Coaching when conversational turns are low, decreasing, or consistently high.
It can be very motivating for teachers when their LENA Grow data shows steady progress each week, but that’s not always reality. There are many factors that impact the data in LENA reports and it can sometimes be challenging to figure out how to have a productive coaching conversation and keep teachers motivated if the data itself isn’t enough. Here are a few common scenarios you might encounter as a coach:
Turns Are Low and Progress is Slow
What does "low" look like?
- First, look at stars on the Room Report. If the group is earning a Room Average Star each week, then the average for the group is going or staying up. If the Room Average is above 25, even if it has gone down from the previous week, that’s still very good for a classroom setting! In that case, see the “When Turns are High” section. However, if the Room Average doesn’t seem to be changing much and is generally staying lower than you and the providers would like, you may want to dive deeper.
- Next, look at the Interaction Chart on page 2 of the Room Report. While Room Averages reflect the group as a whole, sometimes there are big changes for individual kids that are undetectable at the group level. Use the benchmarks to determine how well the needs of each child are being met.
- Are all kids experiencing at least 5+ turns an hour/average? At a minimum, we want to make sure no child is experiencing “language isolation.”
- Once all kids are consistently above five turns/hour, help teachers focus on the next benchmarks: 15, then 25, and so on. Using the Interaction Chart and Interaction Stars as the driver, as opposed to the Room Average Star, offers more specific direction for teachers. It can clearly show which children to focus on and what the next target for number of turns could be.
Additional strategies include:
- Model, model, model! Try modeling Talking Tips in the classroom or help teachers find time to observe an expert peer. You can also revisit the videos from Orientation or Coaching Session 1 or use an outside resource, like the videos from Cox Campus, to show more examples of what conversational turns could look like between adults and children.
- Start small and build on strengths. If the Hourly Breakout shows lunch as a time of day that has high turns, look at the the Child Reports to find a child who has low turns during that time and talk with the teacher about setting a goal: “During lunch, sit next to the specific child you are focusing on. Try making one turn into two! When you talk and the child responds, respond back to see if you can get one more back-and-forth.”
- Consider background noise. Remind teachers that, when worn properly, the LENA device serves as a proxy for what children can hear. If there is a lot of noise in the environment, like background music, it could interfere with how well children experience conversational turns and how well LENA can identify them. Help teachers be mindful of things like their proximity to children, the direction they are facing when talking, the arrangement of the room, and what extra noises are going on during the day. For further tips on reducing classroom noise levels, see LENA Grow Noise Recommendations.
- Bring together teachers with different experience levels to share ideas. It can be helpful to hear the insights others are having and what types of creative goals and approaches are being used in other rooms. New teachers will benefit from the tips and tricks of experienced teachers and experienced teachers may be energized by hearing new ideas from those just entering the field. Be mindful, though, that reports from different rooms should not be directly compared and each classroom environment is unique!
- Encourage teachers to record a short video clip to use for reflection during coaching. If you have time to dig deep during a coaching session and teachers are willing, ask them to record on a LENA Day and review the video in conjunction with their report. Otherwise, have teachers record on a non-LENA day and then choose a short clip they’d like to share during coaching. If the teacher chooses to share a clip of a routine they’d like to improve, that’s a great start to a conversation! If the teacher chooses to share a clip of a routine they feel has gone well, use that strength to build on! What did they do that made that routine go smoothly? How can they use that energy and those effective strategies during other parts of the day? No matter what the teacher chooses to share and why, taking time to be self-reflective can lead to powerful change!
- Make it an experiment! Set a very explicit goal and see what the data looks like next week. For example, if a teacher thinks it’s not likely that they can increase turns during outdoor play, try bringing out a parachute and have the teacher note on their LENA Log what time they used it and who participated. Check the LENA data during that time for those specific kids to see if there is a change.
- Break goals ALL the way down. Once the teacher has set a specific goal, talk through the action steps to get there. Try getting more detailed than you think is necessary. Here's an example of how that might look in practice:
- Teacher: “I’ll work on that goal during circle time.”
- Coach: “What does circle time look like now? What will you do differently when you are targeting this goal?”
- Teacher: “I’ll make sure to call on each child during the story questions.”
- Coach: “What story will you be reading? What questions might you ask from the story? Are there kids who you think will need the questions to be simpler, or that can answer questions that are more complex? How can you make those questions open ended?"
Turns Go Down From the Previous Week
It can be disappointing to see turns go down, but it’s very likely to happen at some point in the sequence. Remind teachers that the Room Report is a reflection of what was happening in the room on that day. Circumstances in child care change regularly, and the data in LENA reports is likely to fluctuate also.
If the turns on a report have gone down from the previous week, here are some things you can try:
- Ask about what might have changed. See the article “What Impacts the Data in LENA Reports?” to understand more about the daily factors that might be in play. Changes in teacher-child ratios, attendance, health and moods, or special events can all cause some data variability, which is perfectly normal. Ask, “Was anything different or unusual about your LENA Day?”
- Frame it as a learning opportunity. Compare the last two reports. What insights can you offer the teacher about how certain circumstances impact engagement? Ask, “What happened on this LENA Day that is different from the last one? Do you notice a difference from hour to hour or child to child? What can we learn from that?”
Turns are Consistently High
Sometimes conversational turns start high and stay high for all kids. Remember, for context on what counts as “high” keep an eye on your Room Report (Room Average Star and Interaction Stars). This is a great problem to have, but can be a challenge for coaches. However, even in the most engaging classrooms, there is always room for more reflection. Goals may shift to being less about increasing overall numbers, and more about increasing in very specific ways for specific children. In this situation, you may want to:
- Use the Child Reports to focus on specific children. Ask, “What do you notice for James this week? Let’s explore his Child Report to see what we can uncover.”
- Focus on a specific hour when turns are lower. You could say, “Your Trophy Hour is so impressive! How can we bring that strength to an hour of the day that has fewer turns?”
- Empower teachers who are consistently high performers to become peer coaches.
- Focus on family engagement. Since these teachers really understand the data and how to engage with their children, encourage them to talk with families. Suggest that they share the LENA Grow Family Talk handouts, but also discuss more specific observations with families about their individual children.
LENA Grow data is innovative, objective, and unlike any other coaching tool available. Coaches themselves have said things like, “The data speaks for itself, which allows my role as a coach to really be all about support and skill building, as it should be.” But, for those moments that require a little more creativity, we hope the strategies above are helpful!