Five Tips for Your Modeling Career, Buzzing with Ms. B: The Coaching Podcast, Ep. 5

Does modeling in classrooms stress you out? It used to stress me out, big time. It’s scary – you don’t know the kids, you are walking in to model just one piece of the learning, and the classroom isn’t set up to your own teaching style.

We all have horror stories. You can check out my modeling horror story in Episode 3 of Buzzing with Ms. B…if you dare!

Modeling can be scary, but it’s also is one of the best tools you can have as an instructional coach, especially if you have teachers who learn best by watching (which, let’s be honest, is most people – we need to see things in action!). While modeling can be very effective, it has to be done right!

Here’s how.

My top five tips for modeling are the following: establish a plan, exercise chunking, bring your own materials, set behavior expectations, and think-aloud while teaching.

No matter what you always want to establish a plan of attack that your teacher knows about. Sometimes we assume that we are speaking the same language. We think we have the same philosophy and vocabularies, but when it comes to planning together, it’s important to plan specifically and make sure each person knows what the lesson will look like beforehand. You can find out how I turned a grade level of unsure and resistant teachers on to guided reading by hosting a small group modeling session in Buzzing with Ms. B: The Coaching Podcast Episode 5 (below)!

Once you’ve established a purposeful plan with your cooperating teacher, there are a few things you’ll want to do to be prepared for the lesson. The most essential two are: bring your own stuff and set expectations.

Teachers have a lot going on. An email full of directions and requests to prepare for your modeled lesson is likely to get stuck at the bottom of the to-do pile. So, if you know the students are going to need certain colors readily available, you should just bring them with you. If you don’t, you’re going to start having behavior issues and kids who are unprepared for the work you’re asking them to do – especially if kids have to all herd to one area of the room to get the supplies.

Having a simple classroom management approach is so important because those aren’t your kids. When you’re going into a classroom to model something, if there’s no plan in place, choose something simple, keep it focused, make sure kids know what the expectation is., and if teachers want to use it when you’re gone, good for them! You’ve given them another tool. I choose three basic behavior expectations and I word them carefully; find out how in episode 5!

Finally, always use the age old teaching method: think a loud! This is something we do for students, so why wouldn’t we use it for teachers too? It’s a simple thing to do and all you need to do is fill in the blanks. Learn all about how and why we think aloud in the episode!

There is so much more to modeling than this. You can get all the details by tuning into Buzzing with Ms. B Episode 5 to hear more about great modeling strategies. Happy coaching!

Ready to get started? Get the free modeling checklist! It’ll help you make sure you’re totally prepared to model in classrooms so you can have the best experience possible (and your teacher can, too.) It’s one page from the Instructional Coach’s Book of Plans & Lists!

Get the entire Instructional Coach’s Book of Plans & Lists here!