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1. The most challenging listening set aside for me is solution listening. In a coaching conversation I am sometimes tempted to derail my coaching skills and instead of guiding the teacher candidate to make their own realization, I offer MY solution(s) to THEIR problem.
2. I've been guilty of solution listening for many years (especially when partnering with a teacher who is stressed or overwhelmed). What has really helped me to change my thinking is to focus on the kinds of reflective questions I ask. Prepping before a conversation by reviewing the reflective questions that I think will help to successfully guide the conversation has decreased my "solution listening".

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Considering this quote from the Partnering blog, "Yes, new teachers need support, but not support as students, not as children. They need support as teachers, as professionals, as partners in learning." and that our "coachees" are  not yet full-fledged teachers; I am choosing to focus on the Partnership Principle of Choice.
Creating a coaching conversation that ensures our teacher candidates have meaningful choices encourages growth in reflective thinking, goal setting and overall teacher confidence. Focusing on Choice also increases growth in reflective questioning skills for coaches and decreases solution listening.

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1) The most unproductive pattern of responding in a conversation for me is when I engage in autobiographical listening. As a child, I learned by talking to my dad about a problem, that I felt so much better when he shared a story of his own that was similar to mine. To me, it felt like empathy and he could relate to what I was saying. Sometimes, I feel compelled to let TCs know that what they are experiencing is normal and lead them to think about next steps.
2) I've noticed that it helps me to use "wait time" if I feel my thoughts turning to my own experiences. I tend to get excited by being able to relate to people. Just letting the dust settle in my thinking and refocusing on getting the TC to engage in productive struggle for his or her own problemsolving is going to grow their cognitive tools to use in all circumstances.

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I find the most challenging listening set aside to be autobiographical listening.  Two of my Gallup strengths are “relator” and “connectedness” and my brain is always looking for connections to what people are saying or experiencing.  Making connections can work during coaching, if I mentally note the connection but don’t state it... which could distract the focus from the Teacher Candidate.  I have found, there are often opportunities to share the connections later to help build relationships with Teacher Candidates.  My metacognitive strategy is to remind myself that a coaching conversation focuses on the Teacher Candidate.  If I have an impulse to tell a “me too” story, I ask myself if my comment will distract from the coaching.  If so, I make a mental note to remember to share it later to help connect to the Teacher Candidate.

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I, too, would have chosen “choice” as a principle to help partner with Teacher Candidates BUT since Jacqui chose it, I’m going to share how I think encouraging Teacher Candidate “reflection” would help in partnering with Teacher Candidates.  I strongly believe in the direct correlation between reflection and growth!  As the article stated, “when professionals are told what to do – and when and how to do it, with no room for their own individual thought – there’s a good chance they’re not learning at all.”  If we want our TCs to do the learning, we have to let them do the reflecting.  We have to give them room for their own thoughts… which combined with choice will give them the ownership needed to be successful.

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The type of listening that is most problematic for me is autobiographical. I have reflected on coaching conversations, especially those in my content areas, and realized I was sharing what I concerned to be too many personal narratives. The problem behind this is rather than give the TCs an opportunity to work a problem out on their own and gain that experience to take with, I have told them my way of handling it which presents itself as THE solution not A solution. Typically, I try to stay as much in the here and now as possible. (This probably pulls in some surface listening complications, too) If I sense an opportunity to tell a personal story, I  make myself evaluate how the addition will progress the conversation if at all. There is a line between sharing to build rapport and dictating the conversation. Unfortunately, that line is not always easy to see.

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I'm sure you have all heard me make a connection between the coaching and counseling fields. In reading the "Partnering, not Prodding" article a few lines stood out to me, almost if they were bolded. "...don't assume that all new teachers have the same needs" "...treat them like an adult and watch them grow in their willingness". Additionally, in Jim Knight's YouTube video, he frequently repeats "do you feel your voice is heard?" The combination of all of these comes together in how I want to encourage teacher candidates more effectively. Not every TC is the same age or has a similar background. Each has a unique perspective of how the practicum benefits them or how meaningful the classwork. Too infrequently we give them the opportunity to take the time to fully develop their opinions and the platform to express them. There just isn't enough time. ...Well, why?! Finally, through giving TCs the platform to correlate their ideas then express them appropriately, the foundation of their opinions can be examined. In some of my most meaningful coaching conversations, I walk away thinking, "my goodness I was there far too long" only to immediately shush myself and realize without given the time necessary for the TC's voice to be heard, the true misunderstanding/issue would have never reared itself.

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Let's chat about Inquisitive listening too! :)

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Let's chat about Inquisitive listening too! :)

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1.  While I think my biggest challenge as an instructional coach is my 'solution listening'  I also recognize that 'inquisitive listening' can be a challenge for me as well.  I thought I would write about this since we haven't padlet-it-out yet :).  Two of my Gallup strengths are 'input' and 'learner.'  I feel that the combination of these both tend to entice me toward a downward spiral (but sometimes an upward spiral :) of questions to help me dig deeper and learn more about a topic.  For example, a few semesters ago I remember having a coaching conversation where I was observing a TC in a resource room.  We were discussing the importance of 'wait time' and I was not sure if there was a different protocol set for 'wait time' in a resource room setting.  I asked a lot of questions and we discussed a lot, but I felt like I left that coaching conversation with a feeling that I was asking too much as an inquisitive learner and less as an instructional coach.
2. When I think about ways to set aside my 'inquisitive listening' I am drawn to rely on my other Gallup strengths. As my top strength of 'achiever' it is important for me to reach and succeed my goal as an instructional coach. Thus I walk into a coaching conversation with the mindframe that I am achieving my best a a coach when the teacher candidate grows in their teaching/pedagogy.

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My text-to-self connection I made the 'partnering not prodding' article is when I read the statement, "the excitement and openness of new teachers has lifted me countless times" (Thomas, 2020, para 2).  I have said it multiple times, and I do hope it doesn't seem disingenuous due to frequency, yet I will say it again - I love working with teacher candidates in field experiences due to their disposition and enthusiasm.  Their enthusiasm is infectious! I feel like this thought is a nice transition into 'reciprocity' as the partnership principle I would like to explore. I have always considered myself a lifelong learner and I see a learning opportunity with every interaction I have. When I think about coaching teacher candidates, I enjoy seeing their excitement when I say something like, 'I have never thought to try ___ in this setting. Kudos!' This statement sparks excitement in the teacher candidate as they feel as if the learning is a two way street and it still opens the conversation of what could be done differently for efficiency purposes. I find productive and reflexive thoughts as we continue our coaching conversations

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The impulse to 'mother' the TCs stands out to me because I have always thought that it helps me to give them my best effort. On Nov. 6th, OPS Superintendent Cheryl Logan tweeted, "When we treat all children as if they were our own and make decisions that we would make about other people's children that we would make for our own, we never go wrong. All in!" So, I can see how this can be a positive thing. The line in the article stating that the TC may be saying, "Help me to figure this out," struck a chord with me that it's ok to feel some motherly instincts while coaching, but approach the conversation as a partnership where I (subsersively?) lead the TC to come to their own conclusions and grow from there.

I also have to point out one of the many things I LOVE about our coaching PD because we are taught that our words build professionals rather than crush them. The partnership principle I can apply here is that of listening. There are a few sentences I want to quote from this article that resonated loudly for me as I had a principal say pretty much these exact words to me: "'All that cool stuff you learned in college and wanted to try here? No, no. You need to get on board with how we think about learning. Your own judgment? Well, you won’t be needing that here.'"

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I can see myself in all these different patterns of listening. It is so easy to fall into solution listening with teacher candidates. I can see how this backfires and doesn't help with their growth as a teacher. Autobiographical listening is the most challenging for me. I tend to want to share my experiences to help TCs feel better about a situation. After reading and reflecting on how each of the set asides can be seen in my listening, I plan to be much more aware of not falling into these set asides during my coaching conversations. I have printed out a notecard with all of these set-asides to have in my coaching binder as a reminder. I feel that little parts of each one of these can be incorporated during a coaching dialogue in a gentle way. Establishing the trusting, comfortable relationship we have with TCs does require some aspects of being an autobiographical listener as long as it doesn't become the focus or take over the TC's reflection of their own teachings.

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Controlling the Impulse-
I feel this section had so much beneficial information in regards to our role as coaches. There always seems to be many times during my coaching conversations where I want to steer a TC in a direction that I see to be more beneficial for them. Reminding myself of the importance of them choosing their own goal and what kind of support they want to see from me will help me build the appropriate partnership. I want to be able to help each TC I work with to see their progress in attaining their goal. Many times as we are discussing a goal to work on they look to me for suggestions. I always remind them that this reflection of their teaching is helping them grow and succeed in teaching. Just like we made our goals for coaching, TCs need to reflect, choose a goal, and see their progress not just for field, but for their continued growth as a veteran teacher. Helping TCs see this as an important part of any profession and life itself is what I hope to accomplish during our goal setting discussion.