Situation 1: Your partner has agreed to a specific time/date for peer coaching. Today she says she is no longer available at this time.
leveling statement: You have a point. I know it is difficult to schedule routine coaching sessions. Is there some way we can come up with a new time that will remain consistent?
Situation 2: Your coaching partner suggests that she make a tape recording of the observation so you can summarize your own data.
leveling statement: I know a tape would provide me with lots of information. However, your feedback is valuable to me, so let’s talk about how else you can gather results during your observation.
Situation 3: Your coaching partner has been late for your preobservation conferences the last two times and has thrown off your schedule for each of those days.
leveling statement: I know you thought you could get here by 4:00, but you seem to be really rushed the past two weeks. I’d rather reschedule than start much after 4:30, or we run into our supper hour.
Situation 4: At the preconference, your inviting partner hands you a two-page data recording sheet.
leveling statement: You’re asking me to look at a lot of important features here, all of which could influence Deana’s behavior, I’d like to narrow our focus to two or three for now so I’ll be sure to record them accurately.