School’s out for many of us, providing a
much-needed opportunity to relax and refuel.
It’s also a time to enhance our coaching tool kits and plan for making
our coaching in the coming year even better!
Posts on My
Coaches’ Couch this summer will revisit important topics related to
coaching and the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model. I hope my comments will provide food for
thought as you road trip, relax in the sun, head to the hills, or put your own
house in order.
Today I’m passing along some new ideas I’ve
learned about asking questions. There’s
a leadership approach called “appreciative inquiry” that I’ve been reading
about. I liked the sound of it right off
– so positive and upbeat! The positive
principles incorporated reminded me of some of my more successful coaching
conversations.
In order for coaches to facilitate
instructional change, they have to help teachers overcome habitual ways of
thinking and unleash their imaginations.
Coaches can help teachers conceive and construct better learning experiences
by taking an inquiry approach that includes these four D’s:
Define the topic of inquiry:
*What specific learning goal do you want to
focus on?
Discover stories and
experiences about past successes leading toward this learning goal.
*Can you remember some past students who
really improved in this area? What lead
to their improvements?
*What lessons have worked well in the past?
Dream together about the desired future.
*What will you see and hear your students
doing if students reach this learning goal?
Design what it will take to bring the dream to life.
*What’s the learning progression students
will need to follow?
*What learning experiences will help students
move in this direction?
Coaches can ask questions that set the stage
for discovery, uncover the stories of past successes, and guide the creation of
a workable plan. Having a dream of the
future to work toward is a powerful motivator and mobilizer. As coaches ask positive, affirming questions,
teachers gain the momentum for lasting and effective change.
This week, you might want to take a look at:
Two contests for teachers from NCTE – do something
for yourself:
Middle and high school teachers are
invited to submit works of creative nonfiction for a $5000 cash prize and
travel to NYC:
There is still time to apply for the
Donald H. Graves Writing before the June 15 deadline. This award
recognizes teachers in grades K-6 who, through the teaching of writing,
demonstrate an understanding of student improvement in writing:
This
commentary about allowing teachers to develop their own lessons when teaching
the CCSS:
Confessions
of a CCSS Assessment Field-Tester:
Books
for teaching about theme to review and add to your collection this summer:
Join the NCTE twitter chat on summer
professional learning on June 22:
#nctechat
That’s all for this week. Happy Coaching!
*Cooperrrider, D. L., Whitney, D., &
Stavros, J.M. (2008). Appreciative
inquiry handbook: For leaders of change (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
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