What stood out for me in Ch. 3 was technique 13 - Name the Steps! "Champion teachers help their students learn complex skills by breaking them down into manageable steps and often, giving each step a name so that it can be easily recalled." I know sometimes, I moved so fast because I assumed my kids "got it." In hindsight, I could have done a much better job of breaking down and naming the steps so my students could connect to the information. I also appreciated technique 17 - Ratio. Specifically, how he talked about teaching "habits of discussion first." This idea relates directly to our efforts in using sentence frames. I know that many of our teachers implement technique 20 - Exit Ticket! which is a great way to wrap up a lesson. So often we are short on time and the closure of a lesson is often missed; however, it's vital to assess whether or not our students leave our classrooms with an understanding of the concept. Embed some of these techniques from Chapter 3 into your lesson planning so you're not simply teaching "off the cuff."
Chapter 4 focuses on Engaging Students in Your Lessons, which as you know, has been an important focus of many of our workshops. "The idea, of course, is that you want everybody to pay attention and develop a system that ensures that all students think it's possible that they are about to be called on, regardless of whether they have raised their hand, and therefore think they must therefore prepare to answer." He comments that Cold Call should be an engagement strategy, not a discipline strategy. I've very often fallen into this trap by calling on students to see if they're paying attention, not whether or not they are truly engaged. "If you cold call for a few minutes of your class almost every day, students will come to expect it and change their behavior in advance. Check out some of the video clips - interesting! How many of you use technique 23 - Call and Response? What are your thoughts?
Chapter 8 focuses on Improving Your Pacing. When you maximize pacing, your teaching engages and interests students by giving them a sense of progress. Change the Pace helps create the illusion of speed - don't stay on a specific topic for more than 10 minutes. The attention span of our middle school kids is short - keep them on their toes by fluctuating between kinesthetic and passive activities, especially with block scheduling. I reflect back to when I first started teaching - my poor students had to listen to me blabbering for at least 30 minutes as I introduced a science topic. I'm sure they were completely bored out of their minds after the first 10 minutes! Brighten Lines focuses on book-ending your lessons with expectations, which is important in ensuring your students will have a clear understanding about what they are supposed to be able to do at the end of your lesson. As you know, it's all about maximizing instructional time- Every Minute Matters!
Chapter 9 focuses on Challenging Students To Think Critically. With questioning, "script them in advance as part of your lesson planning process." It takes prep time but will pay off in the long run and you'll be able to build on it for years to come! Make sure they are Simple to Complex. With better planning comes better pacing, sincere student engagement, and consequently, better student achievement.
Thanks, folks! I look forward to reading your comments! You're the best!
