I have
been playing tennis for over a decade. I
still feel I have a lot to learn to improve my game, so about once a year, I
sign up for a tennis clinic to get some tips on what could make me a better
player. I am always amazed at how well
the instructors can pinpoint exactly what I am doing incorrectly after watching
me hit just a few balls. Just like what good
teachers do, the instructors give me feedback – they tell me and then show me what
I should be doing instead. At one of the
last tennis clinics, the instructor told me I needed to follow through with my
racquet when hitting the ball. He
demonstrated how to swing the racquet from his right side, all the way around
to the left where it contacted with his other hand. When I still wasn’t doing it exactly right he
went through the motions with me – guiding my arm with his as my racquet swung
around my body and I caught it with my other hand. As I ran through the practice drills he’d
remind me, “Catch your racquet.”
Other
times, it’s been my feet that needed improving.
I’ve always run for the ball and swung, concentrating on reaching the
ball and hitting it with my racquet, but with no regard for what my feet were
doing. According to my instructor, I was
supposed to run, stop my feet, and then swing.
His teaching routine again consisted of explaining and showing me how it
worked. Throughout the follow-up
practice he’d monitor the movement of my feet and if my technique was incorrect
remind me of what I should be doing with, “Plant your feet, then swing.”
Throughout
the tennis clinics, I see proof that these small changes to my technique can
improve my game. As I follow through
with my racquet the ball has more force behind it and more often lands where I
want it to on the other side of the court.
As I stop my feet and then swing, I’m more likely to hit the ball inside
the opponent’s court rather than send it sailing out of bounds. I always leave these tennis clinics knowing
what I need to do to work on to be a better tennis player. As I then play tennis matches in a
non-instructional setting, I find myself repeating the words of my
instructor. I swing for the ball and the
voice in my mind says, “Catch your racquet.”
I run up to the net for a short ball and hear myself say, “Plant your feet,
then swing.” When I swing, hit, and make
an error, I think about what I did incorrectly – was I following through with
my racquet, did I remember to stop my feet?
Whatever the error, I repeat the corresponding refrain in my head the
next time I attempt to hit the ball.
Following
through with the instructor’s tips is much easier in the context of the clinic
where someone is monitoring my progress, providing instruction and feedback,
and reminding me of what I should be doing.
Repeating the phrases I’ve heard my instructor say to me, help me
actually engage in the proper techniques when I don’t have a person to coach,
guide, and support me along the way.
These phrases I repeat in my head and allow me to take what I’ve learned
and do it on my own are similar to what Terry Thompson describes as “focus
phrases” in his book The Construction
Zone: Building Scaffolds for Readers and Writers.” A focus phrase is the goal for the
student’s learning, but also serve as reminders that become the self-talk
students engage in to become independent with the skill they are learning
(Thompson, 2015).
Using a
focus phrase within instruction is just one way of scaffolding learning for
students and keeping focused on the instructional goal. Thompson has lots to say about scaffolding in
his book, which is all so valuable, and I’ve begun to reflect on the effective use
of scaffolding. One of the important
reminders I’ve taken from the book is that scaffolding is intended to provide
supports, but temporarily, so that ultimately students can be independent. My tennis instructor didn’t continue to do
the work for me. If he continued to hit
the ball for me in demonstration or stand near me and physically help me carry
out the motions I would never take on the techniques independently. Instead, the responsibility for using the
techniques I learned was released to me, as the simple reminders that were
repeated often enough, became part of the inner conversation that accompanies
me the next time I play on my own.
No matter
the skill or technique students are learning, the goal is independence. The Construction
Zone has helped to remind me to provide appropriate scaffolds and to be
flexible in the their use so that students don’t continue to rely on the
teacher, but instead take responsibility for their learning and become
independent. Thompson states, “If we
truly expect readers and writers to take over, then we have to start shifting
our teaching in a way that purposefully passes the instructional baton” (Thompson,
2015, p. 154). Being mindful of
scaffolding and how it is supporting students in taking on skills and
strategies independently is essential.
Whether students have been taught a focus phrase or another strategy for
scaffolding has been used, in the end, students should be doing the work. This is when scaffolding is truly is
effective because learning has occurred.
Thompson,
T. (2015). The construction zone: Building scaffolds for
readers and writers. Portland, ME:
Stenhouse.
I need to find this book. I'm intrigued by this focus phrase. Of course, we need to be writers and readers ourselves to give this kind of advice just like your tennis instructors are.
ReplyDeleteYes, so true, that we need to be readers and writers to be the most effective. It is a great book, you should definitely give it a read!
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