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How to teach material, without killing instruction time.

1/6/2018

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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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Studying for Tests

5/16/2017

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There are 27 more days left to the 20161/17 school year in New York State (not that anyone’s counting) which means end of year assessments.  For most students, that means tests.  That chance for teachers to have their own Sally Field moment, “They get it, they really get it.”

As a teacher, you can help your students make their studying more effective by understanding how the brain learns.

If the information stored in the brain is never used, it’s pretty much as if the brain never learned or acquired the information in the first place.  If you taught the key battles of the Civil War back in January, and then never referenced that information following the initial conversations, it’s as if you didn’t teach it.

Why?

Because the information was never called upon again - there was no point at which the brain had to retrieve and manipulate that information.  Research studies, like this on from Purdue University, on active retrieval say that, “Retrieval is the key process for understanding learning and for promoting learning.”

What does this mean for your teaching practice?

Think of retrieval like giving someone directions to a location.  You’ll start by giving the address and then, potentially, landmarks to watch out for.  The landmarks act as signals or cues to let them know, they’re getting close.  The more cues you give them, the easier it is to find their destination.

Similarly, when you’re teaching something, put it in context.  Offer cues to help your learner put it in place.  Mr. Mettler, featured in the film, used flash cards and cartoons to help his students remember key facts about historical events. 

Bri Parker, who started her year by saying, “School is not for me” found this technique really helped her understand the information, “I’d read the stuff and picture the really goofy cartoon I’d worked on in class to help explain what was going on and it would all come back to me.”  


The arts (visual, performance) are an easy way to give your students more context to what they’re learning.  Arts add an element of fun, it usually engages the student because it’s something different, and makes the information easier to retrieve.

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See how Mettler, and the other teachers featured in the film, use arts integration and active retrieval to engage their students.  Click here to order your copy of Grey Matters for your teachers or your district.
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    Ramona Persaud

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