Coaching Towards Mastery
Great teachers are great coaches, and great coaches are great teachers. As educators we are responsible for not only delivering knowledge but ensuring that our students can master and apply that knowledge to their lives and careers. "What great coaches do differently", as noted by Goodwin and Hubbell (2013), "is a fairly straightforward process of observing students, identifying opportunities for improvement, focusing students on improving their skills in targeted areas, and reteaching as needed to ensure mastery of new abilities". (Be Intentional, Item 11, Learning from the world's best performers, para. 3)
Teachers, like coaches must constantly observe their students and check their knowledge. Whereas a coach can do this in a gym or on a field, teachers must assess their students in a classroom. As stated by Goodwin and Hubbell (2013), teachers, "elicit information constantly from their students to assess where they are with their learning". (Be Intentional, Item 11, I use frequent checks for student understanding, para. 1) To do this teachers can ask questions that reveal their students' knowledge, anticipate what questions to ask of students beforehand, let students talk about their subjects, and utilize efficient response techniques from students. (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013) Savvy teachers can even turn these into games that formatively assess knowledge, like Exit Tickets, or using small dry erase boards to elicit answers from students. Kathy Dyer provides 22 easy to use formative assessments here.
In addition to assessing student performance and needs, great teachers also provide their students with the opportunity for deliberate practice. For many teachers this generally means assigning homework. Although, according to John Hattie's rankings (found here) homework (.29) isn't necessarily the best way for a student to deliberately practice. However, according to Goodwin and Hubbell (2013), "if the assignments challenge students to practice new skills, especially in area where they're struggling, then they can be effective at improving performance". (Be Intentional, Item 11, I provide opportunitites for deliberate practice, para. 2) That said, teachers need to make sure they are being clear about their intentions. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) provide multiple ways that teachers can be intentional in assigning and judging practice. Teachers should:
In addition to having students deliberately practice, teachers need to demonstrate patience and reteach material that students might not understand. This may involve differentiation in instruction. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "reteaching is about more than just teaching the same thing again (only more slowly and loudly). Rather, it usually entails trying a different teaching tactic or approach." (Be Intentional, Item 11, I reteach as needed when my first approach doesn't work, para. 2) Scholastic.com provides a 5-step procedure for reteaching here.
While the above methods are thorough and provide teachers and students with the opportunity to learn subjects thoroughly, ultimately the responsibility for a student's failures falls on the shoulders of their teacher. Teachers must take responsibility when their students fail to perform. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "great teachers and coaches, however, take ownership of student learning and view student failure (especially when it comes in large bunches) as an indication of their own shortcomings" (Be Intentional, Item 11, I recognize that my students' failures are my own, para. 1) By taking ownership of their students' learning, teachers not only take responsibility for any problems their students have, but they are able to put the onus on themselves to improve if their methods fail to work.
Teachers, like coaches must constantly observe their students and check their knowledge. Whereas a coach can do this in a gym or on a field, teachers must assess their students in a classroom. As stated by Goodwin and Hubbell (2013), teachers, "elicit information constantly from their students to assess where they are with their learning". (Be Intentional, Item 11, I use frequent checks for student understanding, para. 1) To do this teachers can ask questions that reveal their students' knowledge, anticipate what questions to ask of students beforehand, let students talk about their subjects, and utilize efficient response techniques from students. (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013) Savvy teachers can even turn these into games that formatively assess knowledge, like Exit Tickets, or using small dry erase boards to elicit answers from students. Kathy Dyer provides 22 easy to use formative assessments here.
In addition to assessing student performance and needs, great teachers also provide their students with the opportunity for deliberate practice. For many teachers this generally means assigning homework. Although, according to John Hattie's rankings (found here) homework (.29) isn't necessarily the best way for a student to deliberately practice. However, according to Goodwin and Hubbell (2013), "if the assignments challenge students to practice new skills, especially in area where they're struggling, then they can be effective at improving performance". (Be Intentional, Item 11, I provide opportunitites for deliberate practice, para. 2) That said, teachers need to make sure they are being clear about their intentions. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) provide multiple ways that teachers can be intentional in assigning and judging practice. Teachers should:
- Be clear about the purpose of practice
- Show students how to practice deliberately
- Provide multiple opportunities for knowledge retrieval
- Observe students as they practice
- Provide feedback on practice (Be Intentional, Item 11, I provide opportunities for deliberate practice, para. 4-8)
In addition to having students deliberately practice, teachers need to demonstrate patience and reteach material that students might not understand. This may involve differentiation in instruction. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "reteaching is about more than just teaching the same thing again (only more slowly and loudly). Rather, it usually entails trying a different teaching tactic or approach." (Be Intentional, Item 11, I reteach as needed when my first approach doesn't work, para. 2) Scholastic.com provides a 5-step procedure for reteaching here.
While the above methods are thorough and provide teachers and students with the opportunity to learn subjects thoroughly, ultimately the responsibility for a student's failures falls on the shoulders of their teacher. Teachers must take responsibility when their students fail to perform. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) state, "great teachers and coaches, however, take ownership of student learning and view student failure (especially when it comes in large bunches) as an indication of their own shortcomings" (Be Intentional, Item 11, I recognize that my students' failures are my own, para. 1) By taking ownership of their students' learning, teachers not only take responsibility for any problems their students have, but they are able to put the onus on themselves to improve if their methods fail to work.
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To access Item 12- Taking a Step Further please click here
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