The Journey of a Thousand Steps...

     I don't always like to leave our classes with a substitute teacher because I am concerned about the loss of learning time and a bit of selfishness on my part because I love being with my students. Sometimes however, opportunities arise that I can't refuse. Our leadership team as well as the team from MHHS were lucky to participate in three full days of learning around the skill of cognitive coaching. The highlight of the three days was the fact that one of my favourite facilitators, John Clarke, was leading the session.

     Aside from the humorous storytelling John shares, his ability to recall people's names after only a short period is an impressive and enviable feat. To summarize our time with John Clarke, once again the power of relationships was reinforced as well as the necessity of attentive listening and mutual respect. Cognitive Coaching relies upon one's ability to attentively listen and then paraphrase a person's statements, as well as offering questions. Neither paraphrasing nor questioning are successful without strong listening skills. In grade seven, we practice attentive listening and differentiate listening from hearing. Looking at ELA's outcome 5 and the Dimensions of Thinking from Social Studies, the so-called 'soft skills' of listening are critical to a student's success not only in schooling, but beyond the classroom.

    Hearing is often accidental, involuntary and requires little, if any, effort. On the other hand, effective listening is purposeful, intentional and requires focused, sustained attention. In grade seven, we utilize numerous Tribes strategies and Kagan structures to facilitate the growth of this necessary skill. I usually start the year with very intentional activities, including creating a look, sounds, feels like chart for listening, along with the remaining agreements. During the year, we revisit the skill, and will be doing so again in the coming weeks. We will also revisit our nonverbal communication, as we in fact transmit far more with our body language than we do with our words and actions.

    Finally, the power of reflection was also reinforced during the Cognitive Coaching session. Aside from blogging, students and teachers alike greatly benefit from thinking about our own thinking (meta cognition) as well as thinking back to how we can improve on our learning experiences. When I initially embarked upon my Tribes journey, the story of how Jeanne Gibbs integrated the image of a pelican (named 'reflection") into the Tribes process always sticks in my mind. One piece of writing from Jeanne Gibbs serves as a reminder of the importance of reflection for teachers:

          Invite the pelican that soars over the Tribes Trail to be your constant companion.  Her name is                     Reflection.  She will tell you, rather immodestly, that she makes the Tribes process work well     
         anywhere.... Reflection knows that if you watch from the bird's eye view, classroom management 
        goes more smoothly.  Reflection is a wise bird who can describe just what she saw or heard while 
       people worked together.... reflection clears up confusion and helps everyone soar to greater heights. 

     We reflect on our learning in class daily, with something as simple as a sticky note listing one idea that sticks with us, or by writing that is more detailed in our journals or blogs for example. We also encourage reflection by providing think time for students to quietly "percolate" on a specific question or idea. I hope that each of my students is fortunate enough to have someone outside of school who also asks them questions about the school day and what stayed with them by evening.