Research shows that teachers need to vary the methods of instruction. This week reflect upon the following questions to determine the quality of your cooperating teacher’s instruction.
Does the teacher:
• Rely too heavily on “tell” forms of instruction?
• Include “show” methods of instruction to demonstrate the meanings of the material being taught?
• Include “do” activities where students apply, or learn, the skills of the lesson?
• Vary instructional methods to ensure meeting the needs of all students?
I look forward to seeing everyone next Tuesday.
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In my class my teacher does rely on the "tell" forms of intruction. For being in first grade, she really stresses the "show" aspect. she constantly relates the projects to the material. There is a lot of "doing" or hands on work where they learn new skills and activities. The one things my cooperating teacher could probably do more is vary instruction to meet the needs of all the students. It is all one way...
ReplyDeleteI feel that in a physical education class each one of these learning stratagies are vital when teaching a new skill. For example, during the first day of their volleyball unit my teacher first told the students the correct form in bumping a volleyball, then she demonstrated it for the entire class. Then she had the students pair up and practice bumping the ball. The students heard, saw, and did themselves which is a great learning process. After they had all the basic skills mastered, the next day My teacher had them show these skills in a "game situtation."
ReplyDeleteThe teacher that I am observing uses a variety of instructional strategies. She usually uses the tell formation though. I am observing a high school class therefore there isnt alot of show instruction required. She does use a lot of apply skills. Students are always a variety of acitvities. She does a great job of mixing up how they do things and how students are grouped or partnered together.
ReplyDeleteAshley- I agree with you! I observed a physical education class for a couple of hours and the teacher used every time of instructional method possible so that students got the most out of the lesson being taught.
ReplyDeleteMy teacher did not rely on the "tell" instruction too much. A lot of the class time was spent with students being required to look at the smart board so that the students could see for themselves.
ReplyDeleteAs stated in the above post, she did spend a lot of time "showing" students things she wanted them to learn and understand. There was a lot of visual learning going on in that class.
Anytime the students did any readings there would generally be a follow up worksheet over it. Also, basically every week the students would take quizzes to see if they were improving in their learning and understanding.
Since it is a Special Education class room, there was a lot of instructional method used. Without the guideline and knowledge of what is expected of them, how else would the students know what to do? She used this quite a lot and it worked very well.
Chris, I couldn't agree with you more. No teacher should be using the same form of instruction the entire time. Not only will it leave certain students behind that understand things better when they are taught in different ways, but it also makes the students become bored due to the lack of creativity in the lesson plan or class room procedures. We need to make the class room innovative and exciting!
ReplyDeleteSeeing as i still do not have my placement, this question will be a little hard to answer but here it goes. Through the past 13 years of education, i have had some teachers that were all "tell" and then some teachers were "tell" and "show." The majority of my teacher have been the latter one. I found that in high school i had more "tell" teachers than "tell" and "show." I guess that is just part of growing up. I think as you get older, teachers think you understand everything. There is some truth to that but not everyone is going to get everything and when one person doesn't get something when everyone else does, they will be more likely to feel intimidated and NOT ask for help.
ReplyDeleteChris- I feel the same way as you. I think the teacher should have one overall teaching style for when she is addressing the whole class, but it think they should switch it up depending on the child when they are teaching one on one. People are wired differently and learn in ways others dont.
ReplyDeleteI've been observing a science class so my cooperating teacher has the oppotunity to use a lot of demonstrations, modeling, and hands-on experiments. She also spends time lecturing and having the students take notes, but its pretty evenly split. Between the activities, hearing the information and having the chance to ask questions, taking notes and doing homework, all of the learning styles are covered.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing... I finished my 30 hours today!!
Kaitlynn-
ReplyDeleteWhat subject have you been observing? I think students at every age level can benefit from a little "show" teaching. Some people are just visual learners. Can you imagine learning geometry or fine arts without the aid of "show?"
Nice Debbie! I wish I was done...but I am almost there! Well thats nice that your teacher covers all the areas. I really do not know if my teacher covers all of them because when I am there she covers some of them but not all!
ReplyDeleteI have been observing a first grade class and when ever I am there I never see my teacher hand out any directions because she always tells them out loud. I guess that is the way she has to do it though because you can not pass out a piece of paper to first graders and tell them they have to read the directions and do their work. I know that she always shows her students what to do and always make sure they understand. She is very hands on with them. So everything is covered, excepted hand outs. I feel that every once in a while they need to learn to do a handout by themselves because as they get older that is what is going to happen.
ReplyDeleteI have had many teachers that rely way to heavily on the "tell" form of instruction. Some of them said they do it to better prepare the students for further education such as college lecture halls but for other classes such as a science lab you really need some "show" meathods to better instruct. Personally I learn much better by getting some visual examples or shown how the teacher wants things done. I also really liked how some of my math teachers would figure out ways to use the math we were learning in real situations. If you can't give your students real reasons why they will need their education later in life then they really won't care to learn it.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher that I am observing uses all of the forms of instruction. She first "tells" the students about the assignment or lesson because some of the students are auditory learners and they need the teacher to tell them directly. Then the teacher will "show" the students how to complete the assignment or lesson by giving examples on the board because most, but not all students. Finally the teacher will let the students work in groups to work on their assignments together or they can work on a project together in groups.
ReplyDeletebrittany- thats good she uses different types of forms of instruction. different learning tactics are needed when your working with auditory, visual, or a kinesthenic learner...
ReplyDeleteChris-- I agree a teacher should change how he or she teaches in the classroom because I know as a student I do not like when the teacher uses the same method over and over. I like when they change it around between, "tell", "show", and "do" it makes the class more interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher I am observing uses every form of instruction imaginable and sometimes even at the same time. She teaches in an eMints classroom, which is basically a technology classroom with computers at every desk and a smartboard. For the majority of her lessons, she will pass out a hard copy of the assignment or like during math she will have them bring their workbooks to the floor and then bring up the same page on the smartboard. She goes through the instruction and "tells" the students what needs to be completed and then "shows" them through examples and by them following along with her lesson on the smartboard. Especially in math, she will then have them complete a second page that follows more in depth with the lesson they are trying to complete so then she gets to have them "do" the assignment. She varies all of her instructional time to be according to the wide variety of learners and her classroom, be it a visual or auditory learner and you can see that the kids really understand a concept after she teaches it.
ReplyDeleteBrittany-
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome that you also have a teacher who uses all of the different forms of teaching in her classroom. I really think that as observing students that we are really benefiting from seeing what works in the classroom and how to incorporate into our future lessons and teaching.
Debbie-
WAY TO GO!!!
The teacher that I am observing depending on what subject the students are learning, uses all methods. She explains the directions out loud, does examples on the board to help explain what they are about to do and has flashcards to help the students learn in a different way. Some students are pulled to a table in the room with the teacher in case there needs to be additional instructions. Some projects she sits and goes over the whole assignment with them to make sure they are understanding correctly.
ReplyDeleteBritanny- it sounds like the teachers we are observing work in the same way. There is a lot of group work on assignments so the students can help each other out. They get to bounce ideas off one another.
ReplyDeleteDebbie- Your class seems really fun to be in and watch the students reactions to the hands on experiments! Science is always a cool subject to be in! Congrats on finishing! :-)
ReplyDeleteMy teacher relys on the "tell" form, but also has "do" activities! The students have had a lesson one day without homework as long as they understand. The next day they make a little book of some sort to help and are assigned homework. The students seem to enjoy this! It doesnt happen a lot, but has happened.
ReplyDeleteI also want to share 2 books for the math teachers about doing activities that help with hands on if the students do not understand very well. My teacher got them on Amazon for 10 dollars and seem worth getting! I plan on getting these!
Hands-On Math!
Ready-to-use Games & Activites for Grades 4-8
by Frances M. Thompson
Hands-On Math!
Ready-to-use Games & Activities for Grades 7-12
by Frances M. Thompson
One of the teachers recommended a book for when I become a teacher and its my first year. She reads it every year before school. She says it makes a big difference. That one is How to be an Effective Teacher The First Days of School
By Harry K. Wong & Rosemary T. Wong. I read parts and I can see when it will come in handy.
Thanks Jamie for the references! My mom is a second grade teacher and she said that she has also heard the Effective Teacher the First Days of School. Also your teacher seems as though she uses many teaching methods in her class, which I believe to be very important. Teaching is not effective if students cant learn from a certain method, so mixing it up is always important :)
ReplyDeleteThe teacher I am observing does more hands on activities which I think is important especially in fifth grade. It is important to keep the students excited about learning and also to keep them busy. By "showing" the students what they are learning about it gives them a better understanding of what they are learning about. However students should also see the "tell" form of instruction which is what they will start to see more of in the coming years.
ReplyDeleteI have been watching a lot of different teachers and they all seem to be using the show and do methods...They will show the students the problems many different times and ways, then work problems with them. They will work them til every student in the class has a basic idea of how to complete the problem.
ReplyDeleteandrew- sounds like that method carries through to high school as well. Its a great way to teach.
the art teachers that i am observing do a great job demonstrating the next project. the ceramic teacher had all the students circle around the back table so everyone could see her demonstrate the proper way to build the next project. she did a wonderful job maintaining everyones attention and was very clear on what was expected.
ReplyDeletealex-
ReplyDeletesame with me. all three of the teachers that i am observing are doing the show and do method. before starting a new project the teacher will demonstrate serveral different techniques for creating the next project correctly. then, after all the students are off on their own starting the new project the teacher is very good about walking around the class and helping each student one on one making sure everyone understands.
My teacher rely's a lot on telling and mostly lectures during class but he also incorporates the showing part by writing notes on the white board and handing out a lot of examples for whatever he is teaching. For every essay he gives the students a paper copy of an exmple of that type of essay and sometimes gives two copies; a good essay and a bad essay. The only time he uses the doing part is when he allows students to work on their essays in class so that he is there if they have questions. Even though he lectures a lot he teachers juniors and seniors in highschool so i think they are able to focus better and handle this kind of teaching.
ReplyDeleteLauren-
ReplyDeleteThe classroom you're observing sounds really cool! I like that she has them all get out their workbooks and then works through it with them on the smartboard. I think that technique would work really well and help keep the students attention.
Russ and Chris,
ReplyDeleteI disagree a bit - I think a teacher should not just use one method during instruction. Maybe he/she could teach the lesson catering to different learning styles, not just wait until the student is struggling and then try to think of a different way.
For example - if you are a visual learner, then you will tend to write your lessons assuming all students learn visually. However, we should strive to present our lessons in different ways. Maybe one lesson is visual, the next day is auditory, the next day is hands-on. OR the same lesson could be presented in three different ways.
Just some things to think about...
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing those resources - I am going to look into them.
One more thought -
ReplyDeleteMost of you sound like you are observing teachers who try to offer the lesson in multiple ways. However, when a teacher gets stuck on one method it is usually the "tell" form. We see it a lot on college campuses.
Why do you think lecture is the most widely method used when teachers teach?
my teachers being kindergarten and first grade, do a lot of the "do" forms of teaching. the children are young and it seems like it is very effective for kids to actually practice what they are learning about. she incorporates all of the teaching methods but her do method seems to work the best.
ReplyDeletemrs. bishop...
ReplyDeletei honestly think that college professors use the lecture method to teach bc it is the hardest (atleast for me) to comprehend and they believe that in college you should be able to pick up quickly. i personally get lost or find myself drifting into la la land, and end up missing out on some important messages.
Lindsey-
ReplyDeletei agree it is important to do a lot of the "do" forms of teaching especially at the younger age levels. It is important to keep young students interested in learning and excited about coming to school. It is also good to keep young kids busy.
since im observing a pe class my teacher really stresses the show aspect of learning. hes often ineracting with the children during games and activities and really helps the kids learn proper fundamentals by showing the exactly how to perform things.
ReplyDeleteAndrew
ReplyDeletei agree that all forms of teaching should be exercised. i think the every teacher should be able to teach in many way, each class requires different methods. just like every kid learns differently. the more diverse you are the better.
My teacher asks a lot of questions to the students and she does a lot of examples with the students. She loves using real world examples with actvities. Like when the kids were learning about shapes, the students had to come up with examples of the shapes.
ReplyDeleteBrittany-
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that your teacher teaches to everyones individual needs.
My teacher relys on the "tell" method, but at the same time she askes the students can you show me what you are going to do in the hall way. The students either put a bubble in their mouth or they put two fingers over their lips and raise two fingers in the air. The teacher likes to comment on good things that the students are doing so then other students may want to do it to get a comment also. One thing I do not like is the star chart. It is kind of like turning your card but your lowering your star, and i think my teacher relys on it a little to much.
ReplyDeleteJessie- I think that your teacher has a good method going. I think that she is trying to make sure that every kid knows what they are doing, and asking around is the best way to approach that because some students my be afriad to speak up!
ReplyDeleteYeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI did some practicum finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Duschene teacher...funny gal
anyway, all i can say is that she seems to rely heavily on the you volenteer the info so you remember it method! That's all i've really seen so far other than the fact that she hates study hall and sophmores
jesse--oh yeah, that's the way!
ReplyDeleteMy teacher does that as well!
I think that's one of the ways to really get to your students is by using examples that they can relate to!
In highschool my teachers always had different things to do in each class. There was never a dull moment and thats what made class so great for many of us. I will definatlly try to make everyday exciting and new for my students.
ReplyDeletejessie
ReplyDeleteI think your teacher sounds awesome real world examples are very important for the kids to have.