Sarah Brenay - TC ch. 9

Sarah Brenay - TC ch. 9
Summary: Becoming a great coach requires deep practice, just like every skill. Coyle has distilled great coaching techniques into "four virtues." The first virtue is the matrix, a vast amount of experience and knowledge about the subject they teach. The teacher needs to know the skill frontward, backward, and sideways in order to reach the student in a way they will understand. And the teacher needs to keep learning! The second virtue is perceptiveness. A teacher needs to have a sense of their students, what they need, what they will respond to, what approach to take with them. Each student is unique, ans so every lesson must also be unique. The third virtue is the GPS refex, the teachers directive, brief feedback that they convey to the student in short bursts throughout a lesson. Every time a student makes a mistake, the teacher is there commenting, offering direction, and taking things to the next level when they click in. The fourth virtue is theatrical honesty. Teachers need to be able to affect a different teaching persona based on what works for the student. Theatrics are a part of what they do: surprise, joy, disapproval, anxiousness it's all there in every lesson, and the teacher flits from emotion to emotion very quickly. An approach that works for a soccer player may not work for a violinist. Teachers have to adapt for the subject and student, while still allowing the student to figure things out on their own.
Key Concepts: teaching requires a vast amount of knowledge and skill. Feedback is most effective when it's informational, not complimentary or critical. Feedback is most effective when it's issued in brief, pointed statements, not lectures. Each student needs a different approach. Teaching requires animation, theatrics, and ENERGY.
Key Terms: 
Matrix
GPS reflex
Theatrical Honesty
Making Connections: I love these chapters. They remind me how excited I get about education. I wonder if the Performance Majors are hating them... Anyway I really love the approach these teachers are taking with students. There's no perfect method. Teachers need to be able to listen/watch and perceive the best approach. I agree with the brief, pointed direction thing. It's definitely more effective than long winded instruction, by the end of which everyone is thinking about something else and nobody has any idea what to do.