Touchstone 11

I coach students to mastery.

We are all familiar with coaches. They are the ones putting in the time, effort, heart, and enthusiasm to train the people on their teams. They work closely with their team members to push them to learn skills necessary to win. They know each person on their team and help each one develop their individual talents to succeed and contribute to the entire team. They are demanding, supportive and intentional. How is this any different from an excellent classroom teacher?

As classroom "coaches" we can guide, lead and direct the learning environment to help each of our "team members" learn the skills necessary to succeed. It is a different mindset from the traditional authoritarian teacher who delivers content and expects all students to fall in line, remain quiet, do their work, and regurgitate the right answers. To become coaches of our students in the classroom, we need to have a coaching mindset.

Just as a football coach checks to be sure his team members understand what they are doing before the game, we should frequently check for student understanding. Instead of lecturing, then giving a summative test at the end, we can often use a variety of formative assessments during the learning process to discover and close learning gaps. Wiliam (as cited in Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013) relates that formative assessment and checks for understanding can effectively double the rate of student learning. Teachers can also ask deliberate and planned questions to illicit responses to check for understanding. The questions then become part of the learning process and are planned into the lesson. If teachers talk for shorter amounts of time (5-10 minutes at the most), then give students time to process the information through class discussion, turn and talk partners, or small groups, they will retain and understand more. Using exit tickets is also a way to close a lesson and find out what students understood from the lesson.

Homework and class assignments can provide opportunities for deliberate practice. Ericsson, Prietula, & Cokely

(as cited in Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013) describe deliberate practice as "considerable, specific, and sustained efforts to do something you can't do well—or even at all". After the practice, teachers need to provide feedback to the students so they know what they have done well and how to proceed. Can you imagine a football coach who watches his team practice, then never tells them how to improve? Classroom feedback should not be numeric grades, but can be qualities on a rubric or maybe handwritten notes and comments.

Reteaching is sometimes needed for individual students. Other times, the majority of the class may need reteaching. Instead of reteaching the same way, we can use different techniques or strategies to meet students' needs in a different way. Sometimes, putting students into small groups, based on learning gaps, can fulfill this need. Co-teachers can help explain the material in a different way, if a co-teacher is available. Changing the assignments or giving different assignments to different students, to meet their individual needs, can help. Restating, using videos to explain, or spending time with individual students are some of the ways we can meet specific needs to close the learning gaps we find through assignments or formative assessments or questions.

When a sports team wins the game, the coach gets credit. When teams continually lose, coaches are replaced because they didn't prepare the team well enough and the losses are seen as the coach's fault. As teachers, we must also view the success or failure of our students as our responsibility. We have no control over what they learned before our class or the outside influences they are dealing with, but we can help them master material while they are in our class. If every teacher, every year, in every class felt this way about all students, far fewer students would fall through the cracks and more would excel.

References

Goodwin, B., & Hubbell, E. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying focused every day.

Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. [Bookshelf Online].