going!

*Other research includes:

Blasé, J., & Kirby, P. (2008). Bringing out the best in teachers: What effective principals do (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks:

Corwin Press.

Dweck, C. (2002). Messages that motivate: How praise molds students’ beliefs, motivation, and performance (in

surprising ways). In J.Aronson (Ed.), Improving academic achievement: Impact of psychological factors on education (pp.37-59). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Margolis, J. & Nagel, L. (2006). Education reform and the role of administrators in mediating teacher stress. Teacher

Education Quarterly, 33(4), 143-159.

Stone, D., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). Beyond talk: Creating autonomous motivation through self-determination

theory. Journal of General Management, 34, 75-91.

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

A post on how poetry matters:

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/stanza/poetry-matters

An audio file on the same topic (click on the audio icon):

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/tide-voices-why-poetry-matters-now

Creating an iPad user contract with students:

http://teachitivity.wordpress.com/2014/11/01/student-ipad-contracts/

A list of environmental service projects for youth:

http://readwriteact.org/files/2013/01/55-Environmental-Service-Learning-Projects.pdf

A Pinterest Board with strong girls in books:

http://www.pinterest.com/choiceliteracy/strong-girls-in-books/

A blog post about “fixing” professional development:

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rick_hess_straight_up/2013/11/professional_development_is_broken_lets_fix_it.html

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

The Missing Mini-Lesson

            I finally realized that an important mini-lesson has been missing from my repertoire. For years I’ve used and talked about mini-lessons for readers’ and writers’ workshop, and I’ve even played around with math mini-lessons before turning kids loose with manipulatives. But I’ve never transferred the mini-lesson concept to my coaching, and now I see the need. The teachers and interns I work with could use a mini-lesson on how to receive feedback both gracefully and efficaciously.

            Giving feedback is an important part of what a coach does – especially during the early phases of coaching. Data about what was seen and heard, on the part of both teachers and students, is often partnered with modeling and recommendations. But, as you’ve probably noticed, giving feedback is far easier than receiving it!

            Think about it from the receiver’s standpoint for a moment. Someone has just pointed out something that didn’t go well or could have been done differently. If you’re on your best behavior, you probably smile and nod. If you were really looking for help, you might even go one step further and file it away for future reference. But maybe we can do better than that.

            So what would an effective mini-lesson on receiving feedback look like? I’m thinking that it would start with the reminder that feedback is a gift that’s meant to help us improve in ways that we may not be able to see on our own.  However, sometimes that gift can be like a surprise party where we get woken up in the middle of the night and hauled off to a restaurant in our pajamas! I’m thinking that having everyone imagine such a scenario at the beginning of our mini-lesson might be just the thing!  We’ll take a minute for turn-and-talk about how we might react. Then we’ll make the connection to receiving feedback about their teaching that catches them off guard. What could they do to make the best use of it?

            We can choose in advance how we’ll respond to such feedback, visualizing and even practicing our reaction. So, after a discussion about what the benefits of responding positively to feedback might be, I think I’ll have teachers partner up and give it a try with some role-playing scenarios. Here are the emotionally intelligent* steps I’ll suggest they try out during their mock-feedback session:

1. Consider the source. Is the giver’s perspective relevant? Have they seen you in action? Do they know you? Do they have an interest in seeing you improve? If yes, then go to step 2 (if no, go happily along your way!)

2. Listen and hear what is being said.

3. Seek to understand. Ask clarifying questions. Listen again.

4. Ask for examples – both of what they saw in your practice (possibly painful!) and of what they are suggesting as an anecdote.

5. Say thank you!

6. Pause. Take some time to think through what your response will be. Does it make sense to try the suggested course of action? Why or why not?

7. Follow up with your plan. Make adjustments as needed.

8. Let your friend know that you gave it a try!

That’s my coaching mini-lesson for this week. I’ll give it a try and let you know how it goes!

*Bradberry, T. & Greaves, J., (2009). Emotional intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA: Talentsmart.

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

A bunch of great ideas for National Poetry Month (make them multi-disciplinary!):

How to make “Hidden Message Poetry”:

http://imaginationsoup.net/2014/04/hidden-message-poetry/


Twelve tips for Twitter poems (plus a contest!):

http://blog.stenhouse.com/archives/2015/03/31/celebrate-national-poetry-month-with-stenhouse/

Poetry lesson plans:

http://www.ncte.org/lessons/poetry

Have a poetry tournament!

http://www.ncte.org/lessons/poetrytournament

Top 10 books for spring:

https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2015/03/27/the-rite-of-spring-top-ten-books-for-the-season-by-jill-bryan/

And one more:

Building understanding through a gradual release of responsibility:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/questioning-in-the-classroom?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Learning from Thumper

Remember Thumper in the movie Bambie? His mother offered sage advice: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!” I like to take that advice one step further: “If you can say something nice, do it!” When a sincere compliment comes to my mind during a coaching conversation, I share it! Authentic, specific praise is encouraging, and we all benefit from encouragement!

However, you’ve probably been warned: Praise can sometimes backfire as a coaching move. We don’t want to create “approval junkies” (Nelsen, 2009) with a need to please or fear that they might not. That is why, when coaching using the GIR model, we move beyond affirming. At the affirming phase, those we coach may be unsure and looking for confirmation of their practice. Praise, however, is simply a deserved compliment for something that went well.

Notice that I said something that went well. Effective praise is not a compliment of someone; it is a compliment of something. Dweck and Kamins (1999) provide this alliterative reminder: Use process praise, not person praise.

So after observing a fantastic first grade lesson on pictographs, I didn’t say, “Good job, Lauren!” or “You’re an awesome teacher!” I said, “Having the pictures in the graph represent two objects really made students think.” (Well, okay, maybe I did gush a bit and say what a great idea it was, too!) Similarly, during a debrief conversation after a kindergarten lesson on the continents, rather than telling Shelby she was amazing, I talked about the effectiveness of the various activities she involved her little thinkers in.

Praising process has been shown to be beneficial to children’s motivation and can promote autonomy rather than reliance (Henderlong, & Lepper, 2002). I’ve found that praising teachers in this way has similar results (Collet, 2012). Saying something nice is sage advice.

Collet, V. (2012).  The Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model: Coaching for

Teacher Change.  Literacy Research and Instruction, (51)1, 27-47.

Henderlong, J. & Lepper, M.R. The effects of praise on children's intrinsic motivation: A review and synthesis. Psychological Bulleting, 128(5), 774-795.

Kamins, M. L. & Dweck, C.S. (1999). Person versus process praise and criticism: Implications for contingent self-worth and coping. Developmental Psychology, 35(3), 835-847. 

Nelsen, Jane. (2009). Encouragement: What does it mean and how is it done? Downloaded March 27, 2015 from http://blog.positivediscipline.com/2009/09/encouragement-what-does-it-mean-and-how.html.

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

April is National Poetry Month! Celebrate by exploring these ideas:

12 great activities for using poetry in the classroom (scroll down to the 12 great activities part!): 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/brisk-bright-approaches-poetry-month-brett-vogelsinger

A sampling of lessons and ideas about poetry (excerpts from books) free from Stenhouse:

http://www.stenhouse.com/assets/pdfs/poetrysampler.pdf

Hint cards in math:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/hint-cards?utm_campaign=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_source=digest

EdCamp and ScratchEd as playful learning for teachers (I’d skip to the paragraph before “Happy Campers”):

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/changemakers-playful-learning-teacher-networks-philipp-schmidt

p.s. Those in NWA can attend an EdCamp April 11 by registering at: http://edcampnwa.org