Sometimes Teachers Just Need to See It

In a recent coaching meeting with an elementary school teacher, I knew our discussion wasn’t going to make much of an impact in her class unless she physically saw an example of what we were talking about.  She needed to find a way to scaffold learning for her more advanced learners, while feeling stretched to the max in terms of her capacity.  She had met with her principal to brainstorm ideas, but nothing translated to change in her classroom.  Trying something new just felt too overwhelming for her, but the needs of many of her students were going unmet, so we had to find a way.

When we met for coaching, we landed on the idea of incorporating a monthly project for all of her students, with lots of choices and flexibility to challenge advanced learners both in and outside of class time.  We named some success criteria for carrying the idea forward: making it fun, using it as a tool to build relationships with students, creating it or finding it in less than an hour each month, and providing choices and challenges for advanced students. Even after landing on this plan, and determining the timeline to try it out for the first time, I could still see some hesitancy in the teacher about what to do.  She just needed to see an example. 

After our meeting, I quickly pulled together a model: a sample project explanation sheet with all the details written out.  The teacher was able to make minor modifications, and then she used it with her class the next day!  In an email reflection the next day, she said that her students were excited about the project and that she had given them some time to get started in class that day. Not only that, but she shared the project she had modified with another teacher who teaches the same grade.  Talk about a shift in implementation!

Later, the teacher asked if I would be able to send a project sheet each month.  I told her (in a much kinder way) that of course not, and that was her job - but that she was now fully equipped with the tools she needed to make a great (and simple) monthly project to scaffold for her advanced learners.  I plan to support her by providing feedback on her next project plan before she sets off to do it entirely on her own.  

I believe that including a model is a key element of effective coaching.  It helps make sure that what the coach and teacher are envisioning is the same thing, it sets a high bar in terms of quality, and it makes it easier for teachers to enact a new skill or activity when they know exactly what it looks like.  Modeling in coaching may take many forms: a physical paper or digital example (like the project sheet, in this case) that is so high quality it could be student-facing, a coach role playing a scenario in their “teacher voice,” or the coach teaching a sample lesson or activity in the teacher’s class.  The type of model will depend on the type of skill being practiced in coaching.  Whatever the model looks like, it just helps teachers to see it.