The Art of Listening, Questioning, &

Celebrating!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

CFF Instructional Coach OrientationMarch xx, 2010

Do You Hear What I Hear?

• Active Listening

• Clarifying and Probing Questions

• Approval, Support, Celebration

• Suggestions or Telling

Pronouns make a Difference

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Fishbowl—Modified—Everyone plays a part• If in the fishbowl

– act out knowledge of concept using prepared script, improvise as needed

• If observing the fishbowl– evaluate the role play/dialogue presented ◦reflect on

new insights provided by the exercise

• Everyone– develop a higher awareness of the concept◦has an

increased understanding of various

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Fishbowl (cont’d)

• Setting– Role Players seated in the middle of the room with Instructional

Technology Coaches seated in an encasing circle, but not too close.

• Materials– Script for Role Players– Participants may want to use own paper, pen, laptop

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Active Listening

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Active Listening

Definitionattentive listening to avoid misunderstanding: the practice of paying close attention to a speaker and asking questions to ensure full comprehension

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Clarifying Qs• Simple questions surrounding facts• Provide no additional food for thought

Test: Does the teacher have to think before responding? If so, beyond Clarifying.

See Pocket Guide to Probing Questions.pdf

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Probing Qs• Help teacher think more deeply• Help create paradigm shift• Avoid yes/no answers• Elicit slow response• Move thinking from reaction to reflection

See Pocket Guide to Probing Questions.pdf

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Supportive Statements•Free of evaluation•Collegial

Celebration•Recognize and celebrate the journey

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Recommendations/Suggestions

Avoid • Telling

– I think…; You should…

Consider• Let’s explore together…

Pronouns Can Make a Difference

It’s Your Turn…You've just watched a lesson that was AWFUL! The teacher used a Powerpoint that was full of text that she read aloud to the class.

She wanted the students to take notes, but few were. You saw students texting under their desks and from their body language you could tell that their thoughts were nowhere near the lesson. It's now time to debrief.

How do you handle it? What questions do you ask? What's your goal?

– Select a Reporter and a Recorder

– Decide on groups—dyads, triads, whole table

– Discuss

– Be prepared to Report Out…

Do You Hear What I Hear?

People are not affected by what we say. Instead, they are affected by what they heard us say. Our words and our intent are less important than what people believe we have said and meant. Therefore, think of and interpret your responses as the other individual might.

Dinkmeyer and Losoncy (1980)

Are You There, Coach? It’s Me, Margaret.

I spend a lot of time talking to kids, to teachers. If a teacher has a bad day, I try to talk to the teacher about what went well.

There are always good things that happen during the day. I make sure as a coach that teachers do not go home without someone listening to them. I ask how I can help.

Part of coaching is knowing how to read the teacher and meeting the needs of each individual. Some of them just need somebody to talk to.

Julia Aguilar Zongker, Academic Coach, Phoenix, Arizona