What kind of coach are you?

When I first started coaching boys basketball at summer basketball camps, I mimicked my own coaches and the college and NBA ones I watched on TV.  That meant walking up and down the sideline yelling directions and barking whatever chastisement was in order.  Yikes. It’s embarrassing when I look back on it, but what did I know?  I was only 17.  Was it effective? Possibly a little.  Perpetually angry red-puffed face sports coaches have been and always will be common, and quite successful much of the time.  The major difference is that they’re usually working with a select group, whittled down to the most talented and driven performers because the others were cut from the team or never tried out.  In almost all language classrooms, however, we’re providing guidance with a necessary skill, often a survival skill.  It’s not survival of the fittest. 

Luckily I didn’t bring that yelling-bellied-wannabe style into the classroom–I hope no one does–but the reason I mention it is that language training requires an immense amount of intentional, skillful coaching, not talking-head teaching.   It requires the ability to motivate, to correct, and to connect so that your students trust that you are helping them maximize their ability and time.   If you are providing your class with sufficient opportunities for meaningful output, you’re in a position where your thoughtful instantaneous feedback with each student (i.e. your coaching) will make a massive difference in their language learning progress and the upward trajectory of their confidence. 
Because of the questions that have come my way where I’ve presented or conducted professional development over the past few years, I’ve gained even more appreciation for the invaluable skill of coaching in the world of language training. 
--
Next presentation: 
ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo in New Orleans. Saturday, November 22. 
https://www.actfl.org/