Modeling Instructional Decision-Making

Teaching is both physical and mental work: What teachers say and do is on display, but the intellectual work of teaching is invisible. This mental work happens before, during, and after instruction.
 
As coaches, we may model the physical work of teaching – what is said and done with students in the classroom space. But the value of modeling the thinking of the profession may be overlooked. Pause and ponder how you’ve modeled best thinking practices for planning, in-the-moment decision-making, and reflection.
 
Designing instruction requires knowledge of students, development, standards, and curriculum – and how these things come together. As a coach, you can share this intellectual enterprise by thinking aloud.
 
When meeting with a teacher for a planning conversation, you can think aloud about approaches that might be taken during a lesson and illuminate the many factors under consideration.  For example, a coach may review formative assessments, consider strengths and weaknesses, determine where students lie on a developmental continuum, weigh possible learning experiences (considering the benefits of each), and determine a plan of action.  It’s hard work to articulate these processes. You have to slow down your own thinking and vocalize words to make these processes accessible to the teacher you are working with.
 
Modeling the thinking that’s done during instruction is even harder.  I’ve found that recording a video while I’m modeling a lesson allows me to recapture the decisions I was making in the moment.  As the teacher and I view a recording together, I can pause and talk about what was running through my mind at that moment – the factors and responses I quickly considered before responding to a student, or the decision to omit some parts of the lesson, for example.
 
A practice that makes reflection tangible is looking at the work students did during the lesson. Sort the work into three piles: those that show limited understanding, those that kind of get it, and those that show mastery.  State out loud what you’re noticing, your sorting criteria. Vocalize noticings about student learning and concerns about gaps or misconceptions.
 
It might feel strange at first to verbalize your thinking in this way. It’s about being really in-tune with how you make instructional decisions-—all those many factors you automatically consider—-and then letting your teacher-friend hear how you do it. 
With practice, modeling decision-making becomes natural and begins to pay dividends.  By illustrating instructional planning, in-the-moment response, and reflection, we demonstrate the complexity of these processes and a pathway through.
 
This week, you might want to take a look at:

Using tech to help students learn from one another:
 
https://choiceliteracy.com/article/the-good-part-of-tech/
 
 
Nonverbal communication in the classroom:
 
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/nonverbal-communication-in-your-classroom
 
 
Elementary school strategies that work in high school:
 
https://www.edutopia.org/article/4-elementary-school-strategies-work-high-school
 
 
Ten Things Every Writer Needs to Know: A Podcast with Jeff Anderson:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1389
 
 
Teaching children to fail well:
 
https://time.com/4025350/brene-brown-on-teaching-kids-to-fail-well/
 
That’s it for this week.  Happy Coaching!
 
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My new book, Differentiated Mentoring & Coaching in Education: From Preservice Teacher to Expert Practitioner is a fall release from Teachers College Press!  I’m so excited to share it with you! During November, you can use the code: NOV2022 for 15% off plus FREE SHIPPING. Click  here  and I’ll email you the free Book Group Study Guide that includes questions, prompts, and activities you can use as you share the book with colleagues.  I hope you’ll love this book as much as I loved making it for you!
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