My Coaches' Couch: Seeing with New Eyes

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

~Marcel Proust

As we head back to school, most of you are welcoming at least one new teacher to your building. If you are mentoring a teacher, whether officially or unofficially, keeping the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model in mind can support you in your work. The model, pictured below, begins with high levels of support – just what a teacher needs when starting a new position.

Modeling, the most supportive move, provides a visual for expected practices. Unfortunately, what could be a springboard for change can become a verification of current practice if the teacher takes an evaluative stance. Instead, encourage objective noticing, which can allow the teacher to see with new eyes.

As humans, we have a tendency to jump to judgment, so it’s hard not to do so when observing another teacher. However, evaluative comments tend to validate or even justify a teacher’s current practice, rather than opening her eyes to new possibilities. To avoid evaluation, encourage your observer to be a noticer, taking careful notes of what is seen and heard. Being specific and objective will take the learning deeper. When you meet with the teacher beforehand to explain what she’ll see, encourage this kind of note-taking. Then, after you’ve modeled, in the follow-up conversation, push for comments that reflect such specificity.

This week, after an observation, my colleague, said, “I noticed that you had smooth transitions.” Although she used the language of noticing, this was, in reality, an evaluative statement that did little to enhance her understanding. I pushed a bit. “What was it that made the transitions smooth?” After a thoughtful pause while she reviewed her notes, she said, “I noticed that you used student comments to transition from one part of the activity to another.” Now there was a comment she could grow from!

Pinning the reflective conference on observations that are objective and specific, rather than evaluative or general, is likely to reveal nuances of practice that enhance the learning experience. The chart below provides some examples:

Evaluative Noticing

Objective Noticing

Your transitions were smooth

Your objective was clear.

Students were engaged.

You listened really well to your students.

Students did a great job of figuring out the criteria for an effective argument.

You did a good job of explaining terms.

The lesson was fun!

They really got it!

You did a good job of including your ELL students.

You used student language to move from one part of the activity to the next.

You asked students to put the objective into their own words.

You included learning experiences that used different modalities: a video, art, turn-and-talk, graphic organizers, and written text.

You included the words students had said when you defined terms for the class.

Asking students to rank different arguments helped them figure out the criteria for themselves.

You used lots of synonyms when explaining terms.

You used commercials from Nickelodeon that were targeted to young children.

You gave students lots of time to talk so they could construct meaning together.

You provided sentence stems to help your ELLs participate in the conversation.

During a debrief conference, if you hear comments that are vague or judgmental in nature, ask a probing question like, “What makes you say so?” If necessary, illustrate the difference between the kinds of comments you’re hearing and the kind you think would be more helpful. As the teacher you are supporting uses language that is focused, their learning will be sharpened and they’ll gain insights they can put into practice.

Addendum: These same principles apply to teachers’ comments about student work. More food for thought!