Description
The focus of reading and discussion in EDAT 6115 this week
was about effective lesson planning as a teacher. The lesson focused on ideas such as direct
instruction as well as diving into how student learn and transfer other
concepts. Ideas of small group discussions
verse whole group discussions were brought up. When thinking about how to be an intentional
teacher and how to select instructional strategies with a purpose really set a
tone with me.
Analysis
As teachers we have many strategies
and techniques to teach content material to students. Slavin (2012) states, “The lesson is where education
takes place” (p.184). That sentence is
so powerful when we think of what one small lesson can do in the eyes of a
child. As educators we spend countless
hours planning out lessons for our students in order to engrain new knowledge
into their brains. When we think about
the best practices and what could work best for them it really makes you think
about what types of lessons would serve the best purpose for their education.
“The term direct instruction is used
to describe lessons in which you transmit information directly to student,
structuring class time to reach a clearly defined set of objectives as efficiently
as possible” (Slavin, 2012, p.185). We
can break down a direct instruction lesson into many different parts. The first step in a teaching a direct
instruction lesson is to state learning objectives. Communicating to students what you want them
to know at the end of the lesson will help students better understand what they
are working towards. Next, the teacher
needs to “establish a positive mental set or attitude of readiness in students”
(Slavin, 2012, p.189). In doing this you
set expectations for the students to see the importance in their
education. The educator can spark an
interest in the topic and get the student excited about their learning. Following setting a mental set the educator
will then review prerequisites. The
teacher should check back as to what material the students have already
mastered and link that to the new information about to be taught. Some teachers may call this the “connect”
part of the mini lesson. After that new
material can be presented. Silver (2007)
reports, “Direct instruction nurtures learners as they move toward independence”
(p.38). New learners benefit from new
information being taught through explanations, modeling, worked examples,
embedded video, and content coverage.
Conduct learning probes come next in the sequence. In order to truly understand if students
understand the material being taught you need to frequently probe them to check
for mastery. Probes refer to “any of a
variety of ways of asking for brief student responses to lesson content”
(Slavin, 2012, p.194). Once you have
checked on their understanding you can then provide independent practice. This is work students complete on their own
after having ample opportunity for gaining new information. Following this, the teacher can then assess performance
and provide feedback. Feedback is
important to a student, “the teacher should serve as a coach who guides, instructs,
and provides feedback” (Silver, 2007, p.39).
Lastly the teach will then provide distributed practice and review.
Just as direct instruction is proven
to be a great use of strategy, so can discussions. Discussion can take the form of multiple
ways. A discussion can be whole-class discussion
where the teacher guides “the discussion and helps the class avoid dead ends
but should encourage the students to come up with their own ideas” (Slavin,
2012, p.209). In these discussions the
students explore their own ideas and can lead the conversation into whatever
direction it is lead. In contrast to
this would be small-group discussions. “Like
any discussion, most small-group discussions should follow the presentation of
information through teacher-directed lessons, books, or videos, or following an
opportunity for students to find information for themselves in the library or
online” (Slavin, 2012, p.210).
Reflection
This
concept really made me think about my teaching.
As a new teacher I am all about small group instruction. I create preassessments to guide my
instruction and then work in small groups based on student needs. However, I realized that there are instances
where direct instruction would benefit students. While I do not always agree with whole group instruction,
there are times where students just need to learn the information coming from
the teacher. Research has proven that a
balance between the two is important.
Especially when it comes to student’s learning styles. Many students may benefit from a lesson
taught as a lecture to the whole group.
After
reading this chapter I may better use whole-group discussions to better myself
as a teacher. I generally use a lot of
collaborative discussions at the beginning of the school year to have
discussions about friendship and getting along with one another. The students do so well communicating their
thoughts and ideas respectively with one another. I would like to take this to the next level
and try this with content and really see what discussions could come out of the
children. I am always amazed when I do
not think my students can do something, but after trying I am so pleased with
the outcome.
While
I do want to open my horizon to try the concept of direct instruction I do see
some limitations that appeal to me as negative aspects. The past few years I have had an inclusion
classroom. I have students ranging from
highly gifted to in the process of being transitioned into a self-contained classroom. While I understand all of the components of a
direct instruction lesson, I feel as though I prefer small group instruction just
so I can be sure that all my students are benefitting from the lesson. While there are times when you can go back
and do more modeling and independent practice, I feel as though sometimes
students need that one on one instruction from the beginning. I guess that can be the beauty in instruction,
meeting the individual needs of your learners based on how you know them and
what they best need to succeed.
Prior
to this week I did not think about discussions being done in small groups. I have practiced sentence stems in a while
group discussion and also have done small group projects but never small group
discussions. This past school year I attempted to do collaborative book clubs
but then failed to continue the process to get them up and running. This will be a future goal of mine going into
the upcoming school year. I want to
challenge myself to challenge my students into having small group conversations
not only about the books that they are reading but also the content they are learning
about.
References
Silver,
Harvey F. (2007). The Strategic Teacher:
Selecting the right research-based strategy for every lesson. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Slavin, R.
E. (2012). Educational
psychology: Theory and practice (10th
ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
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