Last
week, Bethani and I talked about a lesson I’d observed. The lesson taught students the importance of
an entertaining beginning in narrative writing.
Guided by a PowerPoint, she’d walked students through four techniques
author’s use to grab the reader.
During
our debrief, I first asked for celebrations.
What happened in the lesson that she was especially pleased with? She felt students were well-behaved; they sat
quietly as she presented the information.
She said she had decided on-the-spot to add in lots of all-respond
opportunities and to fluctuate her voice. She associated an action with each writing “hook,”
hoping this would keep students interested and help them remember the list of
techniques. Bethani said she’d added
these teaching moves because students’ attention seemed to flag, and she said
the strategies worked. Bethani felt the
lesson had achieved it’s goal. Students had
been introduced to the techniques, which they’d learn more about later in the
week.
Despite
these successes, Bethani was disappointed in students’ lack of enthusiasm and
engagement. She had had to work pretty
hard to keep them with her.
Before
our meeting, I’d also reflected on the lesson and had jotted down a few notes. I was glad she’d brought up students’ lack of
enthusiasm, because, as I looked at the things I’d noted as questions or
concerns, they all seemed to point back to that engagement issue. “Make connections with students’ experience
and interests,” I’d noted. “Limit rote
repetition; emphasize thinking.” I had also jotted a note about creating
opportunities for inquiry and discussion.
We talked over these ideas and a few other recommendations in a
conversational way. I’d introduce an
idea and ask her opinion about it. After
a short discussion, I suggested she pick a goal – a next step to work on. I told her I’d check back with her later
about it. What did she think? What would she like to work on?
Bethani
grabbed onto the idea about using more inquiry and discovery in her teaching. “It will be hard,” she said. “I like to have more control.” We talked a bit about how she might balance
her need for control with her students’ need for discovery. What might that have looked like in the writing
hook lesson? We discussed how students
could have examined texts and figured out for themselves what writers did that
got them interested. Inquiry didn’t have
to be some big research project; it could be bounded and managed so that she
still felt control. Bethani was seeing
how her hope for more enthusiasm and her need for control could co-exist.
We
also talked about why taking a more inquiry-based approach was hard. What had her own schooling experiences been
like? Did she have models of discovery
teaching in her own experience?
Unfortunately, the answer was no.
But by the end of our conversation, Bethani was excited about forging forward
into new territory!
Who
decides the next step in improving instruction? Just as Bethani’s students needed the
opportunity for discovery, Bethani needed to engage in inquiry about her own
teaching. Bethani identified concerns
and Bethani determined what her goal would be.
Although I had some recommendations, we explored them together and
Bethani made discoveries about her own teaching and her students’ learning.
When
teachers assess their instruction first, their voice becomes the one we respond
to during the coaching conversation.
They reflect on where they are in their learning journey. They see their strengths and where they need
to grow further. When I focus my
recommendations on the next step that a teacher has identified, we can come up
with a tangible plan to achieve the goal.
This
week, Bethani stopped in to tell me about two lessons she’d taught that took an
inquiry approach. “It was hard,” she
said, “but it worked!” She is already moving
forward on her self-selected learning journey.
This week, you might want to
take a look at:
Ideas for National Day of Writing (Oct.
20):
“Why I Write” Podcasts:
How
to slow down the teaching treadmill (especially great to share with new
teachers! – they can also sign up to get helpful monthly emails):
Is toy-free kindergarten in kids’ best
interests:
Use “What’s Going on in This Picture?”
to teach history, current events, and inferring skills:
That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!
