Trying It On

When one of my daughters is in town, my credit-card statement burgeons in the category of “clothes."  That’s because we both find it’s so much more fun to go shopping when you do it with someone!  It’s also useful to have another set of eyes.  “What do you think?”  “How does this look?”  “Which one fits better?”  It’s nice to have someone who’ll give you answers to those questions.  Similarly, having someone who’ll answer questions about instruction makes teaching more effective.  

When a teacher you’re working with is trying a new strategy on for size, she may be looking for your recommendations.  Having another set of eyes is useful as she considers the “fit” of the new strategy in her classroom.  “What did you think?”  “Did this approach work better than the way I did it before?”  “How did (a particular student) respond?” “What do I need to change?”  Your honest feedback and recommendations will help your colleague hone her skills with a new approach during the “trying it on” phase. 

When your colleague poses specific questions, your answers to those questions are the best recommendations you can provide.  Even if you have other insights you’d like to share from the lesson, the teacher is giving you insight on her focus and what she is ready and wanting to do by the questions she asks.  Push your agenda aside for a bit and consider with her the answers to her burning questions.  The time for you to bring up other ideas often comes naturally as part of the conversation.  If not, you can make a note to include it in a future discussion.

Recommendations from a trusted companion are a valuable commodity.  Whether shopping or teaching, two minds and sets of eyes are better than one! 

This week, you might want to take a look at these classroom ideas about the Winter Olympics:

These suggested learning experiences connected with the Winter Olympics, from IRA & NCTE:

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/winter-olympics-begin-today-31068.html

Videos about the science and engineering of the Winter Olympic Games:

https://www.nbclearn.com/science-and-engineering-of-the-2014-olympic-winter-games

Lesson plans about the Games:

http://sochi2014.olympics.com.au/more/education/lesson-plans

Info. about the Olympic Symbols:

http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reports/EN/en_report_1303.pdf

Who can forget Koala Lou?  That story, and others, are included in this book list for the Olympics:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1939

For older students:  Info. about the tradition of the Olympic Torch Run in modern games (introduced by Hitler) can lead to discussion of other paradoxes:

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007451

 That's it for this week.  Happy Coaching!