October: Ch 3 - Structuring and Delivering Your Lessons
Techniques in this chapter: I / We / You - The Hook - Name the Steps - Board = Paper - Circulate - Break It Down - Ratio - Check for Understanding - At Bats - Exit Ticket - Take a Stand
I use a lot of I/We/You for teaching French whether it's conjugating verbs, telling time or knowing correct adjective placement in a sentence. I want to use more exit tickets, but always seem to run out of time in class. I also check for understanding by having them write on the whiteboard or in the chat box.
I have started doing more I/We/You in the high school classes. The middle school wants to go to the "You" part right away like they already know it. It cracks me up a bit. If it helps, I use exit tickets (on a google survey) like I would at the end of a class at a brick and mortar school. It is like the ticket out the door. That is also how I take attendance, so if they don't answer the questions they don't get credit for coming. I include them in the recording so they can get credit for watching as well.
I like the idea of exit tickets but had my initial feelings reinforced when going through the ppt sent by cinde to all of us...without feedback they lose some of the impact....I have included the solution shown when students send in their answers to the ACT practice problems at each level....interestingly, there have been some students who send in a second survey with the right answer if they have missed the problem...do they understand...hard to say, but rationalizing, I think they at least read it????
I think the surveys are great....but, like you, think they need some response, and honestly, most days I am already so busy giving feedback that I don't have time for any extras.
I like exit tickets for so many reasons! A few of my favorite ways to use them to check for understanding are to do a google survey or survey monkey at the end of class. I will also place the students in their own break out rooms to complete 1 slide privately and then I will save those as a pdf to view later. I will then go back and reteach things that may have been unclear with the objective in the next class. I also like that students that watch the recording can do the exit tickets and send "notes" to me (board=paper) so they can still participate and gain credit for the cc that they may not have attended. What's funny is that most times I'm amazed at how well they listened and their notes are funny and very accurate ! I also get the gist of where I havn't taught things well from my students that watch the recordings too.
Finally my favorite exit ticket is doing something together in app share to take turns practicing- music Ace, music sites to practice basic concepts, or even practicing our composition and just working through Finale software to see if they can operate the different tools in there ok on their own.
HI. This is Rachel - I am using my personal computer instead of work computer. I love the exit ticket. However, I found that using the exit tickets in google survey as work samples a daunting task that makes it nearly impossible to get scores back to students in a FERPA friendly way. I have switched over to Edmodo for this. However, I love them for the literature because I ask if the students like what literature we have read - why or why not. This is be the beginning of analysis.
Jenn - I like your technique of really using those exit tickets to guide future instruction. This may seem unimportant, but when saving exit tickets as PDFs, I've found it's really hard to read them if students have used 12-pt type. I need to remember to have them use 14 pt or larger or just save them as whiteboards.
I also use exit tickets and find them really useful. I will either do a google survey or have a question on the whiteboard and let them write on the whiteboard. I will then post it at the beginning of the next cc and the student's can read through the answers as they are coming in. It is a good review and a good starting point. The amount of extra credit they receive for coming to cc also is dependent on their participation on the exit ticket.
I love all the different approaches in this chapter and plan to try them out in my classroom. I was trained to be a constructivist educator, so some of these approaches are the same. The five e's of constructivism--engage, explain, explore, elaborate and evaluate are great guides to lesson planning! I use exit tickets quite a bit in my classrom, and the hook, but I really want to make this a great year for trying new things!
I would just like to add that hearing all of us school wide using the same language yesterday during our PD was pretty awesome! It is great to see how this works all the way from K up to 12. Great job everyone- our students will become LEADERS for sure with all of us working together.
I think that is a really good point Stacey, using the same techniques throughout will be really helpful to the students! I am already noticing it in some of my classes.
I have not used exit tickets but think they would be a good way to check some understanding. When I work with students doing corrections, i always make they send in the written corrections so I know there is no misunderstanding. It is enlightening to find that I think a student understood a technique only to find somehow the boat was missed!! It is hard to gauge when you are missing body language if students are actually understanding.
I agree with you! It is hard when they seem to be doing well in class, answering questions, etc. and then after assessing they don't do well. That is why I love exit tickets. They are a great way to check for understanding while the information is fresh in the students' minds. It is also a great jumping board for remediation if they don't understand.
I agree. We think we have taught something well and the students understand, but it is good to have concrete examples of their knowledge. I use exit tickets everyday and have learned how to have the answers given to them when the submit. It is interesting to get student's answers this way (not multiple choice) because I find that with the k12 assessments students can get the correct answers by using the choices, but they can't get the answers on their own. I also go through the exit tickets the following class connect to see if they have questions about what they missed.
As I was reading chapter 3 the key idea of "ratio" stood out for me. In my math classes I often use the "What's Next?" approach. I have the students break down a problem by having individual students work different parts of a problem. For example, if we are solving a division problem I ask a student what do we do first? and let the student show the first step. I then ask others to complete each step of the process. This way students need to pay attention to the lesson because I "cold call" students to solve each step.
To check for understanding I use exit tickets. I place students in their own breakout rooms to complete slides. I have students raise their hand when complete and I review their work before they exit the BbC session. I may also ask students to complete the OLS assessment, and/or the Study Island pathway to show understanding while in a breakout room.
It's great that you are already focusing on process (break it down and name the steps) and, like you say, increasing the student - teacher ratio by having them name and explain the next steps. I think checking exit tickets before the students leave is an important strategy, too.
These are all great ideas. I haven't put students in their own breakout rooms before. I am not good at cold calling on students either. I have a hard time putting them on the spot, but I know I should get better at this. It seems like when I ask questions, the same 5-10 people raise hands to answer.
Hi. This is Rachel - I am using my personal computer instead of my work computer. I like Name the Steps because it not only breaks down the steps, but it makes the students responsible for breaking down the steps and explaining them back to me. Then I can hear if the students have not only the steps but also the correct terminology. It helps students to remember by having to teach the steps back to me.
There is an interesting dynamic in our school where students pass lessons with 80% but can't explain how they did the work. That is part of the reason why I feel that Name the Steps is so important. It is far less important that students can get the "right" answer than it is that they can explain how they got the answer. Without the how sometimes getting the right answer is just a lucky guess, and they may not be so lucky the next time they have to answer a similar question.
I agree...and the part 2 of unit tests allows the students to Name the STEps and I learn who knows what....it is at this point that I give feedback in the comments and encourage the students to resubmit for the total points...I believe in letting students do it until they get the score they want...sadly, not many will recorrect...
I like the "Take a Stand" approach! It keeps students engaged if they are waiting while others are asked to answer a question. It also makes the other students think about the answers they give if their classmates have to agree or disagree with them. They are beginning to really think their answers out rather than blurting the first thought that comes into their head.
It is so nice to see them use thought before they answer rather than saying the first thing that comes to their mind so they are done. I am glad to hear your students are beginning to take that thought time because of your use of "Take a Stand."
I try to do several assignments in class, especially the ones with more writing assignments. I really try to use the "I do, We do, You do" and show examples but I do need to give more. I also find it challenging to always allow them to practice because of lack of time. It's about trying to find the happy-medium in the virtual world. I also try to use exit tickets, either just a recap at the end of the lesson, or a general feedback on the class after my quarter class. Sometimes the kids give me good ideas on how I can make the class better next time.
One technique that I wished that I did more creatively is The Hook. I do objectives and what we are going to do - but it is not done creatively - it is done straight out. Does anyone have suggestions on creative hooks that don't take a lot of time?
One fairly quick and creative hook is using an image related to the topic being covered. It is the idea of a picture is worth a thousand words, but if you can find, for example, an illustration from the novel or book they are doing in literature and ask directed questions about the picture that lead into your objective, you are accessing different modalities, providing discussion practice and skills, getting them thinking about your topic, and starting the instruction on the objective all in the first few minutes.
Another hook idea would be to give the students a challenge before you start your instruction. One example I could think of is in vocabulary give them the root word/suffix/prefix they are working on such as "mono" and have them write as many words as they can that are built from that base. When the allotted time is up (however long you usually give your students to arrive before starting class), then have them put down the total number of words they were able to find. The person with the most words shares their list, and students evaluate if every word really is a correct use of the root/suffix/prefix. You could even make it more challenging by saying, "I found ___ number of words with "mono, etc." in it. Can you find more words than I did?" Another variation of this would be to provide the list of words to them with some non examples and have them determine which words are the non examples and why. How difficult you make it depends on how long you want it to last. I guess my point is that a hook can be just about anything and is completely dependent on what you are teaching.
It's probably rougher in Vocab, but I like to take questions from the previous lesson, post them for the three minutes I give students to get into class, and then we answer the review questions as a class and use them to segue into the current lesson. I also use the intro paragraphs from the OLS lesson or KWL questions.
I often ask them to respond to an open-ended question that is related to their lives as well as the lesson content. Or I might have them watch a short video related to the topic and respond to a short question about the video. I basically try to find a way the lesson relates to their real lives and use that as the basis for my hook.
Rachel - I guess it depends what the topic is that you are covering, but some successful 'hooks' that I have used are songs at the beginning of class that relate to topic, or a short youtube clip.
I have restructured my Be Sure to Have page that the students see when they first pop in to include a question about the lesson. I notice that the students in my LA-C class like to answer them; however, my students in Lang B are not as interested.
One question I have for the group is about "At Bats." "At Bats" is the idea of a lot of practice. I think we would all agree that there is not enough time in our sessions for a huge amount of practice. What are some of the ways you provide that repeated practice when you see that a student needs more, but you don't have the class time to provide it?
wow this is addressing my issue in hs math!!!!! there needs to be a way to ensure students do the problems they are assigned...almost NO students do this component...it is the reason our math scores are not so hot...they don't internalize what they need to know...just spit it out for a multiple choice test and then it is gone...the corrections they do helps give them some practice but they are optional, and of course, the good students are more apt to do them.
At the bat for GUM - in class with me modeling it for 5 sentences, then they name the steps for 5 more sentences, the exit ticket with 5 more sentences, then the lesson assessment with 10 sentences. I actually don't know any other way to teach GUM other than repetition and consistency - always doing it the same way each time. For Lit - when I do a unit - I use the same graphic organizer for each piece of literature that I cover. So the students can get 3-4 times of filling it out with the teacher help. I need to be more organized to get these graphic organizers on Edmodo so the students can have access to them. I think I need a secretary. Hey - would that be in our budget?
I/We/You has admittedly been a rough topic for me. I'm having an issue figuring how to make it work in a History format. I don't generally see the option for doing something three times. Sometimes I can do a concept (I explain that degrading other humans makes it easier to take their stuff. Then ask when that has happened in other times in history.), but when you're discussing concepts or continuity of events, I find it tough to I/We/You. I have tried breakout rooms, but I generally end up policing them and only 1/3 of the room does much. Even then, I can't see how "At Bats" works out so well. I do Exit Tickets DAILY and I am trying to "circulate" the class more by calling on students, but beyond this, I found much of this chapter hard to translate.
Maybe they would be more useful when you are teaching literacy skills in your class, such as summarizing, asking questions, finding support for an argument, etc.
I think I/We/You really depends on what you are trying to teach them. If it is fact recall of what happened in History, it will likely not be as easy or useful, if it is an overall idea such as your example of the concept, Then I/We/You would apply. The first time you introduce it you use direct instruction to present it. Then the next time the concept is brought up, do something with student interaction and participation such as question and answers or a hypothetical situation they would have to explain how that concept affects a societal problem. Then the next time it is repeated expect them to apply it on their own by connecting to the previous iterations of that concept in History.
Caolon, I appreciated reading your post. I feel the same way that with history topics it can be difficult to do many of these concepts and I thought maybe it was just not me thinking out side the box enough. I have started using exit tickets and I do find them useful/helpful. I like to read what they have 'learned' and I also like to start the next class reviewing the exit ticket.
Stacey your comment from Oct 8th is well taken and supported by research from among others Marzano. When a staff and students use and understand a common vocabulary it helps to increase student achievement since the focus is on learning content not logistics.
I had an experience recently that reinforced the importance of BREAKING IT DOWN. I was asking students to identify instances of alliteration, assonance and consonance in poetry. I thought that simply telling students that alliteration involves repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words, consonance involves repetition of consonant sounds within the words, and assonance involves repetition of vowel sounds within the words would be enough. But they were lost. Then one student asked, "What is a consonant?" I just assumed the students would know the difference between a consonant and a vowel. I then realized I had to back track and really go through each step of identifying vowel and consonant sounds before they were able to identify alliteration, assonance and consonance on their own. I have been trying to break down what I am teaching into steps, but I know I still make too many ASSUMPTIONS that certain steps are obvious and already known. I forget that I am 30 years older than these students and they are still just learning :-)
I always try to give the students a reason for staying and participating....they like to start out with a word search, telling me what they have been up to, chatting with friends, etc. Then I give them a reason for what we are doing.....I generally have about 50% in class....which has improved a bit.
I really like the hook. As a former broadcaster, we had to use a hook in order to get the audience's attention. With so many options, we wanted to stop them from changing channels. The same can apply to our students. We don't know what distractions they may have so using a hook can help them focus. In addition, it can help them relate to and remember the lesson better, especially when we can relate it to real life. I know for me personally, I have to admit that it's easy to get stuck in a rut and do the same ol' stuff. I'm so worried about having enough time to teach the lesson and conduct assessments that I sometimes forget to make the lesson fun and use these methods. I know I need to use them more so students want to come to class, want to learn and want to stay.
I think you are right. It can be hard to find the time to do all these little things (such as adding a hook) to make our lessons better, BUT they can make such a huge difference. I like the quote "God is in the details." I think it's true with teaching, too, that it's those little things that can make a big difference.
Quick Ratio Activity: 20 Questions. I was trying to come up with a way to have the students participate more in an art history lesson. I decided rather than me presenting all the info, I would just post the art works we were studying and the students would ask me questions about each work to learn what they needed to learn. I gave them some suggestions as to questions (What was it used for? How was it made? Why does it include _____?) and then I went down the participant list and had them type in their questions. It was great! We actually covered MOST of the lesson material based solely on their questions! I felt they were much more engaged, and since they asked the question they were actually listening to what I had to say. They also had to continually take inventory about what they already knew about the work and what holes they had to fill in their understanding. I also enjoyed being able to elaborate a bit on an art work rather than being confined to the words on a screen. PLUS, it required very little prep.
I would really like to add more "hooks" to my lessons. A lot of times I can fall into the same intro getting started. I find I have so much information to get across I can tend to just focus on that and not "hooking" the interest of the class. In thinking about how to apply this to my class I would like more video and games at the beginning of the lesson that have a good lead into my content.
I have used exit tickets in the past to see if they understood the lesson, but this year it's a little different. I feel that by using the Action Plans along with the exit tickets has made me more aware as a teacher on what I need to focus more on to help them learn what they are not understanding.
I use a lot of I/We/You for teaching French whether it's conjugating verbs, telling time or knowing correct adjective placement in a sentence. I want to use more exit tickets, but always seem to run out of time in class. I also check for understanding by having them write on the whiteboard or in the chat box.
ReplyDeleteI have started doing more I/We/You in the high school classes. The middle school wants to go to the "You" part right away like they already know it. It cracks me up a bit. If it helps, I use exit tickets (on a google survey) like I would at the end of a class at a brick and mortar school. It is like the ticket out the door. That is also how I take attendance, so if they don't answer the questions they don't get credit for coming. I include them in the recording so they can get credit for watching as well.
DeleteI like the idea of exit tickets but had my initial feelings reinforced when going through the ppt sent by cinde to all of us...without feedback they lose some of the impact....I have included the solution shown when students send in their answers to the ACT practice problems at each level....interestingly, there have been some students who send in a second survey with the right answer if they have missed the problem...do they understand...hard to say, but rationalizing, I think they at least read it????
DeleteI think the surveys are great....but, like you, think they need some response, and honestly, most days I am already so busy giving feedback that I don't have time for any extras.
DeleteI like exit tickets for so many reasons! A few of my favorite ways to use them to check for understanding are to do a google survey or survey monkey at the end of class. I will also place the students in their own break out rooms to complete 1 slide privately and then I will save those as a pdf to view later. I will then go back and reteach things that may have been unclear with the objective in the next class. I also like that students that watch the recording can do the exit tickets and send "notes" to me (board=paper) so they can still participate and gain credit for the cc that they may not have attended. What's funny is that most times I'm amazed at how well they listened and their notes are funny and very accurate ! I also get the gist of where I havn't taught things well from my students that watch the recordings too.
ReplyDeleteFinally my favorite exit ticket is doing something together in app share to take turns practicing- music Ace, music sites to practice basic concepts, or even practicing our composition and just working through Finale software to see if they can operate the different tools in there ok on their own.
HI. This is Rachel - I am using my personal computer instead of work computer. I love the exit ticket. However, I found that using the exit tickets in google survey as work samples a daunting task that makes it nearly impossible to get scores back to students in a FERPA friendly way. I have switched over to Edmodo for this. However, I love them for the literature because I ask if the students like what literature we have read - why or why not. This is be the beginning of analysis.
DeleteJenn - I like your technique of really using those exit tickets to guide future instruction. This may seem unimportant, but when saving exit tickets as PDFs, I've found it's really hard to read them if students have used 12-pt type. I need to remember to have them use 14 pt or larger or just save them as whiteboards.
DeleteI also use exit tickets and find them really useful. I will either do a google survey or have a question on the whiteboard and let them write on the whiteboard. I will then post it at the beginning of the next cc and the student's can read through the answers as they are coming in. It is a good review and a good starting point. The amount of extra credit they receive for coming to cc also is dependent on their participation on the exit ticket.
DeleteI love all the different approaches in this chapter and plan to try them out in my classroom. I was trained to be a constructivist educator, so some of these approaches are the same. The five e's of constructivism--engage, explain, explore, elaborate and evaluate are great guides to lesson planning! I use exit tickets quite a bit in my classrom, and the hook, but I really want to make this a great year for trying new things!
ReplyDeleteI would just like to add that hearing all of us school wide using the same language yesterday during our PD was pretty awesome! It is great to see how this works all the way from K up to 12. Great job everyone- our students will become LEADERS for sure with all of us working together.
ReplyDeleteI think that is a really good point Stacey, using the same techniques throughout will be really helpful to the students! I am already noticing it in some of my classes.
DeleteI have not used exit tickets but think they would be a good way to check some understanding. When I work with students doing corrections, i always make they send in the written corrections so I know there is no misunderstanding. It is enlightening to find that I think a student understood a technique only to find somehow the boat was missed!! It is hard to gauge when you are missing body language if students are actually understanding.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you! It is hard when they seem to be doing well in class, answering questions, etc. and then after assessing they don't do well. That is why I love exit tickets. They are a great way to check for understanding while the information is fresh in the students' minds. It is also a great jumping board for remediation if they don't understand.
DeleteI agree. We think we have taught something well and the students understand, but it is good to have concrete examples of their knowledge. I use exit tickets everyday and have learned how to have the answers given to them when the submit. It is interesting to get student's answers this way (not multiple choice) because I find that with the k12 assessments students can get the correct answers by using the choices, but they can't get the answers on their own. I also go through the exit tickets the following class connect to see if they have questions about what they missed.
DeleteAs I was reading chapter 3 the key idea of "ratio" stood out for me. In my math classes I often use the "What's Next?" approach. I have the students break down a problem by having individual students work different parts of a problem. For example, if we are solving a division problem I ask a student what do we do first? and let the student show the first step. I then ask others to complete each step of the process. This way students need to pay attention to the lesson because I "cold call" students to solve each step.
ReplyDeleteTo check for understanding I use exit tickets. I place students in their own breakout rooms to complete slides. I have students raise their hand when complete and I review their work before they exit the BbC session. I may also ask students to complete the OLS assessment, and/or the Study Island pathway to show understanding while in a breakout room.
It's great that you are already focusing on process (break it down and name the steps) and, like you say, increasing the student - teacher ratio by having them name and explain the next steps. I think checking exit tickets before the students leave is an important strategy, too.
DeleteI love the idea of ratio! It is really important to have the students doing the "work" in class.
DeleteThese are all great ideas. I haven't put students in their own breakout rooms before. I am not good at cold calling on students either. I have a hard time putting them on the spot, but I know I should get better at this. It seems like when I ask questions, the same 5-10 people raise hands to answer.
DeleteIf you want to use breakout rooms more, definitely use Blackboard Plan if you are not already. It makes using breakout rooms soooo much easier.
DeleteHi. This is Rachel - I am using my personal computer instead of my work computer. I like Name the Steps because it not only breaks down the steps, but it makes the students responsible for breaking down the steps and explaining them back to me. Then I can hear if the students have not only the steps but also the correct terminology. It helps students to remember by having to teach the steps back to me.
ReplyDeleteThere is an interesting dynamic in our school where students pass lessons with 80% but can't explain how they did the work. That is part of the reason why I feel that Name the Steps is so important. It is far less important that students can get the "right" answer than it is that they can explain how they got the answer. Without the how sometimes getting the right answer is just a lucky guess, and they may not be so lucky the next time they have to answer a similar question.
DeleteI agree - that is why I like this because then they know that I know that they know- no excuses.
DeleteI agree...and the part 2 of unit tests allows the students to Name the STEps and I learn who knows what....it is at this point that I give feedback in the comments and encourage the students to resubmit for the total points...I believe in letting students do it until they get the score they want...sadly, not many will recorrect...
DeleteI like the "Take a Stand" approach! It keeps students engaged if they are waiting while others are asked to answer a question. It also makes the other students think about the answers they give if their classmates have to agree or disagree with them. They are beginning to really think their answers out rather than blurting the first thought that comes into their head.
ReplyDeleteIt is so nice to see them use thought before they answer rather than saying the first thing that comes to their mind so they are done. I am glad to hear your students are beginning to take that thought time because of your use of "Take a Stand."
DeleteI try to do several assignments in class, especially the ones with more writing assignments. I really try to use the "I do, We do, You do" and show examples but I do need to give more. I also find it challenging to always allow them to practice because of lack of time. It's about trying to find the happy-medium in the virtual world.
ReplyDeleteI also try to use exit tickets, either just a recap at the end of the lesson, or a general feedback on the class after my quarter class. Sometimes the kids give me good ideas on how I can make the class better next time.
One technique that I wished that I did more creatively is The Hook. I do objectives and what we are going to do - but it is not done creatively - it is done straight out. Does anyone have suggestions on creative hooks that don't take a lot of time?
ReplyDeleteOne fairly quick and creative hook is using an image related to the topic being covered. It is the idea of a picture is worth a thousand words, but if you can find, for example, an illustration from the novel or book they are doing in literature and ask directed questions about the picture that lead into your objective, you are accessing different modalities, providing discussion practice and skills, getting them thinking about your topic, and starting the instruction on the objective all in the first few minutes.
DeleteAnother hook idea would be to give the students a challenge before you start your instruction. One example I could think of is in vocabulary give them the root word/suffix/prefix they are working on such as "mono" and have them write as many words as they can that are built from that base. When the allotted time is up (however long you usually give your students to arrive before starting class), then have them put down the total number of words they were able to find. The person with the most words shares their list, and students evaluate if every word really is a correct use of the root/suffix/prefix. You could even make it more challenging by saying, "I found ___ number of words with "mono, etc." in it. Can you find more words than I did?" Another variation of this would be to provide the list of words to them with some non examples and have them determine which words are the non examples and why. How difficult you make it depends on how long you want it to last. I guess my point is that a hook can be just about anything and is completely dependent on what you are teaching.
DeleteIt's probably rougher in Vocab, but I like to take questions from the previous lesson, post them for the three minutes I give students to get into class, and then we answer the review questions as a class and use them to segue into the current lesson. I also use the intro paragraphs from the OLS lesson or KWL questions.
DeleteI often ask them to respond to an open-ended question that is related to their lives as well as the lesson content. Or I might have them watch a short video related to the topic and respond to a short question about the video. I basically try to find a way the lesson relates to their real lives and use that as the basis for my hook.
DeleteRachel - I guess it depends what the topic is that you are covering, but some successful 'hooks' that I have used are songs at the beginning of class that relate to topic, or a short youtube clip.
DeleteI really like the idea of the music and of the Utube at the beginning...I am going to try and incorporate that...
DeleteI have restructured my Be Sure to Have page that the students see when they first pop in to include a question about the lesson. I notice that the students in my LA-C class like to answer them; however, my students in Lang B are not as interested.
DeleteOne question I have for the group is about "At Bats." "At Bats" is the idea of a lot of practice. I think we would all agree that there is not enough time in our sessions for a huge amount of practice. What are some of the ways you provide that repeated practice when you see that a student needs more, but you don't have the class time to provide it?
ReplyDeletewow this is addressing my issue in hs math!!!!! there needs to be a way to ensure students do the problems they are assigned...almost NO students do this component...it is the reason our math scores are not so hot...they don't internalize what they need to know...just spit it out for a multiple choice test and then it is gone...the corrections they do helps give them some practice but they are optional, and of course, the good students are more apt to do them.
DeleteAt the bat for GUM - in class with me modeling it for 5 sentences, then they name the steps for 5 more sentences, the exit ticket with 5 more sentences, then the lesson assessment with 10 sentences. I actually don't know any other way to teach GUM other than repetition and consistency - always doing it the same way each time.
DeleteFor Lit - when I do a unit - I use the same graphic organizer for each piece of literature that I cover. So the students can get 3-4 times of filling it out with the teacher help. I need to be more organized to get these graphic organizers on Edmodo so the students can have access to them. I think I need a secretary. Hey - would that be in our budget?
I/We/You has admittedly been a rough topic for me. I'm having an issue figuring how to make it work in a History format. I don't generally see the option for doing something three times. Sometimes I can do a concept (I explain that degrading other humans makes it easier to take their stuff. Then ask when that has happened in other times in history.), but when you're discussing concepts or continuity of events, I find it tough to I/We/You. I have tried breakout rooms, but I generally end up policing them and only 1/3 of the room does much. Even then, I can't see how "At Bats" works out so well. I do Exit Tickets DAILY and I am trying to "circulate" the class more by calling on students, but beyond this, I found much of this chapter hard to translate.
ReplyDeleteI could see how this is difficult for history, but it works really well for math.
DeleteMaybe they would be more useful when you are teaching literacy skills in your class, such as summarizing, asking questions, finding support for an argument, etc.
DeleteI think I/We/You really depends on what you are trying to teach them. If it is fact recall of what happened in History, it will likely not be as easy or useful, if it is an overall idea such as your example of the concept, Then I/We/You would apply. The first time you introduce it you use direct instruction to present it. Then the next time the concept is brought up, do something with student interaction and participation such as question and answers or a hypothetical situation they would have to explain how that concept affects a societal problem. Then the next time it is repeated expect them to apply it on their own by connecting to the previous iterations of that concept in History.
DeleteCaolon, I appreciated reading your post. I feel the same way that with history topics it can be difficult to do many of these concepts and I thought maybe it was just not me thinking out side the box enough. I have started using exit tickets and I do find them useful/helpful. I like to read what they have 'learned' and I also like to start the next class reviewing the exit ticket.
DeleteStacey your comment from Oct 8th is well taken and supported by research from among others Marzano. When a staff and students use and understand a common vocabulary it helps to increase student achievement since the focus is on learning content not logistics.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how all these different approaches say much the same thing...Teach Like a Champion, Marzano, Madeline Hunter, 7Habits...
DeleteI had an experience recently that reinforced the importance of BREAKING IT DOWN. I was asking students to identify instances of alliteration, assonance and consonance in poetry. I thought that simply telling students that alliteration involves repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of words, consonance involves repetition of consonant sounds within the words, and assonance involves repetition of vowel sounds within the words would be enough. But they were lost. Then one student asked, "What is a consonant?" I just assumed the students would know the difference between a consonant and a vowel. I then realized I had to back track and really go through each step of identifying vowel and consonant sounds before they were able to identify alliteration, assonance and consonance on their own. I have been trying to break down what I am teaching into steps, but I know I still make too many ASSUMPTIONS that certain steps are obvious and already known. I forget that I am 30 years older than these students and they are still just learning :-)
ReplyDeleteI always try to give the students a reason for staying and participating....they like to start out with a word search, telling me what they have been up to, chatting with friends, etc. Then I give them a reason for what we are doing.....I generally have about 50% in class....which has improved a bit.
ReplyDeleteI really like the hook. As a former broadcaster, we had to use a hook in order to get the audience's attention. With so many options, we wanted to stop them from changing channels. The same can apply to our students. We don't know what distractions they may have so using a hook can help them focus. In addition, it can help them relate to and remember the lesson better, especially when we can relate it to real life. I know for me personally, I have to admit that it's easy to get stuck in a rut and do the same ol' stuff. I'm so worried about having enough time to teach the lesson and conduct assessments that I sometimes forget to make the lesson fun and use these methods. I know I need to use them more so students want to come to class, want to learn and want to stay.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right. It can be hard to find the time to do all these little things (such as adding a hook) to make our lessons better, BUT they can make such a huge difference. I like the quote "God is in the details." I think it's true with teaching, too, that it's those little things that can make a big difference.
ReplyDeleteQuick Ratio Activity: 20 Questions. I was trying to come up with a way to have the students participate more in an art history lesson. I decided rather than me presenting all the info, I would just post the art works we were studying and the students would ask me questions about each work to learn what they needed to learn. I gave them some suggestions as to questions (What was it used for? How was it made? Why does it include _____?) and then I went down the participant list and had them type in their questions. It was great! We actually covered MOST of the lesson material based solely on their questions! I felt they were much more engaged, and since they asked the question they were actually listening to what I had to say. They also had to continually take inventory about what they already knew about the work and what holes they had to fill in their understanding. I also enjoyed being able to elaborate a bit on an art work rather than being confined to the words on a screen. PLUS, it required very little prep.
ReplyDeleteI would really like to add more "hooks" to my lessons. A lot of times I can fall into the same intro getting started. I find I have so much information to get across I can tend to just focus on that and not "hooking" the interest of the class. In thinking about how to apply this to my class I would like more video and games at the beginning of the lesson that have a good lead into my content.
ReplyDeleteI have used exit tickets in the past to see if they understood the lesson, but this year it's a little different. I feel that by using the Action Plans along with the exit tickets has made me more aware as a teacher on what I need to focus more on to help them learn what they are not understanding.
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