A key to being an effective literacy leader and coach is being a effective communicator. We are all teachers that communicate daily with the students that we teach. What do you do well when you communicate with your students? I like to think that I actively listen to what my students are telling me in class. You all would know how effective I am as you are the students (no, you don't have to tell me :) ). Before you begin to read, think about these phrases: ethical communication, delivering hard messages, proactive communication, critical communication, collaborative communication. How do you think they are connected and what do they have to do with coaching and with being a literacy leader in general?
I am suggesting that you read the readings in the following order: L&T Chapter 5 is explicitly about communication skills and strategies. When you are done reading, you might jot down your responses to questions 1 and 2 on page 102. Then I"d read EP&L Strategy 1 and complete the form about your own readiness for coaching before completing the one about your school's readiness for coaching. Filling out the form in that chapter might help you as you think about the professional development plan you will soon be planning. Finally, think about how communication skills are important as you read about working to create a shared knowledge base.
For this week's blog, besides having a conversation about the readings and what you thought about in relationship to my suggestions above, please have a conversation about when you would like to "get together" online to discuss your surveys. You will also need to let me know if you want me to arrange the meeting on Adobe Connect and if you would like me there to facilitate/model/co-plan.
Have a good week. Remember, survey results are due this week along with a small group online meeting.
SB
The obvious connection is they are different types of communication, yet when I think deeper, it seems a few of the terms (ethical, proactive, critical, and hard to delivery) seem to be types of news you might deliver. If that makes sense. The last term (collaborative) seems to be a way that the types of news are communicated. Since I haven't read these chapters, I may be way off. These terms have a lot to do with being a literacy coach. Unfortunately, as a reading specialist, there will be times I have to deliver hard to hear news. I'll have to effectively and respectfully tell someone critical things at times. I will have to know how to ethically communicate so when coaching and speaking to my colleagues I am polite. I must know how to help others and respond in a quick manner, this would be proactive communication.
ReplyDeleteLike Kaitlin, I may be way off here considering I haven't read the chapters yet. They appear related because each one will be necessary at some point in coaching a teacher. While they are all important and I need to learn the intricacies of each, I think ethical communication and collaborative communication are critical. Ethical communication, to me, means that I keep confidentiality, am unbiased, and take a balanced approach when working with my teacher. Collaborative communication will occur when I approach my teacher as a team member and when she believes her input and ideas are critical to our success. I believe that my teacher must trust me to be professional, moral, and a team member before I can ever approach her with feedback.
ReplyDeleteThe various types of communication are all connected because they are different ways to express thoughts and ideas, but also because I think that is how professional individuals would communicate with a peer. Ethical communication, I believe is when the literacy coach when communicating with others considers the laws about keeping certain information private and following the strict guidelines of professionalism. Proactive communication is when a literacy coach takes the initiative to communicate with individuals and share ideas and resources. Critical communication sounds like it would be providing constructive critisim to the individual. Lastly, collaborative communication is when the literacy leader is working with an individual or a group of educators and we are working together. Delivering hard messages is something that I am not sure about. So I am interested to read about this type of communication.
ReplyDelete“What do you do well when you communicate with your students?” I think I am pretty good about asking the kinds of questions that help get to the root of situations that my students are in or issues that they are having. For example, if a student says that something is too hard, I can usually help them work out why they think that so we can find a solution.
ReplyDeleteI feel like “delivering hard messages” might mean that you need to be specific and concrete when you communicate during coaching? That’s the most confusing one for me. I think that proactive communication means that you are taking initiative and communicating to develop relationships before asking anything of the teachers you work with. That’s important so you can establish collaborative communication, where you try to brainstorm and problem solve together, which requires a relationship. Since building relationships requires trust, you need to abide by standards of ethical communication, which I think involves honesty and confidentiality. Ethical communication and trust are also an important part of critical communication, which I think involves providing constructive criticism in a positive, professional manner.
I am like you, Angela, in that I am good at asking students questions to find out the root of issues as well as to help them breakdown and understand content.
ReplyDeleteI think an effective literacy coach must be ethical and be able to deliver hard messages while being be proactive, critical, and collaborative. Being ethical requires trust being established. Once trust is established, it is then easier to offer constructive criticism without the teacher becoming overly defensive. However, it is also important to communicate the criticism in a productive manner so that you are able to collaborate to help the teacher improve his/her strategies. It is also important to be proactive to both catch potential issues early as well as to build healthy, trustful relationships. As a literacy coach, you have to actively seek out relationships with the faculty and staff in order to build relationships.
When I think about my strengths as a communicator in my classroom, I think I listen well and I'm pretty good at helping students to build on their own ideas without actually doing the work for them. I've gotten in the habit of waiting at least 5-8 seconds to let a student think about a question before I scaffold and help them with an answer or let another student jump in. I also have a way of breaking down information in a way that is applicable to teenagers' lives and that makes more sense to them. For instance, when teaching about independent and dependent clauses, I described the independent clause as an independent woman who earns her own money and doesn't need anyone's help. She makes sense all on her own because she has the four things she needs: punctuation, capitalization, a subject, and a predicate. But her boyfriend, Dependent Claude, sits around on a beanbag eating cheetos all day and doesn't have a job. Without his girlfriend, he doesn't make sense. Then I'd have these complex sentences written up on the whiteboard and I'd have them come underline the Independent Woman in green and draw a little dollar sign out to the side and underline the dependent clause (Dependent Claude) in red with a sad face. It sounds silly, but it worked because my 8th graders actually knew the difference when they took their tests. So...those are strengths. I still have so much work to do as a communicator, however, and I'm really looking forward to figuring out what all these types of communication are. I've never heard of them. Looks like this week's reading with be interesting!
ReplyDeleteI think I have a few strengths when communicating with my students. I consider myself a good listener when the students ask questions. If I am unclear about what point they are trying to make, I ask questions to gain some clarification. Also, I try to make good eye contact along with getting down on their level. I think that eye contact along with getting down on the students' level is very important with younger students.
ReplyDeleteMy first initial thought when reading the terms was that they have to be forms of communication, so that is one way they are connected. I think they have to do with coaching in the way that they are different strategies a coach might use in specific situations when working with teachers. As a literacy leader they might be important to know and understand how to use them so that you build a positive relationship with teacher that is effective when it comes to working together.
What do you do well when you communicate with your students?
ReplyDelete- I think that I am good at having a friendly banter with my students and I am able to get them to open up with their communication. I also think that I am good at sharing my expectations for their student output. I also enjoy invoking some humor within my communication with my students and allowing them to have fun in my classroom and to keep the mood light and carefree.
How do you think they are connected and what do they have to do with coaching and with being a literacy leader in general?
- I think to be a good literacy leader, you first need to understand the situation/ style of communication that is needed to help support, foremost, the teacher and the information needed to communicate to help them. I also think that as a literacy leader you need to understand these different communication styles in order to effectively administer them; that you aren't trying to have an ethical communication with a teacher, but it comes out more of a critical or hard message communication. I think this is the crux of good coaching. Just like any relationship it is only as strong as the communication being used within in it; that could also mean the lack of communication as well as the wrong style of communication. I know this is something that I work with on a daily basis and something that I have to own and be able to humble myself when I am doing a poor job.