Monday Motivator #18 2018-19

Creating a Habit of Noticing 

https://consciousdiscipline.com/creating-the-habit-of-noticing/ating

They say it takes at least 21 days to develop a new habit. When I was teaching Special Education, one of my colleagues taught me a technique that helped me focus on specific skill development within myself or my students. I have since adapted that technique to help teachers develop the “habit” of noticing.

First of all, what is noticing? The skill of noticing is foundational to successful implementation of Conscious Discipline. It helps us be present and build relationships as we encourage helpfulness in our students and create a School Family™. Your job description as the Safekeeper promises children that you will keep them safe, and they have a responsibility to help keep it safe. We must notice their helpfulness in order to encourage them be successful at this job. (pg. 176 Building Resilient Classrooms)

There are four steps that will help you successfully notice the helpfulness of children without judgement. Start by using the child’s name or the pronoun “you”. Next, describe in detail what the child did that was helpful. Help the child understand how that behavior helped someone else or the entire class. Finally, end the description with a tag such as “that was helpful” or “that was thoughtful”.

Here is an example of the noticing language: “You scooted over, so Jon would have more space in the circle. That was helpful!”

Just as you would have to be very intentional at learning a new language such as German or Spanish, you have to put some tools in place to help you be successful in learning the language of noticing so you may teach and model that skill for children. You may find it very helpful to write the following on a dry erase board so it is visible throughout the classroom as you learn this new skill.

“You _______________, so _______________. That was helpful!”

Dr. Bailey suggests that in the first six weeks of school you are intentional about noticing children privately and publicly at least 10 times per day. Not 10 times per child, but in general, you notice at least 10 helpful acts per day.

That takes me back to the technique I mentioned from my experience in Special Education. Grab 10 pennies or other small objects and put them in your right pants pocket before the children arrive. Intentionally commit to noticing 10 helpful acts that day. Each time you notice a helpful act, move one penny to your left pocket. Your goal would be to have all 10 pennies in the left pocket by the end of the day! If you don’t make it, this is good information for you and perhaps you could allow yourself to “Oops” and try again tomorrow! If you do then CELEBRATE! You did it! You gave yourself a concrete strategy for successfully modeling the skill of noticing to your School Family™. Before you know it, you’ll have a new habit—Noticing!

Monday Motivator #17 2018-19

Responding to a Teacher’s Classroom Problem

http://barkleypd.com/blog/responding-to-a-classroom-problem/

While modeling a coaching pre-conference in a workshop for instructional coaches, one teacher shared that as a first-grade teacher she was struggling with students at reading stations. She said that students often were off task or complaining to her about what another student was doing.

Our conversation went something like this:

Steve: Pick two of the centers you’d most want to focus on.

Teacher: Word work and journal writing.

Steve: Would you describe for me the gap that exists between what you want to see and hear happening at those centers and what you are seeing and hearing?

Teacher: I want to see and hear students practicing the skills in the center work. Now, too often, little is being accomplished and frequently students are interrupting my work with the guided group.

Steve: Are students going to centers individually or in some grouping?

Teacher: I pair them up, sometimes in groups of three. I try to place a stronger reader in each group so that he can provide assistance to a student who is struggling.

Steve: If we created a continuum of Low to High center engagement, could you describe student behavior at each spot and place students by name as to where you think they usually are on the continuum?

Teacher: Yes, I can do that.

Steve: What if during the next week, I observe at the two centers and record the behaviors that are present along with student names? If you’ve created the continuum, we can begin with comparing what I observed with what you predicated and plan for changes from there. Perhaps I can capture some of the students on video.

Teacher: Sounds great.

In this model I illustrated the coach avoiding offering solutions at the teacher’s first mention of a problem. Two thoughts were in my mind:

• Observing first to get a clearer picture of “what is happening” before focusing on change.
• Involving the teacher in a problem-solving process

My guess was that we would discover different strategies would be needed to move particular students higher on the continuum. We could set goals around next engagement levels and identify progress (or lack of it) as we experimented.

Reading Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath, I was introduced to solution focused therapy. I saw a connection with what I have developed over time in my coaching work. The solution-focused therapist isn’t concerned with digging into the past for why things are the way they are. Instead they look for a solution to the problem at hand. A common question the therapist asks is, “If a miracle happened, and the problem was gone, what are the first small things you would see that would make you think the change had happened?”

The therapist questions to get the picture of the change in concrete, very specific terms.

“Solution focused therapists learn to focus their patients on the first hints of the miracle ‘What’s the first small sign you’d see that would make you think the problem was gone’- because they want to avoid answers that are overly grand and unattainable.” (pages 37-38)

When the picture is clear, the therapist follows with the question, “When was the last time you saw a little bit of the miracle, even just for a short time?” This question demonstrates to the client that she can solve the problem and in at least a small way has in some circumstances.

Solution Focused Core Beliefs:

• We don’t need to fully understand the problem before we can find a solution.
• Everyone has the strengths and resources to help themselves.
• There will already be something that is working.
• Change can happen in very small steps.
• No matter how bad the problem is, it doesn’t happen all the time.
• We can’t change the past so we should focus on the future.
• Having a clear idea where you want to be makes it more likely that you’ll get there.

The approach I took with the first-grade teacher resembled what I read about solution focused approaches. The continuum would provide a description of the behaviors that would indicate the teacher was making progress toward her desired results. When I collected the observations of student behaviors, we would likely identify that the centers were generating the desired behaviors with some students. That would set the stage to generate strategies to move more students further along the continuum. That progress would encourage the teacher, support the coaching relationship, and build teacher and student efficacy.

Monday Motivator #16 2018-19

SPREAD: Teaching and a Balanced Life

https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=1820

Franklin planners. To do lists. Electronic calendars. Books describing how to delegate . . . or prioritize  . . . or simplify abound. I have tried most of them, inching my way toward balance and peace. Like most women, my responsibilities are numerous and time inevitably seems too limited. As my workload increased and my mother declined with age, it became even more essential that I find a way to create balance in my life. I was spread too thin. I knew the things that helped, but I needed a way to remember them so I could do them regularly. After lots of experimenting and meditation, I came up with an acronym that keeps my priorities memorable and workable on a daily basis. Let me be clear: it doesn’t make the difficulties -- or even the “too much” -- disappear; but it helps me to remember and to live my own priorities. I’m spread too thin. I live by SPREAD. S = Spiritual Spending time focused on the spiritual life is essential to my well-being. People have different customs, traditions, and beliefs, and there are so many ways to get in touch with the spiritual: quiet solitude or music; reading or writing; nature’s beauty or prayer; some combination of those or something different. How to get in touch with the spiritual isn’t the point. Regardless of our differences, we are spiritual beings. Far from being a waste of time, spending time with the spiritual assures that I do what is the best possible use of my time. I know already that I can’t do all that I want, but I certainly want what I can do to be valuable. The spiritual is what gives meaning and purpose to my life. P = Physical Exercise is a great stress reliever, and I feel better when I exercise, but it’s easy for me to get so busy with my workload that I don’t make time for this essential care of my body. Finding an exercise or a variety of exercise that is enjoyable is vital. Also in this physical category are those essential pieces of being human that are surprisingly easy to forego, but if neglected take their toll over time: getting enough sleep and eating healthy food. R = Relationships We humans are social creatures. If we want our relationships with others to be healthy and happy, we need to take care of those relationships. We need to spend regular time with family and friends. No matter how busy I am, making sure I get this time to connect with those I care about is essential. E = Enjoy The world is full of beauty. The food is delicious. The books are interesting. The children are cute or funny or surprisingly insightful. People are kind. Things to enjoy abound: colors, scents, music, shapes and textures . . . It might take some mindfulness, and awareness to slip into the place of enjoyment. Or it might take a few minutes: giving oneself permission to enjoy a good book; treating oneself to a cup of coffee; making time to smell the roses. Really, to smell the roses and to feel the softness of their petals on your lips and cheek. The world is full of beauty. A = Act This all started with too much to do. And those things are still there: work tasks and household tasks. Monthly reports and assessments. Laundry and dishes. The lawn to mow and weeds to pull. A roof that needs repair and the car’s oil to change. Bills to be paid . . . again. And then there’s that closet to clean out. It won’t all get done today, but some will get done. It feels good to get something done. And now, with my spirit, my body, my relationships, and my outlook attended to, the work is put in its right place. The work appears now for what it is: a gift. D = Dream We all have aspirations for things we want or things we want to do: a dream trip or a talent to develop, something to accomplish, or even a possession. Some call it their “bucket list.” Dreams are the things that keep us looking to the future and hopeful. Putting "dream" in my acronym assures that I spend a little bit of time on it daily -- even if that time is only remembering that I have that dream. My dreams are part of who I am. I’m spread too thin. And maybe (probably) you are too. SPREAD helps me accept that fact, and remember what’s really important to me.  It helps keep me in balance, working but not all about work.

Kelly Petrin

Kelly Petrin is a preschool teacher in Portland, Oregon. She also teaches as an adjunct instructor at Lewis and Clark College.

Monday Motivator #15 2018-19

From Balance to Beats
https://www.choiceliteracy.com/articles-detail-view.php?id=3061

 

Work-life balance sets an unrealistic expectation of keeping different roles in steady equilibrium. Instead, strive for work-life rhythm. Each week has a repeating pattern of beats—job, family, friends, health, hobbies—that vary in accent and duration.

                                                                               Adam Grant

When I was a teenager, I played clarinet and met weekly with a private instructor.  But after the school year was over, we stopped poring over sheet music and practicing scales and long tones. Summers were given over to jazz. Within certain rhythms or a range of sounds, almost anything was possible. It took a lot of effort and it was sometimes frustrating to improvise after nine months of exacting attention to getting what was on the page exactly right. But I learned that it was also fun to try to invent new melodies within the constraints of keys and timing.

I spent too much of my life thinking about how to live a “balanced” life, charting out schedules and trying to slot in time for myself. I’ve finally learned a good life isn’t about balance, but beats. The beats that matter most -- family, writing, work, volunteering -- recur on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Certain beats are much more prominent in some days and weeks than others. But it’s all about improvisation -- finding a rhythm and melody that works for a while, and then disappears when a new rhythm emerges.

What are the beats in your life? What’s most prominent now? Sometimes life is all about strong, overwhelming beats of family (with a new baby) or writing (with a new book) or career (with a switch to a new school). Your life might not feel in any way balanced, but the melody can still be sweet.

Brenda Power
Founder, Choice Literacy