Members Page - October 2013
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Welcome back
The selection of tips, tools and materials for October
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Teacher and Coach Meetings on Skype
The Teacher and Coach Cafe Meeting in October is about Effective Goal-setting, a skill that is well developed in many teachers, and can be developed still further by sharing best practices with other teachers and coaches around the world. It's an exciting sharing session
with people who really know how to make a difference.
with people who really know how to make a difference.
As a member you are welcome to join in the open discussions about how a Coaching Approach is being implemented in schools around the world.
We meet on Skype Download Skype and add me, coach.martin.richards to your contacts.
Mini Coaching Course
New to coaching?
Want to find out what coaching is about, and only have a little time? Have you taken the Mini Coaching Course yet? Clicke here to get to the website. It takes 10-15 minutes and sets the ground for adopting a coaching approach with your students.
Want to find out what coaching is about, and only have a little time? Have you taken the Mini Coaching Course yet? Clicke here to get to the website. It takes 10-15 minutes and sets the ground for adopting a coaching approach with your students.
GROW Cards
Instructions
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GROW - Powerful questions in action
Use the GROW CARDS like this:
At random, or by selecting the ones that will best suit your students, choose one of each type of card, Goals, Reality, Opportunities and Will.
Use the four cards in an individual coaching session, by asking aloud the questions on the cards, allowing time for the student to give or write their answers. Follow up each of the GROW questions with some clarifying questions "What does that mean to you?" and summarise now and again what the student has said by saying, "I hear that you say ...".
At random, or by selecting the ones that will best suit your students, choose one of each type of card, Goals, Reality, Opportunities and Will.
Use the four cards in an individual coaching session, by asking aloud the questions on the cards, allowing time for the student to give or write their answers. Follow up each of the GROW questions with some clarifying questions "What does that mean to you?" and summarise now and again what the student has said by saying, "I hear that you say ...".
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10 minute
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Goal-setting Agreements
The Current situation
Knowledge and Behaviour Goals are usually set externally, by a governing body and enforced by the school through its teacher. The goals are intended to reflect the community's and country's values, and needs.
However, even if the rules are wholly reasonable and in agreement with the student's home life, culture, own interests and abilities, they are still externally imposed. So there is often resistance to such rules and regulations, often from the students who are most in need of the benefits of rules and regulations.
External Behaviour Goals such as 'Given a maximum of one verbal cue, John will attend a non-preferred, small-group activity and/or independent assignment, without protest, and remain on task with no task avoidance (bathroom, getting a jacket, tying shoes, sharpening pencil, etc.) for 20 minutes, in 3 out of 4 trials, as measured by observations and staff documentation.' are a brave attempt at being clear about 'what is expected'.
Furthermore, a teacher can be required to enforce rules with which they do not wholly agree. This can lead to inner conflicts for the teacher.
The Preferred situation
Goals are set by students, individually and as a group, based on the community goals, school goals etc.. and their goals.
The Teacher's Meta Skills
The teacher acts as a Guide, using these skills:
- Curiosity
- Non-judgement
- Self Management
Beliefs behind this Goal-setting Strategy
I believe that
- All students want to learn, grow, develop, be better at being themselves.
- Conflicts, challenges, and avoidance behaviours are natural indicators of something asking to be changed. Resolution cannot be imposed, only respectfully negotiated.
Coaching Dialogue
I use the following situation as inspiration:
John has repeatedly misbehaved in class, has made excuses for not starting work that has been assigned to him. A possible (external) goal might look like this:
Given a maximum of one verbal cue, John will attend a non-preferred, small-group activity and/or independent assignment, without protest, and remain on task with no task avoidance (bathroom, getting a jacket, tying shoes, sharpening pencil, etc.) for 20 minutes, in 3 out of 4 trials, as measured by observations and staff documentation.
It's preferable to gain acceptance of the goals by having John describe and design them himself. This is achieved throuigh a one-to-one conversation. Here is a possible dialogue between the teacher, acting as a guide, and John, a student.
Teacher "John, I noticed that six times today when I set you a task, you chose to ask to go to the bathroom, went to get your jacket, tied your shoes, sharpened your pencil, etc... What was happening?". "What happens in you when I ask you to do a task?". "What are your thoughts, what are your feelings, when I ask you to work in a group?"
John Tells his side of the story
Teacher Summarises what John has said, and asks "Have I understood you?"
John Agrees that he has been understood.
Teacher "When you make those choices, what are the results for you?"
(Repeat the same question from several different perspectives, e.g. for the class, for the teacher, for me, for you now, for you in the future, for your parents)?
"What results did you get from not doing the tasks straight away?". "Which of those results is most important to you to keep in the agreement we shall have between us?"
"What benefits might you get from doing the tasks that I set you?". "What do your classmates / other people get out of doing them?"
More questions that could be asked
What might help you to
"What kind of support can I and your other teachers give you? (suggest verbal signs / non-verbal signs, reminders)"
"How can we make the results of focusing on activities and assignments more rewarding / visible / attractive etc?"
"How challenging is the goal of doing the task I set you straight away, on a scale of 1-10?"
John has repeatedly misbehaved in class, has made excuses for not starting work that has been assigned to him. A possible (external) goal might look like this:
Given a maximum of one verbal cue, John will attend a non-preferred, small-group activity and/or independent assignment, without protest, and remain on task with no task avoidance (bathroom, getting a jacket, tying shoes, sharpening pencil, etc.) for 20 minutes, in 3 out of 4 trials, as measured by observations and staff documentation.
It's preferable to gain acceptance of the goals by having John describe and design them himself. This is achieved throuigh a one-to-one conversation. Here is a possible dialogue between the teacher, acting as a guide, and John, a student.
Teacher "John, I noticed that six times today when I set you a task, you chose to ask to go to the bathroom, went to get your jacket, tied your shoes, sharpened your pencil, etc... What was happening?". "What happens in you when I ask you to do a task?". "What are your thoughts, what are your feelings, when I ask you to work in a group?"
John Tells his side of the story
Teacher Summarises what John has said, and asks "Have I understood you?"
John Agrees that he has been understood.
Teacher "When you make those choices, what are the results for you?"
(Repeat the same question from several different perspectives, e.g. for the class, for the teacher, for me, for you now, for you in the future, for your parents)?
"What results did you get from not doing the tasks straight away?". "Which of those results is most important to you to keep in the agreement we shall have between us?"
"What benefits might you get from doing the tasks that I set you?". "What do your classmates / other people get out of doing them?"
More questions that could be asked
What might help you to
- get on with the tasks I set you
- get started with the tasks
- carry on for 10 minutes, without going to the bathroom, etc
- carry on for 20 minutes, without (avoidance)
- do that without protesting
- work with a group that are not your friends
- (add in all of Johns desired results)
"What kind of support can I and your other teachers give you? (suggest verbal signs / non-verbal signs, reminders)"
"How can we make the results of focusing on activities and assignments more rewarding / visible / attractive etc?"
"How challenging is the goal of doing the task I set you straight away, on a scale of 1-10?"
Goal-setting Agreement
At some point the teacher tells John that the school uses Goal-setting Agreements which look something like the one below.
Starting [today] and for the next [3 weeks] I will work with a small-group activity and/or independent assignments, without protesting or asking to go to the bathroom, getting a jacket, tying shoes, sharpening pencil, etc.
My goal is, for each activity to do this for [20] minutes, in at least 3 out of 4 lessons, as noted by my teacher.
My goal is, for each independent assignment to do this for [10] minutes, in 3 out of 4 lessons, as noted by my teacher.
Support
My teacher will give me a maximum of [one] verbal reminder to help me keep focus.
Rewards
My short term rewards will be _______.
My long term rewards will be ___________
The short term rewards for my classmates are _________________.
This agreement is important to me because _______________
Starting [today] and for the next [3 weeks] I will work with a small-group activity and/or independent assignments, without protesting or asking to go to the bathroom, getting a jacket, tying shoes, sharpening pencil, etc.
My goal is, for each activity to do this for [20] minutes, in at least 3 out of 4 lessons, as noted by my teacher.
My goal is, for each independent assignment to do this for [10] minutes, in 3 out of 4 lessons, as noted by my teacher.
Support
My teacher will give me a maximum of [one] verbal reminder to help me keep focus.
Rewards
My short term rewards will be _______.
My long term rewards will be ___________
The short term rewards for my classmates are _________________.
This agreement is important to me because _______________
Pitfalls to avoid - and what to do instead
1) Avoid asking for too much. Avoid setting goals that are so challenging that John will avoid them.
It's better to set a more easily reached sub-goal, with a short time-frame and follow up, give a reward, set the next steps. Ask "How challenging is the goal of ___, for you on a scale of 1-10?"
2) Avoid believing that you know what John should do, and hinting at it through leading questions like "Don't you think that it would be a good idea to..."
Whenever possible, it's best to say nothing of your ideas at all. However, if you have to say something, it's better to say what you mean straight out, "I think it would be best to ..., what do you think about that?".
1) Avoid asking for too much. Avoid setting goals that are so challenging that John will avoid them.
It's better to set a more easily reached sub-goal, with a short time-frame and follow up, give a reward, set the next steps. Ask "How challenging is the goal of ___, for you on a scale of 1-10?"
2) Avoid believing that you know what John should do, and hinting at it through leading questions like "Don't you think that it would be a good idea to..."
Whenever possible, it's best to say nothing of your ideas at all. However, if you have to say something, it's better to say what you mean straight out, "I think it would be best to ..., what do you think about that?".
