Coach towards mastery
One does not generally think of a teacher as they would a coach. From years of experience as students ourselves, we have come to expect that teaching equates to lecturing; learning equates to note-taking. Clearly, this is not the way to engage students in the learning process. Instead, teachers need to shift thinking about what their role truly is ... we are coaches of academic athletes. The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching puts forth that if teachers were to adopt the coaching strategies of highly effective coaches of elite athletes, then students would experience learning in a whole new way. Specifically, highly effective coaches follow a simple system of "observing students, identifying opportunities for improvement, focusing students on improving their skills in targeted areas, and reteaching as needed to ensure mastery of new abilities" (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013). For teachers to adopt these behaviors, it becomes all about intentionality. Frequent checks for understanding, including well thought out questions and a student centered classroom where students are responsible for learning, can help a teacher identify strengths and weaknesses in their students. Next, teachers must provide quality opportunities for relevant practice connected to the learning. The days of "busy work" are gone; homework must be directly applicable to the skill deficiency and more importantly, work must receive feedback to help guide the student toward mastery. If, after practice, the skill is still not mastered, a teacher needs to have a ready strategy for reteaching the concept.
In her TED Talk, Carol Dweck focuses on how believing you can improve in something leads to that eventuality. Only through coaching and believing our students can improve, do they improve.
In her TED Talk, Carol Dweck focuses on how believing you can improve in something leads to that eventuality. Only through coaching and believing our students can improve, do they improve.