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How to teach material, without killing instruction time.

1/6/2018

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Picture
One of the biggest fears of teachers is not enough time to teach material, which is why they’ll often just cover the material. 

What is the difference between teaching and covering materials? A lot of times it boils down to leaving room for the inevitable questions and tangents that will arise, after the material is presented.  

Covering presents concepts, facts, and information; the main objective is retention for purposes of recall and testing.  Teaching allows for processing the material, asking questions, and connecting it to known concepts; the objective is creative thinking where the information is used in new and different ways.

Both are key to student engagement and learning.

Excerpting from “The Brain Targeted Teaching Model for 21st Century Schools” by Mariale Hardiman, and quoting Ulrich Kraft, a physician and science writer, “Fresh solutions result from disassembling and reassembling the building blocks in an infinite number of ways.  That means the problem solver must have thoroughly understand the blocks.”

Simply put, you’ve to have some knowledge before you can think creatively about something!

Here are 5 tips to move beyond covering material in your classroom, without killing your instruction time:

1. Give students a heads up
Let them know what the next unit study is going to be, and ask them to come in to class with 1 or 2 things they know about the subject, and 1 or 2 things they want to know about the subject.  Do the same thing for yourself.  

2. Prep!
What are the big takeaways your students need?  How does it fit in with previously units? Include review opportunities to illustrate the connected nature of knowledge and refresh concepts. Does it tie in to other classes?  How does it relate to things, outside the classroom environment?  

3. Have a running vocabulary sheet for the unit.
As you design your lesson plan, share words or concepts that were unfamiliar to you.  It’s a great way to connect with your students and illustrate that everyone is learning, all the time, even teachers.  Encourage students to go up and add to the sheet during class time; model this behavior as well.

4.  Play detective.
Encourage students to write down their “I wonder” questions.  It’s a great way for you to see how they are relating to the information, and explore potential extensions.  Remember to model; not everyone feels comfortable sharing their inner musings.  

5.  Make it fun.
While you’re not there to entertain your students, fun engages learners and makes things memorable.  The more pleasure or joy we feel doing something, the more we want to do it.  Let’s find fun and interesting ways to present information.  Find tie-ins where possible.  Relate it to the known. 

And remember, if they’re not getting it…it’s most likely the way in which the information is being communicated. 


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How to teach the way the brain learns

12/7/2017

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Read this for a 3 minute overview on how to enhance your teaching practice to engage your students and help them connect the knowledge:  https://www.teachthought.com/learning/6-targets-teach-way-brain-learns/
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How Questions Reflect Growth

6/8/2017

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I’ve a love hate relationship with questions in class.  As a student I was convinced I had the dumbest questions and there was no way I was going to ask them, because, in my head, I just knew everyone was going to fall out of their chairs laughing at me.  A few decades later, as a parent and educator, I still have a love hate relationship with questions, only this time, it’s because I’m afraid of not knowing the answer, and also thinking, “What? You mean I don’t know everything?”

Imagine my astonishment when I was filming Jeremy Mettler in class, and he’d responded to a student’s question, with a very calm, “That’s a good question, I hadn’t thought of that,” during a discussion on the government shutdown from a few years ago.  Or one of the students in Mr. Holbrook’s class who said “I don’t know” because he knew it was ok to own not knowing.  

If educators are going to build creative thinkers then they have to be prepared for questions and they also have to be prepared to not know the answers to the questions.

That’s a lot to wrap your head around, especially when you’re used to being in charge and knowing the answers.  

There’s also a very good chance you’re going to tangent from the original learning objective outlined in your lesson plan. 

Which is awesome and terrifying at the same time. 

Here are some ways to encourage questions in your classroom, and stay on track:
  1. When introducing a new unit give students a few days notice and ask them to come to class with 3 things they know and 3 things they want to know.  Build that into your lesson planning.  
  2. Give students a question and vocabulary log for them to note questions and unfamiliar words that arose for them during class.  You can either give students time at the end of class to share and poll to see how many students have similar questions. Or, collect them during an activity, to review and discuss with the class, noting how many students had similar questions. It’s a great way for students to see shared inquiry.
  3. Encourage students to connect what they’re learning with what they already know.  Build in 5-10 mins at the end of the class for students reflect on how what they learned is similar to something else. Graphic organizers are great to help them link the knowledge.  
  4. Once you feel your students have mastered the concept, brainstorm new things they can do with that knowledge. Their question log may prove to be useful during this exercise. For example, after watching this TED Talk  during a climate change unit in a Grade 3 class, students brainstormed ways to turn their unused green spaces into mini forests. Fun and empowering. 
Students who ask questions are students who are engaged and growing.

Who’re taking risks. 

Who may fail.

​And ultimately learn.
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    Author

    Ramona Persaud

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