Rally Coach

1. Use only one sheet of paper and pencil to ensure that the partner who coaches, focuses on coaching. 

2. A sheet defining the roles of each partner may be helpful when first using this strategy with students. 

3. Model good coaching for the students, including the difference between coaching and giving the answer. 

4. Shoulder partners work better than face partners, making it easier for both students to view the paper. 

5. One student must be talking at any given time- could be explaining the steps while solving a problem, offering coaching or praise etc.

6. Please don't fall into the trap of recording As and Bs answers in both books. I know some of you like to photocopy the sheet that both share- that's okay but very time consuming and wastes paper. There is no need for Student A to have Student B's solution in his/her book. I simply get Student A to place his/her book in the middle- solve while explaining, receive coaching/praise and then swap. It serves the purpose. You may get the children to check their answer by confirming with their face teams. 

7. Also, as challenging higher achievers is one of targets, you could (perhaps should) provide an extn question on the whiteboard for those early finishers. It really helps. 

8. Lastly, if you want to pose a certain question in a way that is differentiated, you could pre-label the questions for A or B in advance. For example, if your A is HA and B is the ML then you could pose questions based on ability sometimes. That way the HA gets to explain the hard question before the ML attempts his/her. This will only work if all your teams are positioned the same on all the tables. I hope that makes sense.

1. Coaching 

2. Patience 

3. Requesting and offering help 

4. Giving and accepting praise 

5. Appropriate noise level 

6. Giving and accepting constructive criticism