Learning mode 04 · Core ladder
Coaching
The first mode with no guidance at the moment you speak. You decide what to say and how to say it, and your response is assessed on the spot.
Scaffolding that deepens - never dumps the answer first
Handing over the correct line immediately is never optimal for learning. Coaching reviews live, then escalates help only as far as needed - up to four attempts on a beat.
01
Speak with nothing in hand
No model answer. No hint on the screen. The learner decides what to say and how to say it.
02
Reviewed in the moment
The response is assessed live - not in a summary later. If it is strong enough, the conversation moves on.
03
First miss: a small, specific hint
A short why it fell short, plus one actionable nudge - never a vague slogan. Optional deeper detail sits behind that, still light. The brain still has to correct and reformulate.
04
Second miss: more of the key points
Guidance widens: more of what should land, still not verbatim. Reflect again, then build a full response in proper language.
05
Third miss: the elite line, word for word
Only now is the exact response given. The learner says it out loud. That is attempt four - the last step on the beat.
06
Every turn ends in success
No beat is left on a failed answer. The score records how much scaffolding it took - the honest measure of progress here.
Optimal teaching is a controlled struggle
The process above is not soft. It is engineered so the brain fights for the answer - just hard enough to learn, never so hard that it stalls.
01
Never the answer first
Being told the correct response immediately removes the work. Coaching withholds it until the learner has had to think, miss, and repair.
02
Specific - never slogans
"Ask a discovery question" helps nobody. Every hint is concrete and actionable for that moment - something the learner can use, not puzzle over.
03
Escalate, do not flood
Each step adds only what is needed. Small hint, then key points, then verbatim. The struggle stays productive; the text stays short.
04
Say it out loud to finish
Even the final attempt ends with the elite response spoken. The last memory of the moment is the right answer - and how much help it took is what the score keeps.
Next: you become the coach.
Critique tests understanding by making you teach.