All children are naturally curious and our adult role is to provide an environment where children feel they can ask questions and get support for their explorations. Too often youngsters’ curiosity appears to not be valued as we get more focused on correct answers to questions raised by someone else.  How do we model the […]

The fast pace of life in and out of the classroom has ingrained in students a “quick response” goal. A sense that being the first to answer is better than the best answer. As a first-grade teacher, I often laughed when I stated to the class, ”I have a question for you to ponder” and […]

As I read the September 2015 ASCD Educational Leadership, which is focused on questioning for learning, I was struck with how many of the issues explored equally connected to coaching work with teachers. A research alert (page 8) cites a study from the journal, Neuron (October 2014), that indicates when a person’s curiosity about a topic […]

This week, I had the opportunity to spend two days, coaching coaches. Visiting instructional coaches in Salem-Keizer Public Schools in Salem Oregon, I had the opportunity to observe instructional coaches conducting pre and post observation conferences, as well as, conduct observations of classrooms. In some cases after the observation, I role-played with the coaches how […]