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3a Communicating with Students

  • Expectations for Students. We need to be clear with our expectations for our students. They should know what we expect of them and the goal we want them to reach. 

  • Directions and procedures. We must be clear with our instructions so that the students understand what they are supposed to be doing and so that they are able to fully carry out the task we have assigned.

  • Explanations of content. Students should know what they are learning and why they are learning it. Otherwise, they may wonder why they need to know the content. we want to connect learning to what goes on in the real world.

  • Use of oral and written language. Students must be able to understand what we are saying and we must use proper and grammatically correct English. We must be using vocabulary that our students will understand, but we must be able to expand their knowledge.

3b Questioning and Discussion Techniques

  • Quality of questions/prompts. Though we may want to ask easy questions, we must also ask a few questions to make our students think hard. We must be sure our questions are assessing their knowledge and making them try to come up with an answer based off of what they know. We must give them adequate time to think about their response.

  • Discussion Techniques. We must ensure that students feel respected and heard in each and every discussion. Students should want to engage in discussion and share their thoughts and opinions.

  • Student participation. All students must be engaged in discussion, all voices and opinions must be heard, and make sure every student has a chance to speak. The discussion should not be dominated by the same few students, but every student must be engaged.

3c Engaging Students in Learning

  • Activities and Assignments. Students should be able to participate in activities during class time. Most students have a short attention span, so engaging them in activities is a good mental refresher for them and it is showing them content in a different way. 

  • Grouping of Students. Planning out groups a head of time is the best way to successfully group students. Intentional grouping is very important in classrooms, so that they are with people they get along with. It is also important to be pairing up groups of students with different levels of strength.

  • Instructional Materials and Resources. The materials and resources we use have an impact on our students' learning objectives and their outcomes. The materials and resources we use should relate to the lesson and parallel what we re teaching.

  • Structure and Pacing. The lesson should not be too quick nor too slow for your students. Based on how your students learn, the lesson time may differ. There should be a clear structure to our lessons and they should be sequential.

3d Using Assessment in Instruction

  • Assessment Criteria. Students need to be aware of what is expected of them during an assessment. As teachers we can integrate assessment strategies during and after instruction. Students may also contribute to the criteria for an assessment.

 

  • Monitoring of Student Learning. Teachers must be able to show evidence of student understanding regarding the topic area. During a lesson, we must be able to not only monitor the group of students, but also each individual student.

  • Feedback to Students. We must give meaningful feedback to our students. We must include positive comments and areas to improve upon within our feedback. Valuable feedback should be timely, constructive, and substantive. Students must be given time to make the feedback meaningful.

  • Student self-assessment and monitoring of progress. Students need to be engaged in their learning. They need to be able to monitor their own learning in regards to objectives and learning goals being met. 

3e Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness

  • Lesson Adjustment. We may need to make adjustments to our lesson when things are not going well. When we make our adjustments in our lessons we must do so in a smooth and seamless manner. Some students may not be at the same level as the rest of our students, so we must adjust our lesson to fit their needs.

  • Response to Students. We must take advantage of teachable moments. Sometimes a student will say something that isn't quite on topic, but we can sometimes tie it into what they're learning. If something goes wrong in class, we can use it as a teachable moment.

  • Persistence. During lessons, some students may not keep up with the rest of the class. We cannot give up on those students.  we must adapt our lessons to help them understand and learn at their own pace. By that time, we should be readily equipped with different strategies and techniques to help our students who are struggling

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