BUILDING A CLIMATE FOR GROWTH PARAPHRASING
STEMS FOR MAKIING SUGGESTIONS To support teachers in their professional growth, the conferences with their observers must be productive and meaningful. Studies of evaluation efforts show that these conversations yield positive results when: 1. Observers build trust‐ through transparency, fidelity to process and integrity. 2. Promote an internal locus of control, encourage self‐assessment, and develop autonomy – accomplished by listening more than telling and following up with teachers on these aspects. 3. Foster risk‐taking—by supporting teachers when they attempt improvements that fail Building Trust Actions: • Listen • Ask sincere questions • Show enthusiasm for and interest in the teacher’s work and thinking • Ask the teacher to identify her or his role • Clarify your role • Paraphrasing teacher comments • Clarifying and Probing teacher comments Promoting Internal Locus of Control Stems: • Tell me about how your decisions and actions supported the lesson’s success. • I noticed how when you____ the student really_____ • Let’s look at your self‐assessment… • How do you think the lesson went and why? • What did you do to make the lesson so successful? Fostering Risk Taking Stems: • It sounds like you have a number of ideas to try out! It’ll be exciting/interesting/great to see which works best for you! • I’m interested in learning/hearing more about… • I’m really looking forward to… Paraphrasing communicates that the listener has… HEARD what the speaker said, UNDERSTOOD what was said, and CARES about what was said Paraphrasing involves either: RESTATING in your own words, or SUMMARIZING Paraphrasing Stems: • So… • In other words • What I hear you saying…. • I’m hearing many things,… • As I listen to you I’m hearing,… CLARIFYING / PROBING Clarify & probing communicates that the listener has… HEARD what the speaker said BUT does NOT fully UNDERSTAND what was said but CARES enough that s/he wants to understand. Clarifying involves ASKING A QUESTION to 1. Gather more information 2. Develop or maintain a focus Probing questions seek deeper understanding of issues. 1. Discover the meaning of the language used 2. Get clarity about the speaker’s reasoning 3. Seek connections between ideas Clarifying and Probing Stems • Would you tell me a little more about…? • An example of …would help me understand … • So, are you saying/ suggesting…? • Tell me how that idea is like (different from)… • Tell me what you mean when you… • To what extent…? • I’m curious to know more about…. • I’m intrigued by…/I’m interested in…/I wonder By the end of the post‐observation conference, the observer will want to support the teacher in identifying opportunities for improvements or sharing suggestions. Framing these suggestions is critical. Directed Suggestion Stems: these stems place the observer in a position of expert and advice giver. • One thing I’ve learned/noticed is… • A couple of things to keep in mind… • From our experience, one thing we’ve noticed…. • What I know about____ is… • Something/some things to keep in mind when dealing with… Indirect Suggestion Stems: these stems place the observer in a position of problem solving partner • Something you might consider trying is…. • There are a number of approaches… • Several/some teachers I know have tried a couple of different things in this sort of situation and maybe one might work for you… • Sometimes it’s helpful if… Promoting Teacher Autonomy and Locus of Control: Try following a suggestion with a question that invites the teacher to imagine/hypothesize how the idea might work in his/her context. These follow ups are especially important when more direct suggestions are offered. • How might that look in your classroom? • To what extent might that work in your situation/with your students? • What do you imagine might happen if you were to try something like that with your class? • Which of these ideas might work best in your classroom? (with your students)? 1