Teaching/Praise revision
I sent the previous article to my dad and he grumped at me for getting flack for being so critical. And he was. It pushed me but it left me feeling like I could never do anything good enough. There' more to this.
As I've said before, one of my main takeaways from teaching gymnastics was this:
keep the praise/crit ratio at least 3/1. I know that sounds like it contradicts the article I last posted, but I don't think it does.
I discovered this when all of my 10 or so classes went haywire for one week- including kids that were usually awesome. They didn't try as hard for me. They seemed discouraged and listless, they acted out. I racked my brains- weather? school vacation? What? I was in the middle of my MA in education, and had just read some other research on the 1/3 (or even 1/5) ratio.
And then I realized taht the only difference I could find in that horror-week was that I had stopped praising them as much. I made a conscious 3/1 ratio and they all flipped back to being awesome. The thing is, all my praise is specific. Not even "that handstand is good", but "nice, you have your toes pointed this time". I would also specifically praise any improvement on things I'd mentioned earlier as something to work on. "Next time get your legs straight". If the next turn their legs were straight, extra congrats.
At the same time, I'd always give them something to work on for the next time: "nice, you got your toes pointed. Your legs are straighter (tone emphasizes they're not quite right yet, but that still improvement), that's good but you're arching your back- keep your body hollow. Nice landing, you stuck it."
This sort of thing has them with looks of iron determination on their faces as they approach their next trick, and both beaming and serious thought as they hear my evaluation.
I also learned how powerful praise was for kids struggling for attention and acting out. My best strategy was to completely and utterly ignore them (unless they interfered with another kid) until they did anything worthy of any praise at all. Then tell them, publically and specifically. Make that the way they get attention. And other wise give them equal attention to the other kids at the end of a trick- feedback.
OMG that did wonders. I had three children I tried this on at first who were dreaded by all other coaches. Two twin preschool boys and a 7 year old boy. They were completely off the hook. And this worked. Completely, utterly and left the other teachers gaping when they covered my classes. The kids that if you turned your back on for a second were literally climbing the walls or knocking over other kids were lining up nicely for water without any word from me.
My other two major takeaways were these: Consistancy and Respect.
Consistency is something I came late (summer after 1st year of college), thank you Looks-for-Buffalo). But it is truly incredible. Making what is going on completely clear- what you're doing for the day, what the instructions are, what happens if you cut in line, etc. And act on it. For me, cutting in line meant instant back-of-line. Every time, no exceptions. After a couple weeks of this a new kid could come to class, cut their first turn and be calmly told by the other preschoolers that he was now last. I had to do nothing.
Respect has lots of bits. Respect their potential- never think they can't do or understand something, just work on how to get them to where they can, safely and honestly. I've had to explain to a 12 year old that I could not show her a backbend because her back wasn't flexible enough yet. Other teachers had dismissed her as too fat and out of shape to ever do one. I just told her what she needed to do- stretch every day like this, etc. and told her that when she was ready, i"d show her. She got it.
When kids are truly upset, take the time to talk and sort things out. Especially the little kids. Some things are just wailing, but some tears are those moments when they decide they'll never have friends, that they will never get back on the beam again, whatever. So important to respect a kid's emotions when something is really off. I take it for a given that most kids will cry their first time on the high beam, but I'll stay with them until the get to the end (and proceed to shout "Yay I did it!").
I get so angry at parents who don't respect their kids enough to believe they can rise to challenges, who will do a blanket tear-coverage, but not bother to distinguish real upset from not. One thing I discovered quickly is that when I gave attention to what I saw as real upset, and not to general squalling, they stopped squalling. Once or twice, I may a mistake in judgement, and the kid would let me know, and I'd apologize.
That's super important- part of the respect thing. Let them know when you've made a mistake. Also trust them to extend the same concern for you.
So much. Makes me miss it again.
As I've said before, one of my main takeaways from teaching gymnastics was this:
keep the praise/crit ratio at least 3/1. I know that sounds like it contradicts the article I last posted, but I don't think it does.
I discovered this when all of my 10 or so classes went haywire for one week- including kids that were usually awesome. They didn't try as hard for me. They seemed discouraged and listless, they acted out. I racked my brains- weather? school vacation? What? I was in the middle of my MA in education, and had just read some other research on the 1/3 (or even 1/5) ratio.
And then I realized taht the only difference I could find in that horror-week was that I had stopped praising them as much. I made a conscious 3/1 ratio and they all flipped back to being awesome. The thing is, all my praise is specific. Not even "that handstand is good", but "nice, you have your toes pointed this time". I would also specifically praise any improvement on things I'd mentioned earlier as something to work on. "Next time get your legs straight". If the next turn their legs were straight, extra congrats.
At the same time, I'd always give them something to work on for the next time: "nice, you got your toes pointed. Your legs are straighter (tone emphasizes they're not quite right yet, but that still improvement), that's good but you're arching your back- keep your body hollow. Nice landing, you stuck it."
This sort of thing has them with looks of iron determination on their faces as they approach their next trick, and both beaming and serious thought as they hear my evaluation.
I also learned how powerful praise was for kids struggling for attention and acting out. My best strategy was to completely and utterly ignore them (unless they interfered with another kid) until they did anything worthy of any praise at all. Then tell them, publically and specifically. Make that the way they get attention. And other wise give them equal attention to the other kids at the end of a trick- feedback.
OMG that did wonders. I had three children I tried this on at first who were dreaded by all other coaches. Two twin preschool boys and a 7 year old boy. They were completely off the hook. And this worked. Completely, utterly and left the other teachers gaping when they covered my classes. The kids that if you turned your back on for a second were literally climbing the walls or knocking over other kids were lining up nicely for water without any word from me.
My other two major takeaways were these: Consistancy and Respect.
Consistency is something I came late (summer after 1st year of college), thank you Looks-for-Buffalo). But it is truly incredible. Making what is going on completely clear- what you're doing for the day, what the instructions are, what happens if you cut in line, etc. And act on it. For me, cutting in line meant instant back-of-line. Every time, no exceptions. After a couple weeks of this a new kid could come to class, cut their first turn and be calmly told by the other preschoolers that he was now last. I had to do nothing.
Respect has lots of bits. Respect their potential- never think they can't do or understand something, just work on how to get them to where they can, safely and honestly. I've had to explain to a 12 year old that I could not show her a backbend because her back wasn't flexible enough yet. Other teachers had dismissed her as too fat and out of shape to ever do one. I just told her what she needed to do- stretch every day like this, etc. and told her that when she was ready, i"d show her. She got it.
When kids are truly upset, take the time to talk and sort things out. Especially the little kids. Some things are just wailing, but some tears are those moments when they decide they'll never have friends, that they will never get back on the beam again, whatever. So important to respect a kid's emotions when something is really off. I take it for a given that most kids will cry their first time on the high beam, but I'll stay with them until the get to the end (and proceed to shout "Yay I did it!").
I get so angry at parents who don't respect their kids enough to believe they can rise to challenges, who will do a blanket tear-coverage, but not bother to distinguish real upset from not. One thing I discovered quickly is that when I gave attention to what I saw as real upset, and not to general squalling, they stopped squalling. Once or twice, I may a mistake in judgement, and the kid would let me know, and I'd apologize.
That's super important- part of the respect thing. Let them know when you've made a mistake. Also trust them to extend the same concern for you.
So much. Makes me miss it again.