In my last post, I told two
stories about coaching experiences.
Here’s a third story.
After reading (and blogging
on) Atul Gawande’s New Yorker essay “Personal Best,” I wanted to experiment
with the species of classroom observation he calls “coaching.” So I asked Joe Quinn, a new member of our
English Department, if he would be willing to conduct the experiment with me.
Joe wanted to try a new in-class
writing assignment. Having just
completed a discussion of Stephen Crane’s story “The Open Boat,” his students
were primed to think further about literary realism. Joe proposed the following:
- Have class recall the various dimensions of realism, which Joe would list on the board.
- Show a realist painting (“Gulf Stream,” by Winslow Homer).
- Ask students to compose a single sentence, in the realist style, describing something in the painting.
- Ask for volunteers to read aloud their sentences for the group to evaluate.
I agreed to sit in on two consecutive classes (that is, group #1 of students would meet from 10:50-11:30 am, and group #2 would meet from 11:30-12:10). During the first class (group #1), I
took notes. Before the beginning of the second class (group #2), I
suggested that Joe tweak two specific things:
- When students volunteer to have their sentences critiqued by the class, have each student type that sentence for display on the SMARTBoard rather than read it out loud.
- Start with a single volunteer for the group to critique to establish a model for providing effective feedback. Then break into pairs to practice providing that feedback. Then return to the large group for a last critique.
Clearly, neither of these
recommendations is earth shattering. What matters is that Joe and had a chance to receive
feedback after the first class and then implement changes in the second class.
In fact, not only did Joe make
these changes (and do so effectively), he even improvised a third change: after
the one-on-one sharing, he said, “Would anyone like to nominate his partner’s
sentence for the group to discuss? The
only requirement is that you explain why you’ve chosen to volunteer your
partner.” This was a clever way to get
students to articulate their understanding of realism before passing the
baton to the large group.
This kind of “coaching” was truly
energizing for me and for Joe. It makes
sense that this would increase adoption rates for improved pedagogies, but it
seems to me that the real virtue lies in creating a process that frames
classroom observation as an opportunity for personal growth as opposed to a test
that has to be passed.
Christian,
ReplyDeleteKeeping on the theme of sports here, have you ever "team" taught a course with another teacher? It is something that has always intrigued me, but I have never followed through with trying. Perhaps a more veteran teacher paired with a younger novice teacher. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.
I've done it three times. Once when I was a relatively new teacher, again a couple of years ago, and I'm currently team-teaching a Seminar.
ReplyDeleteThere are logistical challenges (scheduling, mostly), but each time it has been a fantastic opportunity to up my game (pardon the pun on coaching). I've had to be more precise with my planning and execution, because it has felt as though I've been under observation (in the best sense) by another professional in every single class.
But the thing that I found most noteworthy about the experience was the student reaction to seeing two (or more) teachers in a classroom. I should point out that in each case I was working with Seniors, so the content was more complex, but it seemed to me that the students fascinated by the ways in which we teachers became students, eager to learn from our fellow teachers. I'd have to put that question to them directly, but I suspect that one of the major upsides to doing team-teaching is to model for the students what it means to be a life-long learner.
Even if it's just a one-off lesson, I would encourage you to experiment with team-teaching. And if you do it, I would definitely suggest you seek feedback from the students about whether the approach was effective in helping them to learn.