How High is Your Scaffold?

A scaffold is defined as “a supporting framework.”  In a physical sense, a scaffold is “a temporary platform used to elevate and support workers and materials during work on a structure or machine,” and according to Merriam-Webster, “scaffolding may be raised and lowered.”  Coaches are in the scaffolding business and are constantly deciding how high the scaffolding needs to be in order for the job to be accomplished – the important job of having students meet the standards or goals we have set for them.
 

At the beginning of a coaching cycle, coaches and teachers choose a focus for their work together, then the coach provides decreasing levels of scaffolding as teachers get more proficient in the support they are providing for their students.  In the schools and clinics where I’ve worked, the GIR model for coaching has been used as a guide for thinking about how much scaffolding teachers need, and the result has been sustained improvement in instruction.*
 

How much support do the teachers you are working with need?  Each teacher is different, and the support each teacher needs varies depending on the focus you have chosen.  A teacher who only looks to you for affirmation when focusing on guided reading may need modeling and recommendations when it comes to choosing effective student examples for a CGI math lesson.  The GIR coaching continuum describes coaching moves that give decreasing levels of support:  modeling, recommending, asking questions, affirming, and praising (see model below).  By considering a continuum of coaching moves that provide gradually decreasing support, you can provide the right scaffolding for completing the job at hand - – the important job of having students meet their learning goals.

Resources to explore:

Looking for math resources for SmartBoard?  Check out the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives:

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/category_g_1_t_1.html

(you can use the online version – no need to download anything)

Student-Centered Coaching author Diane Sweeney’s makes these recommendations for implementing the Common Core:

http://dianesweeney.com/seven-steps-for-coaching-to-the-common-core/?utm_source=December%202012%20Blast%20&utm_campaign=Dec%202012%20Blast&utm_medium=email

In this fast-paced world were good reading is sometimes defined by the number of words read in a minute, I love what’s happening with the Slow Reading Movement.  This Newsweek article gives an overview: 

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/06/23/slow-reading-an-antidote-for-a-fast-world.html

An from Choice Literacy puts the slow reading movement into a broader context:

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1122

You can read more about the slow reading movement at:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/1758.cfm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/15/slow-reading

http://www.slowmovement.com/slow_books.php

It’s interesting to think about the connections between “slow reading” and descriptions of “close reading” that are getting emphasis with implementation of the Common Core. 

That’s it for this week.

Happy coaching!

 *See “The Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model: Coaching for Teacher Change” in Literacy Research and Instruction, 51(1), 27-47  and   “The Gradual Increase of Responsibility: Scaffolds for Change.”  ProQuest Digital Dissertations. UMI Number: 3475305, both by Vicki S. Collet.

 

Encouraging a Reflective Stance

The practice of reflecting on teaching marks a true professional.  One of the important roles of an instructional coach is to support the reflective process and encourage a consistent reflective stance.  Through reflection, teachers are able to consider the effectiveness of their work, recognizing things that went well and also areas for improvement.  Because there is no such thing as a perfect lesson, reflection always yields opportunities for growth and change.  Teaching is so hard that some aspect of it can always be enhanced. 

The first pause for thought centers around student learning.  Was the instructional goal met?  Did most students “get it?”  If not, why not?  Remember the piles activity described in last week’s blog?  A similar process can help you and the teacher think together about student learning as you reflect on a lesson.

Student engagement is another important consideration.  Engagement is not only student participation, but the degree to which students were really bending their brains around the topic.  Was there stimulating conversation?  Did they think so hard their brains hurt?  Was the brain-hurting followed by a light bulb moment?  Or is that light bulb moment yet to come? 

"Teachers make literally hundreds of decisions daily.  Some decisions are small and trivial; most are not" (Danielson, 2007; p. 88).   Reflecting on these decisions can yield some impoortant insights.  In what ways was the lesson different than planned?  Why did the teacher make the decision to take the lesson in that directioin?  What was the result of the change?  Asking questions like these during a debrief session can enhance reflective practice.

And, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander!  Take a moment to reflect on your coaching.  What things are going well?  Celebrate them!  What things aren’t going so well?  Brainstorm ways to change them, then chose a course of action.  As with teaching, the practice of reflecting on coaching marks a true professional.

Resources to Explore:

Food for thought about reading in the disciplines:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1091

If you are helping teachers beef up their nonfiction libraries, the Nonfiction Detectives blog is a good resource:

http://nonfictiondetectives.blogspot.com/

 

If you are looking for ways to collaborate more with middle and high school teachers, you might find some helpful ideas on this podcast with Penny Kittle:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1419

That’s it for this week. 

Happy coaching!

Danielson, C. (2007).  Enhancing professional practice: A framework for teaching. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.