Sunday, October 2, 2011
Learning to be Good Coaches
In her article, Clark notes that the teachers she talked to all believed that coaching "was critical to their success in helping children learn to read." She then discussed how she had her pre-teacher students practice coaching scenarios. I really enjoyed the fact that she had them brainstorm these possible reading situations they will encounter in the classroom. I am currently spending time each week in a 2nd grade classroom and I occasionally struggle to find the right words to coach the children, whether it be in reading, math, or otherwise. Sometimes I find myself telling a child to "sound it out" when there are coaching strategies that would work well in that situation. I think that having the opportunity to learn about and practice coaching strategies outside of the school setting is a great way to prepare to teach reading. Having lots of strategies under my belt will not only make me a more successful reading teacher, but having the practice will make me more confident in my coaching abilities.
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I definitely struggled with ways of coaching as well in my tutoring experience. I had not had many Education classes yet so I did not know of any of these coaching strategies. I also only knew to say "just sound it out" which now I realize is not the most helpful thing to do, it can actually just be frustrating to the child! I am definitely glad we read these articles and now have more vocabulary to use with our students in the future.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how we always fall back on "sound it out". I know that's always my first instinct. Hopefully we will be able to continue to find other coaching techniques that are more helpful.
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ReplyDeleteI do the same thing in my current teaching experience now too Juli! When a child asks for help, it is my automatic response to say "sound it out". Recently after reading these articles, I have tried to use a wider variety of supporting questions and comments to help coach children through sounding out words.
ReplyDeleteI also loved her idea of pre-teachers practicing coaching before entering the school. Although I believe it is essential for teachers to form their own teaching philosophy and methods, observation and practice will allow them to be educated and experienced while creating their personal beliefs on teaching.
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