As
April’s mid-point passes and the final stretch of the school year is in sight, we
begin thinking about how we will wrap up the school year. I like that phrase, “wrapping
up” because it can bring to mind not just finishing, but packaging, beautifying,
and then giving a gift. In a coaching cycle, the “wrapping up” includes plenty
of opportunities for teachers to share their own thinking as they demonstrate
their growing aptitude with instructional decision-making.
Because
coaches are experienced folks with lots of successful ideas, it is easy to make
recommendations when meeting with teachers. And often, especially with new
strategies or new teachers, that is just the right thing to do. But when we
over-rely on this mentoring move, we sometimes rob the teacher we are working
with of the opportunity to expand her own thinking and increase the
responsibility she is taking for instructional decision-making. It is easy to
recommend too long.
This
week, I caught myself wanting to make recommendations to Caroline, one of the
teachers I’m working with. When I was observing in Caroline’s classroom, I
noticed that Caroline was repeating nearly every students’ answer. Immediately,
a recommendation sprang to mind: “Don’t repeat student answers.” But I stopped
myself. I thought about how much capacity Caroline has shown recently; I
thought about her developing self-awareness. I knew she didn’t really need my
recommendation. Instead, she needed a nudge to do her own thinking. That nudge
could come in the form of a question.
So
I thought to myself, “Why do I want to make that recommendation?” I realized it was because, although
Caroline was asking thought-provoking questions, the discussion remained a ping-pong
conversation between Caroline and one, then another student. I knew Caroline’s
students were ready to talk to each other, not just to her. So I asked, “What
would have to change so that your students talked more to each other, and less to
you, during whole-class discussions?”
Caroline
began by mentioning something we’d talked about before – encouraging students
to look at each other, rather than at her, when they answered a question. She
wondered whether it was time to drop the habit she had of pulling sticks to see
who to call on – was that constraining the conversation? I could see that she
was mulling over recent class discussions as she talked. Her eyes went to that
reflective place in her head as she revisited those conversations. Then
suddenly her focus and her posture changed. She sat up straight, looked
directly at me with wide eyes, and said, “I need to stop repeating students’
answers.”
Although
it was affirming to me to have Caroline come to the recommendation I’d begun
with, that wasn’t really the point. The other ideas she’d suggested were
equally important for her and her class. And the fact that Caroline had come to
these ideas herself gave me confidence that she’d be motivated to put them into
practice. She knew what to do. It was in her head. My question simply started
her thinking moving in that direction.
As
the year begins winding down and we think about how to wrap up effectively, it’s
good to reflect on where we are in the GIR cycle with the teachers we’re
coaching. If it’s time to increase teachers’ responsibility for instructional
decision-making, hold back the recommendation and first ask yourself, “Why do I
want to make that recommendation?” This helps us get at the root of the issue
and ask questions that support and give direction to teachers’ reflection.
This week, you might want to
take a look at:
3 R’s for PD: Retention, Reflection,
and Redistribution of Knowledge:
Harnessing Twitter for professional
learning:
The importance of speaking and
listening in students’ learning:
Thoughts
about mandates and guided reading:
A
lesson plan to encourage paying it forward:
That’s it for this week. Happy
Coaching!
