As
coaches, we may shy away from being critical. When we think about giving
feedback, what does it mean to be critical? I asked Merriam Webster and found
the definitions below, which I’ve annotated to reflect appropriate coaching moves.
Definitions
of critical:
*of, relating to, or being a
turning point or especially important juncture
Our coaching should focus on important pivot points: changes
that will not only impact the current lesson but will change the arc of
instruction. For example, rather than being critical of the closed questions on
a specific worksheet, our conversation can support a teacher’s future use of
open-ended questions.
*relating to or being a state in
which some quality, property, or phenomenon suffers a definite change
I don’t like the word suffers, but everything else about this definition fits. The
purpose of coaching is to induce a definite change.
*crucial, decisive, indispensable, vital
As coaches, we have to be decisive about what our focus will
be. What features of instruction are crucial to success? There may be many
potential areas for growth, but we determine which is the priority, which is
the vital touchpoint for our conversation.
*exercising or involving careful
judgment or judicious evaluation
There is judgment and evaluation involved in our
work. Not the high-stakes kind that increases teacher angst. We exercise
judgement about the “how” of our coaching along with the “what.” Is a
recommendation needed, or will questioning prompt impactful reflection?
*of sufficient size to sustain a
chain reaction
I
really love this definition! And I have seen it in action in coaching! A
teacher works on one thing, and it leads to improvement in another. I observed
this scenario this week when the coaching focus of “showing enthusiasm” had improved
classroom management as a byproduct.
Note:
I left out two definitions of critical from
the dictionary site that had clearly negative connotations. Negativity doesn’t
fill a useful role in coaching, so we’d best steer clear! The definitions
above, however, can help us be the type of critical friend whose coaching makes
a difference. (more about critical friends next week)
This week, you might want to
take a look at:
What’s
Hot in Literacy – ILA’s 2017 report:
Ideas
for creating non-fiction text sets:
Preparing
students for civic engagement:
Using
sticky notes to increase understanding of the text:
Just
for fun….. Offers of wisdom from fictional characters:
(by
the way, just close the sign-up window and you can read the post)
That’s
it for this week. Happy Coaching!
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