Tell Me More

As a coach, it’s handy to have some open-ended prompts on the tip of your tongue – ones that can be used in most situations and that give you time to get your feet under you while you figure out the situation. My favorite new phrase for this is, “Tell me more.”

Asking a teacher to simply tell me more gives her permission to let her ideas tumble from her brain. Keeping the prompt simple and straightforward allows the teacher to focus more on her own thinking and less on what I am asking her to do. A complicated prompt can overwhelm; a simple prompt opens room for reflection and helps the teacher articulate that nagging something about the lesson that just didn’t feel quite right. That’s what happened in my recent debrief conversation with Alison. She said that overall she felt good about the lesson, but she felt there was room for improvement. “Tell me more,” I said.

“I want my students to share their experiences, but I think I may have let them share too much during the lesson,” Alison said.

“Tell me more about that,” I prompted.

“I want my students to be able to share stories. They love to talk, but the lesson was a little crunched for time at the end.”

“Can you tell me a little more about that?” I asked.

“Well, I know I need to find the right balance of letting them talk, but staying on topic is a struggle.”

Now we were getting at the root of the matter. Alison’s concern wasn’t so much that students were spending too much time talking, or even that the end of the lesson was short-changed. She was concerned about an important aspect of instruction: how to make sure students’ talk is taking the learning deeper. Together, we considered ways to increase focused discussion during the partner talk opportunities she was providing. We also noted that asking students to look at the child who was talking during whole group discussions would encourage students to listen to each other’s responses. These recommendations hit the mark because they addressed the specific area of concern that our coaching conversation had uncovered. If I had jumped in sooner, I might have focused on shortening the time for each partner discussion, or ways to provide closure even when time was short. But those weren’t the issues that were really nagging at Alison. Asking her to “tell me more” helped target an area where Alison was ready to grow.

This week, you might want to take a look at:

A coaching conversation that focuses on the ratio of interaction to create a positive classroom environment:

https://studysites.corwin.com/highimpactinstruction/videos/v14.1.htm

Reading & writing “to sustain happiness”:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid3671211724001?bckey=AQ~~,AAABlTNHE7k~,oIicl_E-tmhDtDkfwzKAp9yYvfvdcIPK&bctid=5037418095001

Inquiry Questions that celebrate the National Parks Centennial:

http://www.edutopia.org/article/celebrate-national-park-centennial-project-suzie-boss

Find one-minute for non-fiction (first look at the ideas for teachers, linked here, then go to “The Non-Fiction Minute” tab for texts):

http://www.nonfictionminute.com/for-teachers.html

Using the classroom as a resource to support students’ independence and reflection:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/classroom-wall-ideas-nea

That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

Like on Facebook at: facebook.com/mycoachescouch for more coaching and teaching tips!