Aha Moments

     Thank you, Oprah, for coining the term "aha moment." Otherwise I wouldn't have quite the right phrasing to describe this week's post. Yes, readers, this post is dedicated to sharing three "aha moments" I have had this week while conferencing and collaborating with some of the teachers I work with as an instructional coach. Sometimes when I observe a class, or have a discussion with a teacher about issues he or she is experiencing, an idea will just occur to me -- a new way of looking at something, a fresh perspective, an aha moment. (Side note -- this is why I think that, as educators, we need to watch each other teach more often and we need to have more and more open discussions with one another about issues in our classrooms, because often it is through these experiences that new ideas will come to us!)
     Here we go . . .

Aha Moment #1

     Lately I've worked as instructional coach with several teachers who are having difficulty getting their class's attention -- a problem all of us have experienced, for sure. We've talked about using quiet signals and about which quiet signal will work the best. The answer is that no one quiet signal is "the best." Truly this is the case since, if there were said magical signal, we'd all be using it. Here comes the "aha" -- it doesn't fully matter which quiet signal you use (whether it's clapping a pattern, ringing a chime, a call and response, etc., etc.). What matters is . . . drum roll, please . . . specifying your expectations for students. What should they do, specifically, when this quiet signal occurs?? I'd venture to say most of us (including myself before this particular aha moment) simply assume that of course our students know what we want from them at this quiet signal moment. But have we been explicit enough? Have we said, while practicing the quiet signal, "Students, when you hear this chime (or insert alternative quiet signal here), your eyes should be on me, and you should be absolutely silent. This means you are ready and are waiting to see what the next set of directions or what the next transition will be"? Have we posted these expectations in our classrooms? I think students need for us to be this explicit. Why leave it to chance that they just inherently know what the heck we're talking about?

Aha Moment #2

     This aha is sort of tied to a memory of mine. Lately, I've also been working with several teachers on using summarizers at the end of a lesson. Mainly, we've discussed avoiding falling into a rut with these summarizers. Tickets To Leave are great, but do students start becoming numb to them when they see them too often? My aha moment answers a resounding "yes." And I'll tell you why. While discussing repetitive summarizers with one of these concerned teachers, I was visited by the Ghost of In-Service Workshops Past. In a former district of mine, we teachers would be given a 3-2-1 exit slip at the end of each in-service. Reflecting on the workshop, we were to write 3 things that had interested us, 2 things we still had questions about, and 1 thing we could immediately start using in our classrooms. The first few times this type of exit slip was used, we all dutifully and thoughtfully filled out the 3-2-1 reflection. However, this went on for years. And years. By the time we had been filling out 3-2-1s at the end of each and every in-service workshop for four or five years, no one was being all that reflective or thoughtful about it anymore. Honestly? It was boring. It was old. We were tired of it. I can't help but think that students who are presented with the same summarizer day after day start to feel the same way. Aha! Variety is the spice of life!

And Finally . . . 

Aha Moment #3

     Lately, several teachers have lamented to me about students who repeatedly call out during a class discussion or during a question and answer session. This has frustrated all of us from time to time. And we know as teachers that this is not a good behavior to encourage in the classroom. It's unfair if only certain students' voices are heard, especially since these students are being heard due to behavior that can be interpreted as rude or inconsiderate of others. This is not the lesson we want to teach our students about how to be heard in life. But, what to do, what to do? And then it hit me! Get into the habit of asking questions by asking students to raise their hands. For example, instead of phrasing your question as "What is the main character struggling with in this paragraph?," phrase it as "Raise your hand if you can tell us what the main character is struggling with." Seem too simple of a solution to be true? Ah, my friends, but I've seen it work! With the latter phrasing, students are following the main direction being given to them, which is to raise their hands if they know the answer. With the former phrasing, no such direction is inherent. Another point for explicitness!

     I realize, having just written all of the above, how vital a tool reflective writing is. If I did not have this blog, this outlet for sharing my thoughts of the week, would I remember and retain these aha moments? Or would these realizations (simple and "common-sense-y" as they may be) slip my mind eventually, causing me to consistently struggle with the same issues? Reflective practitioning works, readers! Jot down those ahas!

     No more posts from me until I resume work during the first week of January. Happy Holidays, readers, and to my fellow educators out there -- have a lovely vacation!