You
might be wondering why there is yet another post on Asking Questions, the third
phase of the GIR model. I’m dwelling on
this one because I sense this is where coaches might like a little
support. I’ve never had a coach say to
me, “Gee, I have a hard time making recommendations,” but I’ve had frequent
feedback about how much coaches have benefitted by thinking more about the
questions they ask to support their teachers.
So here we go again with questioning – Take 6.
I
mentioned that making recommendations seems to come easily to most
coaches. And as coaches work to incorporate
questioning as a coaching move, sometimes there’s an inclination to ask
questions that are actually thinly-masked recommendations. Consider the following coaching language:
Recommendation:
“You could have students use the rubric to assess their own papers.”
Recommendation
disguised as a question:
“What
would happen if students used a rubric to assess their work?”
Question:
“What
would have to change for students to work more for themselves and less for
you?”
When the coach asks “What would have to change….,” she opens the teacher’s thinking to new possibilities rather than funneling her thinking to a single, pre-determined choice. Authentic questions like these help teachers think flexibly about the decisions they make as they design instruction. Questions can shake us from our comfort zones as we ponder present practices together and discover new ways to think about our work. Asking questions creates thoughtful conversations that can lead to lasting change and professional growth.
This
week, you might want to take a look at:
Erik
Palmer on the six traits of speaking (skip
the hype and go straight to minutes 23:30 – 29:00 – 5 ½ minutes well spent):
Putting
the “Gradual” Back into Gradual Release of Responsibility:
Favorite notetaking
techniques for secondary students, from Jim Burke:
An
interview with literacy researcher P. David Pearson about the Common Core:
That’s
it for this week.
Happy Coaching!
No comments:
Post a Comment