In Practice Perfect, Katie and Erica and I wrote about the difference between critique and correction. Critique is telling someone what they did wrong and how they could have done it better. Correction is revision. It’s causing someone to practice doing it better, ideally right away, usually accompanied by explanation but also with action. Critique has…
About a year ago the US Soccer Federation helped me identify four top performing youth soccer coaches around the country. The idea was to study them in much the same way I’d studied elite teachers for Teach like a Champion and then to write profiles of them to make their ideas visible to other coaches. The…
I’m overdue for a post on coaching. Sorry bout that. Manuscript writing is like digging a well. The farther down you go the less else you see. Fortunately I came up for air today for long enough to see this session plan by NY Red Bulls youth coach Fernando Alva, who tweeted it. “Tweaked a few…
I just realized something small but possibly important about narrating positive behavior in the classroom. Let’s say I’m standing at the front of my classroom as students enter and i want to acknowledge a student, Afonte, who’s met my expectations: come in, got out his stuff, got to work right away on the Do Now–just right. …
The second in a series of profiles I did of top soccer coaches appears in SoccerAmerica magazine today. It’s based on an observation of a great training session by Chris Hayden of FC Dallas’ youth academy in which I try to analyze how Chris gives his players lots of constructive feedback but does it in a…