A
couple of years ago, I had a coaching experience I’d rather not repeat. I was working with a student teacher at the time, but the lessons learned could apply
to any coaching experience.
The
intern (who I’ll call Amber) had been on my radar since early in the student-teaching
experience. Scores on her evaluations were low, and it wasn’t hard to see why. Amber’s
dead-pan deliver left students unengaged, which opened up all kinds of
possibilities for classroom management issues. In addition, her instructional
plans were driven by teacher monolog (or ping-ponged teacher-student drills) rather
than discussion, and the low expectations that she seemed to have for student
learning became self-fulfilling prophesies.
Despite
assigning her the best mentor teachers as models
and conferring regularly with specific
recommendations for change, as the end of the student-teaching experience
approached, I was worried about whether I’d be able to recommend Amber for
licensure. It was time to enlarge her circle of support and try coaching
methods that went above and beyond typical mentoring interactions.
We
saw Amber turn the corner after video recordings of Amber and another teacher leading
the same lesson were reviewed side-by-side. Questions directed Amber's attention to differences, both subtle and
not-so-subtle, in teacher-student interactions. This comparison provided the
wake-up call for Amber that helped us get traction for instructional improvement.
I’d
rather not have had that experience, but having made it through (with eventual success!)
taught me a thing or two. It was a learning experience I won’t soon forget.
Thank
goodness. Because recalling that experience, I think, will help me make course
corrections with other teachers earlier in the game.
Every
teacher (and especially every student teacher) has areas for
improvement. But when progress seems slow, it can feel frustrating, especially
for the mentor or coach who has a front-row seat, and especially when the
teacher herself seems unaware of the need to change.
That’s
been the case recently with another student teacher (who I’ll call Marie). Marie has been making minimal apparent growth
so far. In addition to the coaching conversations we’ve both had with Marie,
her mentor and I have had lots of problem-solving conversations with each other.
Again, the modeling and recommending seemed to have little impact. Again,
something more was needed.
Yesterday,
we put our heads together and proposed and then dismissed a number of
possibilities. Then my brain started connecting to past experiences. I thought
about multiple teachers with whom I’d worked where progress, at first, seemed
slow. But after examining the details of the situation, I threw out each
example as useless.
Until
I remembered Amber. Even though these two teachers were different in so many
ways, they both had made little growth, despite our best coaching efforts. They
both had seemed complacent about their teaching. And, importantly, they both
had an apparent lack of enthusiasm that left students unengaged. When I finally
made this connection, I realized I had a list of tried-and-true tools to choose
from.
Because
I remembered past successes with Amber, we now have a list of coaching
strategies to try. Now, we have a game plan. And now, importantly, we are feeling
hopeful for change!
It
was hard working through the situation with Amber (and countless other teachers
who have faced difficult challenges). But I learned a thing or two in the
process. And when I finally made a connection between Amber and Marie, I knew
we could move in the right direction.
Reflecting
on the “ah-hah” moment for coaching Marie this week reminded me that solutions
I’ve found in the past might work in the present. I just have to sift through
those experiences and find a good match. It also reminded me that difficult
situation are often the best teacher. Which brings us to Mark Twain’s vivid axiom:
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he
can learn in no other way.
This week, you might want to
take a look at:
Profocols
for building community during professional development:
A New York Times article about reintroducing
play as part of the kindergarten curriculum:
The power of “Empathy Book Clubs”:
Why we must teach math for
understanding:
That’s it for this week. Happy
Coaching!
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